Whew...
The mont they burst out of the bar, the group of n sucked in ragged breaths.
That had been terrifying.
That woman’s sheer destructive power was off the charts.
They couldn’t help but wonder how anyone in her guild could possibly stand her.
If they were mbers, they’d have rage-quit and run for the hills ages ago.
"Boss... that woman... she’s on another level," Leo panted, hands on his knees.
"How can a person be that... intense?" Even Ryan, who was usually the quiet one, chid in, looking shell-shocked.
"Move it, she’s coming out!"
They’d only caught their breath for a second when Markham ca barreling out of the bar’s entrance, yelling the warning before sprinting down the street like a bat out of hell.
The guys froze for a split second, then glanced back.
Sure enough, Xandria’s silhouette was frad in the doorway.
Ethan was the first to react. Whoosh—he took off after Markham.
The others scrambled to follow.
They ran until their lungs burned and their legs felt like lead. Finally, they regrouped in a back alley, collapsing against the walls.
"No more... can’t... run..." Markham gasped from where he’d slid down to sit on the pavent.
"Huff... puff... Guys... why’d you run?" Lyla finally caught up, looking just as winded. "She didn’t even leave the bar! She just stopped in the doorway!"
"Huh?" Ethan paused. Then it hit him. His alliance with Xandria was supposed to be a secret. She was probably smart enough not to chase them down in public. Being seen together could blow their whole setup.
"Dammit, Markham! Why’d you run like that?" Ethan kicked lightly at Markham’s boot.
"Ow! Hey, don’t bla ! I was scared!" Markham whined.
"Alright, enough," Ethan cut him off. He glanced around. The alley was deserted. From his storage, he pulled out a thick file folder.
The group gathered around him.
---
Half an hour later, they stood at the edge of a vast, gloomy depression in the earth. With atball gone, Markham had taken his spot. The team was still ten strong.
"Boss, the intel says nearly seventy thousand of them went down there. And there’s just... ten of us," Ryan said, eyeing the massive, yawning pit in the ground with clear apprehension.
Leeroy and Evelyn shared his worried look. This was their first ti on an operation like this with Ethan.
In contrast, Victor, Leo, and the others looked perfectly calm. Heaven’s Dawn was practically buzzing with excitent. And Lyla? As long as Ethan was there, she was fine.
"Don’t worry, it’s just a ga. Relax... take one down with you, you break even. Take two, you’re ahead," Leo said, trying to reassure the Chase siblings.
"Yeah, we just go in swinging," Williams added.
"It’s not that simple," Ethan countered with a grin. "What’s your gear worth? What’s theirs? Losing a single piece of your equipnt would set them up for life." His expression turned more serious. "But we are going in... just with a plan."
"Planning’s your departnt, Boss. You point, we punch. We trust you," Leo said. The veterans in the group had absolute faith in Ethan. They’d been on these raids before.
Ethan’s ticulous strategies, his step-by-step orchestration, and his almost supernatural ability to use terrain to his advantage were legendary. Sotis they wondered if he’d secretly worked on the Ethereal dev team, specifically on the maps.
The intel from Xandria had shown a completely blank area on the provided map, labeled ’Uncharted Catacombs – Inaccessible, entrance guarded by major guilds.’ When Ethan saw that page, he’d just flicked it aside without a second glance. He clearly knew better.
"Markham, you’re up. No idea how many are down there. You good?" Ethan turned to him.
Swish, swish. Markham hefted his greatsword. "Doesn’t matter how many. This beauty’s thirsty!"
With that, he took a running leap and vanished into the pit.
"Whoa... that guy’s a damn maniac!" Leo exclaid.
"Ethan, why aren’t we all going down together? Won’t the entrance be heavily guarded?" Lyla asked.
"Because he can go down without exposing us. You guys didn’t know, but I’ve had him running harassnt here for a while. He goes down, clears out the first layer’s guards, then lets himself get ’chased’ back out. Plus, around Blackridge, he’s built a reputation as a notorious solo player. No guild, no faction. Plenty have tried to recruit him..."
Ethan smirked. "He killed every last one. So he’s the safest bet. Once he clears the lookouts, we go in clean. We don’t need unwanted attention."
"No wonder his na is blood-red..." Williams muttered.
"Wait," Evelyn said, ever observant. "If he’s flagged as a criminal, how is he walking around in a main city? He even used the teleport to get to Harmony City and back with us earlier."
"Hmm..." Ethan frowned. He had forgotten about that. They’d passed right by city guards on their way out, and they’d completely ignored Markham, as if he were invisible. The guy must have stumbled upon so serious perks or a unique quest line.
"Clear! Co on down!" Markham’s voice echoed up from the team channel.
"Let’s move." Ethan took Lyla’s hand and jumped first.
From the top, the pit looked bottomless, but that was just the utter blackness below. In reality, there were occasional ledges, like giant, uneven steps. After three long drops, the group finally reached the bottom.
Markham was waiting, holding what looked like an old-fashioned firestarter for light. The darkness here was absolute, rivaling the deepest shadows of the Carnage Faction territories.
"Everyone got their Dark Vision gear on?" Ethan asked.
"Yep," ca the chorus of replies. They all switched pieces. This was the gear Ethan had gotten back in the Blood Castle. He’d kept it away, never putting it in the Guild Vault. But the core team had all picked out a few pieces.
Once equipped, their vision expanded. The oppressive black softened into the murky gray of pre-dawn light. That was the power of Dark Vision gear. Ethan had once considered smuggling a bunch over from the Carnage Faction side to make a fortune, but getting tossed into the Sea of Death had scrapped that plan. After coming back loaded with gold, money was no longer an issue, and the sche was indefinitely shelved.
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