The Illusive Avenger

"Okay, we need to find this Smith." Liza nodded. The Black Dragon Alliance guild is one of the remaining fragments of the Dragon-Oath Brigade guild and they tend to maintain high standards in terms of pre-requisites for entry. We went to the 350th stage, where the Black Dragon Alliance or BDA had its headquarters. The HQ was heavily fortified and we were greeted by two guards stationed at the main gate. Over the watch-towers there were many archers, ready to shoot at us.

"We need to meet Mr. Smith of your guild." I said to the guards. Both men look at each other, and one of them tilted his head and said, "That guy should be in the dungeon area at the frontlines, right?" But the other answered, "Ah, but he seemed to have said during breakfast that he's going to rest for the today because he has a headache. Maybe he is in his room. I'll try asking."

The way we established rapport with each other really seemed to shock Liza. As I leaned my body near the tree branch clinging on the castle wall to try and hide further, another guard started to quickly type a message and sent it out.

And then, there was a reply in less than 30 seconds as the fingers of the guard again returned to the window. It seemed that Smith was really hiding inside the castle. If he was fighting in the dungeons on the frontlines, it was impossible for him to reply so quickly. The guard looked at the message, and immediately frowned in a troubled manner.

"He is resting today…but, he wants me to ask you what this is about…" Liza pondered about this for a while, and simply answered, "Just tell him 'I want to talk about the ring and the guild'." The other party immediately answered.

The guy who should be lying on the bed because of a headache immediately rushed down to the castle gate and said "let's go somewhere else to talk" and immediately walked briskly down the hill. Liza, who followed Smith, passed me, and I pretended that nothing had happened as I walked out from the shades of the tree. Smith glanced at me, but he may have known that Liza and I were investigating this, and didn't react at all as he merely walked faster.

Smith, who's walking quickly several meters in front of me, was still wearing his signature high-ranked armor, and there was even a thin layer of chainmail beneath it. He was not carrying his large lance, but the weight of this equipment should be quite a lot. He just looked like he couldn't feel the burden as he continued to move forward at a fast speed. He was no longer just a mere tank, and was more like an American Football player.

This athlete-sized burly guy that was rare to find in BWS walked down the slope and entered the street area before finally stopping. He swayed the armor on his body and turned around, and immediately asked me instead of Liza, "Who told you about this?"

"Huh?" I answered, and then immediately realized that he had left out the taboo term 'ring incident', and cautiously answered, "I managed to get the information from…" I deliberately left out the name of The Cat. The moment I said this, the thick eyebrows below the upright short hair twitched. "Why?"

At this moment, I hesitated for a moment. "Two of your former guild members, Megan and Sally were abducted from within the safe-zone by an H-player and later killed. While investigating the case, we had to…" The moment I said that, the hulking man immediately looked like he had lost his soul as he looked up, and then gave a long sigh.

"We know that the vote about that special ring was 5 to 3 in favor of selling the ring. Who were the 3 against it?" I asked Smith who seemed to be just waiting for the question. "Sally, Megan and I were against selling the ring and after the death of the leader we were the one first accused of her murder."

I sympathized with Smith as I too had faced the same crisis "Smith, do you anything about a person named Mayank. Was he in your guild?" "Yes, Mayank was a blacksmith amongst our ranks and used to craft weapons for us. He used to admire Yui the guild leader and they were even married just a few days before that fateful raid."

Liza asked "We want to know where Mayank is? He crafted the dagger that was apparently used to kill Sally. Do you know where he is?" "NO…NO IDEA!" Smith shouted loudly as he shook his head vehemently. "Ever since the guild disbanded, we never contacted each other. I don't even know if he's alive!"

He said quickly as his sights continued to move and looked at the streets. Liza began speaking, "Mr. Smith, we're not looking for the culprit who killed your former guild leader, but the one who started this chain of events…more correctly, we're looking for what method the criminal used to kill. This is to protect the peace inside the Safe-Zones just like now."

She paused for a short while, and then continued with a sterner tone, "…Unfortunately, the most suspicious person is the one who created that dagger…and the spouse of the guild leader, Mr. Mayank. Of course, someone may have deliberately made it seem that way, so we have to talk to Mayank to get this clear. If you know his whereabouts or how to contact him, can you please tell us?"

Smith, who was being stared at with the light blue eyes, backed his upper body. It looked like he was not used to talking to female players, and of course, I'm the same. He looked away and closed his mouth. If even Liza's direct assault didn't work, he really is a tough enemy. I thought as I wanted to swallow my sigh, but soon, "…I really don't know where he is. But…" Smith stammered and said, "Mayank really likes an NPC restaurant and would always be there. Maybe he…"

"Re…really!?" I leant my body forward and thought. In Arcadian, eating can be said to be the only luxury. But at the same time, it's hard to find a flavor filled one from those cheap NPC restaurants. Since he liked it to such an extent of going over every day, it was hard for him not to go there in the long run. "Then, please tell me the shop's location…" I went forward and opened my trade window and he traded the map data.

"I saw a strange cloaked guy, near the building when Sally was abducted and she was stabbed with this dagger crafted by Mayank. Can you identify this?" I materialized the dagger from my inventory and handed it over to Smith. He had a look towards the dagger and replied, "No doubt this is made by him. Wait… did you say that Sally was stabbed by this?" I nodded, "And the abductor had a cloak." I nodded again and his face went pale.

"May be I know the abductor?" "Huh…" we were speechless while Smith continued, "The abductor is Yui, the leader of the Apple Kings." This time his words went beyond the roof, I went closer to Liza and murmured, "I think he's gone mad." She jabbed me in the gut and asked Smith, "How can you be so sure? She died about a year back."

"Yui used Daggers as her primary weapons and donned cloth armor, mostly long hooded cloaks in public. Her build focused only on Agility and she could easily take on monsters with a single strike of her dagger." Smith began to shake up as he spoke these words but I was not done, "What does Mayank has to do with this?" "He was the only one who refrained from the voting. The actual voting outcome was 4-3 in favor of selling the ring." We left him at the BDA HQ and asked the guards to take special care about him.

The shop recorded on Smith's shared map was a small bar located in the lower region of the main streets of the 120th stage. The shop that's hidden on the side path didn't give the look that there would be dishes 'that one can eat without getting sick of'. However, the fact is that there would be lots of delicious meals in these kinds of shops, and I finally managed to control my impulse to rush into the shop and order all the dishes inside. If Mayank was in the hooded robe, he should have seen my face. If he discovered me first, he might not be coming to this shop.

Liza and I hid in a cover nearby and watched the surroundings, and we found that there was an inn we could look into the bar in question. We immediately rushed through the gaps in the crowd, into the inn opposite the street, and rented a room on the second level. As expected, we could clearly see what went on at the bar entrance. We kept the lights off, moved two chairs over to the window and sat next to each other to start watching.

But soon after, Liza frowned and called me. "…It's good that we're serious here, but we have no idea what Mayank looks like." "Aah, that's why I wanted to get Smith to come along right at the beginning, but it couldn't be helped when we see him like this…however, I managed to see the player under the hood who looks like Mayank from close range. If we find a guy who's tall and muscular, we can use a duel request to invite him in, even though that might be reckless." "Eh?" On hearing this, Liza widened her eyes and increased her volume.

In BWS, as long as our stares were focused on other players, there would be a player cursor which would provide information about its nature:

· For Normal Players – Green (ˇ and P)

· For Criminal Players – Orange (ˇ and C)

· For Hostile Players and Monsters – Red (ˇ and H)

· For Quest Giving NPC's – Silver (!)

· For Special Quest NPC's – Golden (!)

· For Other NPC's – Yellow (ˇ and N)

But for the players we meet for the first time, we'd only see the HP bar; the name and levels couldn't be seen.

Of course, these are all sorts of anti-crime prevention measures. For example, if someone knows of that player's name, that player may get harassing messages from people misusing the Instant Message function. If it's easy for the level to be discovered by others, the lower-level players would be treated as prey on the streets and stalked, and it would be very easy for people to be robbed or harassed or all sorts of things in weird areas.

However, it's because we couldn't see other people's names that trying to track people became a little more troublesome. If I wanted to know the name of a player I'm meeting for the first time, there was only one way, a 1vs1 duel. In other words, a duel request.

If I pressed the duel button on the menu window, used the color-cursor in choosing mode to designate the target, and my sights immediately showed a 'You've requested a 1vs1 duel with someone'. If I looked at it, I'll know the proper English name of the enemy.

However, the other party's sights would immediately see that I sent a duel request from here. Thus, it's impossible for me to not reveal my name as I investigated the name of the other player, and such an act is completely rude in the first place. In that case, it's very likely that the enemy would draw his weapon to take this challenge. On hearing my words, Liza opened her mouth, looking like she was about to say something—probably something that meant 'it's dangerous' or something.

However, Liza quickly closed her mouth and nodded seriously. She probably understood that there's no other way, "…But if you're going to talk with Mayank, I'm coming along too." On hearing her say this, I could only force myself to swallow my words to make her stay inside this room. I could only nod my head hesitatingly and check the time. It was 6.40pm, about the time for players to return to the street areas to have dinner as things get bustling. The bar in question looked rather normal, but the Swing-Door continued to shake freely. However, I never saw a player that looked like the hooded robe I saw.

'I'll be looking at the swing-door of this bar that has a hidden famed restaurant's atmosphere for the entire night without being able to eat…' On thinking about this, I couldn't help but press against my stomach. Immediately after, something reached out in front of my eyes. It's something wrapped in white paper and giving off a thick aroma. I couldn't help but look at this thing, and Liza continued to stare in the direction of the bar as she simply said, 'for you'. I instinctively asked to check. "…For, for me?"

"Who else do you think I can give it to in this situation? Do you think I'm boasting?" "No, it's not that. I'm wrong. I'll take it then." I pull my neck back and quickly received the paper bag. I glanced over at Liza and found that she continued her surveillance, skillfully materializing another similar looking item.

I happily un-wrapped the paper, and found a large hamburger inside. I stared blankly at the inside of the bread that's suitably baked and was stuffed with vegetables and roasted meat, and Liza said with a calm voice, "The durability value is going to run out. It'll disappear soon, so it's best that you hurry up and eat it."

"Eh, ah, okay, Thanks!" I heard that it's going to vanish soon, which meant that there won't be much time to space out. The durability value of a food item is normally very low unless special ingredients are used. I have experienced having the burritos I was going to try disappear from my hands. Thus, I quickly opened my mouth at the fastest speed possible and took a bite off the hamburger and enjoyed that chewing feeling for the time being. The taste was simple, though a little stimulating, making me want to continue biting. The durability of the food did not affect the flavor. As long as the food existed, the taste would never change at all.

I stared at the entrance of the bar and quickly finished off the large portion of hamburger before letting out a sigh of satisfaction. I looked at Liza, who was elegantly chewing beside me, and indicated my thanks before asking, "Thanks for that. Speaking of which, when did you buy this? We went by the roadside stalls just now, but there was nothing so good being sold, you know?"

"Didn't I say that the durability was about to finish? It's because I thought about this that I already prepared it this morning." Liza smiled innocently. "I never thought of eating at all…oh yeah, which shop is this from?" She shrugged her shoulders slightly and answered to rather surprise me, "It is not sold by shops."

"What! Don't tell me that you…" Liza kicked my chair and caused it to nearly topple over, "Do you think that you are the only one with Cooking ability? I have finished 85% of it so I can easily make complicated stuff like that." The shock of the kick caused my remaining hamburger to fall down, out of a momentary reflex I pulled out a throwing pick and tried to stab the ham for no use; the burger fell on the ground its durability ran 0 and it disintegrated into countless fragments. But I saw something that blew up my mind.

"Are you crying? It's no use to cry once…" Liza began with a counselor like tone and I hushed her up asking if she saw what happened right now. A little surprised by my question, she answered in affirmative and recalled the whole burger incident. "The same happened there; we thought that we had seen through this incident inside out. But we were wrong; it is an absolute law that criminals and hostile players cannot enter the safe-zones of the city." And I told her everything I saw there. However, meanwhile

Smith went inside the guild castle and was greeted by Linda, the guild leader who was just like a teacher to him. She was the one who allowed Smith in the guild despite his level not being up to the mark. On seeing him shaking with fear, Linda took him with her to the empty strategy hall of the guild castle and asked with a serious tone, "What's the matter? I have never seen you so much terrified." Smith sat in a chair and began,

"On a certain day about six and a half year ago, after this death game started, I was pondering hard in the middle of the plaza in the Starting City. No, I was bewildered. I wondered what I should do so as to not die. The best means was to stay inside the Starting City and not leave. All the main streets were protected by the Safe Zone Code absolutely, so if I stayed inside, the digitalized life—the HP bar would not drop at all.

But, I was a sportsman in real life, and understood it clearly that the rules would change. Could I conclude definitely that the BWS rule where the 'city is the safest area' would last forever—until the game was completely cleared? What if on one day, it wouldn't be like a 'safe zone' and all the gates had large numbers of monsters rushing in like an avalanche? The players who never left the Starting City without even earning a single experience point would be unable to do anything other than move about in a helter-skelter manner.

That's why, in order to survive, I still had to become stronger. I also had to use safe means and must not take any risks. Having been bothered over this for the entire day, I finally chose to 'become sturdy'.

First, I went to the weapons store and bought the strongest armor and shield I could afford and used the remaining money to buy a pole-arm. I then went to the north gate of the city, found a party that focused the most on safety amongst the numerous parties gathering players and joined them. The first time I went to hunt was to have ten people gather to kill the weakest monster in BWS, the small wild boar.

After that, I spent a long time to hunt in order to make up for experience and continued to increase in level. The increase in levels were obviously far less than the players who were gathered in small groups or fighting solo and carrying out high-risk hunting, but the insistent philosophy towards being 'sturdy' caused me to finally become a sub-leader of one of the strongest guilds in the clearing groups, the Black Dragon Alliance.

Thanks to my hard work and your support, I now can be said to be amongst the strongest in Arcadian in terms of HP, equipment defenses and the defensive skills I trained.

I believed that if I was holding the large Sentry Lance with my right hand and the Tower Shield in my left hand, I would be able to hang on for 30 minutes even if three monsters of the same level as me attacked from the front.

I just wondered if those people wearing leather armor that was like paper and using offensive-oriented weapons and skills for damage dealing — like a certain all-dark solo player I met several minutes ago — were all weirdo's with something wrong in their minds. In fact, amongst all the character builds, the ones with the lowest death rate are really the tanks with sturdy armor. Of course, they lacked the ability to exterminate enemies, so they had to join large parties.

I already had what's considered the 'Strongest Defense', and believed that I could finally shake off the 'fear of death' that had been affecting me from the start. That should be the case."

Linda was listening patiently till now, "Why are you telling me this?" Smith continued,

"Right now, there was a killer who could nullify large HP, armor abilities, defensive skills and all sorts of protection the system could provide. Also, this guy is targeting me. A ghost—of course, I never actually believed that it was a ghost.

Right now, even the absolute law of the Safe-Zone Code was being bypassed like a black mist by that death god, who used a dagger to take away the lives of others. Wasn't that the electronic ghost created by 'that woman' when she was killed and sent her grudge through the Soul Box?

If that's the case, no matter how strong the fort's walls were, how heavy the locks were, or how impenetrable the headquarters of the guild was, none of them would have any effect."

Linda consoled him, patting his back "Do you know who the so-called ghost is?" Smith nodded in affirmative, "About a year ago, I tried to get stronger. No, I tried to get sturdier, and tried to get into a stronger guild, but made a single mistake—and really regretted it. I was just possessed at that moment. I was captivated by the words of that person and committed such a small crime—no, it can't be considered a crime, just a little rudeness. I didn't expect such a tragedy to occur."

Linda got up and gave a sympathizing look to the now grieving Smith, "I do not know what you did in the past, and I am least worried about it. But if you are feeling so much remorse, then why don't you just ask for forgiveness. Even if the other person is a ghost, it'll probably forgive you."

Smith got up on his feet and resolved to ask for forgiveness. It was beyond 9 pm and he staggered his way from the guild castle to the nearest transportation gate and commanded, "Transport! Dimity." Dimity was a small town in the 261st stage.

Smith walked out of the town, up until a year ago; The Apple Kings guild had a small guild home in the same town and though the town was empty, Smith felt a strange resistance against going out. His destination was a graveyard about half an hour away from the town; it wasn't inside the Safe Zone Code's protection. He reached the graveyard after a long struggle with himself.

In front of him was a stone grave with the name written 'Yui – Leader of the Apple Kings'. Smith kneeled in front of the grave and muttered, "I'm sorry…it's my fault…forgive me, Yui! I…I, didn't expect things to end up like this…I had never thought of killing you!!"

[Really…?] A voice could be heard with a strange echo. It sounded like a woman's voice from the ground. Trying his best not to let his consciousness waver, Smith timidly looked up. Deep inside the shadows of the twisted tree branches, there was a black-clothed shadow that appeared silently. It was covered in a pitch black hooded robe, its sleeves down, and it was impossible to see what was inside the hood in the darkness.

However, Smith felt a sharp stare coming from there and used both hands to cup his mouth that was about to let out a cry tightly before hurriedly nodding a few times. "It…it's true. I didn't know anything! I just…just followed orders, just…a little thing…"

[What did you do…? What did you do to me, Smith…?] Smith put his forehead down onto the ground "I…I just…on the day we had decided to sell the ring, I found a memo and a crystal in my belt pouch…and there was an instruction..."

[Who was it, Smith?] This time, it was a man's voice.

[Whose instruction was it…?] The stiff neck cringed again, and Smith just looked frozen. He tried forcefully to lift that metal-like heavy head and glanced over. The second death god appeared near the shadows of the trees. He had the same design on him, wearing a black hooded robe, but was just slightly taller than the first one.

"…Mayank…?" Lowering his head slightly, Smith whimpers with what was barely a voice. "You're…you're dead too...?" The death god didn't answer, but wordlessly stepped forward. From under the hood, an ominous and distorted voice could be heard.

[Who…who instigated you…?]

"I…I don't know! It's true!!" Smith frantically shouted out. "The memo…the memo just wrote that I was to follow the leader…that when she moved into the inn and went out of her room to eat, I was to secretly put the target crystal at a spot inside her room and, and put the transport crystal into the guild storage. That, that's all that was written…I, I only did this! I didn't touch Yui at all! That…that person actually stole the ring and killed her…I; I didn't think this would happen at all!"

"I knew deep down, that I would be betraying the guild leader. But I thought that the other guy would just trade it off you and the amount I would get in return would be enough for me to join the clearers. I did this only to help you, by clearing this game faster and returning to our lives."

[You were quiet even when the news came that she was missing…Everyone tried their best to find her…It was you who suggested that we check the Available Player Log for her name.] The hooded man was sharp to the point. It was true a day after her death was confirmed; Smith got his amount as promised. "I…was, really scared! If I told everyone else about the memo, everyone would eye me…so, that is why, and I had no idea who wrote the memo at all!! Please, please forgive me, Yui, Mayank. I, I really never thought of becoming a killer's accomplice. Please believe me, please…!"

The next moment the duo removed their cloaks. Smith who had his sight only on the ground looked up with his tearful eyes, which began to widen "…Megan…Sally…why?" Sally swayed her long shiny black hair and answered, "I've recorded everything Smith. You helped the killer to kill Yui and now you shall be judged…not by us, but the whole player community."

Smith was so shocked that he couldn't breathe, looking back and forth at the two players' faces under their death god's robes. The true identities of what he had thought to be Yui and Mayank were unexpectedly Sally and Megan. However, these two should be dead. He had only heard that they were dead, but he believed the solo player and 'The Allegro' who had seen them die before them. They were amongst the players who would never commit such a prank.

They're ghosts? Smith nearly passed out, but the words Sally said right after she showed her face barely managed to keep Smith conscious. "Re…recording…?" The hoarse voice was barely squeezed out from his throat as Sally pulled her hand out from her robe to show Smith, revealing an six-sided pillar shaped crystal that gave off a light green glow; a recording crystal.

Ghosts probably didn't use items to record voices. In that case, Sally and Megan's deaths were facade. He couldn't imagine how they did it, but both of them acted out their own 'deaths' to create an avenger that didn't exist in the first place, and forced the 3rd person into a dead end for the sake of vengeance. They recorded the confession of the 3rd person admitting his guilt and asking for forgiveness, all —— as part of a plan to unravel what happened in a murder incident in the past.

"…So…that's how it is…" Smith finally realized the truth, muttered weakly in a voice that was barely audible, and immediately collapsed. He wasn't enraged that he was fooled so thoroughly, nor that the evidence was taken from him, but amazed by Sally and Megan's persistence —— their admiration of Yui.

"You two…really respect leader…" Megan quietly answered in his weak voice. "Aren't you the same? Aren't you the same, like us? You never hated the leader at all, did you? No matter how much you desired the ring, you wouldn't develop any malice towards her, am I right?"

"Of…of course I didn't. Really, trust me." Smith's face twisted as he continued nodding. In terms of battle ability, even if both of them teamed up on him, they were probably not stronger than him. However, Smith didn't think of immediately drawing his weapon to shut them both up. First, if he fell as a hostile player, he wouldn't be able to continue staying in the guild and the clearing group. And more importantly, if he killed Sally and Megan here, Smith was very certain that he could never revert to his normal self.

"It is true that you didn't know who wrote the memo, right?" Sally asked sternly, and Smith nodded hard again. "I, I still don't know who it was. Amongst the 8 of us, if you minus me off, you two, leader and Mayank, there should be 3 people left…but I never contacted them after that…don't you have any clue?"

In face of Smith's question, Sally could only shake her head gently. "The three of them joined a middle-ranked guild that was similar to The Apple Kings after it was disbanded and lived ordinary lives. None of them bought any rare equipment or player homes. You were the only one who stepped up so quickly, Smith."

After Yui died, the leather bag that was sent to his room had an unbelievably large sum of money. At that point, he could buy all of the high ability equipment that he could only water his mouth at. If the person didn't spend that kind of money and put it inside the storage, that person had an iron heart. No, before this—Smith looked up and immediately forgot the circumstances he was in and said the doubt that grew within him. "…Bu, but, won't this be too weird…if the person didn't need that money, then why did he kill the leader and steal the ring…?"

"The one…who sent the memo was…" Smith continued to think hard and was about to say a deduction that vaguely appeared in his mind. However, as he was too focused, it was too late when he noticed 'that'.

"SMI…!" Just when Sally in front of him shouted, a small dagger was stabbed into his neck from behind him. After a moment of shock, Smith quickly turned back with the response ability he had trained from the frontlines. It was a fatal point, and the damage would be great, but it would still be far less compared to Smith's vast HP amount.

However, just when he was about to turn around, Smith's feet lost their senses, and he collapsed onto the ground with a clank. His HP bar was surrounded by a yellow flash. It indicated the state of paralysis. As a tank, his anti-poison skill should have increased by quite a bit, but this was a rather high level poison that could negate resistance.

"One down, two to go." The boyish innocent voice came from above Smith, and he hurriedly looked up. First, he saw a black leather boot with what looked like a sharp thumbtack. The person also had black tight-fitting leather pants, and the leather armor on him was black too. His right hand was holding onto a long and thin throwing knife that was dipped in green, while his left hand was in his pocket. He brought out another knife and threw it towards Megan and Sally, and the duo slumbered in paralysis.

Smith looked further up towards the cursor; it was a hostile cursor, so the player was a real H-player. "Ah…!" Smith heard a soft cry and turned around to see a small-sized player holding a really thin sword and threatening Sally and Megan. He was dressed completely in black too, but the clothing wasn't made of leather. It was a piece of ragged clothing that reached from top to bottom. The right hand was holding an extremely long, thin metallic sword most likely a Rapier.

Smith knew of these two people. He had never met them directly before, but amongst the bulletin circulated through the guild headquarters, all the top players had a sketch of them amongst the list of the players that they were supposed to be wary of.

In a certain sense, they were the biggest enemy of the clearing group, bigger than the boss monsters, the hostile players. They were the main players in the largest savage guild who were the executives. The poisoned dagger user who paralyzed Smith was King Max, and the Rapier user who held down Sally and Megan was Shu-shan.

Smith tentatively looked behind and stared over with his widened eyes. He could feel the figure of the biggest terror in Arcadian. The person was wearing a dull black cape that covered him down to his knees and a hood that was attached, covering the eyes. The person was holding a chopping knife with a blood-like red blade.

"…Diabolos…" Smith muttered the name out from his lips and started trembling hard as if he saw terror and despair. The top-tier of the hostile guild The Grave Busters. The guild was formed about 3 years after this game of death called BWS was launched. All the members of this guild shared a similar ideology, 'If this is a death game, then killing people is a necessity.'

"So the info is true, we got ourselves a top player of the mighty BDA." Diabolos licked his lips. Though his voice was that of a well-civilized person, there was undoubtedly malice in his voice.

Why would the three of them appear in such a place? The top 3 of The Grave Busters were a symbol of terror, the highest class fugitive. They couldn't possibly come over here for sightseeing. In other words, the three of them knew that Smith was here before attacking.

But this wouldn't be enough to explain it. He never told the people from BDA where he was going, and Sally and Megan couldn't possibly leak any information. The two of them were now being threatened by the Rapier of Shu-shan and looking completely pale. Even if Smith, who was moving on his own at the 261st Stage, was discovered by a member of the guild that contacted Diabolos, it was way too fast for them to appear.

Was there something else that caused the three of them to appear on this floor coincidentally? Was this a huge misfortune that could only happen with a one in ten thousand chance? Or, this coincidence was the revenge of the deceased Yui…? Smith was now feeling the terror of death even greater than before; he couldn't help but close his eyes.

The metallic armor that covered his entire body was just a heavy stone when he couldn't move. They quickly stopped by to joke as if it was before a meal, baring their bloodhound-like teeth. Diabolos' large dagger Master Cleaver was an extremely rare monster drop that could easily break the armor that Smith donned.

Suddenly, a light crisp of dry leaves echoed in the environment. The sound slowly grew in intensity and soon it became clear that someone was approaching. Diabolos used a sharp breathing to warn his two subordinates. Max readied his poisoned dagger and retreated while Shu put the Rapier closer to Sally and Megan's necks.

Smith continued to rotate the neck he couldn't move desperately, and saw a white fluorescent line coming in a straight line from the main streets. Then a gust of air passed through Smith and stabbed Shu in the back, then Max and finally Diabolos but he managed to evade the attack in the nick of time. The unknown attacker now stood right in front of Smith with his back towards him.

Donning his signature all-dark leather outfit, it was 'The Rogue Swordsman' Naperjet. "Hey, Diabolos. Long times no see; you are still in the same strange outfit that you wore in Stage 80." "Huh…Look who's talking?" His tone had a strange and un-ignorable killing intent.

Max then stepped forward and obviously raised his voice. "You bastard…! Aren't you the relaxed one!? Don't you know the situation you're in!?" Using his left hand to stop his subordinate who was swinging the dagger, Diabolos raised the chopper knife in his right hand onto the shoulder from behind and tapped. "It's just like what this guy said, Naperjet. The cool entrance is good, but even you can't handle the three of us alone at the same time, right?"

Smith, who was still paralyzed, clenched his left hand which was the only one that he could move. The situation was just like what Diabolos described. Even Naperjet, who had top-notch fighting ability amongst the clearing group, couldn't possibly beat the top 3 of Laughing Coffin at the same time. Why? At least he should have brought 'The Allegro' along too?

"I doubt that. You see poison is not my specialty, but I too have some trick up my sleeve. Take an example: I will have to pin you down for about…um…10 mins; before BDA members come in search of him." He said pointing towards Smith. Taking out his shiny platinum shield and his sword from his back, he posed a semi-defensive posture.

Soon, Diabolos cursed and moved his right foot back. He snapped his left finger, and his subordinates went several meters back. Diabolos raised the chopper in his right hand and pointed it at Naperjet, growling, "…Rogue Swordsman, I am offering you a position amongst us even as an N-player. After all you face the same thing like us, discrimination just due to the fact that your ideology does not match with them."

Without losing any bit of his cool, Naperjet answered "I am better off like this. By the way, many guilds have approached me to join them. I tend to refuse them as this is basically my style." Diabolos twitched his brow and threatened "One of these days, I'll make you crawl on the ground while your important comrades are rolling in the tragic sea of blood. Just wait and see."

After saying that, he spun the large chopper knife on his fingers skillfully before putting it into the holster at his waist. The black leather cape swayed, and the leader of The Grave Busters turned around before jumping off the boundary wall nonchalantly while the other two subordinates followed suit.

Max still looked like he was worried about the BDA group that was about to rush here as he quickly walked away, and the Rapier user under the ragged mantle—Shu took a few steps forward before turning back, staring at Naperjet whispering, "Looks cool there, next time, I will use the Hiding and Sneaking ability to ambush you."

"…Then, please practice as much as you can. It's not as easy as it looks." On hearing Naperjet's response, Shu let out a deep breathing sound before chasing after his allies and disappearing.

After the trio left, I was quite relieved. Putting back my sword and shield, I pulled out an antidote potion out of the pouch and handed over to Smith, Sally and Megan. The trio got on their feet and I cheerfully said, "Nice meeting you, Megan and… Nice to meet you again, Sally." Sally grimaced, "I wanted to apologize after everything ended." I waved my hand and simply replied, "No need."

Megan came forward, "When Sally told me that you and 'The Allegro' are investigating the incident, I thought that my trick would fall off." "I figured the trick about 20 mins ago, so if you think that then you are over-estimating me." I sighed off, looking towards the grave of the dead leader "It was a remarkable script, an H-player inside the city; you must have got the idea from the 'Undead Unleashed' quest where ghosts were the only hostile creatures allowed inside the city."

"Using a hidden throwing weapon to target a hanging cloak to bring out the cursor from basically nothing. And while the audience is struck with fear by seeing the H-cursor you used a transport crystal to go out, and since the targeting person is gone; the H-cursor disappeared. It made it look like an H-player abducted a player from inside the city, later dropping up from height to make it look a PK inside the city."

Megan gave a weak smile and I continued, "Actually you used a special trait of Heavy Metal Armor, they take up excessive fall damage and a fall from about 20 meters can reduce its durability to 0, and it would shatter into fragments. At the same moment you used another transportation crystal to create an illusory death. In case of Sally, since she was donning cloth armor which can easily resist fall damage, you used a dagger to whittle down the durability to zero."

Sally gave up a small grin and asked, "What about the incoming BDA members and how did you figure this out?" I began, "For the starters, there are no BDA re-enforcements. I came here without the slightest idea that the trio would be here. When they popped in my Search radius, I sped up here and formulated the bluff on the way."

"And before the latter part, I want to know about Mayank's role in this. I don't think that it is just a co-incidence that the dagger was created by him." The duo appeared shocked, "Well, yes. You see we didn't have a good enough dagger that could reduce the durability of even cloth armor fast enough. So, we visited a lot of blacksmiths for such a weapon; but most of them refused owing to our proficiency in daggers. So, we turned towards Mayank and after a lot of request he finally agreed to forge a dagger with high armor pierce ability."

"This might feel odd, but I think that it was Mayank who sent the trio here to silence the last hope of capturing the criminal of that incident." I was speaking with a confidence that even surprised me. This devastated expression appeared on Sally and Megan's faces as well.

A few seconds later, Sally shook her wavy black hair, getting more agitated in the meantime. "How is it possible…such a thing, you're lying! Those two were always together…Mayank was always following her from behind…and also…that's right, if he was the real culprit, why did he assist us in our plan!? If he wouldn't help us, we wouldn't be able to do anything, and the 'ring incident' wouldn't see the light of day, right?"

"Did you two describe the entire plan to Mayank?" On hearing my sudden question, Sally shut her mouth tightly, and gave a slight nod. "…Then, he should have known what would happen if the plan succeeded. In other words, the final scene would be such that Smith, who was filled with guilt, would come over to Yui's grave to confess his sins and get questioned by you two. In that case, he could think of a plan to bury the 'ring incident' into complete darkness. The accomplice Smith; and the ones who wanted to know the truth, Sally and Megan. He just needed…to shut you three up."

"…I see. So…so that's why, those three…" I glanced at Smith, who looked completely confounded as he said these words, and nodded with a depressed feeling. "That's the case. The reason why the top three of The Grave Busters appeared was because Mayank leaked the information to them. A BDA executive-level prey is here at this place without any allies."

"…How is this…" Sally, who lost all her strength in her knees, collapsed onto the ground, and Megan used his right arm to support her. However, that extremely pale face of his could be clearly seen even under the moonlight. "…I still don't believe you." I gave up and sighed, "Then why don't you ask him? Ask him what the truth is?" The trio was quite shocked as they could now hear two sets of footsteps right behind me.

The first thing that entered my eyes was the golden colored knight uniform that was still radiant looking in this night scene. Obviously, that was Liza 'The Allegro', wielding a bow with a silver string that was almost invisible anytime in the day. As far as I know, this is the most elegant looking and powerful bow in Arcadian, and also the most savage weapon that could pierce through all sorts of defenses.

A man was walking here as well, seemingly being forced to by the bow which could summon and fire an arrow anytime the user wants and the sharp stare of the user. The very tall and thin figure was wearing very long-edged leather clothing and a hat with a very large edge. The face was hidden under the shadows. The overall impression he gave was that he was more of a sheriff in a Wild West movie than a craftsman.

Both cursors were of normal players. I was already prepared to let Liza become a criminal player to prevent that guy from running way —— of course, if that had happened, I would have definitely helped her perform whichever task was necessary to revert to her original alignment —— so after seeing this, I couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief, but I immediately tensed up again and stared at this man walking up the hill.

Under the black leather hat was a face that looked gentle, no matter how one looked at it. The slightly small black pupils deep inside noble looking eyes did have a certain kind of existence that could summon my cautiousness. He spoke in a very gentlemanly tone, "It's been quite a long time, Smith. We did meet a few days ago, Megan and Sally."

"What are you doing here?" Sally was left wonder-struck on seeing him here. "He was hiding there amongst the bushes, may be waiting for his hired mercenaries to kill you all." It was Liza 'The Allegro' who popped out from behind Mayank "I had to use my Search ability break off his cover."

"Of course it couldn't be helped. I'm just an ordinary blacksmith, and as you can see, I don't have a single weapon on me at all. Why must I be told off by you so thoroughly for not appearing in front of some H-players?" He answered calmly and reluctantly opened his arms with the leather gloves on.

Smith, Megan and Sally couldn't say anything as they just continued to listen to Mayank defending himself. They were probably still in disbelief that their ex-sub-leader requested savage red players to kill them. They never thought of that and were probably unwilling to believe this. It's not weird for them to be like this. I reached my left hand out to stop Liza, who looked like she still wanted to say something, and finally said, "Nice to meet you for the first time, Mayank. I'm Naperjet…just an outsider —— but it's true that we can't link your appearance here with the attack by 'The Grave Busters' as we have no evidence to prove these two cases. Even if we ask them, they probably wouldn't testify."

"They probably won't, so allow me help you. Yes, I leaked the information that Smith a high level player from the BDA would be here. Though I didn't know the time, the info was more than enough for them to keep surveillance up here. And Smith, in case you are wondering…" He manipulated his menu and materialized a large sack filled with coins. Only the size of the sack was enough to tell that it contained money in at-least seven digits.

"Here, you can have it. It is the remaining money I got from that ring deal. Too sad, I wasn't able to spend a single penny out of it." All of us were left astonished, "Why did you kill her? You loved her, even married her before that raid?" However, he seemed to be unaffected by the emotional onslaught. "I even love her now; there is no doubt in regards of that even now. But after the ring drop, there happened to be friction amongst us. I wanted her to use it, but she was hell-bent on selling it. After the vote, I planned to use Smith and his ambitions to get the ring out of Yui."

"So my intentions were to use the targeted transport crystal to get inside the inn room and manipulate her to sleep-trade. But when I got in and tried it, she woke up and saw me. I used another transportation crystal to get out of there but she followed me out of the area. And…after she pinned me down right here, she asked me to settle things with a fully decisive duel." I couldn't imagine the scene about how fierce the duel would be.

"I was at 1% of my HP and she had her dagger right at my neck when she was attacked from behind by Diabolos. He saved me from her by killing her and then…" For the first time till now, I saw something emotional in those cold eyes. I continued, "After she died, you must have offered anything from the drops to him and as expected off him, he would refuse and leave." This time, I took him by surprise "How'd you know that he didn't kill me apart from that I am still alive."

"A killer or not…Diabolos has a strict code of honor. He always leaves behind a witness to tell the tale and…He believes that two is an unlucky number for him. Even if I consider the state back here, he himself would kill just Smith and leave Megan and Sally at the mercy of his subordinates." I acted like I was an encyclopedia containing their behavioral aspects recorded.

Mayank anyhow continued, "Yes, I got all the items she had. However, I felt guilty of that so I fulfilled her last wish of selling the ring and distributing the money amongst the guild members. I first gave Smith the money I promised him for the job and now you take the money here. I don't want to live with this guilt." Sally and Megan's expression hardly changed and both nodded in negative.

But his next step was quite surprising to us. He took out a small dagger from his inventory and murmured, "This is the dagger that she wanted to kill me with, now…" He moved to stab himself with the dagger when Liza fired an arrow aiming precisely at the knife, causing it to fly off, while I caught him.

Several minutes of silence passed, the one who broke the silence was Smith, who didn't talk up till now. "…Naperjet, can you leave this guy's punishment to us? Of course, we won't lynch him, but we'll definitely make him atone for his sins." This calm voice didn't have any sense of the absolute terror it had several minutes ago.

I looked up at the muscular guy whose armor let out some sounds and nodded slightly. "I got it. I'll leave it to you then." Smith nodded wordlessly and grabbed Mayank's right hand to pull him up. After checking that the craftsman with his head lowered wouldn't run away, he simply said "Sorry to trouble you" and left the hill.

Sally and Megan walked up to us and asked, "You didn't tell how you found out that we were here?" I scratched the back of my head in hesitation but Liza caught me, "Since you traded Megan's map info with him. You were added to temporary companion list of his. So we were able to track you down till here."

"I didn't know that there was such a feature. Anyways, you two get quite well with each other." Megan spoke up and thanked us for their support and left the place.