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A broad space over the town\'s protective walls.

"Roland, what is the meaning of this?"

Kiara asked with suppressed anger. She and Miranda had been locked on their spots by the security array etched over the walls. This was the town\'s protective measure to defend against external threats.

Kiara and Miranda were first bewildered and confused when Roland activated the wall\'s defensive measures on them. But they soon understood this was his plan all along. Why else would he lead the two Awakened rankers out of the city hall they were going to crash in?

Roland had asked the two rankers to follow him so that he could explain the town\'s defensive measures that had been put in place. The mission the Stardust guild has been assigned might turn into a prolonged fight depending upon the situation in the forest.

So it was a wise choice for the two rankers to know a bit about the town\'s defenses. At least that\'s what Roland had said when he led the two ladies serving as team leaders away from their teams.

Kiara and Miranda had been away from the group since they briefed the members about their plans tomorrow. Roland had kept them busy in some way or another well past midnight.

Only now did they understand that it was his way of buying time. Buying time for something that was bound to spell doom for them and their team.

Roland sighed and shook his head in disappointment. He then pulled up his sleeves to show the two Awakened something horrible.

The flesh of Roland\'s arms was rotting. The skin now had a red and bluish tinge that didn\'t look healthy. It had turned wrinkly and there was some form of liquid coming off of various pores. These pores were the size of a long grain for now. But it looked like they were only going to get bigger with time.

"This is what that bastard has done to most of us soldiers, Miss Kiara, Miss Miranda. Not just that, he is even holding the majority of the townspeople and some of my soldiers hostage."

Kiara and Miranda looked at each other with grim looks on their faces. Things weren\'t looking bright for them as well as their entire team with the way Roland was describing things.

Just when Kiara was about to ask what Roland was planning to do to them, she felt a strong mana pulse coming from the direction of the city hall. Since she was over the protective walls of the town, she could see the city hall in the distance somewhat clearly, thanks to the bright moonlight.

In the next moment, a bright white light surrounded the entirety of city hall before mana surged all around it. The fire broke out inside the energy barrier that had just been created, entrapping Kiara\'s team members who had been sleeping there.

"Roland… what the fuck did you do? Are you fucking crazy? Are you teaming up with demonic rankers to turn on us who have come to help you?"

Miranda spoke while being livid. She tried to move from her spot. But the runs that had climbed on her were making it difficult for her to move, much less any of her limbs.

She and Kiara were also having trouble accessing their mana because of the runes. Runes covered their bodies like snakes, preventing them from accessing their own mana.

These runes were connected to the security array that was etched onto the walls. Therefore, the runes were attached to the ground beneath them in such a way that they were able to trap two Awakened rankers in their grasp with ease.

Roland clenched his fists when he heard Miranda\'s words. He felt angry by the accusation, which he knew to be true in some sense. However, he wanted to put his own side forward.

"This is not something I wanted to do on my own initiative, Miss Miranda. I\'m as helpless as you. Look at the soldiers\' condition. Our flesh will just liquidate in a few hours if we don\'t get the antidote.

What am I supposed to do when the townspeople I\'m protecting and the soldiers I\'m protecting them with are all being held hostage by that man?

According to the contract, if you chose to live in this town, I would have to do all of this. I tried to give you hints that you should not enter this town. But you wouldn\'t listen. This was the only loophole I could find in the contract that would have prevented all this. But now…"

Roland said this with a stoic expression. Miranda could see that the guard captain was under tremendous stress. Clearly, he was forced into all of this by the demonic rankers. But that realization didn\'t help the two Awakened rankers in their current predicament.

Their team members\' lives were on the line. They had been caught off guard– in the most vulnerable position possible. Plus, they didn\'t know how many demonic rankers had been trapped inside the town from the beginning.

"Hehehehe!"

Kiara started laughing when she heard Roland\'s statement. However, her laugh was anything but joyful at the moment. She looked at Rolan and other soldiers who were surrounding them with weary eyes and conflicting emotions before speaking up.

"You naive men. Do you even know how demonic rankers operate? How can you count on them to give you guys the antidote and release the hostages just because you have signed a mana binding contract with them?"

Roland felt even more agitated by Kiara\'s words. Demonic rankers had a reputation for messing up contracts so that they would face the least consequences of breaking the terms. This meant that only the other party would have to honor its obligations. Otherwise, they would have to face the negative effects of breaking the contract.

Demonic rankers had various crafty and bloody ways to pull this off. So no ranker in their right mind would choose to sign mana binding contracts with them, irrespective of the situation they were in.

Clearly, Roland was an exception.