BXBX NOVEL Chapter 113 What "It" Feels
The Shadow Guild\'s influence runs deep in the Western Region of Olympia, near the border between Olympia itself and Alastor, the Western country.
Due to the Shadow Guild\'s influence, a visitor of the region might unknowingly be interacting with someone affiliated with the Shadow Guild, and due to its nature as an \'Information\' Guild, or a guild that specializes in gathering information, whoever visited their area of influence would certainly be privately observed from afar or investigated if the situation calls for it.
Visitors from other countries or within Olympia itself have different reasons for visiting such a place; some may want to have a quiet life, taking a break from something as the Western Region has a rural-like atmosphere; some would visit their relatives, and some would travel, making the Western Region as their stop for their next destination.
But, at this very moment, Russell\'s instinct was telling him that almost, if not everyone, were under the Shadow Guild\'s sphere of influence. It\'s something that he didn\'t expect, but due to his unpublished novel, his unexpected experiences, as well as the Untouched and Unknown Elements he encountered until this very moment, he remained calm as he, Amelie, Maya, and her parents just left a certain hotel, the one they were previously in.
Maya\'s parents didn\'t notice it, but the prying eyes of the civilians in this certain town were cast onto them as they paced with heavy steps like prey being tired of running from their predator.
<Russell, someone is following us. It seems we were exposed earlier through that burly man.>
Amelie said through telepathic communication, staying on guard with the possible ambush.
Russell listened to Amelie\'s words and began to ponder for some time, taking notes of the Shadow Guild\'s characteristics in his unpublished novel.
What he didn\'t anticipate was the Shadow Guild\'s influence that\'s rather been forced into the surrounding civilians with Arthur Wolfson\'s psychological cue. At least, it\'s what he presumed to be the case, but he wasn\'t certain yet at this moment aside from the fact that Maya\'s parents encountered Arthur Wolfson before they signed a contract, having no control over their bodies, which turned them into slaves for four years until they were freed.
Aside from being an \'Information Guild\', the Shadow Guild also specializes in the assassination, and the burly man that they encountered, an S rank player who seemed to be the real sentinel of this certain part of the Western Region of Olympia, recognized them, if not fully, it\'s one of their physical characteristics.
<We\'ve been had. I\'ll intercept it to buy you some time. Take Maya and her parents out... and...>
Russell said as they continued their pacing, reaching a forested area. The quiet and cold atmosphere of the night was sending chills down his spine.
<And...?>
After an unknown period of time, Amelie replied in wonder as she glanced at Russell, she noticed that he didn\'t finish his words.
<... Let\'s find a spot first, and quickly warp out of the area.>
He said while feeling the incoming players that are after them. Their distance was at least a hundred meters away, but it\'s the kind of distance they intentionally placed themselves in, not because they couldn\'t catch up to them.
\'If the S rank comes, we\'d be dead...\'
Russell knew that the people behind them were no ordinary, and might even instantly kill them if they noticed that something was amiss with their actions.
<...Russell, the hotel maid earlier is an A+ rank, and the other two men with her are A rank...>
He didn\'t have the time to check the Status Windows of the hotel maid and the two men with her after they went back to the hotel room as they left quickly after confirming his and Amelie\'s presence, but he was glad that Amelie managed to do so as she\'s the first to come out of a bathroom before him.
<...and the hotel maid\'s profession... is something called Blinker. I don\'t know what that is, you know.>
Russell\'s scalp tingled upon hearing the profession of the hotel maid who previously served them.
The right course of action was to leave with everyone, and not intercept the pursuers, but there\'s one problem that should be taken into account.
It\'s what\'s faster, their Nihility trait to be triggered in less than a second, or getting stabbed almost instantly the moment they do something suspicious.
The Blinker profession was similar to Tracker, but the difference was that their speed of attack was instant.
<...Amelie, did you check if the hotel maid from earlier has a contracted Constellation?>
Russell asked in a hurry as they scurried in the forest, finding a certain spot that would block the pursuers\' vision even for a second.
<Yes, she has. I believe it\'s called \'Double Edge\'s Transmitter\'. It\'s a weird name for a Constellation, it sounded like an artifact.>
She said nonchalantly as if the pursuers didn\'t matter.
\'I see...\'
He thought upon hearing Amelie\'s words, it was something that he knew from his unpublished novel, and the identity of the hotel maid was someone he also probably knew, but considering that he didn\'t know Maya the moment he saw her for the first time, it\'s likely the case for the hotel maid.
<...Amelie, heal me later if the plan goes smoothly... It\'s not necessary to intercept them, but if I get caught...>
He paused for a moment as they saw a towering large tree, then Russell slowly took out his sword, but this time, it was the sword whose name was unknown, not the Sword of Shad that he bought at Thorn of Rose, and used to beat up Bailey Clarkson.
Spurt-!
Maya and her parents\' eyes widened as they saw Russell cut his left pinky finger, and gave it to Amelie.
\'F*ck! It f*cking hurts!\'
Russell screamed inside due to the pain of intentionally cutting his own finger, but getting stabbed in the abdomen hurts more.
<...Amelie, now!>
After composing himself, as they walked behind the large tree, he gave the cue to Amelie who took out the Staff of the Lost Shade (Growth) in her Dimensional Inventory.
...
"Ma\'am, Team C reported, 30 has been terminated in our area of influence."
A well-built, black-haired man in a black suit, standing atop a tree, said in politeness to the woman in hotel maid dress even at this moment. He\'s referring to the people with either deep blue eyes or pink hair that have been killed under the orders of the burly man.
"Is that so..."
The hotel maid who\'s a fake identity spoke casually as she looked towards the five people pacing deep in the forest this night.
Two men and three women. Two of them were young, not even in their 20s, one is in her twenties, while the other two are probably in their early 50s or late 40s.
Their targets were the man with deep blue eyes, and the woman with pink hair, but she didn\'t attack instantly and observe first what was up with these people at this very deep of the night or past midnight, striding in the forest.
The two men in the black suit only observe the woman in hotel maid dress and didn\'t question why they weren\'t eliminating the targets from afar. They were not in a position to ask questions, but rather to only follow their superior.
After some time, the woman in the hotel maid\'s dress took out a pair of daggers which has a length of roughly 13 inches, the moment she saw the man with deep blue eyes took out a sword. The sword that caught her eyes was plain in design as if it\'s been under ruin for an unknown number of years. Although the five people\'s backs were facing them, she caught a glimpse of the sword.
She didn\'t know the purpose of the man with deep blue eyes who took out a sword, but she caught the expression of the two women, the one in her twenties, and the older man among them, while the young woman has a calm expression. It\'s very unusual... that the youngsters were rather composed than those who were older than them.
The moment she saw the young woman\'s casual expression, she knew that something was amiss as she quickly activated her unique skill, but her target wasn\'t the young woman, but the man with deep blue eyes with a readied weapon whom she deemed as dangerous.
[Activating the Unique Skill: Strike Transmission (SS)]
...
[Activating the Skill: Spade Warp (Unholy)]
[Your Trait: Nihility has concealed the surroundings.]
Amelie activated her skill, and without any explanation, she grabbed Maya and her parents and instantly threw them inside the warp that was designated to Maya\'s home in the Northern Olympia.
"...Russell"
But the moment she looked at Russell beside her, she saw a pair of long daggers pierced into his chest from behind.
Amelie looked at the woman in a hotel maid dress wearing a look of confusion. She analyzed the situation before he grabbed Russell from the woman, along with the dagger on his chest.
\'She\'s not seeing us.\'
Although what hit Russell seemed instant that Amelie\'s eyes dilated, and were at a loss for words, she composed herself and didn\'t let her emotions get the best of her.
She threw him inside the Spade Warp whose eyes were opened wide as a mouthful of blood escaped from his mouth, and before she followed suit, she slashed her palm, letting the blood drips out of it as it overlapped with Russell\'s blood on the ground.
...
"...Ma\'am? What happened? Where are they?"
One of the two men in a black suit asked in confusion as he looked at their superior whose eyes were in disbelief. She\'s not holding her weapon anymore as it vanished from her sight as though it was a kind of writing that\'s been erased into nothingness.
She looked at the ground where a mouthful of blood appeared after some time as she fell into deep thought.
\'...How?\'
She\'s shocked not because her weapon was lost, but rather it\'s because of the terrifying concealment ability she encountered just now.
[The Constellation, \'Double Edge\'s Transmitter\', says that \'He\' didn\'t see where they went.]
Along with her confusion, she read the message of her Constellation from the System which added to her wonder, but the next message sent her sense back into reality.
[Your Unique Skill\'s condition has been triggered.]
[Strike Transmission\'s condition states that your target is needed to die within 8 hours the moment it hits.]
[If the target lives after 8 hours the moment it hits, you\'ll be penalized.]
[Penalty: Body of Degeneration which will reduce your overall stats, excluding the Charm and Luck stats, by 70%.]
[Time Remaining: 7:57:58]
\'F*ck... F*ck!!!"
Her Unique Skill comes at a great cost because she\'s only at an A+ rank, but when she reached a certain rank, the cost of using such an overpower skill would be reduced dramatically.
"Ma\'am, should we get the blood sample of the target? It can be used to track him down."
She snapped out of her thoughts and nodded without any thinking upon hearing the suggestion of one of the two men, it wasn\'t the previous one with a well-built body and black hair, rather this one has gray hair, a fitted body, and black eyes.
"...Huh?"
She heard his voice in wonder, prompting her to look at him. Then she saw the hands of the man turning black, it was the same for the other man with a well-built body and black hair.
Without any warning, the two men collapsed, and their bodies turned black as if they were like charcoals.
The woman in a hotel maid dress fell silent, looking at her dead companions, to the point that the sounds of the cooing of some birds reverberated throughout the forested area.
...
Inside the Chaos Training Grounds
Sitting on one of the long chairs with a bottle of water in her hand, Amery, who has been resting after some time of training with a time difference of 1 Earth Day equals to 4 Chaos Training Grounds Days was jolted awake with the System message that appeared in her eyes.
...
Standing up from her bed to go to the bathroom this early morning, Freya — who just woke up, feeling drowsy — saw a System message which made her body tremble before she fell to her knees.
[Your Star Quest Party Member, Russell Moon, has died.]