...

"We're here. Vintage, Kirigami, you know what to do." One Shot Brick said.

​​

After altering their route, the group finally arrived near the Tempest allied outpost.

At the moment, they remained hidden while Vintage and Kirigami turned stealth and headed closer to the outpost to scout ahead.

As the scouts left to carry out their tasks, Izroth observed the outpost.

'This outpost is smaller than the one I attacked earlier. Since it's a smaller outpost, there should be no magical defenses in place, but...'

After observing the outpost for several seconds, Izroth closed his eyes.

'My Essence is running low. For now, I'll focus on recovering as much as possible until the scouts return.'

Izroth began to circulate his Source Chant as his Essence slowly refilled bit by bit.

He consumed a good amount of Essence with the constant use of his Energy Vision Sense and during his fights within the Hollow Soul Grove. Though most of Izroth's Essence usage came from his battle against Tigran, or to be more precise, the Dragon Lord of the Abyss.

Reminded of the Dragon Lord of the Abyss, Izroth's thoughts were drawn to what occurred after his Apparel of Insatiable Transcendence absorbed the Abyssal Dragon Lord's Scales.

'It still hasn't ended? How strange... It's never lasted this long before.'

Izroth never received a system alert regarding the end of the Apparel of Insatiable Transcendence's Overeater effect, which meant that it was still ongoing.

After the Overeater effect activated, Izroth did not get any type of follow-up from the system. An estimation, a confirmation—there was nothing.

Izroth was beginning to think that perhaps his Apparel of Insatiable Transcendence was experiencing the armor version of indigestion. But was it even possible for equipment in RML to have indigestion complications? Then again, it was not as if armor eating other armors was a common occurrence.

'Since there was no listed option for it on the skill, it's possible the Apparel of Insatiable Transcendence was never meant to consume another growth-type armor. Still, it's a bit troublesome. The system should have adjusted for it by now.'

In the end, Izroth could only wait and see what the future held.

...

The scouts One Shot Brick sent out returned around ten minutes later and gave their report.

According to them, there were numerous gaps to take advantage of between the patrols around the outpost. However, the overall strength of the outpost seemed abnormally weak compared to what it should have been.

While they did not search the entire outpost, based on what they saw, there were less than thirty NPCs and players combined that protected the outpost with an average level range of 32-38.

One Shot Brick furrowed his brows and said, "It's always possible that they no longer feel the need to have as many people stationed here since the Demilitarization Belt is now considered their territory. But it still feels a bit off. This outpost isn't large, but it's not exactly smaller either. There should be close to 150 people here. Even if the numbers were cut, isn't close to 80% a bit much?"

"Isn't this a good thing? Since it's less than 30 people, we can wrap things up pretty fast here and meet up with the guild leader's group. Besides, it's like you said—they basically rule the Demilitarization Belt at this point. With this outpost being so deep in the heart of the Demilitarization Belt, they likely never anticipated someone attacking them." Banshee commented.

"It's also possible that we're walking into a trap. Vintage, did you see any familiar faces from the Headhunter Syndicate among the players there?" One Shot Brick asked.

Vintage was one of the rogue-type players from Sacred Beasts who went to scout the outpost.

"I counted about two or three familiar faces. But, if you're asking if I saw any of the Twelve Banes, based on the descriptions we've gathered, no one was a match." Vintage responded.

"It doesn't make any sense. Was our information inaccurate?" One Shot Brick muttered to himself as he looked over at Izroth, who currently had his eyes closed.

A couple of seconds later, Izroth heard the sound of footsteps walking in his direction and opened his eyes to see One Shot Brick.

"I apologize if I've disturbed you, Palace Master Izroth. But, there is something I'd like to ask you about the outpost you attacked."

"It's fine. What is it that you wanted to ask?" Izroth inquired.

"I'm not sure how much you know about the Headhunter Syndicate; however, I figured it was better to task than to not. When you attacked, did you notice if any members of the Headhunter Syndicate were present at the time?"

Izroth took a moment to organize his thoughts as he remembered back to his assault on the outpost and the faces of every player below while he stood in the sky.

Izroth had no trouble recalling every last detail with his perfect memory and quickly put together his findings.

"Yes, if my memory serves me correctly, out of the 172 individuals present, there were 31 NPCs and 141 players. Out of the 141 players, I recognized five that had a direct connection to the Headhunter Syndicate." Izroth answered.

"Hey, aren't those numbers a bit too accurate?" One Shot Brick thought to himself.

"T-Thanks, that's all I needed to know." One Shot Brick said with a weak smile as he walked back over to his group.

"Two outposts, approximately 200 individuals, and we arrive at the grand total of seven or eight players from the Headhunter Syndicate. Even if we play it safe and double that number, it still leaves us with less than 10%. I don't like it." One Shot Brick said as his gaze turned cold.

"We're moving out!" One Shot Brick declared as he turned away from the outpost and started to walk in a direction heading away from it.

"Eh? Where are we going? The outpost's that way?" Banshee said as she followed after One Shot Brick, along with the other members of Sacred Beasts.

"I hope I'm wrong, but based on everything that's happened, I'm afraid we were too careless. We're picking up our pace!" One Shot Brick shouted as he quickened his steps.

"I understand your concern, but is it really alright to leave the outpost untouched?" Banshee questioned.

"Forget the outpost! Our guild leader might be in danger! We played right into their hands... Damn it!" One Shot Brick scowled as he grit his teeth.

"I don't understand, what-"

"A trap. I don't know how, but they knew every action that we would take from the very beginning. From going through the blood mist, even to Palace Master Izroth attacking an outpost alone. They knew our every move before we even made it..! The ambush—it was also just a diversion to keep our eyes away from their true objective."

"True objective? Wait, you don't mean...!" Banshee pieced everything together as she clenched her fists tightly, and the anger in her face became more apparent.

"If I'm not mistaken, their target was always our guild leader. And we just delivered her to them..!" One Shot Brick halted his steps.

After hearing that their guild leader was the main target of the Headhunter Syndicate, every member of Sacred Beasts was filled with rage and resentment. Once he realized this, One Shot Brick had to take a moment to calm himself.

While he felt the same way as them, One Shot Brick knew that he had to keep a clear head on his shoulders as the leader of the group.

Right now, they were still a considerable distance away from their guild leader's general position. Even their fastest players would take a while to get there. But, there was another option that he nearly dismissed due to being momentarily blinded by anger.

One Shot Brick approached Izroth, who stood near the back of the group.

He lowered his head slightly before Izroth and said, "Please, help save our guild leader if she is in trouble, Palace Master Izroth. Whatever your price may be—I will bear it."

Those from Sacred Beasts had their anger turn to shock when they saw One Shot Brick lower his head.

One Shot Brick understood the implications of a top guild's leader being killed by another guild.

If it was for the sake of Meng Jiang and Sacred Beasts who had taken him in during his time of need, he did not mind swallowing his pride.

'You're quite fortunate to have such caring guild members, guild leader Meng Jiang.'

Izroth placed his hand on One Shot Brick's shoulder and said, "Lift your head. A man should not lower his head before another so easily."

One Shot Brick lifted his head after hearing Izroth's words.

"The sincerity of your words—I have received them well." Izroth removed his hand from One Shot Brick's shoulder as his feet lifted off the ground.

"Rest assured; I will not allow any harm to befall your guild leader."