The air turned heavy as if the gravity had suddenly increased.
It was getting difficult to breathe, and they could feel weight pressing on their chest.
Andromeda was feeling it the most because of her short body, causing her to fall down on her knees, panting heavily.
“June!” Cerberus shouted, wanting to rush to her side, but he noticed that he was unable to move.
His limbs felt heavy, and his muscles were tight, as if an invisible force were holding him back.
“Who are you?” Ambrose looked straight at the fiery red eyes, inwardly thinking. ‘Vampire!’
Those eyes reminded him of Johann, the vampire he encountered during the Death Race.
Reinhardt looked at the young man, then his gaze fell to the black blade, his eyes widening slightly before turning to normal.
“My name is Reinhardt.” He said and tapped his finger against his sword scabbard. “You are in the presence of the World’s Strongest Swordsman. Be grateful that you may have a chance to fight against the pinnacle!”
‘The World’s Strongest Swordsman?’ Ambrose frowned. ‘He seems arrogant, so is he just speaking big, or is he actually the strongest? If he is… then, of course, as a swordsman, I have to fight him!’
“The strongest?” Cerberus scoffed. “We’ll see about that!”
Ambrose glanced at him and frowned. “You want to fight him?”
“This bastard interrupted our fight.” Cerberus side glanced at his little sister, who struggled to breathe, and then said, “Before I can kill you, I have to kill him first, obviously.”
Ambrose rolled his eyes. “You can watch me defeat him; stay out of my fucking way.”
“Hah!” Cerberus laughed mockingly. “If you happen to stand on my way, I’ll just cut straight through you!”
“…” Reinhardt kept a cold look and then closed his eyes. “What foolish individuals.”
After he closed his eyes, the increased pressure disappeared, allowing everyone to move and breathe normally.
“We’ll help you.” The members of Zahhak gathered behind Cerberus, but at the same time, they showed murderous looks towards Ambrose.
If the opportunity arose, they would happily take advantage of the situation to kill Ambrose.
“Did you know this, Ambrose.” Cerberus glanced at him and smirked. “The NPCs can only collect the bounty if they capture and deliver you alive to nearby bounty collection outpost.”
“So?” Ambrose frowned. “What is the point of saying this?”
“However, players only have to kill you to collect the bounty.” Cerberus smirked. “And, if you happen to die, you would be unable to login back to the game for a certain period of time. It depends on how much bounty you have.”
“…” Ambrose silently listened, not aware of such information.
“When you log back in, you will appear at the nearest jail location from the place of your death.
“Your bounty would get reset back to zero.”
“Let me guess, you want to collect the bounty on my head, then camp outside Hightown’s jail to capture me once I respawn.” Ambrose smiled. “You’re quite opportunistic.”
“We’ll, not quite.” Cerberus laughed. “First, I’ll deliver you to Olympos, get the Upgrade Token, then kill you, and then we have a surprise for you once you respawn~”
“Why are you telling me this?” Ambrose smiled. “Now I would be extra careful.”
“It’s because you can’t do anything about it.” Cerberus looked at his sword and smirked. “You’re already trapped in our game, and there’s no way out.”
SweetieHell glanced at Cerberus briefly before turning to his little sister.
“June, why is he telling this to him?”
“He might not want to admit it, but he likes chasing him.” Andromeda sighed. “My brother is an eccentric person, and he might act otherwise, but in reality, he wants Ambrose to escape so he can hunt him again and kill him fairly.”
“We don’t have time for that!” SweetieHell sighed in frustration. “We have already spent longer chasing after him than anyone else. This is starting to hurt our reputation!”
“He doesn’t care.” Andromeda said with a sigh. “He had never found anyone capable of evading him before, and now he has. He’s enjoying the challenge.”
Ambrose looked away from Cerberus, his expression calm, and then looked at Reinhardt, standing calmly as ever.
‘He is still standing there calmly, not bothered by anything.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘It’s time to see just how great he really is.’
…
Sara and Aaron hid behind a large oak tree, watching the intense standoff between Reinhardt and everyone else.
“We hit a jackpot!” Sara said excitedly. “To think that we managed to get such a front-row seat to witness the fight between Ambrose and Cerberus!”
“But who is he?” Aaron wondered while still recording everything that was happening.
“Uh, who cares?” Sara waved her hand dismissively. “I just hope that they get rid of this guy so we can continue to watch the encounter between Ambrose and Zahhak.
“I am sure that interests people more!”
“Uh, excuse me.”
“Aaah!” Sara and Aaron jumped in surprise and turned around to see a middle-aged man carrying a heavy-looking sword on his back, standing with a clueless expression on his face. 𝑂𝑽xt.𝔠
“I am lost; can you point to the nearest hotel?” Julian, the so-called Strongest Player, asked.
He saw them hunching behind an oak tree, and they were the first people he saw, so he decided to ask them for directions.
He had just recently arrived at Hightown after hearing about the quest.
After several losses to Zhen, he planned to take the quest to increase his strength further before challenging him again.
“We are busy!” Sara waved her hand dismissively. “Go ask someone else.”
Beside her, Aaron looked at the middle-aged man silently, his eyes trembling with shock.
“Hmm?” Julian ignored the woman’s rude response and looked toward the street.
He saw the man with the wide-brimmed hat and immediately could tell he was the strongest person he had ever seen!
‘What kind of scene I waltzed into?’ Julian wondered with a mix of intrigue and caution.
After his gaze went past the man, he saw a group of players about to fight this formidable opponent.
‘Huh, Cerberus, and Zahhak.’ Julian thought with no change in expression.
He had encountered them before in Ember Online.
As he was about to just leave, he noticed another person.
This time, his expression widened in shock.
‘Ambrose!’ Julian’s hands trembled and turned sweaty. ‘He is about to fight this monster, and he is even smiling?’
When he first saw the man, he thought about never wanting to fight against such a monster with his current strength.
Yet this young man, whom he already acknowledged as fearless and determined, was now standing confidently before the monster.
‘He is going to fight, even though the defeat is almost guaranteed.’ Julian looked over his shoulder at his sword and clenched his fist. ‘How can I leave now?’
Tap, tap—he then waltzed past the two journalists, approaching the group with a fearless expression on his face.
“Where the hell are you going?” Sara shouted after him and then shook her head. “Some players truly are fools!”
Aaron snapped his head in her direction and shout-whispered. “Do you really not know who he was?!”
“Huh, who?” Sara looked at him with a frown.
“He is the Saint Julian!” Aaron felt like ripping his clueless colleague’s hair. “The whole player community was shaken to its very core when his name appeared on top of Tsukuyomi’s World Quest Leaderboard.
“Everyone, at that moment, acknowledged him as the strongest player in the whole game!”
“H-h-h-he is that guy?” Sara asked in shock. “The legendary player who single-handedly dominated Ember Online’s competitive scene?”
“Yes, and you acted so rudely!” Aaron sighed in frustration. “You are such a fool!”
Sara turned back to the scene, her face cracking into a giant grin.
“R-record everything!” She shouted and spread her arms wide. “This video will shake the world!”