“No time to waste,” Rudra said as his glance swept at everyone before stopping at the guild leader of League of Firefly, “Tell Executive Ken to get ready. We are going to need his teleportation.”
“I want everyone ready in five minutes, with everything you have. We are going to hit them as hard as we can and rescue everyone.”
“And our priority is taking care of that bomb first and foremost. Those whose Artifacts are not on cooldown, get ready to use them,” Admiral Rudra finished speaking as he stood up, his veins popping out and squirming as blood rushed fast.
“We got them right in our pocket, and you might as well give us some useful Legendary items with some effects that can help us in this situation,” Silvester said.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Give us something useful until we solve this situation.”
“Alright. I can do that.”
…
‘Damn, we really threatened them and reached this point…’
‘How will they respond?’
‘We are asking for legendary items and that super rookie Almond…’
‘I just can’t believe demon Rudra will agree to this meekly. They are going to do something for sure.’
‘Fuck, I’m really scared of dying. We’ve hit a crazy nerve this time. All old monsters and top powerhouses must be furious.’
‘Yeah, we might not even be able to escape…’
Lerke’s right hand was on the armrest of the throne he created with his strange bronze-fiery metallic elemental energy, and his left hand rested beneath his chin as his eyes narrowed at the five rats before him.
“You insects, are you scared?”
The rats trembled but truthfully nodded their heads.
“Do you know why I did this?”
The rats glanced at each other before two of them spoke one by one.
“To get the legendary items and weaken them so they can’t perform well once the battlefield of the Mightiest starts?”
“To dispose of the younger generation adventurer so they don’t grow powerful, ultimately losing in the Battlefield event?”
“Idiots!” Lerke grunted and leaned back on his throne, his nose flaring flames before he spoke, “My main aim to do this is to glean into the psyche of this world’s top powerhouses.”
“I want to see their capabilities at their limit and how they will respond to this, especially that man I saw on the screen,” Lerke’s eyes glinted as he continued, “For us, our priority is keeping ourselves safe, not the destruction of this stupid town, those legendary items, or those young ants.”
‘He called someone Man for the first time…’
‘But Rudra is a fucking demon, not a man.’
“So you are not going to destroy this town with that bomb?” One of the rats curiously asked.
Lerke sneered in response as he eyed the device in front of him. However, he didn’t speak anything out loud.
‘Whether I destroy this town or not is up to the top powerhouses of this world,’ Lerke thought, his eyes flashing cunningly. ‘Based on their powers, trump cards, and means that I find, I’ll have to decide.’
‘If they are capable of hunting me down, we have to keep the damage minimum lest they are completely provoked,’ Lerke clenched his fist as he remembered his order.
His aim was to be a menace and live. Death was not an option from his Hollowstar Lord.
Lerke’s lips curved as he grinned, “but I do wonder if there’s any insect here on par with me at my state when I was Platinum-rank.”
Due to restrictions from the Grimworld Turotial, his rank was down to Platinum level 150. He currently had the same powers and stats as he had when he was Platinum level 150.
But his real rank was Mythical Level 300!
…
One minute remained until the deadline.
“If they don’t come in one minute, I am going to bomb the town,” Lerke carefreely said as his voice rang into every rat’s ears, “Use your cloak and escape when I say “Run” as I will activate the bomb one second after that.”
“Understood, Captain Lerke!”
However, a few seconds after that, the hologram appeared once again, showing Admiral Rudra.
“The person you asked for and the items are outside the town. Now deactivate the bomb and finish the deal.” After saying this, the hologram vanished.
Lerke’s eyes glinted as he flew up before narrowing his eyes at the town’s entrance since there was only one proper side from which people could enter the town.
“Captain Lerke, I see him. There’s a storage pouch hanging at his waist, so the items must be there.”
Lerke’s eyes were narrowed and unmoved as he went back down and looked at the hologram from the device. ‘So, they gave up this easily? This doesn’t match what the rats say, so they must have a plan.’
Outside the town, the one that looked exactly like Almond was not Almond at all.
Instead, it was Admiral Rudra himself who used an ancient artifact of Morreti House—Faceless Mask. As long as anything biological of a target is put into the mask and activated, a person can wear the mask and look exactly the same, down to the aura itself.
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Admiral Rudra had Almond’s blood and hair, so here he was in the guise of Almond.
As for the hologram, it was all Astral Ai who projected Admiral Rudra and replied like him.
Not too far from the town, ten of the old monsters were hidden just one kilometer away behind the mountainous area of the town.
Along with those seven old monsters were the League of Firefly guild’s leader—Quinn Firefly, and Executive Ken.
This was Team 1—their job was to dispose of the bomb once Ken brought it to them.
The other old monsters and top powerhouses were in another direction—Team 2, whose job was to enter once the gap formed in the barrier and save the population.
All of them were waiting to make their moves.
Lerke, who finished thinking, glanced at the bomb but didn’t deactivate it. ‘Do they want to play a longer game? Well, let’s see what you have planned.’
Instead, he commanded the rat positioned at the entrance, “Open a door-sized gap and let him in.”
“Yes, sir.”