The day after the grand opening of Dream Avenue's guild house. Somewhere in a hilly area south of Red Oak City. There was a rough street connecting Red Oak with the nearby, smaller Mountain Gate City. The latter was naturally called this way because it bordered the prominent Bada Mountain Range.
The area between the two cities was not entirely safe. Some roaming wild beasts would appear occasionally. Thus, the street could only be used by heavily armoured vehicles. Of course, it was much better than the vast forest to the north of Red Oak. In the brief time since the birth of the planet's civilization, the army was tirelessly clearing the area of beasts, constructing defensive structures and watchtowers, creating a safe area for humans to live in.
However, on this day a particular hill was unusually silent, and a faint smell of blood wafted through the air. On top of a hill stood a group of about forty people, all looking extremely fierce, clad in camouflage. A thin woman with a burn mark on her neck whispered to the burly, black-haired man next to her:
"Boss Serin, we just received the news. The transport is on the way. The guards match the information we received."
"Good. Tell everyone to get ready and act on my signal."
"Yes."
The woman left to organize the subordinates. Serin glanced at her back, silently pondering. Things haven't been going well for Serin the Butcher lately. With the emergence of Fate of Crunaboul many are rapidly growing stronger, but he was too old, prevented from joining the game. Other gang leaders faced similar problems. This led to new forces becoming arrogant, thinking it was only a matter of time until they could overthrow the old gangs. For now, it was still manageable. Serin's gang was powerful, easily suppressing the newcomers with an iron fist. However, it was like an inextinguishable flame. As long as some ember remained a slight breeze was enough to alight the fire anew.
But Serin was determined not to relinquish his position. He had been working hard for various VIP clients, using the resources he earned to increase his strength. In this world, for those living in the shadows strength was everything. As long as you were strong enough you could get everything you wanted. At a certain level you could even negotiate with some of the top influential families, become their official partner, and receive amnesty for your crimes.
However, Serin wasn't planning that far ahead yet. For now, it was enough to complete his current mission. Recently he received information about some precious military supplies which would come this way. Since the supplies came from CCM, a private company, they wouldn't be protected by the army. Even so, Serin knew they couldn't go too far. They had to leave the guards alive, or the army would give them hell. Especially since recently one of Serin's warehouses had been raided. The gang had bled a lot to barely escape the army's scrutiny. A certain client was anything but happy. Thus, this current mission had to be accomplished without fail!
At this moment the sound of a heavy transporter could be heard. Serin snapped back to reality and raised his hand. His subordinates instantly prepared themselves. Wearing masks which even had some resistance against various forms of scanning, they laid flat on the ground waiting for their prey.
It didn't take long for two heavy-duty transport vehicles to appear. Their hover engines were buzzing loudly, indicating that the big loading area was filled with cargo. There were about a dozen guards, but they were only some players below level forty, led by a second stage martial artist. Since the advent of the game regular people could quickly gain some strength and it has become quite easy to find guards for transports like these which travelled through rather safe areas.
These players were enough to fend off the occasional beast. However, they were not prepared to meet any more dangerous threats. Thus, as Serin's people suddenly rushed down from the surrounding hills, the guards froze in fear, unable to respond.
"F*ck! Wake up! Use your skills! What are you doing!"
The guard leader, an experienced martial artists shouted angrily. Why would they boss assign these useless recruits to him?
There was no surprise in the battle. Outnumbered and facing the ruthless gangsters, the guards were swiftly overwhelmed. They were knocked unconscious and tied up with some resilient ropes without even knowing who attacked them.
Serin had a big grin on his face. If these guards had been genuine martial artists they would have been able to muster some resistance but ever since these security companies started using inexperienced players, robbing transports had become even easier.
Standing at the rear of one of the vehicles he moved the thick plane aside and checked the goods. He found a bunch of wooden boxes, orderly labelled.
"Water mirror sword. Bow of Rising Ruin. Minor Spear of the Dragonslayer. Indeed, the goods are quite precious this time."
Serin laughed happily and was just about to put the plane back in place when his instincts suddenly screamed of danger. With the experience of someone mingling with the darkest of society for so long, Serin reacted instantly. He grabbed one of the wooden crates with ease, turned around, and slammed it at the air in front of him. At some point a man clad entirely in black had appeared, striking with a dagger like a venomous snake. The dagger collided with the wooden crate and was blocked by the shield inside.
"F*ck! Who are you?! Men! How could you let that guy through?! Men?!"
That second, Serin realised something. Strangely none of his men were within view. And from the corner of his eye, he saw an arrow enveloped in red flames rush towards him. It was timed perfectly. Serin could barely dodge, avoiding vital points. The arrow pierced into his waist, but it didn't carry enough power to injure him seriously. And yet this was never the archer's intention. The arrow was imbued with a skill. Flaming chains burst from the arrow, tightly tying up Serin.
"Now!"
A familiar female voice came from the archer. Serin instantly boiled with rage. The voice belonged to his loyal assistant, Eve! How dare she betray him?! And now even trying to kill?!
However, right now Serin had another problem. The assassin in front of him was already pouncing. From the strike earlier, he had realised that the assassin was not weak, likely a martial artist of the fourth stage, blood strengthening. And the chains were binding him. Shadows flashed around the assassin, probably another skill.
"This damned game again! All of you can go to hell!!!"
At this moment Serin suddenly let out a raging shout. On his chest the faint image of ten silver dots like a constellation of stars appeared. The connection between them formed the outline of a butcher's knife created from dim starlight. It was slightly illusionary and normally wouldn't even attract much attention but for the present masters it was extremely conspicuous.
"Watch out!"
Eve shouted loudly but it was already too late. With the appearance of the constellation Serin broke free from the chains binding him and hastily threw a punch at the assassin. Although the punch started later, it arrived first. The assassin groaned painfully as the powerful fist landed on his face. But simultaneously a shadow spike erupted from his dagger, piercing through Serin's shoulder.
"Damn it! Do you wish to die? Come!"
Serin's gritted his teeth in anger, but his eyes were still clear. At that moment he noticed something. Some of his subordinates carefully approached him with drawn weapons while the most loyal bunch were held back by the others.
"Bastards! All of you! Is this how you repay me for taking care of you?!"
The only answer Serin received was another flaming arrow from Eve. At this moment Serin suppressed his rage. He dodged the arrow and used the shield he still had in his hand to block the next attack of the assassin. However, he could already feel the others moving around him. The blades of his weak subordinates could mostly be ignored but their damned skills could still produce effects like slowing him down or even blinding him for a moment.
"Just you wait!"
Spewing out a hate filled threat Serin put all his strength into his arm, throwing the shield at the strongest person present, the assassin. The latter had no choice but to dodge. Instantly Serin turned around and escaped. His shoulder knocked one of his subordinates away, leaving them with broken ribs, as he rushed out of the encirclement. With his current strength he was able to shake off the various skills trying to slow him down and speed into the distance.
"Chase him! Don't let him go!"
"Sevrance! You need to stop him!"
"Can someone tie him down?!"
Serin heard the desperate shouts behind him, feeling the raging fire inside his body constantly growing. If he could escape this time, he would definitely make the lives of these traitors hell!