The Grand Duelist

Lilium stared at the system notification floating right in front of her.

[You are being summoned by Player Sean#9210 through the use of Rally To Me.]

[Do you want to accept the summoning?]

[Yes/No]

Lilium stared at the system notification in front of her. Anger could be seen on her face. 

'How dare this Vladimir try to summon me again when I already suffered too much that's worth than the value that I could get after the contract completion!'

Lilium looked like she was about to tap on the [No] button when an idea suddenly appeared inside her mind.

"How about I go and inform the other guilds about the coordinates of where the fight is happening? I could extort some money out of them using this method. I can become the fisherman that will benefit from the Crimson Guild's misfortune!" 

Lilium didn't mind offending the Crimson Guild.

After all, her cooperation with them was only built by money. 

Furthermore, she had suffered too many losses to the extent that the money that she would gain from his cooperation wouldn't equal nor surpass those losses. In short, Lilium had no qualms on being a double agent.

A smile appeared on her lips. She opened up her Main Menu and contacted a certain player, like what she had done before back then…

"I have valuable information that you can use so you can damage the Crimson Guild. Are you interested or not?"

The other side replied, "You're asking if I am interested? Do you really think that you're the only one that has that kind of information, Lilium?" 

Lilium paused for a moment, she didn't know what to say. The other side was right, it wasn't strange that the Knights of Justice and Dark Flame had their own spies within the ranks of the Crimson Guilds.

The anger on Lilium's face intensified when she realized the mistake that she had made. 

"Fine... Goodbye."

Lilium replied to the other side and the latter didn't reply.

Lilium's anger turned into resentment as she quickly tapped on the [Yes] button which summoned a brilliant light that quickly swallowed her entire being, transferring her towards the battlefield happening near the Forbidden Region of the Kingdom of Nether.

...

When the nauseating sensation brought upon by spatial transfer disappeared. Lilium opened his eyes and the first scene that she was Vladimir standing in front of the angry-looking Jun Santos. The fight seemed to have stopped, but it was evident that the ceasefire was only temporary.

It was because in front of Vladimir was a burly-looking man jumping up and down with a solemn expression on his face.

"Isn't that the Spirit Dancer? Why is he in the front lines?" Lilium frowned, but when she turned to look at Vladimir. Astonishment flashed on her face.

She saw that Vladimir had purple marks all over his face. His armor which made him look valiant and brave was now torn from all sorts of places. His eyes even had a huge black circle around them.

"What happened to him? Isn't he the Number One Grappler? How was he beaten like this?" Lilium mumbled in shock.

But before she could even say anything... 

Someone from the Pro-NPC Alliance spoke up. 

"How about we stop this fighting now, the leader of the Crimson Guild, Vladimir?" Jun Santos went out of his way and tried masking the anger on his face as he said these words. But, when he saw Xueyue's condition. His anger bubbled up, and he looked like he was on the verge of exploding. 

Vladimir swept his gaze at the members of the Pro-NPC Alliance. Their clean statures greatly contrasted the disheveled appearances of the members of the Crimson Guild. It was clear that the Pro-NPC Alliance was at the winning end of the battle.

"Do you really think that you can end this battle so easily? Unless you gave us a proper explanation about why all of you are helping the traitor of a Kingdom and a convict. There's no way that you can stop me from continuing this fight and branding all of you as traitors in the name of the Honorable Duke Heathrow!" Vladimir declared.

He was serious. His words contained not a trace of falsity. As the subordinate of Duke Heathrow, he could declare anyone as a traitor and quests would be issued for the sake of capturing or killing that particular traitor.

Jun Santos raised an eyebrow and challenged, "Oh, is that so? If that really is the case, then why didn't you condemn us as traitors even before this fight had started?"

Vladimir revealed a conflicted expression when he heard Jun Santos's words. The reason why he didn't declare the entire Pro-NPC Alliance as traitors of the Kingdom whilst they were still pursuing them was due to the fact that once he declared them as traitors.

Everyone would be notified, and they would acquire quests pertaining to the death of these traitors.

Once that happened, then Vladimir was sure that those bastards from the Knights of Justice and Dark Flame would flock to this place, fighting for their own share of the meat pie named as Alice and that traitor bastard from the Underground Penitentiary. 

Vladimir wanted to monopolize all the benefits and rewards of capturing the convict and killing the traitor of the Kingdom.

That was the reason why he didn't declare the Pro-NPC Alliance as traitors before he started his pursuit against them.

This was also the reason why the Crimson Guild that has at least a few thousands of members, only brought about several dozens of players. Furthermore, the players that he brought with him in this mission were mere average players, since Vladimir was afraid that the other two guilds already have spies within the ranks of the core members of Crimson.

Vladimir believed that he could defeat the Pro-NPC Alliance with numbers, instead of quality. But unfortunately for him, the opposite happened. They only managed to kill a single member of the Pro-NPC Alliance, and in exchange for that single life. Only fifteen of them remained, the rest were sacrificed.

Jun Santos stared at Vladimir's expression and chuckled: "Your face looks like you're constipated... Are you okay? Do you want to do a number three here, or what? And oh, do not worry about the answer to the question that I asked you. It is pretty obvious from the standpoint of a Guild Leader..."

"Don't be so arrogant, Jun. We may not be able to kill you all, but at least we can kill a single NPC from your ranks! You do know that NPCs cannot be resurrected once they die, right? I hope that you're sensible enough to do what is right!"

Jun Santos didn't reply. Instead, he turned to look at the side and stared at the darkness before saying: "You guys are already there, right? How about you come out now and deal with these bastards from the Crimson Guild for us?"

Vladimir's eyes widened in shock. Lilium's figure visibly trembled, and the other players of the Crimson Guild stared nervously at the vast expanse of darkness.

"Hahaha, Jun... You really are a cunning one. I really can't understand what you are thinking."

"Fire Wall..."

A dignified voice rang out along with a burst of laughter, while the other voice sounded faint and ethereal. But once that seemingly corporeal voice reverberated in the surroundings. A towering wall of fire suddenly emerged from the ground and formed a square that completely surrounded the Crimson Guild and the Pro-NPC Alliance.

"You..." Vladimir's eyes widened in shock. Disbelief could be seen on his face as he lifted his arm and pointed a finger at Jun Santos.

"Have you gone senile?! You actually invited those bastards from the Dark Flame and Knights of Justice in here? Aren't you supposed to be protecting that convict and traitor from the Kingdom?!" Vladimir cried out in indignance.

He had prepared to fight an all-out battle against the Pro-NPC Alliance for the sake of having them compensate for the crime of killing several dozens of his brothers. 

But with the appearance of the Dark Flame and Knights of Justice. It was clear that the Crimson Guild would be at the short-end of the stick this time. 

There was no way that these two guilds would let the Crimson Guild go after their failed ambush recently.

Lilium stared at the continuously trembling body of Vladimir and a wronged expression surfaced on her face.

"You... Why did you even summon me here?!" She pointed a finger at Vladimir.

Vladimir stared at Lilium in disdain: "Of course it is to fulfill your duty! But something like this isn't so bad either. Seeing you suffer bigger losses than the Crimson Guild is enough to satisfy me. After all..." 

"That is something that you deserve, you little bitch!"

Vladimir violently cursed before he turned to look at his brothers and said.

"Tonight, we may die. But we will surely dine in hell!" He then rushed at the members of the Dark Flame and Knights of Justice. A few moments later, a fierce battle ensued as the Pro-NPC Alliance who orchestrated this whole scheme slowly retreated from the area.

"Was this part of your plan in the first place?" Nie Yan, or formerly known as Nirvana Flame turned to look at Jun Santos and asked with an indifferent look on his face. 

Jun Santos paused. He didn't turn his head towards Nie Yan as he replied: "This is the best that I can do. If he still can't escape from your hands after the help that we gave him. I can say that he doesn't deserve to be saved. From now on, everything depends on his abilities." 

"But how about you? Aren't you worried that Vladimir will declare all of you as traitors of the Kingdom? He has a connection to that Duke, you know?" Jun Santos asked in a light-hearted manner.

Nie Yan merely scoffed: "We have our own methods. Duke Heathrow's not the only one with such a high and honorable position within the Kingdom."

Jun Santos's interest was piqued: "Interesting... Mind telling me? I mean, from now on we'll not be situated within the Kingdom of Nether anyways, so I think that there's no harm on telling us, right?"

Nie Yan stared at Jun Santos for a moment before a light smile escaped on his lips: "This time, our helper's not even a part of the Kingdom. But his position is far higher than even the King of the Kingdom of Nether himself."

Jun Santos's pupils constricted. After finding no trace of lies within Nie Yan's eyes. A disbelieving expression appeared on his face as he uttered absentmindedly.

"The Empire of Truedawn?"

Nie Yan's smile deepened.

"Heh... After this ordeal... I have a hunch that the Kingdom of Nether would cease to exist."

Jun Santos's shock deepened even further. But as a player of Victory since Day One. He experienced far too many upheavals within the world of Victory to the extent that he felt quite numb to it.

But the words that he heard today were still too shocking.

After all, the Empire of Truedawn seldom made a move, but whenever they do. Their moves were always earth-shattering and affected the entire world of Victory. 

Jun Santos wanted to ask for more information but he found that Nirvana Flame had already disappeared. 

Disappointed, he could do nothing other than walk away from the battlefield along with his comrades. 

Right after exiting the wall of flame made by Nirvana Flame's Flame Wall. Jun Santos turned to look at the distant Forbidden Region.

"With what I did today, young man. Consider us even. I wish you the best."

He whispered these words into the air before he finally walked towards his comrades.

...

Joseph ran as fast as he could.

He didn't mind the excruciating pain from his legs and feet, and the exhaustion that slowly took over his entire body as he ran as far as he could, away from the dangers of the battlefield.

The Forbidden Region really lived up to its name.

Not even considering the fact that poisonous bugs and insects were in the area.

The topography of the land itself was incredibly dangerous and weird. The land was extremely rugged from all the rocks that covered its surface. Furthermore, these rocks protruded sharply from the ground which caused more than a few difficulties than navigating through them while running.

"Fucking hell..."

Not even ten minutes after entering the vicinity of the Forbidden Region. Joseph was already huffing and puffing. He couldn't even loudly curse for he was too busy gasping for his breath and letting them escape from his mouth.

But the exhaustion and the pain throughout his body wasn't the end of it all.

Since he wasn't so sure when a monster would come out from the darkness and attack him. He had to stay mentally alert at all times. This was incredibly taxing considering the fact that he was simultaneously protecting himself and Alice who he carried on his shoulder.

"AH!"

When Joseph forcefully raised his right foot and stepped on a nearby protruding rock. He lost his footing and slipped.

"FUCK!"

A violent curse came out of his mouth as he threw himself forward so that he wouldn't fall backwards and potentially injure himself and exacerbating the injuries remaining on Alice's body.

"Haaah... Haaah... I'm saved..." The adrenaline coursing through Joseph's veins made his vision swam as he desperately tried on catching his breath. But only after a few moments of rest, he pushed himself up for he knew that he cannot stay in a single location for too long. 

"What am I supposed to do now that I am here?" Joseph thought for a moment amidst his hastened breaths. An idea quickly popped out in his mind as he decided: "Okay, I'll find temporary shelter until Alice awakens and tells me about the location of that goddamned safehouse of senior Krid."

With a goal in mind, Joseph looked energized as he raised his foot and placed it on the ground.

However...

"What? Where's the ground?"

The darkness of the Forbidden Region was close to pitch black. Joseph was unable to see that there was an almost perpendicular cliff right ahead of him.

His foot stepped on that empty space, causing him to slip forwards down the cliff. 

"YAWAAA!" Joseph was so angry and shocked that he cursed in his vernacular. 

But his mind spun quickly and he spotted a cave entrance a few meters below him. 

Holding Alice tightly in his embrace. He stretched a hand out towards that cave entrance...

But to his astonishment, his hand which was supposed to hold tightly on the protruding floor of the cave entrance so that he could rescue himself and Alice from their inevitable doom slipped.

"What? Why did my hand slip?" Joseph blankly uttered as he continued falling down the cliff.

A single system notification floating right in front of him informed him of what happened.

[The effects of [Slippery Skin] has been activated!]

"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO ACTIVATE RIGHT NOW?!"

Joseph let out an indignant scream.