When Dan escaped the area, little did he knew that a silhouette stared at his direction with a cold smile on his face. That silhouette coldly snorted and left towards the opposite direction. Without making any noise, the silhouette vanished into thin-air like popped bubbles.
Leaping tree branches after tree branches, Dan inhibited his aura and concealed his presence. Taking the token from his chest, a holographic number floated up in the air.
[410]
In that short amount of time that he engaged with that young man earlier. Dozens were actually decimated. Dan was appalled and his expression turned serious.
Since the Core disciples all stood within the same realm, defeating a fellow Core disciple was easier said than done, yet someone or something caused so much deaths in such a short smount of time.
Just what was going on? Dan thought as he used all of his senses and even asked for the System"s a.s.sistance in looking for the familiar auras of Vincent, Natalie and Grace who must be somewhere within this virtual world. Since he completely focused on the safety of his brother and wives. He never noticed the shadows of several disciples following him from behind.
At another part within the same virtual world, Natalie, Grace and Vincent stared at each other with solemn expressions, their eyes all stared at the same thing; the floating holographic number that continuously descended every minute. From that number, they knew that the outside world was filled with complete slaughter.
"Just what is going on, how are so many people dying at the sametime, every minute?" Grace was astonished, she had never seen such a strange phenomenon in her life. Natalie looked concerned too, while Vincent was appalled by their lack of concern towards a certain someone.
Ever since they arrived together within this cave, both women never mentioned and expressed their concern towards the certain man; it was as if he was never their husband and they never cared about him in the first place.
"Hey... Both of you, aren"t you worried about what will happen to brother?" Vincent asked with an awkward smile on his face, sweat continuously dripped down his forehead and even his palms couldn"t help but become sweaty. Any man would crumble when faced by the gazes of these two beauties and Vincent wasn"t an exception.
"Worried about who? Dan? Why would he worry about him? That guy is stronger than us combined, we should worry about ourselves first before him! Especially when right now, we"re inside a winding cave and we can"t even find the exit, Gah!" Grace glared at him and Vincent gulped a mouthful of saliva in response.
Natalie merely smiled and stared at Vincent, hinting that he shouldn"t cause trouble for Grace who was wracking her head in irritation. She wanted to instantly join the fray and start killing so she could gauge her current strength, but their luck ran out when they were sent into such a strange maze-like cave! What a disaster!
Vincent wanted to say something else, but after gauging Grace"s annoyance level. He didn"t bother and just stood there, keeping his silence. Natalie sweetly smiled at his direction and praised: "That"s a good boy, just stand there and keep using that light for us so we can see where we are going..."
Natalie"s words almost made him choke in his own saliva as a bitter smile lifted on his lips. If it was any other person that said such a thing to him. He would"ve gone crazy and fought that person to death! After all, being treated as a lightbulb wasn"t something funny and it made him feel weird and bitter about himself.
"I still can"t find any wind coming from the outside world. Thankfully, we are in a virtual world so the chance of meeting a beast is highly unlikely..." Vincent quickly changed the topic and tried to engage in a talk with them. Hoping that it would do something about his anxiety around these two beautiful women.
Grace and Natalie stiffened and stared at each other for a moment. Lightly smiling, Natalie turned to stare at Vincent and said, "Vincent, what do you think is the scarier, a human or a beast?"
Natalie"s question astonished him, but he still thought about it. After a moment of silence, he turned to look at Natalie and replied, "Humans are scarier than beasts, that"s for sure. After all, beasts only fight for their survival, but humans fight for benefits and are even willing to sacrifice anything to achieve their wretched goals."
Grace who kept looking forwards turned to look at him and said, "It seems like you really did have such a traumatic past... Don"t worry, I won"t dig any further..." When Grace saw that Vincent became uncomfortable upon the mention of his past, Grace rea.s.sured him with a smile as she turned to look ahead and blurted out in a solemn voice.
"It seems like there"s no other way than to face these cruel humans ahead of us... The two of you, prepare for battle. Remember not to hold back anything..." Grace unsheathed her daggers and Natalie unveiled her Soft Sword. Vincent was taken aback for a moment but he also took his lance out from his Storage Device.
"This cave is d.a.m.ned! We"ve been walking for several minutes already but there"s no sign of any exit!" An irritated voice of a young man echoed at the distance. After this voice rang out, several other footsteps appeared in the vicinity.
"Calm down, don"t you understand that we"re in a survival game? It"s even better for us to stay indoors and not going outside! Don"t you remember what the Headmaster said? As long as you survive to the top 10, you will get a place for that Mystic Realm so our current situation is actually pretty good."
A stoic and deep voice echoed out and the young man who said such words earlier exaggeratedly shouted in enlightenment. From the fawning expression of the young man, it was clear that the one who replied to his words was someone of high standing and respectable.
"The young master really is bright and wise! To think that you would be able to ascertain such a method!" The young man endlessly flattered, and what he got in response was a cold snort.
"Are you really that stupid? That was mere common sense, those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds that kept on fighting each other outside of this cave are also pretty stupid. Don"t they understand that we just need to stay put and conserve our strength for the sake of that final fight for the top 10 position?"
"A final fight? There will be a final fight for the top 10 position?" That young man actually asked such a stupid question which garnered the annoyance of his young master. A clear slap echoed out and that young man bitterly retreated to the back.
"Don"t ask such stupid questions, if you asked more of those questions, I"ll make sure that you"ll die in this instant!" A robust voice of another man rang out and that young man could do nothing other than to hung his head low and stare at the ground in shame.
"Shh, stand back. There"s someone ahead of us..." Just when they were about to make a right turn, that young man referred to as the young master suddenly stopped. All of his henchmen behind him immediately stiffened like statues as the young man stuck his head out and saw a scene which made his eyes sparkle in delight.
Arranging his clothes, the young man applied some perfume on his body and cleared his throat. His sudden actions baffled his subordinates as he strode forwards amidst their confused gazes.
"Cough, cough... Young miss, it seems like you"re quite confounded by your current situation and has been separated from your companions..." The young man confidently walked up to a young woman whose expression looked pale and exhausted.
The young woman"s exhausted countenance and her sparkling eyes induced pity from the hearts of those who saw such a scene. Since the young woman looked so scared and wary of her surroundings. The young man deduced that she must be a newly-ascended Core disciple from the Inner Disciples Region.
Freshly-arrived disciples from the Inner Disciples Region were often unshackled and unprotected by any factions. Meaning, the young man didn"t have to worry about any repercussions if he laid his hands on such an exquisite beauty. Of course, he didn"t reveal such thoughts outright. After all, a willing partner was much better than a forced one.
He was confident that once he revealed where he came from and offered some benefits. He would surely get this young woman on his bed and take a taste on of such an exotic and exquisite beauty. Just her silvery-hair alone was enough for her to attract his gaze.
"Who are you! Don"t approach me! I have a dagger and I am not afraid to fight!" The young woman went into defensive mode and this made the smile on the young man"s face intensify and his eyes sparkle in amus.e.m.e.nt and security.
Scared women were easier to conquer than calm and composed ones. After all, they would do their best to find that reprieve and the security of having someone protecting them. Once he laid out his "clean" intentions. He would surely rope her in.
"Junior Sister, we"re from the Tortoise Faction of the Core Disciples Region. The young man speaking to you is our Faction Leader, Richard Zoel. We mean no harm, Junior Sister. We are just curious as to why you are here alone inside such a dark cave without any light with you..."
A young man with a robust frame said in a deep voice, his voice respectful and proper, yet unbeknownst to the young woman. His eyes silently sparkled with greed and desire. HIs fellow brothers introduced themselves to her one by one, in a respectful manner, of course.
"Really? You don"t want to harm me?" The young woman lifted her head as her eyes gleamed with innocence and some hesitation. It was as if she was fighting an internal struggle.
The young man clicked his tongue and felt irritated by her indecisiveness. Nevertheless, he just stood there with his hand stretched forward, gesturing for her to join them in their journey.
"Yes, please don"t worry. We"re fellow disciples here and we"re older than you so it"s proper that we help you as your Seniors..." That robust young man supplemented and when he said the word "help" his eyes couldn"t help but flash in a strange light that he quickly hid.
The young woman repeatedly glanced at the ground and the young master before her. Biting her lower lips, she seemed to have arrived at a decision as she lifted her head and stared at their direction.
"Okay, I will join Senior Brother, but will Senior Brother follow me first?" The young woman"s tone turned melodious and gentle to the ears. Those that heard her voice couldn"t help but subconsciously follow what she was saying.
Celebrating the fact that he roped in such a heaven-defying beauty into his ranks. The young man nodded his head like chicken pecking rice and followed behind her with his subordinates.
"Ermm, Junior Sister. I know that this might be a strange question, but I wonder where are we going?" The young man who was the leader of the Tortoise Faction asked with a slight smile. The young woman with the silver hair stopped, sweeping her gaze at him and his subordinates, she blurted out.
"I guess this far is fine..."
"This far is fine? Are we gonna stop here? I thought that we"re going to find your sisters?" The young man asked with curiosity and the young woman nodded her head and sweetly smiled, "Yeah, and the young master said that he"ll accompany me right?"
Though he felt weirded out about what was going on, the young man nodded his head and amiably smiled, maintaining calm and gentleman facade: "Of course, since I said so, it would be bad if I reneged on my promise."
"In that case, I am happy... Since I will be sending each and everyone of you to... h.e.l.l!" The young woman suddenly roared out in a ferocious voice when she reached the end of her sentence. Each and everyone from the Tortoise Faction was taken aback. But before they could a.n.a.lyze what was happening, brief flashes of sword lights and the sound of penetrated flesh simultaneously rang out as their bodies fell into the ground with dull thuds.
"You..." That young leader of the Tortoise Faction never expected, even in his wildest dreams that the delicate and fragile woman that he rescued would be the one that will stab him in the heart. Thankfully, this was just a virtual world. Engraving her face into his mind, his body vanished into countless light crystals that eventually disappeared into nothingness.
"So this really is a virtual world..." Grace whispered and a light smile decorated her face as she turned to face Vincent and Natalie who appeared from the shadows ahead.