One arrow, swift and precise, but most of all very silent, flew through the air.

It arched way up in the air before angling down right on the head of an unsuspecting human clad in rough but rose/red styled garbs to signify their allegiance.

Guh

Thud

With the first death, four Adventurers and one wild card of unknown origin rushed out from one particular great tree and through the bushes around it.

In their heads, now that the first kill occurred and the first stones of inevitable conflict rolled out, all their notions of stealth were given up to favor speed and surprise.

Still, to their luck, or better said, Paul’s expertise as a Ranger, the first kill was an isolated enemy and obviously a First Rank Essence Master, hence, it was much easier for him to kill the unsuspecting foe.

As such, with speed, the four Adventurers and Adam rushed for their destination, which was supposed to be hiding within a nearby cave. Where exactly was up for debate, but the rough map within Paul’s possession told of its nearing location. However, since the Rose Heart Syndicate members came in greater numbers, it wasn't long before the next member came within their vision, only this time, it was two of them, with one of them being clearly of the Second Rank at the very least because Jacob, Paul, and Adam saw a Black Aura around his body.

With that being the case, Plan B was executed, in the form of a mad rush forward by Jacob, only not before placing his round shield before him and voicing out one of his favorite skills, Skill; Shield Charge.

At the same time, since he was used to the Skill and the way it worked, Essence and Aura almost automatically reached where they needed to be to strengthen his physical characteristics to his maximum allowed capacity, such that one moment Jacob was beside his party and in the next right in front of the Second Ranked Rose Heart member before slamming his round shield into him with the full brunt of his gathered momentum right on his back, thus, slinging and shooting the man for meters and meters through the air before his chest and face collided with the trunk of an ancient and giant tree.

“Wh…” The other Rose Heart member wanted to say, but his head instantly got looped off by one swing of Jacob’s sword, after all, after transferring all that momentum into the first target, he was in prime position to attack once again for a double kill, or at least one kill and one confused and stunned target.

Even if the flying man had not been outright killed but stunned and confused, a blur had rushed right after Jacob to embed her long daggers into his back where the heart lay. A quick slash on the neck also severed the already dead man’s spinal column from the head, just in case.

Once Evelyn confirmed the kill, Jacob motioned with his right hand, and the group of four Adventurers, plus Adam, continued their mad rush for at least a minute, thus crossing a lot of ground before they reached another target blocking their way.

Jacob called for his Essence, Aura, and Skill again to rush at the new target, wielding a Black Aura around him with his shield first. However, unlike before, this one appeared to be far more cautious and much more responsive because he managed to turn around and face the incoming attack.

He even managed to draw on the sword halfway hanging by his hip before realizing that he had to take a guarding stance, after all, a surprise attack was still a surprise attack when the round shield made contact with his tucked-in right arm.

Still, at the moment of impact, Jacob was clear that much of his momentum dissipated upon contact with the enemy, causing him to instantly call for Plan C.

“Bolt!”

Adam, who had followed the Adventurers all this time, ceased running and finally aligned Sun Bearer with the flying enemy, however, he did not instantly fire the glowing point right at the tip of his spear. Instead, he waited one second to see just where the man would land before nudging the glowing tip that tiny bit before firing.

“Radiant Bolt!”

The small and radiant ball of Force and Heat instantly left Sun Bearer’s tip before crushing right into the guarded stance the Rose Heart Master had taken, thus immediately colliding with the tightly coated Black Aura around his body shielding the Master from the majority of the Kinetic Force unloaded onto him by Jacob.

At the point of impact of the Radiant Bolt and the tight Black Aura of the Master, the Force Aspect of the Radiant Bolt got effortlessly absorbed by the Black Aura, hence making the Master think he'd be just fine. Nevertheless, it could not be further from the truth when, at the moment of impact, the Radiant Bolt exploded into a conflagration of concentrated Heat, enveloping his upper body with said Heat. However, unlike the Force Aspect of the Radiant Bolt, after the Heat got absorbed by the Black Aura, it was like the Black Aura became the best conductor possible and instantly transferred all of the Heat to every part of the Essence Masters body, thus instantly burning his very skin, everywhere, all at once.

The leather outfit on him, dyed with pink and red colors? It simply combusted instantly as if not present because of the amount of concentrated Heat this Radiant Bolt possessed as it had been charging for a few minutes.

In fact, the charging had started even before the first arrow was shot.

Still, despite the conflagration causing him a lot of damage and making the Master feel as if he was right in the middle of Hell, in truth, The Master had yet to die, thus unleashing a cry of pain echo from his mouth and into the ancient fairytail-like giant forest. That was when an arrow struck right into the chest of the burning man, penetrating through the weakened Black Aura, the nonexistent armor, and the tender flesh.

Yet, the man still did not die because Paul’s arrow had hit the man’s right chest instead of the left, where the heart resided. Maybe it was his instinct? Perhaps it was bad luck? But whatever it was, it made Jacob rush to finish off the Third Ranked Rose Heart Syndicate Master by stabbing his other chest.

That done, Jacob withdrew his sword from the impaled left chest and urgently addressed his party. “They must have been alerted by the cry.” He said. “The tough part starts from this point. Adam, charge another.”

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Though Jacob had ordered that, Adam had been ahead of the order and began charging right after Radiant Bolt fired.

“Paul.” Jacob called out.

Not saying anything, a quick glance around told Paul everything he needed to know to rush in one particular direction.

Right behind him was Martin, who had yet to do anything, only, he wasn't that sad about it since his forte was not speed, but straight-on combat ability. Even then, Martin knew very well that he would be useless against a Second Ranked Essence Master, much less a Third Ranked like the one his team had just killed with a remarkable amount of necessary damage before eventually being killed.

As such, he kept quiet and followed as best as he could. Even spending Essence just to keep up with his team when the group of four Adventurers came across another Rose Heart Member soon after, but as luck would have it, he was easy to deal with.

However, all five knew there were limits to how many times Jacob, their party leader, and their Shielder could execute the Skill; Shield Charge. Fortunately, after leaving the second deceased Second Ranked Essence Master for the day, the party met no other, as if they had managed to push through the needed stretch of forest on their way to the Nightmare Gate.

Regardless, they did not slow down because of the mess they had left behind. If they did, it was death, and that was the best ending, with torture being the most probable end.

Meanwhile, a few minutes after Adam, with his new friends passed through, many people gathered close to the dead, charred, and dual-penetrated Third Ranked Essence Master of the Rose Heart Syndicate.

Although the outer appearance of the now dead body was charred beyond obvious recognition, by the process of elimination, it was easily deduced who it had been, causing murmurs to spread between the lower-ranked members.

Still, none of them dared to speak out loud.

None but one blond man, aged between 25-30, garbed in Adventurer’s garb.

“It must have been Jacob’s party.” The blond Adventurer reasoned out.

“You said that only the leader would be a problem, Talim. And even then, that is just one Second Ranked Adventurer?” A particularly younger fellow, somewhere in his early twenties, voiced out with anger clearly obvious in his tone.

Even then, out of all the people present, not only was he not criticized for it, but he also exhibited the greatest arrogance among them with his nice, clean, and pink/red outfit despite being in the wilderness.

Not even the old Grandmaster, who looked to be in his sixties yet with prime physical characteristics and a nicely cut and pruned white beard, who stood beside him dared to do so because the young man was Joffrey RoseHeart, youngest son of Joshua RoseHeart, the Patriarch of the Rose Heart Crime Syndicate.

“It's obvious, Young Master. Jacob recruited somebody else with the location of the Nightmare Gate.” Talim replied. Nonetheless, he did not fail to display a concerned face. “However, I am unsure when that could have happened because I clearly remember your men informing me that they had left the gates without me. Mmm… I still wonder how they got wind of my betrayal. My plan should have been flawless.”

“Hmph. Obviously not.” Joffrey RoseHeart, still angry, admonished the Adventurer. “And now I lost a valuable Master because of your failure. You know what that means, right?”

“I… I am sorry, Young Master.” Talim suddenly lowered his head a full ninety degrees while his voice finally gained that apologetic tone Joffrey oh so loved to hear. “I will strive to fix my mistake. Please, find it in your heart to give me a chance to do so.”

“We will see about that.” Joffrey replied, understanding fully that the Adventurer only sunk deeper within his palm. Ignoring Talim, Joffrey faced the old and wizened Grandmaster beside him. “What now? Do you chase after them?”

Not replying immediately, the old Grandmaster pondered before facing the still-bowing Adventurer. “You mentioned that your former party members had no idea it was a Third Ranked Gate? How sure are you about that?”

“Very.” Talim replied. “My father used to be a scribe, so he taught me how to read the Old Tongue. So only I could decipher the truth of the true secret from the notes.”

“Then the solution is simple.” The Grandmaster said. “It's clear that your former members are taking a gamble to reach the Gate first, thus barring us from following them inside since Second Ranked Nightmare Gates only allow five people to enter at once.”

“Ah.” Joffrey suddenly understood and smiled at the thought of engaging in revenge for what they had forced him to do. After all, not only had they killed one of his Essence Masters, but they had also forced him to expend significant resources, in the form of people, to guarantee he survived through the Quilboar territory. “Then we just have to follow them, and we'll reach the Gate 100%. Haha, having them do the hard work while we stab them in the back and take everything they worked for? I quite like that.”

“In that case, call everybody, and we will chase after them when everybody is assembled.” Joffrey commanded by staring at the second Master under his command. The Master nodded, picked up a small whistle hanging on his belt, and instantly gathered his Essence to blow on with a specific cadence.

“Good.” The Young Master of the Rose Heart Syndicate declared and awaited his man to arrive because not only was he not that in a hurry to chase after them with the new knowledge, but even if he took his time, he would still find them within the Third Ranked Nightmare and achieve his revenge that way.

After all, a fixed amount of people were needed to fill the slots of a Nightmare Gate before it opened its hidden world.

When everybody gathered, one of his men skilled in tracking led the way.

It took them about half an hour to finally reach the coveted mountain entrance where the Third Ranked Nightmare Gate lay. However, just as they neared the entrance, one arrow flew from within with swiftness, right at the blond Adventurer Talim.

In one instant, every Rose Heart member in the way of the arrow dodged either left or right, thus allowing said arrow to reach right for Talim. Luckily for him, he was more cautious than people assumed of him, hence, Talim had no trouble twisting his upper body to the side to allow the arrow to miss his chest.

However, unlike how the Adventurer and the Rose Heart members expected, during that brief window when the first arrow flew out of the darkness of the mountain entrance, a second one followed right after, only this one's target was not the Adventurer Talim, but the old Grandmaster who simply did not bother to dodge and instead effortlessly caught the arrow heading for his head right before his eyes.

Then, in that very moment, when his eyes focused on the arrow, he noticed a sudden golden light flare within the darkness. It was both glorious and radiant, thus instilling him with the notion of incoming danger. Nevertheless, just as his eyes left the arrow and focused on the flaring light, the golden light rushed with astonishing speed in his direction.

No… Not my direction. The Grandmaster realized, causing his guts to scream at the thought of allowing the Young Master beside him to come to hurt.

If he did? It would be over for him, despite being a Grandmaster.

With no choice, the Grandmaster instantly stepped in front of Joffrey RoseHeart and extended his uniquely colored, flavored, and partially physical Poisonous Aura to its fullest capability to block the incoming danger.

Regardless, when the golden ball of light collided with his Poisonous Aura, he might have protected his Young Master behind him. However, the same could not be said for him and the other members of the Rose Heart Syndicate because this specific Radiant Bolt charged by Sun Bearer and fired by Adam had been stockpiling its power for a long while, thus, it was packed with large amounts of Heat and contained within a strong and resilient Force bubble.

A bubble that burst at the first opportunity to deliver its package of Force and Heat in an exploding manner that nobody liked experiencing.

BOOM