I can't sense the guard from here inside the tower, but that number "5" on its armor looks eerily familiar to the "7" I saw on the Dark Guard that I fought in the desert.

Considering the strength difference it showed compared to the lower-leveled guards, I can only assume this one is far stronger than that Double Ranked Up Colossal. If it really wanted my teammates dead, there's no question it'd already be done. This means it has something else planned. There must be a reason it wants them to enter the arena.

I watch as reflexively, all 3 of them reach for their item boxes on their waists, but the Dark Guard speaks up again while the large number 5 glows brighter on its chest.

"Not so fast..."

A pulse of red-orange energy comes out of the Guard, and two long Soul Energy Manifested swords form in its hands.

Faster than the eye can see, the guard strips each of them of their storage pouches and holds one sword to Monk's neck, and the other in front of both Abby and Maria.

"Like I said before, you won't be leaving the City just yet. The Dark One is expecting a show and wishes for repayment for breaking his toys."

The Dark Guard lets its energy blades disappear back into its body and dangles the three item storage pouches in the air while walking right down the middle of the street away from the exit gate and toward the arena.

"Come on, fight in the arena tonight, then you're free to do as you wish."

All three of them are frozen in place, most likely feeling a similar sensation to the one time I was face to face with the 7th ranked Dark Guard in the arena before I was powerful enough to take it on.

Although I can't sense the energy levels of this interaction, I can see clear as day on the surveillance system that the power gap here is immense.

As blue and green energies begin to swirl around the two women, and I see red lights sparking up in both of their eyes, Monk's voice can be heard, stopping mayhem from breaking loose.

"We'll do it, we'll fight. But please, leave our storage pouches close by in the training hall, I have important family goods in there. It's important they're not damaged or lost. I don't care for the money or high grade items, but you understand sentimental value, right?"

The Dark Guard doesn't stop walking toward the arena but replies.

"Fine, as long as each of you agrees to actually fight to the 7th stage, we'll keep your belongings close by. Heavily guarded, but close. If even one of you thinks about running away or quitting the fight, you're all dead."

"Deal."

The three of them follow the Dark Guard into the arena to register, and all I can do is watch and wait.

A million theories turn through my mind, and tons of options including getting my main body and ember to come to help with this situation come up, but nothing seems like a viable option.

This entire city is under lock and key, with a minimum of half a dozen more double-ranked up Dark Guards lurking in the shadows, not to mention their boss watching every move.

As bad as it may seem, waiting and letting them figure out how to get out of this situation themselves is the best course of action. From my letter, and the time spent inside the monastery after Monk read it, I'm sure they are aware of how powerful the monsters they're dealing with are.

Considering this, both Maria and Abby are very skilled fighters and strategists themselves. Monk has been living within these walls for many years too. Odds are, they're already coming up with a plan to get those item boxes back themselves.

I let out a sigh and sit back on my comfortable seat in Lith's office, but continue to keep my eyes glued on the surveillance screen, not missing a beat while the starting announcements for tonight's fight events echo through the room.

Lydia and Fisher nervously watch, and Lith sits at his desk with his hands clasped, thinking deeply to himself and staring at the projections not showing any external emotions similar to my own stare.

The surveillance system is split into two halves on the ceiling now.

Half shows the upper area where the fights are taking place, and the other shows the underground training room where all of the contestants wait their turn to fight.

There's a packed house tonight, and many new faces of strong newbie fighters along with familiar legacy fighters are down below.

However, the air is very tense tonight because the Dark Guard stands by the exit stairs that lead to the surface.

A pile of everyone's external loot is heavily guarded by three of its underling royal guards, but I can tell just by their stances these 3 are nowhere near the Dark Guard's level. Still, however, they hold a bit of prestige in this city so no one dares defy them or challenge their wishes.

The first few rounds of the Arena go on as normal.

The stone maiden starts off with a flashy first round, many newbies give it their best shot to become legacy fighters, and both the Shield and Ace give great showings.

After a few more newbie rounds, Monk takes his appearance in the ring and punches his way through all 7 stages without a single missed blow. He's brought back to the training room and Abby takes the stage next.

Spears are thrown, Qi is channeled, and 7 rounds of monsters are defeated even quicker than Monk's.

The audience roars with joy, placing bets, getting drunk, and enjoying the show late into the night.

I wait to see Dark Guards storm the ring and force them to move onto the 8th stage, but it never happens...

I can tell everyone is getting rather nervous downstairs. Abby heals everyone up after their matches and strategically begins moving closer to the three Royal guards near the side of the room guarding the miscellaneous gear.

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Another newbie takes the stage after her battle, then the Ice Empress is called to fight.

Maria takes the stage and freezes every opponent she faces into sculptures of ice, then slices the 7th stage ghoul in two to end the performance of the night in a dazzling attack. The announcer continues hyping up the crowd and showing replays of the fight as Maria is transported back into the underground training room.

She sees that both Abby and Monk have migrated closer to the piles of gear. As she walks over in the silent room, this is when the tension in the air finally snaps.

The Dark Guard that stands in front of the exit speaks again, reaching into an invisible storage portal in his chest and pulling out a large orange glowing crystal.

"First of all, I thank you all for the wonderful show tonight."

He takes a step closer and the orange crystal glows brighter.

In the background, the cheers of the crowd and the announcer's voice showing highlights of the battles almost drown out the buzzing sound that gets louder from the gem.

The Dark Guard lets go of the crystal and takes a step back.

It floats in the air for a moment, then drifts slowly toward the floor.

"Thank you for your service entertaining the community. The Dark One has invited each and every one of you to join its ranks. A new strong loyal group of subordinates is just what we need to get rid of a certain pest that cut our ranks in half."

No one says a word in the room; they all just watch the gem drift closer to the floor in awe.

"You all will now serve as Royal Guards and have a special power bestowed upon you by the Dark One himself. A sword that can cut through any barrier of mana, a shield that can block any mana-based attack, and a body that can outlast any mere mortal in this dreaded world. You will become far stronger than you ever knew was possible."

The tip of the crystal touches the white floor of the training room, and it looks as if a pebble has fallen into a pond.

The floor ripples and the crystal disappears, sending out slow-moving orange shockwaves of light.

"Join our forces, and rule the world. The Dark One shall Reign Supreme!"

The young man who was one of the newest newbie fighters closest to the impact point on the ground is hit by the slow-moving wave of light, and a gruesome scene follows.

His armor and clothes are all burned away as orange light starts to creep over his entire body. He begins to scream out in agony, and all that remains of his figure are bones and a beating orange heart left behind.

In a matter of seconds, the light hits 3 other fighters and the same thing occurs, ridding them of flesh in violent yells, but imbuing their hearts with dense soul energy that keeps their skeletal structures upright.

Upon seeing this, Abby wastes no time and lunges toward the weaker Royal Guards with her eyes locked on the item boxes that were stolen from them earlier. Bursts of red hydra's Soul Energy come leaking off of her as Abby uses her earth magic to impale the guards and dive into the pile of gear.

Simultaneously, enormous red structures of ice begin to erupt from the floor as Maria activates her ranked-up ice buff aided by the Red Hydra's Soul Energy, piercing right through the shielding in the ceiling and shaking the room while creating a maze of mirrors and walls of sheilds tinted crimson.

Monk channels all of his Qi into his palm and thrusts it upward at the ceiling as well, sending a shockwave of Qi through the entire area floor and making visible movement in the dirt flooring above.

However, the shielding doesn't budge, and the ceiling stays intact without a single crack. There seems to be many layers of the A-Grade Shielding between the training room and the arena itself.

The room beneath the arena goes into pure chaos as no amount of magic can stop the slow-moving orange light. It even ripples through Maria's walls of ice with ease, melting and shattering them to pieces without slowing its flow at all.

The legacy fighters all use their elemental and speed-based powers to attempt pushing the rippling light back, but it's no use. As much as they try, even they fall subject to its curse. It's painful to watch fighters I fought alongside and had drinks with scream out in agony.

However, unlike the weaker newbie fighters, the 3 legacy fighter's bodies stay intact and aren't burned away. They're enveloped in a bright yellow-orange glow and fall to the floor unconscious as runes with illegible letterings spin above their hearts.

The echoing voice of the Dark Guard sounds out through the room.

"It's no use trying to run or fight back. This is the Curse of The Lich King. If our God wishes to bring you to our ranks, there is nothing you can do to stop it. Your friend, The Flame Emperor, killed one of the Upper 7 Dark Guards in Sector 2. This crime will not go unnoticed. We will find you all and wage war."

An excited yell comes from the side of the room in Abby's voice.

"I found them!"

She holds three item boxes in one hand while grasping 3 white shimmering crystals in the other.

Maria and Monk's heads turn toward her, and she throws two crystals through the air using all her strength and buffs to them.

The Dark Guard notices its error and pulls out its energy blades to stop what's occurring by any means necessary.

The crystals are being thrown less than 5 meters, while the dark guard stands back at the exit more than 20 meters away.

Maria is closest to the approaching gems and lets out another burst of overwhelming power, letting her walls of ice glow bright red, become far more dense with mana and soul energy, and push into the ceiling even harder.

She uses massive red ice crystals from her back to push her toward the teleport crystals faster.

Monk moves all of his Qi into his heels, pushing forward at the gem nearest to him, letting the world around him fade away and only see the glimmering gem that will bring him to safety.

In the same moment, the Dark Guard lunges forward, releasing two dark red-orange energy crescents flying out from the swords. One is aimed at Abby and the other is heading straight for Maria and Monk. It's clear this guard is shooting to kill. It'd rather have them dead than get away.

Abby is closer to the Dark Guard and crushes the transport crystal in her hand the instant she senses life-threatening danger. She's done her part and knows there isn't anything left for her to possibly do but get out of there and survive.

Maria senses danger approaching too, as she's in between the blades and Monk, but knows there's no time to dodge.

Its energy blade is slicing through her walls of ice like butter and rocketing their way.

Her entire body glows with the Red Hydra's buff, and it's being pushed to a limit I didn't know was possible. It looks similarly to when I was using it to fight that Wraith for the first time, but far more concentrated and deadly.

The depths of Maria's energy control are even more impressive that I believed was possible.

Violent dark red tendrils of Soul Energy erupt from her body, increasing her speed and reflexes while also making stronger walls of ice. She digs deep into her energy control capabilities and channels every last drop of the Red Hydra's Soul Energy to make one final wall of ice that erupts from the floor and makes itself steady by piercing through the ceiling.

I can see the red energy leave her body completely. The blood-red wall is formed, and no more Qi or Soul Energy remains in her aura as she continues to fly through the air toward the transport crystal.

The metallic clang of energies colliding vibrates through the room as Monk grasps his gem behind Maria and crushes it in his hand, teleporting away to safety.

The Soul Energy crescent sent from the Dark Guard collides with the final blood-red wall of ice and is stopped in place for a fraction of a second.

Its outer layer is ripped away, lessening its attack power just slightly and altering its course.

Maria grabs the teleportation crystal in the air while the Soul energy crescent breaks through her final defensive wall. Due to the small alteration in course, the blade misses her heart by centimeters as she's sliced across the chest and opposite shoulder. Even so, she still manages to break the crystal in her hand and disappears in a flash of white light.

The room is filled with the echoing angered yell of the 5th Ranked Dark Guard.

A massive Blood Red Ice crystal sticks up through the arena floor, completely destroying the training room below, and disabling the shielding of the fight ring on the surface.

Screams of innocent bystanders in the crowd begin to spread, and the announcer of the event tries to calm everyone down. On this cue, I immediately shut off the surveillance system and run to the elevator.

The multiple seconds of waiting as the cart brings me to the lobby floor feels like an eternity.

The white floor is stained with blood, and my heart races faster as the elevator door opens.

Green flashes of light from Abby's Restoration magic fill the room. However, my attention is solely captivated by the warm blue eyes and radiant white smile that greets me from across the lobby, reassuring me that everything worked out.