Dante heaved a sigh as he signed off on some more paperwork, knowing that there were going to be many, many people coming to talk to him.

Arthur Clive had done something a bit annoying two weeks ago at the Adventurer Expo, revealing what the Dungeon actually was, and confirming that the Soul was what was being altered by levelling up.

There were a few people recording the event, even though it wasn’t allowed there would always be people who did so… and so within a few minutes the video of the Einherjar question and answer session were online.

It had more than a few million views within the first few hours, and the comment section was filled with religious people decrying that Adventurers were fools for walking into Hell, people who refused to become Adventurers thinking themselves smart for not doing it, and Adventurers questioning whether or not they were in the right.

That was the majority, but there were a few people who argued against things, Adventurers who reminded that Hell was practically on their doorstop, having already attacked them on Red Sky Day, if they didn’t take the fight to Hell, were they going to just stand still and take the hits?

“You know, these groups have always existed… it’s just they needed a reason to come to blows.” Dante looked up at Grey Vincent, the current second-in-command of the guild.

Dante actually blinked for a moment in actual surprise, realizing that yes, he was actually seeing Grey before he gestured to the seat in front of him.

“Well, this is a surprise… you’ve been missing for a while, I haven’t been hearing from you.” Dante admitted, wondering what Grey was doing for the past month or two.

Dante hadn’t been told anything except for Shaun saying that Grey was handling a suspicion of Shaun’s.

“Sorry, Op-Sec demanded by the boss. I came back after hearing that he was shipped off to Columbia because his orders were that ‘if I am not in country, you are to return and let Dante know what you were doing’.” Grey’s really bad imitation of Shaun aside, Dante nodded, accepting the orders as they were, operational security was important to maintain in battle…

“There are spies, aren’t there?” Dante asked, getting a nod from Grey as he pulled out a bottle of some gassy drink or other.

Dante was a fitness guy, those drinks weren’t really good for you so he tended to stay away from them on most days.

“Yeah, there are… and not just here. I’ve been abroad for the last two months, I’ve checked out Britain, Germany, Russia, Japan, South Africa, Australia and Brazil before I ended up back here.” Dante blinked at that, only now noticing the black bags under Grey’s eyes.

No wonder Grey was slouching in his seat, changing time zones that frequently would mess with you.

“…I’m a bit worried to ask this, but of the spies you’ve identified… who are they working for?” Dante asked, having a worrying feeling with the question.

“Jack Mourn. The serial killer from last time.” Dante cursed under his breath, looking at the papers on his desk in thought.

He knew that serial killer was dangerous, the Adventurer Killer was the most prolific killer since the Beast of Columbia, Luis Garavito, and that he was muscling in on the drug-trade…

There had been sightings of someone with the skills to be the Adventurer Killer, and considering he could apparently change his face it was probably him…

But he had been suspiciously absent for a while… the last heard of him was two weeks before Shaun went to Columbia.

Columbia which was well known to work with cocaine and marijuana. The drug trade that Jack Mourn had been muscling in on.

The suspiciously absent Jack Mourn, the quiet Columbia, the spies in numerous Guilds and Governments across the world…

“Grey… have you considered that the Adventurer Killer… is in Columbia right now, with Shaun?” Grey blinked, his eyes red from lack of sleep widening as he realized what that would mean.

“It’s the calm before the storm. Shaun and the other Guild Leaders were sent there to try and quell the civil unrest going on in the country, but with all the bad things happening there, they wouldn’t have time to notice a few… extra people. Such as Jack Mourn.” Dante added, and Grey had a sip of his drink.

“Columbia is a large place, there’s little chance of them encountering one another if the Adventurer Killer is actually there… but they will have to come to blows.” Grey added and Dante knew what he meant.

Shaun, Clements and the other Guild Leaders were there to bring order, while Jack Mourn was likely trying to take advantage of the chaos to secure recipes, man-power, and raw material to start his own drug production.

As Grey implied, there was no certainty to Jack Mourn being in Columbia, but it was too enticing a target to not be hit by the Adventurer Killer, who had made it clear he was going to be a part of the drug trade sooner or later.

Sooner, rather than later was the idea apparently.

Even if Mourn himself wasn’t there, someone working for him was likely there.

“This is bad. Shaun is strong, he’s on par with the Chosen and in a straight out fight would defeat most of them, but the Adventurer Killer was a few levels higher than Arthur the last time they encountered one another. I doubt the gap was closed so easily.” Dante added and Grey recalled that Arthur, an old… ‘friend’ of his, was level ninety two weeks ago, meaning the man was likely level ninety four or five by now.

The Adventurer Killer… was probably level one hundred. More if Arthur’s idea of ‘three to five hundred’ was accurate.

Arthur seemed to firmly believe that level four hundred would be the highest, others were sceptical but could find it in themselves to believe his words.

Even six on one, a level difference of ten was dangerous, Shaun only tied with Mourn because Shaun was abnormal, his teammates would have to step up their games if they were going to help Shaun…

That, and Mourn wouldn’t be alone, last time he escaped with the help of someone capable of teleporting or invisibility, probably the former and not the latter as Shaun mentioned seeing no signs of movement such as pressed in grass.

So Mourn would have assistance from other Contract Holders, the term used for people with LEV’s but were not Adventurers, such as most Guild Members, the police, or in this case, criminals.

These other Contract Holders would be of unknown level, but Dante doubted they would be beneath level seventy; they wouldn’t be much help to Mourn if they were lower than that.

The Guild Leaders would just have to deal. Dante wasn’t involved, being in America as he was right now.

“I guess I can’t really worry at this point… what are the spies doing by the way?” Dante asked, curious as to this matter, and Grey sighed, palming his face.

“Nothing. They’re doing absolutely nothing. They’re even productive members of the work force.” Dante blinked… how were they spies then?

“The problem is that they all get money paid into their accounts ‘anonymously’ every month, beyond what they should be getting. Then I remembered what Mourn’s ability is, to change faces.” Grey added, and Dante realized how he figured out they were spies.

“They’re paid to do their jobs, and Mourn can actively replace them at their jobs for a day or two… this way, they can’t feed Mourn false information, and Mourn is within striking distance if he needs to assassinate a Guild member… do we have any spies in our Guild here?” Dante asked quickly, and Grey shook his head.

“No, this is one of the Guilds with no spies… I think it’s because Shaun’s the one in charge here. Everyone who works here knows that Shaun runs a tight ship, no one would accept Mourn’s offer.” The other part unmentioned was that Mourn would be cautious around Shaun.

Shaun was level thirty one when he encountered the level thirty seven serial killer, and yet both walked away injured having a draw in their battle.

Not only that, but Shaun’s Hunter Eyes let him see information about people, he subconsciously activated them from time to time, especially when he was mad.

All it would take was Mourn walking past while Shaun was angry and Mourn would be ousted as the Adventurer Killer, even if he was hiding with a different face.

So Mourn was cautious enough to know that he wouldn’t be able to act freely in front of Shaun, but crazy enough to attack everywhere Shaun was not.

A dangerous combination… insanity honed by caution made Mourn an annoying enemy.

“For now, we should have a respite from Mourn while he is missing… the bank heists have slowed to almost a complete halt, with most robberies happening elsewhere.” Dante noted.

“Yeah, that leaves our response teams to be ready, and we can hold off on calling in Einherjar for now… but when Mourn returns, they’ll have to step up to the plate too.” Grey warned, knowing that no one really wanted to include Einherjar, even though it would be a necessity at that point.

For all that they were strong, Einherjar were still technically civvies and they had no business being part of the law enforcement of the country.

Not to mention that Arthur was a bit… unhinged, in regards to hurting people. Sometimes he’d be adamantly against doing anything with hurting another being, other times he’d just give a bland look as someone got hurt in front of him.

Grey and Dante hadn’t had access to Arthur’s medical history, nor did Shaun, little to no one knew about Arthur’s R.A.D which would have cleared up a few things.

It wouldn’t change who Arthur was, it would just make it more understandable for other people.

“Who knows when the Columbia mission will be done, and whether or not Mourn will work on Shaun’s schedule? Instead of worrying about that… Arthur certainly dropped a bomb on the world.” Dante said, looking at the laptop screen to his right, updates on arguments, forums and the video itself showing.

“That he did, but Arthur never really cared for how other people would react to the things he did, even if he knew they were reacting.” Grey pointed out and Dante sighed, knowing that Grey really had warned them of Arthur’s habits beforehand.

“All these arguments about religion, spirituality, discussions on the soul, and Arthur’s just taking a backseat to this even though he started it.” Dante’s main complaint was this.

Arthur showed up the day after the expo walking into the Guild like nothing had happened, gone into the Dungeon with both Einherjar and Jotun, apparently showing them the ropes in the next Area before the weaker team got there.

And even with Dante’s complaints, Arthur just shrugged with a small smile on his face, saying-

“It was going to be found out eventually. Secrets like that aren’t kept unless everyone who knows it dies.”

Dante couldn’t argue against the statement, and Arthur went on to add that people would have figured it out eventually, Arthur’s theories on the soul and the Dungeon were available for public viewing even if they weren’t announced, and the person who asked the question at the expo clearly knew a bit.

“Fact of the matter is that Arthur can afford to take a backseat, as he has been answering many questions before they could even be asked to this point.” Grey added, lifting a printed copy of the now publically known Arthur’s Tome.

The actual name was just ‘Thesis on the Soul and Dungeon’ but people apparently preferred the ‘mystery’ in the current known name.

“You’re saying there would have been more questions, complaints and arguments if it were not for this?” Dante asked, looking for confirmation.

“Probably, I mean, many of the arguments and questions are simply answered with ‘look in the Tome’ and then silence… makes you wonder if Arthur was planning this, but knowing him, he wasn’t.” Dante nodded.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Arthur was smart, and apparently a brilliant tactician if his Skill was to be believed, but Arthur couldn’t have predicted this from the time he first stepped into the Dungeon.

“I guess we’re just going to have to leave Arthur alone for now… he’s the face of Adventurers world-wide, so even if we wanted to complain they’d probably boycott us for messing with him.” Dante leaned back in his chair, sighing.

Spies, Columbia, Arthur, the Dungeon, bank heists, Dante had a lot weighing on his mind… and that was when his sister walked into the room, carrying a stack of papers.

“Sign. Also, Einherjar has something really important they want to talk to you about.” Dante blinked at that, realizing that Einherjar were back from their Demon Lord fight.

Einherjar had mentioned they were going to fight the eighth Demon Lord the day before, the eighth Area being small but filled with strong monsters and the occasional traps.

“I’ll sign these when I get back.” Dante walked away, wishing the papers would burst into flames before he got back into the room.

Fire might be his Element, but even he couldn’t do that without magic and letting people know who did it.

So Dante walked out and looked to Arthur’s team, expecting to see smirks, smiles, general contentment with defeating a Demon Lord…

Instead, Dante saw confused looked and Arthur frowning as he walked closer to their table.

“Einherjar.” Dante greeted the collective with a nod, sitting down and looking at Arthur, a page already in his hand with a pen to write notes about the latest Demon Lord.

Arthur had his own notes with more details, even backstories to the Demon Lords who would share theirs.

The seventh one had a backstory out of some fantasy novel honestly.

“Dante… we need to talk about something… it’s worrying.” Arthur’s statement had Dante set down the pen, knowing that this next part was probably going to be ‘off-record’ even if he’d verbally share it with others.

“Alright, I take it the Demon Lord fight went oddly?” Dante recalled Einherjar’s reaction to the Wyvern Slayer as they came out of the Dungeon looked oddly numb for having won a fight.

He found out afterwards that the Demon Lord was once human and realizing they fought to kill a human was disturbing.

Arthur landed the final blow though, and he was really the only one to fight the Wyvern Slayer, the Demon Lord weaker than his rank would suggest in exchange for having another monster with him, his own Wyvern.

John also mentioned that even if Arthur didn’t notice it, he had boosted Arthur during said fight, explaining why Arthur was capable of defeating Gerard like that.

“Odd is putting it lightly. The eighth Demon Lord was the Dead Sun, apparently from what I’ve managed to put together when he was alive he was a priest of the sun, not a typical Undead because he could use Fire and Light magic.” That did sound odd for an Undead, but they were still learning the rules to such things, if there were any.

Rules were practically being rewritten as they were being jotted down anyway.

“It was not that difficult really, for an Undead it was weak against Lightning and Darkness magic oddly enough, I take it that the Lightning is usually damaging to Undead and the Darkness was because of its role as ‘Dead Sun’.” Arthur added, then explaining its appearance.

Large, muscular, wearing clothes similar to old Aztec cloths and headdresses, it was a physical fighter as well as a magic user, able to buff itself, attack with Light and Fire, and being really strong.

its defence wasn't high though, as a result of it being an Undead most likely… had the Dead Sun been alive it probably would have been much stronger, as Undead were weaker than when they were alive with the exception of few, such as Despair and Liches.

So… from what Dante was hearing, they essentially fought Aztec Hercules as a zombie.

Of course the world was so strange now.

“Okay, this happened, what was the issue then, the oddity?” Dante asked, and Arthur shared a glance with Michael, and then Emilia before licking his lips and sighing.

“Dante, we weren’t the first to kill the Demon Lord.” Dante blinked, and then just stared.

“Dante, you know my abilities, I can see the souls of those I face and that thing was empty. A husk. Even the Undead aren’t husks. Bland, grey or black souls yes, but not empty. Not hollow.” Dante leaned back in his seat, feeling his breath hitch in his throat.

It was a defeated Demon Lord? A ‘Hollow Lord’ as termed by a few Adventurers online? But who could have killed it?

The Guild’s all know, that one is to inform the others of their discovery of the Demon Lord’s floor, the stairs to the fight, and yet there was no call?

The next closest should have been the Japanese, Ichiro was getting really close to the stairs only to find out Arthur beat him to it… and now they find that someone beat even Arthur to this Demon Lord?

“...I see… you all go home, rest for the day… I’m going to make a few calls, I’ll let you know what I find.” Dante added, and Arthur maintained a steady stare at Dante, though he looked away when Dante met his eyes.

That was a habit of Arthur’s, who disliked looking into the eyes of others except when trying to convey his honesty.

“…You think it’s foul play?” Dante huffed for a moment, hand resting on the table as he looked at the notes he took on the Demon Lord, the Dead Sun.

“I’d assume, Japan was really close themselves, who is to say if they might have just kept quiet and stolen the victory?” Dante asked with a raised brow, only to get a shake of the head from Arthur.

“No, it’s an impossibility. The Japanese Guild’s may think like that, I can’t say I know that group, but I know Ichiro, the Chosen of Japan. I’d say he is a friend. He hates tricks, cheating, he’d be upfront about it with us, if only so he can brag to me.” Dante hadn’t really known of Arthur’s friendship with the Japanese Chosen, but that did eliminate Japan from the list of culprits.

“Okay, so it wasn’t Japan, maybe Russia, the U.K, Africa, Saudi Arabia, one of them? Trust between countries is a given, but at some point things were going to go wrong.” Dante asked and Arthur leaned back into his seat, looking oddly smug.

It was a weird look on Arthur.

“Maybe, just maybe Russia would have done it, but I doubt it, Albert hates us but he has worked with me before, and from what I hear, he has worked with Shaun before, would someone who has worked with Shaun do something like this?” Dante frowned, already picturing how the conversation was about to go.

“Then, as for Africa, that’s a bit false, South Africa is the main home of their team members. Loyiso is also an upfront guy, spiritual, unless he has been making a persona the whole time, I doubt he’d lie either.” Dante just sat quietly, waiting.

“Sheikh is too proud to cheat, he wants to defeat me and the other Chosen in fair competition, to prove to all that he is better. Cheating would undermine his goal.” And one more…

“As for Jade Ainsworth’s team, that crazy George is their Guild Leader. Enough is said there.” Indeed, George was really supportive of Arthur’s position as ‘Strongest Chosen’ going so far as to say he was a fan…

Then again, George also claimed that Arthur was going to be nigh immortal and that George’s descendant will be in a threesome with some Sword God and Jade Ainsworth.

But the idea was there, George was a bit too unstable to do something like letting the U.K team rush ahead, even if he was also in Columbia, the Guild in England would never disobey his orders for fear of his reprisal.

“Alright, so that’s the Big Six, what about the other countries?” Dante asked, playing his role in letting Arthur figure out who it could possibly be that killed the Demon Lord.

“Now that’s a funny suggestion. Nothing against the other countries, their Chosen are all around level ninety too, Scandinavia even has a level ninety two team who call themselves the Vikings… but do you really think they’d try something like this?” Dante actually agreed with Arthur’s denial, even if he was the one that suggested the possibility of the others…

The other Countries, even if they have strong Adventurers, wouldn’t dare try to be unlawful about their victory, because when it came to Adventurers, messing with the ‘Big Six’ countries in Adventuring was simply not done.

“If it isn’t the countries, then that leaves someone unaffiliated with the Guilds and Countries… shit.” Dante cursed, and Arthur nodded, the other members of Einherjar looked quite confused.

Emilia on the other hand had a blush and looked impressed. Huh… Dante had a glance between her and Arthur for a moment before shrugging.

“There’s only one person known who could have done it. I don’t know if there are any other people like him… but the Adventurer Killer, wasn’t he like five levels above me back when I was level thirty?” Arthur reminded, a few members of Einherjar getting wide eyes.

“Yeah… so the most likely, and most annoying option, according to Occam’s Razor.” Dante added, and Arthur nodded.

In Columbia, Mourn sat, flipping his dagger in his hand, sitting on the roof of a building, thinking… aching.

His wounds from his fight against the Demon Lord ached slightly, but he was healing fast… his Vitality stat was a bit low, but still high enough for him to have some measure of regenerative ability.

“Hey Boss, you up here?” Mourn heard from behind him, looking over his shoulder to see the door to the roof open, and out walked Eddie, holding two cups of coffee, the steam wafting off of them as he walked over, closing the door with his foot.

Mourn didn’t say anything, just watching as Eddie came closer, placing the cup next to Mourn and standing, staring into the sunset with his boss.

“…Eddie.” Mourn said, his voice tired, leaving Eddie to look at Mourn from out the corner of his eye.

Eddie was also injured, just like Mourn was, understandable as the two of them were part of the group that fought that Demon Lord, and Mourn had no healer available to him.

“Boss?” Eddie ‘asked’ in return with a small smile, getting a roll of the eyes from Mourn as he accepted the cup, his dagger having vanished in the middle of his next toss.

“I’m tired Eddie.” Mourn said, still staring at the sun and refusing to look at Eddie.

“I know Boss.” Mourn didn’t show any reaction beyond taking a sip of his coffee, licking his lips… that was damn good coffee.

“Since when?” Mourn asked, because if Eddie truly knew what he was talking about…

“About… a month, two months after we met? Not your fault really.” Eddie said, finally getting a reaction as Mourn turned his head slightly to look up at the still standing Eddie.

“Explain.” Mourn added, and Eddie hummed in thought.

“My younger brother is similar to you. Or is it that he would be your opposite?” Eddie seemed confused on how to explain, shaking head before continuing.

“My brother is… messed up, to put it lightly. I’m honestly scared of him, because I know he could hurt lots of people with how he is.” Mourn was intrigued, having never heard of Eddie’s sibling before.

“On the other hand, I know it’s not really his fault… things happened that made him like that. I don’t blame him, I blame those who put him in those situations.” Eddie then looked to Mourn.

“You’re similar. Something happened, and you were expected to act one way… and now you stay acting that way, instead of trying to stop.” Eddie said, and Mourn looked down, seeing two children playing with a soccer ball in the street, both noticing Mourn and Eddie and then waving.

Mourn waved back with a small smile, and Eddie chuckled.

“See? You… I can’t say you’re not bad. You scare me. But you can be nice. You have that choice.” Mourn’s smile turned into a frown instantly, looking to the sun.

“I don’t. Have a choice, I mean. I’ve been hurt for a long time, and I’ve been expected to hurt others for so long I don’t know anything else.” Eddie tilted his head, taking a sip of his coffee.

“I think you do know what to do… I mean, what we’ve been doing since we got here is a bit…” Eddie started, getting a look from Mourn who was taking a sip of his own coffee.

“I know. I figured I’d give it a try. I doubt it will work but…” Eddie looked to his boss, really looked at the man… and then turned back to the sun.

“Let’s hope it works out. Though admittedly… is the reason you have to do what you do our company?” Eddie asked, and Mourn sighed.

“Here you go get insightful and then you ruin it. It’s kind of obvious isn’t it Eddie? Just, just… go inside, go sniff some cocaine, feed the dog, do something.” Eddie chuckled.

Mourn was just about ready to torture Eddie again, but instead he took a deep breath.

Torture wasn’t going to calm Mourn down right now…

Mourn looked at the sun, knowing that this was just a moment of calm he could use… after this, it was back to the job…

The job he was starting to hate. Especially because of the competition.

“Let’s see… the cartels, the military, the other killers, small time gangs, the Guild Leaders… I got a lot of competition.” Mourn said, propping himself up and standing at the edge of the building with his cup of coffee, finishing it before tossing the cup behind him.

The sun slowly set, and as it did, Mourn’s face morphed, taking on a different shape, his disguise for the day.

“They say the measure of a man can be seen in the calibre of his enemies.” Mourn said aloud, stretching for a bit before placing his palms onto the floor, stretching out one leg behind him in a classic runners pose.

“I’m a great man I guess.” Mourn mumbled, a leather jacket appearing over his upper body, and a short blade with a serrated back appeared in his hand.

And with a push, Mourn was gone, having jumped a few buildings away, his strength allowing him to traverse Columbia at high speeds, especially alone.

Inside the building Mourn just left, after feeling the boom of Mourn’s departure, Eddie sat down his cup in a sink, picking up a bowl of porridge, and then walking away from the kitchen.

“Hey, the Boss leave?” Eddie looked over to the woman with a raised brow. She then shook her head, sending her black hair flying about for a moment.

“Dumb question, right. You going to feed the dog?” Eddie felt awkward about the term but nodded, getting a sigh from the woman.

“When you’re done, get back here, I have an itch that needs scratching.” Eddie’s eyes widened, and a smile was on his face immediately as he walked away.

He had a reason to rush now after all… even if she was a crazy chick that tried to kill Mourn, they were… sort of dating now? Friendly associates with benefits? Who knew?

Eddie wasn’t going to complain, walking to the door and opening it to reveal the old chained up man lying in what was likely a puddle of his old piss.

There was no spoon with the porridge, only the bowl itself, as Eddie placed it on the floor, sliding it over to the old man who looked up to Eddie with narrowed eyes.

“Eat up, Monster of the Andes, the Boss doesn’t want you dead just yet.” The old man spat at Eddie, who made sure to dodge, the spit punching about a centimetre into the wall behind.

“Oops, forgot to put up the silencing field… that’s no more magic out of you.” Eddie added, and the old man huffed, thin and reedy, his moustache grey and thinning.

Pedro Alonso Lopez, the Monster of the Andes, claimer of three hundred odd murders of young girls… the serial killer had been missing for a while, up until Red Sky Day.

Soon after that event, he went to Columbia and killed the President… the very man that threw Columbia into chaos sat here in this room, prevented from moving thanks to Mourn and Eddie’s new paramour.

“Maldito bastardo.” Eddie shrugged, not having an idea on what the man was saying, instead closing the door behind him and whistling as he walked away.

He had some… matters, to attend to.

In America, Arthur clenched his fist in knowing that out there, someone was stronger than him.

In Columbia, Mourn moved through the night taking the lives of those who would dare go against his goals.

On the wrist of the Monster of the Andes was LEV with the number ninety eight.

On Eddie’s wrist, it was ninety three.

On Mourn’s?

EX three. Level one hundred and three.

Arthur Clive

Level: 95 (C-Rank)

Class: Linked Swordsman- Grants one stat point to Strength and Wisdom per level

Gives Soul Sight (Unique) Skill

Anima

Dagger of Hunger

Cloak of Will

Anima Skills

No Change

Primary Element: Lightning

Other Element(s): Darkness, Mind

Personal Skills

Tactician V (87/250) - increases Wisdom by 30% (total 175%)

Sword Sage III (93/500)- Any bladed weapon deals 40% extra damage

Soul Sight III (164/500) - Allows insight beyond mortality

Dual Wielding V (58/250) - Greater use of two weapons

Lightning Elemental IV (80/400) - Use supplementary lightning spells

Quick Reflexes V (38/250)- Increases Dexterity by 30%

Hunter I (62/100)- Increases damage against previously killed enemies.

Stats

Strength: 130

Dexterity: 142 (184)

Intelligence: 67

Wisdom: 152 (266)

Endurance: 67

Vitality: 130