Everyone gathered in front of the door with their weapons at the ready.

"Let's go!" Layla exclaimed, kicking the door open.

Blast! Blast! Blast! Blast! Blast!

Tiny mana bombs had been placed on the locks of all the cages in the room, which were triggered and exploded as soon as the doors opened.

Since they weren't very potent, they only blasted open the locks without harming anyone inside the cages.

The sudden jolt from the blasts woke up most of the unconscious slaves.

'Shit! The doors have been unlocked, and the goods are awake as well. In the half-dead state they're in, they'll die if we as much as scratch them,' the black-haired woman thought.

"Fish! Release the gas. The rest of you! Bring your gas masks from the room!" yelled Layla, her orders carrying a strange power behind them.

All the goons rushed out of the room before returning with their gas masks on. One of them handed the woman a mask as well.

"Fish! Now!" the woman screamed.

Following her orders, a green mist soon began emitting from the orbs floating in the room. Eventually, the fog enveloped the entire room.

"Spread out! Search for the intruder! I want him alive!" Layla ordered.

The men scattered across the room, trying to find the one who had dared to challenge them.

'It doesn't make sense. How can there be an intruder? The only ones who come here are slaves and our people. Is there a mole among us?' the woman thought as she stood still, observing every movement in the room.

She shook away the thought. That wasn't what was important right now.

'Why did the intruder not silently run away while we were asleep outside the room? Is he here to save someone? Blasting the cage doors and waking the slaves up… did he not know about the poison gas?' she thought.

No matter how much she thought about it, she just couldn't figure out the intruder's plan, if he even had one.

Gripping the long sword on her back, she spread her arcane around, trying to sense the arcane signatures in the room.

Something felt very strange. It was as if her subordinates were being knocked out one by one. But, no matter the intruder's strength, knocking out her skilled subordinates so fast seemed almost impossible.

Plus, no matter how much she focused, she wasn't able to detect the intruder's presence. It was almost as if it was a ghost flying around, knocking out the slavers.

'Just what is his plan?' Daniel doubted surveying the room. Except for the broken locks, nothing else was out of place.

WHOOOOO!!!

The vents started sucking the poisonous gas with an almost unimaginable force.

Swish.

Just before the fog could entirely lift off, the woman felt something appear behind her. Instinctively, she slid out the sword hanging on her back and, spinning her whole body around, slashed it behind her.

Clang.

The assailant who had appeared behind her parried the long sword in just the nick of time with his silver, glowing dagger, making the two weapons produce a loud, ringing sound which echoed throughout the room.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

The effect of the temporary skill he had bought, worth millions of points, which enabled him to completely mask his arcanic presence for a minute, had worn off.

But the force behind the longsword was too great, twisting the wrist of the assailant that gripped the dagger. Not wasting any time, he threw his blade in the air before swiftly snatching it away with his other hand.

Regaining her balance almost instantly, Layla swung her immense blade at him once again.

The assailant wearing the white mask and assassin's cloak jumped back, barely dodging the strike.

Even though his dagger was pretty sturdy, using it to parry the bulky sword of the woman was almost suicide.

The man put the dagger back into his inventory before sliding out the blood-cursed axe with a single hand.

By now, the rest of the slavers had directed their attention towards the clashing duo. A few rushed towards them, with weapons raised in the air, ready to battle with the intruder.

"Who are you?" Layla shouted, raising his sword at him.

He didn't bother opening his mouth.

In the blink of an eye, the masked intruder appeared beside Layla with a speed so fast that even she could barely notice his presence appear beside him.

Using the momentum he gained from his sprint, he slashed the bulky axe at her neck single-handedly, making a large and wide movement, which left uncountable openings in his defence.

Swish.

The bulky axe head slashed through the hair, cutting off a few strands of the woman's hair, who had somehow managed to duck, dodging it in the nick of time.

She let go of her sword with a swift movement before twisting her palm and gripping it in a stern reverse grip.

"Got you," she whispered, slashing her sword at the masked man's waist.

Clank…

With the long handle of his axe, covered in bloodied red bandages, he parried her sword.

The assailant swiftly lunged above her, his mask facing the ground. He gripped her head with remarkable agility between his legs, effortlessly carrying her while executing a graceful flip through the air.

The force of impact was immense as he forcefully drove her head into the ground, causing the entire surface to shatter and crack.

Before he could do any more damage, he lunged back, avoiding the countless spears thrown at him.

In a matter of seconds, the slavers had surrounded him in a big circle and had initiated throwing long, sharp spears at him.

"Die!" A man shouted, launching his spear at the masked man.

Managing to jump up in the air, he dodged it before twisting his entire body midair, avoiding another spear.

Another slaver at the other end of the circle caught the spear that had missed the target before throwing it back at the man wearing the white mask.

Daniel gripped the hilt of his sword and strengthened his legs, readying himself to assist the masked man.

But he stopped, noticing the masked man looking at him, subtly shaking his head and ushering him to move away.

With almost impossible and unbelievable movements, he kept dodging the weapons hurled at him by the twenty men.

"Halt!" shouted Layla, blasting through her men towards the masked man.

She spun her entire body around, slashing her sword all around her, which had now caught on intense, bright red flames.

Like a spear caught in flames, she sliced through the air before finally raising her sword in the air and bringing it down on the masked man.

The flaming sword, just a few inches away from his face, emitted a light too dazzling, forcing his body to instinctively close his eyes, which had become much more sensitive to light due to his night vision skill.

He tried raising his axe to block the approaching blade, but it was far too heavy to be able to bring between his face and the sword in time.

He still had the skill to tank the attack in his arsenal, but he had planned a later use for it.

"Ma…"

Amidst the sound of the crackling flames of the sword and the running around of the people, he heard a shrill, soft voice call out to him.

"...ster"

The air beside him crackled.

Splitting open, the air revealed a thin, tiny crack.

Swish.

Clang.

The masked man finally opened his eyes, which had adjusted to the bright flames.

The moon dagger floated in the air between the burning sword and his head.

[The Item: 'Moon Dagger' has evolved from a sub-level ego to a low-level ego]

"A weapon with an… ego?" Layla mumbled, staring at the floating dagger with wide eyes.

The hot sword had managed to melt and slice through a part of the dagger before the masked man gripped it and jumped back.

"Who are you?" shouted Layla, slashing her sword downwards, dissipating the flames, "No matter how much one tries, getting a weapon with an ego is impossible below the fortieth floor."

Examining his dagger that had been cut through, Nox felt strange. It was as if he was examining the wounds of one of his most dear friends.

Shaking away the thoughts, he looked around him.

The goons had lined up behind Layla, ready to attack him at a moment's notice, while she stood still, observing even the tiniest of his movements.

She pointed her sword towards him, yelling, "Charge!"

The slavers roared in unison, charging towards him.

He took a deep breath before finally opening his mouth and whispering under his breath, "Now."

Boom!

Boom!

Baam!

Boom!

Boom!