Albion and the others lurked at the edge of the alleyway, shrouded in impenetrable shadows.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺! 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭-𝘰𝘯-𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵... Inwardly cursing the guards, he focused on executing the plan.

The initial step involved his brother sprinting out, attacking the guards upfront while bellowing "Let the red tides rise," a notorious phrase of the Crimson Fang zealots.

This had two benefits.

The first was obvious as this phrase was usually followed by a brutal and bloody massacre. This would help by diverting the guards' attention towards imaginary foes and enabling Albion and Co to enter unnoticed. Secondly, upon their success, the Fang would naturally take the blame.

What could possibly go wrong? A myriad of things if he thought about it. But for now, he chose to dismiss those thoughts.

“Is everyone prepared to play their role?”

At the barbarian's words, Albion and the others nodded. Caligos shot him a reassuring smile before he put on his mask and bolted out. The guards had quickly noticed him began reaching for their weapons, but he was much faster, hurling a fiery cocktail that ignited upon impact at their feet. As flames erupted, he yelled the phrase with an uncanny accuracy. Caligos didn’t stick around and hastily fled in the opposite direction with guards in hot pursuit.

Not wanting to squander time or an opportunity, they left their discreet hiding spot. Albion followed closely behind the other two while silently praying for Caligos' safety.

Quickly advancing toward the rear entrance without any cover, the two guards easily saw their approach!

On the left, the younger guard failed to ready his revolver, whereas the older guard on the right managed to fire a shot that only grazed the barbarian's shoulder. Unconcerned, she charged at him, only to duck as the degenerate hurled his dagger, piercing the guard's throat before he could cry out.

Only at that moment was the guard on the left ready to aim, but it was too late as the barbarian knocked him out.

Albion stared at the two in awe and a little fear. He assumed that they were skilled, however seeing it personally was a completely different matter.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴.

“Hurry up, runt! Ahem, ladies first.”

The barbarian grunted at his words before turning to the door. Then, she used two powerful kicks to force it ajar.

Shivering at her incredible strength, the degenerate took a quick glance back at the front. His attention was drawn to the increase in the number of guards pouring out from inside.

Albion followed his gaze anxiously. He couldn't shake off his worry – by now, the guards would have mostly overcome their initial panic. Once that happened, they would begin to suspect that something was wrong.

𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘭, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺.

Just as he decided to fully trust his brother, the sound of metal bending caught his attention, seeing that the door was now open.

The barbarian entered first but soon returned, signaling the all clear.

Albion was the last to enter the large building and could immediately tell that it had been a long time since it was last used. As he and the others moved further inside, he noticed the stairs leading up to the second floor, but blocked by a group of guards in a heated argument.

“How do we get past?”

𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘵! 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮!

Due to major time constraints, they couldn't wait around, forcing him to quickly come up with a plan. A bulky breaker box caught his attention as he scanned the area, solidifying the idea in his mind he alerted the others.

This caused them to take notice before turning back to him, waiting expectantly.

Although he wanted to object, seeing their indifferent expressions and not wanting to waste time arguing, he took action. He alerted the guards, while ran hoping not to get shot as he reached the breaker.

“No going back now.” Albion quietly muttered as he flung opened the box, flipping all the switches off, plunging the area into darkness before all hell broke loose.

The barbarian and lowly degenerate moved swiftly, just as the lights went out, followed by the sound of gunfire. Although darkness itself might now be commonplace, even in unlife, people still instinctively feared it.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

In brief flashes, Barbarian fearlessly charged straight towards the group of guards. One guard reached for his gun as he walked back to hide behind his colleagues. In order to stop the gun, Barbarian struck the man hard in the stomach before she snapped his neck like a tree branch.

However, Albion saw none of this in his panic. He was busy frantically dodging stray bullets as they were fired madly, causing debris to fly and windows to shatter randomly.

The pool of warm blood he landed in didn’t faze him, nor did the thought that he was responsible for the deaths of a group of idiotic guards. What did bother him was the tear now running across one knee of his pants. Modern clothes were outrageously expensive, and this was his only pair.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦... 𝘈𝘭𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺.

“Hey, what are you idiots doing down there? Hurry, I'm upstairs already” the degenerate shouted impatiently.

“Working on it!” came a growl.

At the sound of the degenerate's voice, Albion clenched his jaw and past the many fallen guards. With the barbarian trailing closely behind, they ascended the metallic stairs, making their way to the second floor.

As the emergency power kicked in, Albion observed that the guards had either died or valiantly fled, leaving room for potential reinforcements.

Upon reaching the second floor, the trio were greeted by a long empty hallway. This led directly to the room containing the coveted item at its far end - unguarded.

The group was undeterred, as they pressed forward, with the barbarian taking the lead in a reckless charge.

CRASH! The degenerate followed with unhurried steps, while Albion lingered in the hallway. But before he could even fully take in his surroundings, he caught sight of a lifeless priest seated in an ornate chair, leaning back calmly as if enjoying a moment of peace.

The other two ignored the eerie scene and located the safe under the desk.

The degenerate got to work on the safe, muttering, “A tad bland, but the view isn’t bad.”

𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮'𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯? Albion glanced around and found nothing wrong in a minimalist aesthetic, but chose not to make a comment.

The barbarian said nothing but, after taking a look outside, she turned to him and asked, “How long will this take you, you idiot?”

“Give me a moment. Let me just turn this a little to the left... a bit to the right... hmm. Jeez, this thing is both simple and complicated, but if I'm right, just a few more turns and... got it!”

There was a melodic click as the safe opened. Degenerate took out a decoy box and took a drawn out breath while mumbling a prayer. Then, in one swift movement, he swapped the two and waited tensely. After a few seconds of nothing, he let out a sigh and held up the box proudly.

“Ladies and gentlemen, behold the fruits of my labour.”

The barbarian observed the box before declaring solemnly, “Good, now let's get the hell out of here.”

Albion gazed at the box intently, trying his best not to be obvious and act like an innocent teen. The other two luckily didn't seem to notice him.

Recalling what the strange girl had told him about Transcendants, he couldn't help but wonder if this miraculous item was a Vestige.

This made him remember something else he had somehow overlooked.

𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺.

Degenerate chuckled darkly and said eagerly, “Don't you want to see what's inside? This box supposedly contains an object with mysterious powers, and you're not even curious. If it's true, then this item should at least be from the Ancient Era. This thing is priceless!”

The barbarian glared at him before countering, “Do you really think such an item would be available at arms reach without the knowledge of the Prince? You saw the flimsy security of this place.”

The degenerate fell silent, coughing quietly in embarrassment.

“That's what I thought. Now hurry up.”

After that, he handed over the bag containing the box to Albion before confirming that the hallway was clear.

Gesturing to the barbarian to lead the way once more, the group then began to make their exit. The path seemed clear as the warehouse was entirely empty.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦? Albion thought to himself.

As they reached the back door exit, a piercing scream suddenly came from outside. Another distant yet unfamiliar noise accompanied, but it was too faint.

Albion froze for a moment, caught off guard by the noise. He turned to the other two who both appeared just as concerned.

“What was that?” he asked quietly.

The degenerate shrugged and said seriously, “Dunno, but I think we should pick up the pace.”

Moments later, the trio surprisingly made it to the alleyway unharmed.

Albion glanced back to make sure they weren't followed, only to bump into the degenerate. Before he could ask what was wrong, he saw it.

Before him was something straight out of a horror movie. Monstrous yet frail, the thing was stripped of its humanity. Instead of being solid and physical, its body had an ethereal quality, like an illusion. Long spindly arms hung from its torso and its fingers ended in sharp pointed nails that clawed at a fresh corpse.

However, that wasn't what disturbed him. It was its misshapen head that hung awkwardly on a bloody neck, threatening to fall off at any moment.

Albion's eyes widened as he realized what the sound was.

𝘈 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴...

At that moment, through its sunken, black eyes that stared into oblivion, a glimmer of recognition shone in its dead gaze. Then, its thin lips parted into a wicked grin, revealing a set of rotten fangs and black gums. In the next second, it launched itself at the degenerate, digging its fingers into his eyes. Albion was already running away, leaving the others behind.

𝘕𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

The barbarian debated if she should help, but eventually decided to run.

Meanwhile, the spirit had finished its meal and began picking up its small but hard-earned money. That was until it paused its vengeful assault before turning its attention to them.

Albion glanced back and was met with a horrifying sight, seeing the creature charging straight at them.

“Oh come on, really?”

He could only curse and pick up the pace as all he could do was run and hope to survive.