The pair wasted no time and dove straight into their work, swiftly eliminating the entire wave in under five minutes. The monsters weren't any stronger, really; they just had higher numbers compared to the previous waves. Adrian decided to resurrect a few of the massive creatures, either for future use or to serve as cannon fodder due to their imposing size and strength. He soon discovered that each shadow soldier occupied two permanent [Skill Slots], regardless of their power or strength, just like the werewolf named Rasen who also took up two slots. However, since it wasn't possible to stack two of the same kind of monster in a single slot, he had to discard many of the skills he had acquired earlier to clear space in the [Skill Reserve] for these shadows. It was likely that he would have to discard even more skills later if the need arose.

With the dungeon now cleared, Adrian exclaimed, "Oh, I'm level 15 now."

He glanced in a particular direction and spotted Stella unfreezing herself and Gerald. Hurrying over to them, he asked Stella, "Can both of you still walk?"

"Yes, I can still move, but Gerald is in critical condition. We need to leave this place quickly..."

"So you're not acting like a jerk anymore, huh?"

"Please! This is not the time for that! I'm sorry, okay? Please do something about the [Space Lock]!" She immediately coughed up blood thereafter.

"Alright, alright." Adrian shifted his gaze toward the three bodies carried by Rasen.

"Let's see... [Wake up, Idiots]."

Three shadows promptly awakened from the bodies and turned their attention to Adrian. Their expressions remained blank.

"Once something becomes a shadow, they become incredibly obedient, don't they?"

"Yes. Even I can't bear my fangs towards you anymore now that you're my master."

"Good, good." Adrian swept his hand through his blonde hair. "Hey, how can we deal with this [Space Lock]?" After uttering those words, Luc's shadow glanced at his own lifeless body, retrieved something from his clothes, and pulled out another crystal. Though it was well concealed, Adrian knew exactly what it was.

Luc's shadow handed him the crystal, and before crushing it, Adrian turned to Stella. "I hope you understand that you mustn't reveal my identity. Got it? Don't mention my name."

"I got it! Please, just help us!"

"Alright then."

He crushed the crystal, causing purple portals to materialize before them, pulling them in. Adrian hastily activated the Invisibility effect of his mask, momentarily losing his vision before it returned seconds later, now finding himself outside.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Glancing beside him, he noticed the visibly weakened Stella with Gerald lying on the ground, prompting her to cry out for help. Numerous healers immediately swarmed around, offering their assistance. Within moments, a high-ranking healer arrived, pushing the others aside to provide aid.

The surrounding groups of players also caught sight of the lifeless bodies of the trio.

"Ugh, I'm out of here." Adrian swiftly stowed all of his equipment back into his inventory, except for the mask, and dashed towards his car.

When he neared the parking lot, he halted his sprint and resumed walking after the invisibility effect faded away.

As he made his way toward his car, an object whizzed towards him at high speed. Adrian hastily dodged, his heart pounding. The attack was unbelievably swift, the work of a highly skilled player. He examined the projectile and noticed a small golden ring deeply embedded in the ground. His attention quickly turned to the assailant, causing his heart to race even faster.

"Yo!" A man clung to a nearby building, his right arm extended towards Adrian, indicating it was the one he used to launch the attack. The man swiftly descended, a long cable-like contraption made of numerous small golden rings flicking upwards and pausing in midair, allowing him to swing from it and land in front of Adrian.

The man approached with a friendly smile. "Hey, Adrian! You can take off your mask now. It's just the two of us here."

"Heimdall..." Adrian was taken aback. Why would an SS-Ranked player be looking for him?

"That's right. So, you do know my nickname after all." He chuckled.

Adrian replied while removing his mask, "Tsk... How could I forget one of the Eight Founders?"

"Hehe... I was only there to fill up the numbers at the time, so technically, Seven Founders. By the way, just call me Mirai." The man extended his hand, and Adrian shook it promptly.

"Um... By the way, why are you here?"

"Well... Norsa asked me to bring you. He could have sent a few robots, but I suggested coming here in person to be more welcoming. So here I am. We want to give you a proper welcome. Let's go!"

"Alright, so where's our ride?"

"Uh... It'll be here in a moment... There!" Mirai pointed upwards to a sleek black spacecraft descending towards them.

As it hovered approximately three stories above them, Mirai shot his rings towards the body of the aircraft, connecting them to the bottom. He then propelled himself up, airborne. The door of the spacecraft swung open as he approached.

"He really embraced the way Spider-Man moves," Adrian murmured as he looked up.

Mirai leaned out of the door and created a long chain of golden rings, dropping it down in front of Adrian. "Grab hold of it!"

Adrian tightly grasped the chain, and in an instant, Mirai swiftly pulled him up. Adrian's eyes widened as he found himself hovering in front of the open door of the aircraft. Mirai then grabbed Adrian's other hand and pulled him inside the cabin.

The cabin exuded luxury and spaciousness, with every detail crafted from high-end materials. The seats, for instance, were made from the leather of high-level monsters. A large holographic screen resembling a television adorned one side of the cabin.

They settled into seats facing each other, with a small table in between. Adrian inquired, "So... Mirai-san, where exactly are we headed?"

"Whoa, whoa, please don't use 'san' when speaking English. I may be Japanese, but there's no need for that. Anyway, we're heading to our base of operations, the headquarters."

"Didn't you have several guild bases scattered across the USA?"

"Well, yeah, floating fortresses that Norsa built, to be precise. However, this time we're heading to the Philippines."

"Oh, I see! I'm excited for it."

"Well, we might reach there in just a few minutes... So let's enjoy some wine in the meantime." Mirai made a gesture, and a hole appeared in the table, with wine glasses rising from it. After placing the glasses in front of them, another robotic arm emerged, pouring wine into their glasses. "Cheers." Mirai raised his glass.

"Cheers." They drank together as the sun began to set.