In the meantime, the state of the Rankers' Alliance headquarters was much worse than that of the Heroes' League.
The Heroes were still able to fight off the Specters, but the Rankers were being slaughtered. Silver class rankers and below were slaughtered, while gold class rankers and above were captured.
The one leading the specters was wearing the same outfit as the Shadow Fang. No, in fact, the one leading the ghosts was also called Shadow Fang. Shadow Fang was just a code name.
There were 39 Gold Class Rankers and 2 Crown Class Rankers captured. These people were stationed at the entrance to the headquarters while hundreds of specters surrounded the Sky Scrapper.
One of the Crown Class Rankers captured was Arun Seth. The famous Crown Class Ranker - Rank 26, Flame Sorcerer.
He was easily captured because of the Legendary Class Rank that betrayed them. Four Legendary Class Rankers betrayed the Ranker Alliance.
This was also the main reason why the Specters were able to infiltrate the Core Region in the first place. The four Legendary Class Rankers paved the way for them to sneak into the Core Region in human form.
Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 30, Riyan Polim. Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 24, Guntur Ananda. Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 17, Xin Yu. Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 9, Zack Jessel.
These four figures, revered by lower-ranked Rankers, joined the Shadow Fang and overran the Ranker Alliance headquarters.
Arun Seth still could not believe that even Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 9, Zack Jessel was on the side of the Shadow Fang. He could not understand why they would betray humanity.
Even though Rankers were overbearing and arrogant because of their power, Arun Seth would never betray humanity.
Not only he, but also the other Rankers could not understand the reason for their betrayal. These specters were practically monsters in human form. Even though they wanted more power, they did not want to turn into a monster.
But now they had to make a choice. Before them stood Zack Jessel, the man they had once revered, but now despised for his treachery.
Zack Jessel narrowed his already small eyes and scanned the prisoners with a grin.
These people were his subordinates and they would always be his subordinates.
"You all have two choices, die or be one of us!" Zack Jessel said in a loud voice.
"I don't want to be a monster! I would rather die than be a lowly monster like you!" A Gold Class Ranker stood up and immediately disagreed.
He had a wife and daughter at home, and if he turned into a monster, he would not know how to face them.
Zack Jessel just smiled as his figure disappeared.
Splat!
The next moment, Zack Jessel appeared next to the Gold Class Ranker. He threw a punch directly at the Gold Class Ranker, and the head of the Gold Class Ranker burst out under a single blow.
The headless body fell as blood and brains splashed around. Blood splashed onto Zack Jessel's face, making him look even more terrifying.
"Kukuku... If you don't want to be one of us, then you're not needed!" Zack Jessel said, turning his head towards the other prisoners, he declared with a wide grin, "This is an example! Either die or be one of us!"
Zack Jessel succeeded in intimidating the other Rankers. 32 Gold Class Rankers immediately stood up and agreed to follow Zack Jessel.
However, with a broad grin on his face, Zack Jessel walked over to the black-cloaked man and said, "You will still be my subordinates, but he's your leader, Lord Shadow Fang!
There was shock on the faces of the rankers as they heard this. Zack Jessel, a Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 9, respected the black-cloaked man.
This meant that the black-cloaked man was at least one level higher than Zack Jessel. 32 Gold Class Rankers acted cautiously. Now that they had surrendered, they did not know what to do next.
"All of you, come here! Lord Shadow Fang will give you the seed! It will make you one of us!" Zack Jessel made these people stand in a line.
Their purpose was to turn every Ranker into a Specter. This was only the first step, the Ranker Alliance. After the Ranker Alliance, their next target was the Hero League.
After the Hero League of Star City they would conquer the Earth. That was their plan behind this attack.
With these thoughts in his head, Zack Jessel gave something to 32 people. It was about the size of a marble, black and round.
The Rankers opened their palms and received the black thing. To their surprise, the black thin thing in their palm was alive. They could feel a slight movement of the black. Not only that, they could also feel the black thing pulsating.
The thing in their hands was more like a living creature than a seed. Some of the Rankers began to regret their decision. However, there were a few brave rankers who swallowed the seed immediately.
As soon as they swallowed the seed, their bodies collapsed, pulsating on the ground. There was no voice coming out of their mouths, which meant that they felt no pain from the process.
The process did not take long. After a full minute, the collapsed Rankers stood up as a great change happened to them.
Two horns stuck out, a pair of wings grew on their backs and a long tail. Their physique also changed, they grew taller and their skin darkened a little.
Not only did their appearance change, but the aura around them also changed. They looked sombre, as if enveloped in a dark aura. Instead of a specter, they looked more like a devil in the movies.
Zack Jessel approached the black cloaked man and whispered, "The new seed has succeeded!
The black cloaked man nodded and replied in a hoarse voice, "Mnn, now we should test their fighting power!"
"I know what to do, sir!" Zack Jessel replied with a grin and walked towards the newly formed ghosts.
"Good! Now I have a job for you!" Zack Jessel pointed his finger at the people who refused to surrender, including Arun Seth and the other Crown Class Ranker.
"Either die or be one of us, choose now! This is your last chance!"
"I choose to die!" Arun Seth stood up, managing to break free of the shackles that were wearing him down.
Not only Arun Seth, but the rest of the Rankers stood as well. A great determination was reflected in their eyes. They were ready to fight to the end, even if it meant dying.
"Hohoho... These young men have a great spirit! How about we save them? We are on our way!"
Suddenly, an old but playful voice rang out. Everyone immediately turned towards the voice and saw three old men. The three old men were wearing simple white kimonos with a katana hanging from their waists.
No one recognised the three old men, including Zack Jessel.
While everyone was wondering who the three old men were, the man in the black cloak moved. He appeared in front of Zack Jessel.
Bang!
Everyone was shocked by the sudden movement, including Zack Jessel. An old man appeared in front of the black cloaked man and sliced his katana horizontally.
Thanks to the black-cloaked man blocking the katana, Zack Jessel was saved. Without the black-cloaked man's protection, Zack Jessel's body would have been sliced by the old man's katana.
"Who are you?" The black-cloaked man asked.
"Kukuku... You attacked Star City and did not know me? It seems your preparation is inadequate!" The old man laughed playfully as he replied.
"Old Kid! We have the people, let's go! It's not the time to play around!" A dignified old voice rang out.
Soon the specters noticed that the prisoners had disappeared. Only then did they realise that the old man who had attacked Zack Jessel was just a distraction. The purpose of the three old men was to rescue the prisoners.
"Kukuku... Where's Old Ming, why don't we play around here for a while? Don't you want to study this interesting creature?"
Although the old man said this, his voice drifted away. Only then did the specters realise that the old man who had attacked them had already disappeared.
*** ***
Meanwhile, at the north gate of Star City. Heero was standing in front of the north gate.
He had three swords at his waist and five spears on his back. Light armour covered his body as well, protecting his vital points.
Heero closed his eyes and remembered his past. The outfit he was wearing now was the hero's outfit he had always carried with him.
Butcher Wang stood next to Heero with a nervous look on his face. Of course he was nervous, it was because he was facing a horde of specters.
The distance between him and the horde was 3000 metres. The horde was still far away, but he was nervous because of the numbers. According to the report, the specters numbered in the hundreds of thousands, while on his side there were only him and Heero.