Rusty Key Tavern,
A certain hooded man sauntered towards the Rusty Key Tavern. He had a frightening aura surrounding him, so much so that the people steered clear of his path. Ignoring the crowd, he entered the Rusty Key Tavern, on the lookout for a certain guild master.
The moment he went inside the tavern, the atmosphere immediately shifted, and everyone stared at him with genuine fear in their mind.
It was the man who killed the Guardian of the Second Outerlayer in one blow!
Clank. Clank.
The joints in his armor rubbed together as he walked. He approached Rhydderch Wintermoon, the guild master of Lomenschwaal Guild.
"Do you need anything?" Rhydderch gritted his teeth. He didn't want to involve himself with such a shady character. He may be strong, but he was heartless enough to kill someone else's brother in cold blood without batting an eye. The vampires may be a different race, but that didn't warrant his actions at all.
"Yes, I'm looking for someone named Albrecht Stein. My source told me that he was someone from the Heroes of Relics... and he recently signed a temporary contract on your guild."
"And? What do you need from him?"
The man heaved a sigh. "I need to know where he is. I need his help."
"Look, do you think that guy would help you? You pretty much killed someone he spared, someone who had a change of heart. You killed a person in front of him." Rhydderch hissed. "If you think he'd want your help, then dream on."
"Also, I'm not going to give you information about him. Even if you threatened to kill me." Rhydderch shrugged, returning to his seat before downing his beer in one go.
"Even if I threatened to kill everyone here?" The man's voice was cold, but Rhydderch knew he meant everything he said.
"Go ahead, no one can stop you. In fact, why don't you destroy the entire kingdom while you're at it? To me, you're more heartless, more monstrous than the monsters and beasts in Ground Zero." Rhydderch continued.
Everyone in the room had the same sentiment, and they all agreed with the guild master's words.
Ti-ring.
"Welcome to Rusty Key Tavern." The daughter of the tavern owner amicably greeted as another person entered the tavern.
It was none other than Albrecht, and beside him was a familiar lady, but she didn't look like a vampire at all.
"You made it in time!" Rhydderch immediately ignored the presence of the hooded man. He approached Albrecht while waving his hand.
But before he could extend his hand for a handshake, Albrecht immediately rushed headfirst and activated his skill 'Causality Slash'.
[Causality Slash (Unique, ?-Rank)— Spatial Slash's ultimate form. It can cut through anything physical and energy-based. An unstoppable slash that can cut even through the laws of space and time itself.]
"YOU!" Albrecht roared as he slashed the man with his skill.
The man took a step sideways since he realized that he couldn't parry the attack. He then tried to attack Albrecht using his shortsword, but Albrecht read through his movements and unleashed another Causality Slash.
As for the first Causality Slash, Albrecht opened his spatial storage space just in time before the Causality Slash could cause significant damage in the tavern.
The second Causality Slash squarely hit the shortsword of the man, and it shattered the shortsword into pieces.
Before the situation could take a turn for the worse, Rhydderch unleashed his Zecian Aura and directed his bloodthirst on everyone in the room.
"Albrecht, stop it. If you want to kill the guy, then do it someplace else." Rhydderch continued.
Since nothing would come from repeatedly attacking the guy, Albrecht stepped back and apologized to everyone in the tavern. The commotion died down, and Albrecht shamefully seated himself at the table Where Rhydderch and the Heroes of Lomenschwaal were seated.
As for the man wearing a mask and a white hood, he simply stood there.
Albrecht felt his patience running thin. He wanted to exact revenge on the man, but he knew he couldn't do it here. Even Anastasia wanted to kill him, but right now was not the time.
"Why are you still here?" Albrecht glared at the man.
"I was looking for you."
"Oh, you were? For what? You wanted to kill me since you couldn't do it the last time?" Albrecht asked.
"No... I need your help."
"You need my help?" Albrecht had no idea what the man was on about. "You mercilessly killed someone I knew, in cold blood, and you expect me to help you?"
"Yes, I'm sure you wouldn't be able to say no to my request. After all, you need my help too." The man called out before removing his mask.
And what they saw... made their eyes pop out in surprise.
It was Claude Whitelock IN THE FLESH!
"What on Earth?!" Albrecht exclaimed as everyone else let out a gasp. It was really Claude... unless, of course, the man just activated a high-level illusion skill and was currently fooling everyone.
"Are you really Claude?"
"Yes, it's complicated... but I faked my own death." Claude continued. "In any case, I've received a revelation from a High Elder... he told me that I need to fake my own death and accompany you to the Third Outerlayer."
Albrecht had a lot of questions in his mind. The last time he used the Zecian Clairvoyance Skill on Claude, it was filled with question marks. Also, it was labeled there that he was a human!
"H-how come you're... back then, my clairvoyance skill told me that you were human? H-how?!"
Claude smiled before he pointed at his sister. "You should try using that clairvoyance skill of yours on my sister. You'll be surprised."
Albrecht turned towards the shocked Anastasia. She still couldn't believe that her brother was alive and well. Without further ado, he used his Zecian Clairvoyance Skill on Anastasia.
[Name: ???
Race: Human
Bloodline: ???
Class: ???
Skills: ???, ???, ???, ???
Level: ???
Stats: ??? See more...]
"What the— " Albrecht cut himself short before a curse word came out of his mouth.