Infinite Realm

"Now I understand. You already knew about them, didn't you?" Sato faced the Kobold King.

The Kobold King hadn't stopped Seiichi and Xue Yan from escaping as that was a risky move. Also, leaving them be would, in turn, increase its chances of escaping as well as that of Sato dying. With the aid of his two partners, Sato would have been able to fight off the newcomers but alone, he would surely be defeated.

"I'm not obligated to answer you, filthy human. But even then, so what?" The Kobold King sneered.

"As I said before, you will die before I do."

Sato frowned at the Kobold King's words before he hacked out with [Drakken].

[Black Flame Slash]

A jet black arc of flames departed from the sword's edge and darted towards its target. Shockingly though, the target of the attack wasn't the Kobold King but a seemingly empty space.

"Ah!"

*Bang*

-67 (???/??? ???)

A cry of alarm rang out followed by a loud sound of collision as the arc of black flames temporarily halted in midair, before pushing forward almost instantaneously, sending a figure crashing a few metres away. Finally, it then spread out in a flurry in an attempt to surround the figure.

"Kito!" Another voice yelled from the side as two figures revealed themselves from elsewhere. 

They were Var, the leader of the Howling Wolf battalion's scout team, as well as the young man who was the only [Ranger] in the group. As for the origin of the cry from before, it was the youth who was the last member of the team as well as the second [Assassin] player. 

Being forced to block off Sato's attack, he was forced out of stealth mode. Even though he had managed to block the attack, he didn't do a good job since he didn't react in time, leading to his right arm being covered in unquenchable black flames. 

"Huh? Ah!" The youth, Kito, yelled in shock seeing the black flames on his arm.

"Help me put it out!" Kito cried out.

-53 (???/??? ???)

As one of the players hailed for having an astounding level of potential and talent, the youth knew that to remain of value to his guild, he had to be strong. Dying now meant a loss of Experience points and that would affect his career. If he had died during the raid, then it wouldn't matter as his losses would be settled and he would have ended up with a few rewards gotten from the guild, but dying here was different and not profitable.

"What's wrong with you? Calm down. It will go off on its own." Var roared at him, with a little bit of confusion in his eyes. He couldn't get why Kito was overreacting over such a little thing. The damage wasn't even worth being fearful about, though it wasn't little either.

While Var didn't know what was going on, Sato had an inclination toward the truth.

[[ System notification :

Hidden effect of black flames has been activated.

NB : Visit an [Appraiser] to learn more about the hidden secrets of your weapon/equipment. Doing so would enable you to be able to use the weapon/equipment even better and access all of its abilities.]]

Even though it was true that players could get an understanding of their weapon by using the [Appraise] skill, it was only the basic information about their equipment that would be revealed. This was especially so from weapons and equipment above level 10 or the Upper-tier Mortal rank. In other words, what Sato had seen before was only just a tip of [Drakken]'s abilities. The point of this was to add value to the subclass [Appraiser] otherwise if everyone could simply scan a piece of equipment or material and get the full information using [Appraise], the subclass [Appraiser] would be pointless and useless. 

'I haven't heard about any [Appraiser] in town. They probably only stay in cities'.

Sato turned his attention away from his interface and focused on the situation before him.

After guessing that someone was spying on them, Sato sent Xue Yan and Seiichi away. While it was indeed to save them, it was also to use them as bait to draw out the concealed opponents. Sato believed that there was no way whoever was watching them would let Seiichi and Xue Yan escape just like that. If the unseen foe couldn't stop them, then they would surely follow behind the duo in secret. That was Sato's aim and he managed to sense Kito despite the young player moving in stealth.

'An Expert.' Var thought.

Although he had already guessed this, he still harbored some doubts. However, seeing Sato's quick reactions and action, Var was pretty much sure of it. Worst of all, Var guessed was now sure that Sato wasn't an ordinary Expert. He was an Expert too but he wouldn't be able to spot Kito in stealth.

"Die!"

The Kobold King suddenly lunged at Sato, slashing its left claw at him.

Seeing an opportunity to take down the opponent and the Kobold King as well, Var ordered the [Ranger] beside him to work with both sides and maintain a balance while Kito tries to chase after Seiichi and Xue Yan.

"Who are you?" Var yelled as he suddenly attacked Sato.

Ever since Sato and his teammates had stepped into the 10th floor, they had worn black cloaks with them, preventing their faces from being seen. The way the black cloaks worked was that they would project a stationary black screen that would shield the appearance of the wearer from being spotted but the wearer could still see through the screen, similar to how a tinted glass works.

Apart from Sato, whose cloak was almost in tatters due to the previous heated battle, and Katsuo and Yato who were swarmed by large numbers, Xue Yan and Seiichi's were still okay and functioned perfectly, preventing their identities from being spotted.

While it was true that Sato's cloak was damaged, it still managed to shield a part of his face from being seen. Hence, the question from Var.

[[ System notification :

You have been attacked by a player. Retaliating against your attacker won't incur any punishment on you. ]]

The AI operating the game was very advanced. Unlike all other VR games where you had to be injured first before you can be allowed to retaliate without fear of becoming a red name, the Heaven system was sophisticated to the point of being able to recognize an attack. It could take note of when a player was truly about to be attacked by another and perform the accurate commands at that point, preventing nasty situations from occurring. Similar to now where all the attacks aimed at Sato were meant to kill, it would be disappointing if Sato had to wait for Var's attack to land on him before he could retaliate without having to worry about getting his name tainted.

The Heaven system had already identified Var's move as one that goes against the basic rules of the game and so it had proceeded with the following course of action by granting Sato an immunity towards having his name tainted. This quick response feature was very useful in high-end matches and fast-paced battles where one character was on the lawful side and another was either on the dark side or simply didn't bother about the rules of the righteous.

Sato didn't reply Var but simply lifted his right hand to block the Kobold King's advance with [Astral Blade], retaliating back at it with his left sword [Drakken].

Just as he did so, an angered Var had appeared within 4 feet of him, forcing Sato to withdraw his right sword and clash with him.

At the same time, the Kobold King suddenly turned tail and fled while the [Ranger] at the back fired three arrows at Sato. If that wasn't enough, Kito used this chance to run past Sato, heading towards the direction Seiichi and Xue Yan fled.

In less than a second, the 2 main adversaries had taken three different approaches. Sato was now forced to make a choice where he could potentially see one of them escape.

Because of Var locking him down, alongside the arrows fired by the [Ranger], Sato's life was in danger. However, if he decided to save his skin, he would end up letting the Kobold King go and that would turn all the current progress the team has made into shambles. Not only that, Kito was chasing after Xue Yan and Seiichi so if Sato couldn't stop, considering that he was an [Assassin], Kito could escape quickly and Sato would lose track of him. It should also not be ignored that there was the sure possibility of both Var and the [Ranger] behind preventing him from chasing after Kito.

In summary, Sato had been forced into a tight spot where it seemed like all was lost just in one second.