CHAPTER 168: FELIX AND THE TRAITORS.

"We’ve come a long way from the Base now, so why haven’t we encountered the two guilds yet?", Warren complained tiredly.

The group of Six Guilds alliance’s traitors had scoured through the dungeon tunnels looking for the two guilds while keeping a low profile.

Unfortunately, they only encountered random monsters or sometimes a swarm of them that they ran away from, and hid in the corners silently when a patrolling team of their guilds roamed nearby.

"This dungeon is too huge a place, Warren. Its size may reach two or three times that of the Edenmont city, not including the lowered layers of the tunnels. So it’s going to be tough finding the two guilds..."

Nicole explained patiently, as he didn’t have any other work to do now except for keeping a keen eye on the surroundings and moving his legs.

"Maybe we should split up and look for them.", Jenna suggested and added. "It’ll get easier to find them if we cover more ground."

"That’s a good idea, Jenna. We should do that.", Warren nodded with excitement.

"That’s a bad idea, both of you. And no, we shouldn’t do that.", Nicole stated and explained when he saw the confused faces of the two, including some of the others.

"There are only a few of us here and our combat strengths are not that great, so only by staying together do we increase our chances of survival. Also, what do you think is going to happen when one or two of us encounter an entire patrolling group?"

His words made them silent, but Nicole continued harshly as he didn’t want them to have wrong and disastrous thoughts again.

"Will you call for help at that time? You wouldn’t be able to. They’ll surround you and tie you up, and if you resist strongly, they’ll kill you on the spot."

The group remained silent, pondering his words and agreeing with him.

Leaving the group was not an option, only by staying together did they have a chance.

As for going back to their guilds and apologising for their stupid actions? There was only one outcome to that.

A public execution.

To show all the guild members the consequences of having different thoughts from those of the six leaders, there would be an immediate execution the moment they returned.

They had all realised the same bitter truth: their guild leaders had grown increasingly cruel since joining forces with the dark guilds, and that was also why they walked away.

Jenna bit her lip in regret, not because she betrayed and left the base, but because they couldn’t find the two guilds who were their only hope now.

That was when she saw some movement on the far end of their tunnel.

"Look! Something’s coming!", she cried, fear and worry filling her mind.

Everyone got alerted and Nicole, who was lost in his thoughts, came back to his senses and cursed himself for not noticing the situation.

"Get ready to engage in combat. Two of you keep an eye on our rear. Paul, take the front with me."

Nicole issued rapid orders and shouted for Paul, the only other Rank 3 besides himself, who had been holding the rear since the start.

Paul pushed his way to the front and silently took his position beside Nicole like the number of times he had done before.

Warren, Jenna, and the other Rank 2s stood behind them in a combat formation, that they had recently worked upon.

As the group prepared itself for a fight, they saw two giant monsters with six legs and a weird upper body running towards them.

"It’s moving fast, brace for impact!", Nicole shouted.

Before the group could bring their guards up, they saw the two monsters suddenly halt a few meters away.

Stopping before them, the monsters started screeching wildly like they were in mortal danger.

"What’s... What’s happening to them?", Warren asked in confusion.

"I don’t know....", Jenna replied.

Even Nicole and Paul were confused. They even started getting a bit nervous due to the strange situation.

"Hmm? There’s something silver behind them.... Is that a person?", Warren muttered as he peered through the gap between the monsters.

"You’re right. That’s a person. He seems young...", Jenna replied curiously and a bit excited. "...and handsome."

Warren gave her a weird look, but Nicole and Paul only glanced at each other and nodded.

"We have to handle this as quickly as possible. Mages, attack with your long-range spells and the others protect the mages. Paul and I will engage them in combat. Don’t target the man, he may not be our enemy."

After giving his orders, Nicole dashed ahead with Paul following behind him closely.

Several magical attacks flew from above their heads, shooting towards the two monsters.

Within seconds, the attacks reached the monsters, who repelled them by shooting acidic shots from their mouths.

Dodging the other leftover spell attacks by jumping out of the way, the two monsters dashed towards the group of people wildly.

In no time, the two sides clashed against each other, while the lone boy stood speechless.

’What the fuck!? They’re stealing my skill points! That’s unacceptable....’

Even though Felix was bothered by the troubling turn of events, he didn’t rush ahead and thought about his next actions.

’I’ve never seen those guys before, so either they’re a secret unit from the main base, some random people who accessed the dungeon or..... they’re from the six guilds. Our enemy.’

With no guarantee of the newcomers’ background, Felix decided to test with what he could do.

He opened the map and checked their dots, but it showed neither red nor green, only white dots, meaning they were neutral.

’It seems they’re confused about me too.’

As he watched their battle getting heated, he couldn’t help but grit his teeth.

’Shit! Those skill points were supposed to be mine! Now it’s all gonna be a waste.’

The only person who benefited from killing, beings that were higher ranked than him, was Felix. So when others killed his prey, it was a huge waste, like losing a great deal of resources that could change anything and everything.

’I wish I could just go there and take them all down, but I can’t risk accidentally killing my comrades. Gotta take the peaceful approach for now, or at least try...’

He decided not to interfere with their battle, but still slowly inched closer towards them.

The two Rank 3 men, Nicole and Paul, were clearly at an advantage against the Grabuls with the help of the incoming long-range attacks from the others.

Felix had read in the Underworld’s forbidden library that Grabuls weren’t really combat-type monsters.

They were hive-breeding monsters that sent out soldiers and commanders to act for them. Their usual tactic was to tire out their enemies with cannon fodder, then attack the weakened prey and feed on them.

But unlike normal confrontation, Felix had bypassed the long path filled with the weaker Grabules, easily swimming his way to meet the leaders.

In a few minutes, the two Grabuls had been heavily wounded and were now trying to look for a way to escape.

Unlike the Bladefiends Felix previously killed, who were combat-oriented and fought till they died, Grabuls were like insects that only wanted to survive at any cost.

And that was what they did when they found a lapse of free space between their opponent’s attacks, by quickly turning around and running to where they came from, hoping to join back with their horde.

This only made the lone boy grin widely as the two Grabuls decided to give their best efforts in crossing past him.

No, they didn’t hope to defeat the one before them, as they knew he wouldn’t have chased them if he wasn’t confident enough to kill them.

"Ah, my dear Grabuls... you’re bringing me to tears. Come here."

Felix rubbed his eyebrows, smiling at the grotesque and awkward monsters that were coming clattering towards him.

"Oh no! They’re attacking him together!"

"We have to stop them!"

Warren and Nicole shouted amongst themselves.

’Dust Blast! Corrosion Domain!’

Felix only used two of his skills, one on the left Grabul and the other on the right Grabul.

The left Grabul was hit by rocks and sand, making it stop its advance.

While the right Grabul continued moving with a terrible mental and internal body pain assaulting it in crazy proportions.

Its already weakened body couldn’t handle the gruesome damage, but the thought of survival forced it to move forward.

Respecting his opponent’s will and motive to carry on the battle, Felix didn’t hesitate and dashed ahead to meet it.

’Ratio Technique!’

’Black Horizon Sword Arts: Third Technique!’

With the help of the speed from the skill Agility Burst, he zapped onto the Grabul and brought his sword down on its face.

’Assault Impact!’

His sword crushed away the Grabul’s face, splattering its green blood over him as he quickly stepped away and landed another swing right under the previous strike’s spot.

[You have killed a being higher than your own rank.]

[You have gained 1000 skill points.]

When Felix heard the system’s chime, he pulled out his sword and leapt onto the now-dead Grabul’s body.

Swish!

A sharp and strong leg stabbed the spot Felix was standing on a few milliseconds ago, as the last Grabul had arrived and wanted nothing more than to avenge its partner.

If not for the skill Battlefield Awareness, that attack would’ve hit Felix, but now, it even showed him the current weakness of the Grabul and the way he could defeat it.

’Sinkhole!’

Standing on the dead Grabul, Felix used the sinkhole skill as the last Grabul fell helplessly into the deep pit.

’Earth Spikes!’

As a few spikes emerged inside the deep hole, Felix jumped off and followed the falling Grabul into the sinkhole before it could crash.

’Dust Blast!’

The mini tornado forcefully pushed the Grabul to crash more heavily, as its body easily got punctured by the spikes, leaving its lower body completely open.

’Ratio Technique!’

’Black Horizon Sword Arts: First Technique!’

’Singular Slash!’

Felix swung his sword once, directly striking the Grabul’s heart, which was the final attack that ended its life.

[You have killed a being higher than your own rank.]

[You have gained 1000 skill points.]

After killing the fourth Grabul, Felix finally calmed down a bit, having achieved his goal.

Then he heard voices coming from the tunnel above, reminding him that there was still something else he had to deal with.

’I can never refuse more skill points, can I?’

Holding onto his bloodlust, Felix moved over and sank into the walls.

Seconds later, a few heads leaned over to look into the hole, only to find nothing except for the corpse of a fallen Grabul.

"Where did he go?!", Warren said as others looked for the boy too.

"Are you looking for me?"

A young voice called out from behind them, surprising the group as they quickly turned around to look at the boy who now stood between them.

Felix stared at the group with a hint of curiosity and greed, hoping he could gain more skill points from them if they turned out to be his enemy.

"So... Who are you guys?"