"Uggh..." Ronald grunted as he slowly stood, peeling himself from the ground. His head had smashed right through the concrete wall.

His jaw shifted sickeningly, and thick blood filled his mouth.

From just one blow, he looked anything but recognizable. The elegant air that permeated around him previously had completely faded, replaced by mangled desperation.

Feeling the terrible pain aching through his body, he couldn't even stand properly. His hand was likely dislocated from the hard impact with the wall's debris.

He could only glare at Akhil with deep, seethed rage boiling in his eyes.

"Bastard! Bastard orc!" he strained with difficulty, blood spilling out from his mouth with every word. Even while he was trying his best to get back to his feet, no one bothered to come check on him; they were all still listening to the "crazy orc."

Just then, a shadow walked up in front of him, blocking his sight.

Ronald stared up as he noticed the familiar mask. A desperate smile climbed onto his bloodied face.

"Help me deal with that orc brat!" he yelled, his words barely understandable through his broken jaw. But even while he spoke, Mask just stood there, staring at him calmly as though looking at a clown.

"Why would I help you?" Mask asked with a dark smile hidden beneath the facade.

Ronald paused, staring up at the figure in confusion. "We have the same goal, don't we?" Ronald asked, this time his angry tone shrank; he asked with genuine surprise in his voice.

"Same goal? Hahahaha..." Mask chuckled mockingly. "What do you think my goal was?" Mask asked, staring down at him, a sharp red glint shining through the eyehole of the mask.

"You want to destroy the orcs! And I want to become the next lord. Wasn't that what we agreed on after you gave me the record?" Ronald asked, desperation mixing with anger in his eyes.

Mask paused for a bit, as though deliberating what he was going to do. Seeing this, Ronald felt he had gotten his chance.

"You better keep to your words. You have no idea who I am. With the Bureau backing me... I'll find you and deal with you."

Hearing him, Mask raised an eyebrow, then slowly let out a wicked laugh. "The Bureau? What Bureau? The old men who still think money is the ruling factor in this world?.... It's quite ironical that you call the people leading kids, when you don't even have a basic idea of how a magical state is meant to be run. And see you, a weakling who couldn't even take a punch, threatening me... Isn't that rather too arrogant of you?" Mask's voice dropped an octave, growing darker as he pulled out a fist-sized crystal orb from his coat.

"... But it doesn't matter though, I'll be kind enough to forgive you. I'll only need to restructure some things."

The crystal pulsed with an unsettling energy as he inched closer to Ronald's immobile body.

Ronald didn't know why, but just looking at the pulsating crystal, he felt something was terribly wrong. A chilling, malevolent energy covered the crystal... one that made him shrink in fear.

His eyes widened with pure terror. He tried to move, but his body was still buried within the debris of the broken walls, and every muscle ached terribly.

"What's that?! Stay away from me! You have no idea who I am!" Ronald roared, this time loud enough to finally drag the attention of some of the people in the area. They all turned to look at him, realizing the second drama unfolding.

Mask smiled darkly as he reached Ronald, leaning close to his face until their faces were barely a few centimeters apart. "Didn't I tell you before? Politics doesn't care about who you are.... It only cares about benefits. And right now... I think I'll benefit more from this than wanting to know anything about your pathetic life." The red glint in his eyes shone even more brightly as he made his cold statement.

Ronald felt a cold chill run down his spine, his body drenched in sweat. He didn't know why, but right now, his body was almost reacting on its own, terrified of what Mask wanted to do.

"You! Stay away from m—!" Ronald yelled at the top of his lungs, but he was never allowed to complete his statement. Mask shoved the crystal toward his mouth.

Ronald was struggling desperately to defend himself, but his broken arm couldn't move. He could only stare wide-eyed as Mask shoved the entire pulsating crystal down his aching throat with a cold glint in his beaming red eye.

This time, Ronald's tormented screams caught the attention of more people who started muttering words in confusion and rising fear.

"We have to work toge—" Akhil paused, his political speech forgotten as he noticed the crowd's attention suddenly shifting away from him.

He quickly glanced to see what they were looking at, and he could see Mask, standing above Ronald after forcefully shoving a brightly glowing red crystal into the man's mouth.

'What's that guy doing here? And what's that? A Beast Core?' Akhil's face scrunched up, a deep frown stretching across his features.

Almost as though sensing his gaze on him, Mask turned to look toward Akhil.

"Oh crap, I guess that guy was much of a talkative one," Mask said, scratching his head, before shrugging casually. "Oh well, it's been quite some time, hasn't it?"

"What are you doing here? Why are you only causing discord in this region? For your abilities to reach the peak, you have to cause discord in all the districts," Akhil asked with an annoyed face. He still couldn't wrap his head around what the Titan of Discord was trying to do. Why was he so focused on causing problems only for the orcs and the humans?

"Ahhh, it's so rude that you've yet to check my player status... I came here cause I got information that my role model was here," Mask said with a joking shrug.

{Player Nexus0}

{Mutant Level: ???}

'He's here because of me? I'm sure he made that up... But the bastard definitely participated in the test program. Is the system controlling him? Is that why he's doing all of this?' Akhil had so many questions to ask. 'I'll only have to get him to give me my answers,' Akhil thought with a frown, taking a slow, deep breath, his eyes narrowed as he stared at Mask.

"I'm sure you're shocked, right! You really inspired me so much in the test program. Thanks to you, I—" Mask was in the middle of his words when his eyes sharpened instinctively. He side-stepped right at the last second.

But a second was too small to save Mask from Akhil's unexpected attack. However, he managed to escape without suffering major damage.

The Blood Sword swept past his gut, leaving a deep, crimson gash through his stomach.

Mask landed some meters back, his eyes wide with surprise as he saw Akhil, who had blasted past him with the blade. He quickly took a few more leaps away from Akhil until he was at a safe distance.

'His powers are increasing fast. Why didn't I see this character in the game? Was he a character that was added after the beta test?' Mask thought, genuinely surprised by the leap in Akhil's strength. If he was a second slower, he would have been critically caught by Akhil's sharp movement.

Akhil slowly stood, the wind blowing past his hair as he shot a sharp glance at Mask, surprised that the villain had managed to dodge the fatal strike.

'My suspicions were on point—he is stronger now... I guess he's been getting quite a lot of points from our fights.... Bastard. If I'm to take a guess, he'll probably be a Level 3 (Advanced) player by now. But most importantly, there was no blood...' Akhil glanced at the blood blade in his hand. He was sure that he had made a cut, yet he didn't absorb any Blood Essence.

Mask let out an audible sigh, followed by a dark, mocking laugh, immediately dragging Akhil's attention back. "That was really close, to be honest. Try to warn me next time."

Akhil refocused his gaze back on him.

{-1000 Blood Essence}

Ten Blood Swords formed above Akhil, pointing straight at Mask. The remaining civilians quickly scurried back in fear.

"I have so many questions for you, and I need answers... Not jokes," Akhil said firmly, his gaze threatening.

Mask let out a carefree laugh. "Don't be so stiff! Jokes are meant to make you laugh. But I'll respect your wishes. If you don't want jokes.... I have just the right person for you. I'm too playful, so it can't be me," Mask said, raising his hands casually into the air.

Akhil bit his lower lip, hearing the flippant reply. He knew there was no point trying to be calm with him, so he decided to just attack.

But before Akhil could attack with the Blood Swords, a loud, unnatural roar came from behind him.

Akhil quickly turned his back and could see Ronald... or perhaps what was meant to be him.

{Ding!}

{Sub-Scenario has begun!}

{Title: Zombie King}

"I guess my time here is up! Have fun being serious," Akhil was dragged back by Mask's voice, but before he could look fully back, the figure had already disappeared from where he stood.

Akhil bit his lips, "Slimy brat!"

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