The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 349: Play Along

Zoe took a deep breath as the strange cage that surrounded her shimmered once then slowly vanished. Leaving her in the open sand-covered featureless battlefield.

She watched around as the scattered players around the large fields also held their weapons as they inspected their surroundings. There were about a thousand of them. Most of them were also looking around warily not sure what to do, while others began to form groups.

Zoe tried to search for Victor or anyone she knew, but found none… Not even that jinx Alex. There were simply too many players around.

She squeezed her fingers around the handle of her sword as suddenly the system displayed a screen.

; ;

KILLS 0

Glory is only 10 kills away!

Moments later she heard a voice, making her turn to look.

“UNUA SANGO ESTAS MIA!” One braided man screamed, then ran and attacked a pretty teenage girl who had a strange tattoo all over her body. She was the nearest to him.

In a split second, the man’s headless body fell seconds later before the girl who was now holding a strange invisible blade that appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the decapitated ugly head then threw it in the air. She jumped and kicked it right at the man’s friends who watched in shock as the hero of their tribe was humiliated. The head hit one of them in the chest, sending him to the ground.

; ;

FIRST BLOOD!

100 Additional points!

The system screen displayed, further agitating the bloodthirsty men!

“MORTU!” They screamed angrily and then attacked the girl who was waiting for them to do that. Then the battle began.

Zoe who was watching the exchange could only see that she had to quickly use her sword to defend herself as three men tried to sneak attack her together from the back.

Those men had strange very white skin and red hair. They look ominous with strange brands engraved on their foreheads.

They were holding swords made of sharp bones that Zoe could tell that they were poisoned from the dark stains on their sides.

Thankfully, their level was way below hers, so she didn’t take a lot of time to kill two of them and injure the last one, making him escape…

She frowned as she watched the corpses of those men she killed sink into the sand and suddenly felt that strange energy began to flow through her body. She could tell that it came from those men as she watched her attributes slowly climb up in her status window!

She got stronger, but that didn't make her glad at all… The others around her were getting stronger too, and now they had the incentive to kill more!

She was right… A few minutes later, the battle began to be more deadly as those players who managed to kill someone realized what they needed to do to get stronger… They liked this feeling, and it made them addicted!

“Shit!” Zoe cursed as she fought, she didn’t like it at all. Killing others to take their power was not her style! So she only attacked those who attacked her first!

After 1 hour about 500 players were left, and after Zoe killed the 7th attacker. She knew that the end must be near!

Looking around after finishing a poor man who thought she was an easy target, she could see all kinds of battles around. There was even a fat man using a huge wooden shield to fend off his enemies as he ran away shamelessly. That wooden board looked familiar somehow, but she couldn’t remember where she saw it!

Then it happened.

“Ahhh…”

Zoe felt something pierce her neck. Looking back she watched as a short man used a blowpipe to shoot a dart at her.

Damn… She got overconfident and made a mistake, being careless on a battlefield

She wanted to attack him, but moments later she felt her body become weightless and she fell to the ground and the man approached her with a black dagger.

She felt helpless expecting the man to slit her throat, but he didn’t. He just knelt beside her body, activated some kind of talisman, then took a strange small jar that was tied to his belt and used the dagger to unseal it near her. He acted very quickly.

Moments later she could feel that something entered her body through her nostrils as the sand surrounded her… she began falling into darkness.

Something was invading her mind… she knew it… it hurt like hell!

She screamed…

She had no idea how long it was, but seconds later it all stopped. She opened her eyes and looked around… She was not dead. She was not even in the field.

She was in a metallic domed chamber barely illuminated by dimly glowing stones around the walls.

Around her, there were about 30 collapsed players who began to wake up one by one and look around.

“Where is this?” a handsome guy with blond hair asked as he sat up “What happened?”

No one answered. They were all wondering about the same thing.

Some of those players began to touch their necks while others checked their wounds that were now healed.

“Are we dead?” a girl asked as she stood up. “ I was stabbed by some guy…. “ she said, checking her body.

“We are alive…We should have been dead!” a tattooed girl answered, biting her cherry lip. She was the same one Zoe saw before fighting valiantly. “Yet we aren't…” she added as she touched her neck while inspecting her surroundings.

Many nodded.

“Our powers as players are sealed!” one player suddenly exclaimed from the side. She was trying to use an illumination skill, but she failed.

“What?” the other players exclaimed and began to try activating their skills to no avail.

“What’s going on?” another asked. “Is this a part of the trial?”

“Probably not… We wouldn’t be the only ones here if it was!” the tattooed girl squinted her eyes looking around then opened them wide. “Someone had intervened…” she said, looking at one side of the chamber. “May I ask if you are the one who brought us here?” she asked, making all the players quickly turn and look to the side where slowly out of the copper wall, a handsome young man suddenly materialized… He had some very regal air around him, dressed in white silk. Despite that, Zoe could tell by the way he moved that somehow he looked like a lousy singer in a bar who just finished screwing around with the waitress when it was his turn to sing.

He also had a very familiar air around him...

“Who are you?” the blond man asked with hostility.

The young man ignored him as he looked at the tattooed girl with interest. “You guessed right!” he said then turned and looked at the other players, pausing briefly on Zoe. “This imperial one’s name is Vic, Vic Volt, and this emperor is the one who saved your lives!” he said.

“What do you mean?” one player asked.

“Do you know what this place is?” Vic smiled and replied with a question.

“A trial!” the blond man answered but Vic ignored him looking at the tattooed girl.

“A demon bastion!” she answered carefully.

“Exactly… You are not stupid after all…” he said. “It was a well-crafted trap to take in humans to possess them and send them back into the outside world as demons!” Vic said.

“What?” Zoe exclaimed as she remembered the demon's murals in the skeleton dungeon. There was something like this there!

“Let this emperor explain how this place was meant to work!” Vic said. “The people who entered this dungeon were measured right after entering using the stairs. The useless ones, about 60%, were killed and harvested in the forest by the rabbits while the rest were made to eat the fruits that damage your souls to be ready to be possessed!” he said.

“This means that all of those on the battlefield were already chosen to be possessed?” the tattooed girl asked.

“Exactly! Most were meant to fall at some point, in fact, 5% of the enemies there are both illusionary and naturally undefeatable, they are meant to choose those who were tired enough an extract them… Only the strongest players will really stay to the end like a hard to cook ingrediant! But they too will be utterly exhausted and ready to be possessed by that time!” he shrugged. “The battlefield was just an extra step to tire your souls to the limit by making you unconsciously consume it… Each time you killed someone or were about to die you filled a huge increase of energy right?”

“Yes? Wasn’t this us gaining the power of the dead ones?” the blond man asked, feeling skeptical.

“No… This is you consuming your own soul!” Vic shook his head, “Whenever a man kills another or falls into mortal danger, there would be a slight disturbance in his own soul, like a shockwave… This is usually harmless, but if the soul is damaged, some of it will liquefy, converting it to energy and making you stronger!”

“Hssssss….” Zoe gasped.

“Don’t worry… Although it would take a few years, the damage to your souls can be repaired with the right arts and some pills!” He said such things as if soul-fixing drugs and art were trivial. “It is just that the outer layer that formed the protection shield is the first to be exhausted!”

“Then what happened to the dead bodies?” the tattooed girl asked. “What should have happened to us?”

“The ones who really died like the man you decapitated got processed by the rabbits to enter the blood pool, but most of the people in the field are like you, they just collapsed and got absorbed by the sand, they were not dead!” Vic said. “They would be transferred to another chamber where they would be submerged into a blood pool, telling them that they survived the trial and that this was their reward… That bath would really make them stronger, but in it, a myriad of demons' souls are hiding. They will infiltrate the players' bodies as they absorb the blood and devour their damaged souls then possess them!”

“AHHHH!” The players looked at each other, not sure what to think.

“Then what about those men with black jars?” Zoe suddenly asked, making some players frown while others who were attacked by them nodded.

“They are demons belonging to a different faction… They must have sneaked in here to grab the trophies under the noses of the ones controlling this place.” Vic explained. ”The jars contained demon souls that were supposed to enter your body and lay dormant until the ones from this place try to devour your souls and then attack them from the back...” he added.

“They are inside of us now?” Zoe asked nervously, touching her neck.

“No… You don’t need to worry, the moment those souls exited the jars this emperor used this dungeon's powers to neutralize them and turned them into energy to feed your souls, fixing it and making it stronger!” he clarified.

“You can control this place?” the tattooed girl asked, squinting her eyes nervously. “Is that how you pulled us away?” she added.

“Yup!” he nodded, shooting her a fleeting glance.

“Why only us?” she asked. “What is your plan?”

“This emperor couldn't grab a lot of players, Else it might alert the ones controlling this place yet!” he said. “And this emperor is not doing charity here… For saving you, you must pay a price!”

“And what if we refused to pay?” the blond young man asked arrogantly.

“You will die…” Vic said flatly making the player look at each other. “Your lives are already mine… And even if you are the heir of a kingdom, I won’t care!” he added.

“So you knew our identity!” the blond man said.

“Why else would you be chosen? This emperor does not need useless puppets!” Vic said.

“What do you want in exchange?” the tattooed girl asked, squinting her eyes. She was wondering if Vic knew her true identity.

“I save your souls and lives, and in exchange, you must give me absolute obedience for the rest of your lives!” he said, making a shimmering contract appear in front of the players.

They froze as they read it.

“THIS IS STUPID!” the blond man said.

“Is your life stupid?” Vic asked with a frown.

“No… FUCK YOU! DO YOU THINK I AM AN IDIOT… YOUR…” he didn’t continue as he was decapitated seconds later by Vic who appeared out of thin air right behind him and then cut his head. It took merry seconds.

The girls gasped in shock as Vic returned his sword to his scabbard.

“You can always refuse, but this emperor will reclaim what is his…” he said. “Now hurry up, this emperor needs to send you back before the demons realize that happened… It would be a waste if you missed the blood pool’s nourishment!” he said.

“These conditions are a little too overbearing!” one player who read the contract said slowly. If they agreed to this, they would become his slaves. He would be able to make them do whatever he wants.

Most of the guys here belonged to some really strong powers!

“Stupid or not, You have about… 5 minutes to decide… The next stage will start soon and I need to send you back before the demons notice anything funny!” he said looking at the cheap-looking golden watch on his wrist that Zoe recognized. This bastard was definitely Victor! This watch was the one he wore in front of her while telling her that Artifacts don’t work right before entering here.

She almost gasped and looked at the contract in front of her… It was empty with just a few words.

‘ PLAY ALONG CUZZ ’

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