Chapter 67: Kidnap

"Sir. Black, wait." Suddenly, Derrick remembered Twilight's warning and shouted in a hurry.

But Anderson didn't even listen to Derrick's words as he narrowed his blue eyes and directly slashed the crystalline sword at Andrew's neck!

But to other's surprise, he stopped his sword in a mid-way and then turned his gaze towards the dense woods.

In the meantime, other Explorers, including Carter, got stunned by the sudden change and stared warily at Anderson Black and Derrick. Anderson's action was too sudden, which caught them completely off guard.

Carter was the first to wake up from the shock as he unsheathed his long sword and pointed at Anderson in a hurry.

"Sir. Ande, what is the meaning of this? You said that you would never attack anyone without my permission!" Carter bellowed in anger.

"I lied." Anderson didn't even turn around as he said those words and soon squinted his eyes while locking his gaze into the deep woods.

"Sir. Black, you are supposed to capture them, not kill them." This time, Derrick also woke up from the shock and said in a gloomy tone.

"I won't take order from a mere servant." Anderson coldly snorted and then frowned.

Meanwhile, a male human figure walked out from the dense plants and revealed a bewildered look on his face.

The figure was a curly white-haired man with few wrinkles on his face, and he looked around 40-years old. He had deep-set amber eyes, a square face, thin eyebrows, and a long hawk nose. In his golden line embroidered white robe, that man looked like a sacred being descended from heaven itself.

He was none other than Bishop Reynolds!

A few minutes ago, he went to take a leak, but before he could return, things escalated very quickly, causing him to stare at everyone in bewilderment.

Shaking his head, he wore the white beret and took out a unique golden pocket watch from his void pouch.

He then walked on the wet sand and soon appeared beside Charles.

"You sure do love to create trouble." He muttered in a dissatisfied tone and then turned his gaze towards Anderson.

"Bishop Reynolds." Anderson's expression went cold as he stared at the Bishop for a second and then narrowed his eyes.

"Do you think you can stop me from killing him?" Asking in an icy tone, he moved his sword and pointed the crystalline sword tip at Charles's chest.

To his surprise, Bishop shook his head and smiled. It was a simple smile with a mixture of helplessness and tiredness hidden in it.

But that simple smile made Anderson's heart beat faster all of a sudden.

'What is he plotting?' A question arose in his mind as he tilted his sword and moved the sharp edge towards Bishop Reynolds. He felt that it was necessary to kill this man if he wanted to kill the other three.

At that time, Bishop suddenly stretched his hand into his pocket at an unimaginable speed, took out a green-colored pointy leaf from it, and stuffed it into his mouth before closing his eyes.

His sudden action startled everyone greatly.

It took only 0.1 seconds for him to put the weird green leaf into his mouth!

'Why are you eating a marijuana leaf now?' Even Charles wore a baffled look on his face and soon widened his jade eyes.

At that moment, an illusionary green sword appeared in front of Bishop Reynolds and blocked Anderson's sword on its own, leaving a clanging sound behind!

Before Anderson could take a step back in shock, Bishop Reynolds opened his eyes and stared deep into Anderson's eyes.

"I'm indeed powerless against your incarnation, Mr. Anderson. But I have an omnipotent Goddess behind me." Bishop said in a calm tone and gripped the illusionary sword.

'Humph, a fool who doesn't even know where he got the power to create an imaginary sword.' The Holem's Crown retorted in a sarcastic tone in his mind.

'Inner World?' Charles asked in surprise.

'Yes. Fake Origin Class members always have an easy time perceiving their inner world and can borrow the power from it. Although their Gods indeed help them shorten the distance between their body and their inner world, it is still their power.'

Charles frowned as he heard the Holem's Crown's words.

'Why do I feel that this artifact is revealing too many secrets about the class system?' After thinking for a moment, he shook that thought away from his mind and then shifted his attention towards Bishop Reynolds.

'Did he come here to fulfill the Goddess's prophecy? Or, is he after something else?'

In truth, Charles hadn't put much trust in Bishop and Ethan's words at all. But as he saw his arrival, he felt relaxed inside and breathed out a sigh of relief.

In the meantime, a blue-robed old man from the Explorers' group suddenly took a step forward and pointed his fingers at Anderson.

An instant later, an arc of blue lightning came out from his fingertip, stuck Anderson from behind, and completely caught him off guard!

It was a simple Rank-2 lightning spell, Thunderbolt!

As the blue lightning arc contacted Anderson's body, it spread all over his illusionary body and paralyzed him on the spot!

Bishop's lips suddenly arched upward as he took a step back and spoke.

"Leo, do it now."

Upon hearing those words from Bishop, another blue-robed man nodded his head and took out a blue gem embedded staff from his void pouch. It was a simple 2 feet long stick with a blue crystalline gem embedded on the top of it.

The blue-robed man named Leo then blinked right next to Anderson Black, pointed the staff at him, and smirked.

Then, the space around Anderson began to twist and soon formed into a circular void. After that, a suction force pulled him, Bishop Reynolds, Anderson Black, and the Lightning Mage into the void, and then the void disappeared like it never been there before.

At this time, Carter finally woke up from the shock and glared at his son.

"What the hell is happening here?" His cold voice echoed in the gloomy forest, causing Derrick's face to stiffen up.

Although he was a big schemer, he was still an 18-year-old kid who was always afraid of his dad. Upon noticing his dad's cold gaze, he subconsciously gulped his saliva and then broke into cold sweats.

'An opportunity.' Curling his lips upward, Charles took a step forward towards Derrick and kicked his balls.

Before Derrick could shout in pain while covering his manhood, Emilia also acted on her own and cast 'Mind Fog' and 'Hypnosis' skills on him. She then went beside the confused Derrick, placed her hand on his shoulder, and cast another skill.

It was her ultimate skill, Touch of Idiocy!

A foolish smile appeared on Derrick's face as he opened his arm and waited for Charles to finish his chanting.

"What are you doing to-?" Carter stared fiercely at Emilia and questioned her.

"We will take care of him, Mr. Explorer." Before Carter could finish his question, Emilia cut him off while showing her Withering Shadows department badge and signaled Charles to proceed.

On the other hand, Charles had long opened the Starfall Codex book and started his chanting. But unlike before, his lips moved at an impossible speed and vocalized the runic words faster.

He closed the Starfall Codex book in less than three seconds and waved his hand like a trickster.

Then, three eerie black metal chains popped out from the wet ground like snakes, slithered around Derrick's legs, and soon shackled Derrick's body in a blink.

It was a Rank-2 Darkness spell called Chain Curse!

This spell not only imprisons the opponent's body, but it also could bind one's soul itself!

Upon seeing those eerie black chains, Carter's eyes widened into a shock, and soon he stared at Charles in rage and hatred.

"You are colluding with the Destiny Conquerors?"

At that moment, other Explorers also shifted their gazes and showed their hostility openly.

'Not good... Did they take me as a Dark Mage?' Charles was momentarily stunned by their behavior for a second and soon glanced at their faces.

When Charles saw fear and alarm in their eyes, he knew that taking wouldn't solve the problem and made a swift decision.

In an instant, he activated the [Prevision] skill and took out a silver card from his space ring.

Before Carter could question him further, Charles first crushed the card a little and activated the Arcane card's Nature Spell!

But he didn't end it there, though. Instead, he signaled Emilia to get ready and then cast [Crimson Wings] spell on himself.

At this moment, hundreds of creepy black plant vines popped out from the ground and started moving around those Explorers like snakes.

Without even minding the furious dad's glare, Charles grabbed the chains on Derrick's body and flew upward while flapping his wings forcefully.

Simultaneously, two illusionary wings appeared behind Emilia as she also grabbed Andrew's shoulder with both hands and followed Charles's action.

The sudden turn of events completely stupefied the Explorers.

'How did she manage to lift that baldy easily?' Such thoughts crossed everyone's mind.

By the time Carter freed himself from those creepy black vines, Charles and Emilia flew far away and soon disappeared from their eyes!

Up in the sky, Charles surveyed the Unexplored Forest while flapping his wings constantly and soon saw seven skyscrapers deep in the Unexplored Forest.

"Charles, maintain a 50-meter distance from the ground and move in that direction. If we flew too high, it would expose our location to the enemies," Emilia also saw the unusual ruin-like area far ahead and spoke in a loud voice.

Nodding his head, Charles flapped his crimson wings and flew towards the ruin while avoiding few taller trees on his way.

Meanwhile, Emilia held Andrew's shoulder with both of her hands like carrying a baby and followed after him.

In truth, she used an artifact and lessened Andrew's weight using a skill called [Feather Body]!

While Charles was moving, he stared at the city ruin from the sky and got awed by the beautiful architecture. The seven skyscrapers stood imposing at the center and seemed to be overseeing the Unexplored Forest itself. Surrounding that ruined city was a swampy river, making the city looks more attractive from the sky.

Charles focused his attention on the ruin for a while and saw a tent-roof temple-like structure near the skyscrapers. Out of curiosity, he zeroed his focus on the particular broken temple-like structure and soon sensed a sudden abnormality within his mind.

'Why am I looking for danger? Was this mission worth risking my life? Although Quest reward is good, why am I risking myself and entering deep into the Unexplored Forest?' Such thoughts surfaced in his mind.

But as he shifted his gaze from the temple, another thought appeared.

'No, behind every fortune lies a great danger. If I want to push forward and become a powerful being, I need to face these types of obstacles.'

Unlike the previous thought, this one stood firm in his mind.

Charles suddenly perceived a change in his previous thinking and narrowed his eyes.

'Why do I feel déjà-vu? I also felt this type of different thinking when battling against the Dark Wolf... Am I over-thinking now?' He pondered for a moment and then shook his head before he flapped his wings to rise higher to avoid bumping into a large pointy-leaf tree.