《Emperor Saga》Chapter 26.5 : Return of Skull Mask
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Here you go, extra chapter.Thank you for reading and it still not proofread
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I hate merchant, they were sly and cunning
They always do underhand and dirty trick
In my earlier day I was tricked by a merchant to kill someone
And thus I become a chaotic player that get hunt by bounty hunter day and night
Earlier on I died a few times since I was quite new to the game
But since I am someone known in real life with my exceptional sword skill,
I slay anyone who tried to kill me.
I gained allies along the way
They help me to understand the game
and save me when I was in a pinch
I do the same for them too
Of course, I exact my revenge on the merchant that used to tricked me
That guy tried to send assassin to kill me. But I kill them instead.
******
Really, I hate merchant
A few month ago a shady looking merchant wearing a smiling mask
Came to Daisy, the town I always hang out with
He propose to craft for us without any fee
Back then I thought now these guys know their place
But that only last for TWO days
The third day he arrogantly said he will not craft more then 10 people
I protest greatly but end up getting beat up by his follower
Now I know what happen
His crafting works like drug, people always asked for more
User around me just want that 'drug' badly enough to the point of ass kissing
It's dangerous, I heard those drug dealer work the same way
They give drugs for free to the innocent people
and ask for money when they get addicted to it
Truly dangerous, this shady merchant must be a drug dealer in real life
He's a pro
Now he demanded us to be 'sincere' when asking him to craft
Surely that sincerity means money
As if that was not enough, people in Daisy start to worship him like a god
And they even held some weird event to commemorate the coming of that bastard
That sly bastard!!
********
I would never forgive him
With people bowing their head and talking with him with great respect
Now he walk around Daisy like he some kind of big shot
That bastard just a weak merchant
Put him in a field and he will croaked in no time
I can't hold it anymore
This time I would follow him outside the town and kill him as much as I want
Since he was sly enough, maybe he has 50 bodyguard
Escorting him while hiding themselves
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I know merchant well, they always has escort
The only question is their hidden or not
I can't attack him and died instead
No, I will not do that mistake
I will bring along my friend with me just in case
With me and my comrade, we had 20 people
The number maybe too low compared to that bastard hidden escort
But we were veteran when it comes to assassination.
**********
Killing a merchant weren't easy
They were weak but rich merchant has alot of guard
And they were experienced when facing life threatening situation
Since alot of user love targeting them, running away was their specialty
Their class has alot of survival skill in their arsenal
It is said to kill a veteran merchant one need to deliver 10 fatal attack until they actually died
To kill that bastard without much hassle
I need a well thought out plan
I stalk him in Daisy and finally I overheard that he need to go to 'Deadwood' for quest
I get back to my group to discuss of our plan
We decide we will attack him in 'Deadwood'
No matter how skilled the bodyguard is
There's no way they can protect him in 'Deadwood thick fog.
Then we quickly prepared ourselves before we followed him
At first it was hard since his pet were faster than we thought
But we finally able to catch up with him
He leave his pet outside of 'Deadwood' and proceed alone.
It can't be help, that kind of pet will give away its presence easily
We decide to take a detour around the pet since it looks dangerous
As expect of wealthy merchant,
he can even get that kind of rare beast.
********
Soon after we enter the wood
Suddenly that guy give away his presence
Out of mana or something? His alot more stupid than I thought
Anyway, I rush on him so I can kill him with my own two hands
I don't want other monster kill him before me
My comrade tried to stop me but they end up following me anyway
But to my surprise, when I arrived there was nothing but a wall of tree
And soon after, an attack came from my side
Its 'Seppuku Warrior' , these guys were fast
And then another attack came from my back
" Ortega!"
My comrade shout while defending me from the attack.
It was chaotic user
Damn, now we stuck with unnecessary 3 ways battle.
How that merchant disappeared suddenly?
Maybe that merchant have died before I reach him?
No, I'm sure he right in front of me when I rush on him
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I know, he hide somewhere here using that 'Fake Death' skill
I kill alot of merchant until now, I know all merchant skill
Don't underestimated me
I will find your 'corpse' in no time
"Prioritize in finding that bastard 'corpse'!!"
With that, me and my men fight the 3 way battle while looking for that bastard.
The chaotic were strong but they were an unorganized bunch.
Sometime they even attack each other, what a brute
In this case, 'Seppuku Warrior' were more organized
But since they were mindless monster we still can hold our ground
Finding that bastard were our priority
He must be around here
I knew it, my instinct always right.
******
It's been an hour
The three way battle get more intense
It seems the chaotic users already know we were 20 people party
They make a temporary alliance with each other as a counter measure.
We kill a handful of 'Seppuku Warrior' but they keep respawning.
Now it's hard enough to hold our ground
We can't even look for that bastard
*****
Then its happen
Someone or something nonchalantly give away its presence
Woosh!!
Wooshh!!
Woosshhh!!
"AARRGH!!"
And that something let out a barrage of long range attack toward us
Then the scream of chaotic user, 'Seppuku Warrior' and my comrade followed
I didn't move to hide myself
My skill, 'Greater Stealth' will make my presence disappear completely
And my avatar become blurred out,
one cannot see me if they didn't come close enough
I drink mana and health potion while in stealth
While I at it, scream were everywhere
It was truly a dreadful thing
That thing move in high speed
slaying users and monster swiftly before he move again
I would not move until he get close enough
I can ambush him then.
After awhile I realized it was a skilled user
And I'm sure his smart and skilled enough to kill my comrade who were veteran assassins
'Seppuku Warrior' hesitated when they charge on him proving that user having high infamy point
When my surrounding get quite, I realized I'm the last person survive.
Now I has full health and mana
I will ambush him when he get closed enough
Ambush element was the only thing I had to defeat this kind of user
I feels that guy presence in front of me
Now I will wait for him to get closer
Maybe this guy level were higher but my sword skill were exceptional
My skill even exceeds my master, someone who won world championship for 5 times
Now, I just need to.....
Woosshh!!
Critical Hit!!
"Wha? A spear?"
A spear pierce through my body and I was knock back a few meters away.
While I still dumbfound on why he know my location even with my 'Greater Stealth' skill,
that user charge toward me and unleash another attack
Critical Hit!!
"Sk, Skull Mask!!"
When the user figured visible completely, then I realized it was the famous hundredmen slayer 'Skull Mask'
Did he farm here too?There's no way to know
The attack I got was critical but I survive somehow.
Maybe I manage to dodge on the last minute?
No, if I manage to dodge it would not be critical attack in the first place.
I don't think the sword attack power sucks
The other possibilities were either he didn't put his point in strength or......
His level were alot more lower than me
...............
It was a hard truth but deep down I know its the latter
He was fast but not extraordinarily fast
No way someone skilled like him spend his stat other then strength and dexterity
Which mean the cold hard truth was his level were lower then me.
It means I got a chance, I will try fighting him.
"Hyahh!!"
I charge on him but my body felt heavy somehow.
Maybe because this spear were heavy
Woosh!!
As I about to charge him another spear pierce through me
Then he charge on me and attack me with his sword
I successfuly defend the first attack but fail to defense the second one
Critical Hit!!
Another critical attack, I try to widen our distance to catch a breather
But I received 5 more attack in return
Critical Hit!!
Critical Hit!!
Critical Hit!!
Critical Hit!!
Critical Hit!!
A chain of critical hit, how can that be possible?
Even with my exceptional sword skill it was impossible for me to get more then 2 critical hit in a row
It didn't take long before he over power me
As he stab me for the final attack, our face meets
If he can defeat me despite the fact my level were higher
That just mean his real life combat skill are far exceed mine
I just remember back then when I start to play the game.
Eventhough I hold the sword since forever
I still hesitated when slashing monster
Since the feeling of cutting through the flesh feels real
Even now I still hesitated a bit when I about to kill users
All of my comrade were the same
and every user I encounter until now were the same
But this guy, I saw no hesitation
And deep down I felt he may used to kill before
As I'm about to disappear, let me observe a bit more
the man that kill me.
His dreadful skull mask
his dim red eye
His figure
his normal cloth
and his ten ring
................................
I see, it was that merchant
I only saw his mask before
Now it makes sense
Merchant 'Fear Death' skill
With high sense stat, that skill can detect all kind of stealth
Its one of the merchant survival skill
Until now the merchant I met use it to run
But this guy used it to hunt
Just because I met weak merchant until now I thought they really were weak
Just because I used to kill alot of merchant I though I can definitely succeed this time
Just because my skill exceed my master I thought I'm stronger than anyone else
I was shallow
I was stupid
I was weak
I was.........
defeated
completely
You have died.
By dying you received death penalty. Your level decrease by 5 and you can only log in after 24 hour.
*********
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