Mash frowned as he sat on a rather uncomfortable metal tile. It was terrible. The smooth silvery metal was plain, but there was something about the place that made his skin crawl. It might just be his previous memories. His last time in this place had been awful. It might still be the worst he had. He considered opening the portal closer to the exit, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that. The room beside this one was hard to be in. Images had popped into his head when he had just peered inside. He remembered killing so many people, believing that there was no other choice. The people who had been mutated into something unnatural. Experiments for some demented child. No, he would stay where he was. The arena was larger and more appropriate for him anyway.

The fact that he hadn’t considered this before, made him feel kind of stupid. Although, it was far easier to just have Jill teleport their group back home, that and he hadn’t needed to consider alternatives. Now that he was worried about ferrying an entire kingdom across the continent, he realized that there was something else he could do. Also, there was something he could do to help them in the current situation. And that was to make a bridge between home and him. While he could only make one portal, this dungeon had another entrance. One that had been secured and locked by his brother after the orphanage incident. The orphanage was in the middle of the city and a portal there essentially functioned as a path to the city.

He had to inform his brother and the general, only to find out that they had somehow locked the dungeon. It would take them a little bit to free it, but that was fine. Mash was more distracted by something else. His gaze aimed out of the dungeon, through the portal, and into a snowy field. The signs of his previous fight were there, and cold air leaked in quickly. The army had mostly dispersed, fleeing into the surroundings. Mash wondered how far they were from the Delhome. It would take them a little bit to travel on foot, but there wasn’t much else that could be done. His friends were escorting the army but were waiting for him to call them back.

Mash still didn’t know if he would need to. His brother would be here soon, along with some others who could actually fight against people above his level. They would still be late, so he needed to buy them as much time as possible. Which was the reason behind leaving the portal wide open. Closing it would just lead the pursuers to turn toward the city. Which would defeat the purpose entirely. On the other hand, leaving the portal open would probably still work for the tracking skills. He very much doubted that they would enter the portal voluntarily, but they would certainly investigate it.

So, he sat on the floor letting cold air brush against his face, as he searched the sky for his pursuers. It was late at night, so it was kind of pointless. They wouldn’t be leaving a trail as he had, and his night vision was only slightly better than a normal person’s. No, this was merely an act. He just pretended like he was paying active attention. Jill was the only one really looking for them. She alone hid among the trees and waited for their arrival. Her skills would help her find them, even before they became visible to him. And if they spotted her fist, she would know and could just teleport away.

[They’re here.]

Jill’s message surprised him. Actually, got him to look around now. Gaze past the trees to try and see them, only to realize he couldn’t. They were basically just invisible. He only managed to notice something was off when Priscilla pointed out the way the snow turned oddly. Stealth was probably difficult to manage with all the snow, though he hadn’t noticed the people in question until they were a little over a hundred feet away. And he still couldn’t see them. All he saw was a vague outline of a group of people as the snow bounced off their skin. Whatever invisibility they were using was only visual it seemed. Not that it mattered once they got into his domain.

Mash smiled at them, showing his sharpened teeth in what he hoped was a menacing grin. He had just killed a king, and he figured it would be more intimidating if he acted like he was confident. He wasn’t dumb enough to think that they didn’t have an estimate for his level, but it would be inaccurate. They especially wouldn’t know how many he had gained from killing the king or the evolution of the skills that he had acquired recently. That would be his biggest advantage.

He decided to provoke the pursuers, by waving at them. The grin he had paired with the casual gesture, let them know he was aware of their presence. And if both of those failed, he greeted them happily.

“Hello! Sorry, but I don’t think I’ll invite you in.”

The invisibility that was on them didn’t drop, but Mash noticed the people stop before his portal. It seemed like the plan was working. The group was clearly hesitating. They couldn’t know all the details of his skills. Plus, he had given his words some serious thought. They weren’t complex, but it was the kind of thing that sounded creepy. Plus, he could control his facial expressions easily with muscle control.

It kind of worked. One of the groups seemed to ignore all common sense and dashed into the portal without hesitation. Their invisibility skill couldn’t keep up with the sudden movement. And Mash got a look at his first attacker. A woman clearly older than him, but with a youthful face despite it. She had short white hair that was cut close to her scalp. It added to her childish appearance despite the color. Her dark brown eyes were cold and vacant, as she closed the distance in an instant. She lunged with a blade in hand, moving so fast that he almost couldn’t react. Her body blurred into a black shadow as her dark leather armor seemed to draw in the surrounding light. Mash only noticed the blade because of his domain, otherwise, that would’ve blended in with her hands perfectly.

Despite noticing the blade, he barely managed to avoid the lunge. She was moving faster than he could, even with his forms. Currently, only his muscles had been changed, keeping his appearance completely normal. However, his reaction speed was inhumanly fast, and he barely managed to avoid getting his head lopped off. Her attack had been an echo of the general’s plan. Mash sent a message to Jill as he dodged to the left.

[Do it now!]

His neck was cut, but it wasn’t deep, and the wound closed quickly. Although it managed to paint his neck red. Some of the other people had taken that moment to enter the portal as well, and Mash let the portal collapse. It just fell apart trapping him with around five of the attackers. Surprisingly, it had been the one that had cut him that reacted fastest. She almost made it back to the portal, but it closed just in front of her face. Mash had barely noticed her backtrack. It must have been a skill with how her body just seemed to slide backward. Thankfully it didn’t go through space. He wanted to trap as many people as he could, and she was definitely one of those who out-leveled him. And while she couldn’t go through space, Jill could.

Jill appeared beside Mash. She had a smirk on her face, as she looked over the group. She spoke as the group noticed her arrival.

“Pickup for one.”

She spoke softly, as the woman by the gate seemed to catch on. Everyone in the room finally understood what was happening too. They were too slow to do anything. Mash just kept his attention on the white-haired woman across the room. To his surprise, he caught her smiling. It caused Mash to sweat, though it only lasted for an instant as the world around him blurred.

He appeared within the forest; snow replaced the metal he had been sitting on. Red, Luke, and Lisa stood around nervously. Relief crossed their faces in unison, and Mash smiled at them nervously. He rubbed at his neck, revealing to Luke that he wasn’t really hurt. The blood stuck to his hand, and his voice shook a little as he spoke.

“That was close.”

It was probably the closest he had been to death in a while. And it was similar too as he remembered getting thrown off a cliff with his throat slit. There was a difference though. That time he had survived on luck. Now, it was because of his preparation and skill. Luke offered Mash a hand and healed him pointlessly too. The warm sensation of the magic-filled him as he stood.

“How many did you get?”

Mash thought back to the room and counted the people he could remember. Well, he could only think of the white-haired woman. Honestly, he didn’t think he would be able to forget her easily and told Priscilla to warn his brother. He replied to Red’s question as he got up.

“Eleven of them. I think one was over level 150. She was the one that did this.”

He rubbed the side of his neck as he mentioned it.

“Can I ask what she looked like? I might know who she was.”

Lisa asked the question. She sounded uncomfortable and hesitant as if she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to participate in the conversation. Mash nodded and had Priscilla send her an image of the woman. It would be better than a verbal description, and he had told her about Priscilla when he shared the plan earlier. She was still a bit startled and let out a squeak as an image was placed into her mind. It only worked because she accepted it, but it could still be jarring. Although, her reaction wasn’t because of the magic. Her mouth hung open as she shut her eyes and whispered out her next words.

“This is bad.”

There was a heavy worry behind those words. Those three words would probably have elicited worry in other people, but Mash simply nodded along. His plan had worked far better than he had expected, and he felt like it needed some more chaos to properly fit him. The others didn’t seem all that concerned either. Lisa’s eyes darted over the group in disbelief.

“Aren’t you worried?”

Red shrugged her shoulders and spoke sounding a little bored by the dramatic reaction Lisa had. She probably didn’t like the fact that Lisa still hadn’t revealed the woman’s identity.

“We are, but this is around what we expected. We always think that our plans will go wrong in some way. Literally, nothing has ever worked out as planned. Now, can you tell us why we should be worried?”