Awakening a 10,000x Skill Proficiency Multiplier in the Apocalypse-Chapter 36: []: The Shadow, A Deal in the Dark

While the main army of the Golden Lions and Crimson Skulls was currently experiencing the horrifying and localized reality of being turned into a bloody two dimensional paste outside the front gates, a completely different kind of warfare was taking place in the shadows.

Wraith did not charge with the vanguard. He was a professional, and professionals did not run screaming into open fields against anomalies.

He was a Level 25 Assassin and the leader of a highly specialized independent mercenary squad that the Golden Lions had hired specifically for high value target extraction. While Baron K was busy measuring his ego against the Drifter, Wraith and his three man team had scaled the jagged cliffs flanking the Valley of Cinders.

Wraith clung to the sheer rock face with his avatar entirely cloaked in the shimmering dark grey particle effect of a high tier [Shadow Meld] skill. He possessed absolute optical camouflage and zero footstep audio.

He looked down at the chaotic slaughter unfolding in the valley. He watched the invisible dome of gravity instantly crush five hundred armored players into the dirt. He saw the terrifying blue error codes flashing in the sky as the physics engine wept.

’’He isn’t hacking,’ Wraith thought, keeping his heart rate steady. ’Holy shit, he’s changing the source code. He’s using conceptual laws.’

It was impossible for a Level 10 player, but Wraith did not care about the how. He cared about the contract. The contract was to secure the Guild Core and destroy the Sanctuary claim.

While Sebastian was busy walking through the liquefied remains of the vanguard, Wraith slipped over the tall basalt wall of the citadel. The Arcane Towers lacked a dedicated gunner and were currently uncalibrated, so they failed to track his perfectly stealthed heat signature.

He dropped silently into the inner courtyard and landed on the polished marble without making a single sound. He signaled his squad with two rapid and silent clicks of his comms channel. They fanned out and stuck to the deep shadows cast by the imposing obsidian architecture.

Wraith bypassed the grand hall where the corporate Mage was frantically tapping at holographic interfaces. She was a non threat. He slipped through the heavy vaulted corridors with his instincts guiding him toward the highest concentration of ambient mana.

He found it in the heart of the citadel.

The Guild Core room was a circular chamber of dark glass. In the center, floating above a pedestal of pure unrefined Leyline crystal, was the glowing rotating Guild Core. It pulsed with a soft golden light as the anchor holding the entire fortress together.

Wraith drew his twin daggers. They were coated in a highly corrosive high tier acid designed specifically to melt through stationary objects. One strike, maybe two, and the core would shatter. The Sanctuary would instantly disappear and leave the Drifter totally exposed.

He stepped up. Raised his blades.

Click.

The sound was tiny, but to an Assassin, it was like a gunshot.

His foot hit an invisible mana tripwire.

FWOOSH!

Instantly, a ring of blinding golden brown runes erupted from the floor beneath him. The runes shot upward and formed a tight cylindrical cage of hard light magic around his body.

[System Alert: Trap of Eternal Binding Triggered!]

[Status Effect Applied: Absolute Paralysis. Duration: Indefinite.]

Wraith muscles locked instantly. He could not swing his daggers. He could not step back. He could not even turn his head. He was completely and hopelessly frozen in mid strike.

’A Tier 4 suppression trap?’ Wraith mind raced as he analyzed the failure. ’How did he set a trap inside a newly rendered fortress without a dedicated Trapper class?’

CREAAAK.

The heavy mahogany doors of the core room slowly creaked open.

Sebastian walked in.

He was not covered in blood or ash. He looked entirely undisturbed as his hands rested casually in the pockets of his ragged Drifter tunic. He walked up to the glowing cage of runes and his deadpan eyes locked onto Wraith frozen face.

"Your squad is currently hanging upside down from the ceiling in the east wing," Sebastian said normally. "They walked into a gravity trap. It’ll take about an hour for the blood to pop their digital brains. But you... you made it to the core."

Wraith could not speak, but his eyes remained calm and calculating. He expected the death blow. He expected to lose a level and fail the contract.

Sebastian did not draw a weapon. He just stared at the Assassin and tilted his head slightly.

"You didn’t freak out when the trap hit," Sebastian noted, his voice calm. "Heart rate stayed steady. You analyzed it. You’re a pro."

Sebastian took a step closer and leaned into the glowing bars of the cage.

"Let’s drop the game act for a second, Wraith," Sebastian said, his voice dropping the fantasy bullshit. "You’ve got the twitch reflexes of a starving man. You’re playing from the Tokyo Quarantine Zone, aren’t you?"

Wraith pupils dilated. A flicker of genuine real world shock broke through his stoic facade.

"The Vanguard locked down Sector 4 yesterday," Sebastian went on, pulling memories from his past life. "The military isn’t sending food or medicine. They’re bolting the doors and waiting for the Demon Rats to eat you guys alive. You’re only playing right now because this payout is the only way you can buy black-market food for whoever you’re hiding in that apartment with."

The absolute silence in the room was deafening. Sebastian was not guessing. He knew the desperate and brutal reality of the early quarantine zones.

"I am not going to kill you, Wraith," Sebastian said and reached into his inventory. He pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. "I am going to offer you a counter contract."

He held the parchment up to the frozen Assassin face. It was not an Ethereal Plane quest log. It was a string of encrypted real world coordinates.

"II have a bunker," Sebastian said, dead serious. "It’s heavily reinforced. Stocked with enough food, water, and meds to last ten years. Off the grid."

Sebastian leaned in, his eyes burning with absolute intensity.

"Work for me. You act as my shadow. You kill who I point at, you guard what I tell you to guard, and you do not ask questions. In exchange, you get those coordinates. You get your people out of Tokyo, and you bring them to my walls. I give you real world protection."

Snap. He tapped the runes, and the cage vanished.

THUD.

Wraith collapsed to one knee and gasped as his digital muscles forcefully rebooted. He stayed there for a long moment, his chest heaving, his daggers clattering uselessly against the floor.

He looked up at the ragged Drifter. He looked at the coordinates on the parchment. He knew the world was ending. He had seen the sky bleeding in reality.

Wraith did not hesitate. He sheathed his daggers and bowed his head. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Contract accepted," Wraith whispered.

[Player ’Wraith’ has sworn loyalty to Guild ’Sanctuary’.]

Sebastian smiled faintly. "Good. Welcome to Sanctuary. Go tell your squad they work for me now. We have turrets to build."