Chapter 51: The Ambush

Twenty minutes until the rift closed.

He found his way into the passageway he had walked into. They were also going to use this vent to get into the chamber, he was sure.

He heard voices up ahead.

"—must have died. No way an E-rank survives that."

"We give it a few more minutes. Then we go in and take the core." He heard as he closed in on the source.

"The boss’s core will fetch a good price."

Emeric’s blood boiled as he closed in on them. They wanted to kill for profit?

He rounded a corner and came face to face with them.

It was the C-rank party that had accosted him in the guild earlier on. So this was their doing.

Well that simplifies things.

They were scattered around the entrance of the next chamber. Waiting for him to die.

Their faces shifted from shock to confusion, then something darker. You could see the realisation settle on them that they had to finish him themselves.

"Look who ran with his tail tucked beneath his legs." The one that had tried to swing at him earlier spoke first.

"No way Ranga, you really called it." Another one said, facing the younger one.

So Ranga is it.

"How did you survive? We showed you mercy by letting the slime king finish you off. Now you’re going to suffer more pain because you just won’t die when you’re told."

Emeric said nothing. This was another one speaking.

He didn’t care to know their names. They were going to pay for this, he thought.

"Ouhhh! Look at that Doran. He looks really mad." Ranga said.

The leader hadn’t spoken but he was studying him.

His eyes dropped to Emeric’s hand. The ring on his finger.

"Looks like you managed to kill it after all."

"What do you mean Beeran? This weakling couldn’t take that boss alone. That was an elemental slime king." Ranga said, walking closer to Beeran. "Even I would struggle."

"Well, he may be E-rank but he’s stronger than you Ranga."

Ranga’s face contorted into rage. He stared at Emeric with fists clenched.

Emeric’s hand moved to his dagger. "What do you want?"

Beeran smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile.

"Want? We want what’s ours. That core. You have it right? That ring. Everything you’ve got."

Ranga stepped forward. His fist was clenched. His face was twisted with anger.

"You humiliated me. Back at the Guild. Do you remember?"

Emeric just stared at him, his rage brimming just at the surface. How was he going to face off against these people alone?

His mind went to Nyxie but he had left her with Isolde and he did not regret it. He would know if she needed him.

"What’re spacing out for?"

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION — PRIORITY ALERT]

[KILLING INTENT DETECTED — LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED AGAINST YOUR PERSON]

[THREAT ASSESSMENT: OVERWHELMING]

[OPPONENTS: 6 — C-RANK]

[YOUR STATUS: CRITICAL]

[DIRECTIVE: ELIMINATE THREAT TO PRESERVE YOUR LIFE]

[YOU ARE VALUABLE.]

[YOUR DEATH WOULD LEAVE YOUR LEDGER TARGET UNPROTECTED.]

[SYSTEM INTERVENTION: COMBAT FRENZY — ACTIVATE?]

[YES NO?]

[WARNING: FRENZY OVERRIDES CONSCIOUS CONTROL. INSTINCT TAKES OVER.]

[EFFECT: +50% TO ALL PHYSICAL STATS FOR DURATION OF COMBAT.]

[EFFECT: PAIN RECEPTORS SUPPRESSED.]

[EFFECT: KILLING INTENT AMPLIFIED.]

[DURATION: UNTIL ALL THREATS ARE ELIMINATED.]

The system wanted him to kill these scums. He did not have to be told twice. His death would be an unfavorable outcome. It would leave Isolde without anyone to care for her in the world. He was not about to let that happen.

Combat frenzy huh? He did not care what the effects would be. He nodded yes to activate it.

His eyes grew bloodshot, his vision narrowing into a single minded focus.

KILL! KILL! KILL THEM ALL!

"You’re not leaving this rift alive." Ranga said, pulling out his weapon. It was a short sword.

Ranga lunged first.

The short sword came in fast in a diagonal slash aimed at Emeric’s collarbone.

Sloppy, he thought.

Emeric didn’t need his skills to see it coming. His whole body was brimming with power.

He easily stepped left, dodging the attack.

Ranga’s blade cut air.

The world had slowed down or maybe he was just sped up. He couldn’t tell which anymore.

Ranga overextended on the miss, off-balance, his sword arm swinging wide of his body. He could see it now. It was like a type of foresight that mae everything feel more clear.

Emeric’s dagger opened his forearm from wrist to elbow.

Ranga screamed, the sword dropped from fingers that no longer worked properly, clattering against stone.

"You—"

Emeric didn’t let him finish. He drove the second dagger into the meat of Ranga’s thigh, twisted, and pulled it free.

Blood sheeted down Ranga’s leg. He collapsed, clutching at himself, the sound that came out of him was a guttural scream that rent the air.

The others who had been smirking the whole time now stood frozen.

"He—he’s not supposed to—" one of them started.

Beeran’s hand shot out, grabbing the nearest teammate’s shoulder. "Formation. Now. Don’t just stand—"

Too late.

Emeric closed the distance before the sentence finished. He didn’t think about the movements, his body just made them.

The first teammate, a woman with a mace half-raised, got a dagger through the back of her hand before she could bring it down.

"Sera!" Beeran’s voice rang out, sharp with panic.

She dropped the weapon, staggered back, and Emeric didn’t wait to see what she did next. His shoulder caught her mid-turn and put her into the tunnel wall hard enough that something in her shoulder gave with a wet-sounding pop. She slid down it, dazed, breath knocked out of her.

The second teammate got further. He managed to draw a short blade, get it up in a guard.

Emeric went low instead. His dagger opened the back of the man’s calf — the tendon there, severing it clean.

"Jorin!" Sera screamed a low scream from the ground, reaching toward him like she could do anything from where she was.

The man’s leg buckled out from under him and he went down screaming, the blade skittering uselessly across the floor.