The Author's POV

Amidst the chaos, glancing at my watch, I ran towards a certain section of the first level. From what I've observed, the people that had infiltrated the Monolith were targeting the general portals. 

The ones that everyone used. 

On a good note, those were not the portals that I was aiming for. On a bad note, I could more or less tell that they were planning on blowing up this place. The plan was fairly obvious, I was sure that the Monolith had understood this as well. 

'Damn it, I don't have much time at my disposal.'

Ignoring all of the chaos around me, following the map on my phone, I quickly made my way towards the area where the private portal was. Time was not on my side. If they were truly hell-bent on blowing up the portals, then I really had to hurry. 

"As expected, there are only a few people here." 

Arriving before the designated location, glancing left and right, I noticed that the security was fairly lax.

My original plan was to pretend to be the commander using the mask to then directly enter the portal. The problem regarding his build wasn't actually a problem, I still had a few gigantifying potions from Immorra. 

The only reason I had not used them back then, was because I wanted Luther to actually notice me.

Risky, but it paid off. 

Either way, that plan was now no longer viable. With the Monolith under attack, everything changed. 

Hiding behind a wall, and peeking right, I looked up and glanced at the cameras in the distance.

After that, I looked below them. 

'Good, there are only two guards.' 

Guarding an enormous metal door were two guards whose strength was about the same as mine, around the <D+> rank range. Under normal circumstances, there would've been stronger guards guarding the place, but these weren't normal circumstances. 

The stronger guards had probably left their post in order to aid the people guarding the general gate. 

Though this made them look sloppy, in reality, this wasn't a real problem. Without the special pass, even if the invaders tried to brute force the way into the room that led to the portal, they wouldn't be able to get in. The materials used to make the doors were something that even <S> ranked would have difficulty breaking. 

Thus, the decision to leave those two weaker guards to guard the place was the right decision given the circumstances. 

And this perfectly aligned with my plans.

"huuu..." 

Closing my eyes, and exhaling, with the aid of the chip inside of my head, my brain started processing all of the information that I had just observed. 

'The distance between me and the guards is more than ten meters, this I can't use the third movement. This is a bit of a problem since I don't want to alert the others of my presence...there's also another problem I need to take care of."

Because I specialized in sneak attacks, as long as my opponent wasn't way stronger than me or reacted faster than my swords, killing them wouldn't really pose a problem for me. 

There was only one problem though. 

Peeking right, I glanced at the cameras that were above the two guards. 

The cameras. 

The biggest problem at the moment was the cameras. If I wanted to use the Keiki style, I had to make sure that I removed all evidence of it. 

By now, everyone knew that Ren Dover was the inheritor of the Keiki style. This was without a doubt something that everyone knew as it had been broadcasted to the whole world during the tournament. What they also knew was that I was dead.

If the Monolith suddenly spotted 876 using the Keiki style, then finding out about my real identity wouldn't really be a problem. If that were to truly happen, all hell would break loose for me. 

'I can't let that happen.'

Just imagining the consequences of such revelation, caused the back of my hair to raise. Taking a deep breath, a look of resolution flashed across my eyes. 

'Even if this removes the element of surprise and makes things harder for me, I don't want to leave anything that would come back and bite me in the future.'

Grabbing a couple of sharp objects from my dimensional space, squinting, and aiming for the cameras in the distance, I flicked my fingers, and the objects shot towards the cameras in the distance like bullets. 

—WHIIIIIZ! 

The moment I flicked my fingers, stomping my foot on the ground, I quickly dashed towards the two guards in the distance. 

"Hey!" 

"Intruders!" 

Spotting me, the two guards immediately became alert. Raising their weapons, they tried to call for backup, but before they could get to it, I had already arrived before them and punched out.  A whistling sound arose, and powerful pressure enveloped the air. 

"Khuek!" 

The color green flashed for a split second and one of the guards flew towards the other side of the room.

Bam—! 

They soon crushed against the metal door behind them. 

Unfortunately for me, as I had lost the element of surprise, the guard was able to block my attack, and thus didn't die immediately. He was only injured. 

"Haaa!" 

The moment the guard crashed against the door, the sound of the air splitting rang by my ear, as the other guard slashed their halberd down. Coldly glancing at the incoming attack, lowering my body, I stomped my foot on the ground and shot forward. Reappearing right below the middle area of the halberd. 

Extending my hand, a green hue enveloped my hand as I grabbed the shaft of the halbert and redirected it towards the ground. 

Bam—! 

Upon redirecting the attack, the halbert hit the ground at full force and a small crater appeared. Fine miniature crevices extended from the crater.

"What!?" 

Unable to comprehend what had just happened, the guard frozen for a split second. 

—Click! 

This prove fatal for him as a subtle clicking sound rang out and his body slumped down on the ground, devoid of any life. 

"That's one dow—" 

—Di! —Di! 

Cutting me off was a silent ringing sound in the distance. 

Turning my attention towards the guard that I had injured previously, I instantly became alarmed. With a black box in his hand, I watched as the guard who I was unable to kill before, brought it near his face. 

"No, you don't." 

Unsheathing my sword completely from my scabbard, and coating my sword with it, bending my torso slightly, I released the built-up tension in the core of my body and threw the sword in his direction. Splitting the air, the sword disappeared from my hand and reappeared in front of the guard. 

"Rep—Huek!"

Before the guard could start speaking, the sword pierced him in the heart. The black box in his hand fell down, and a voice echoed across the room. 

—...Hello? Hello? Is anybody there?

Walking up to the radio transmitter, I grabbed it and spoke. 

"Yes, everything is alright, I just wanted to know about the current situation outside." 

After a brief moment, the voice on the other side of the transmitter raised. 

—What? Have you only called because of this?!

Heavy frustration could be felt from the voice. 

"..Mhm, we're currently hearing fighting in the distance, and we're unaware of what is happening. The other guards who have left have also not told us anything, and I was wondering if you needed our assistance." 

—No! Stay there and keep watch of the portal. Do you understand? This is an order. 

The more the person on the other side of the speaker listened to me, the more frustrated it became.

—Remain in your post and if anybody comes, kill them on sight. Even if they are fellow guards. Understood?

"Affirmative." 

—Good. 

Du.Du.Du. At my confirmation, the person ended the call. Crushing the transmitter in my hand, I turned around and looked at the massive door behind me. Glancing towards the right, I could see a small black box by the side. 

Without wasting any time, taking out the black card that I took from Luther, I placed it on the black box.

Instantly the huge metallic doors unlocked, and I entered the room. Upon entering the room a massive gate appeared in front of me. At the moment, the gate was completely hollow since it wasn't activated, but even then, I could feel the complexity of the gate from where I was standing.

By the side of the portal, there was a white orb that pulsated white light.  Knowing what it was, without a second thought, I walked up to the orb and placed my hand on it. 

===

「Please select location」

▶ [Ashton City]

▷ [Dromeda City]

▷ [Park City]

.

.

===

The moment I placed my hand on the orb, a small window appeared in front of me. On it was the different locations I could teleport to. Without giving it a second thought, I selected Ashton city. 

[Location selected, teleportation activation will now commence.]

Upon pressing it, the orb lit up, and a humming sound rang out in the room. After that, a robotic voice echoed as visible tangible threads of mana appeared out of thin air, converging towards the portal. Slowly but surely, the threads of mana entered the gate in a swirling pattern. 

"...this is it." 

Staring at the portal, that was slowly activating, I nervously bit my lips. Finally, after more than eight months in this hell hole, I was so close to finally reaching freedom. Knowing this, I couldn't help but become nervous. 

As I was waiting for the portal to open up, I looked back at the previous fight I had with the guards. 

'Now that I think about it, I spent more time fighting them than Commander Luther himself.' 

The irony. 

Although I had used an extremely powerful poison to deal with him, the fact that it took me less time to deal with him than some mob guards was quite ironic. 

"How much time left..." 

Glancing at the orb, I couldn't hide my nervousness as I repeatedly looked at the timer on it. 

[5:07]

"Five more minutes, come o—" 

BOOOM—! 

Cutting me off was the sound of another explosion as the building shook intensely. From where I was, I could hear the sound of the building crumbling down. Rushing out of the room, I realized that apart from the room where the gate was, a major part of the building had been destroyed allowing me to see what was happening outside. 

The moment I looked up and stared towards the distance, my body froze. 

"This pressure, that orange-colored hair...Monica?" 

***

The clear sound of energy exploding repeatedly resounded over the sky, as an orange hue clashed against a dark green one. As the two energies clashed, the aftermath of their clash resulted in large shockwaves that instantly killed the weaker individuals standing below. 

BOOOM—! 

Another explosion rang out as Monica let out a muffled snort as her body got pushed back a couple of meters. The three black-elders in the sky were no better as they were similarly pushed back, just a little bit further than her. Clearly, they were at a slight disadvantage since Monica was just one person and they were three. 

"hmm, it's been a while since Monica and the three elders have started fighting, why haven't the big shown up?" Amon wondered from below as his gaze never left Monica. 

A couple of minutes had passed since her fight with the three elders started, and although she had the upper hand thanks to her mana conglomeration technique, it also had to be noted that her mana was depleting at an alarming rate because of it. 

Furthermore, the remaining higher-ups of the Monolith should've already noticed that something wasn't right. For them to have not shown up by now, something was odd. 

"That's because they are not coming." 

Just as he was about to turn around and ask Tasos about his opinion, a cold voice rang beside his ear as a palm pressed against his back.

"What do you me—Huek!" 

A torrential wave of thick mana exploded onto Amon's back sending him flying into the nearby trees. Tasos's sudden attack on Amon did not go unnoticed by Monica and the three elders above who immediately ceased fighting. 

With her blazing orange eyes, Monica looked in Amon's direction and then looked at Tasos. Although she didn't say anything, from how wildly the mana around her was fluctuating, it became evident that she was both shocked and enraged. 

"Kekeke, you've finally decided to reveal yourself?"

The eldest of the three brothers suddenly burst out laughing as looked below. 

"Had to, it looked like you guys were having trouble." Looking up, Tasos smiled before turning his attention back towards Amon. A trace of pity flashed across his eyes. "...to have only been able to come out with slight injuries after my sneak attack, the name unbreakable shield is not for nothing." 

"Y-you"

A hoarse voice rang out. 

As the dust cleared up and Amon's figure was revealed in the distance, with blood trickling down the side of his mouth, Amon's expression was terrifying.

Glaring at Tasos, he roared. 

"How dare you betray us!" 

The mana around him suddenly thickened up and agglomerated in front of him. Finally, an enormous black shield appeared in front of him. 

"I will definitely make you pay!" 

"Don't take it personally Amon, I've never actually been a part of the Union." Taking a step forward, with one hand behind his back, a rapier appeared in Tasos's hand. Alternating his gaze between Monica and Amon, Tasos smiled. "Tell you the truth, from the very beginning this plan of yours was a trap designed by me." 

Thirty years. 

That was how long Tasos had been working at the Union. At least on the surface. In reality, he had always been working under the Monolith. 

Under their orders, he had been waiting and biding his time for the right moment.  Originally the Monolith did not have any plans on revealing Tasos's identity this early.

He was their trump card. 

However, an opportunity presented itself. A huge opportunity to get rid of one of the heads of the Union alongside a future head. 

Monica and Amon. 

By getting rid of them, they'd essentially be crippling the Union. Knowing this, they had no choice but to go through with their plans. 

To show just how much importance they put on this plan, they had actually sent three of their <SS> ranked villains towards the trap designed by the Union. This was so that they could reduce any suspicions of the operation being a trap. 

"Honestly, I didn't want to reveal myself this early in the game, but..." Raising his hand and clenching it, a blue glow enveloped his rapier as Tasos's clothes fluttered wildly. "I just couldn't miss out on the chance of killing one of the seven heads of the Union." 

"I've had enough with your nonsense." 

Unable to bear any more of Tasos's talk, Amon cut him off.

Then, raising the shield in front of him, his eyes glowed in a mysterious color as the shield in his arms slowly expanded. 

"...We'll see if you can," Tasos replied with an amused smile on his face. He then took a stance. 

Suddenly, both of their auras flared up wildly. The density of the air around them thickened up considerably. 

Looking from above, Monica's face became chilly. Turning her attention back towards the elders, the mana in her similarly flared up. The natural energy in the atmosphere began to fluctuate vigorously upon being beckoned Monica. She knew that her only option right now was to go all out. 

Below them, a countless number of gazes watched the intense fluctuations of natural energy in the sky. All of them knew that a frighteningly <S> and <SS> class battle was about to erupt!

Amongst those gazes was a burned-up youth whose face contorted more with each passing second. 

"Ugh… You've got to be shitting me."