Faction’s Cowardly Escape

Now that the players were temporarily done with keeping the peace, they all simultaneously charged the city like it was a Black Friday sale.

The atmosphere of the sudden surge of Immortal Souls was not in the least hostile, more giddy and bubbly with even a little competitive spirit to be the first ones inside Kassio. Their desire to find clues about the hidden potential-protagonist faction now far outstripped their desire to earn some rewards from the event.

The players in parties would tactically send their stealth and reconnaissance members to participate in the mass scavenger hunt while the other members that weren't as geared to information gathering continued to help around. This move was ingenious because they would be able to have up to date information on any recent findings while still gaining the rewards from the event. Due to the reward sharing system for parties, all members would gain experience and a higher score for the event so they could split up to multitask.

As soon as a couple of the parties did that, almost every other party followed. The solo players cursed under their breaths because they could no longer do the same.

If they were to join a party now with strangers, and implemented the same multitasking plan, it could very well come back to bite them. Since they didn't know or trust the other member, the one that did the information gathering could ditch the other members after receiving the event rewards and hoarding the information.

All they could do was suck it up and sacrifice the event rewards for the information. The once enthusiastic atmosphere turned super competitive in only an instant as the players all tripled their efforts to surpass the next. It was now a dog eats dog world...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Back on the Association's mothership, the grandmaster trio was resting in the captain's quarters after taking on such a fright.

Denmark was mentally scarred after all of that so he wasn't all the way there. He was an extremely strong-willed adventurer that's been through countless dire situations, but none of them were as bad as this one. It would take him a while to recollect himself but it shouldn't take more than a day or two.

He was seated back in the captain's chair behind the desk, no longer spinning but just holding his knees in tight like a traumatized child. His eyes looked vacant and misty as he stared off into the distance absentmindedly.

Rosalind might be an all-powerful A~grade genius that's lived for many centuries and fought numerous vicious battles, but as an elderly woman, she couldn't help but feel greatly shaken by that encounter. She somehow kept a calm front up the whole time, but what she saw in that bodyguard with her magicule-only sight just wasn't natural whatsoever. She was even tempted to open her eyes for the first time since she first started learning magic just to make sure she was seeing correctly.

Her methods of discerning things were different from others as she voluntarily used magicules as a way of sight instead of her eyes.

She wasn't too distraught over their near-death encounter, but more so by the bodyguard himself. When that man appeared behind Denmark on deck, she just barely kept consciousness after seeing such a ludicrously dense cloud of magicules surrounding him.

She concluded the instant that she saw him that he wasn't human, for a human wasn't capable of innately gathering so much mana around them at all times. Moreover, even if a human was transcendent, they still wouldn't be able to pull off such a feat of maintaining the mana around them in such a dense state.

Her ex-husband was the disciple to a peak T~grade human back in the Eternity War, so she knew very well what they were capable of, and that much dense mana wasn't even close to being in their ability scope. She genuinely believed that solid-state mana such as mana soil or mana crystals would start forming around him naturally.

While the two grandmasters were lost in deep thought, Mercia had already recovered and was leaning over a nearby balcony, observing the situation down below. She was right behind Denmark when it came to a strong will so she was already thinking of a gameplan as she gauges the reactions of the other factions down below.

"As I suspected, most of the nobles and organizations were spooked and are making their cowardly escapes because they couldn't handle the pressure. Furthermore, now that they've publicly made themselves a target for the church by showcasing enough power to threaten them, who would want to get involved or do business with such a volatile organization... Like a ticking time bomb.

I wonder what this secret organization was thinking by scaring off its customers? *Sigh* At least that's less competition for me."

Denmark came out of his daze and looked her dead in the eye, not believing the words that came out of her mouth, "You still plan on going through with this?!"

"More so than before actually. I've seen their strength first hand and now I want to gain contact with them more than ever. You guys might be fighting for your lives and comfort, but I'm a proud and shameless merchant, I fight purely for benefits and nothing else. At least for the most part."

"But they're too dangerous! As you said before, they're an explosive just waiting to go off!!"

"So? Won't know until I try... Also, just because you're older than me, doesn't mean you have to act like my parent. I can fend for myself without your wise guidance."

"You're seriously going to take a risk, that could very well result in your life, for benefits?! You're smart, so you must know that the church will do everything in their power to stay on top now that everyone knows they have some strength, so why get involved!?!"

"Taking a risk for benefits? Us merchants call that gambling and I've performed my fair share of those throughout my career. I've also been gaining too much influence and wealth these past decades so you know better than anyone that I can't go on like this without some more trump cards hidden up my sleeves.

Not just the church, but many beings much stronger than me in other areas besides connections and money, all want to see me fall so they can scavenge my remains. If not for the Empire's protection behind the scenes, I wouldn't be living till this day... but I can't depend on them forever."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

While Denmark continued to attempt to convince his stubborn friend to leave, a minuscule portion of the people down below finished preparation to flee.

The one's that were leaving first was the smaller factions or weaker nobles. This was because their forces were considerably smaller and easier to maneuver.

The auction within the capital hosts events for thousands of important individuals all at once, taking advantage of their massive and expensive auction house. The only way the auctioneer can handle such a crowd is with the help of special items and the senses of a C~grade being.

Usually, true nobles such as Counts and above will participate along with the big shots, so numerous small fish also received Maya's invitation. At least they were small fish compared to the absolute behemoths like high nobles and organizations like the Merchants League.

"Lord Penlas, your forces, carriages, and mounts are nearly ready to depart..."

One of the escaping families was the Penlas family of the Count level. In recent years, their family has been thriving at unnatural levels in almost all areas. This was all due to them producing a truly extraordinary and talented genius which has impressed even royalty. True noble families like them, who've been stagnated growth-wise for so long, would usually never get another chance to climb the ranks through normal means or external help.

Count Penlas impatiently sat within his luxurious carriage as he crossed his arms and rapidly tapped his fancy shoes on the floor of the carriage, obviously dissatisfied with the speed at which things were progressing. He was a very large man and even his specially tailored, gold-colored aristocratic clothing was a little tight in the gut area. His brown hair was heavily gelled and slicked back, looking a little too shiny.

"Hurry up then! Make sure the overseers are using the more painful magic whips to speed things along with those damn animals. Ugh, what do I pay you trash for!!"

"I-I apologize m'lord, but if we drive the slaves any harder—"

He shot the elderly male butler a disgruntled and pretentious glare as he said in a threatening tone, "Does it look like I care? Do it anyway! We don't have time to dawdle here when we can make an enemy of the church!! If any of those animals drop dead, then I'll just pay for more..... Speaking of which, I haven't visited Brother Quill in a couple of years. I wonder how he's fairing..."

The old butler deeply bowed despite such a movement being risky at his advanced age. He had to endure these hardships though, and execute his tasks with the utmost perfection and the highest quality etiquette possible.

Count Penlas always demanded too much ever since his family's sudden growth spurt and the burst of popularity, not that he was that much different from before. Just one slip up could cost him his job, which he was desperately trying to keep a hold of for personal reasons. After all, he needed this job, not just for himself...

The old butler left his bow and turned around to fulfill his tasks with a secret reluctance.

"Wait..."

The old butler froze in place as worry flooded his aged heart, 'Did I let my reluctance slip somehow?! Did he noticed!?!'

"Send my son over to my carriage once you carry out my orders."

"It shall be done, m'lord..." He internally let out a heavy sigh of relief as he continued to walk away.

.....

The Penlas family's caravan, among several other factions who were smaller and easier to relocate, were just beginning their long journey back to their actual territories. It took a while to exit the large mob, but they were now finally leaving the potentially dangerous hidden organization behind, vowing never to meet again so long as the church existed.

Inside of Count Penlas' personal carriage that was pulled by some kind of golden-feathered bipedal avian creatures which looked slightly like roadrunners, three people including the Count, the old butler, and a twenty years old youth, all sat together.

This youth dressed in a golden mage robe along with heavily gelled, brown hair that was slicked back. His aura and demeanor were pompous and arrogant, looking like he was above all of the nobodies around him, including his shameless father.

It wasn't his fault he thought so less of his father, as his old man was always bootlicking and sucking up to him as if he was a high noble because of his incredible potential and strength. In fact, he was fawning over him right now by excessively asking how he was and other things. It was kind of annoying but it did feel good for his ego to be superior. He would've enjoyed it more if he wasn't in such a sour mood.

In his opinion, the Penlas family was only successful these past couple of decades solely because of him. They should worship him for all the success he's brought them! Maybe he should even take over the family as the head? Replacing his useless and good for nothing father has been one of his schemes that he was cultivating for a long time.

Kyren would've recognized this egotistical young master as the A~grade that tried to make a disgusting attempt to hit on Maya when they visited the capital for the auction.

When the capital discovered the Elder Dragon's approach, they scoured the city for any A~grades in a desperate attempt to hold off any potential attacks. Count Penlas caught wind of the royal family's odd movements out of pure luck while he was attending the auction himself, and being the greedy and slimy opportunist he was, he offered his son's services in exchange for some favors and prestige for his family. Sadly, the capital wasn't attacked, so he couldn't use his son's inevitable victory as a chance to become high nobles or gain the royal family's favor.

All the other A~grades in the capital at the time were busy with important jobs, such as protecting the royal family, so the Emperor reluctantly agreed to have the awfully inexperienced and young Jarred Penlas help them out. They were aware of his twisted personality and ugly history, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

After that incident concluded, Jarred has been in a sour mood even until now because of two reasons. The first reason was because of the harsh scolding he got by some high noble council members for the way he acted, but this didn't affect the rewards for taking the job so he wasn't too hung up on that. What he was really ticked off about was how he got coldly rejected and severely disrespected by that ungrateful bitch, Lady Aqua!

When his father received the invitation from her, he casually asked why he was taking a trip with so many of their family's forces and wealth. As soon as he figured out that he was visiting the same mysterious group he was humiliated by, he actively requested to tag along because he "knew them well from the time they met at the capital". This was his chance to get back at her for the way she treated him!

His father had no idea that he actually offended them greatly when they first met, so he was quite pleased to have some A~grade protection in case anything bad happened.

When Count Penlas finished his round of fawning, the old butler stepped in and presented his master with the decorated slip that was given to them by the hidden organization during the appearance of the draconic warriors. The butler was given this slip during the chaos and was reminded to give it to his master at a later and less hectic time.

He looked at the slip hesitantly, not sure if he should still read it. Curiosity finally got the better of him and he rudely snatched the slip from the old butler. He ripped it open and skimmed it over carelessly. He was about to toss it to the side in annoyance when he paused and did a double-take of what he just read.

His eyes bulged as he looked over the small and seemingly innocent slip again and again, both believing and not believing what he was reading. The slip dropped to the floor of the carriage as his hands trembled and his complexion morphed with emotions of utter shock.

"Th-There's no w-way... R-Ri-Right? That's im-impossible... Isn't it?!" His words came out as stuttering mumbles as he stared into the palms of his hands in total disbelief. A sense of dread and relief was slowly creeping into his bones as he shuddered at the thought of him deciding not to read the contents of that godly slip! If he had thrown it out the window of the carriage like he was planning on doing and missed out on the contents of this innocent-looking slip...

Jarred and the butler looked at him in confusion as to why he was acting so strange. He was about to question his father when he did something he would've never have expected in a million years!

Count Penlas took out his expensive communication bracelet and connected it to all channels of his armed caravan, "ALL FORCES, TURN AROUND IMMEDIATELY!! WE'RE HEADING BACK RIGHT THIS MOMENT AT MAX SPEED!!!"