Chapter 869: Hunting for Shade (25)


    ?


    As Erik, June, and Shade stood amidst the unfolding drama, the surrounding scene was one of utter chaos and destruction.


    The town hall, now a towering inferno, painted the night with its furious ze.


    mes licked the sky while thick, acrid smoke billowed upwards, choking the air and


    obscuring the stars.


    The intense heat radiating from the congration was almost tangible, creating a suffocating atmosphere that made it hard to breathe.


    Around them, the situation was no less tumultuous. The Band of Giants'' 300 soldiers were locked in fiercebat with the remaining 1500 members of Shade''s gang.


    The sounds of battle-shing metal, shouts of defiance, and the cries of the wounded- filled the air, creating a cacophony of violence that mirrored the chaos of the mes. Despite the odds, Laria''s troops fought with unmatched ability, employing both skill and strategy to hold back the tide of criminals desperate to rescue their captured lord.


    Now and then, the sh of brain crystal powers sparked in the darkness, casting brief lights on desperate faces and determined eyes.


    Amid this pandemonium, June''s restlessness grew.


    The band of giants, while insanely more skilled than their enemies, couldn''t stop the criminal from gaining ground, and more and more mercenaries were getting wounded, some even killed.


    The problem was that he couldn''t stop Erik.


    Even if the conversation between him and Shade seemed unimportant, Erik was getting a lot of information from the criminal lord, thanks to his Brain Crystal Powers.


    The more he glimpsed at Shade''s thoughts, the more they would know about the ckguards.


    "Do you perhaps know where the ckguards''s headquarters are? You know, I would like to pay them a visit."


    Here, Norman was weirdly honest. "I don''t, and if I did, I swear I would tell you. Nothing would bring me more joy than knowing you will go kill yourself there."


    "Weird. I thought that Shade, the mighty lord of the world''s underground, knew everything."


    "Having extensive knowledge does not equate to knowing everything, and I would not have sought that information, even under torture."


    "Fair enough. Do you know something then?"


    A stream of information rushed through Shade''s brain as he thought about what he knew about the ckguards.


    Of course, he had no intention of telling Erik, but he didn''t know that the young man was already learning about them.


    Despite not knowing where the base was, Shade knew something.


    For starters, the ckguards weren''t a unified group. There were three branches of the colossal organization, which acted independently but sharing the same goal, which Shade didn''t know about.


    The ckguards branch, though, had different tasks toplete.


    The first branch dealt with thaids, and it was perhaps the most famous branch of the lot.


    It was this branch that spread the ckguards'' name as the saviors of humanity.


    It had its ownmander, but Shade had been careful enough not to learn about that person''s name.


    The second branch, instead, dealt with criminals. That was exactly the branch Erik was currently fighting against, but again, shade didn''t know whomanded it, and why they were so fixated on him.


    At least partially, there was one thing Shade knew, but that it was pretty clear for Erik. They wanted him for his ability to wield multiple brain crystal powers.


    Again, Erik knew that, but Shade''s confirmation erased any shroud of doubt he had. <Could this be this what their goal is? >


    It made sense. After all, why would the ckguards found research that gave people multiple brain crystal powers? It couldn''t be a coincidence that they were searching for him, who could effortlessly do that.


    Erik knew little about this organization to infer their true goal.


    Thest and most mysterious branch dealt with internal matters.


    This was also the branch to which all the organization''s leaders belonged to, but no one, not even Shade, knew what they really did.


    "Master," June said. "Things are getting ugly."


    The Band of Giants was staring having problems. The criminals were pushing, and now the fight came awfully close to Erik''s position.


    As the criminals grew more emboldened and relentless, the tide of battle appeared to shift, bing desperate for the mercenaries.


    The Band of Giants found themselves hard-pressed to hold the line.


    The sh of battle, once scattered around the whole abandoned city, now converged


    dangerously close to where Erik, June, and their prisoner stood.


    With each passing moment, the ferocity of the criminals intensified.


    Their shouts and cries grew louder, almost drowning out the crackling of the mes -consuming the town hall.


    Erik could see the frontline of the fight inching closer, the shifting shadows illuminated intermittently by shes of brain crystal-powered weaponry and the fire''s glow.


    The desperate faces of the Band of Giants'' soldiers became visible, their expressions etched with fatigue and resolve as they fought to stem the advancing tide of criminals.


    June''s restlessness turned into a palpable tension, his body coiled like a spring, ready to leap into action at a moment''s notice.


    The situation was precarious, with their small group bing a target for the criminals seeking to rescue Shade.


    Erik was struggling. Shade knew a great deal about the ckguards, but not much about their ns, bases, and powers. He was just a pawn, after all.


    Besides, since the battle now wasn''t scattered anymore around the city, Erik was receiving arge influx of mana, or better, experience.


    He leveled up to level 153 and had 30 attribute points avable.


    The problem was that the more he lost time, the more Band of Giants members died, but the longer he stayed, the greater the influx of mana his biological supeputer absorbed from the surroundings and the more information he got from Shade.


    "I just want to ask you a question," Erik said, looking at Shade.


    "Why did you do all this? Why did you join the ckguards and became theirp dog?"


    Shade looked at Erik with a confused look. "Shouldn''t you know? Didn''t you live in New Alexandria? No. In this godforsaken world?"


    "Are you telling me you did all of this because of hate?" Erik asked.


    "Didn''t you do the same when you destroyed the Crystal Cross Gang? You were the one who admitted to that. Besides, aren''t you here for the same reason?"


    "I didn''t kill million of people, I didn''t kidnap kids and gave them to Doran." "No," Shade said. "But your actions, we know it well, are going to bring war to the world. If


    humanity is going to survive this, nothing says we will survive the thaids that willeter. You must have seen one already."


    "What are you talking about?" Erik asked in confusion, then he peered into shade''s thoughts. He was talking about the Cerulean bird. Shock spread across Erik''s face.


    "It looks like you understood."


    "What the fuck are those guys doing on the Mur continent?" Erik asked.


    "I would like to know that, unfortunately, I''m just ap dog, right?"


    "Mother fucker!"


    Erik stomped on Shade''s face. It was ironic, years ago, he killed his brother, Martin, and now,


    he killed Norman. The brother who should have been dead.


    [NORMAN HAIS KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]


    [0%...1%....5%...30%...70%...100%]


    [MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]


    [3...2...1...0]


    [MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 9475 EXPERIENCE POINTS


    AWARDED TO THE HOST.]