MMORPG: Rebirth of the Shadow Mage

153 Massacre (3)

Leo surveyed the scene before him with a slight frown. The players stood motionless, their eyes wide with shock and horror as they gaped at the gruesome spectacle before them. Blood splattered the ground, staining the once green field a dark red.

With a sigh, he began to make his way towards Robin, who was standing a short distance away. As he walked, the weight of the players’ gazes seemed to press down on him, making each step feel heavier than the last. Even though the air was thick with the smell of blood and death, Leo could simply ignore it.

As he approached Robin, he could see the other man’s face was etched with disbelief and shock. The members of the ‘Cross’ guild quickly moved out of Leo’s way, avoiding any contact with his bloodied clothing.

Robin stood in silence for a moment, lost in his own thoughts. He couldn’t even begin to fathom what had occurred within the dark dome, that brought an entire guild, full of powerful Berserker orcs, to its knees.

His mind raced with questions, trying to piece together the events that had led to this gruesome outcome.

What had Leo done to cause so much harm?

Was he truly capable of taking on an entire guild alone?

As he looked at Leo’s bloodied and battered appearance, he realized that the other man must have single-handedly massacred the entire guild. The thought sent shivers down his spine as he considered the level of skill, strength, and ferocity it must have taken to accomplish such a feat.

“More than 200 Players dead, all killed by me...”

.....

Leo spoke in a slightly uplifted tone, indicating that he had accomplished a great feat and expected to be rewarded for it. His purple eyes, which had previously been ruthless and emotionless, now held a hint of a glint, indicating his satisfaction with his actions.

The members of the guild looked at him in shock, as they tried to understand Leo’s thought process.

He had massacred an entire guild for money? Was he a maniac?

They couldn’t possibly know that Leo’s true intent was to strengthen the Cross guild for future battles, since he believed that befriending them would be a strategic move. They will become one of the strongest guilds in the future.

Even Layla, who had wanted to ask Leo how he had managed to tell that she wasn’t an archer, was frozen in her spot, staring at the blades of grass covered in red liquid.

The sight before her was one of utter devastation, the words got stuck in her throat as she looked at Leo who stood beside her, his dark robe stained with blood, being slightly swayed by the gentle breeze, transferring the pungent smell of blood directly to her nose. The Elf had to cover her nose with her hand or else, she might’ve thrown up.

“You can take all the items... I’ve also captured one of the higher-ups of the ‘Vikings’ guild. My pet is guarding him, so you can question him whenever you’re ready.”

Leo spoke, breaking the silence and waking Robin up from his stupor. The ‘Cross’ guild leader had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed Leo standing before him and slightly flinched seeing his bloody mask just a few feet away from his face.

Seeing Leo’s shining eyes, Robin quickly regained his composure and gave Leo a small nod.

“Thank you, Leo, I’ll send you the Gold in a moment as promised. However, would you mind cleaning your robe? Our friend Layla over here seems to be feeling quite ill and I wouldn’t want her to throw up...”

Leo shifted his gaze towards the green-haired elf, Layla, who immediately froze as she met his purple eyes staring directly at hers. After a few moments of intense eye contact, Leo nodded his head in understanding and began to take action. He unequipped and re-equipped his Shadow Cloak making all the blood within the cloth disappear.

Since he couldn’t remove his mask, as he wanted to keep his identity hidden, Leo walked up to the nearby lake and used the water to clean the remaining blood stains. He made sure to be thorough, not leaving a single stain. As he finished cleaning, he returned to the group and gestured Alfred and Robin to follow him.

Leo led the two towards the kneeling Orc, who was staring at Fenrir with shiny eyes, as if it had just found something of great interest.

“Zarfu...”

Leo heard Alfred exhale, making the Orc’s head snap to the side.

“Alfred?”

Leo watched as Alfred and Zarfu embraced each other, feeling a small sense of satisfaction and confusion. He had known that the Orc would be someone of importance to the ‘Cross’ guild, but he didn’t expect him to be acquainted with Alfred.

As they pulled away from each other, Zarfu turned to Leo with a look of gratitude in his eyes.

“Thank you, I never thought I would be able to leave the ‘Vikings’ guild, but you have given me the opportunity to do so”

Leo could only slowly nod in response, he was still trying to cope with everything that had happened. He had been in a similar situation before, trapped in a guild that didn’t align with his goals and ideals...

Alfred placed a hand on Zarfu’s shoulder, a smile on his face.

“Since I’m not the leader of this guild, you’ll have to ask Robin for permission, but I doubt that with your skills there will be any troubles...”

Zarfu turned his head towards Robin, who gave a sideway glance to Alfred and then nodded his head in agreement.

“I trust Alfred... Welcome to the ‘Cross’ guild!”

As the four of them began to walk back towards the rest of the guild, Leo couldn’t help but feel left out. They were talking to each other, discussing guild matters and plans, but they didn’t include him in the conversation. He didn’t mind it, but it did feel a bit strange.

***

Eli’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at her friend Ava, who stood before her with massive wings adorned with black feathers growing behind her back. She felt her words get stuck in her throat as she tried to speak, her mind racing with questions.

“H...how?”

She murmured barely, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ava shrugged her shoulders, a slight hint of embarrassment on her face as she scratched her cheek.

“It was a reward I’ve gotten from the Fallen Angel Tomb...”

Suddenly, without warning, Eli leapt at Ava, her hand outstretched, trying to touch the surface of Ava’s wings. Ava flinched, letting out a sharp yelp as she quickly covered her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.

“Don’t do that!”

she exclaimed, her voice filled with a mix of surprise and embarrassment.

Eli’s mischievous smile widened as she saw redness spread on Ava’s face. She stepped back, her hands raised in apology.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to tickle you!~”

Ava folded her wings behind her back, trying to hide them from Eli’s touch. She could feel the danger emanating from her friend’s actions, and she didn’t want to take any chances.

Eli could see the tension in her friend’s face and smirked, a hint of amusement in her voice as she spoke.

“Who could’ve thought angel’s wings could be so sensitive...”

Ava glared at her, pouting.

“Every race has a weak spot! Elves have ears, Angels have wings, and Demons – horns!”

Ava’s eyes widened in realization as she blurted out something Leo had said. She saw the expression on Eli’s face shift into one of a wide smile.

“So... Leo’s weakness is his horns? Am I right? I wonder how they feel... Say, have you touched them?”

She asked with a hint of teasing in her voice.

Ava rolled her eyes at Eli’s questioning, and replied curtly, trying to keep her voice from stuttering.

“I wouldn’t know, I haven’t touched them, and I don’t plan to...”

Eli couldn’t help but chuckle at Ava’s reaction, finding it amusing how easily she could get under her friend’s skin.

“Well, I’ll just have to ask Leo myself then, won’t I?”

Ava rolled her eyes again and shook her head, trying to ignore Eli’s teasing.

“Can we please change the subject now? I don’t want to talk about Leo’s horns anymore...”

She said, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction, she felt cold sweat run down her back.

Eli couldn’t help but tease Ava more, a mischievous glint in her eye as she spoke.

“Oh come on, Ava. Don’t tell me you’re not just a little curious about Leo’s horns.”

Ava crossed her arms over her chest, a hint of annoyance creeping into her voice.

“I said I don’t want to talk about it. Can you please drop it?”

Eli shrugged, pretending to be nonchalant.

“Fine, fine. But you can’t blame me for being curious. I mean, have you ever touched a demon’s horns before? I bet they’re hard and fluffy...”

(AN: The line above was written with my own blood, I’m not sure what I’m doing here.)

Ava’s face turned red with embarrassment.

“Eli, stop it. That’s not appropriate to talk about.”

Eli couldn’t help but laugh at Ava’s reaction, finding it amusing how easily she could get under her friend’s skin.

“Oh, come on. I’m just joking. But if you ever do want to touch Leo’s horns, just let me know. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if it was you, a top class beauty!”

Ava let out an exasperated sigh, shaking her head.

“Eli, I’m serious. Can we please talk about something else now?”

Eli grinned, realizing she had pushed Ava far enough for one day.

“Sure, sure. What do you want to talk about?”

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