Beneath the blazing sunlight, within a tree just at the banks of the clearing where Roy was being ambushed, a young man could be seen leisurely relaxing on a branch, his hair inky black, his eyes glowing an emerald hue.
He was Grimly, a member of Dio's faction, and his job today during this ambush was to discern the level of danger the Lord could pose to them while the rest approached…
As for how he was to discern this? It was thanks to a special skill of his — The Unveiling Eye (A). With this mystical skill, there were very few things that could be hidden from his gaze: enemy stats, item levels and class, even movement patterns.
Hehehehe, a level 3? It must be as Jack stated — that guy surely used a trick to win… there's no way he could have taken Boss Dio out with such measly stats. Grimly scoffed inwardly. Though he held disdain for the Lord, he still stayed calm and continued his inspection. After all, his mission here today was to find out what item or skill was used against his boss.
The fuck? That radio is a rare item? Shit, even the torch too… Grimly exclaimed, his expression weird as his eyes roamed through the utility belt of the Lord, coming across the azure glowing items. Rare items were something that could only be found, not sought. It had to be said — even after slaying countless beasts, they had only found one of such rank, and even then it was useless for most of them.
Suddenly his thoughts came to a halt as his eyes caught an item coated in a vibrant amethyst hue — and it was… a handcuff?
He had to blink repeatedly to be sure his eyes weren't playing tricks. He didn't know what class of item this one was called, but he was pretty sure it was higher than a rare class item. Suddenly he started getting a bad feeling.
His breathing froze as he caught sight of a taser. It was also coated in an amethyst sheen. Shit! Shit! Shit! And in tandem, his eyes went toward the holster at the hip. His head spun as dizziness hit — the gun was fucking azure, and as though that wasn't enough, while the others were still at least level 3 items, the gun was a freaking level 8!
His expression warped into a scowl as his gaze trailed upwards to the vest… We're fucked! His gait wasn't so leisurely anymore. Finally, he reached the baton leaning firmly on the Lord's shoulder. His eyes twitched — the amount of amethyst sheen he had seen on this guy…
Suddenly, as though sensing something, the Lord gazed in his direction — a pair of electric blue eyes locking onto his figure. He froze, his pulse stilled, sweat poured in beads. He could sense it — a skill vastly superior to his engulfing his figure. He felt naked before the Lord's predatory gaze.
He gulped, his teeth clenched. His job here was to assess danger, right? Well, he had done his part, and now he needed to get the hell out of here. This guy might be a level 3, but he was way out of their league. His neck trembled as he let out a scream.
"This guy is trouble! RUN!" With that said, he leapt free, ready to sprint the hell out of the Lord's territory… As for the others? Hopefully they couldn't run fast enough, and he could buy more time to get out of here!
Unfortunately, his thoughts couldn't come to fruition. The moment his feet made contact with the ground, to his horror, the Lord was already right before him, gazing at him in amusement. Then the Lord smiled and muttered:
"These guys will do… I think."
That was all he heard before the amethyst-coated baton burst into motion, lightly thudding on his head — and like that, everything went dark.
Gazing at his new prisoner slumped into unconsciousness, Roy's smile widened. Here he was, worried about acquiring subordinates, and these guys came throwing themselves at him.
He was pretty sure he was the only Lord on Arcana that could recruit without the others' consent. After all, he just needed to brand them as prisoners, and like that, they were under his banner. Though there were restrictions with this method, it still worked. After all, truth be told, most bad guys were strong… right?
"Grimly is down! Run!" one among them suddenly yelled as a figure burst into a sprint.
"Shit, what were we thinking? Someone that made quick work of Boss Dio is obviously way out of our league!" They suddenly found their earlier attempt at an ambush stupid.
Unfortunately, Roy didn't plan on letting them leave. His figure blinked repeatedly, and within minutes, the tattooed bunch joined the downed and grunting group…
Roy shook his head in disappointment. "Sigh… it's a pity. I don't think I have enough cuffs for you all…"
Suddenly a chime rang out.
[Host doesn't need to worry. Once a mass arrest has taken place, the prisoners don't need to be escorted to the cell. With the new upgraded territory feature Mass Detain, they will all be directly transported into cells.]
Immediately after the system finished giving its notification, a brilliant flash illuminated the surroundings like a camera shutter — and like that, all the grunting and unconscious bunch had vanished.
Roy's eyes brightened. That's Arcana for you — things are now made easier. Gazing at a particular section on the system screen, he grinned in satisfaction.
[Prisoner: 18/40]
And with that, he vanished off to go deal with the other hunters who ignored his call.
…
Meanwhile, at another region far from Roy's territory, at the border of a rocky region under the blighting sunlight, a fair maiden stood in a conical hat…
And right at this moment, a faint shadow suddenly appeared from a shrub and with a bow, it relayed:
"My Lord, I have searched for Dio and his crew. I only found dirty remnants of their empty camp."
Though the lady's features were hidden by the shadow cast by the sun, her pink lush lips could still be slightly discerned — and from these perfectly shaped lips alone, one could tell that this was definitely a top-tier beauty.
Her lips pressed together into an enchanting smile as she coldly deduced, "If it is as you say, then it means our friend Dio's mission of going to take over the territory of the neighboring Lord was a failure…"
The shadow hesitated but still asked, "But miss, it has barely been an hour since our scout relayed that Dio crossed into the Lord's border… how can you be so sure of his defeat?"
The lady let out a melodious chuckle at this. "You don't get it, do you… Dio never took his team with him. For them to be missing means they went for reinforcement, and I refuse to believe that that bunch can overcome what their leader couldn't."
After saying this, she sighed in disappointment. "I'm just sad that with this result, we might be losing our only ticket to the location of the dungeon they found."
Thinking for a bit, the lady's lips bloomed into a smile as she relayed her orders. "Go Make contact. It's about time we meet with this new neighboring Lord of ours."
The shadow responded, "Yes, Lord," and with that, he vanished…
This meet-up will be interesting… to think a newly arrived Lord could be so strong as to take Dio down… now I'm curious, she thought in amusement as her figure vanished with a slight blow of the wind.
Who this Lord was, was a mystery… but one thing was clear — she wasn't a newcomer to Arcana like Roy.