Chapter 290: The Last Arrival


    ?


    A few days ago.


    The waves of the Blind Sea crashed against the shore of a heavily fortified ind.


    On the ind, the infamous ck Keep loomed ominously over thendscape. It was a tall, cylinder-shaped structure with ck stone walls that seemed to absorb the sunlight.


    Through those ten floors, winding staircases led to dark, torch-lit corridors that echoed with the sounds of distant whispers.


    Those ten floors had criminals of all kinds locked away, but that was not all the ck Keep had to offer. The tower went another ten floors below the ground.


    In those underground floors, the most dangerous kind of prisoners were kept in istion.


    In total, there were ten prisoners. Each prisoner had their very own floor, with minimal light and food provided to them.


    It was because of the danger they possessed.


    At this very moment, the metallic door of the first underground floor creaked open, and the prison warden stepped inside, carrying antern.


    A short whileter, he came across a prisoner hanging above the ground, right in the middle of the room, her limbs chained to the ceiling, wall, and floor.


    "Ah, a visitor." Nerezza lifted her head and grinned. "A prison warden, what a pleasant surprise~"


    "Nerezza, prisoner number 1874, you''ve been therefore released from captivity, and your crimes have been forgiven."


    "Oh?" Nerezza tilted her head. "I thought I had five more years of captivity."


    "Your crimes have been forgiven by the King himself." The prison warden said with a bored gaze.


    "Oh?" Nerezzaughed. "Why is that? What is he after?"


    The prison warden didn''t answer and took out the key to the chains, then unlocked them, setting Nerezza free.


    She copsed on her knees but slowly stood back up, her lips curling into a big closed-mouth smile.


    "That''s dangerous, y''know." Nerezza looked at him and said, "I haven''t killed anyone for such a long time~"


    The prison warden looked at her with the usual bored look, as if he wasn''t scared of her. "You''ve been living a life of confinement." He said. "Back in the real world, you''re serving life sentence. This is the only ce where you can be free, so this is your final chance."


    "Hahaha~" Nerezza licked her lips and then kicked her leg up, aiming at the prison warden''s square jaw.


    The prison warden caught the kick. He didn''t say a single word.


    Nerezza kept kicking and punching, but he parried them all like it was nothing.


    At that moment, her kick got blocked by the prison warden''s arm, and her eyes widened into round balls as she noticed the cold gaze on his eyes.


    "I don''t have time to entertain you. Fuck off." The prison warden mmed his fist into her stomach and sent her flying across the floor.


    She smashed through the metallic door, got flung out of the underground floor, and went through the ck Keep''s ck stone walls, ending up outside the prison walls in a crumpled heap.


    "Ah~" She touched her stomach andughed in pain. "What a tsundere~ I am sure he will miss me."


    She stood back up, patted the dust off her prison pants, and started walking towards the rocky cliffs of the ind.


    When she reached the cliffs, she looked at the raging ocean that looked far from safe to travel in.


    ''How the hell am I supposed to reach the New World like this?'' She clicked her tongue, but at that moment, she heard footsteps behind her and turned immediately around.


    "Who''re you?"


    A yellow-haired man dressed in all white smiled and bowed. "My name is not important, but it is very nice to meet you, Nerezza."


    "Oh, how mysterious." Nerezza cocked her head side to side. "What do you want?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I have a mission for you." The yellow-haired man said.


    "Not interested-" Nerezza turned back to the sea. ''Should I swim? But how far am I from the maind, and which direction should I go to...''


    "You don''t have a choice." The yellow-haired man said with a squinted-eyed smile. "You were freed from your confines to do the mission. If you refuse, you''ll be sent back to the ck


    Keep."


    "So, a mission from the King?" Nerezzaughed. "I wonder what kind of suicidal mission he wants me to do."


    "If you sessfullyplete the mission, we can also help your real world self." The yellow- haired man said with a smile. "You''re prisoned in the Maximum Security Prison of Shadehaven, aren''t you?"


    "Oh, you guys know a lot about me~" Nerezza said yfully. "How could you guys possibly release me there as well?"


    "That is an easy thing to do." The yellow-haired man said with a smile. "So, how about it?" "What is the mission?" Nerezza asked.


    The yellow-haired man smiled.


    ...


    In the present time.


    The atmosphere inside the inn turned very tense, and the recruits could sense it as well, as


    they suddenly had difficulties breathing.


    ''Wait, isn''t she?'' Nigel looked at Nerezza and gulped. ''I''ve seen her on television. Isn''t she the Shadehaven Butcherer? A serial killer...''


    Through the open door, another person stepped through. This time around, the other


    representatives were very stunned.


    They expected the next person to be Zestruction''s representative, but instead it was someone


    they didn''t expect.


    "Hmm, only six have arrived so far." Mikael said with a low tone. "Zestruction''s


    representative hasn''te yet."


    "Mikael of the Imperial Order?" Oldman frowned. "What is the Imperial Order doing here?"


    "I''ll exin once thest person arrives." Mikael said, and took a seat by the table. ''Now it is Mikael?!'' Geoffrey felt like passing out. ''What is going on here? I know the current tutorial group is pretty talented, but with these people around, I would''ve thought that there were S-rankers among the new recruits!''


    It made him frown and wonder whether there were more reasons for them to be here.


    "You''re of Imperial Order?" Nathaniel asked.


    "Correct," Mikael said.


    "King Moriarty''s guild?"


    "Correct."


    Nathaniel nodded and stepped forward. "I would like to join your guild."


    "We''re not recruiting," Mikael said.


    "I am A-ranker; in a couple of years, I will be extremely useful for your guild!" Nathaniel said.


    "We''re not recruiting." Mikael repeated.


    Nathaniel gritted his teeth and asked. "Why not?!"


    "Nathaniel, keep your voice down..." Geoffrey whisper-shouted.


    He felt like pping Nathaniel across the face for being so disrespectful!


    "We just don''t." Mikael said, and let out a short yawn.


    "Tch..." Nathaniel went back to his seat, seething with anger and frustration.


    "Hmph." Nigel smirked at his embarrassing behavior. ''You think it is that easy to join King


    Moriarty''s guild? Every aspiring mercenary would love to join his guild, and I wouldn''t be surprised if he had hundred A-rankers under him.''


    At that moment, Mikael''s ears perked up, and he smiled slightly. "Thest one is arriving."


    The heads turned over to the door, and then someonended on a puddle of water. A soft ssh sounded. It sounded like someone fell from the sky and into the puddle. Through the door, the final person stepped through, shaking the water off his boots. He looked young, in his early twenties, around the same age as the new recruits.


    ''He is young.'' Nigel frowned. ''There is no way that he would be on the same level as these


    others, right?''


    Nathaniel frowned, and other recruits looked equally surprised by the appearance of thest


    representative.


    The First Sister licked her pink lips and said, "Oh my~"


    "Oh..." Akuji narrowed his gaze. "Zestruction sent their big guns, huh."


    Oldman just stared silently, a small smile ying on his lips. He was immediately checking out his strength and became more surprised with each passing moment.


    The air around Sepheron turned colder. It was because the floor below him was turning into


    ice, bit by bit.


    It was because his Magick was running out of control.


    Strangely enough, it happened as soon as he saw the new arrival. Something about him made


    Sepheron lose control of his Magick.


    ''What a line-up of people.'' Lionelughed nervously. ''I feel slightly out of ce, especially


    now.''


    "Who is this?" Nerezza asked from Mikael.


    She hadn''t seen him before.


    "The new S-ranker." Mikael stood up from the table. "d to have you, Adam."


    ''What the hell is this?'' Adam looked around the cramped inn. ''I thought this was just a recruitment mission. Why did all factions send their powerhouses, and why the hell is Mikael


    here?''


    "S-ranker?" Skye whispered in shock, and the recruits looked star-eyed as they stared at


    Adam.


    During their time in the tutorial, they kept hearing about S-rankers and how amazing they were. Now, one of those S-rankers was in the same room as them!


    Also, it wasn''t just any S-ranker, but thetest one that they heard a great deal about!


    ''Muriel talked about him...'' Skye thought with a nervous gaze.


    Her handler during the tutorial was Muriel, and during thete hours, she talked with her


    about Adam.


    Because of Adam''s sess in the tutorial, Muriel became one of the top-ranked handlers and was handed some of the most impressive recruits to train.


    "S-ranker? Him?" Nathaniel narrowed his gaze. "I wonder what makes him have greater rank


    than me."


    ''S-ranker...'' Nigel flexed his muscles. ''Seeing the look on other representatives faces, he must be as impressive as the rumors say.''


    "Now that you''re all here, let''s talk about business." Mikael said. "You all thought you were here to recruit new members, but that is not the case. You''re all here for a mission!"