The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 259: Explosions!

Victor, who was hiding in the forest, didn’t even bother to watch as Gustave coldly looked at the players from the other two groups then tried and failed to lift the sword in the stone.

Although Victor was super angry, his mind was turning fast, searching for a method to save Mana. She was shackled to two other girls using collars that circled their necks. The chain binding them was held by an undead servant.

Although Mana appeared to be tired and there were a few red traces of whips on her body, she didn’t seem to be in mortal danger… Damn it! How dare those piles of sh*t to touch his things!

Victor took a deep breath calming his mind as he frowned, he really didn’t want to confront Gustave who probably had an entire army hidden in his pouch!

He could only give up on his plan to collect most of the players here as only 46 players appeared! He wanted to wait for more players to come, maybe at least another 30 others, but Mana’s safety was the top priority.

First, he took out a voice transmission Talisman and set Mana as its target.

“It’s me, don’t look around and act casual, I will pull you out in a few minutes… Don’t resist! And hug the two girls toward yourself when I give you a signal… Oh, and make sure to take a deep breath!”

Mana was a little startled, but she quickly adjusted and slowly nodded, carefully grabbing the hands of the other two girls. Thankfully, they didn’t resist. They seemed to have been domesticated thoroughly!

First Victor waited until Gustave carefully touched the sword and made a series of ancient symbols appear briefly on the ground and then disappear. He made them so they appeared right below Mina and the girls.

“Step away!” Gustave yelled at them as he controlled his Undead to drag the girls further away just as Victor wanted, he wanted them away from the others.

Making sure that everything was set, Victor quickly took out the fishing rod he got from Poe, waiting for the moment when Gustave knelt to check the symbols, he aimed the hook at Mana and threw it.

The hook quickly became like a living snake as it dived underground making its way toward its target as if circling its prey. It went around the busy players in a wide circle and then approached the girls from the back! After that, it slowly moved until it reached right under Mana’s feet where it climbed up on her body and attached to the collar… Mana, who felt it, tried hard to act naturally.

Although controlling the hook to make this big movement was a little difficult and exhausting for Victor, he was able to do it somehow by exhausting his Mana… He quickly popped a Mana replenishing pill in his mouth and prepared for the hard part.

Victor decided to use his disguise through the fishing pole. It was one of its features.

He quickly cast an illusion that mirrored reality displaying an illusionary scene in front of the girls. He wanted to earn enough time to drag them out of the clearing so that he would be able to activate the trap he set!

Now his problem was that undead servant who was holding them, even if his vision was fooled, He would surely be dragged along with them. Gustave would feel it as if the undead was connected to him… He might even cause him to explode! The operation needed to be as swift as possible.

Feeling that Gustave was about to finish his inspection, Victor knew he didn’t have time. He had to risk it!

Victor took out one of his best S-ranked daggers that could easily cut steel. He aimed it at the chain connecting the girls to the undead.

“Now,” He screamed to Mana as he threw the dagger after casting a disguise on it. His aim was to cut the chain.

Mana quickly surprised the two girls by hugging them hard. They didn’t have time to resist as the sharp sound of metal hitting metal rang, startling them and the undead…. Especially after it noticed the dagger that flung away after hitting the chain… It landed next to Gustave…

The chain was not broken, it seemed that Gustave got it from this place as Victor's dagger didn’t even make a scratch on it.

“Sh*t, bad luck!” Victor cursed as he quickly pulled the fishing hook. Now he had no other choice but to risk it.

Pulling with all his might he watched as the girls and the undead who refused to let go of the chains were pulled underground by the fishing pole.

Gustave, who was alert, looked back quickly and then frowned as he watched the girls standing there casually behind him… NO!

“Enemy!” He yelled as he noticed the disparity between what he saw and what his undead was seeing!

This was an illusion! It was too late!

Jumping to his feet he activated his strongest protection talisman, just as an explosion rang in the clearing again! This time, it was 10 times stronger.

Victor didn't have time to care about Gustave as hid behind a large tree and pulled the hook.

He didn’t care about the tree shaking behind him or the twigs that fell on him as a result of the explosion. He used all of his strength to quickly retract the hook.

Although pulling four people was extra hard, Victor didn’t spare any strength, he didn’t want the girls to stay underground for long because they might suffocate or suffer a concussion because of the explosion.

It took 30 seconds for the hook to reach Victor’s position. He quickly pulled it out of the dirt, throwing the injured girls who were gasping for breath to the ground just as an undead hand reached out still holding the chain. It was moving.

Victor knew that this meant that Gustave was still alive. He quickly used a dagger to cut the hand. But it was too late!

BOOM!

Another explosion blasted, sending Victor and the girls flying. The undead, who were ethereal until moments ago solidified under the ground, as he lost his connection with the hook. Two masses couldn’t take out the same space, and the undead should have been squished, but Gustave had seemingly already given it the detonation command, so the undead blew up!

Although the explosion was not as grand as the one Victor initiated, and the fact that the dirt absorbed most of the shockwave, it was enough to badly hurt Victor who used his body to shield the girls who didn’t have any protection.

Although his protection talisman had absorbed most of the explosion, he was still badly hurt.

He fell between on top of the girls, startling them, they were closing their ears that had gone deaf due to the repeated explosions.

Victor had no time to console them, so after making sure that they were alive, he quickly stood up then threw them a bottle of healing pills.

Ignoring the terrified girls and the blood that was dripping from his back and mouth he hurried toward the explosion zone as he activated his disguise skill. He couldn’t simply let Gustave escape and get a chance to release his undead army!

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get rid of one of the Von Zwei pillars!!!

…

The explosion rang again and a ball of fire lit the Vaulted ceiling. Then another smaller one… It was a little far from Lily’s location but she could easily spot it.

“Again? What is going on?…” Mina, who was walking with difficulty, said then paused as she watched Lily switch direction and began to head toward the explosion.

“Why are you going there? Didn’t you say earlier that we must make use of the disturbance to check those guys’ base?” she asked with a frown as she hurried after Lily who was spreading up.

“This explosion is the result of the young master’s array, it must be him!” she said. She knew better than anyone what this fireball signaled.

“Ahhh…. Really?” Mina quickly hastened her steps, then paused… “I can feel Mana again! She is in that direction!” she said in a little cheerful voice. Mana was definitely with the young master!

…

Gustave cursed as he felt his bones crack. “Damn it! Who is that bastard who set a trap here?” He wondered as the smoke slowly dissipated, revealing a ground full of minced meat and the sword in the stone, that still stood tall despite the blood covering it. As expected of an S-ranked weapon.

Gustave slowly stood up while being vigilant. He felt it when his undead servant who was getting dragged exploded, but he couldn’t tell because he was preoccupied with the death sensations of the other three…. Damn it, those undead servants cost him a fortune. He had raised them from infancy as his own children, giving them a special diet of expensive herbs that not only poisoned them but also made them stronger. Then he had to kill them swiftly, making sure not to damage their bodies. They cost him a lot!

He carefully looked around searching for his enemy but could find nothing. He quickly reached for his necromancer pouch tied to his belt. He was intending to take a new set of undead out but to his surprise, the pouch was not there!

Wait, no, it was on his other side he switched it earlier so that he could kneel and inspect the sword easily.… Sighing in relief he reached for it just as a fine needle struck him on his neck turning him into a green goo.

Victor landed near him moments later.

“That was close!” He sighed in relief as his disguise dissipated and he fell to the ground. He was completely out of mana and stamina. In fact, he could barely move a finger.

Taking both healing and mana-replenishing pills, he tried to stand up, but his legs had no energy. So he began to crawl away. He was sure that many players would crowd this place again very soon. He didn’t even have time to clean the green goo.

Victor didn’t have to go far when a dashing female player landed beside him, he knew this one, it was none other than Margret!

“Oh… Margret….” He said then paused.

No, this was not Margret, but Rebeca, the slutty girl he turned down at the academy. She was disguised in Margret’s shape! Why? Victor frowned but said nothing as she glared at his sorry shape.

“Oh, look who we have here?” she said in a mocking voice, unlike the one she used in the academy. He heard her talk this way in his previous life when he confessed to her and got rejected like an insect. This b*tch didn’t have good intentions, she didn't even try to mimic Margret's speech... No wait, Margret did speak like that to the other male students who tried to court her.

He suspected that Rebecca was part of the plan against him in his previous life as she was one of Linda’s close friends, but had no evidence so he didn’t really plan anything against her.

Victor frowned, that’s a lot of skills for someone with her level. Someone must have been sponsoring her!

“Margret, help me!” Victor ordered in a genuine tired voice. He was not sure what she wanted to do, so his only choice was to stall with a little speech while his mana filled up… Why wasn’t his mana filling up fast? It barely filled up by a few points and then stopped!

Poisoned, Corpse gas, A

Stops Mana Regeneration, Stops Health Regeneration.

Damn it, it must be that bastard Gustave releasing it before he died. Victor wanted to quickly take an antidote pill, but with Rebecca glaring at him with murderous intent, he didn’t dare to reveal his state.

“Oh… you know that you should ask nicely…right?” she said, testing him as she looked around without approaching Victor. “What happened here?” she asked.

“Some players were fighting over that golden sword, one of them, one on the verge of death, self-detonated! I only managed to survive because of the high-ranking Talisman my family gave me….” he lied. “The only thing that remains of him is that green goo pool!” He added feeling a little sorry that he couldn't grab Gustave’s pouch and storage ring that was probably getting dissolved slowly as they were covered with that green goo…

“Oh… “Rebeca nodded, giving the green goo a fleeting look, then heading slowly to the sword to try to pull it off…. Carefully grabbing the handle, she used all of her strength and the sword was pulled off surprisingly easily! Seemingly the explosion had loosened up the joints clamping it from behind.

“This thing is not bad!” she said inspecting it not aware that Victor was carefully inspecting her… She should not have looked away from him. She was still a noob.

“Margret come one, help me? I will let you ride on top next time in bed!” he asked in a pleading voice that made Rebecca turn to face him again with a disgusted expression that quickly turned into a smirk.

“Really?” she asked as she approached him, then swung the golden sword aiming for his neck.

No one had insulted her before. And this bastard dared to make fun of her in the academy. She was going to kill him and pin the blame on the slut Margret! She could feel that some players had just arrived and were watching from afar.