Free Web NovelChapter 1361: No More Pretending
By the seventh day, Chris finally became the second person after Ethan to break into Stage A.
The moment he stabilized the breakthrough, he pulled out of the Tier-boost special training and rushed straight to Atlas City Compound.
"Ethan—what’s the situation now?"
In a nondescript little room in the residential district, Chris found Ethan laying low.
Ethan gave a humorless laugh. "What do you think? We’re treating those bastards like honored guests."
He rubbed his face, irritated. Watching those Winged Clan live like emperors inside the compound made his skin crawl.
Thankfully, Maxwell and the others had the patience to swallow their pride. If this were Fallen Star City, Ethan was pretty sure he would’ve already snapped and made a move.
Chris lowered his voice. "Want me to sneak over and take a few of them out?"
Ethan shook his head immediately. "No. You’ll spook them. We cannot let a single one get away."
He exhaled slowly. "We’ve waited this long. A few more days won’t kill us."
"Fair," Chris said, nodding. "Now that I’ve broken through, the others should be close too."
"Yeah."
Ethan studied him. "By the way—what did you get at Stage A? Any new abilities?"
Chris’s eyes sharpened a little, like he’d been waiting to talk about it.
"After reaching Stage A, I got a debuff skill—a Void-type ability called Void Malediction. It weakens the target’s power, defense, and speed. Solid support skill."
He continued, counting it off more personally. "My own ability gained Ambush Strike. Triple damage on the hit. If I stack it with the strength boost I got at Stage B, I can burst out six times my normal damage. That’s basically my finisher."
Then he grimaced. "But Ambush Strike forces me to reveal myself, so I don’t get my 50% stealth-attack bonus while invisible. And after I use it, I can’t go invisible again for a full minute, so I can’t just throw it out whenever."
He sounded genuinely annoyed at the limitation.
Ethan chuckled. "Dude, that’s still insane. The stronger the skill, the more it costs. And your ’cost’ is pretty light."
Chris’s expression eased. "Yeah. Honestly, with my current strength—if I use the strength boost and Ambush Strike, plus the sharpness edge I apply to my weapon—I should be able to assassinate a Tier 27 expert."
"That’s basically my damage range," Ethan said, grinning. "You’re catching up."
Chris shook his head with a wry smile. "I can’t compare to a freak like you. I just hit hard. You’re a walking cheat code with no real weaknesses." frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Then his smile faded a touch. "Only thing I’m still not happy about... I still don’t have any long-range attacks or AoE."
"You don’t need them," Ethan said. "AoE is great for clearing trash mobs, but against someone stronger than you, it usually falls off hard. Your kit is built to punch above your tier. That’s worth way more than wide-area skills."
Chris thought about it, then nodded, the tension leaving his shoulders. "Yeah. Makes sense. Let them handle the small fry."
Ethan’s tone turned serious again. "With your current strength, you could probably kill most of that group. But if we can’t guarantee we keep every last one from escaping, don’t move yet. We wait until the others arrive."
"Got it."
For the next few days, the two of them stayed hidden in Atlas City Compound, waiting for the rest to break through.
But the others still hadn’t made it—
—and trouble hit first.
Under Maxwell’s arrangements, the Winged Clan had been pampered nonstop: rich food, beautiful women, constant service. After moving into the central mansion, they’d barely stepped outside.
Then, out of nowhere, they seemed to lose their minds.
That day, they left the mansion and started wandering around the compound.
And that was where everything went wrong.
Maxwell had ordered everyone not to speak Federation language—use other languages instead.
But plenty of people in the Atlas Federation didn’t actually know any other languages. For the first couple days, they managed by just keeping quiet. Over time, with the Winged Clan staying inside and not showing their faces, people relaxed. They started talking again.
So when the Winged Clan suddenly appeared among the streets, they immediately caught it—humans speaking a language from Skyreach Continent’s human race.
The Winged Clan’s faces twisted with rage.
They thought they’d been played.
And on the spot, they killed several hundred people.
"Since these people can speak the human language, then they have to be with the group we’re looking for," one Winged Clan expert spat, fury shaking his voice. "Maybe it was that group ordering them to mislead us on purpose."
"Yeah," another said, eyes narrowing. "That explains why they’ve been so obedient. It was all an act."
"In that case, we butcher this place. I don’t believe those people won’t show themselves!"
"...But," a third one cut in, hesitating, "I’m kind of... reluctant."
He looked genuinely torn, almost irritated at himself for it.
"These past few days, I finally learned what it means to enjoy life. They’ve served us so well. Why kill them? If we kill them, we won’t get food this good anymore. No more service, either."
That landed harder than it should’ve. A few of the others wavered too.
The truth was, they’d gotten used to being treated like royalty.
The leader’s face hardened. "Hmph. If we don’t flush that group out, and Lord Aeralon finds this place first, we’re dead."
"But we already pissed off Lord Aeralon by not returning," someone muttered. "Whether we kill them or not, we’re not making it out alive."
"That’s not the same," the leader shot back. "If we find the group, it’s a massive merit. We can say we were delayed because we were tracking them. Not only will Lord Aeralon not punish us—he’ll reward us."
"...That’s true," one of them admitted slowly.
"Fine," another said, expression turning cold. "Then... sorry about this."
The Winged Clan experts looked down at the crowd below like predators sizing up livestock.
The leader spoke, voice like a knife.
"I know you’re connected to the people we’re looking for. Bring them here. Now. If you don’t, you all die."
"And if you do bring them to us," he added, tone almost indulgent, "then for the sake of how well you’ve served us these days... I’ll spare you."
"¿Qué dijiste? No entiendo." The guard captain answered, still stubbornly playing dumb.
Shhk—!
A blade of wind snapped through the air.
The captain was cut cleanly in half. His body separated and collapsed in two pieces before the blood even fully registered.
The Winged Clan man snorted. "Still acting with me, even now?"
No one else dared make a sound.
"I’ll count to ten," the leader said, eyes sweeping the crowd. "If you don’t hand them over by then, we start slaughtering the city."
On the other side of the compound, Maxwell and the others had rushed to Ethan and Chris’s hideout and relayed what was happening outside.
Ethan’s brows drew together.
"So the delay plan finally broke."
He stood. "Alright. Then we go meet them."
His tone sharpened into command. "Notify the Fallen Star Guard—everyone. Get them here. Even if we have to trade lives, we cannot let a single one of them escape."
Chris’s gaze flicked up. Ethan turned to him.
"Chris. Go invisible and stay off to the side. Be ready to strike at any moment."
"Yes," Chris said immediately, already shifting his weight like he was about to vanish.
Maxwell swallowed. "Then... what about us?"
Ethan didn’t sugarcoat it. "You guys—honestly, your strength can’t affect them at all. Hide. Minimize casualties."
Maxwell’s face tightened. "...Alright."
Then, like he couldn’t help himself, he added, bitter and urgent, "We actually developed a new laser cannon, but we don’t have any high-Tier crystal cores on hand. If we did, it could definitely hurt them."
Ethan paused. "Oh? How high-Tier? And what kind of output are we talking?"
Maxwell’s eyes lit up despite everything, the engineer in him pushing through the fear.
"This laser cannon can load ninety-nine crystal cores. It extracts their energy instantly and fires a single high-powered shot. If we load it with ninety-nine Tier 20 crystal cores, it can definitely injure a Stage A expert."
His voice carried real confidence.
They hadn’t spent all this time just surviving. On weapons R&D, they’d never stopped. And after this long, they’d finally broken through.
