More of the ck-masked people began to pop out of thin air, surrounding Nox and his pets from all sides.


    "This..." Nox frowned; it felt as if the figures were infinite. Every time he took one down, two more seemed to take its ce, and now it appeared that hundreds had suddenly appeared.


    ''That old man, if I ever get out of here, I''ll surely pay that tavern a visit.'' He cursed in his mind.


    The masked figures had yet to attack, which gave Nox a moment to consider his next move. While he pondered, he noticed the mouth of the same ck-masked figure moving again. Nox narrowed his eyes.


    ''Hmmm... I''m not foolish. It''s clear one of them is trying tomunicate something, but what?''


    ''They had an opportunity to deal a fatal attack on me, but they held back. Could it be someone that I know?'' Several faces crossed Nox''s mind, but all were from the Vermilion Kingdom, so he dismissed the thought. ''Besides, this could be a tactic to lower my guard.''


    Though it was difficult to differentiate between the identical ck-masked individuals, Nox always spotted the peculiar figure because they subtly made themselves noticeable.


    As he observed the peculiar figure, Nox''s brain raced with ideas. Soon, he had an idea—an idea that would buy him time to escape these never-ending foes.


    ''Since they just keep oning, I suspect they''re some sort of clone. If I were to use Shadow Oblivion, I would only lose more of my mana pool... besides, I can''t just go spamming Shadow Oblivion; each use costs 100 MP.''


    As Nox''s level had increased over the years, he noticed that the mana consumption for his skills had also risen. He felt as if the system was trying to nerf him, which angered him, but he realized his skills had be more powerful.


    ''It''s like the skill leveled up, though it can''t rank up further as it''s already an ultimate skill.''


    Thest thing Nox wanted was to encounter trouble when his MP was depleted. He would have opted for Divine Velocity again, but the skill was currently on cooldown, which made him contemte using Phantom Cloak... no, that should be ast resort.


    This was why he decided to do this.


    Under the watchful gaze of the masked people, Nox squatted to Thirteen''s height. ''Thirteen? You want to crush all of them, don''t you?''


    [Umu!] Thirteen flung away one of the figures with incredible force, nodding vigorously. He pumped his fist and stepped in front of Nox, causing the masked figures to flinch back slightly. They had all witnessed the might of this ck-and-white creature.


    Their orders were to cease their assault and capture the boy for questioning, as their superior had taken an interest in him. In fact, they were also curious.


    If they''d met under different circumstances, they would have asked how he was able to control these beasts.


    With an rming smirk, Nox telepathicallymanded, ''Then do your thing.''


    Inside the building, the handsome boy with silver hair was watching Nox''s every action with curiosity.


    "What is he up to now?" the boy thought with narrowed eyes.


    The reason he had ordered the figures to stop their assault and bring the boy in was that he intended to ask him questions about which group he was working for, how he got an ultimate skill, and... about the beast that was helping him.


    He suddenly nced at the dark-haired girl standing beside him, her eyes closed in meditation. "Maya, how long can you maintain your clones?"


    The dark-haired girl, her eyes still closed, replied with great difficulty. "J-just 50 more seconds before all my mana runs out."


    "That stupid fool!" The boy gritted his teeth when he remembered the masked figure that had the opportunity to attack Nox. If they hadn''t missed that time, Nox would have been easier to subdue.


    Fighting alongside the boy with unusually dark eyes were clones and other Awakened... Nox didn''t know it, but the masked figure that was trying tomunicate with him was an Awakened.


    The silver-haired boy clenched his fist. "If we get back, I''ll definitely get rid—"


    He never got to finish his sentence.


    ROOOOAR!


    A thunderous roar that seemed to be a mixture of a dragon''s roar and the fierce rushing of a river reverberated throughout the whole vicinity. The ground started to rumble, and even the buildings seemed to tremble.


    "Huh, what''s that?" The silver-haired boy''s expression distorted as he looked outside through the window.


    ...Then his face became as pale as a sheet of paper.


    "Heavens... what''s that!"


    The scene unfolding outside was beyond what the silver-haired boy had ever imagined witnessing, and he was certain no one in Frostburg thought such a thing was possible.


    Outside, a torrent of water,rger than any waves the silver-haired boy had seen, gushed from the small panda cub, just four years old. The devastating force of the water mmed into all the masked figures.


    As the panda spun in circles, none of them were spared from the wrath of the devastating waters. The impact of the water caused the old buildings in this district to crumble one after another to the ground like sandcastles.


    "Move! We have to escape!"


    Shocked into action, the silver-haired boy pulled on Maya, snapping her out of her meditation. Every building was copsing one after another, and theirs would be next. If they dyed a second longer, they''d be buried under the bricks.


    "What about the others?" Maya shouted.


    "We''ll worry about themter," the youth replied as they leaped through a window. A few minutester, their building copsed, sending up a cloud of dust. By now, the entire city was awake, and Awakened from the adventure guilds rushed over.


    Step! Step!


    When the deluge of water finally ceased, Nox patted Thirteen on the head and walked toward one of the masked figures lying on the ground—the one who had been signaling him all along. Nox noticed some were still alive, groaning beneath the rubble. They were Awakened, and mere bricks couldn''t kill them.


    However, their numbers had noticeably diminished.


    Arriving before the figure, Nox halted. He could see that the figure was still breathing. However, this was not the reason he came to a stop... he came to a stop because he was cautious. What if the figure was waiting for this moment to attack him?


    ''No, it can''t be.'' Nox shook his head to chase the thought away. ''If they wanted to attack me, they could have done it when they had the opportunity.''


    Standing over the figure, he began to remove the mask.


    "Now, let''s see who you are."


    ****


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