The entire tree trembled Across the Zone and into Zone 1 every one of ArborÆs trees trembled
Kiersty didnÆt smile but she felt something hot burning in her chest Arbor was changing A change that he had chosen Kiersty couldnÆt wait
How many Lucifer grunted He slowly stood and stretched his joints cracking
The two men glanced at each other We we canÆt confirm Maybe as many as 10 000 But at least 2 000
Useless Lucifer said cutting them off He walked over towards the wall where his swords lay He had four now His original iron monstrosity which he selected The scythe he had obtained inside the Raid Dungeon was there too but he ignored that one There was one created from the shoulder blade of an eagle type monster but he didnÆt choose that one either The second sword he selected was one made for Lucifer by Sam
It sat in its sheath even now Lucifer had not used it out of respect This was a sword he would only use against the most powerful opponents
Gently he touched the hilt The entire thing seemed to throb Lucifer shivered Sam had indicated that it possessed its own sort of life that could be ignited Even the creator wasnÆt sure what would occur when the sleeping beast inside of it woke
but Lucifer didnÆt think these enemies were worthy of waking it up now Let it sleep a little longer Lucifer reached over and selected the eagle shoulder blade An army of humans wasnÆt something that he needed to bother his baby with
So Lucifer said slowly walking out of the room The two men followed after him but he wasnÆt speaking to them They were simply extra baggage that he was forced to handle A new Zone has connected And the late arrivals think they know how to bloody a nose Let them come Franksburg will welcome them with open arms
To RandidlyÆs surprise they took him to Lake Apollo They bundled him into a submersible and carried him down into the deep waters that he hadn’t bothered to ruin because they were close to the bases At first he was slowly mystified as to how they would repel the monster with this tiny vessel but his senses informed him this wouldnÆt be necessary the monsters didnÆt even glance at the thing
In his chest Randidly felt a cold premonition of the looming presence of something terrible
They brought him with surprising delicacy out of the craft and into a hanger Carrying him quickly the led him down hallways while RandidlyÆs senses were furiously scanning outwards Around him he felt Raid Bosses moving among people down the hallways And outside of that he felt the entire base and instantly became furious
He saw people struggling in the gym restraints He saw people being drained of blood He saw individuals open on the operating room table with their organs being slowly removed He saw groups of scientists pouring over data He saw a child screaming as he waved around the muscular arm of a beast while someone simply stood there and took notes
His first response was to strike out but he quickly suppressed that With so many people here what could he do There were so many people and they were down here surrounded by monsters
While he was thinking at lightning speed they brought him into a closed room and placed him on an operating table Immediately the 9 people with him moved to strap him into the table This of course was too much
Randidly lost his temper
Three seconds later he lowered Acri looking coolly at the bodies around him They didnÆt even have time to struggle It was rare that Randidly relied so heavily on his stats to dominate opponents but now felt like an appropriate time This was his world These monsters whatever they were needed to be removed They would add nothing to the chances of this worldÆs survival
Slowly Randidly moved and took all of their black masks off They all had the same youthful female face Father FosterÆs
Then it all clicked
His visage stony Randidly walked out of the small room Even as he was furious he knew he couldnÆt risk letting any hint of his presence leak out Or else the people here He would need to move fast to save them Even now he sent messages to Dinesh and Tykes to bring people to assist him But they would be hard pressed to handle the threat alone
Abruptly he felt a pang of loss that he had cut himself off so abruptly from Donnyton He looked to the East where that strange new Aether could still be felt albeit dimly as it merged with the Aether of this world He had to in a way He couldnÆt stand Lyra and recognized that she was perhaps just as powerful as he was in her own way What she had accomplished Well Randidly suspected he didnÆt even know the half of it
But he couldnÆt trust her She thought she knew better than him And in her mind that was that
Sighing Randidly turned back forward and froze Down the hall from him a figure was standing Her gaze was on him a small smile on her face RandidlyÆs eyes narrowed
She spoke before he did Fascinating I had worried that you would be a rather capable warrior but I figured the sedative I prepared could knock out anyone Do you have a Skill for recovery A high Level one too Fascinating
Her steps were loud as she walked down the empty metallic hall towards him Randidly was acutely aware that they were at the bottom of a deep lake The weight of water around them was enough to crush all of the normal people being slowly sliced apart in this facility by the monster before him
No hard feelings Father Foster said flashing a smile at him Just fulfilling a request I believe I would have eventually sought you out to discuss different projects on my own eventually But this concerns the fate of the entire Zone Your body will be an unfortunate casualty But worry not the transfers have an incredibly high success rate all things considered Even without the suspension field we still average above 40% retention of Skills Ah donÆt do that
Randidly was clenching his hand into a fist Father Foster waggled a finger at Randidly like he was a naughty child You are strong Perhaps as strong as me Mr Baloo Erickson But the people in here are not Based on your previous actions I suspect you wouldnÆt want them to die in the fighting And let me assure you they would die
Randidly relaxed slowly But inwardly he wanted to laugh This man really thought he was still just Baloo Erickson Maybe this disguise was worth something after all ItÆs a good thing that he hadnÆt blown it away when dealing with Maude
RandidlyÆs change made Father FosterÆs expression turn even more serious
as expected you are no fool I wonder Well we can have a true conversation after the procedure Please follow me
Father Foster turned and began to walk down the hallway without glancing backward But in her straight spine he saw the implied threat If Randidly did not follow she would make good on her promise to kill those people here
Barely restraining a chuckle Randidly closed his eyes Mana flowed out of him like water When he opened his eyes he calmly walked behind Father Foster while matching her pace They walked in cool silence down the halls Finally Randidly let his curiosity get the better of him
How did you do it
This seemed to annoy Father Foster Bah A simple question If you are half the man I believe you to be you can figure it out yourself
Grimacing Randidly switched tactics I was imprecise What I meant to ask was how did you realize such a thing was possible Why did you want to become a Raid Boss
Ah Father Foster was silent for several seconds and then she sighed It pains me to admit it but discovering the idea to become a Raid Boss was a natural extension of a coincidental line of research A fool named Ezekiel Ghosthound came to me with a problem He couldnÆt live without killing humans you see Monsters wouldnÆt do The cost over time was enormous So we started looking for alternatives
The corner of Father FosterÆs mouth quirked off What after all does the System define as a human You would honestly be surprised how loose the definition is With that problem solved we then wondered if humanity can be transplanted what else Stats We have experienced modest success Skills Of course especially if they relate to a particular part of the body Soul Skills Maybe even Classes Well those will be for the future