The bastards who were ready to charge at me suddenly flinched back. Their courage evaporated the moment they saw the gaping hole in the concrete floor that had just appeared right in front of me. Dust from the cracked cement billowed, enveloping the feet of the mysterious figure who now stood tall.
"Enough," the voice rumbled from behind the crow-shaped wooden mask. It was heavy, hoarse, and resonated with undeniable authority.
Every muscle in my body tensed. I tried to summon the Black Sickle from my inventory, but the system brutally denied my access. The hologram screen before me vibrated violently, distorting into an eye-aching red with a warning I had never seen before:
[WARNING: NEGATIVE FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE DETECTED]
[STATUS: RED SYSTEM RESPONDING TO SIMILAR RESONANCE ENTITY]
[TARGET IDENTIFIED: XEBECT CROSS]
[LEVEL: ???]
I froze. My heart pounded at the sight of the question marks in his level column. But that wasn't what truly stole my breath. His last name... Cross. The same as mine, etched on my Hunter card.
Was this the person I was looking for?
"Are you... Xebect Cross?" I whispered, my voice barely audible in the suffocating silence of the bar.
The man seemed to flinch. His head snapped sharply towards me, his gaze piercing through the dark eye-slits of his mask. Before I could react, he was in front of me, gripping my shoulder with strength that could crush steel.
Suddenly, the sound of wings filled the room. Thousands of black ravens exploded from beneath his cloak, swirling around us in a maelstrom of dark feathers. My vision blurred, gravity seemed to vanish, and I felt myself being forcibly pulled through reality into another dimension.
A bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped me as my feet landed on ground that felt like ash. This place was void, nothing but dense darkness that seemed alive, shifting at the edges of my vision. Before I could even steady myself, the glint of cold metal was an inch from my eyeball.
"How do you know that name?!" he snarled.
His voice was no longer hoarse, but echoed with a fury that could tear reality.
I didn't answer. My survival instinct took over. I tilted my head to the side, letting the dagger cut a shallow line across my cheek, and at the same time, I slammed my elbow into his chest.
BAAK!
He parried it easily with his forearm, but my Level -1 physical strength was enough to make him recoil a step.
"SYSTEM! BLACK SICKLE!" I screamed internally.
[SYSTEM: Connection Restored. Summoning Black Sickle...]
The black blade appeared with a faint blue flash in my hand. I immediately swung it in a vertical arc, attempting to cleave the figure before me. Xebect Cross moved with absurd speed—he didn't dodge, he vanished into a swarm of black raven feathers and reappeared directly behind me.
"Slow," he whispered.
He launched a kick at my back. I spun, blocking the impact with the hilt of my sickle. The collision produced a shockwave that rippled through the darkness around us. I was thrown back, but I used the momentum to counterattack.
I activated Aero-Drive instantly. My body shot forward like a black bullet.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The sound of metal clashing against metal filled this empty dimension. His short but deadly dagger danced, parrying every slash of my sickle. Each time our weapons met, I could feel the same negative energy repelling each other.
"You have fangs, boy," Xebect countered with a rapid flurry of thrusts. "But you don't know how to use them yet!"
He slammed his palm onto the ground.
Suddenly, thousands of shadow ravens erupted from beneath my feet, pecking and tearing at my cloak. I was pushed back, blood beginning to trickle from small cuts on my arms.
A precise strike from his dagger aimed for my throat. I threw my body backward, doing a somersault, and plunged my sickle into the ground to brace myself. My breath hitched. This man was on a completely different level than me.
The bone-chilling cold in this empty dimension seemed to freeze as I leaped backward, creating distance between me and that terrifying figure. My breath hitched, but my eyes were locked on his crow mask with a sharp, determined gaze.
"I won't die here without a fight," I hissed.
It seemed I had no choice but to play the trump card I had just acquired. I gripped the hilt of my sickle with both hands, channeling all my remaining energy into the black blade.
"SKY RENDING TRINITY!"
I swung my sickle with lightning speed. Three vertical slashes of dark blue wind shot forth, tearing through the dimension's darkness with a deafening roar. The energy struck exactly where Xebect had been, triggering an explosion of blue light that created a thick mist around him.
This was all I could do. My strongest attack.
I waited, hoping the attack would at least wound him. However, as the mist slowly faded, my eyes widened again. My heart seemed to stop.
There, Xebect Cross stood motionless. His cloak was not torn, his body did not shimmer, not even dust seemed to cling to him. He was completely unharmed. The attack that could split concrete was merely a gentle breeze to him.
He began to walk towards me. Each step on the empty floor sounded like a death knell. I trembled, not from fear of losing my life, but from the pressure of an aura so absolute.
"Is that all?" his voice echoed, calmer but colder than before.
He stopped directly in front of me. I no longer had the strength to dodge. Xebect raised the black wooden staff he carried, pointing it directly at my chest. I closed my eyes, bracing for the pain to come.
However, I felt the opposite.
A strange warmth flowed from the tip of the staff, spreading through my nerves. The stinging pain in my shoulders vanished, the bruises on my face faded, and the huge drain on my energy was instantly refilled. I looked down to see my tattered body was now completely healed.
"Where did you learn that skill?" he asked in a low, pressing tone. "The System... The System gave it to me," I stammered, trying to control my still ragged breathing.
I remained silent, unable to answer. My tongue felt tied. My weakness was a truth I couldn't deny—I was just a poor young man with a negative level.
Without warning, he snatched the Black Sickle from my grasp. I tried to hold onto it, but my hands felt locked by the pressure of his aura. He lifted the black sickle to his eyes, examining it with an inscrutable gaze.
"Indeed... this is the Sovereign Soul Scythe," he murmured softly, his voice trembling between disdain and longing.
Xebect then stroked the blade of the sickle, as if speaking to a living entity hidden within the cold metal.
"Why did you choose such a weak master after the Elder's death?" he spoke to the sickle, hoping it would provide an answer. His sharp eyes glanced at me with cynicism.
"Are you so desperate that you must bind yourself to a boy who cannot even withstand your own aura?"
At that, the blade of the Black Sickle suddenly vibrated violently. The faint blue aura that had been calm now surged, emitting pulses of energy that seemed to protest Xebect's words.
Xebect paused for a moment, then let out a small, dry, horrifying laugh. He tossed the sickle back to me. I caught it, and strangely, the sickle felt hotter than usual, as if it was angry at being insulted.
"It seems this weapon trusts you more than I do, Aiden," Xebect turned his back to me.
"Who... who is this Elder you speak of?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"You have no right to ask that now, young one," Xebect replied coldly. The aura around him suddenly grew heavier, as if mentioning that name was a taboo that could shatter this dimension.
He stared at me sharply from behind his crow mask. "You must prove your worth to wield the power of that system. Prove yourself, and I will answer all your questions."
Xebect reached into his gray cloak and threw a small metal object towards me. I caught it with a quick reflex. It was an old coin, rough and cold to the touch, with an engraving that looked like a closed eye.
"You must reach Level -10 as quickly as possible," he commanded without compromise. "And when you reach that level, use this coin to enter The Pit. We will meet again there."
Before I could ask any other questions, Xebect's body suddenly disintegrated into thousands of black ravens that scattered, obliterating the remaining light. As the flapping of wings faded, I jolted. I was back in the dark alley behind The Rusty Bolt bar. The cold from the old coin still felt real in my palm.
I stared at the blinking system screen before me.
[MISSION COMPLETE]
REWARD: Location of the second set piece