The Status Window Disappeared

Epic Items (4)

The city in the middle of the night was completely dark.

Originally, it was normal for even small lights to leak from bars and windows. But now, perhaps because of the war, such things are rare.

Chris thought quietly in the dark.

Although he succeeded in sneaking into the city, the real work begins now.

He tried to think of a possible location for players expected to be captivated.

‘For now, it’s not a prison managed by the royal family.’

Unlike the cases of Chris and Lewis, the prisoners this time have been in the kingdom for years.

If you imprison such people, rumors will inevitably leak out.

If Chris had been a curse magician, he would have hidden them in a basement, warehouse, or private house where no one else knew.

The search range is too wide to scan alone.

This city is big and wide, so there is no guarantee that you will be able to find it even if you spend a week or so.

But there is no other way.

For now, you have to search all the suspicious places.

Chris, who started the search recklessly, soon ran into a limit.

There are still many places to search, but the city guards are much busier than usual on patrol.

Fortunately, thanks to the ghost horse’s ability, I was not caught, but I can’t speed properly.

Chris was busy moving until the end of dawn. But all he found was a couple of smuggling warehouses.

As he tried to find a collaborator after dawn, he saw people moving here and there and chewed his tongue.

Armed with soldiers’ attire, they are moving supplies from place to place.

It is not a simple logistical movement given its unusual scale.

They are preparing for a siege.

The walls of Rosehook are well built and in good condition.

However, there was no guarantee that the five players would be able to escape unscathed.

Chris, who became even more desperate, climbed to a higher place using the ghost horse’s ability.

just as expected.

Elsewhere in the city, preparations for a siege are being made rapidly.

Men going to war greet their wives and children and move against the setting sun.

When this happens, there is little time left.

Chris just sighed in frustration.

Will this search fail as it is?

It wasn’t pleasant to blow the chance to give the curse magician a shot.

Now, it seems that it is difficult for the ghost horse to maintain its ability.

As Chris reluctantly leaves the city.

In the corner of my field of vision dyed with gray light, I saw a very dark object.

He naturally focused his attention on the unusual sight.

Just like we saw in Rosehook Kingdom.

Here in the capital of the kingdom of Benicia, the kingdom’s flag is flying everywhere.

The flag, which should have been originally blue, turned gray, perhaps due to the influence of the sound dimension.

However, there was one of those flags, one that looked black even in the gray music dimension.

‘Black flag, curse, status window!’

Chris clutched at his pounding heart and organized his thoughts.

The last keyword whose identity has not been revealed so far. It now appeared before his eyes.

If it’s a clan that uses black magic like curses, then of course it can affect the sound dimension… … .

That black flag would be the result.

From Chris’ point of view, they seemed to be using that to announce the rendezvous point.

When I came out of the sound dimension, that flag was just an ordinary blue kingdom flag.

That way, you won’t get noticed by others.

He encouraged his horse again, entered the sound dimension, and started running toward the black flag.

Entering what appears to be a warehouse, Chris encounters men who appear to be security guards.

They were chatting about trivial things, unaware of Chris in the sound dimension.

The ghost horse gently pushed Chris’s back with his head, as if he was getting tired.

“okay. You should save the strength to use when escaping.”

Chris, coming out of the sound dimension again, attacked two guards.

The two people who were attacked by surprise could not even scream properly.

Only then did he leisurely look inside the warehouse and finally found the people he had been searching for all night.

These players, who were clearly members of the Benicia Kingdom, were in a state of endless sleep.

Chris checked their faces and counted them.

There are a total of nine players in this seat.

All of the players that the Kingdom of Benicia had in the past.

‘Have the four of them not taken their powers yet, or have they been sent elsewhere… … .’

Either way, the action Chris would take was no different.

Even if they didn’t take away the status window, it would be too dangerous to leave them in the kingdom of Benicia occupied by a gang of curse magicians.

Chris tried to wake them up first, but for some reason they couldn’t.

I can’t waste any more time as it comes to my mind.

He quietly drew his sword and stabbed the sleeping players one by one.

An unpleasant feeling tormented the hand holding the longsword, but I couldn’t stop it.

As he continued to work, he paused his sword in front of the last player.

Of course, it wasn’t that petty guilt tugging at his arm now.

The final player was Isilante, the woman Chris spoke to during the truce talks.

She was famous as the rival of the Red Dragon Knight Commander and the holder of another epic item.

Ownership of an epic item can only be transferred by killing its original owner.

Since it was account bound from the beginning, it was impossible to use it even if a person who did not have ownership took possession of the epic item.

However, if the owner of the status window dies, the beneficiary of the curse also loses its ability.

They wouldn’t have been able to steal the epic item.

No matter how powerful the epic item is, it has a feeling of losing a little compared to the power of the player, so I have no choice but to save it… … .

After Chris gave a prayer of thanks to the guys who took care of the work. Driven a knife through the chest of the last player.

Then, a hot sensation squeezed his ring finger.

He muted and called out the epic item she was holding.

“The Mirror Ring.”

Soon after, the glittering ring responded to the call of its new owner and arrived across space.

Chris looked at his ring finger with a feeling of emotion.

Epic items he couldn’t get even when playing Arios Online came into his hands in this faraway place.

The ring was very light, and was angled in places.

The guy reflects the surrounding landscape and hides his true self.

Chris couldn’t resist the urge to test the ring’s power at any moment.

The Mirror Ring is an epic item that creates an alter ego of the user.

Each clone is not a mere illusion, but a mass of magical power that can physically intervene.

Of course, it is weak compared to the main body, but it can be used in various ways.

When he couldn’t stand it any longer and activated the ring, six clones were immediately summoned.

The alter egos that look exactly like him are equipped with details that are difficult to distinguish even if you look closely.

‘Did the equipment just borrow the shape? where once… … .’

Chris, who was trying to move the clones as a test, was a little taken aback by the commotion he heard outside.

I thought the thieves would notice that my status window was gone, but I never thought they’d come in droves already.

He immediately ordered the clones to distill.

Then, the six clones put on their hoods and left the warehouse all at once and scattered throughout the city.

Maybe it’s because the name is an epic item, but it seems to be able to carry out these ambiguous commands well.

Chris climbed on top of the ghost horse and entered the sound dimension for the last time.

“Let’s go out now!”

“Hee hee… … .”

Thanks to the clones’ attention, Chris passed through the castle wall and was able to get out of the range of the archers.

Returning to Rosehook without a moment’s rest, he pondered for a while before heading back to the headquarters.

The people, including the commander of the Red Dragon Knights, looked very confused, as if they had received a report from the scouts who had arrived earlier.

“Now you’re putting off the siege? Why?”

“Even though I’ve been preparing so hastily since last night… … .”

“Intelligence suggests that the players are finally losing their power.”

The intelligence service here seemed to be doing a better job than it seemed.

Chris, delighted that the effort of explaining was saved, stepped forward to the Red Dragon Knight Commander.

He tilted his head while showing pleasure at Chris’ appearance.

“Ah, come to think of it, you went out on reconnaissance too. Did you know anything?”

“… It seems that we have found out the reason behind this incident.”

Chris took a big heart and showed the mirror ring on the ring finger of his left hand.

Then, the knight commander’s eyes widened.

While he was frozen like ice, others noticed it too.

“What? That… … .”

“Did you come to assassinate the player?”

Epic items weren’t the kind of thing you could steal.

In the heads of the people here, such a guess had to come naturally.

Chris didn’t hesitate any longer and unraveled the information he had learned.

But don’t give it as it is.

He intended to f*ck the black flags by manipulating the information properly.

This time, the story was told as it was, but only the narration began to be slightly twisted.

“Anyway, it seems that an organization called Black Flag is deeply involved in the recent incident. Seeing the real players sleeping in such a corner warehouse, there must be circumstances.”

Chris subtly pointed out the black flag behind the disappearance of the status window.

When he gets off his rhyme, the astute begin to speculate on their own.

Under normal circumstances, it would be hard to believe what he said, but the mirror ring on his finger gave it a strong persuasive power.

In addition, information gleaned from earlier armistice talks also supports his remarks.

Chris intended to turn the players against Black Flag with the information he uncovered.

They were too mighty for him to deal with alone, and he needed to be bitten here and there.

Players will do anything to find their status screen.

Among them, the impetuous ones would attack without hesitation, if only they could catch the tail of the black flag.

Most of the current players have lost their power, but they have not lost all of their wealth and power.

They will pursue the black flag even with the help of the kingdoms invested in them.

The captain of the Red Dragon Knights accepted his opinion very positively and expressed his gratitude.

Others looked greedily at the ring on his finger, but the Knight Commander stopped them openly.

It wasn’t just an act to protect the kingdom’s honor and trust.

Aren’t humans the kind of animals that can give up such things for the greater good?

He stopped the others for more pragmatic reasons.

“That mercenary infiltrated the middle of enemy lines, slit the throats of players, and stole epic items. Are you confident enough to defeat such an opponent? If you’re like me, you won’t be reckless.”

After he said a few words, the ambitious eyes softened considerably.

Chris then said goodbye and prepared to leave the city.

The war between the two kingdoms was not yet over, but there was nothing more to be gained here.

The city’s mercenary employment office also gladly ended the contract according to the command’s order.

“Chris, thank you very much. I hope I can borrow your strength next time.”

“I’m doing great.”

After a short greeting, Chris climbed onto the ghost horse and headed towards the northeast gate again.

The journey to regain one’s own power still has no end in sight.