The Vortex

It took less than 5 seconds from Aperria charging out to her being smashed onto the ground like Yamcha.

Just as the Petrifying Ray, condensed by Glock Bloodthroat, was about to be fired.

A Flame Jet, neither fast nor slow, inserted itself into the battle at a tricky angle, precisely hitting the ogre's eyes.

The brief blindness interrupted the ogre's casting. Seizing the opportunity, Aperria abandoned her sword and advanced along the ogre's shoulder, climbing onto its head.

She held down the ogre's foul-smelling ears and poured the Holy Flame within her body into the ogre's head without reservation.

"Roar!!!" The ogre roared to the sky in pain, smashing its own head with all its might.

But Aperria remained silent, enduring the ogre's fists, which were strong enough to smash iron plates, appearing as if she intended to die together.

1W, 7000, 3000, 500... The Three Stages of Fighting Spirit on the side continuously refreshed the ogre's HP, waiting for the moment it reached its kill threshold.

The next moment, a dagger stabbed out from the ogre's shadow, ending the life of this terrifying monster.

The Shadowfolk named He Who Seeks His Own Demise emerged from the shadows and casually put the great club dropped by Glock Bloodthroat into his spatial storage.

Three Stages of Fighting Spirit immediately broke through its defense and yelled at He Who Seeks His Own Demise for stealing the kill:

"Aminos!!!"

The Shadowfolk glanced back at the fire element user and retorted, "You idiot, clean up your mouth."

"Aminos, so what if I curse you? You have the nerve to steal a kill, you born-with-a-silver-spoon type."

"Is that monster your dad or your mom? Did it have your name on it?"

"You motherf***er..."

Aperria, dragging her exhausted body, picked up the Holy Sword that had fallen to the ground and sat back down by the campfire alone.

She was too lazy to bother with these foul-mouthed Chosen Ones anymore.

After all, even though the two were cursing each other more and more nastily, it wouldn't escalate to player killing.

It wasn't that no one had PKed before, but losing 20 points of Sin Value per hit had calmed down all the players who got heated.

Once Sin Value dropped below -100, there was a high probability of getting banned!

Moreover, resurrection in this game had a hidden cooldown. The player who was burned to death by Aperria was only revived by an avatar of the Creator God on the second day in the game.

As wave after wave of monsters were eliminated, the sky gradually brightened.

Chosen Ones continuously woke up from their sleep, but by 7 o'clock, the agreed departure time, 5 out of the 32 Chosen Ones had still not woken up.

This was within Aperria's expectations.

The Master had said that the arrival times of these Chosen Ones in this world were unstable.

If they encountered a large number of Chosen Ones "logging off" along the way, they would leave two Knights to guard them. If the number of "logged off" Chosen Ones was too small, they would let the Chosen Ones figure out how to catch up on their own.

They must not let the Knights carry the Chosen Ones, but if a Chosen One who couldn't wake up could find other Chosen Ones to carry them, then she wouldn't need to interfere.

The five straggling Chosen Ones already accounted for nearly 15% of the team's numbers.

Aperria thought for a moment and decided to leave two people to watch over them.

But at that moment, the Beast-Ear Race girl, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke:

"Two are missing, they were taken."

Aperria shot up, forcing herself to stand, and raised her Holy Sword high, gathering the surrounding light once more.

The morning light in the forest flowed towards her Holy Sword.

These lights flowed like water, changing direction when they hit solid objects, but a certain direction of light flow encountered an obstruction.

The Knights beside Aperria immediately threw golden javelins. Before hitting the ground, the javelins transformed into countless tiny light particles, covering the entire area that had blocked the light flow.

However, these light particles, unleashed by Gold Rank powerhouses, were like powerless pebbles, completely swallowed by a curved barrier.

Following that, there was a fluctuation of magic power from behind the barrier.

Including Aperria and the Knights, most people present were pressed to the ground by the instantaneously increased gravity.

Only Aer charged forward against the force, shattering the curved barrier with a punch.

But what was revealed behind the barrier were only the residual waves of teleportation magic dissipating.

"Someone was taken?"

"Why don't I ever encounter these hidden plotlines?"

"The ones taken seem to be offline. Does anyone know them? Hurry and call them."

Seeing their companions being taken away right in front of them, these Chosen Ones showed no anger.

Even though the Knight Order had been informed by the Master that these Chosen Ones could be revived, they still felt a strange discomfort towards these chaotic otherworldly people.

Aer silently returned to the campfire and said to Aperria:

"Two Legendaries, can't catch up."

"Then let's leave quickly," Aperria sheathed her sword. "Every second we delay now increases the risk. We need to march quickly before the other Chosen Ones are captured."

Inside a cave somewhere in the Misty Forest.

Once the aftershocks of the transfer magic subsided, the Blue Pheasant Beastman holding a magic staff breathed a sigh of relief and said to his companion beside him:

"Two hundred million Alliance Coins for just two people. They only had one Legendary-ranked fighter, they couldn't stop us at all. Want to grab a few more?"

"Let's skip it this time," said the woman, completely covered in form-fitting armor. "I have a bad feeling about this. Let's take what we can get and go."

The Blue Pheasant Beastman's bird-like head showed displeasure. Before he could voice his objection, his long-time partner proactively explained:

"This commission is very strange. We couldn't get any useful information during the preliminary investigation, and it went too smoothly. That means whatever is behind this is beyond our level."

"We're like sharks caught in a whirlpool. We bite off a piece of meat and then we leave. We absolutely must not get too deeply involved."

"Alright, I'll listen to you," the Blue Pheasant Beastman nodded his bird head, clamped the two stolen targets under his wings, and prepared to cast transfer magic again to leave.

Their earnings this time were more than just the two hundred million Alliance Coins commission fee.

By following this strange team all the way, they had also incidentally discovered a safe route to the Misty Forest.

It could be said they had reaped considerable rewards.

However, the Blue Pheasant Beastman, who had raised his staff, suddenly froze, an expression of disbelief on his bird head.

The woman beside him glanced at him in confusion and immediately pushed her armor to its maximum output.

Ignoring her partner with whom she had a good rapport and the two-hundred-million-valued targets, the form-fitting armor carried her out of the cave, flying towards the distance.

"A futile struggle."

The woman, who had flown past the horizon the moment she rushed out of the cave, was horrified to find herself transferred back into the cave the next moment. Even with the form-fitting armor at full power, she was still suspended in mid-air within the cave.

"We just took a commission from the Black Market to capture people, we don't know anything!" the woman said in panic.

"Oh, so you're innocent. In that case, I'll let you go."

This taunt, which came from an unknown source, sent a chill from the heads to the soles of the feet of the two Legendary-ranked mercenaries.

The two of them were prominent figures throughout the entire Thirteen City Alliance, honored guests eagerly sought after by major powers.

However, at this moment, they were about to disappear without a trace in this unknown cave.