Inside the abandoned house, the two of them planned to infiltrate the inner ruins teams of the Vangir Guild, and for that, they needed to earn their respect.

There was only one way for Nikolai and Ash to make themselves valuable without Nikolai compromising his secret, and that was to stage a fight.

Ash believed that Nikolai would lure in a dark being from The Great Unseen toward the middle outskirts of the ruins. The gunman would then chase the dark being and take it down using his holy bullets, forcing them to believe that Ash was valuable.

"You want me to trust you?" glared Ash. "The last time that monster left me was a mistake. I will never fight against a dark being."

"You must believe in yourself. If what you told me is true, then that dark being cannot perceive you. We can use this to make ourselves valuable!"

"Are you going to fight it alongside me?" asked Ash with wariness. Nikolai grinned and tapped his executor mask.

"This will be our ticket into the city. I will be the confirmation of your ability. An executor might not be as valuable, but his words have some weight."

"What if they see through your disguise?"

"Then... run."

"That is a terrible plan."

"I have some countermeasures," said Nikolai as he waved his hand. "I will lure the monster, and then we will fight it. First, however, we need to find a person to be the victim we save. A high-ranking guildsman who is not as powerful as the rest."

"I will look into that," said Ash with confidence. Nikolai smiled because he knew this man had eyes and ears that transcended humanity.

"That seals the deal. You can find that person and monitor his activities long enough to find us a spot. Then, we will save them while letting the dark being slip into the inner parts of the ruins."

"We are playing with fire," frowned Ash with worry. "The dark beings are not things that we can control. A mistake is all it takes for us to end up like the corpses in The Unseen."

"And that is the case against Hyde, too," said Nikolai. "This is what we vowed to do. I can tell you with quite a certainty that if Hyde steals what is in these ruins, there will be no one to stop him."

"...I understand."

After that, Ash left the abandoned house to do his surveillance. Nikolai trusted that he would come back with a proper target, so he did not need to worry himself with these things.

"There are times where I question my motives, too," stared Nikolai at the ceiling. "I don\'t need to fight against Hyde for this man. However, ruling a criminal syndicate can give me the protection I need inside the city. This will be the fastest path to revenge."

Nikolai knew that he could not live in the Great Unseen and prey on bandits and caravans for souls. There were things that he needed to do from inside the city and people to hinder.

***

Sergio looked at the wall of darkness coming that the flying ship was approaching. This giant vessel was bigger than Alias, allowing them to fly above the clouds.

"We are so high, but the darkness is still touching the sky," muttered Sergio as he looked upward. "Are you sure that we can cross this?"

"According to our maps, then there is only a small stretch of darkness between Rohan and Abani Ruins. Therefore, we should not have any troubles crossing it," answered Valkyrie beside him.

\'I will protect you,\' Yuxi gestured after pulling on his sleeve. Sergio smiled and nodded, gesturing that he would protect her too. Lex did not accompany them because she was not exactly a fighter.

This proposes the question of why Sergio needed to be here, but Valkyrie said that his knowledge was necessary for the exploration. Furthermore, he was not afraid since he obtained the Soul Gun, allowing him to shoot opponents with a thought.

"Leader," shouted a man from behind them. "Leave the alchemist alone and come have a drink with us!" it was a handsome fellow that seemed to be a noble.

"Excuse me, you two," said Valkyrie before walking back to the party and joining them. Sergio stared at the rest of their party, and there were five that he did not recognize.

However, they all wore new armor that did not have a single scratch. These were his seniors from Rohan Academy, also nobles of the kingdom.

Sergio was the only person who was a commoner among them, in addition to Yuxi, who seemed to be from a family that serves Valkyrie\'s house.

The rest did not like him at all. This made Sergio miss his old team, which only included Nikolai and him. These people were too arrogant even though he was sure that the bossman could take them all.

This made him think of his boss\'s powers. The rest events with The Great Unseen made the hate against the darkness beyond limits. However, Sergio saw his boss use that element, and so did the rest of them.

Yuxi and Lex promised them not to reveal that information to anyone, but Sergio was still nervous about the matter. This was why he wanted to find a way to make them forget everything about Nikolai before any of them slipped.

\'I need to protect him,\' thought Sergio as Yuxi tugged on his arm. The darkness was approaching, and the rest of the party took their positions, ready for any fights.

"Wear the masks!" shouted Valkyrie, and all of them strapped their masks to their faces, feeling the purified air fill their lungs. "Lanterns!"

The ship lit up like a star in the sky as it tore through the darkness. But, then, it scattered like mist before the vessel was fully immersed in it, and then there was nothing.

There was no sound, light, or scent. Sergio could hear nothing but the quiet breathing of Yuxi beside him, who held his hand tighter. Their hearts were in their throats, ready for dark beings to emerge.

And the darkness did not disappoint.

The sound of flapping wings resonated throughout the darkness, surrounding every side of the ship. Sergio looked around for the source, but there were too many.

Boom!

Something landed on the deck behind them, and the party turned around slowly. A creature stood amid their ship, oozing darkness as it rose from the destroyed tiles.

"Priests!"

Valkyrie was quick-witted, a bona fide leader that did not allow anything to disturb her mind. The priests said their blessings, and they fell on the party members and the guards.

"Surround it," whispered Valkyrie as they circled the monster. Sergio looked at the beast while holding his breath–a winged monkey that seemed infested with darkness that tried to devour it.

This was the first time that he met a creature that used this element. Of course, these were nothing more than myths, but The Great Unseen gave them a home to exist.

"GYAAAAAAH!" screamed the monkey as countless others dived toward their ship, attacking it from every side. Their tails worked as spears pierced the hull, threatening to bring them down.

"Yuxi!" shouted Valkyrie, and the hand holding his disappeared. Sergio tried to stop her, but she ran forward, faster than anyone.

The small girl said no words, and there were no angry shouts. Instead, her arms spread as the divine figure appeared again, just like when she attacked his friend.

"No..." memories started flashing in his mind as he saw the monkeys scream in agony, struck by the divine arrows of Yuxi. The image of his friend whose hand was pierced by the archer appeared in his mind. "No!"

His gun did not need him to move to activate, and Sergio was holding it before he could realize it. Moreover, the arrow she released looked like the one Nikolai used to threaten him.

Sergio aimed at the divine figure of the god blessing Yuxi, allowing her to attack the monsters and kill them. However, his hand trembled as the gun did not fire because of his hesitation.

"You need to lower it, Sergio," said the alchemist to himself. "These are not the enemy. You are attacking your friend."

However, the memories controlled him: the ship, the divinity, the darkness. These were all here except for his friend. His mother was also standing beside Nikolai, both whispering about him.

A gunshot rang in the air.

***

Nikolai watched as his undead killed another group of lurkers, who were waiting for a chance to rob the ruins themselves. Instead, these low-lives wanted to make use of the chaos after the gates opened and sneak into the ruins.

"You are all so generous with these souls, even though some of you are just wandering vagabonds," laughed Nikolai as his Sovereignty leveled up again, allowing him to summon more undead monsters.

[You have obtained the uncommon monster, Ghoul.]

[You have obtained the uncommon monster, Mage.]

The two monsters joined his army. Nikolai was pleased by these summoning, who each took a hefty sum since they were uncommon summoning.

However, he wanted to save a little something for his battle against Hyde. So, Nikolai used his powers to tamper with fate and decided to summon a rare undead monster this time.