546: Red Menace.

Red Menace.

Two days ago.0

''…'' King Klaus, dressed in usual dark clothing adorned with a silver lining, walked in a damp forest. The chirping of the birds echoed in the background, the sky was blue, and distant clouds covered the sky.

Ding, ding.

''Argh, again.'' With an irritated expression, he brushed off the messages. The context of the messages looked hostile, with death threats.

''Hmph.'' With a shake of the head, Klaus walked deeper into the forest. The forest was called the Howling Forest, situated on the outskirts of the City of Fall.

However, before he walked any deeper into the forest, his senses tickled. Frowning, he turned around, just to see nothing but the endless forest. There was no soul in sight.

But Klaus slowly touched the dark-clothed gun that hung over his left shoulder. Then, he took it into his arms and slowly caressed the metallic trigger.

Swoosh!

From the top of a branch-filled tree, two daggers slashed through the air and flew directly toward him.

Klaus tilted his head left and right, and the daggers flew right past, barely grazing his cheeks. Then, an individual with a black armory jumped off the tree, immediately recognized by Klaus.

''Lauren…'' The voice oozed with hostility.

''Klaus…'' Lauren said with anger, ''You are done running away. You knew this was going to happen.''

''Hmph, pathetic.'' Klaus aimed, touched the trigger, and fired.

Bang!

''Heh.'' Lauren laughed coldly, reaching for the bullet, he clenched his hand into a fist, ''Shadow Hand.''

From thin air, an hand made of shadowy mold blocked the bullet. Then, the shadowy hand stretched, the hand turned into a fist and released a punch.

''Shadow Hand!'' Without any delay, Klaus copied the skill, and another shadowy hand appeared from thin air. However, it was slightly smaller. The copy ability's limit became clearer as the levels turned over 400.

The copy ability would only be stronger than the original if there was a gap of 50 levels. Until then, it would be at equal strength or weaker. In this case, Lauren was merely ten levels lower, meaning that his original ability was still stronger.

''Hmph!'' Lauren coldly humphed.

The two shadowy fists collided, and the victor was immediately revealed. Lauren's shadowy fist broke through Klaus' fist and continued its unstoppable journey.

Extending his hand, Klaus suddenly summoned seven identical-looking men, ''The Seven.''

The shadowy fist collided with the first summon. The summon coughed blood and melted away like a doll. However, the shadowy fist also disappeared.

Klaus lifted the gun and was about to fire. However, then long black whips pierced through the ground, cuffing all his limbs!

''Shadowy Binds!'' From Lauren's fingers, the long black whips seeped into the ground. The more he pulled, the tighter the cuffs got.

With lips curving into a smile, Lauren said coldly, ''You have gotten weaker!''

''H-Have I?'' Klaus uttered with slight difficulty as he tried to remove his limbs from the binds. However, couldn't.

''Now, you shall die as a traitor.'' Lauren pulled out his dagger, the blade styled like a tiger's claw.

''Haaaahhh…'' With a long, steady breath, Klaus looked toward the cloudy sky. Then, from around the rims of his pupils, a red tint started spreading.

''The Red Menace…''

Lauren pulled the black whips tighter and finally moved forwards. As he walked next to Klaus with the dagger in hand, he lifted it, prepared to plunge it into his heart.

However, as soon as that thought arose in his mind, Klaus' figure mysteriously started glowing.

''Hmm?'' At first, the glow was dim, barely noticeable. But then, it became brighter and brighter until Lauren had to close his eyes before they would rupture!

''ARGH, what the hell?!'' He shouted while covering his face. The red glow engulfed the entire forest, even noticeable from the City of Fall!

The citizens steered their gazes in the direction of the Howling Forest. Suddenly, it looked like a red sea had appeared in the forest.

At the center of the red glow, Klaus' mouth stretched into a massive grin.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

At the final countdown, the whole forest exploded!

As the red glow acted as the dynamite and Klaus' grin as a detonator, a thick dust cloud in the form of a red rose appeared in the sky, stunning every onlooker and causing a sense of dread to spread among the mass!

Lauren's body was charred instantly. Nothing was left of him. Even he floated in the dark space where players first appeared after the death.

''Hah!'' King Klaus opened his eyes, and a foggy view extended into his view. He lay in the middle of the dust cloud, in the destroyed forest. The trees were gone, and the ground was charred.

''Indeed… the might of the Legacy Skills are not to be underestimated…'' Klaus muttered. However, he wasn't satisfied with his legacy because he needed the legacy of the White Death to complete a secret quest. Without that, the chance of becoming stronger was slim to none.

[Name: King Klaus]

[Legacy: Vasily Zaytsev]

Crack…

''Eh?'' Looking below, a crack at the size of a hair strand appeared. However, that crack soon turned far bigger, and the ground fell apart!

Falling down to the hole, Klaus' scream echoed in the charred forest. However, no one heard him as the walls of the enormous hole muffled his shouts.

However, soon later, his back crashed into a ground. Even the sound thud only echoed around these walls before disappearing.

''What the hell?'' Rubbing his aching head, he stood up to look around. The walls were dark, the ground grayish. As the dust cloud covered the forest, not even a shimmer of sunlight reached into the hole, making it eerily dark.

However, at that moment, a sound of wind resounded before a tiny glow emerged from the distance. A whirling green portal appeared, at first, it was the size of a baby's hand, but then it grew bigger. Now, it could fit an adult man with ease.

''What is that?'' With a strange sensation, Klaus slowly walked to the whirling portal. He didn't understand the current feeling he felt, but it felt like the portal was calling out for me. Like dropping here wasn't a fluke, instead fate.

Without noticing, he stepped into the whirling portal. The ground that got broken repaired itself, and the destroyed forest became the center of attention for the following week.

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