Martial Online.

In the yard of a house on Black Castle Street, PinkDragon and her female streamer friends fought against a horde of zombies.

They weren't the only ones, as screams and the sound of weapons swooshing could be heard throughout the street.

The chat was filled with worrying messages; even this early in the morning, over ten million viewers had gathered to watch.

It continued rising after the news began spreading across the internet.

The new viewers were shocked to find out that there were also zombies in Hightown and began wondering what the hell was happening there.

At last, the first sign of sunlight peeked over the buildings, casting a warm glow over the street.

The screaming zombies stopped moving and fell down like lifeless corpses.

"Haah... haaah..." The female streamers panted, their beautiful faces covered in sweat and their hair disheveled.

PinkDragon lowered her polearm and looked at her chat with an exhausted expression.

After seeing some of the messages, she frowned and asked. "What secret quest? What are you guys talking about?"

The chat exploded with excitement as they began sharing the news.

"A secret quest?" PinkDragon repeated it, and her friends gathered around her, wondering what it was about.

"What is it, PinkDragon?" They asked curiously.

"Apparently, there is someone trying to destroy the town; it was shared in the news, and it might be a secret quest." PinkDragon said.

"Maybe it's the prologue to the quest in Yatagarasu?" Her friends guessed.

"Perhaps." PinkDragon responded and stored her polearm in her inventory. "Let's go find out."

...

Swing, swing—Julian swung his sword with all of his might behind every swing, but each slash narrowly missed Reinhardt, who used quick and effective footwork.

With a single step to left or right, he simultaneously managed to dodge Julian's and Ambrose's strikes.

It looked like he was not even trying.

Reinhardt flowed effortlessly around their attacks, as if he were dancing.

"Ōrusutoraiku!" Julian brought his sword down powerfully, but it again missed and smashed into the ground.

Crack—the pavement split open, sending shards of concrete flying in all directions.

"Mortal Style, Nachbilder!" Ambrose chased after Reinhardt with his dizzying footwork.

Reinhardt casually swung his sword across the air, slashing through the afterimages and soon causing blood to spill as it grazed Ambrose's arm.

"Mh!" Ambrose gritted his teeth and lunged forward before Reinhardt could retreat, and then delivered a crescent-shaped slash. "High Pain!"

Reinhardt parried the strike with ease and then perked up his ears. 

He twisted his body to the side like an elegant dancer, dodging the slash from Julian that came from an unexpected angle, and then waved his katana in a wide arc, aiming for Julian's exposed flank.

Julian turned his sword around, stabbed it into the pavement, and after making it stuck to the ground, he prepared for the impact.

Reinhardt's katana smashed into the cross-shaped sword, and Julian felt the force reverberate through his arm.

"Aaaah!" Julian screamed, but slowly, his sword started bending under the pressure.

His eyes widened in shock as it looked like his sword was about to break apart.

"Slash of the Six Worlds!" Ambrose descended from the sky, bringing his sword down with incredible force.

His muscles strained as he tried to pump more strength into his arms.

The biceps bulged with exertion, veins pulsing with the effort to swing the sword down.

In this desperate moment, he made his strongest attack to date.

Inside his mind, the chains that shackled the golden door showed a small crack.

The lingering soul opened its eyes and turned to the door, its heart filled with hope and determination.

'Almost...'

Back in the fight, Reinhardt pulled back his katana and put it above his head.

The black blade then struck his katana, and shockingly, his knees bent slightly, but only for a moment, and then Reinhardt pumped more strength into his block and sent Ambrose flying away.

Ambrose was thrown across the air into a nearby window and crashed into the floor of an attic.

As he lay there, bruised and dazed, he heard the sounds of gasps.

He turned to the side, and to his shock, there was a family of four hiding in the corner, scared out of their wits.

'The fighting must've woken them up...' Ambrose groaned, and using his sword, he carefully stood up.

With the sword dragging behind him, he approached the broken window and jumped out, landing back on the pavement.

Reinhardt was delivering powerful single-handed slashes at Julian, who was struggling and continued getting more injured by the moment.

Ambrose, at that moment, gazed at his own health and sighed.

[HP: 99/460]

"If you need help, beg for it!"

His ears perked up, and he turned to look at Cerberus, who had been watching with a smirk on his face.

"Ugh..." Ambrose held his waist and then slowly approached them, his legs looking heavy with exhaustion.

Cerberus looked silently at the person he hated the most, who looked fatigued and weary from the previous fight.

It wouldn't take even one breath for him to kill him, yet he didn't feel like doing it.

"What do you want?" Ambrose stopped walking after being only two meters away from Cerberus.

"Haha." Cerberus laughed. "Mind giving me that fancy sword of yours and everything you own? Then, I consider helping you."

Ambrose looked at the sword in his hand and nodded. "If we defeat him, then yes, you may have it all."

Hearing that, everyone from Zahhak widened their eyes in shock, including Serenity, whose eyes shook.

"Huh, the hell?" Cerberus frowned. "What is with your pathetic state? You are nothing like before. You really care about those NPCs that much?"

"You wouldn't understand." Ambrose sighed. "So, do we have a deal?"

Cerberus looked at his dull eyes, which looked somewhat determined and resolute, then scoffed and extended his hand for a handshake.

"Deal."

Ambrose looked at that hand and then shook it before turning around and walking back to the fight.

"Will we really help him?" Arsenal asked from the side. "I don't like it. He must be tricking us."

"Hahaha, I truly hate him." Cerberus laughed. "This guy truly makes my blood boil, but we'll help him. Glowstar!"

"What is it?" Glowstar asked.

"Be prepared to use your voodoo magic."

"What?!" Arsenal cried out. "You will reveal that to him and waste such a valuable item?"

Even Cerberus' little sister, Andromeda, was shocked.

Serenity glanced at Cerberus with a raised eyebrow.

She was aware of Glowstar's identity as part of the Wuhan Clan, which made her scared of him, but she had never seen him use any of the infamous voodoo magic.

"Alright..." Glowstar scratched his head. "We need fresh blood, a piece of clothing, and a hair strand from that Reinhardt guy. I am not sure how you guys plan to get that."

"That will be the hard part." Cerberus drew his weapon. "I'll focus on getting the fresh blood. June, Arsenal, Bluecore, and SweetieHell try to get the piece of clothing, and Rainman, Alice, Mizuchi, and AnarchyCat, try to get hair strand!"

"Roger!"

Cerberus focused his green eyes on the back of Ambrose.

'I wonder why he is fighting so desperately. What is driving him to this extent? What is he hiding that makes him willing to risk everything?'