Second World

It didn't take long for Jack to find the stairs to go up. There were also no guards. Most of the available soldiers should be down there fighting his army, but he saw several red dots on his radar. Those must be the puppet sovereign and his guards inside the throne room.

A pair of large doors barred the way into the throne room but there were no defensive diagrams on the doors. Jack slammed his body into the doors and they opened with a bang.

Inside, he saw Gridhacker sitting on the throne. Beside him was the draconian marquess, Guzrim. On the two sides of the throne room were eight level 75 special elite draconian guards. Both Gridhacker and Guzrim were startled to find Jack up here when the battle was still going on down there.

"Seize the intruder!" Guzrim ordered.

The eight draconian guards ran towards Jack upon the order. Jack didn't blame these guards. They were bound by the world system to obey the one who sat on the throne, but Guzrim was different. That draconian marquess should have enough free will to challenge the sovereign if he wanted to. But evidently, he didn't.

"You, moron! Don't you know what that guy's master is doing to this country's citizens?!" Jack scolded Guzrim.

Guzrim seemed hurt by the scoldings. But it was too late for him, he was far too deep in this mess already.

When the guards arrived, Jack used Power Swing before following up with Whirlwind Slash and Ice Ring. Almost all his big skills and spells are in cooldown after using them in the battle down there, but he didn't think he needed those skills to deal with the opponents here.

The guards were smashed away by Jack's swords. Some of them were frozen after being hit by the Ice Ring. Jack used Shooting Dash and arrived before the throne in an instant.

Guzrim, who was about to cast a spell, was smashed by Jack's Flame Strike. He was sent crashing straight into the far wall. Gridhacker was too shocked to do anything.

Jack readied his Brave Slash. But before he executed the slash, he sensed something that suddenly appeared right behind him. He used Flash Step just as a fist coated in dark energy punched through the afterimage he left behind.

When he reappeared, he found eighteen oriental dragons swarming at him. His swords burst into countless sword lights. The burst attack of his Formless Flowing Sword Style clashed with those eighteen dragons. The shockwave resulting from the impacts forced him to take a few steps back.

The impact sent the one who had conjured the dragons further away than Jack. Long landed near Gridhacker who was standing next to the throne.

"You…? How come you are here?" Jack asked.

Jack looked around. Were there more hidden opponents? He studied his radar. He also used his mana sense. Other than Long, Wong, and his grandfather, he didn't think any players could fool both his God-eye monocle and mana sense.

"Well. Honestly, I'm surprised to find you here as you are to find me," Long answered Jack with a sneer.

It was Master who commanded Long to come to Messephyria. In the case that Aldryth successfully reached the capital, Long was to assassinate her when she was trying to retake the throne. It turned out Jack was the one who came.

When Jack entered, Long was hiding in the corner using a rogue's non-standard skill. This skill was similar to Jack's previous cloak's skill. It was called Shadow Conceal and it made him invisible when he was in shadowy areas. Moving would end the skill. Jack was still unaware of him when he came out of hiding because he was also using mana concealment.

"Good," Jack uttered.

"Why are you grinning?" Long asked.

"Because I can take out Master's puppet sovereign and one of his heavenly enforcers at the same time," Jack answered.

"Heh. Pretty confident of you," Long snickered.

"I am!" Jack used Sword of Light.

Long easily dodged the crescent light by twisting his body while moving forward. At the same time, his fist punched in Jack's direction. A huge fist made of energy came rushing out from that punch. It was Long's special class skill, Lord's Fist.

Jack used Brave Slash. The Lord's Fist was split in half from the slash. Jack also used the One-word Slash when performing Brave Slash. The slash energy continued onward, creating a long gash along the floor.

Long again dodged the attack with a simple side step without slowing his forward momentum. Nine Suns appeared around him as he prepared to punch at Jack, but then he sensed the Jack in front of him became hollow. Jack had again used Flash Step. But this time, Long didn't sense where Jack had teleported to.

When Long was still focusing on his mana sense to find out Jack's whereabouts, he heard Gridhacker yell a warning, but it was too late. He felt a slash in his side. He turned and was surprised to see Jack was there. The nine suns around him that were floating in the air dissipated after Long lost his concentration.

Jack followed up the attack using Penta Slash. Long hurriedly moved back, he received the first two slashes but managed to block the remaining three.

Throughout the exchange, he was extremely baffled. He still couldn't sense Jack!

When he used mana concealment, he had to let go of the concealing art at the last moment before he attacked. To be able to conceal one's mana while attacking showed that Jack's mana concealment was better than his. Such concealment could be described as the perfect level of mana concealment.

Long was not willing to believe it, but he couldn't deny the fact in front of him. When his mind was still in turmoil, the air next to his head shimmered. He sensed something was about to assault him from there. This attack could not be concealed. At the same time, he felt danger.

His body bulged with Muscle Tendon Transformation. It was also burning. His HP, which had fallen to almost half from Jack's three slashes, started recovering.

He ducked just as a black light thrust through the shimmering air. The black light went past above him by a hairbreadth. Just as he was relieved that he dodged the assault, another black light came slicing from under. This second black light pierced through his chest.