The Achievement Junkie

The city was in darkness, only lit up by the scattered lightning strikes. Two gruesome battles were taking place. Though the cetuses were powerful and numerous, so were the soldiers and those who had drunken the boost potions, keeping things at a stalemate.

Back at the association building, the sudden appearance of an Earthen Ape pushed to the tide of battle in favor of the adventurers. Thanks to it facing the strongest syndicate member single-handedly and Daliea doing the same with the second strongest, the remaining two were being overwhelmed. Even with their shadowy abilities, it was impossible to avoid that many people's strikes forever.

The hooded man stared at Rydel and Zariff. "It's that brat hero's fault, isn't it?" When he got no response, he chuckled. "Very well, I guess I'll have to take him with me."

A forceful gust of wind washed over the area. A large figure descended from the clouds and went straight for Jack.

"A wyvern?!"

The strong adventurers instantly recognized the beast. Daliea showed worry in her eyes as she left her opponent to the surrounding adventurers and confronted the wyvern.

Uninterested in a fight with Daliea, the wyvern gave an ear-splitting cry and spit a fireball at the woman.

Bringing out her full power, she hurled the flame cyclone at the wyvern. The cyclone destroyed the fireball and became weaker, but it was strong enough to redirect the wyvern toward Daliea.

The two started to clash, proving that the wyvern was more fearsome than the syndicate members and that Daliea had been hiding her true strength.

However, not long after the battle between the two began, Daliea's figure started to become illusory. Soon, everyone got a good look at her true self.

"A goblin?" grunted the hooded man, startled to see who she really was.

"Goblins!"

The crowd panicked when a few people in the crowd and on the battlefield also turned into goblins.

Rydel was fast to act and yelled, "The goblins are allies to the king! They've agreed to fight and protect the city!"

Many people still ran further away in fear, but no one attacked them. The adventurers were surprised but they all smiled. Seeing that the higher-ups had so many tricks up their sleeves made them happy. They were even more confident of their victory now.

"Die, filthy beast!" With Daliea dispelling the illusion, she fully focused on facing the wyvern. Their battle was neck and neck, neither was stronger than the other.

The hooded man groaned loudly in disgust. Not only was he unable to capture Jack, but his personal beast was being suppressed by a goblin.

He was only able to control the cetus pride lord with the help of a powerful item given to him by the syndicate. That wyvern, however, was a beast he had caught and raised for years. The wyvern was his pride and joy, yet while facing the people of Reinolt, of all places, he and his beast were being suppressed.

"Enough!" Wild energy surrounded the hooded man, making him appear draconic. His eyes became bestial, his teeth became fangs, and his hands became claws. A tail emerged from his robes and swung back and forth. "I've had enough!"

The man lunged at Maynard and Zariff, eager to finish things as quick as possible.

"Come!" Zariff also stepped forward, meeting the man's claw with his fist, not his axe.

As the man smiled, he made contact with the fist and groaned. Shock spread across his face. "What the--"

A blade covered in lightning dashed through the air in a fraction of a second, trying to claim the man's life.

"NO!" The hooded man used the punch's strength to propel himself backward and swipe his other claw at the electrifying blade attack, canceling it out and leaving both hands feeling numb.

He glared intensely at his two opponents. In the darkness of the night and storm shy, the man failed to recognize the aura around Zariff as bestial, though it was the same color as it always had been.

Seeing static electricity wash over Rydel, however, was a clear sign to him that his opponents had also been holding their punches against him. But he was unable to understand how they could both produce bestial energy.

The hooded man was a beast tamer, so it made sense for him to use such energies. He had drunken wyvern blood on many occasions and used secret methods to enhance his body to better sync with his wyvern. But Zariff and Maynard were clearly in the brawler and samurai sub-classes. It should be impossible for them to use bestial energies!

"How…" asked the man.

"Ya will die soon, so no use telling ya," answered Maynard as he lunged forward with his lightning covered katanas.

The man dodged one attack and repelled the other with his tail, knocking Maynard away to create some distance. Then, he rushed Zariff with a full-power claw attack. His hand was light a glowing wyvern's talon.

Just as the two were about to clash, a feeling of death came over the hooded man. He immediately pulled back and fled at top speed.

It was a quick dodge, but the man wasn't able to fully evade Maynard's lightning enhanced Bloody Cross attack.

Now that Maynard was able to use lightning, his speed had increased dramatically and his attacks explosive power did the same. Combining that with his Sudden Death and Bloody Cross skills was absolutely terrifying.

A small cross had appeared on the hooded man's chest. It was only superficial and barely cut through his robes, but it chilled the man's bones. He had almost lost his life and to a weak lv. 33 no less!

At the moment, Maynard was stronger but the man knew that they had used unnatural means to do so. That only added to the shame he was feeling after struggling to complete what he thought would be a simple mission. He even had a cetus army, his wyvern, and some shadow assassins, yet he continued to fail at completing his assignment.

"Why don't you all just die!" The hooded man's bestial aura exploded, growing leaps and bounds over Zariff's and Maynard's.

The battle grew chaotic as the hooded man used everything he had against the two. Their boosted strength helped, but they were facing a special talent from the Chaos Syndicate. How could the fight be easy?

Their fight continued as all three of them began to tire each other out, pushing toward a final confrontation.

The other adventurers were at a stalemate, including Daliea and the wyvern, who's battle was especially brutal. Both had been seriously injured and one wrong move could mean the end of everything.

"I see. This explains everything."

A voice echoed through the air. It wasn't loud, yet it reached across the entire city. Everyone instantly realized something. A stong combatant had arrived, and no one knew what side he was on.

"Sir, help us and you'll receive benefits beyond belief!" yelled the hooded man. He didn't dare to take the situation lightly.

"Oh? And why would I want to ally with the syndicate? I don't want to hide my face and take orders from pompous fools," answered the voice.

The syndicate members frowned. They were instantly recognized and humiliated by the omnipresent voice.

Everyone else was smiling from ear-to-ear. Had a hero come to help? Who was strong enough to belittle the Chaos Syndicate like that.

Near the pier, a man started to laugh. With each passing second, his laughter would grow louder and louder until he could no longer control himself.

"My king, what's wrong?" asked Tomas.

"Nothing's wrong, nothing at all. It's the complete opposite actually," stated Leodoro with a smile. "We've won."

Above the pier, a strange wind began to blow.

"Rooooaarr…"

A cry of pain and agony escaped the cetus pride lord's mouth. Before it's cry was over, the cetus' head fell to the ground. It's strong, muscular body stood still like a statue, but only for a moment till it collapsed, lifeless.

"What…" All the soldiers were in awe.

Then, lightning crackled and spread across a lot of the remaining cetuses. The king had already started attacking the other cetuses as if he expected the pride lord to be dead the moment the voice sounded out.

At the association building, the hooded man's face sunk. He looked miserable. His link with the pride lord was shattered, proving that the mighty beast was slain.

"Who are you? You dare threaten the Chaos Syndicate?!" The hooded man felt like going crazy, trying to scare the man even if it seemed hopeless. It was all he could do to try and save himself.

The voice started laughing. "Why would I listen to someone who tries to use the syndicate's reputation, despite only being a deputy?"

The hooded man started breathing heavily. Without any difficulty, the voice could instantly guess his position in the Chaos Syndicate. That could only mean that whoever owned that voice knew quite a bit about the syndicate and more than likely had fought members higher ranked than the hooded man.

"I've had enough of you're people wasting my time." When the voice finished speaking, a strange wind blew over the battlefield, just like what happened at the pier.

"Aaahhh…"

"AAHH!"

Multiple cries of pain rang out. Each of the syndicate members was beheaded by that strange wind. Before he knew it, that hooded man's head also fell to the ground and rolled to Zariff's feet.

Zariff bowed deeply and shouted, "Thank you! I hope one day we can meet face-to-face so we can thank you properly!"

There was no response. In seconds, the clouds and the storm dispersed to reveal a beautiful night sky.