By the seventh day, Chris finally became the second person after Ethan to break into
Stage A
.
The moment he stabilized the breakthrough, he pulled out of the Tier-boost special training and rushed straight to Atlas City Compound.
"Ethanâwhatâs the situation now?"
In a nondescript little room in the residential district, Chris found Ethan laying low.
Ethan gave a humorless laugh. "What do you think? Weâre treating those bastards like honored guests."
He rubbed his face, irritated. Watching those Winged Clan live like emperors inside the compound made his skin crawl.
Thankfully, Maxwell and the others had the patience to swallow their pride. If this were Fallen Star City, Ethan was pretty sure he wouldâve already snapped and made a move.
Chris lowered his voice. "Want me to sneak over and take a few of them out?"
Ethan shook his head immediately. "No. Youâll spook them. We cannot let a single one get away."
He exhaled slowly. "Weâve waited this long. A few more days wonât kill us."
"Fair," Chris said, nodding. "Now that Iâve broken through, the others should be close too."
"Yeah."
Ethan studied him. "By the wayâwhat did you get at Stage A? Any new abilities?"
Chrisâs eyes sharpened a little, like heâd been waiting to talk about it.
"After reaching Stage A, I got a debuff skillâa Void-type ability called
Void Malediction
. It weakens the targetâs power, defense, and speed. Solid support skill."
He continued, counting it off more personally. "My own ability gained
Ambush Strike
. Triple damage on the hit. If I stack it with the strength boost I got at Stage B, I can burst out
six times
my normal damage. Thatâs basically my finisher."
Then he grimaced. "But Ambush Strike forces me to reveal myself, so I donât get my 50% stealth-attack bonus while invisible. And after I use it, I canât go invisible again for a full minute, so I canât just throw it out whenever."
He sounded genuinely annoyed at the limitation.
Ethan chuckled. "Dude, thatâs still insane. The stronger the skill, the more it costs. And your âcostâ is pretty light."
Chrisâs expression eased. "Yeah. Honestly, with my current strengthâif I use the strength boost and Ambush Strike, plus the sharpness edge I apply to my weaponâI should be able to assassinate a
Tier 27
expert."
"Thatâs basically my damage range," Ethan said, grinning. "Youâre catching up."
Chris shook his head with a wry smile. "I canât compare to a freak like you. I just hit hard. Youâre a walking cheat code with no real weaknesses."
Then his smile faded a touch. "Only thing Iâm still not happy about... I still donât have any long-range attacks or AoE."
"You donât need them," Ethan said. "AoE is great for clearing trash mobs, but against someone stronger than you, it usually falls off hard. Your kit is built to punch above your tier. Thatâs worth way more than wide-area skills."
Chris thought about it, then nodded, the tension leaving his shoulders. "Yeah. Makes sense. Let them handle the small fry."
Ethanâs tone turned serious again. "With your current strength, you could probably kill most of that group. But if we canât guarantee we keep every last one from escaping, donât move yet. We wait until the others arrive."
"Got it."
For the next few days, the two of them stayed hidden in Atlas City Compound, waiting for the rest to break through.
But the others still hadnât made itâ
âand trouble hit first.
Under Maxwellâs arrangements, the Winged Clan had been pampered nonstop: rich food, beautiful women, constant service. After moving into the central mansion, theyâd barely stepped outside.
Then, out of nowhere, they seemed to lose their minds.
That day, they left the mansion and started wandering around the compound.
And that was where everything went wrong.
Maxwell had ordered everyone not to speak Federation languageâuse other languages instead.
But plenty of people in the Atlas Federation didnât actually know any other languages. For the first couple days, they managed by just keeping quiet. Over time, with the Winged Clan staying inside and not showing their faces, people relaxed. They started talking again.
So when the Winged Clan suddenly appeared among the streets, they immediately caught itâhumans speaking a language from Skyreach Continentâs human race.
The Winged Clanâs faces twisted with rage.
They thought theyâd been played.
And on the spot, they killed several hundred people.
"Since these people can speak the human language, then they
have
to be with the group weâre looking for," one Winged Clan expert spat, fury shaking his voice. "Maybe it was that group ordering them to mislead us on purpose."
"Yeah," another said, eyes narrowing. "That explains why theyâve been so obedient. It was all an act."
"In that case, we butcher this place. I donât believe those people wonât show themselves!"
"...But," a third one cut in, hesitating, "Iâm kind of... reluctant."
He looked genuinely torn, almost irritated at himself for it.
"These past few days, I finally learned what it means to
enjoy life
. Theyâve served us so well. Why kill them? If we kill them, we wonât get food this good anymore. No more service, either."
That landed harder than it shouldâve. A few of the others wavered too.
The truth was, theyâd gotten used to being treated like royalty.
The leaderâs face hardened. "Hmph. If we donât flush that group out, and Lord Aeralon finds this place first, weâre dead."
"But we already pissed off Lord Aeralon by not returning," someone muttered. "Whether we kill them or not, weâre not making it out alive."
"Thatâs not the same," the leader shot back. "If we find the group, itâs a massive merit. We can say we were delayed because we were tracking them. Not only will Lord Aeralon not punish usâheâll reward us."
"...Thatâs true," one of them admitted slowly.
"Fine," another said, expression turning cold. "Then... sorry about this."
The Winged Clan experts looked down at the crowd below like predators sizing up livestock.
The leader spoke, voice like a knife.
"I know youâre connected to the people weâre looking for. Bring them here. Now. If you donât, you all die."
"And if you do bring them to us," he added, tone almost indulgent, "then for the sake of how well youâve served us these days... Iâll spare you."
"¿Qué dijiste? No entiendo." The guard captain answered, still stubbornly playing dumb.
Shhkâ!
A blade of wind snapped through the air.
The captain was cut cleanly in half. His body separated and collapsed in two pieces before the blood even fully registered.
The Winged Clan man snorted. "Still acting with me, even now?"
No one else dared make a sound.
"Iâll count to ten," the leader said, eyes sweeping the crowd. "If you donât hand them over by then, we start slaughtering the city."
On the other side of the compound, Maxwell and the others had rushed to Ethan and Chrisâs hideout and relayed what was happening outside.
Ethanâs brows drew together.
"So the delay plan finally broke."
He stood. "Alright. Then we go meet them."
His tone sharpened into command. "Notify the
Fallen Star Guard
âeveryone. Get them here. Even if we have to trade lives, we cannot let a single one of them escape."
Chrisâs gaze flicked up. Ethan turned to him.
"Chris. Go invisible and stay off to the side. Be ready to strike at any moment."
"Yes," Chris said immediately, already shifting his weight like he was about to vanish.
Maxwell swallowed. "Then... what about us?"
Ethan didnât sugarcoat it. "You guysâhonestly, your strength canât affect them at all. Hide. Minimize casualties."
Maxwellâs face tightened. "...Alright."
Then, like he couldnât help himself, he added, bitter and urgent, "We actually developed a new
laser cannon
, but we donât have any high-Tier crystal cores on hand. If we did, it could definitely hurt them."
Ethan paused. "Oh? How high-Tier? And what kind of output are we talking?"
Maxwellâs eyes lit up despite everything, the engineer in him pushing through the fear.
"This laser cannon can load
ninety-nine crystal cores
. It extracts their energy instantly and fires a single high-powered shot. If we load it with ninety-nine
Tier 20
crystal cores, it can
definitely
injure a
Stage A
expert."
His voice carried real confidence.
They hadnât spent all this time just surviving. On weapons R&D, theyâd never stopped. And after this long, theyâd finally broken through.