Infinite Realm

Chapter 387 - 381 : Hidden Hand

"Mark?" A deep voice said with surprise.

As the voice sounded, Sato, the Kobold King and the [Ranger] all turned their attention towards it.

"Captain!" The [Ranger] shouted out with relief.

"Where are Var and Kito?" Silver Wolf asked, still a bit stunned by their absence.

"...dead." Mark answered with a pained expression.

Silver Wolf widened his eyes with shock but still maintained his calm as he surveyed the area. Beside him was Azure Dragon and behind was the combined force of Emperor's Might's raid team as well as the Howling wolf Battalion.

 While it was true that Sato had gave spared his attention towards the new arrivals, it was only a glance. After that, he had his focus fully locked on the Kobold King as he reengaged it in battle. This act was easily noticed by the two leaders and their forces, and they felt as if in the eyes of this cloaked young man they were nothing but just some measly figures.

"Damn you…!" Iron Bear gritted his teeth in anger as he was about to approach Sato but Silver Wolf stopped him.

"Let him have his fun." Silver Wolf sneered.

"When it's almost over, we move in."

Currently, Sato had ignored the party and was taking on the Kobold King in a one-on-one match. Even though the monster was heavily injured, it was still in berserk mode and so remained a tough opponent even for Sato.

Silver Wolf's intention was to let Sato do all the work and bring the Kobold King's HP down to the dregs before finishing it off. As for how they could see the HP of the monster, it was thanks to a special equipment wielded by one of his men. It was an equipment of the [Appraiser] subclass so even with the level difference, they were still able to bypass the criteria of injuring the target and could simply glance at its attributes. However, the system was fair hence, because of the level difference, they could only view one attribute of the Kobold King which was its [Vitality]. This enabled them to go one step further and see its HP too. 

Since the player in charge of the equipment had to place his entire focus on the Kobold King, the members of the raid team didn't know what Sato's level was but they weren't worried either. In Silver Wolf's perspective, Sato was either a level 10 or 11 peak Expert, possibly at the rank of a 'King'. Chances were that he might even be a level 12 player closing in on the Monster-class Expert rank since he was able to fend off the weakened Kobold King all on his own. But even at that, Silver Wolf wasn't scared. 

Their team was made up of one of the strongest group of players in IR together with a subdivision of a super guild working alongside them. If they couldn't take down a player at such a caliber, especially with all their prepared raid gear and items, it would be a disgrace to both guilds; a stain in their name that would be difficult to wipe out. 

Even if by some miracle, they weren't able to take Sato down, Silver Wolf still had a trump card that could even help them defeat a true-blue Monster-class Expert player. If he were to actually use it straight away, they could defeat the Sato and the Kobold King without Azure Dragon's aid but doing so would incur certain repercussions that he may not be able to handle later. That was why Silver Wolf left this option as a last resort. Having Sato do all the deed before using Emperor's Might as his shield would be better than showing all his cards right away. Despite the fact that Silver Wolf was indeed a veteran military figure, he wasn't one of those muscle brains or only good at shooting guns. He took commanding classes and military tactics lessons so he was a bit versed at tricks like these.

'It would have been better if we could use him. Damn that treaty.'

*Clang* 

As Sato's sword collided with the Kobold King's claws once more, he frowned seeing that the newcomers didn't join in the battle. His original intention was to take them down during the chaos as well as find a chance to escape once he had done so but Silver Wolf's plan had ruined that. The same went for the Kobold King who planned to use the chance when Sato would be held back by the others to escape.

The two crafty beings, engaged in battle with each other easily saw through the plot of their stalkers. This led to the scenario where neither side fought with everything they had. The Kobold King was engineered by the game's developers to think like a human so it reacted as one, whereas Sato who was a true flesh and blood, also acted as one. However, to prevent the Kobold King from healing back again, Sato had to put in more effort than it did and the Kobold King also had to match his pace lest it ends up dying. Hence, the duo's idea of holding back wasn't something that would remain feasible for long bu the progress of the battle was still stuck at an impasse.

"At this rate, it will take a lot of time before they are finished. Who knows, maybe another concealed team could make it here by that time. It's best that we move in for the kill now." 

Though the raid team of Emperor's might was slightly stronger than that of Battle Wolves, Azure Dragon didn't want to take the risk and rush forward, turning his men into cannon-fodder. There was also the fact that suddenly jumping in for the kill would leave Silver Wolf dissatisfied and would lead to more problems later on. Right now was a perfect opportunity to lessen the beef between them and if done properly, the two guilds would be able to avoid a guild war this early into the game.

Silver Wolf thought about Azure Dragon's words for a while before he replied,

"I agree.. It's about time we wrap this up and go home."