Chapter 128 – Escape

When he had cleared the crowd of purple-robed Dharma Commanders in the lobby once,

the absorption transceiver rang.

Checking it, it was Alpha.

“I have found Kaiser.”

It was truly surprising.

To think Kaiser was alive without having died.

In fact, he had thought he was dead.

Because there had been no news, and if Zodiac had targeted him, there was no reason to keep him alive.

At any rate, it was peculiar.

“Can you bring him?”

“I think it will be possible if the target cooperates.”

Since he knew Kaiser well, the answer to this was already set.

“He’s a guy who will cooperate on his own. Bring him back no matter what. I’m in no position to go and help.”

“Confirmed.”

As the doors of several elevators heading to the lobby opened, a crowd from the Dharma Mage Division poured out.

Now, not only Dharma Commanders but also Dharma Officers were mixed in, and those who couldn’t use the elevators reached the lobby directly through portals.

A place where reinforcements were supplied as much as they were cut down.

That was indeed the base of the Dharma Mage Division.

“Sigh, they reinforced again in the meantime. Why is there no end no matter how many times I cut them down?”

A white-robed Dharma Officer walked out and scanned the messy lobby.

He wore a highly displeased expression.

“Who are you? An assassin sent by the Purgatory Witches?”

Relations with the Purgatory Witches were still bad.

So, when he asked that, no answer came, but instead, a Dharma Officer standing next to him belatedly recognized Rashid, who was wearing the Class 1 mana armor.

“It’s that inquisitor.”

“An inquisitor?”

Only then did several Dharma Officers begin to recognize Rashid.

“Correct. It is that inquisitor. With what kind of guts did he come here?”

“Did he really come alone?”

“He’s fearless. To think he came here alone even if he is an inquisitor.”

The Dharma Officers were dumbfounded.

Unless he was insane, to think he would conceive the idea of invading the Dharma Mage Division headquarters single-handedly.

“Inquisitor. You must be prepared, right? Whatever the reason, you won’t return in one piece.”

Several Dharma Officers had already equipped demonic cloaks, and the number of additional Dharma Officers was quite large.

“All Dharma mages, except for the Dharma Commanders, pull back outside.”

As soon as the Dharma Officer’s instruction was issued,

the Dharma mages, who had been meaninglessly taking up space, began to move in large numbers through portals.

It was a command given because the lobby was narrow.

Thanks to that, breathing room was created as space opened up in the lobby that had been crowded with no place to step, but it was not a very welcoming situation for Rashid.

Since their combat power had risen even higher than before.

Before the Dharma Officers could step forward, one raised a hand to stop them.

“Wait. That gentleman is coming. Standby for a moment.”

Who that was could be known without even having to speak.

A portal opened, and soon he appeared.

Zodiac wearing a black bamboo hat and the Right Grand Dharma Officer assisting him made their appearance.

Now, only the leadership-level combat forces of Dharma Officer and above remained in the lobby, and the rest were all filled with purple-robed Dharma Commanders.

Zodiac’s voice echoed in Rashid’s mind.

-Who are you?

“So it’s Zodiac.”

One of the Dharma Officers paid respect to Zodiac and announced his identity.

-An inquisitor?

Yes, an inquisitor of the Order. It seems he invaded single-handedly.”

An inquisitor was one of the highest-tier combat forces of the Order, possessing a status and power similar to a Dharma Officer.

-Yet, he came alone?

Zodiac also seemed to find the fact that he had come alone hard to believe.

-Hahahahaha! To think he came alone.

Zodiac’s voice transmission struck everyone.

-Step aside. This seat will deal with that inquisitor.

Perhaps thinking of him as a desirable prey,

Zodiac thought of stepping forward himself.

Seeing this, Rashid smiled bitterly.

‘Not yet.’

There was a Grand Dharma Officer equipped with a field domain, and the number of Dharma Officers was also quite large.

Facing all of them in this place was practically close to a suicidal act.

‘At least I must implant the Immortal Heart.’

Setting that aside, catching Zodiac here was not on the schedule.

The goal was only one.

After verifying Kaiser’s life or death, if he was alive, it was to take him and escape.

-Inquisitor. I wish to taste your blade.

The moment Zodiac’s fingertips touched the hilt of his sword, the corners of Rashid’s mouth, hidden behind his visor, curved slightly.

‘Sorry, but next time.’

-Casting Abyss Fall.

He used the power he had received from the archdemon in the past.

Since he was the most problematic one here, he judged that if he just disposed of Zodiac first, he could somehow escape from the rest.

‘Even if he fell into Hell, he will return alive. Setting others aside, Zodiac will definitely come back alive.’

As Zodiac vanished in an instant, all the Dharma Officers, including the Grand Dharma Officer, wore looks of puzzlement.

“What is this? Where did he go?”

“Is he nearby?”

“His presence… has completely vanished.”

The Dharma Officers scanned the surroundings in bewilderment, and the flustered Grand Dharma Officer was no different.

“Inquisitor, what on earth did you do?”

Just as the Grand Dharma Officer’s question reached him,

along with a bizarre roar that shook the lobby,

his bike, which had come directly to the lobby via Ghost Riding, revealed itself along with Kaiser.

Rummmmble!

Looking around the surroundings, Kaiser saw Rashid, who was surrounded by the Dharma Mage Division.

“Haha, it’s absolute chaos. Can we even escape this?”

The Grand Dharma Officer recognized Kaiser, who had escaped from the restraint prison.

He was a person that gentleman cherished and coddled.

He must not be allowed to leave like this.

“Catch them! Do not let them escape.”

Upon that, the white-robed Dharma Officers deployed their magic formulas in unison.

Magic formulas on a completely different level from the Dharma mages began to deploy in mid-air, and soon they began to launch ruthless attacks toward them.

Of course, there was a slight adjustment in power.

Since they were numerous, and the goal was subdual, not execution.

Explosive sounds and blasts occurred, and as various magic blended together, vision was temporarily blurred.

However, what remained after the smoke cleared was Rashid, who had already mounted the bike, and Kaiser, who had hopped onto the back.

Wheeeeeeng!

They had blocked it with the protective barrier by the Aegis system, but it was not blocked for free.

-Current remaining fuel level.

-17%

It was no different from a warning message sent by Alpha.

Judging escape to be the top priority, Rashid gripped the handlebars tightly.

‘See you next time.’

“Turn on both Stealth and Ghost Riding. We’re getting the hell out of here at full speed.”

As the roaring bike sped out of the lobby in an instant, the Dharma Mage Division was not about to just stand by and watch.

Suppressing intense rage, the Grand Dharma Officer issued an order to the entire Dharma Mage Division in the lobby.

“Pursue them. It doesn’t matter if you kill them.”

This was an order possible because of what Zodiac had said in the past.

He had heard that if Kaiser attempted to escape unreasonably, they could kill him without hesitation.

As soon as the order fell, the entire Dharma Mage Division, including the Dharma Officers, took out magitech bikes for pursuit from their sub-spaces and mounted them.

Wheeeeeeng!

In the lobby, which had grown noisy with the sound of mana stone engines,

an countless crowd of magitech bikes began to move in pursuit of Rashid, who had fled ahead.

In addition, the Grand Dharma Officer left behind also attempted Demonic Cloak Shedding for the pursuit.

“Demonic Cloak Shedding, Vajra Beastification!”

The Grand Dharma Officer soon transformed into a massive iron-clad gorilla monster.

Briefly beating his chest with both fists,

Craaaash!

the entire glass front of the lobby collapsed with a crash.

The angered giant gorilla monster leapt with all its might through the fragments.

To him, the forest of buildings became a foothold for pursuit like a forest of trees, and in his transformed state, the Grand Dharma Officer launched into hot pursuit, relentlessly smashing through multiple buildings.

Wheeeeeeng!

A Dharma Officer who had caught up right behind Rashid’s tail recognized him sprinting while ignoring objects on the road.

“Sprinting on the other side. All Dharma Officers, pursue from the mirror world. The rest can target him from the base field.”

As another command was issued after the order,

all the Dharma Officers chasing on bikes entered the mirror world to begin their pursuit, while the rest of the Dharma Mage Division remained in reality to continue chasing.

“Haha, they are incredibly persistent. Can we even escape this?”

The opponents were already pursuing them by interfering even with the mirror world.

If they had sufficient fuel, there would be nothing to worry about, but Rashid, who was secretly concerned about the remaining fuel, stopped Ghost Riding and returned to the real world.

-Remaining fuel level 15%

The cloaking field also vanished.

Sprinting terrifyingly, Rashid began to perform acrobatic maneuvers to avoid the raining mana bullets.

All traffic signals on the road became useless, and due to the Dharma Mage Division sticking close from all directions, the road was literally chaos itself.

On top of that, on the nearby buildings, the angry gorilla monster was chasing terrifyingly while letting out roars.

“Anyway, thank you. You saved my life.”

Rashid, busy performing acrobatic maneuvers, had no time to answer his words one by one.

“Let’s talk later. Hold on tight!”

Kaiser equipped all of the mana armor and protective artifact accessories in his inventory.

It was to prepare for any potential hits just in case.

“You even had mana armor?”

“I just carry it around. I can’t even move comfortably in it.”

“Indeed.”

Mana armor was not an item that a Player who hadn’t invested a single stat point could easily wear and move in.

Since there was little movement in this case, it strongly felt like it was worn simply for protection.

‘This is tough.’

Continuing his acrobatic run, Rashid suddenly turned his head to the side.

A Dharma Officer who had caught up closely in the mirror world was crossing over into reality, preparing to fire a mana bullet at him.

“A mana bullet is coming.”

-Activating ADAS.

Sprinting in a straight line, Rashid’s bike began to soar as if flying into the air.

It flew into the air briefly due to the indirect intervention of Ghost Riding.

Thanks to that, the mana bullet aimed from the side hit elsewhere, and his bike, which had jumped into the air briefly, landed back on the ground and began to run terrifyingly.

Like this, the attacks of the Dharma Mage Division continued endlessly, and mana bullets were also rampant in all directions,

but they could not stop his sprint.

“More importantly, is there a plan?”

They couldn’t just keep escaping like this forever.

So, when Kaiser asked, Rashid replied nonchalantly.

“Of course there’s a plan. Crossing over through the portal at the immigration checkpoint.”

“Just like this?”

Not answering, Rashid accelerated as he was.

Kaiser, not expecting an answer, muttered to himself.

“Sigh… incredible. To think you’d plan to pass through there just like this.”

Indeed, once they left Nebula City, it was the Empire.

The Dharma Mage Division wouldn’t pursue them all the way to the Empire.

“By the way, this bike is mine, yet you took it nicely.”

At that moment,

Craaaash!

the giant gorilla monster landed in front of them.

The gorilla monster, which had landed as if leaping, moved both hands to snatch Rashid, who was running like lightning, but missed him by a hair’s breadth.

Losing Rashid in an instant, the Grand Dharma Officer leapt back up into the forest of buildings.

Rashid was busy driving, but Kaiser, who had some leisure in his own way, smiled bitterly as he scanned the chaotic surroundings.

‘By the way, who is going to bear the aftermath of this…’

The road they had passed through was practically no different from ruins.

If there were a person in charge, it would become highly troublesome.

‘Well, why would I care. It’s fine as long as we never come here again.’

Soon, the building containing the Sky Island immigration checkpoint came into Rashid’s view.

“Switch to Ghost Riding and full acceleration.”

-Confirmed.

His bike, accelerating terrifyingly, traversed the area utilizing the Ghost Riding function.

Before the Dharma Mage Division could catch up, it crossed over into the Empire’s territory in an instant.