The Grand Duelist

"Kayn... I really appreciate that you are here to help us this time."

Inside an underground base somewhere near Reinhardt. A masculine voice could be heard echoing through the narrow passageway of the underground base.

Several figures could be seen within the cave and one of them was Kayn along with his brothers.

Kayn wore a bitter smile on his face as he replied to the man who praised him.

"Jeric... I heard that you got yourself in trouble so I came here to help you, but it looks like that trouble isn't really even a problem in the first place. You just need more members in this bandit group of yours, right? I'm sorry, but I'm not really up to something like that anymore..."

"Kayn, what are you talking about? Are you saying that you want to change? What a joke... Do you really think that all of you can change just because y'all want to change? Always remember, once a bandit, always a bandit! You are here forever and you can never escape this profession!"

Kayn raised an eyebrow, "Jeric... If you had us come here just to mock us, then spare us all these farce."

Kayn's brothers' glared at Jeric. It was clear that they were angry at what Jeric had said.

Jeric was taken aback, "No, you are misunderstanding something, Kayn... It is never my intention to mock all of you."

"Then, why are you saying that you don't think that we can change? That we will be bandits, forever?" Kayn asked.

Jeric shook his head, "That was just a misunderstanding, all right? I just said those words out of impulse. I'm sorry."

He bowed his head and looked like he was indeed repenting due to his burst of emotions.

Kayn made a sidelong glance at his brothers for a moment before he sighed. "Okay, fine... But just what is the reason why you need all of us here? Also, if you want to keep us here then you better not do anything against what I had already said..."

"In other words, while we are in here. All of your members, including you and us, shall not commit any banditry...

"You and your members cannot steal, pillage, nor kill and rape anyone. If that happened, then consider our cooperative relationship as over... As for the reason why you summoned us here, if it is related to any banditry, then count us out."

Kayn gave Jeric and ultimatum.

Jeric was astonished for a moment as he hung his head low and thought to himself.

But after a few moments of hesitation, he raised his head up and nodded, "It's fine! We will obey what you want us to do, but you must help us when we need you!"

Kayn lightly smiled, "Of course... Isn't that the reason why we are even here in the first place?"

Jeric was overjoyed by the answer that he heard.

But before he could even say anything.

Kayn had already asked him a question.

"Can you answer me now? Just what is the reason why you summoned us here?"

Jeric smiled, "Well, it is connected to the turmoil happening right now in Reinhardt. Our goals this time is to not destroy, kill, nor violate anybody. In fact, our goals are far from that!" 

Kayn was intrigued by what he heard.

He made a sidelong glance at his brothers and they all nodded in tacit understanding.

The person whom they considered as their Master was connected to the disciple of a Legendary Blacksmith. And if those rumors were right then he will certainly need their help when that time came. In other words, if Kayn and his brothers participated in this mission.

It would be like hitting two birds with one stone.

It was a win-win situation.

Jeric gave a detailed explanation and after hearing all of it.

Kayn and his brothers were overjoyed.

They looked like they couldn't even suppress their excitement anymore as they walked towards the table and started brainstorming some details about their plans.

...

Joseph and Alice sat beside each other inside the carriage. Apart from the two of them, there weren't any passengers within the carriage.

After all, with how much money Joseph paid, it was normal for the two of them to be given priority and Joseph would be mad if the coachman fetched other people with how much he paid.

Without the presence of others, you'd think that the two would feel comfortable. But it was the opposite. Especially Alice who sat straight like a fortress. Her emotions couldn't be seen on her face due to her cool facade, but it was pretty obvious for Joseph who couldn't help but comment.

"Alice, if you are that nervous to sit beside me then you could've sat over there."

Joseph gestured at the opposite side.

Alice turned to look at him and glared, "Who says I'm nervous... I'm n-"

"Okay, okay. All right, if you say that you are not nervous then who am I to say that you are? I just want to tell you that if you can't relax sitting beside me then you can sit on the opposite side."

Joseph couldn't help but roll his eyes at Alice.

The two of them slept on the same bed for several weeks, why was she feeling embarrassed about sitting beside him?

He really couldn't understand how a woman's thought process worked.

Joseph shrugged and decided to not bother about her anymore as he opened up his Main Menu.

He entered the internet through the use of the integrated browser, and looked-up for some information about the current happenings within the Capital City of the Kingdom of Nether, Reinhardt.

A simple search was all it took and Joseph found countless results.

But the most shocking one was an article titled, A Dungeon in the Royal Palace? 

The title alone served as enough bait for Joseph to click it, and the content that he saw thoroughly astonished him.

At first, he thought that it was some kind of a clickbait article, but when he saw the information within the article and the reliable sources that it cited.

Joseph was thoroughly shaken. 

The article stated that when the news about the nobles leaving the Kingdom for the Empire and the disappearance of the King, Oliver Oligarch exploded.

The Legendary Blacksmith Krid and an accomplice who was also among the people within the wanted list of the Kingdom appeared within the Royal Palace. 

No one managed to stop them, not even the dedicated Knights of the Kingdom as they went inside and never came out.

Their motives for going into the Royal Palace was unknown, but when the two of them entered the Royal Palace.

It transformed into some kind of a dungeon that had monsters whose levels were at least Level 200. 

It has to be known that monsters with levels like these were scarce and were often located in dangerous areas that no one, in the current stage of the game would dare to visit.

However, right now.

Within the Royal Palace...

Monsters with these levels were present, and not only that but they were also quite weak!

Their levels were at least Level 200, but everyone that fought them reckoned that their strength was only at the Level 150s at best!

In other words, if a Level 150 Player defeated them all, not only they would defeat them without exerting that much effort but they would gain several times more Experience Points than they would due to the high levels of these monsters!

The dungeon within the Royal Palace was a paradise for those that wanted to level themselves up as much as possible in the shortest time possible. When the three guilds realized this fact, they temporarily made an alliance due to the fact that they had a common goal.

Thankfully, the design of the Royal Palace enabled them to have equal shares of land where they could declare as their territory for farming.

The Crimson Guild took the Main Courtyard as their base of operations. The Knights of Justice took the Eastern Courtyard for themselves, while Dark Flame took the Western Courtyard and declared it as their territory. 

Without those arrogant nobles to stop them, these guilds who were the strongest within the Kingdom of Nether were currently enjoying the blessing of those incredibly weak, yet high-leveled monsters.

But it was said that within the Royal Palace itself, there was a BOSS that was so strong, those that encountered it didn't even manage to take a glimpse of what it looked like. They were immediately annihilated the moment they step foot within the Royal Palace.

Of course, the three guilds didn't believe that information at first. But after suffering countless casualties with their guild leaders dying for several dozens of times.

The three guilds decided that it was better for them to seal the Royal Palace and just farm the monsters in the Courtyard that they claimed.

After all, if given the choice...

No one would willingly court their own death.

The three guilds announced that they would forbid any entry into the Royal Palace, but they never disclosed any reason as to why they had done such a thing.

Their silence made everyone speculate and all sorts of rumors were made such as the King himself being the BOSS of the Royal Palace and that there were countless treasures within it.

Of course, the three guilds kept their silence and never revealed anything no matter how much people asked them.

It was even reported that the strongest guilds of the Kingdom of Absolute Frost or Everlasting Frost, and the guilds within the Kingdom of Burning Heaven reportedly contacted the three guilds of the Kingdom of Nether to ask for some information about the Royal Palace.

They were even willing to pay for such information but the three guilds refused.

Their move angered the guilds of the two Kingdom and right now, with their elite members.

They were rushing towards the Kingdom of Nether to see for themselves about just what was really going on within the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Nether.

The article ended and Joseph awakened from his trance.

A frown could be seen on his face as he thought.

Why would the three guilds deliberately withhold information about the Royal Palace when they knew that they would acquire the ire of those strong guilds from the two other kingdoms?

Could it be that they had done such a move because they knew that the guilds from those kingdoms would undoubtedly visit, regardless if they told them the truth or not?

Something like that is possible, but if I play Devil's Advocate. What if the three guilds purposely didn't give those guilds any information about the Royal Palace so that they would be arrogant on challenging the Royal Palace and end up sacrificing all of their members to that mysterious BOSS?

That should also be possible, but I don't think that the guilds from the other kingdoms are stupid. They must know about how many times the Crimson Guild, Knights of Justice, and Dark Flame died within the Royal Palace. Knowing that fact, it was impossible for them to be careless against something that could kill those three guilds.

But what if the three guilds purposely created such a scenario? Ahhh... This is so annoying to think about, I think my head's going to burst!

Joseph felt dizzy thinking about the possible plans of the three guilds that he furiously shook his head and erased those thoughts from his head.

The only reason why he was intrigued about the plans of the three guilds was that they were standing in Joseph and Alice's way to Krid and Ezreal.

There was a huge chance that they would become an obstacle to the path of the two, and that was the reason why Joseph tried on deducing their plans ahead of time.

But sadly, Joseph wasn't omniscient. 

There was a limit to how much information you could extrapolate from missing data.

Joseph closed his Main Menu and he made a sidelong glance at Alice.

The young maiden finally calmed down. She had her eyes closed and she looked like she was in the middle of meditation for her breathing was measured and calm. 

But when Joseph's gaze landed on her.

Her eyes snapped open...

Startling Joseph who couldn't help but whisper in shock.

"Damn, you almost gave me a heart attack."

Alice didn't mind what he had said as she asked, "What's wrong? Are we there, yet?"

Joseph couldn't help but chuckle, "Does meditating distort time and space?"

"Reinhardt is at least half a day's worth of travel using the shortest route possible from here and with our current speed, It'll still take us about three hours of travel time before we could arrive there. Just calm down, all right? I feel like you are too excited."

Alice lazily stared at him before she said, "Can you really blame me for being too excited, I just miss grandpa so much."

Joseph stretched his hand out and ruffled her hair, "I know, I understand what you are feeling. But you need to calm down and don't think about it for now. Whenever you are impatient about something, time will feel like it's moving slower than normal."

Alice nodded her head, she understood what Joseph had said as she laughed, "Yeah, I wonder why. Why is it that when we are waiting for something, time seems to flow slower than we think it should?"

Joseph shrugged, "I don't know, maybe some black magic or some shit." 

Alice frowned, "Black Magic? Why would black magic be related to time? And also, don't use such crude words." 

Joseph felt helpless, "Why are you taking everything that I say, literally? I'm just making a metaphor."

Alice's frown deepened, "A metaphor? What's that?"

Joseph facepalmed.

He forgot that the education system in this world was so underdeveloped that most people here still don't know about the concept of metaphors, even though they were frequently using it. 

Joseph had no intention of explaining so he changed the topic as he said, "You know what, Alice. I wonder what will Senior Krid's reaction be like when he sees you staring at me like a man."

He teased and he expected her to be angry.

But what he got in return was a chuckle as Alice replied, "I have always looked at you as a man. What? Do you want me to look at you as a woman instead? That's kind of weird, but if that is what you want and you swing both ways, I don't really care...."

She even winked at the end of her sentence which made Joseph almost cough a mouthful of blood.

A bitter smile escaped on his lips when he realized that he had been outsmarted.

But before he could even speak any further.

The carriage suddenly stopped...

"NO PLEASE! PLEASE SPARE ME!!! AAAHHH!!!"

A scream of desperation rang out in front of the carriage. 

It came from the coachman.

His scream was abruptly cut short followed by a dull thud.

Afterwards, another voice rang out from outside the carriage.

"The two of you inside the carriage, come out now or else we will force our way in!"

Alice and Joseph promptly came out of the carriage with frowns on their faces.

A bloody scene was revealed in front of them.

The coachman was lying face down on the ground, profusely bleeding. 

"Surrender all your valuables or die!"

A man fiercely pointed at them.