"No! Don't push that!"
Maarij tried to stop Kane from pushing the button, but it was too late. Kane had already pushed it.
The chest sprang open, and a blinding light emerged from it that made our surrounding so bright we couldn't see anything.
The next thing we knew, we were outside the Dungeon Complex. However, it wasn't the same place. It was completely different.
We were teleported to another place. All of us were together along with the chests Kane brought with him.
"Can't we just catch a break...?" I muttered.
"We're in Ithylia Kingdom," Selene said, almost in a whisper. "Something serious is happening."
Somehow we were in Ithylia Kingdom. Judging from what happened, the last chest that Kane opened must have contained a teleportation spell.
But the question is—what are we supposed to do now?
"Ah, right, I almost forgot to tell you," Kane said, standing up. "Xiao mentioned that a catastrophe is about to happen in Ithylia Kingdom soon. I dunno the details, but we need to find their hideout here to prevent it."
"We'll discuss the details later. But for now, let's go somewhere we won't draw attention just like we are now."
Afterwards, Aariz, Kane, and I went to book our rooms in a hotel while Selene and Maarij went to The Exchange to get gold coins in exchange for the head of the dragon Kane brought with him. It took them hours to return to the hotel as everyone was stunned when they saw them.
Apparently, they were renowned Heroes of this world and everyone referred to them as "Your Majesty". No wonder those knights referred Selene as "Your Majesty".
While Selene and Maarij were getting the gold coins in exchange for the dragon's head, we booked our rooms in an expensive luxury hotel. It was Kane's idea as we didn't have to worry about being short on coins after all those chests of gold coins he brought with him.
Anyways, it was now 3am, and none of us had slept a wink. And now we were at the cafeteria, discussing what we should do now.
I wanna sleep so bad...
I looked like I would just drop dead at any moment, because of how tired I was.
"Right now, our top priority is to gather information and locate their hideout before the catastrophe happens."
Maarij was leading this "mission", because he was more knowledgeable when it came to the ins and outs of the Kingdoms. He was far more capable in this situation than anyone else present there as he had spent most of his time surviving the apocalypse in all of the Kingdoms, or so he told us.
"We probably don't have much time, so we need to find it out swiftly and solve it before it goes out of the hand."
"Thanks to Kane, we've got plenty of coins. We don't have to worry about money for a while." Aariz leaned back in his chair. "It's really helpful, trust me."
Kane yawned. "Don't mention it."
We all now had 10 million coins each. Furthermore, Aariz and Maarij bought us a new skill—[Telepathy]—that would help us communicate and share information even if we're far away.
"What to do if 'Nobody' appears?" Selene took a sip of her espresso.
"We'll eliminate him, of course," said Maarij, taking a bite of his sandwich. "That's all. That's the plan, for now."
Finally, I can now sleep. Rising from my seat, I said, "I'll go and sleep now. I'm exhausted from all that happened and we already have so much to deal with."
Taking a sip of his tea, Aariz replied, "Go ahead. We'll go back to our room once we're done here."
"Alright."
I then came back to my room. It was well decorated and large. It looked like it was made for nobles visiting on a trip or outing. But it had nothing to do with me, who was just going to live there for a couple of days, then move to another place.
I hung my coat in the closet, and took a shower before going to bed. The bed was very comfortable. I felt like I would fall asleep any moment.
There's so much on my mind. I need to tell brother about it and know about his plans.
[Skill, "Telepathy", has been activated.]
I activated my skill to communicate with Kane, who was probably resting in his room by now.
"Brother, you awake?"
"Yes, I am. What happened?"
"I can't help but shake this feeling that we've been dragged into the bedtime stories mom used to tell us."
"There's no mistaking it. We definitely have been dragged into them. Furthermore, what worries me the most is that Aariz and Maarij are here as well, and you don't remember them."
"You mean to say that there's something bigger than we can picture?"
"Indeed."
That complicates things than they should be.
"What about your plan then?"
Kane began telling me about his plan. He initially planned for me to provoke Xiao into attacking me, and then use Aariz and Maarij as shields to hold off Xiao while he would secretly put a "tracker" on him to keep an eye on his movements. However, he didn't go in details on how he planned to do so, nor I asked.
"Then what happened when he abducted you?"
Kane then explained to me that after being thrown down at [Floor: Disaster], he began to search for a way out. He was being careful as it was very dark there and dangerous monster could be lurking nearby. But soon enough, Xiao came to him through a portal, and tried his best to negotiate with him into joining them as once he had joined them, I would join them as well.
That's true, I suppose.
Xiao even revealed somewhat of their plans so that Kane would trust him. But it didn't go as Xiao expected, so he began to use force on Kane, but before things could become dire, Nobody came and dealt with Xiao.
"Apparently, he was looking for someone connected to Hell Realm. I don't know the details, but he said he was going to claim the authority of 'The King.'"
"He said the same thing when he met us on his way out."
"That guy is very strong. We're not strong enough to beat him if he turned out to be our enemy. We need to get strong."
"I've awakened my 2nd form, brother. What about you?"
"I'm not sure about that. Once I am, I will inform you."
"I see." I sat up and drank a glass of water. "What do you plan to do now? Surely, that's not all, yes?"
"I'm glad we're on the same page." It looked like Kane was smiling out of satisfaction. "I'll take over Hell Realm. Then use it for our future plans. I'll savour every bit of it."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Keep getting strong, so you can easily defeat our enemies. I'll do the same."
"Let's sleep now. We've a lot to do in the morning. Good night."
"Good night."
[Skill, "Telepathy", has been deactivated.]
I fell on my bed and fell asleep within seconds. Even though I'd gone to bed around 4am, I woke up at 7am. It was a habit of mine to wake up around 7am whether I slept early or not. We all met and headed out to our respective locations.
Aariz went to inspect the area around The Exchange. Maarij went to inform the King of Ithylia Kingdom about the situation and that he should prepare, if things go south. Selene went to check on orphanages and remote areas with high chance of being used as a hideout. Kane went to residential areas, slums, and the ones near it to keep an eye on something that was amiss.
While, I, on the other hand was assigned to keep watch throughout the whole market for something suspicious.
Ughh... Why the hell I was assigned the place that I hate the most?
Standing at the entrance of the enormous sized old yet modern-looking market, these were my thoughts.
I sighed. Guess there's no point in whining about.
I entered the market. I was catching attention because of how different my attire was than those of who lived there. It wasn't like it was a cultural difference between the Kingdoms, but just that I was from another world.
I wanted to do things in a mysterious way like a detective or someone mysterious without anyone noticing. But...
"Mommy, that man is very different." One of the kids pointed at me. "Is he a weirdo?"
"Weirdo", huh?
It was the complete opposite of what I had planned. My brow twitched in irritation.
"Hey." The mother put her son's pointing finger down with her hand. "That's not nice. Mind your manners."
I turned toward them with a smile. "That's indeed not nice to say."
I walked towards them. The mother, noticing me walking towards them, worried that I might be some sort of a big shot and they'd gotten themselves into trouble.
"I apologize, mister, for my son's rudeness." She bowed deeply.
"You too, apologize. Hurry." She told her son to do the same. And so he did. "I am so sorry, mister!"
Oi, oi, oi! Why the heck are you guys bowing down to me? I talked to myself in my thoughts as I walked towards them with a smile. Please just don't do dogeza. I don't want to catch any attention.