All that was left now was to wait for the Fortress Wars to begin. Once they started, the Blade Syndicate would take the lead in capturing a fortress, and the guilds that were scheduled for dissolution in twelve hours would be forced to obey, accepting whatever unequal terms the Syndicate had already laid out.

Either they signed the contract and transferred their Guild Headquarters to the fortress, or they refused and watched the system wipe their guild out entirely.

The Fortress Wars were set to begin in just two hours.

At the entrance to the seventh layer, the Blackridge coalition stood crowded together, humming with excitement. They had finally pushed through yet another test.

"Send a few people down first," the commander ordered. He was more cautious this time, no longer willing to charge blindly into whatever waited below.

A small scouting party slipped into the darkness, and after a short while, one of the scouts returned with the report that the entrance was safe.

With that reassurance, the seventy to eighty thousand players began their descent, spilling into the seventh layer like a rolling tide.

"I don't see any monsters. Is the entrance blocked again?"

The empty chamber made several hearts sink at once.

"Wait a second, why are there so many craters on the ground?"

One of the Rogues, who was also a guild leader, knelt down and brushed his hand across the sand and dirt. He rubbed the grains between his fingers, lifted them to his nose, then froze.

"These are Explosive Mine craters. And the blasts were recent. Damn it, someone has already been through the seventh layer."

He shot to his feet, trying to peer deeper into the darkness, but without gear that granted Dark Vision, he could not see far.

"What are you talking about? Someone got here before us?" several players cried out in shock.

"The soil around the craters is packed solid, these mines must have been buried a long time. But someone triggered them, and I can still smell the faint trace of powder. The explosions were at least five hours ago, no more than ten. Someone reached this place ahead of us, and I suspect the monsters blocking the entrance were deliberately dragged there to slow us down."

His words made the others stiffen with alarm.

Their orders from the Steele Corporation were simple, clear the area, retrieve the first-clear loot and bring it back. Whatever equipment they consumed or lost would be compensated, and they would receive rewards on top of that, as long as they returned with something.

Everyone knew that the first clear of a Secret area, or any newly activated dungeon map, often granted enormous benefits. Some were better than others, but most were profitable, and the Steele Corporation was not in the business of losing money.

Now that they realized someone had beaten them here, panic rippled through the crowd.

"Hurry, move forward, faster!"

While the coalition surged inward, Ethan's group was on the opposite side of the seventh layer, finally bringing down the last Soul-Reaver.

Leo was the most anxious among them. He needed only one more piece to complete his Soul-Devouring Set, and Ethan had warned him that if this final monster did not drop it, there would be no other way to finish the set. Everyone else was equally tense, eager to finally see the attributes of the Divine-tier Set Ethan had described.

"Bad news, someone is coming down," Leo blurted, right after scooping up the loot. The group had been seconds away from checking the item's attributes when Lyla leaned in and whispered urgently.

"How do you know?" Ethan asked, startled, since the entrance was still far from their corridor.

"Nair told me," she replied.

"Nair?" Ethan blinked.

"Yes, Myrga Nair."

As she spoke, Lyla raised her hand.

A soft whoosh cut through the air as a small pinkish-white dragon materialized beside her. Ethan finally remembered the pet she had obtained, the former pet dragon of the Winter Queen.

During the incident at the Larson Basin, Ethan had taken the Infernal Core and the Frostbound Reverie bow, breaking the dragon's seal and setting it free. That single act had caused the toxic water to surge outward, killing more than seven thousand members of Blade Syndicate and laying the foundation for the rise of Renegade Alliance.

Not long after, the creature had suddenly vanished. The toxic water receded, and Ethan was able to salvage over seven thousand pieces of gear, instantly filling the empty Guild Vault of the Renegade Alliance. Only later did he find out that the dragon had bonded with Lyla, becoming the sole entry on the entire Pet Leaderboard.

"Why didn't you have her help us fight? We could have cleared those monsters twice as fast," Ethan said with a helpless smile when Lyla finally summoned the dragon.

"I left her at the entrance. I just called her back," Lyla said with a quick laugh.

"Wait, can she turn invisible?"

"She can change color."

"Alright, great, then I guess those guys really are here. We need to move."

Ethan immediately signaled for everyone to withdraw from the corridor. He glanced toward the entrance, and sure enough, faint shapes were beginning to appear. Lyla's pet had spotted the advance scouts before they reached them.

Ethan shifted into Panther Form, his Dark Vision allowing him to see clearly through the shadows. He watched a Rogue kneel to examine the ground, saw him sniff the dirt on his fingers, and saw the moment the man's expression tightened as he turned toward their direction.

The jig was up. Ethan knew the routine all too well. As a master Rogue in his past life, he understood exactly how long the scent of black powder lingered after an explosion, and he knew experienced scouts could easily piece the story together.

"Hurry. They've realized someone got here ahead of them," Ethan said urgently.

The only advantage they had left was the nearly complete darkness. Ethan's group was barely fifty yards from the newcomers, and if any of the coalition players had gear that boosted Dark Vision, they would have been exposed on the spot.

The ten-person team slipped away as quietly as they could, rushing deeper into the Catacomb.

The seventh layer was not large. The main corridor stretched only about four hundred yards from end to end.

"Listen, you guys run ahead. Don't wait for me. When the gate opens, go straight for the Nexus in the center. It has barely any health and won't fight back," Ethan said suddenly, remembering something that made his stomach twist. Before anyone could respond, he turned and sprinted back the way they came.

The rest of the team, moving at full speed, reached the Golden Gate Leo had mentioned. It shimmered faintly before them, the entrance to the Sanctuary of Suppression.

"Boss, how do we open this thing?" someone called over team chat.

Ethan was already halfway back down the corridor, racing toward the row of stone cells.

"Hold on. I'm opening it now. I forgot that every stone cell has a hidden switch. All eight have to be pressed or the gate won't open," he said, cursing himself as he reached the first cell. He prayed he had remembered in time.

A soft chime echoed through the team chat.

"One gem is lit!" Leo shouted.

Ethan had just found and pressed the small hidden trigger beneath the pile of corrupted stone when he heard Leo's update.

"Damn it, they're already here."

Ethan spun to leave, only to come face-to-face with two Warriors entering the hallway. He slipped sideways instinctively, flattening himself against the wall, holding perfectly still in the shadows with his stealth active.

"Wait… did I just feel something?" one of the Warriors murmured, frowning as he glanced back.

"You're imagining things. There's nothing left in here. Let's slow down a bit and let the scouts do their job," the other replied, brushing him off as he walked past.

Ethan remained motionless, not daring to breathe until both men had moved on.

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