The sound was sharp and full of disdain. He slammed a heavy, crimson-plated gauntlet onto the holographic table, causing the map of Floor 54 to violently flicker.
"A Level 1 coward who hid in Lumina Meadows while we bled to secure this city?"
Vance's voice grew louder with every word, vibrating with barely contained fury. "Is this a joke, Aria? We lost thirty good men to the Abyssal Devourer yesterday. I am organizing their digital funerals as we speak. We do not have the time or the resources for charity cases!"
"The Devourer is dead," Aria said plainly.
The war room fell dead silent.
Even the hum of the holographic projector seemed to quiet down. The dozen tactical officers surrounding the table froze, their eyes darting between Aria and their Guild Master.
"What?" Vance whispered, the anger instantly bleeding out of his voice, replaced by sheer disbelief.
"It breached containment," Aria explained, her tone entirely too casual for the weight of her words. "It dropped onto Floor 1 through a glitch. And he killed it."
She turned her head slightly, gesturing to the man standing perfectly still near the door.
"With one punch. Unarmed."
Vance slowly pushed himself off the table. He walked around it, his heavy armored boots clanking ominously against the stone floor. He stopped mere inches from Kael.
At six-foot-four, Vance towered over the beginner. His mythic armor radiated a suffocating, passive heat aura, a high-tier enchantment meant to intimidate enemies.
Vance's one good eye intensely inspected Kael, practically scanning the boy's code for hidden items, cheat clients, or any logical explanation.
"You expect me to believe this boy one-shot a Calamity-class boss?" Vance hissed, the dark curse mark on his face pulsing ominously.
Suddenly, his hand shot out.
With blinding speed, Vance grabbed Kael by the collar of his threadbare tunic, lifting him slightly onto his toes.
Kael didn't flinch. He didn't even blink.
To the rest of the room, Kael looked paralyzed by fear. But in reality, his mind was racing at a million miles an hour.
Deep breaths. Do not react. Do not flex.
He was entirely focused on suppressing his passive damage-reflection stats and natural counter-attack reflexes. If he accidentally swatted Vance's hand away, the resulting kinetic force would likely vaporize the Guild Master, shatter the Vanguard Keep, and possibly crash the entire city block.
Before Vance could interrogate him further, the ambient lighting of the war room snapped.
The warm gold illumination vanished, instantly replaced by a glaring, strobing crimson. A deafening siren wailed through the keep—a high-pitched, mechanical shriek that no player in Aethelgard ever wanted to hear.
...
[EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION]
[Vanguard Squad 7 has triggered a Quarantine Trap on Floor 54.]
[Area locking down. Lethal Miasma deployed.]
...
Vance immediately released Kael's tunic, his heavily scarred face draining of all color.
"Squad 7..." Vance breathed, the broadsword at his hip suddenly looking very heavy. "That's my younger brother's unit. They were just running a basic scouting mission!"
Chaos erupted in the war room.
"The teleport gates to the Floor 54 transition zone will seal in exactly two minutes!" a tactical officer yelled, frantically swiping at holographic panels. "If they're locked in a Quarantine Zone, they'll be suffocated by the miasma before they can even try to break the door!"
Vance drew his massive broadsword. His hands, which had just effortlessly lifted Kael, were now visibly shaking.
"Gather anyone who can hold a weapon!" Vance roared at his officers. "Tanks at the front! We're breaking that quarantine door down! We're going in!"
The commanders scrambled, pulling up their inventory screens and shouting orders into their guild chat logs.
Step. Breathe. Step.
Kael smoothly stepped past Vance.
He didn't run. He walked with that same excruciatingly slow, deliberate pace, moving toward the heavy oak doors of the war room with an absolute, terrifying calm.
"Don't bother," Kael said.
His voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the blaring sirens and the frantic shouting of the war room like a razor blade. Vance froze, turning to look at the back of the beginner's head.
Kael paused at the threshold, keeping his hands loosely at his sides.
"Your armor is too heavy. It slows you down. If I run with you, I'll have to wait for you," Kael stated matter-of-factly.
He glanced over his shoulder. His eyes were completely dead.
"I'll be back in five minutes."