Chapter 63: Taking a Stand

With that, Victor pulled Ryujin aside and took out his badge to start signaling and broadcasting messages.

Watching Victor repeatedly calling for backup, Ryujin realized he had been played.

Sure enough, Victor paid no further attention to Ryujin. As soon as his subordinate bone guards arrived, he immediately began issuing commands, looking as if he was about to launch a massive operation.

Taking in the scene, Ryujin couldn't help but wonder if it was still too late for him to just walk away.

Right at that moment, Victor grabbed Ryujin, dragged him in front of more than twenty bone guards, and announced in a loud voice, "Brothers, the problem that has been plaguing us for the past few days has finally found a solution."

To be fair, the bone guards had been exceedingly busy lately. Over the past few days, the entire Bunier District had been shrouded in a bizarre atmosphere, with a strange mass casualty incident occurring every single day.

On heavy days, over three hundred people died; on lighter days, perhaps thirty or forty. Yet no matter how they tried to prevent it, these collective deaths occurred every single morning.

Consequently, the bone guards of late had wished they could split themselves into three people—one to prevent the information from leaking, one to process the lifeless corpses, and another to hunt down the blood-weaver responsible for such atrocities.

Now that Victor claimed they had a solution to this ordeal, how could they not be excited?

At that point, Victor shoved Ryujin forward. "As everyone knows, finding the enemy is actually quite simple. Every time a death occurs, the Netherworld undergoes a disturbance that very night. If I'm not mistaken, as long as we enter the Netherworld and slash our way along the direction from which the enemy emerges, we will find our target in no time.

"However, today is different. Our mortician friend here—by the way, what is your name?"

"Sandro," Ryujin said, somewhat unhappily as he finally realized how he had been set up.

"Right, our friend Sandro is willing to open his access permissions, allowing us to pass from the real world into the Netherworld. This way, as long as we catch the culprit behind this mischief, the current crisis can be resolved. Now then, let's first thank Mr. Sandro."

With that, Victor looked directly at Ryujin, signaling him to make a move.

Ryujin felt a massive headache coming on. He only possessed the authority to manage a portion of the real world within this district; he had no jurisdiction to grant passage into the Netherworld through this sector.

He knew that if he did this, when the one named Fanny returned, a conflict would almost certainly ensue.

Therefore, Ryujin said with a helpless expression, "Captain Victor, can this matter..."

"No, it cannot. Do you have any idea how much effort I've poured into this? I even went to speak with your captain, but what did that rigid fellow say? He claimed that ghost cities are the individual territories of each player, that outsiders cannot enter without an invitation, and that doing so constitutes a challenge. What kind of nonsense is that? Are we supposed to just sit back and let that monster slaughter more and more people?"

"I don't wish for that monster to kill anyone else either, but I also have no desire to go to war with one of my colleagues." Ryujin was no coward; he locked eyes with Victor and shouted back.

At this, the bone guards finally realized that Victor hadn't actually secured an agreement yet. That simply wouldn't do—they couldn't let such a hard-won opportunity slip through their fingers.

Besides, what kind of attitude was this? How dare he speak to their captain in such a tone?

Faced with the surrounding bone guards, Ryujin showed no fear. With one hand gripping the Staff of Death, he used the other to send a message to Wilder.

"Buy me some time, I'm on my way right now."

Upon hearing about the situation on Ryujin's end, Wilder replied immediately.

With Wilder backing him up from behind, Ryujin naturally knew how to choose. This was no longer a question of right or wrong, but a matter of which side to stand on. Ryujin understood that if he allowed Victor to enter the Netherworld through Fanny's passage today, he would be driven out of the city by tomorrow.

He would no longer be a mortician.

Not a single mortician would ever regard Ryujin as one of their own.

He might not even be able to remain within the Southern Marsh plane.

Seeing how unyielding Ryujin was, Victor's expression darkened. He extended a hand, and a longsword crafted entirely from bone materialized in his grip.

Ryujin's spirit tightened; the sun crystal atop the Staff of Death flared with light, while his hand rested upon the thin rapier at his waist. Should Victor dare to strike, he dared to draw his blade. As for what would happen afterward, that was a problem for the future.

Fortunately, Wilder arrived at that exact moment, shouting from a distance, "What is the meaning of this? Such a massive incident has occurred in the Bunier District, yet you pale-faced lot aren't handling it, and instead you're surrounding my subordinate?"

Victor glanced at Wilder. "Wilder, what brings you here?"

"If I didn't come, I suppose I'd have to watch my subordinate get bullied by you."

"I am not bullying your subordinate. Things are escalating rapidly. If you don't want to wake up one morning and find every single resident of the Bunier District dead, you'd better open the permissions for us to enter the Netherworld."

"I've told you before, it's not that I won't open the permissions for you. If this incident had occurred within my administrative zone, I could directly allow your men to enter my ghost city. But I cannot force my subordinates to do the same. The Netherworld is vast; nobody knows whether their ghost city might be placed in jeopardy, so you cannot impose your own expectations upon us."

"Then what do you propose to do?" Victor demanded bluntly. "The previous victims could guard their own cities, but what about this one? I just heard that the person in charge of this sector will take five days to return. Do you have any idea what can happen in five days?"

"Then have my subordinate lead you in, Victor. You are still the same as ever, caring only for your own interests. Doing this is convenient for you, but have you ever considered what will happen to my subordinate?"

Bellowing at the top of his lungs, Wilder caused Victor's expression to shift. Just as Victor opened his mouth to speak, Wilder continued.

"You're going to say you can protect him, but do you think he actually wants your protection? Think back to the trouble you've stirred up in the past. Where are the people you supposedly protected? What became of them in the end? Don't tell me they're still alive—just think of their futures before, and then look at their fates after your protection. Frankly, you'd better drop it."

At this, Victor flared up as well, snapping at Wilder, "Do you have any idea what you're doing? This isn't about one or two people; this is the fate of hundreds, perhaps the entire district! If a catastrophe happens, will you take responsibility?"

As he watched the two men stand on the verge of blows, Ryujin suddenly felt a chill crawl down his spine, as if something sharp was pressing directly against his back.

"Accept Captain Victor's demand, or else..."