The Truth Shall Set You Free

The flash, an afterimage, Aimer had begun moving at a fast pace in the direction of the Loudo Guild.

"That masked man? Is that the suspect?"

"Yes sir! We believe he could possibly be that missing person,"

"What was his name again?"

"Oh, it was Aimer Belafonte,"

In a secured room, two men had a conversation. One sat at a computerized desk with multiple cameras showing a variety of views of the city.

While the other stood a few inches behind him.

On one of those cameras was the fast movements of a flash~Aimer.

The two-man who watched Aimer on the CCTV cameras were BSI Agents.

"Wherever he's going keep a very close eye on him. Understood?"

The wide-bodied muscular man gripped the shoulders of the Agent seated before the cameras.

"Y, sir! Yes sir!"

The Agent felt as if his shoulders were being smushed to smithereens while he trembled uncomfortably.

"Good,"

The muscular red-haired and golden eyes man turned around and strode towards the exit of the room.

'The Solo Harvester? I wonder what you're like?'

At the same time, Aimer had almost breached the Loudo Guild.

When the Guild building came into view Aimer noticed a thick, burning, pitch-black smoke protruding from the broken glass windows on the highest floor.

'....!!'

*zoom*

Aimer did the impossible. He pushed off even faster in mid-air towards the highest level of the Guild's building.

Aimer stopped before the shattered window where the smoke leaked from.

Skill [Fade] has been deactivated!

*lands*

*DING*

WARNING: Incoming!

Aimer received a notification from the Window before a fist came at a blazing speed towards his face.

'It's fast!'

Aimer raised an arm to block but to no avail.

The fist which approached his face shifted to Aimer's right and grab hold of his neck.

What happened next was so fast that Aimer didn't have time to react.

A second fist came at Aimer with an immense speed.

*BOOM*

*HEOK!!*

A deafening blow plummeted into Aimer's abdomen.

*cough* *cough*

Aimer coughed up a truckload of blood the percolated through his mask.

'Shit! This strength..!!'

Aimer unintentionally clasped his free hand over his mask to stop the blood.

'If it wasn't for the first strike holding me in place I'm pretty sure I would've been blown back through the window'

Aimer's judgment was correct. The attack he just felt as if he took a hit from a boulder to the stomach.

'I have to retaliate'

Skill [Fade] has been activated!

Aimer vanished from the grasp of the hands and appeared within the individual's blind spot.

Skill [Fade] has been deactivated!

"...!!!"

*KABOOM!*

*ARGHH*

At the end of an acrobatically 360-spin, was a heavy blow to the unknown figure that attacked Aimer from within the smoke.

*boooom*

*ugh!*

The figure was launched into the wall to the opposite side of the room. The force from Aimer's kick brought forth a gust of wind that cleared up smoke that smeared the square-like room.

'Hm? What is this? I was fighting the Guild Master?'

Aimer could now recognize the figure he sent flying into the wall.

'And this mess. Did he do this to them?'

Aimer then shifted his gaze to a few carcasses that laid on the floor heavily injured. Upon doing so, Aimer realized they were Nobara and his team.

'Why..?'

"...!!"

From behind his mask, Aimer's countenance became disappointed and ashamed.

"YOU...DIE!"

From Aimer's peripheral vision, a blurry image could be seen approaching him fast. Aimer suddenly turned right only to see a fist engulfed in fire breaching contact with his face.

'Shit!'

*DOOOOOOOM!*

"Hm?"

The Guild Master, James became flustered when his hand made contact with Aimer, or that's what he thought.

When the smoke caused by James's attack vanished, an amorphous-like liquid in the form of a coat could be seen between Aimer and James's fists.

Item [Lickto] has activated itself!

'This item? Is this the defense mechanism?'

Aimer had become surprised when a black liquid cloak both surrounded and guarded him against the incoming attack.

'This item is even faster than me. I would've surely been struck no matter what if it wasn't for this self-acting item'

*pshh* *KABOOM*

Suddenly, a small area of [Lickto] released red-beaming magic energy that blasted James in his chest, sending him out of view again.

'It's convenient, really'

Aimer kept his gaze at the wall where James plummeted in.

*cough* *cough*

James began to suddenly move, slowly. He removed his implanted body from the wall.

"I see. Now I know your powers are no joke. However,

*cough*

If it weren't for that item my last strike would've landed with precision,"

*chuckle*

James wiped the blood clean from the side of his jaws while glaring at Aimer.

"What is the purpose of this? What are you trying to gain?"

James stood upright before stretching his body, cracking a few joints.

"Ahh, purpose? Don't make me laugh. I'm doing this because you deceived me. I heard every item dropped were confiscated by you,"

'Hm? So that's it. He's irritated towards the fact that I took all of the drop items. Sh*t...if you wanted your item you should've entered with us'

Aimer gazed at James without saying a word.

"I guess you can't speak. Then allow me to help you. You treacherous bastard!"

James reached out his right hand before a ball of flame appeared within the middle.

*smirks*

"Let's see how you'll act after tasting this,"

'That! That's a hidden skill. To be exact it's the same as my "Fire Elementalist" skill!'

Aimer was slightly surprised to see the Guild-master, James had a hidden skill.

"What's that look for? Are you having a precognition of your demise? Haha, don't worry. Whatever you leave behind I'll take good care of them.

As for your family? Well, if you have any I'll make sure to send them your way! Now, DIE!"

After announcing his speech, James had accumulated enough mana to activate his hidden skill. The second he did, an enormous wave of flames gushed at Aimer.

However, Aimer didn't move from his spot. It's not that he couldn't but he was tormented by 'those last few words that James uttered.

'Mother!'

Aimer's thought as the distance between James fire and himself became smaller.

Hidden Skill [Fire Elementalist] has been activated!

'Let's see you try'

Aimer initiatively reached out his arm, releasing his wave of flames. Sadly, it was far too late for James flames had already built up enough force to overpower Aimer's skill.

*arghh!!* 'Dammit!'

Aimer was hit with the massive force from James's skill, engulfing him in a furnace of fire.

'Quickly, I need to do something...but what?'

The flames which surrounded Aimer increasingly became hotter and hotter. But even so, Aimer had developed a natural tolerance to heat.

If you recalled when he had trained in the 'Collapsing Peaks'. Unfortunately, this wasn't mentioned before but the Collapsing Peaks, to the monsters is known by its flames.

Blue flames excrete heat ranging from 1400-1650° Celsius (2600-3000° Fahrenheit).

This was the heat that Aimer had to adapt to during that time of his training.

Returning to the current events Aimer hastily tried thinking of a way to escape the flames around him when, yet again, [Lickto] interrupted.

'Hm? The item'

The item [Lickto] completely wrapped itself around Aimer's body creating a pitch-black suit-like armor that guarded him against the flames.

'Again? It acted on its own again'

Aimer slowly began walking from within the fire that unexpectedly dissipated.

"Oh? Did you come out unscathed? I was sure that would do the trick but let's just wait for it..."

James glared at Aimer up and down as he closed the distance between the two. And when Aimer had made it halfway to James, [Lickto] suddenly vanished.

'Huh? What happened?'

Aimer stopped to look at his body after realizing that [Lickto] suddenly disappeared.

*smirks*

"How unfortunate, I guess that piece of equipment was just a regular item. Nevertheless, all your items including that one will be unavailable for the next two minutes,"

"What?"

In a flustered manner, Aimer peeked up at James who flashed a devilish smile.

"Oh? You thought those were just normal flames. Silly boy, that flame had what was called a 'Skill Effect'. A skill effect that negates the use of items for 2-minutes after making contact with them,"

Note: 'Skill Effect', similar to an 'Item Effect' is an additional ability of the user's hidden skill or item in use. Though Item Effects are more common, Skill Effect is much rarer and harder to attain.

'What! Negates the use of items? But they didn't make contact with mines. Unless...'

"I see,"

Aimer responded calmly just as he clenched his fist.

"It's nothing new to me. I'm used to this...so bring it on,"

Aimer gazed at James with his blood-red emotionless eyes.

'Cocky brat!'

"Okay, let's see how you fare against me now. You'll be the third person to ever push me to the point where I need to use these'

By now, James' attire was torn in multiple places with blood splattered over his body. But that was the least of his problems.

Eventually, James started activating a few of his items.

Appearing in both of his hands were two huge, green and gold war hammers.

One side of the weapon was blunt and heavy, like a hammerhead, and was meant to strike with maximum impact. The other side of the weapon was spiked and this was used to inflict sharper damage on the enemy's body.

'Damn. Those are amazing!'

Aimer became somewhat fascinated after taking a glimpse at James's equipped weapon but there was still more to come.

James soon equipped armored plated boots, a helmet, and an armored suit that covered his entire torso. The only part of him unprotected were his arms.

Skill [Truth-seeker] has been activated!

With his vision focused on James before him, Aimer activated his skill.

'Hmm? It seems all his items are a part of a defensive set. That's if you don't include those war hammers of his. So all together the set is called "Successor of the Heavenly Warrior"

Aimer had glimpsed the name of James armored gear just at his 7-seconds were up.

"Oh boy, you look nervous. Though that's normal when faced with an opponent with items such as myself. Haha,"

James glared at Aimer from behind his helmet, both boasting and chuckling at his statement.

'Tch! Damn...if only I had my items'

Aimer's countenance wrinkled into a deepened frown behind his mask.

"Now, shall I end this farce?"

*zoom!*

James shot from his position within the blink of an eye.

"Boo!"

*whoop* *BOOM*

James instantly appeared before Aimer when he raised his right arm to ultimately deliver a heavy blow from above.

Skill [GRIT] had been activated!

Luckily for Aimer, he was fast enough to react to James' sudden movements, allowing him to block James' hammer.

"Not bad kid."

James smirked, with his gaze locked onto Aimer.

"However,"

Using his free arm, James reached outback before accumulating enough force to strike Aimer a second time.

Upon realizing James about to attack with his other arm Aimer quickly countered.

Skill [Perception] had been activated!

Aimer released his grip from James' previous attack then quickly back-peddled away from the second.

*SWOOSH!*

James' attack struck the air, the space Aimer vacated approximately 0.5 seconds before the attack.

"Impressive. I guess it was worth using these items after all,"

Once again, James became amazed by Aimer's in-battle performance.

"You talk too much,"

Aimer simply responded before straightening his stance.

"You'll pay for that,"

And so, James and Aimer entered a prolonged battle filed with the exchanges of massive blows and skillful maneuvers. For seconds, sparks spiraled around the entire room.

The glass windows shattered, the pieces of furniture scattered and the platform itself crumbled.

*cough* *cough*

"Ahh, my head,"

During the intense battle, Nobara of his team was the first to regain consciousness. He slowly picked up his bloody drenched head then squinted before him.

Two figures seemed to be a flash of an image that drew him back to reality.

"Huh? The Guild-master and Remia? They're fighting!? So he came to our rescue!"

Nobara was filled with a mixture of different emotions that he tried putting together. From being amazed as to the fight that took place before him to being confused as to why the masked man came to their help.

Nobara didn't expect the masked man, Remia to answer his call much less for him to show up in person.

'That's right. I only made that call on a whim. It was out of pure hope, but to think that he revealed himself for us'

Nobara clenched his teeth and tears unhurriedly filled his eyes.

That was until he heard subtle movements that caused him to turn around.

When Nobara did so, it took him a few seconds to realize that his teammates were also coming back to their senses.