Pran opened the quest window and started to read the quest once more, trying to make sure that he didn’t miss anything.
"To complete the quest, I have to clear this dungeon in 'Elite' difficulty mode with a '70% or more' compilation rate," Pran murmured, studying the quest information in the quest window. He knew he was more powerful than most players, with stats equivalent to an average level 15 player, and on top of that, he had his fighting and trial-completing experience of more than 12 years from his previous life. So he instantly dropped the ‘Elite’ mode option and started to consider the other two options: "Nightmare" or "Hell."
Pran's mind raced as he considered the different modes. He had a hunch that the higher the difficulty, the greater the reward, but he also knew that he needed to be careful.
“If I compare the different mode options to the dungeons and trials that I know about and the one’s that I’ve personally cleared I can roughly estimate where ‘Elite’ will stand, so by that logic the portals that have not been cleared till now on earth can either be put in ‘Nightmare’ or ‘Hell’.”
Pran went into deep thought.
“ If I assume that the ‘Nightmare’ mode will be as challenging as the special dungeon that will appear in 2 years, I can roughly estimate the danger I’ll have to face inside the ‘Nightmare’ mode. So I should be able to survive in ‘Nightmare’ mode, though my completion rate might not be as high as for the ‘Elite’ mode based on the clear conditions from the quest information. As for 'Hell' mode, I can't even begin to imagine what dangers lie ahead."
After much consideration, Pran gritted his teeth and clicked on the 'Hell' option: “The higher the risks, the higher the rewards.”
A confirmation window pop-up appeared in front of him:
[Confirm 'Hell' mode selection!]
[Yes/No].
He hesitated for a just moment, then clicked 'Yes.'
Nothing happened. There was no change in the color of the portal, nor the aura around it changed. If he didn’t know that he has selected the highest difficulty he wouldn’t know how dangerous this portal was.
"Time to start the raid," he murmured, took a deep breath, and stepped into the portal, disappearing into the darkness. The portal closed behind him as if it never existed.
*****
Soorma Guild, Primary Branch Headquarters, Patna.
It was already 1 a.m. and other than the guards and night shift personnel no one was there. The 10-story building was basking in the moonlight.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Suddenly loud explosions started rocking the whole building. In a panic, the staff members inside the building started to rush towards the basement to get inside the underground bunker which was built in case of emergencies. The guards rushed towards the explosions to see what was causing them.
The explosion was coming from the entrance and when the guards reached the spot they saw the entrance blown to smithereens and almost all the guards that were posted there dead.
They saw a few masked people and a woman with a seductive and curvy body, short black hair, red lips, and stunning looks. All of them dressed in black combat suits walking through the flames. They were walking inside when one of them looked to the side and saw a guard writhing in pain. That person took out a pistol and shoot the guard and chuckled.
They started to walk toward the guards that arrived. Without thinking the guards lifted their weapons and started firing. But the next second their eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
A person standing next to the woman lifted their arm and a glow appeared. All the bullets started hitting an invisible barrier. All of those people kept waking forward while the woman took out a dagger from her waist and smiled faintly.
Just then she disappeared and suddenly the guard standing in the front saw the ceiling: ‘Did the ceiling collap…’
Even before his thoughts could finish he was dead. And before his headless body could hit the ground 3 more guards lost their lives.
In just 10 seconds all 21 guards that came rushing towards the entrance were cleanly beheaded by the woman.
When she appeared again she was standing behind the beheaded guards, some of whose headless corpses were still standing while some were in the process of falling to the ground. She turn sound and that faint smile was still on her lips. Then she opened her mouth and licked her red lips while a strange glint flashed in her eyes.
She lifted her right hand and looked at the dagger which had a light red glow. The most interesting thing about that dagger was that there was an almost life-like red pupil on both sides of the blade, which were almost invisible.
“I’ll have to make a trip to the tower to get my dagger enchanted again.” she clicked her tongue and said in a little frustrated tone. Then she saw the people that came with her and said: “Fan out and find where are they keeping him. And remember I want him alive. If any of you mother fucker kill him, then the only thing you’ll wish was that you were dead.” she said in a slight coquettish voice and a sweet smile.
But when the people that came with her saw her smile and heard her voice, instead of feeling raptured a chill went down their spine and their backs were covered in a cold sweat. All of them without saying another word dash inside the building starting searching. Soon there were gunshots heard throughout the building, and the woman started to hum and waited.
Soon the people that came with the woman started to report their findings to her. They knew that they didn’t have much time at most 10 more minutes before they will have to get out of there or the reinforcements from the local authority and other members of the guild will surround them.
Suddenly one of the men that came with the woman reported to her that there was a sealed door that highly likely lead to the underground bunker, as well as his location.
In less than 30 seconds the woman made her way to him. And when she saw the door, she had a slight frown.
“This is a bit troublesome. But nothing that can’t be handled.” After a pause, she spoke on her com: “Rahm, where ever you are come to my location right now.”
Soon the building started to shake and in around a minute a bulky figure rushed towards her and stood in front of her. She gestured to the sealed door and said in a low voice: “Open it.”
Rahm looked at the door and suddenly his hands turned into that of a reptile and his nails became as sharp as daggers. He then moved forward and tried to sink his nails into the door. Soon enough his nails sank into the metallic door and he started pulling the door towards him with all his might.
After a bit of a struggle, the door was finally ripped open and Rahm threw the door to the side. His hands turned back to normal, while his body trembled a bit, and if his face was not covered anyone would have been able to see that his face was a bit pale due to exerting all his strength.
Soon the woman with Rahm and the other person entered the bunker, but just then guns started blasting and a hail of bullets came toward them. The woman quickly moved and disappeared from her spot while Rahm bellowed while his body enlarged and his combat suit tore apart. His body was covered in thick impenetrable scales, and he lifted his hands to cover his eyes and ran forward like a bulldozer.
The last person that came with them was already dead. Though his combat suit stopped small caliber bullets there were some bigger ones as well and those had penetrated and killed him on the spot.
The woman moved toward where the guns were being fired with an evil but seductive smile on her face, while her movement was like a fleeting shadow but filled with grace and precision. Before long she reached the people who were firing at her and her dagger glinted in the dim light as she dispatched anyone who dared stand in her way. The interesting thing was that she still choose to behead her targets.
In a bit of time Rahm also reached them and started causing chaos. Each of his hits blasted the target and whoever he clutched in his claws was torn apart. It looked like was enjoying his rampage as he started laughing maniacally.
The scene became ghastly while slowly the voices screaming in panic, fear, and terror, as well as pain and despair stopped echoing. Soon the seductive woman and Rahm reached the depth they found a group of people huddled together while sobbing.
Taking a glance at them the eyes of the woman shined as they had found the target they were looking for.