Infinity, The Arcade Age

Despite the burning desire for revenge, the militia captain and his group couldn't afford to openly defy the evil duke, as doing so would spell doom for the village. Thus, they all disguised themselves, intending to frame the recent unrest on the Knights of the Round Table who had been openly opposing the duke in the region.

After all, the knights had been a constant thorn in the duke's side, and surely they wouldn't mind taking credit for a few extra victories.

The group, about a dozen in number, advanced cautiously down the path. The militia captain, his face covered with a black cloth, issued stern warnings as they moved forward.

"Remember, leave no survivors. And most importantly, no matter what, do not speak! No one must learn our identities, understood?"

"Yes!" the group responded in unison.

"If any of our comrades fall, we must retrieve their bodies. Do not let them fall into enemy hands."

"Understood!"

"And as for you," the captain turned to Qin Ming and the other adventurers, his voice low and serious. "Thank you for helping us, but be careful. Do not expose your identities."

Qin Ming and his group merely nodded, not offering any extra words.

After traveling for about ten minutes, they arrived at the nearest outpost, located just beyond the village. The guards at the gate were relaxed, standing under the dim light of a campfire, while the rest of the outpost appeared to be winding down for the night.

Hidden in the trees, the militia captain adjusted his helmet and drew his weapon. Without any further hesitation, he charged toward the outpost, and the militia followed suit.

The captain's first arrow struck true, piercing one of the guards in the chest. The wounded soldier screamed and stumbled back, grabbing the arrow in shock as he and his companion scrambled into the outpost.

"Enemies! We're under attack!" one of them shouted as they fled.

With the guards retreating, the militia stormed the outpost, intending to catch the enemy off-guard. After all, there was no way the soldiers would sleep in their armor. A quick, unexpected assault would prevent the heavy-armored swordsmen from fully gearing up, leaving them vulnerable.

But as the militia stormed in, something was clearly off.

Instead of catching the soldiers off-guard, fully armored warriors were already charging out of the tents, swords drawn and ready for battle.

What should have been a small outpost with only a dozen men now had over twenty fully armed soldiers waiting for them.

Seeing the heavily armored enemy forces and the clear trap, the militia captain's face paled, and he quickly shouted to his men.

"It's a trap! Retreat!"

But before they could escape, more shouting came from the surrounding woods as another force of twenty soldiers—led by heavy-armored swordsmen—emerged from the trees, surrounding them.

At the forefront of this new group, a burly commander raised his sword and roared, "Kill them all! Leave no survivors!"

"Kill!!!" echoed the soldiers as they rushed forward, weapons drawn, ready for bloodshed.

Realizing that their position had been compromised, the militia captain ripped off his mask and charged forward, leading his men into a desperate battle. The adventurers, standing nearby, had no choice but to follow suit.

Qin Ming and his fellow adventurers, however, were frozen in shock. Staring at the forty soldiers that surrounded them, their faces turned pale.

How had a simple ambush turned into them being the ones ambushed?

Without time to process, they were forced to fight back as the two forces clashed at the outpost's entrance. Caught between the front and rear attacks, the militia began to suffer heavy casualties.

In the chaos, Flying Snake, disguised among the heavy-armored swordsmen, finally came face-to-face with the other adventurers for the first time.

Removing his helmet, revealing his modern tattooed face, Flying Snake stood expressionless.

The moment White Wolf and his team saw the tattooed face, especially after Flying Snake donned a bulletproof helmet, they immediately realized who they were dealing with.

As they processed the situation, Leopard, one of the adventurers, suddenly drew his weapon and stabbed Black Bear twice in the back.

With another swift kick, Leopard sent Black Bear tumbling to the ground. After the brutal betrayal, Leopard rushed over to stand beside Flying Snake, facing off against White Wolf and the other adventurers.

White Wolf's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Leopard! You—"

"Sorry, but money talks! No hard feelings!" Leopard sneered, wiping the blood off his blade and grinning as Black Bear lay bleeding on the ground.

It turned out that Leopard had been in league with Flying Snake all along.

In fact, after White Wolf had recruited Leopard, Flying Snake approached him with a better offer: infiltrate the boss's forces while Leopard acted as a mole within the village. Together, they would coordinate and wipe out the village, even taking a shot at killing the main protagonists for extra rewards.

Working with White Wolf would only grant Leopard a portion of the spoils, with the reward being just a single small boss. But teaming up with Flying Snake? They could take the whole village, maybe even the entire main questline.

The temptation was too great, so Leopard had betrayed White Wolf without hesitation.

Now, as the two sides stared each other down, Leopard grinned and said,

"Flying Snake, you take care of White Wolf. I'll finish off Black Bear and that other weakling. Once we're done, we'll march straight to the village!"

But before Leopard could move, a sudden noise echoed in the air.

Thud!

Leopard's eyes widened in shock. Slowly, he looked down to see a bloodied sword protruding from his chest.

Before he could react, Flying Snake stabbed him several more times, killing him on the spot.

After tossing Leopard's corpse aside, Flying Snake casually wiped the blood off his sword and looked over at the remaining adventurers.

The situation had changed. With Kaido already dead and the appearance of a rogue adventurer who had taken out the boss, Flying Snake's original plan to kill all the adventurers had become impossible.

So, Leopard was no longer useful to him.

As Flying Snake cleaned his blade, he opened his mouth to say something to the other adventurers. But then his pupils shrank in alarm.

One of the adventurers, whom Flying Snake had never seen before, had pulled back his trench coat and was now drawing a silver revolver from his waist...

(End of Chapter)