The military men and women were instantly put on high alert. But despite the roars for him to stop and identify himself, he hardly acknowledged them at all, and when he did, it was nothing more than a casual glance.
Brant was on high alert along with everyone else. He wasn’t sure at first, but the closer Sylas got, the more certain he was…
He knew this man.
Suddenly, memories he had mostly repressed came back up. He remembered Sylas beating the life out of a Dungeon monster with nothing more than his fists. Then, he watched Sylas take on an entire team of elites and three Trolls, only to come out on top regardless.
Until now, Brant still hadn’t seen a single person be anywhere near as powerful. It still somehow felt that Sylas was in a league of his own.
But that was only one aspect…
He hadn’t been able to read Sylas’ stats because his Mental was far too high. But he had heard his friends call him a very familiar name…
Sylas.
Were there other people on Earth with that name? Maybe. The population had just been cut down by 90+%, and most of them were young men far too eager for a new world of fantasy.
Even so, the odds that there would be two Sylas’ that were so powerful was next to nil because powerful people in general were all too rare.
Sylas… Sylas Grimblade…
They were almost certainly the same person.
“STAND DOWN!” Brant barked.
The military officials were taken aback, but it was also clear that Brant had the highest authority here. He had fought side by side with them; it was hard for them not to implicitly trust him, even if the usual military order and hierarchy were ignored.
What they didn’t know was that Brant really was helping them out. He knew that if he forced Sylas to fight… it wouldn’t be Sylas taking the loss today.
This sort of situation was better to report and let the higher-ups deal with, or else they would lose too many good men and women today.
According to the reports, Sylas had faced off against 50 FFF+ creatures and a Level 12 beast that seemed to be an even greater threat on top of that.
As though that wasn’t enough, he had faced the siege of the government and Legacy, killing three Level 17s in the process. And that was just what was confirmed.
It could be said that right now, Sylas was a high-class threat that the headquarters would have to directly respond to. There was no one here that could take him on unless they threw an obscene number of agents at him.
However, as a commander, how could Brant do this? He could also tell that Sylas had been observing him the entire time. Clearly… he had come for him.
Brant took a breath and leapt down from the city wall.
“I will handle this.”
Clutching his shield, he closed the distance on Sylas, seemingly with the intent to die if he had to.
…
Sylas observed Brant’s approach with a calm expression, and soon they stood three meters from one another.
“Why have you come here?” Brant asked after a deep breath.
“To find someone.”
Brant relaxed somewhat after hearing this. “Who is it? I can help you find them.”
His intention was clear. He would prefer if Sylas didn’t step into the city at all.
Sylas thought about it and felt that this might be viable. But not as things were now.
“You are a member of the military?”
Brant frowned. “Yes.”
“Is that so? It didn’t seem like it.”
“The entry into the Trial is random. There was no way to—.”
“You’re not very good at lying, and even good liars would be hard-pressed to hide anything from me. When I met you, it was already more than three months into the Trial. I do not believe that the government had no way of gathering their officials together. You worked on your own because you wanted to, not because you had no other choice.”
Brant froze.
There was a silent lull between the two that made Brant far more uncomfortable than it did Sylas.
“What do you want from me?”
“Easy, really. I need a shieldman on my team. You clearly don’t want to be here. You should join me instead.”
“Join the Grimblade family?” Brant sneered. “What is the difference between you all and the government?” Brant’s fury made him far less afraid than he had been before.
“I am merely a collateral member of the Grimblades. You saw me working for Casstle Main. Am I not the same as you, forging my own path?”
Brant’s gaze flickered. However, the moment Sylas saw this, he knew that Brant had already made his decision.
Taking a breath, Brant shook his head. “I can’t make such a decision.”
“You can, and you will. You’ve already made your decision, you only changed your mind because something is holding you back. Tell me what that is and I will fix it for you while you find me the person I need.”
Brant was taken aback once again. He looked at Sylas with a hint of fear in his eyes. This man… why did it feel like he was constantly reading his mind?
“… My family, I cannot leave them.”
Sylas nodded. “How many?”
“My wife and my three-year-old.”
“Okay. I will handle it.”
Brant hesitated, but still grit his teeth. He could see it in Sylas’ eyes; if he chose to back out or showed that he was hesitating, he would just kill him.
There was a certain coldness about Sylas that was somewhat masked, but it was very much there.
This was a fearsome man, one who only acted for his own interests. By all rights, he should be the last person Brant wanted to join. But…
He had also watched Sylas run back to protect a village he had no obligation to protect all because he wanted to save someone.
At the very least, Sylas had a bottom line, and even if he didn’t… he was strong enough that it was unlikely that he would ever have to touch that bottom line at all.
But there was a more important reason for all of this.
Brant hadn’t been able to climb high enough in the military to reach the status he needed. He tried to change that in the Trial, but he ended up grinding his wheels and didn’t benefit as much as he would like. Sylas’ appearance had brought him crashing back down to Earth when he thought that he had already grown quite powerful himself.
Even if Sylas was dangerous, he had to be by his side. That was because Sylas was his chance of being part of an upper echelon, of truly having power to protect his family instead of hoping in the benevolence of others.
Sylas was the only one who could give him the power he couldn’t grasp himself.
“Who do you need me to find?” Brant asked.
“You know her already. Olivia.”
Brant’s expression flickered. “I already know where she is.”
Sylas nodded. “Good.”
