Chapter 163 Gandalf, The Energy Blocker
-----
[You have triggered a new system mission: Ultimate Showdown!]
[Mission Details:]
>Arthur Holmes, the best descendant of this generation of Holmes warriors is upon you again. This time, humbled and wiser from being punished, Arthur comes with the greatest determination to eliminate you<
>This is the ultimate showdown of this generation between both families whose great feud started centuries ago<
>There is only one outcome to this showdown. You die or he dies<
[Main Mission: Kill Arthur Holmes!]
[Mission Rewards: ???]
…
[Sub Mission: Liberate Scorpion, the Sting Assassin!]
[Mission Rewards: ???]
----
"They are here!"
Instantly after Aragorn told him this with a solemn look on his face, Rex's system also lit up a corresponding notification that explained everything.
Compared to the info that Aragorn had, his was even more accurate. Despite this, Rex did not act like he knew as he continued acting clueless. "Who?"
"Our enemies are here".
Without wasting any time, Aragorn explained to him and the Elven Princess how the news came about. Just like them, while entering the shelter, Scorpion took measures to avoid drawing too much attention to themselves.
Despite Scorpion's cautiousness and all that, he still underestimated the current reach of the Berserk Gang and was already burned for it.
One of the warriors that was smuggled alongside them was a warrior of the Berserk Gang, and having received similar report missions already, for contribution points, this warrior did not hesitate to reveal the truth.
Over the past 3 months, apart from digesting the gains from Gaud, Max, and Stark Elden and growing the Berserk Gang, they also worked on their safety.
Unless something really drastic changed up there, Aragorn's enemies were still pretty far away in the great shelters. He was the one seeking revenge and had the intentions to take the fight to the enemy.
Princess Elanor had no external enemies; her enemies were the Kamaitachis and they were all locked with her family in the micro world.
Only Rex's was a different case. Having experienced the determination of his enemies to kill him already, planning for their safety ranked very high in their priority list of things to attend to as soon as possible.
As the Berserk Gang grew, they employed more measures to protect themselves which included setting up spies to be on the lookout for their arrival.
From what they just got; their efforts appeared to not have been futile.
Without hesitation, they decided to take action. The best way to deal with your enemy was to take them out when they were at their weakest.
At this moment, Arthur Holmes had no foundations in the Gundam Shelter while they had the Berserk Gang, they had the overwhelming advantage now.
Rex, Aragorn, and Princess Elanor no longer hesitated as they geared up before rushing out with a team of 8 trucks from the gang.
Like they calculated, they were able to intercept the smuggling vehicle after just 5 minutes but to their shock, the vehicle was empty with only the driver in.
This young chubby driver smiled as his cheeks jiggled while he spoke to them. "Namaste brother, what happened? I'm simply delivering supplies".
Looking at the smiling face of this chubby driver, Rex felt an urge to smack his face into a pulp as he ordered. "Check the vehicle!"
The vehicle was literally ransacked but still, the driver was the only one in. Frustrated, Rex had his warriors follow him as they searched around the perimeter for a region of about a kilometer to no avail.
For some reason, Arthur seemed to have anticipated this and was a step ahead. They were strangely able to react fast enough to escape this ambush.
The even more baffling fact about this was that they were supposed to have no foundations in the Gundam Shelter, so how did this happen?
The questions were too much and the answers were too few. Out of options already, Aragorn sighed before suggesting that they return to the mansion.
On getting back, the 3 of them isolated themselves as they talked about their circumstances, this was when Rex made known his decision.
"I won't change my mind; I'm going for the Vampiric Armor's inheritance".
In the little time of them returning to the mansion, Rex already thought over everything and made his decision, he would continue with his previous decision and leave the shelter for the inheritance.
Having stayed 3 months in the shelter building the Berserk Gang already, he now craved some outside adventures to refresh his growth mechanism.
In his 1 year as a mystic warrior, one thing he learned was that apart from fighting physical battles to breakthrough, when a mystic warrior got stuck, changing environments for more varied options and adventures could help a lot.
Rex stuck with his decision to leave. He didn't know how Arthur Holmes was able to escape his encirclement, but he still believed in himself.
"What of your safety?" Aragorn asked.
"Don't worry about me". Rex smiled. "I have Grey, Storm, and Ambition, remember? With them, I'm literally unkillable to most Advanced mystic warriors".
"Also, there's been a lot of recent upheavals in the shelter, I feel that something big is happening. My instincts are screaming conservativeness to me".
"To avoid getting caught in the wrong side of whatever storm is coming, we need to halt our expansions to fully digest the ones that we've swallowed already".
"About your safety when I leave, I already thought of that".
"From the little that I learned about Arthur, he loves to keep his plans hidden from his enemies before exploding in a last moment attack to take him unawares".
"When they confirm that I'm absent, they're unlikely to take the fight to the both of you just to keep their plans out of our reach".
"I may be wrong but I believe you're both capable of taking care of any new variables that emerge. For now, I'm off to the Great Desert".
Minato Musashi's tomb has already been overrun by the constantly expanding territory of the Great Desert.
After coming to a consensus with his sworn brother and sister, Rex finally bid them farewell before leaving to further his journey as a mystic swordsman.
As soon as he left, Aragorn and Princess Elanor took over as they started employing more sophisticated measures to protect themselves.
Knowing that Arthur was from a Great Shelter put them at alert. Having experienced what it felt to go against one of the mystic warriors from these much more prosperous areas in Gaud, they dared not underestimate him.
While they did their thing, Scorpion did his own thing.
…
At the heart of the Red Zone, inside a random restaurant sat 3 mystic warriors as 2 of them chatted like best friends who were finally meeting after separating for over 3 decades.
"I can't believe I'm actually seeing you again after so many years". The white-haired middle-aged man laughed his heart out as he spoke.
Even as he spoke, his mouth never stopped chewing on the peas on the table even as his other hand kept on pouring cups of beer down his throat.
"Hahaha, you too". Scorpion laughed. "You know, I find it ridiculous that you're still alive, I expected you to be dead already".
"You too motherf*cker".
Arthur was like the outcast as these 2 mystic warriors seemed to talk about the good old days, they did this for a long time before the white-haired middle-aged mystic warrior finally asked a question.
"Where is your partner in crime? I thought you guys were inseparable".
Scorpion's face finally changed. "Well, as you can see, we separated".
The man raised his hands up. "Sorry man, I didn't mean it as an offense". He poured down another glass of beer. "So man, what brought you here?"
"After all the sins that you committed here in our heyday, I never expected you to have the courage to come back here".
"Aha…, I remembered that you married and had a kid, right? Right?"
Scorpion stared coolly back at this mystic warrior. "Yes".
Though he tried to play it cool, the white-haired man knew he was talking to, he could easily read that something was wrong as he finally decided to stop taking it so casually. "Can this kid listen in?"
"Yes".
"So, what actually brought you back here?"
Scorpion kept a poker face. "Do you still have your powers?"
"Did a Ghost Face finally eat up your brain?" The white-haired mystic warrior asked sarcastically. "When did mystic warriors begin losing their mystic abilities?"
"Just wanted to be sure". Scorpion kept his poker face and continued. "This kid here is my employer and he has a mission…"
"I'm done with missions, don't bother".
"I know, that's why I came personally". Scorpion adjusted himself, something he rarely did, causing the white-haired man's eyebrows to raise.
He continued. "Gandalf, this is not a mission but please take it as a plea of help from an old friend. If we're successful, I'll owe you this favor for life".
Gandalf raised his eyebrows again. "It's been decades since you last called my name, besides, you almost never put your favor on the line in negotiations".
He laughed. "I don't know man, but that thing at stake must be surely important to demand you putting your favor on the line".
"This is a rare thing I guess, just for the excitement, count me in".
"I'll remember this favor". Scorpion said solemnly.
With him in, Scorpion no longer hid anything as he gave the stage to Arthur. Arthur did not hesitate as he explained everything that he could to this warrior.
When he was done, Gandalf rubbed his grey beard. "Your opponent is actually that kid? Interesting, I guess I can do that".
"Follow me to my gang".
Before they stood up to leave, Arthur asked a question. "What's an energy blocker?"
"This!"
Before Arthur could react, the old man poked him on the head and instantly, he felt like a cripple since all flow of mystic energy in his body seized.
He felt goosebumps as his body turned chilly.
Gandalf smiled. "That's an energy blocker".