Chapter 50: The Fall Of Dawnbreak

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: The Fall Of Dawnbreak

Victor remembered the news about Mira’s death, clearer than ever now.

A C–Ranker that died at the hands of her wicked fiancé.

A normie at that. It had been one unbelievable news.

But the evidence had been too clear for it to be otherwise.

Coupled with Paul’s and Hana’s testimony, Tobi’s fate was sealed.

Turns out that even the authorities never got the story right.

Not that Victor felt any pity for Tobi.

He also had his fault in all this. Still, did he deserve to be accused of a death that was not his doing?

No. He didn’t.

And what about Mira, the victim?

Her only fault in all this was saying no to a boy she didn’t like.

But to think Hana, the sweet and mischievous priest he met just a few days ago, was capable of so much.

They would have gotten away with it, if not for Victor.

But the most disappointing part of it was what Paul was about to do to Mira.

This was not just a crime against one woman but to humanity.

"Victor? How are you still..." Hana turned towards Tobi. Furious. "You double crossing bastard?"

Victor turned towards the passed out Tobi. It did look like Tobi backstabbed Hana, but that was far from the truth.

It all started earlier in the day. When Victor was leaving Hook’s Dark guild branch. His sharp Barbarian nose caught a familiar scent off the body of the hooded fellow entering the guild.

Tobi.

As curious as he was, Victor did not approach him.

People needed the Dark guild for a range of different things, both legal and illegal.

Considering Tobi had already broken up with Mira the day before, he further did not see a need to interact with him.

And then at the Star Cafe, he caught sight of them again.

Victor followed, simply out of curiosity.

After seeing how happy Mira had been with Tobi, he actually thought that things might work out.

Maybe, somehow, that future of her death had been averted.

But when Tobi passed by him, his barbarian nose caught yet another smell.

A disgusting one. The same disgusting one he smelt in that alleyway leading to the Dark guild.

The drug, Dreamer.

A different kind of dread arrested Victor, and that was when he made up his mind to follow the couple for their night cap.

He had planned to simply steal it. However, to think that incident was going to happen tonight.

If he had not decided to follow them, Mira would have lost her life here, and the truth buried forever.

But what shocked Hana the most was that she had checked on Victor first, and clearly saw the effects of the drug in his eye.

However, what she did not know was that Victor was a Barbarian.

After his in-game Synchronization was completed, his body in this world had the same characteristics as his body in the Dungeon Conquest, and poisons, even from snakes and scorpions did not work on barbarians.

The Dreamer never had chance against him from the very beginning.

Victor’s voice cut through the room, flat and final.

"You’re not getting away with this. Either of you. I’m reporting everything to the Central Rankers Guild."

Hana and Paul exchanged a glance, something unspoken passing between them. Then Hana’s eyes slid back to him, and the fear that had flickered there a moment ago hardened into something much more composed.

"Nobody will believe you." She said it simply, almost kindly, like she was explaining something obvious to a child. "It’s your word against mine. An E-Ranker, tested a few hours ago, against a priest with years of standing record with both the Guild and the Church. I serve the goddess of the moon, Victor. Who do you think they’ll believe?"

A slow, satisfied smile crept across her face. "Exactly."

Victor held her gaze for a moment. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Funny thing, I read too much Mangas and watch too much anime to not think of a back up plan," he said, thumb hovering over the screen.

He pressed play.

Hana’s own voice filled the room, tinny through the phone speaker but was unmistakably hers. "...I remember what I promised... Rest now. Fool."

Then Tobi’s desperate pleading. Then her voice again, colder, laying out the frame-up in plain words.

The color drained from Hana’s face.

"That’s..." She took a step back. "That’s not... you can’t..."

"I caught all of it," Victor said. "Every word. From the second I was drugged."

"This can’t..." Hana’s composure cracked down the middle, fury replacing it almost instantly.

Paul’s hand had gone very still at his side, fingers curling slowly into a fist.

Victor caught the motion a half-second before Paul’s eyes flicked up, and he recognized exactly what that stance meant.

This man was getting ready to fight.

Paul and Hana traded one more look, and then Paul took a step forward, voice low, almost pleading.

"I’m sorry. I really am, kid. But I can’t let you ruin everything I’ve built." His jaw tightened. "We could’ve been friends. Just know that it didn’t have to go this way."

"I know," Victor said quietly., gaze focused on Paul’s movements.

Hana was smart and manipulative, but she was not a combatant.

Her Grace as a Priest was more important to her than causing harm.

Victor knew that the only threat to his life was Paul.

"Then you also know an E-Ranker doesn’t beat a D-Ranker." Paul’s stance shifted.

And then it settled into something that had been practiced over a long period of time.

This was a stance that came from actual years of combat experience against monsters that Victor simply didn’t have.

And this was regardless of what he pulled off in the yellow gate.

"Trust me kid." Paul continued, "Whatever you did with those goblins, that..." he chuckled. "...That was luck. I’ve been slaughtering monsters for years. Do you think that you can match me?"

It was true, and Victor knew it.

He didn’t have the experience. And he barely had a few days training with the spear, courtesy of Kiki.

Regardless, he smirked. "That’s the thing, Paul. An E–Ranker might not be your opponent. But what about...?"

(Author’s note: Golden Tickets and Gifts are appreciated please.)