Chapter 148 - Abubakar
The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar, blinked several times.
He wondered if he was seeing a ghost at this moment.
"Where the hell did this guy come from? Shouldn't he have been detected even by my presence detection skill?"
Since he appeared suddenly, he seemed to be invisibilized, as Abubakar couldn't detect him with his presence detection ability.
"Who the hell are you to...?"
Abubakar, about to shout, quickly shut his mouth.
The man cut the throat of the organization member who had captured Ricky without warning.
Cleanly, without a drop of blood.
Then, he showed enough calmness to hand the child over to someone named Victor.
Unlike him, Abubakar couldn't keep calm.
He was so tense that even drops of sweat formed on his forehead.
The reason was that he realized late that the man with the white mask's weapon was a scythe.
"If that player uses a scythe..."
There was a presence that always came to mind as a synonym.
"Black Scythe."
He didn't know his nationality, but he always ranked first worldwide.
He was a monster among players, regardless of the country.
"It can't be Black Scythe, right?"
His nickname was Scythe; he had the occupation of Reaper, but there was no guarantee he used a scythe.
Abubakar hadn't even seen directly if Black Scythe used a scythe.
It was just an assumption.
"No, even if it is, those movements..."
They were not normal.
It wasn't a common skill.
He wanted to verify it again.
After a corpse appeared, Abubakar raised his hand to signal Victor, who was trying to cover the children's eyes.
Tsueuk-
The dagger that detached from his hand returned to its sheath.
The assassin's skill, "Dagger Throw," was ready for a second shot.
Whoosh-
The dagger flew at a speed almost equal to a bullet, aiming straight for the child's head.
However, the white-masked scythe blocked the dagger again.
Ping-
This time, he saw it clearly.
"Was it just a coincidence?"
To see the trace of the flying dagger and accurately block it by raising the scythe?
Although he expected it, he wasn't an ordinary player.
"You blocked my attack twice. You're not a normal guy, but no matter who you are, you picked the wrong opponent."
He blocked twice the daggers thrown towards the children.
That confirmed it.
He couldn't defeat that guy.
He wanted to imitate the lion of justice, but reality was different.
With just one order from him, all the subordinates here would open indiscriminate fire on the hostages.
How was he going to block the rain of bullets by himself?
"We'll see if you can protect the children if you can."
With a devilish smile, he was about to give an order to his subordinates.
At that moment, Abubakar's eyebrows moved.
Swish-
The opponent seemed to have intentionally concealed himself.
"What's going on? Didn't you use invisibility a moment ago?"
There should be a cooldown time, and he used it again?
Moreover, the surprising thing was that, after using invisibility, he disappeared from presence detection.
"Amazing. But even if that's the case, I can't..."
Abubakar couldn't continue thinking.
Kwajik-
A tremendous impact on the back of the neck made his face hit the ground.
"Ughhh...."
It seems like my front teeth and nose bone are shattered.
"Leader, leader!"
With a shout, a hand holding a transparent white mask appeared from behind and forcefully pressed the back of Abubakar's head.
"Ugh...!"
I can't move, as my mouth is filled with dirt.
I'm in a state where I can't give orders even if I want to.
But the subordinates didn't stay still seeing the leader in that situation.
"That bastard!"
"Save the leader!"
30 players ran with their swords to kill the white-masked figure.
The other organization members stayed aiming their firearms, fearing to harm the leader.
But they didn't know that the man pressing the leader was smiling under the mask.
---------------
"How... how is this possible...?"
Victor's mouth stayed shut.
When he realized that the children were being threatened because of him, his heart shuddered.
When the dagger flew towards Ricky, everything turned dark in front of his eyes.
But suddenly, a miraculous savior with a white mask appeared.
It was astonishing to see him block the dagger, but more than that, he was grateful that he could save the child's life.
But now, the situation was even more amazing.
"He's facing so many by himself..."
Well, it can't be said that he's "facing." It was so one-sided that players were going towards him like moths to a flame.
It was such an overwhelming and unanimous scene that even thirty seemed insufficient.
Everyone, including the hostages and the organization members with firearms, watched the massacre frozen-faced.
Except for Victor.
"You! Let him go immediately! You shouldn't be watching something like this!"
"Why? I want to watch too."
"We should leave now! This is not the time for this."
"Just a little more."
"Ugh! Aren't you going to listen, uncle?"
Seeing that the children might get hurt, Victor, who was nervous, finally had to ask for help from those hesitating to approach.
"Mr. Marcus! What are you doing? Protect yourself and the children immediately!"
"Eh? Oh, okay. Come on, guys!"
Was it Victor's voice that woke them up?
The adults who were staring at the massacre as if hypnotized also started to take refuge with the children.
But maybe because several were moving at the same time, the normal organization members noticed their movement, and naturally, the weapons turned towards them.
"Where do you think you're going? You don't want to become Swiss cheese, do you?! Come back here if you don't want to become slaves, bastards!"
"Ah..."
People trying to escape stopped at hearing those words from Victor.
A sigh escaped from Victor's mouth.
He wanted to at least evacuate the children quietly, but everything went wrong.
Tatatatang-!
At that moment, an organization member shouting with a firearm suddenly collapsed.
Tatatatata- tatatata!
It wasn't just one; dozens of organization members fell like bamboo shoots, splattering blood.
What was happening? Suddenly, three organization members joined to shoot at the other members.
"W-what's happening? Sudden betrayal among organization members?"
Seeing his own comrades shooting at each other, Victor was surprised and was about to faint when a woman suddenly appeared.
"It's now. Quickly, get people to safety."
The oriental woman who appeared suddenly said something, but Victor couldn't understand what it was about.
However, through her gestures, he could understand the meaning.
'Ah, she wants us to leave quickly.'
Victor nodded to the oriental woman and thanked her before directing the people to a safe place, away from the scene.
--------------------
"Kwaak!"
"Kyeok!"
"Kreuet!"
A massacre scene with blood splattering everywhere.
Watching the hell unfold, AbuBakar disdainfully struck the ground with his staff.
"Damn, it's over. He's not my opponent."
From the moment his face was on the ground, he strongly felt he was in trouble.
At that moment, realizing the power pressing against his neck, he understood he was facing an unreachable existence.
'Black Scythe. That guy is really Black Scythe.'
Like a messenger of death, the guy was massacring thirty players without blinking.
They were carefully selected within the organization, and he didn't expect them to die like this.
'Today is really an unlucky day. Damn.'
He had to seize the opportunity while he was busy fighting and escape.
The lives of his subordinates or his own ship didn't matter at all.
His life was more important than anyone else's.
'Allah. Why do you give me this trial today?'
Though complaining to God today, he also thought that everything was his fault.
Surviving and kidnapping and killing many heretics who didn't believe in Allah would be the only way to redeem his sins in this life.
'Ah, escaping is also a problem, but for now...'
Running without rest, AbuBakar hid behind a building and pulled out his phone.
Tactactac-
After quickly sending a message, he peeked his head out again.
'Damn.'
Someone was detected on the presence detection radar. Surely it was him, the messenger of death.
'Damn, he might not notice me, so for now...'
Silently hiding his body, he ran.
But somehow, without realizing it, the distance shortened, and he was caught from behind.
Crack!
"Kweeok!"
Bashing his head against the building's wall, his invisibility was deactivated.
Brick splinters fell abundantly below his forehead.
Whoosh-
Thrown into the air, he spun six times before falling heavily to the ground.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Plof-
"Kukukuk."
AbuBakar, with his ankle stomped by Ryu Min, couldn't gather the courage to counterattack against the overwhelming force.
"You too."
Plof-
"Aahhh."
Grabbed by the neck, he couldn't move like a puppet.
"Follow me. If you don't want to die."
Ryu Min led the dazed individual towards Yamti.
"Yamti. Control this guy. We need to lure him like we did before."
"Yes, leader."
Ryu Min looked at Victor and the others, who were taking refuge, while leading the alchemist Victor Jafaile.
Having achieved the goal of rescuing Victor after defeating numerous organizations in two days, there was still work to be done.
Because he knew that this guy currently being controlled by Yamti wasn't the leader of the ISIS.
"This guy is more like an intermediate leader. We need to extract the truth," Ryu Min smiled maliciously from within his mask.
---------------------------
The anti-state organization ISIS, following Islam, has been in decline since 2017.
Now, there are barely any residual forces.
That's why Abu Ibrahim Ash-Shami Al-Baghdadi, the current leader and the second caliph of ISIS, yearned for the resurgence of the organization.
"We must expand our power to the point where the whole country trembles just by hearing the name ISIS, as before."
They must intensify terrorist acts and kidnap more children.
And through brainwashing education, turn them into warriors dedicated only to Allah.
That's the reason for kidnapping children.
It's an investment to rebuild glory, for the future.
On the other hand, players are investing in the present.
"An investment that draws a downward curve every month."
Currently, there are around 800 active players with the name ISIS in Nigeria.
Originally, there were more, but they decrease by half every month.
In a few months, there probably won't be any players left.
That was the biggest disadvantage of players.
Additionally, being a common civilian, Al-Baghdadi didn't quite like players.
"They're like soon-to-expire consumer goods and aren't even strong enough to dodge bullets..."
The only advantage is that they can easily enter other countries and carry out terrorist attacks without firearms.
"People don't even leave their houses because they say players are terrifying these days."
Even the environment for carrying out terrorist attacks is not conducive.
"It seems like players are useless. Tsk."
Although he admitted that potions created by the alchemist named Victor were useful.
"Potions are useful. They can be sold on the black market or stored for the future."
Currently, he's storing them for the future.
He only sells a bit on the black market when he needs money.
Of course, civilians can't use potions, but they can benefit if players give them.
Potion transportation.
That was the utility of players.
At least for Al-Baghdadi.
"We must intensify terrorist attacks before players decrease even more."
He was about to execute the plan he had been preparing.
A plan in which ordinary members and players would join forces to create a masterpiece.
"If we achieve a surprising terrorist attack in the world, ISIS could regain its reputation."
While reviewing the plan once again, he received a message on Al-Baghdadi's phone.
[AbuBakar: State of emergency. The organization is being attacked by someone suspected to be Black Scythe.]
"Black Scythe?"
Even Al-Baghdadi, who was not a player, had heard of the name Black Scythe, thanks to his player subordinates.
"The level 89 player who didn't lose the first place in the ranking?"
Compared to most players who are level 40, one can imagine how strong he is.
"And what if we manage to lure this guy to our ISIS?"
It might be possible to realize ISIS's dream, the attack on the White House.
"We finally found a useful player."
Al-Baghdadi's gaze curved like a crescent moon.