Conquering The Game's World

"Good." Luis praised Diana, then turned to Alicia. "Alicia, I need you to handle the person sitting closer to the drums. Once you defeat him. You must ensure the safety of the drums while we deal with the others." After pausing for a few seconds, Luis asked, "Can you do that for me?"

Alicia nodded with a serious expression. "Leave it to me."

Diana put her left hand on Alicia's shoulder and said with a confident smile. "Hehe. Don't worry Alicia. I will kill those two kidnappers in a second, and then I with help you protect those drums too."

Dark lines appeared on Luis' forehead when he heard Diana's statement. "Diana, you will not kill them."

"Huh? Why?" Diana asked, confused.

"What are you even confused about?" Luis rubbed his forehead. 'Just why is this girl so violent?' With a sigh, he explained. "First, we need them alive to extract information from them regarding the kidnapped children. Second, our actions are based on our assumptions, because they are the most probable suspects. However, there is still a small 2% possibility of them not being the kidnappers."

"So, do you want to end up killing innocent people by mistake?" Luis' voice sounded very patient, as if he was explaining to a little girl about right and wrong. However, Diana's response was unexpected, even for him.

"Innocent people? Didn't their illegal entry into this country already make them criminals?"

"… Well, let's just remember, we need them alive to get the information."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You don't have to repeat yourself." Diana said while waving her hand, expressing that she understood.

"…"

***

In the dimly lit shed, five men waited in silence, four pairs of eyes fixed on the serious-looking figure in their midst. Suddenly, a faint buzz emanated from the man's mana bracelet, causing a ripple of anticipation to run through the group.

All eyes were now fixed on the device, waiting for the message that would break the stillness and set their plan in motion. However, before that man could read the message, they heard a chilling voice.

"Ice Cage!"

The next moment, Ice thorns grew inside the shed around the drums and twisted together, forming an icy birdcage protecting the drums from harm.

"ENEMY! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" The serious-looking man reacted that instant and rushed forward, trying to break the Ice Cage.

"Ice Blades!"

Sharp blades of Ice surrounded the Ice Cage making another layer of protection for the drums.

*BOOM! *

A loud boom sounded, and the explosion blasted off half of the shed.

"SHIT!" That man cursed out loud, while also using his move. "Rock Fist!" A dense rocky layer covered his hands as he smashed at the Ice Cage.

"Oh, no you don't."

Just when his heavy attack was about to land. Alicia's calm voice sounded, and a powerful sword slash deflected his attack.

The man looked at the black-haired girl who appeared in front of him with vigilance. 'What about the others?'

Just when that thought crossed his mind, he noticed that they all were already busy confronting other attackers and one of them was in a critical condition, seemingly the sufferer of the previous explosion.

'Who the heck are these kids and how did they find us?!' That man's expression was maddening, but of course, Alicia didn't let him think for long and had already started her fury of sword attacks.

---

A few seconds ago.

When Alicia surrounded the drums with the Ice Cage, two men were also about to start their attack, along with the serious-looking man to break the Ice Cage. While the other two looked around vigilantly searching for the intruders. Right then, a button of one of those men exploded, causing half of the shed to be blown together with him. The other three already took a step back, so the explosion didn't affect them much, only some bruises.

"SHIT! BE ON GUARD!"

A brown man shouted, but the next second, a Lightning Whip wrapped around his neck tightly, choking him, and then a powerful force pulled his body out of the shed.

"Uwaack!"

The rest of the two wanted to save him, but right then, another attacker kept them occupied.

"Jungle Karate: Gorilla Style Fist! And Kangaroo Style Kick!"

They tried to defend themselves, but the Power behind Diana's attacks pushed them a dozen meters back right outside the shed.

The two men felt the immense pain in their hands and observed the beast kin girl in front of them with gritted teeth.

Satisfied with their reaction, Diana smirked and taunted. "You two are my prey. Okay? So, don't go around getting defeated by those two."

Luis, who was some distance away from them. Looked at Diana's direction with a speechless expression. 'Stupid, you just told them we are just the three of us!'

As expected, the men who were facing Diana looked at her with strange expressions.

"That means there are just the three of you?" One of them asked suspiciously.

"Of course," Diana was proud. "But even just one of us is enough to deal with you all."

Her words made those two men furious. They held back their pain and attacked her.

"Let's deal with this stupid girl first and then support the others."

"As you say."

"Wait, who are you calling stupid?" Diana, who heard their conversation, became furious and started attacking them.

*Boom! *

*Boom! *

*Thwack! *

*Smash! *

---

*Sigh* Luis sighed in relief. 'Guess they are weaker than I thought.'

These four were all just five stars in the Beginner Rank, and the one fighting with Alicia was one star in the Novice Rank. This made him wonder.

'How did they successfully kidnap so many kids without being caught with their little strength?'

Although he was curious. First, they need to be put down. Thinking so, Luis brought his attention back to the man who struggling to unwrap the Lightning Whip. But, as soon as he tried doing so, the electric currents made his body paralyzed.

*Zzzt! *

"Ah!"

*Zzzt! *

"Don't bother. It's no use struggling." Luis said with an indifferent face. "Let's just wait for your friends to be defeated, too."

The man stopped moving around and didn't struggle to get free anymore. Not because he listened to Luis' words, but because his entire body was already numb due to the paralyzing effect of the electrical currents.

"It is good that you are so cooperative. I like such people." Luis smiled as he gave an affirmative nod towards the paralyzed man. Which made him so angry that he wanted to break free from this Lightning Whip and kill this infuriating brat. Luis, of course, ignored the looks that the paralyzed man was giving and observed Diana and Alicia's battle.

'Hmm, what about the one who exploded? Is he alive?' Thinking about his Button Drone Number 50, which he used to detonate an attack on a living target for the first time, Luis decided to examine the effects it had on a five-star Beginner Rank.

Luis started walking as he pulled his Lightning Whip to drag the paralyzed body of that man along with him, all the way to the scorched body of his detonated partner.

He crouched down to check his vital signs. 'Oh, he is alive, huh? Still, his breath has slowed down and he might die within a few minutes if there is no recovery.'

"The explosion effect of the button drones is still too weak. It can't even completely kill a five-star Beginner Rank." Luis shook his head in disappointment. Thinking of ways to upgrade his Button Drones.

---

On the other side, a little away from the Ice cage. As the fight progressed, Alicia's opponent began to show signs of exhaustion. He was breathing heavily, his limbs were covered in a layer of frost, and his body was full of sword wounds. Meanwhile, Alicia remained calm and composed. Her breathing was steady, as she easily blocked or deflected all the attacks from her opponent.

She had only used simple swordsmanship and Ice Magic during the fight, as her opponent was not strong enough to warrant the use of more powerful moves. Nor did she get the chance or the need to display the ancient sword art that she had learned.

"*Sigh* Is that all? Aren't you the strongest of all your partners here? Can't you even give me a good fight?"

Alicia tried provoking her opponent while remembering how Luis does it normally. 'Well, Luis, I tried your advice to provoke my opponent and play with their mentality. But will this even work?'

Just as she became a little doubtful, her opponent, who was already exhausted from the fight, became furious because of her provocation and attacked her fiercely.

"AAAHH! YOU LITTLE BITCH! DON'T BE FULL OF YOURSELF JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN WITH SUPERIOR TALENTS! YOU DARE TO LOOK DOWN ON ME! I'LL KILL YOU EVEN IF I DIE HERE!"

"… Wow, it's more than effective," Alicia mumbled while blocking all his attacks with a calm expression. While inwardly, she thought. 'Later, I'll tell Luis that I've become an expert at provoking my enemies. Hehe, I'm sure he will be surprised.' Imagining his surprised expression, her heart became expectant.