Second World

Jack and Master spent significant time destroying the main node of the gigantic rune diagram. It was almost sunset when they arrived at the place Master led them to.

"This is the node where the outside energies are channeled to power the rune diagram we destroyed," Master informed when Jack landed near him. "If there is an exit, it should be near here. If you can locate it quickly, do it now."

Jack looked at the dark sky. "Considering we have destroyed that rune diagram, we should not have night hunters roaming around at night anymore, should we?"

"I doubt it," Master answered. "The one in the high-rise building is a part of the main node defensive function. The ones that roamed the night are governed by a different mechanism."

"Should we find a safe place and wait until tomorrow morning then?" Grace asked.

"We better not," Master answered.

"Why?" Stefan asked. He was not keen on facing those night hunters even when he was now geared with his equipment and was able to use all his skills.

"If the exit is truly around here, then we have to do it tonight," Master said. "By my calculation, this place is included in the area that will be inaccessible when this pocket world shrinks once this day is over. I might have a way to brute force an exit but it will be better if we use a proper door."

"In that case, we have no time to waste!" Jack said. "Okay, everyone. Form a defensive perimeter around me!"

Jack called out Therras to help the defense. He didn't know how long it might take him to search the exit, so he didn't call out his spirit weapon and wolves which had a duration.

Grace helped organize everyone to form the defensive perimeter while Jack sat cross-legged on the floor.

Master frowned. Weren't Jack supposed to go search for the exit? Why was he sitting here?

Spring Crown was also wondering the same thing, but he followed Grace's instruction with a smile. He was more fascinated than confused by Jack's actions.

Jack closed his eyes and concentrated. After losing mana abilities for several days, it felt truly exhilarating to be able to sense everything the way he used to.

His consciousness slowly separated from his body and floated out into the open. He focused his thought as he roamed around the place, magnifying the scope of his senses. The mana of this place was truly warped. It was not strange considering this was a constructed dimension.

He slowly searched for the mana that smelled similar to the one that formed the links between the pocket worlds. He finally sensed a trace of it, he should be able to follow this trace to the exit. Master was indeed correct. The exit was nearby here. However, he also sensed something else.

'Oh… It seems I need to hurry,' Jack thought to himself.

Now that Jack could communicate with Peniel even when he was in the incorporeal state, he no longer needed to worry about his body when he was out. Peniel could warn him if something happened. This warning system went two ways.

After receiving Jack's message, Peniel warned everyone, "The night hunters are coming!"

Master also saw the massive red dots on his radar. He was just about to warn everyone but Peniel beat him to it. He wondered how Peniel knew about the incoming night hunters before his radar did.

The others went into a ready position with their weapons equipped. Jack had given Kramer and Windy a set of armor and weapons from his large collection of equipment.

Kramer was a melee fighter. He used a shield and a spear. Windy was a magic user. Jack gave him a rare-grade magic staff.

Kramer, Therras, Grace, Spring Crown, and Naomi stood in the outer perimeter. They were the first line of defense. Stefan, Winson, Tom, Windy, and Saddie stood in the inner circle close to Jack.

Stefan was a hidden weapon specialist. He stayed behind Naomi who was a berserker and ready to support her with his flying daggers.

Winson was a bard. He played music using a flute that buffed allies with increased defense and HP recovery.

Tom was a reaver. He was like Jason who picked a staff during his basic class selection, mistaking it for a martial art weapon. The mistake continued and he went on the Healer's path. Jason had the advantage of getting informed to convert into a melee class by choosing the inquisitor class. Tom wasn't as lucky. He wasn't a social person and disliked asking others for information. He blindly chose an elite class and became a Reaver.

Saddie was an Elementalist. She seemed to be a better and calmer player compared to the three others beside her.

Master didn't move from his initial position. He was outside the defensive perimeter set by the others. The others didn't bother asking him to cooperate.

Master watched his radar and moved to where the night hunters would first arrive from. He then started casting one spell after another in rapid succession. Everyone except for Grace and Spring Crown was flabbergasted when they saw a host of summoned creatures appear.

It was as if a small army emerged around Master. The numbers on Master's side now surpassed the number of players forming the defensive perimeter.

When the night hunters came into view, Master pointed forward. Led by the high demon summoned from his Prime Demonologist class, his minions rushed forward.

The night hunters were vulnerable, but they packed a punch. It was not so obvious before because previously everyone's life was represented with shields. Now that everyone's life was back to using the HP system, it was clear that the night hunters would still only need three standard hits to kill an average level 65 players.

The most troublesome aspect of the night hunters was their number. Their swarm was seemingly unending. Even though they were easy to kill, the dead ones were quickly replaced by the ones behind. With their high damage output, they gave Master's minions a run for their money.

Master saw that his minions couldn't completely block the tide. Hordes of night hunters swarmed from the left and right sides where his minions didn't cover. He cast two spells using his left and right magic staffs. This again drew gasps from those who were not aware of Master's multi-classes.

Master's right staff cast Meteor Fall while his left one cast Sea of the Elementals. Both were high-damaging spells that covered a wide area. Untold night hunters were annihilated by those two spells.

"I don't think we are needed here," Stefan remarked.

Master, however, wasn't as relaxed. This was because he saw more red dots approaching on his radar, and this next wave was coming from all directions.