Kaelen exited the dungeon. He was richer. He had a bag full of mana stones and monster parts. But he had triggered an alarm.
Waiting at the teleport gate was not the police. It was a single man in a grey trench coat. He wore a silver mask, but this one had a red stripe painted down the eye. A High Inquisitor.
Beside him sat a massive, mechanical hound with glowing red sensors.
"Stop," the Inquisitor said.
Kaelen froze. His Guide text turned flashing red. [Danger! Level 45 Enemy. Run is impossible.]
"A glitch occurred in the Fungal Caverns," the Inquisitor said. His voice was smooth. "A Boss Mob vanished. Three players suffered catastrophic brain death."
The mechanical hound growled, sniffing the air. It looked at Kaelen.
"You were the fourth member," the Inquisitor stated. "A Civilian Mule."
"Yes, my lord," Kaelen bowed, sweating. "I ran away when the fighting started."
The Inquisitor stepped closer. The hound sniffed Kaelen's leg. Kaelen held his breath. He had the Black Box in his inventory (a pocket dimension). The hound shouldn't smell it. But the hound smelled Him.
It smelled the Decay.
The hound barked—a sharp, electronic sound. "Anomaly!" the hound's speaker announced.
The Inquisitor drew a sword made of pure light. "Reveal yourself, virus."
Kaelen clenched his fists. He prepared to fight and die.
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the plaza. BOOM.
Smoke filled the air. A hover-bike crashed through the Guild Hall window, spraying glass everywhere. "Catch me if you can, tin-heads!" a female voice laughed.
A girl with blue hair and a mechanical arm rode the bike. She threw a handful of EMP Grenades.
The Inquisitor's hound sparked and shut down. The Inquisitor stumbled, his optical mask blinded by static.
"Hey! You!" the girl pointed at Kaelen. "You look like you're in trouble. Hop on!"
Kaelen didn't ask questions. He jumped onto the back of the bike. The girl revved the engine. They shot into the sky, leaving the blinded Inquisitor behind.