Awakened: SSS Ranked Soul king

"Boss, they are already going for the right wing, you said it yourself, we can't let them get stronger than us," one of Cyrus's cohort members whispered as they sat in a circle inside the hall.

Victoria and her team were becoming more powerful by the hour; if they let them get stronger soon enough, they wouldn't even have a say in whether they participate in the raids. They would just be forced to do so.

"I know… but sacrifices," Cyrus seemed hesitant. It felt like they had no choice in the matter, even if he suggested they leave, he knew two people here would immediately defect, bringing others with them.

He had to do it the proper way.

"We should grow stronger on our own without constantly risking our lives. Morgan, you're close to that Guilliman kid, right? Why don't you and Rody squirm your way into their raiding party so you can rank up," Cyrus said.

Morgan was a bit shaky; the kid seemed to be having second thoughts on how they did things, so he needed to separate him from the group. The thought of him spreading group-crippling rhetoric scared him a lot, especially after losing the vote the night before.

"Ohhh, that makes sense," Morgan nodded. He seemed quite ordinary, so it was really easy to underestimate his intelligence. But was he stupid? Absolutely not. He knew what Cyrus was trying to do and was damn happy about it.

He didn't fit in here anyway.

"The rest of us will hunt as a unit outside, away from their prying eyes. When they feel like they are strong enough to force our hand, we will give them hell," Cyrus really wanted to show them a lesson. They had truly bitten off more than they could chew.

He was not to be pushed around.

Later that day, Morgan and another met with Guilliman and asked to join the raids. It seemed like a good idea, seeing the others slowly open up to them; they should gladly accept them.

However, Guilliman flat out rejected the other guy, Rody, and only accepted Morgan for his already established synergy with their cohort.

His words were also quite rude, as he flat out told the other guy to tell Cyrus that he should come seek forgiveness.

Arrogant!!

But what could they realistically do? Nothing.

"Hm? Why is he following us?" On a particular morning, Victoria and her cohort left for the right wing of the outpost.

They had already decimated the creatures around, making the path from the right gate to the left one relatively safe.

"He's with me, any problem?" Guilliman responded, looking at Jemie through the corner of his eyes.

Morgan was a friend of sorts; his willingness to help was always welcomed. Besides, he didn't really fit in with Cyrus's group, so he was willing to help the guy meld into theirs.

He had spoken to Victoria about the prospects a while ago, and she agreed that his aspect was quite useful, though she was still on the fence…

"Ehn, not really, just wanted to know, shorty," Jemie spoke with indifference, adding a layer of insult.

Soon they reached the door right before the left gate; it led down to the left wing where the monsters reigned supreme.

Upon opening it, the stench of vine essence and a tinge of dread filled the air. The left wing was more than just a hall; it stretched across a rather vast area somewhat underground.

"Wow," Morgan's eyes beamed. At a quick glance, he noticed several corpses along the edges of the left wing. They belonged to the plant folk that surrounded this area.

Victoria's cohort had only been here for about two days and they had killed so many beasts? That sounded absurd, but it was the truth.

"You're new, so let me explain the situation," Guilliman's voice echoed in Morgan's ear.

"Over there is the target," he pointed at a staircase at the very end of the hall. This staircase seemed to lead down to a sort of basement.

If not for the map indicating it, he wouldn't even remotely believe that this place had an underground space. The ground floor was too solid and firm. With the amount of fighting they had gotten into the past few weeks… it should have been apparent.

But it wasn't.

"There's our obstacle," not too far away from the staircase, a tree stood firmly. Its branches spread far and wide, and they were withered.

"That's the mythic beast," Morgan didn't need anyone to tell him. The energy that thing released was disgustingly oppressive.

He could feel it all the way from here.

"Yes," Guilliman nodded as they walked downward.

The mythic beast's range was wide, but it couldn't sense anything 500 meters out of its radius, allowing them to fight the beasts around the edges without engaging it directly.

All they need to do now was waste the beasts in the surround, pushing everyone to level 7, so they would have a much better chance of killing this thing.

"Good luck, big guy," Guilliman walked forward and patted Barthold on the back.

He was the closest to entering level 7 amongst the remaining members of the group. Victoria and Jemie were already at that level; only Barthold and Hamdel remained.

Of course, this now included Morgan.

"Yeah," taking in a huge breath of air, Barthold smashed his mace atop his shield and approached the beast.

This time, vines didn't shoot out. Only spike projectiles aimed to scatter his defenses. However, he remained steadfast, increasing the size of his shield as he pushed forward.

Soon a gruesome battle ensued, as Guilliman and Jemie, using Barthold as a shield wall, approached the beast and decimated it.

"Are they even fighting at this point? This is just straight up bullying," Morgan frowned. Even at level 7, a grand beast was still a threat to slayers.

What these guys were doing was not normal at all.

If only he knew that Guilliman alone was enough to kill that thing, he was just holding back.

That day, they successfully brought both Barthold and Hamdel to reach level 7 after killing their way through a bunch of grand beasts.

"That's enough for today, we're heading back," Victoria called forward. They had done quite enough killing already. Tomorrow, they might have to start slaying beasts in the general radius of the mythic beast.

That meant that they would not only have to contend with the grand beasts surrounding it, but also with the mythic one.

For this, they had to rest at the very least; it wasn't like they were in a rush anyway.

…

When they got back to the right wing, though, they were met by a horrible scene.

"What happened here?" Victoria asked, a look of dread painted all over her face.

One of the members of Cyrus's cohort had lost a leg and Cyrus was in a comatose state. All around the room was gloomy and quiet.

She didn't receive a reply, as everyone seemed completely dazed.

"Don't worry, I'll ask them," Morgan walked forward and helped the guy, Rody, up. He was the one who lost his leg and was bleeding profusely. Dragging him to Hamdel, they started healing him, after which he explained what happened.

They had gone out to hunt a few grand beasts; that was when Cyrus suggested they leave the forest entirely. At first they were reluctant, but, feeling tired and under the constant pressure from him, they gave in.

They followed him far away from the outpost, but were suddenly enveloped by fog.

This was in the middle of the day! The fog came in the middle of the day! Before they could even react, he had lost a leg. If not for Cyrus risking his life for them to escape, they would all be dead right now.

"That's terrible," Guilliman smiled bitterly. He had refused to let Rody be part of their team. Maybe if he hadn't, the kid would still have his leg.

Maybe.

"This changes a lot though, our understanding of the fog is wrong," Victoria stroked her chin. They had always been besieged by the fog at night, so they were used to it. However, the thought of it being able to hit them at any time was horrifying.

Even with their growth, those things in the fog seemed to be more dangerous than ever.

"Miss Victoria,"

As Victoria was contemplating the consequences of this news, the young voice of Quinn resounded behind her, causing her to frown.

She looked back slowly with a frowned face.

"Why are you kneeling, kid? Get up," Victoria was taken aback.

"My brother, please help…" Quinn looked helpless, he couldn't even tell what was wrong with him; they had lost their healer and had been depending on medicine, which couldn't help Cyrus though.

He needed a healer.

"Sigh, stand up, kid. I wouldn't leave you guys here to die anyway," Victoria felt her heart melt. They were allies just a few days ago.

To see this innocent kid beg for his brother was heartbreaking, and over what a disagreement? That wasn't right.

"We'll take two days off to make sure they're okay," Victoria commanded.