Prime Originator

"Interesting."

Leon extended his senses and searched the area to see if the cloaked figure had any accomplices nearby. 

The breath was weak, but he managed to detect the presence of another human. However, this person seemed to have been secretly monitoring the cloaked figure. They did not appear to be on the same side.

After knowing this, Leon nodded, "Lead the way."

"Thank you for your understanding, Young Master Leonhardt." The cloaked figure smiled unsuspectingly under his hood and led Leon into a more isolated and dark area away from the main street.

You are not from this tribe, are you? Which tribe do you belong to?" Leon casually asked the cloaked figure, but he was ready to retreat at the slightest sign of danger.

"Yes, I am not from this tribe. I wonder if Young Master Leonhardt have heard of the Great Ironhawk Tribe?"

"The Great Ironhawk Tribe?" 

Leon furrowed his brows. The name did not ring a bell. Apparently, this tribe was not part of the alliance the Darkmoon Tribe belonged to.

"It seems Young Master Leonhardt has not traveled beyond the territories of the Seven Tribe Alliance. This is understandable. Someone like you has long been noticed by everyone if you have visited the central plains before."

"The Great Ironhawk Tribe is from the Infertile Plains' central region. Our tribe possesses 3 ancestors at the Battle King realm and 20 warriors at the Battle Master realm. We are considered one of the relative stronger tribe out there." The cloaked figure introduced.

"Is that right… and so? What do you intend to achieve by revealing this bit of information to me? Are you not afraid of being hunted down by the Darkmoon Tribe's warriors? I heard the Seven Tribe Alliance share a terrible relationship with other tribes beyond their borders." Leon said intriguingly.

"It is a risk I am willing to take if it means I can invite Young Master Leonhardt to the central region to join our tribe. What do you think of our tribe? Whatever the Darkmoon Tribe intends to offer Young Master Leonhardt, we are willing to double the benefits."

"Hoh…?"

On the top of a building some distance away, the scout overheard everything and gnashed his teeth angrily while simultaneously clenching his fists.

'F*ck! So it's a rat from the Great Ironhawk Tribe! How dare this mother f*cker come into our city and sneakily try to poach our people! I must cripple him and teach him a lesson he will never forget!' The scout viciously thought.'

Just as he was about to move in for the strike, a silent hand reached out from behind and applied pressure on his shoulder and stopped him, following the person's whispering voice, "Wait."

"Big brother?" The scout uttered after getting a careful look at the person. It was another scout in the same line of duty as him.

The person brought the index finger of his other hand to his lips and hushed, "Shh, be quiet."

"What are you doing here? What about the target you were monitoring?" the scout quietly whispered.

The person did not explain and directly pointed in a specific direction. After the scout followed the trajectory directed by the person, he was quickly startled to realize that there was someone else nearby.

That person had not been there earlier when he checked and must have arrived sometime after. However, the person was very subtle. The scout would not have noticed unless his big brother pointed the person out for him.

Leon stood there and appeared to be in deep contemplation of the cloaked figure's offer, but in truth, he was counting the number of people that were arriving with his superhuman hearing.

After some time, his count stopped at 7 people. Including the cloaked figure in front of him, there were a total of 8 other people.

'About for from each side, huh?' Leon silently mused before directing his attention back to the cloaked figure's offer.

"Although I have yet to negotiate with Chief Valencia, your offer is quite tempting. However, what will you do if I were to refuse?" 

When this question was asked, the cloaked figured raised an eyebrow and said with a frown, "I cannot understand why you would refuse. Our tribe is stronger, and the benefits we are willing to offer is greater. No matter how you look at it, you only stand to gain from this. You have no reason to refuse."

"You seem to forget that we are in the middle of the Darkmoon Tribe. To enjoy the benefits your tribe is offering, we must first get out of here alive. However, there's a more important point. You do not seem to hold any great position in your tribe. There is no weight in your promises. How can I guarantee that my interest will be met when I arrive in your tribe?"

Leon wore an amusing smile. 

From the start, he had zero intention of following the cloaked figure to the Great Ironhawk Tribe. It was too far from the teleportation array, not to mention that his important people were right here, in the Darkmoon Tribe.

When the cloaked figured realized that the other party had zero interest even after all that talking, his expression became more somber and gloomy under the hood.

"It seems Young Master Leonhardt has no intention of accepting the offer. In that case, I can only forcefully take you back with me. And should that fail, I will have no choice but to—"

The cloaked figure did not finish his words before his eyes flashed with a cold light and immediately made his move.

The distance between the cloaked figure and Leon was closed in an instance. Although Leon was prepared, he was still surprised by the cloaked figure's speed! 

Too fast!

Leon could not follow the person's movements!

'Accel World!'

He cast temporal acceleration on himself, and the world immediately became slower—No, it should be said that the world appeared slower!

Time was constant, and as it should be! Only his perception of it was quicker, making everything around him to appear slower!

The cloaked figure's incredible speed suddenly became readable to him as he followed the person's movement and saw the person's attack trajectory.

The person wanted to incapacitate him with a single chop!

Although Leon could read the movements with his eyes, his body was not fast enough to dodge the attack!

'Distortion!'

Leon bent the space in front of him with his Spatial Laws, and the cloaked figure swiped horizontally at empty air. His body may be slow, but his mind was fast!

"What!" 

The cloaked figure was greatly alarmed that his sure-hit chop had missed its intended target! Leon took the chance to retreat as far as he could with a single leap!

At the same time, everyone secretly in hiding reacted quickly and made their move!

"Big Brother Leonhardt is in trouble! Quickly assist him! Do not let these bastards get to him!" One of the senior scouts roared.

"That person is a Peak-rank Great Warrior! None of us will be able to hold him back for long! Quickly send the signal!" Another scout urged as he dashed forward and quickly engaged another cloaked figure in battle.

A signal flare was soon fired into the air and lighted up the sky above the area.

"Dammit, Ardeshir! We strayed from the main objective for this, yet you cannot even grab a kid at the Early-rank Great Warrior realm! Are you even a Peak-rank Great Warrior?! How can you fail?!"

A cloaked figure on the other side barked in annoyance as he forcefully fended off the scouts that suddenly appeared. 

"How the f*ck would I know how I fail?! I was so certain I was going to knock the kid out, but it was like space was suddenly stretched!" The cloaked figure barked back in frustration and went after Leon again.

However, two scouts at the Mid-rank Great Warrior realm appeared between them and blocked the Peak-rank Great Warrior's path.

"Out of the way!"

The two scouts stood no chance against the Peak-rank Great Warrior as they were flung away like swatted flies. Their bodies flew like cannonballs and broke through the walls of several buildings.

"Why do you have to make this so difficult on yourself?! Just follow us, obediently!" The Peak-rank Great Warrior roared as he closed in on Leon.

"You better not f*ck up again. We don't have much time now that we exposed ourselves!" Another cloaked figure accomplice barked.

"I know!" 

The Peak-rank Great Warrior swiped at Leon again, but he managed to evade with ease the second time around.

The difference between going into Accel World and already being in Accel World might not seem like a big deal, but it made a huge difference!

Even though the opponent's strength and speed vastly outstripped Leon, he had the situation under control! With the power of spacetime on his side, he was nigh uncatchable!

"What! How could I fail again?! What darn sorcery is this?!"

The Peak-rank Great Warrior was in disbelief.. His notion of absolute strength trumps everything was in tatters. How can a little Early-rank Great Warrior be so f*cking difficult to catch?!