Chapter 21: [21] : Escape from the Syndicate, Spatial Anchor

Five hundred heavily geared players charging at once was a terrifying sight.

The ground of the Ashen Bog shook under their boots.

The front line of shield-bearers roared as they closed the distance.

Meanwhile the mages in the back rapidly cast glowing nets of spatial magic into the sky.

Trying to deactivate whatever trick he was using.

"Spatial Lock activated!" a mage yelled.

"Standard teleportation skills are disabled within a hundred meters!"

Declan stood in the center of the muddy arena.

He didn’t pull his halberd back out.

He just glanced at his system interface.

[Stamina: 100/100]

He could use Void Blink six times.

That gave him ninety meters of movement.

The Sovereign Syndicate had formed a massive ring around the arena that was easily two hundred meters thick.

If he tried to blink through them, he would run out of stamina right in the middle of their backline.

With fifty defense from his coat, he wouldn’t die instantly.

But five hundred players continuously hitting him would eventually chip his health down to zero.

"Hand it over, kid!" Caldwell screamed while safely standing behind a wall of tanks.

"I will literally wire a million to your real-world bank account right now if you drop that Core! If you don’t, we will kill you, take it anyway, and spawn-camp you until you permanently log off!"

Declan laughed.

He was smart enough to realise that Caldwell was just baiting him.

"You guys always offer money when you realize you can’t win."

He didn’t need to run.

He just needed to bend the rules again.

He looked down at his right hand.

The new Mythic-tier [Ring of the Void-Hoarder] gleamed on his index finger.

The base stats were great but base stats didn’t get you out of an army’s trap.

He needed a conceptual exit.

He opened his enhancement menu and linked it directly to the ring.

He checked his Origin Point balance.

Killing a World Boss solo didn’t just give experience.

It dumped a massive fortune into his account.

He had over thirty thousand points sitting in his inventory.

Normal items cost one point per level.

Relics cost fifty.

He had no idea what a Mythic item cost to upgrade but he was about to find out.

"System," Declan commanded instantly.

"Enhance the Ring of the Void-Hoarder to plus ten. Push it through the warning."

[System Enhancement Initiated]

↳ Mythic Tier Item detected. Cost: 500 Origin Points per level.

↳ Ring +1... +2... +5...

[Notice: Maximum safety threshold reached. Item shatter imminent. Severe soul backlash guaranteed.]

Declan didn’t even blink.

He let his SSS Talent crush the game’s safety protocols like a bug.

[Talent: Boundless Enhancement activated. Cap removed.]

↳ Ring +6... +8... +10.

[5,000 Origin Points Consumed.]

The dark silver ring on his finger violently erupted with a deep pulsing void energy.

It didn’t physically change shape.

But the tiny black gemstone in the center expanded, looking like a literal miniature black hole resting on his knuckle.

[Ring of the Void-Hoarder has reached +10.]

[Triggering Conceptual Mutation...]

The system text flashed in a brilliant blinding purple light.

[Ring of the Void-Hoarder +10 Mutated]

↳ Trait Unlocked: Spatial Anchor

↳ Functionality: The user can instantly recall themselves and all equipped items to the exact coordinate of any active party member regardless of distance, spatial locks, or environmental restrictions. Cooldown: 1 Hour.

Declan read the text and a massive grin spread across his face.

A standard spatial lock stopped basic teleportation skills.

It stopped people from blinking a few feet away.

It could not stop a mutated conceptual rule that completely ignored the game’s physical environment.

And luckily Declan had forced two terrified girls to join his party a few hours ago.

The fake negotiation was over, Caldwell was running out of patience.

"Fire!" Caldwell shrieked.

The Sovereign mages unleashed their second volley.

Hundreds of fireballs, jagged ice spears, and heavy crossbow bolts rained down from the sky.

They were all curving directly toward Declan’s location.

Declan casually shoved his left hand into the pocket of his Predator’s Coat.

He raised his right hand high in the air.

The mutated ring caught the light of the incoming spells.

He looked right at Caldwell and flipped him a highly deliberate and very disrespectful middle finger.

"Keep your money," Declan said.

He activated Spatial Anchor.

He targeted Sloane.

The ring flared with absolute darkness.

A cylinder of pure void energy crashed down from the sky, completely swallowing Declan.

A split second later, the massive magical barrage slammed into the mud where he had just been standing.

The explosion was catastrophic.

Mud, water, and toxic gas blew hundreds of feet into the air.

When the smoke cleared, there was a massive crater in the center of the arena.

It was completely empty.

No body.

No dropped loot.

No Sanctum Core.

"Where is he?!" Caldwell screamed as his voice cracked violently.

He grabbed a nearby mage by the collar.

"You said the area was locked! Where did he go?!"

The mage looked at his glowing interface in sheer panic.

"He... he’s gone, sir. He didn’t teleport out of the zone. He just... stopped existing on this coordinate plane."

Caldwell dropped to his knees in the mud.

He stared at the empty crater.

He realized he had just lost the single most important item in the entire game to a guy who didn’t even bother to draw a weapon on him.

Miles away on the rocky ridge overlooking the Sunken Armory, Sloane and Kendra were sitting on a flat stone.

"Do you think he’s dead?" Kendra asked quietly while kicking a pebble into the dark water below.

"The system announced someone named Player V killed the boss. It didn’t say Declan."

"Declan is exactly the kind of guy who hides his username to be edgy," Sloane sighed.

She rubbed her temples.

"But yes. He walked into a 500-man army. He’s probably a puddle of pixels right now. We need to figure out what to do before the Purge Wave hits."

Suddenly the air right next to them violently popped.

A cylinder of black void energy slammed into the rocky dirt.

The wind whipped out and nearly knocked Kendra off the rock.

The darkness vanished instantly.

Declan was standing there.

His black coat was perfectly clean.

He was completely unharmed.

Kendra shrieked and fell backward.

Sloane jumped up and summoned her glowing green healing magic out of pure reflex.

"What the hell?!" Sloane yelled as she grabbed her chest.

"You can’t just pop out of nowhere like that!"

Declan ignored her, he gave them a scare on purpose.

He reached into his inventory and pulled out the massive heavy block of pulsing black obsidian.

He casually tossed the Sanctum Core into the air and caught it with one hand.

He looked at his two completely stunned scouts.

"Alright," Declan smiled with his dark eyes gleaming.

"I got the rock."