It was always easy to find Lowell. All you needed to do was follow the sound of his wolves howling. After their last mission together Kurai joined the Utopia Guild after their recommendation, but they hadn't seen much of each other since then. It was unfortunate that he was now going to them to announce his departure. Still, that didn't mean they wouldn't see each other again. If anything they may see each other more now than when they were guildmates.

It took some time to narrow down Lowell's location. When Kurai got close he waved at the man and their pack of wolves. “Yo Lowell! Been a while huh?!” He smiled as he pulled a bag of meat scraps he'd been saving for them. He didn't have any use for them himself and since the inventory preserved whatever was held inside of it why not keep them? Utopia was full of beasts after all. “Time for a snack pups!” After opening the bag he swung it as hard as he could sending the snacks raining over the area for the pack to catch.

Lowell

Kurai couldn't help but notice that Morgana's wiles worked on more than just the enemy. He lowered his sunglasses as it looked like she was about to undress in front of an entire crowd. Thankfully the game ended before she took it too far. Not that the same could be said about Xibalba... Just as the Hex Girl rolled her eyes he did the same before returning his sunglasses to their natural place. He scoffed and punched the man on the shoulder. “Put your eyes back in your head.”

Kurai dispelled the buffs surrounding him now that the mission was over. In doing so Seere walked out of his body and began to stretch his joints. “It is incredibly uncomfortable possessing somebody of your size, Summoner.” “No. What's incredible is that somebody half a foot taller than me can fit inside my body.” It was true. The demon clad in the same armor that he wore just moments ago towered over the man they appeared out of.

This was an interesting group. The majority of them didn't do anything to hide their disdain. Xibalba was the odd man out, but there would be plenty of time to find out more about him later. While Morgana threatened the older man Kurai sent a friend request to all of them. “Hey! Let's do this again sometime! We work well together so I'd hate this to be the last time! I'm sure we can help each other out in more than just missions too!”

When she placed an elbow on him Kurai placed a hand on her hip. “Alright soul sister. Drinks are on me!” As they were walking away a few pairs of small gray humanoids dressed as lifeguards brought over stretchers to cart the previously possessed players off the field. "Huh... Weird."

Morgana Xibalba Barakat dantalion

Another one huh? Damn, these pop-up shops. The last time Kurai bought something from one he ended up permanently cursed by that Earth bitch. Was it really worth trying it again after being burned like that? Literally. The damned tattoo burned every time he got hurt for the first time during a mission. Admittedly it was partly his fault for choosing a box that said it could do just as much harm as good. Who would put a high-level curse in a hundred-point prize box though?!

After looking over his options a couple of items seemed to be invaluable. Kurai had his eye on the big mystery prize, but that was quite far off. If it was even possible at all. First, he'd buy something he had his eye on anyway: good materials and high-rarity stuff. Although he could only afford one at the moment. “Alright. Give me a Novice Mystery Chest.” This had better be good.

Kurai was surprised that Barbara was so open with information about her class. Then again why should she be? Up until recently, there was no particular reason to distrust other players. Maybe after the assault on Forge Island, people would start becoming more careful around others, but those people would likely be rare. Most people wouldn't feel the need to be any more cautious of other players than they already were. The kind of people looking to take down the system were rare compared to everyone else. There were only four of them after all. How could she know she was speaking to one such person?

“Hmm interesting.” Kurai's class was based on his own experiences, but she gained a class utilizing something she had no knowledge of before. Then it must be Barbara's memories that crafted the portion of her class that uses the gun and bullets. Perhaps this woman was more dangerous than she appeared... and she already looked fairly intimidating with that giant antique.

There's also the fact that the system seems to have implanted memories into her brain about runes. That's a scary idea. To think that the system could mess with something so intrinsically linked to who someone is. With someone on his side who could use memories to cause harm to others so it wasn't out of the question. When dealing with something that could remake the entire world and 'load in' people anything is possible.

“What kind of runes do you use? Are you able to use them outside of your rounds or are you limited to just them?” Kurai probably sounded like one of those annoying kids asking an adult endless questions about stuff they have no actual interest in.

babsy

Unfortunately, the rider's assault didn't end after Kurai blocked their attack. Why were they attacking the group anyway? They could easily speed past without any worries. Thankfully the others were able to handle it just fine. He expected nothing less of someone who would call themselves a Guildmaster. Noelle was doing much better than he expected her to when she first appeared.

The sudden shift from driving through the open sky to a narrow passage between glaciers was confusing. The last race Kurai was in didn't change like this. Was it normal for the elemental race to go through multiple elements? The change in scenery made the group more vulnerable, but the same was true for their opponent.

Noelle's debuff was just as useful as she'd hoped as otherwise the rider's speed would likely ruin Kurai's plan even with the confined space. While their opponent was busy attacking his ally he pulled a soft cover book out of his labcoat's inner pocket. Its pages flew open and from them, a cloud of spectral hands began to swarm over the rider. The hands grasped them and their vehicle to hold them in place but began to quickly get dispatched by their victim's gun arm.

“This isn't gonna hold for long! They're gonna be back on our ass fast!” Kurai's free hand crackled with black and red lightning that shot out at the restrained rider. Electricity coursed through the hands holding down his opponent ensuring the attack hit its mark and debuffed them even more.

Used: Entropic Blast (deals C-rank damage and inflicts Enervate), How 2 Draw Manga (temporarily paralyzed the rider)

Mr. Beaks Noelle

[Enervate]: Targets suffer a -10% debuff to their [PWR] and [SPD] that lasts until cleansed.

As Kurai waited he went over the guest list in his mind. Most would say that Dantalion was an odd choice to ask to join him on this journey. They were very open about their disdain for sin and how they wanted to cleanse the world and all that, but that's why he liked Tali. They were upfront about their ambitions. At the end of this, the two would surely come to odds. He could overlook that little detail for now as long as they could help each other. Strong allies suited both of their goals. He was somewhat surprised when the man appeared out of thin air, but tried his best to hide the slight jump. “I hope so. We've got a lot to talk about.”

At first, Kurai wasn't sure about inviting Ingrid to this talk. He couldn't get a good read on the woman during their brief interaction at Ender Island. It wasn't easy to gauge how trustworthy one could be after so little time together. Most of what he knew about her was that she was able to hold her own not only against the creatures swarming the boat but against Rojin's incessant nagging. In the end, it was her relationship with Elara that earned her an invitation. One that he wasn't sure she could accept. When Ingrid arrived he greeted her with a wave as she sat. Speaking of where is Elara? He had expected the two to arrive together. Strange.

Morgana's disdain for Earth-Chan and the system made her an obvious choice. It would be silly not to invite her. If he started up the guild without her and she found out later it may cause problems. It was better to have her in on the ground floor. Besides having a witch around could prove beneficial. When she arrived Kurai wasn't surprised that she opted not to use one of the provided chairs. Even if she did she would likely only complain anyway. “One I hope we can fulfill together.”

When he met Faith Kurai was almost certain at least one of them would die. Thankfully both of them were still standing. If not for her he likely would never have had the idea to gather like-minded individuals to his cause. With his sister firmly on the side of the system, he thought he'd have to go about the endeavor alone. When she arrived he returned her wave as she sat.

After waiting for what seemed like forever Kurai began to get frustrated with how long it was taking for the rest of the group to arrive. He began to tap his fingertips together causing sparks of black and red electricity to shoot out each time they touched. Eventually, he rubbed his hands together and pulled them apart to reveal a strand of similarly colored lightning connecting the two. He then began to play with and create shapes with it like one would a piece of string.

When he got tired of waiting Kurai raised his right hand in the air and created a red pentagram on the ground beside him. From it, a knee-high golem seemed to crawl out of the ground before looking up at its summoner with dead glowing eyes. “Vassago go find the stragglers. Make sure they weren't dumb enough to get themselves killed.” The little golem then scuttled its way up the stairs and out into the streets of Gothica. Unfortunately for the dutiful creature, it just missed one of the people it was looking for as Xibalba entered the building after they were out of sight.

Although he didn't know Xibalba well Kurai felt he got along well with the man. Their past, as mysterious as it still was to him, was drenched in blood. That experience could come in handy in the future. Despite that, they still seemed like a mostly good person. On the surface at least. Worst comes to worst they were still weak enough to be eliminated easily. He could probably even get Tali to do it for him. The thought crossed his mind as the other man was hours late when they came through the door. Instead of being greeted with a smile and a wave they were met with crackling lightning and a glare that could pierce through stone. "You're late."

By the time Elara arrived Kurai had mostly calmed down, but was still playing with the electricity coursing over his hands. When she pulled out a cigarette a spark flew from the tip of his fingertip to light it for her. She was the person he knew the longest in the group, but they'd still only done a couple of missions together. She always managed to find a way to get herself hurt though. "So what did it this time?"

Kurai knew surprisingly little about the people he was about to plot deicide with. That was no more apparent than when a woman he didn't even know walked through the door. If Faith hadn't prepared him for Diana's arrival she likely wouldn't have survived walking through the door. Once she sat down he let the electricity coating his hands fizzle out before he waved to her. “Don't worry about him. Xi hasn't met everyone yet.”

Shortly after Vassago came back through the door after completely missing everyone it was searching for. It tried at least... Kurai motioned it over and leaned over to whisper something to the golem. It responded with a loud BAH! before making its way back through the door to follow its new orders.

“Alright. Last chance to walk away before you know too much. Anyone who decides to leave after now will be dealt with accordingly. If you intend to stay then introduce yourselves.”

dantalion Ingrid Karina Morgana Faith Ainsworth Xibalba Barakat Elara Salisbury diana