Meanwhile, the condition of the Ranker Alliance HQ was much worse than the Hero League.

The heroes still managed to fight back the specters while the rankers were getting slaughtered. Silver Class Ranker and below were being slaughtered while Gold Class Ranker and higher class rankers were caught by the specters.

The one who led the specters wore the same outfit as the Shadow Fang. No, in fact, the one who led the specters also called Shadow Fang. Shadow Fang was just a code name.

There were 39 Gold Class Rankers and 2 Crown Class Rankers were caught. These people placed in front of the entrance of HQ while hundreds of specters surrounded the sky scrapper.

One of the Crown Class Rankers who was being caught was Arun Seth. The famous Crown Class Ranker - Rank 26, Flame Wizard.

He was caught easily because of the Legendary Class Rank who betrayed them. Yes, four Legendary Class Rankers betrayed Ranker Alliance.

This was also the main reason as to why the specters slipped into the core region. The four Legendary Class Rankers opened the path to let the specters sneak into the core region in a human form.

Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 30, Riyan Polim. Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 24, Guntur Ananda. Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 17, Asha Limbu. Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 9, Zack Jessel.

These four figures who were revered by the lower rankers joined the Shadow Fang and oppressed the Ranker Alliance HQ.

Arun Seth still could not believe even Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 9, Zack Jessel was on the Shadow Fang side. He just could not understand why they betrayed humanity.

Even though rankers were overbearing and arrogant because of the power they held, Arun Seth would never betray humanity.

Not only him, but the other rankers also could not understand the reason for their betrayal. These specters were practically monsters in human skin. Even though they desired more power, they did not want to turn into a monster either.

However, they had to make a choice now. Standing before them was Zack Jessel, being they revered before but now they despised them because of his betrayal.

Zack Jessel squinted his already small eyes, scanning the captive with a smirk.

These people were his subordinates and they would be his subordinates forever.

"All you have two choices, either die or be one of us!" Zack Jessel said that out in a loud voice.

"I don't want to be a monster! I would rather die than be a lowly monster like you!" A Gold Class Ranker stood up and refuted instantly.

He had a wife and daughter at home, if he turned into a monster he did not know how to face them.

Zack Jessel merely smirked as his figure disappeared.

Splat!

In the next moment, Zack Jessel appeared next to the Gold Class Ranker. He threw a punch right at the Gold Class Rank and the head burst out under a single punch.

The headless body fell as blood and brain juices splattered around. Blood splashed to Zack Jessel's face, making him look even more terrifying.

"Kukuku If you don't want to be one of us, then you are not needed!" Zack Jessel said and turned his head toward the other captives, he declared with a wide grin, "This is an example! Either die or be one of us!"

Zack Jessel succeeded in intimidating the other rankers. 32 Gold Class Rankers immediately stood up and said they were willing to follow Zack Jessel.

Still, with a wide grin plastered on his face, Zack Jessel walked toward the black-cloaked man and said, "You will still be my subordinates, but he's your leader, Lord Shadow Fang!"

A shock was reflected on the rankers' faces as they heard this. Zack Jessel, A Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 9 respected the black-cloaked man.

That meant the black-cloaked man at least a level higher than Zack Jessel. 32 Gold Class Rankers acted cautiously. Now they had surrendered, they did not know what to do now.

"All of you, come here! Lord Shadow Fang will bestow you the seed! With this, you will be one of us!" Zack Jessel arranged these people to stand in one line.

Their purpose was to turn all rankers into a specter. This was just the first step, the Ranker Alliance. After the Ranker Alliance, the Hero League was their next target.

After the Hero League, then Star City. From a city, they would conquer the Earth. It was the whole plan behind this attack.

With those thoughts in his mind, Zack Jessel distributed something to 32 people. It was about the same size as marbles, black and round.

The rankers opened their palm and received the black thing. To their surprise, the black thin in their palm was as if alive. They could feel a slight movement from the black. Not only that, but they also could also feel the black thing was throbbing.

The thing in their hands was more like a living creature rather than a seed. Some of the rankers started regretting their decision. However, there were a few courageous rankers who immediately swallowed the seed.

As soon as they swallowed the seed, the rankers' bodies collapsed, pulsating on the ground. No voice came from their mouth which meant they did not suffer any pain from the process.

The process did not take a long time. After a full minute, the collapsed rankers stood up as a big change happened on them.

Two horns protruded upward, a pair of wings grew on their back as well as a long tail. Their physiques also changed, they became taller and their skins darkened a bit.

Not only a change in appearance but the aura around them also changed. They looked gloomy as sinister aura shrouded over. Rather than a specter, their appearance was similar to a devil in the movie.

Zack Jessel came closer to the black-cloaked man and whispered, "The new seed has succeeded!"

The black-cloaked man nodded and replied in a hoarse voice, "Mnn, now we should test their battle power!"

"I know what to do, Sir!" Zack Jessel replied with a smirk and walked toward the newly evolved specters.

"Good! Now I have a task for you guys!" Zack Jessel pointed his finger to the people who did not want to surrender, including Arun Seth and the other Crown Class Ranker.

"Either die or be one of us, choose now! This is your last chance!"

"I choose to die!" Arun Seth stood up, he managed to break from the shackle that tired him down.

Not only Arun Seth but the remaining rankers also stood. A great determination reflected on their eyes. They were ready to battle to the end even though they were bound to die in this battle.

"Hohoho These young men have a great spirit! How about we save them? We are on the way while we are at it!"

Suddenly an old yet playful voice rang. Everyone immediately turned their head toward the voice and saw three old men. The three old men wore plain white kimonos with a katana hung on their waist.

Based on the outfit, everyone immediately recognized these old men were Japanese. However, none of them recognized the three old men, including Zack Jessel.

As everyone was wondering who the three old men were, the black-cloaked man moved. He appeared in front of Zack Jessel.

Peng!

Everyone was shocked by the sudden movement, including Zack Jessel. One old man appeared before the black-cloaked man and sliced his katana horizontally.

Thanks to the black-cloaked man who blocked the katana, Zack Jessel was saved. Without black-cloaked man's protection, Zack Jessel's body would be split by the old man's katana.

"Who are you?" The black-cloaked man asked.

"Kukuku You attacked Star City and you did not know me? It seems your preparation is insufficient!" The old man let out a playful laugh as he replied.

"Old Kid! We have the people, let's leave! It's not the time to play around!" A dignified old voice resounded.

Soon, the specters noticed the captives vanished. Only then they realized the old man who attacked Zack Jessel was just a distraction. The three old men's purpose was saving the captives.

"Kukuku There's Old Ming there, why don't we play around here for a while. Don't you want to do research on this interesting creature?"

Even though the old man said so, his voice drifted away. Only then, the specters realized the old man who attacked already disappeared.

*** ***

Meanwhile, on the north gate of Star City. Heero was standing in the front of the north gate.

He stood there with three swords on his waists and five spears on his back. Light armor also covered his body, protecting his vital spot.

Heero closed his eyes and reminisced about his past. The outfit he wore right now was the hero outfit he always wore with him.

Butcher Wang stood next to Heero with a nervous look on his face. Of course, he was nervous, it was because he faced a horde of specters.

The distance between him and the horde was 3000 meters. The horde was still far, but he was nervous because of the number of specters. Based on the report, the specters were numbered to hundreds of thousands while on his side was only him and Heero.