The SSS class adventurer is a divine cleric-Chapter 85: The Loose Leash

The tavern was filled with warmth, laughter, and the clinking of plates, until the door creaked open with a low groan.

A cold draft swept in.

Everyone froze.

Kaelen, mid-bite, looked up with a frown so deep it could bury a dagger. "We literally hung the ’Closed’ sign. What part of C-L-O-S-E-D does this guy not get it?"

Alira stiffened slightly and furrowed her brows wary of the newcomer. Neal quietly set down his mug.

A man in a dark cloak stood at the entrance. He didn’t say anything at first. Just brushed the dust off his shoulders like he belonged here. His hood was pulled low, and the firelight flickered strangely off the metal clasps along his sleeves.

Kaelen stood up with an irritated groan, grabbing the nearest chair like he might throw it just to make a point.

"Oi! This is a private dinner, in case the giant glowing ’CLOSED’ sign wasn’t enough. Shoo."

The man didn’t move. Didn’t even glance at Kaelen.

Instead, he lifted his head slowly and asked, "Is this Derek Maglor’s abode?"

Derek, who had already been getting up with a wary look, froze.

The word caught everyone off guard.

Kaelen was about to throw his fist, "Would you mind introducing yourself first?"

But Derek’s voice, firm and quiet, stopped him. "That’s enough, Kaelen."

Kaelen looked at him, surprised to hear the edge in Derek’s voice.

And Kaelen, noticing Derek’s reaction, slowly sat back down, but his eyes never left the stranger.

Derek stepped forward, expression suddenly sharp. The playful warmth in him was gone, replaced by a veteran’s wariness.

"Who’s asking?" Derek said.

The man pushed back his hood. His face was weathered, his eyes like frostbitten steel. He looked neither young nor old, but worn, as if life had chiseled him down to the core. freewēbnoveℓ.com

He reached into his cloak.

Neal, Alira, and Kaelen immediately moved, Kaelen even charged a spell on instinct.

But the man only pulled out a small metal badge and placed it on the nearest table with a metallic clink.

It bore a strange crest none of them recognized. It wasn’t from any kingdom or any known guild.

Derek frowned, "The Loose Leash."

Kaelen nudged at Neal. "What’s that?"

Neal just gave him the looks that says, and who should I ask if you ask me.

"Derek Maglor," the man said, his voice now lower, serious, "We need your help. The Loose council is summoning every Gold rank and above members for help"

Then the men once again reached his hands into the pocket and took out a scroll. And handed it to Derek.

"We will be needing every man power we can gather right now. The rewards for this mission are high, please consider taking up the quest. Now then I shall take my leave."

Then, without another word, the man walked toward the tavern door. He didn’t open it.

He simply vanished.

After the cloaked man left the tavern Derek unfurled the scroll and there he stood frozen, his face as pale as a ghost.

Seeing Derek’s pale face worried Kaelen. He put one hand over his shoulder and asked."Dad, what’s wrong?"

Derek gritted his teeth. "We’ve got an emergency mission."

Kaelen was puzzled, so what does it have to do with any of us?

But the next sentence broke those thoughts.

Derek with a very serious tone explained it to them. " The Loose Leash is an organisation of high ranking rogue awakeners unbound to any kingdoms or guilds. They serve no one. But the council will give out missions from time to time. And there is no penalty for not accepting the missions, only rewards if you completed the tasks. And are the ones who usually deals with Tyrants."

Neal blurted out in disbelief. "What! How strong is the organisation that they handle Tyrants. How many epics do you have?"

Kaelen ever so unknowledgeably asked. "Am I the only one who’s confused, can someone explain it to me what Tyrants are?"

Alira took the initiative and with a troubled face answered his questions. "All Dungeons have masters or bosses but those high rank monsters without their own dungeons are known as Tyrants. They are the type of monsters which gave the kingdoms and empires the highest level of headache. They don’t have their own territories and monitoring each of their movements is close to impossible, they are too strong for that. You never know when they will strike or where they are."

And her voice turned into a murmur laced with agony and hatred. "Ashmane was a Tyrant as well."

Derek took a deep sigh and continued. "The news this time is very bad, two Tyrants have been spotted within the borders of Hather’s kingdom and right now they don’t have any epic rank combatant to stop the Tyrants. Since the all out war started between our two races, all high rank combatants are all busy protecting their own domains nobody knows when they will be attacked. And this is where the Loose Leash stepped in. But we don’t have any Epic ranks among us right now."

The last word hit them like a sledgehammer. Then how were they supposed to fight against Tyrants without any epic rank awakener as the vanguard.

Kaelen asked a series of questions. "Wait without Epic rank awakener in the front lines who’s gonna vanguard the attacks and how many members will be present at the fight. You’re not thinking of going there are you? No way! I don’t accept it."

"That is the biggest flaw of this organisation. No one knows how many members will be present or will they even come at all." Derek, his expression was solemn. " And they are expecting me to hold the front lines."

Even Kaelen stopped mid-chew. Neal leaned back in his chair slowly, and Alira’s eyes narrowed, shoulders stiffening.

They all had the same thing on their minds.

BULLSHIT!

Derek was the only one who didn’t move. He just let out a quiet sigh, almost too soft to hear.

Then a silence fell over the room. And reluctant or not the decision had been made.

They didn’t need a full explanation. They had experienced it first hand. Their kingdom fell not to war or betrayal, but to one monster that nobody saw coming.

They knew exactly how this would end if no one stopped it.

Derek spoke again, his voice firm. "We leave in ten. Gear up."

"But we haven’t—" Kaelen started to complain, then stopped. No one cared to finish the thought. Rest could wait.

Lives couldn’t.

Within minutes, the Juggernauts were ready. No banter or bickering. Just silent efficiency.

As they stepped out of the Ashen Boar tavern, the wind had picked up. Alira adjusted the straps on her daggers. Neal cracked his knuckles. Kaelen mumbled something about hoping it wasn’t a full fledged epic rank monster.

Derek closed the tavern doors behind him and glanced back once.

"We lost one kingdom," he said quietly. "Let’s not lose another."

And with that, they vanished into the road, moving fast and without hesitation.

The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on (f)reew𝒆(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦