Global Sign-in: 10x Multiplier with the Strongest System!-Chapter 40: A Voice From Beyond

Sunfire had on a casual expression as she said to Abraham, "As arrogant as ever..."

"..." Master Abraham didn’t bother retorting.

But then she added, "For someone who needed my help."

"I didn’t need your help."

Sunfire squinted. "You were surrounded by over twenty Strange Undead, and a Mutated one."

"And?" Master Abe spoke nonchalantly. He didn’t see what she said as anything of significance. What was mere undead? He would’ve won in the end.

"And you’re covered in blood."

"As I said, it’s not mine," Master Abraham said.

Sunfire shrugged. "Border Control told me they told you to retreat. An undead Black Zero could spell the end of X-City, don’t you think?"

Master Abraham chuckled.

"You think a mere Mutated could win me?"

Sunfire raised her eyebrows in amusement. "You? A D-Class Executioner versus a Mutated Undead with an army aiding it?"

Master Abraham remained silent. There was no point in refuting her, as his C-Class status wasn’t something people could know about. And unsurprisingly enough, he always considered this fact when he fought. Meaning so far, he had been fighting in a way that portrayed his false D-Class status.

If he truly wished, not a single blood stain would mar his boot.

Roy and Donald watched their exchange in confused silence.

The female executioner’s gaze then shifted to Roy.

"This must be your Initiate," she said. "What did you offer ’The Black Zero’ to have him mentor you?"

Roy felt quite amused by the way she confronted his master and answered in jest, "Nothing much, ma’am. Just half my family’s entire fortune."

Sunfire laughed, but Master Abraham stared at him coldly.

"Is this your first time challenging a gate?"

Roy nodded. "Yes."

Her eyes widened in shock.

"You must be incredibly lucky, or cursed. I don’t think any other Initiate has had a false gate as their first," she said, but then wore a thoughtful look.

"Abraham, this should be your second false gate, right?"

"Eighth."

"..." Sunfire fell silent. "That’s a lot. So the first gate you take on after your years of solitude turns out to be a false gate. You should be worried."

"No thanks." Master Abe summoned his Array and put his scythe back in.

"And why didn’t you kill the Gate Boss? I was watching from the clouds a few minutes before I attacked. You were just playing with it—"

"You can fly?"Donny quickly asked, clandestinely shifting the direction the conversation was headed.

Sunfire tilted her head in slight confusion, and he quickly added, "I’m Donald, Roy’s elder brother and manager. It’s just been a while since I saw an executioner that can fly."

Of course, he was lying.

"I see..." Sunfire voiced.

Right then, the sound of military aircraft disturbed the skies, and three more figures descended from vehicles hovering above.

One was a large, burly man holding an equally large sledgehammer; the second was a slim lady in a black cat costume; and the last was a young man in a simple hoodie.

"Boss, you cleared most of them. No fair," the young man said, walking towards them with the other two executioners in tow.

Most of the young man’s face was obscured by his hood, and with the slow way he spoke, Roy found him quite creepy.

"Just round up the others that got away. I’ll take care of things here," Sunfire said.

The three executioners immediately set to work and spread out. The remaining abyss creatures weren’t many and were mostly weak creatures that had been on the edges of the battlefield and managed to get away from Sunfire’s obliterating attack.

Roy looked around and saw shimmering crystals strewn across the battlefield. His greed was stirred, and he locked his lips.

"What is going to happen to all these energy crystals?" He had to ask.

"They will be shared between my party and yours, with my party taking the bulk share, of course," Sunfire answered.

Master Abraham frowned. "You must be kidding."

Sunfire frowned, too, at Master Abe’s antagonism.

"I killed that Gate Boss."

"Did your system tell you that you did?"

"..." Sunfire squinted her eyes. "No."

Master Abraham merely glanced at Roy for the boy to raise his hand slightly and say, "I-I cursed it to die. So I guess it counts as my kill."

Sunfire held the silence for a few seconds. "Very well."

At that point, countless military vehicles drove in, and several soldiers jumped down with tools for the crystal harvest.

"We will gather the resources. You bunch should rest. We’ll talk later, Black Zero."

With that, Sunfire left to organize the extraction.

"Let’s go," Master Abraham said to the team.

"Oh, and Master, the Mu—"

"Later," the C-Class Executioner immediately hushed him, having deduced that Roy wanted to talk about his level-up.

"Master, how do you and Sunfire know each other? And why is your alias Black Zero?" He asked in quick succession the things that he was curious about at the moment.

Master Abraham looked straight ahead as he answered, "I defeated her in a foolish contest. And ’Zero’... is what the existences in my sign-in world call me. The Association added the ’Black’ to make it more distinct and memorable for a younger audience."

Roy nodded in astonishment, while Donald whispered not-so-quietly in Roy’s ear, "That foolish contest is God of Irregular Highschool. Sunfire was a Regional Champion, just like Abe was."

"What? Woah..."

He almost couldn’t believe it. This Master Abraham once defeated Sunfire in such a global phenomenon. This made him respect the middle-aged man even more.

’But it does beg the question, though. What’s the real reason Master Abraham stopped signing in? Since he said it’s not because of that false gate that took everything from him, why did he really stop? For someone so talented and capable, he would’ve been a Top Executioner by now with global fame and recognition, and most likely even be stronger than Sunfire...’

Roy quieted down and strutted forward like a zombie. "I’m so tired, and I haven’t slept enough. Uhhh..."

"...Roy."

An extremely familiar voice called, and Roy immediately turned round with immense shock evident on his face.

But all that was behind was black ashes and the closing Rank 1 Gate.

"What’s wrong?" Donny asked.

"N-Nothing."

Roy faced ahead and continued on his way. But the voice still lingered in his mind.

’That voice... that was Mom’s voice...’