As Howard Briggs's body vanished into thin air, pieces of equipment and coins dropped on the rocky ground.

Some equipment seemed somehow familiar to me, but then I remembered that three of Lucas's party members were missing.

Two bows, a couple of iron swords, and my Kaleidoscope could be seen from the heap of items that dropped from Howard's inventory.

The situation was similar to the others who were defeated in the fight. I quickly used the pick-up loot command to place all the loot into my inventory.

A single card was left on the ground where Howard perished, his very own death card.

It was my first time seeing one in person.

A memento mori, reminding us that death is the same in this world, or is it?

For some reason, an idea popped into my mind: why do people drop a death card when they vanish?

What’s the reason for a death card, and why can’t it be put into the player's inventory?

Questions flooded my head as I picked up Howard’s death card.

Howard Briggs. The item name durability: Unbreakable description: a proof of someone’s existence.

Something caught my eye in the details of the card, a number symbol “1” in the upper right corner.

I searched for answers, but then I quickly realized Cain was still alive.

My eyes scanned the path where he was supposed to be lying.

A silhouette of a person carrying someone on his right shoulder, a person dressed in black, face covered with a mask, and body concealed with a dark cloak, was carrying Cain.

I contemplated pursuing the black-clad individual, but then I worried that doing so would endanger my friends and cousin.

If there were one or two more enemies, Earl wouldn’t be able to keep my friends safe.

Mages are not adept at dealing with fast-moving classes, especially assassins.

I dropped the thought of pursuing and decided to fall back into the city.

I was going to collect the other dropped items, but as I looked back, there was only empty ground where the enemies fell.

I had a very bad feeling.

My friends and Earl couldn’t see much of the surroundings due to the protective Stone Walls.

Quickly, I fell back to my friends and handed them their weapons that I found in Howard’s drop.

Claire cast her healing spells on everyone, and then we started heading towards the Transport Gate.

Earl stared at me intently, as if he wanted to say something, but he remained silent and focused on the surroundings.

“Let’s head back to the city quickly,” I commanded.

“There are probably more unknown enemies around,” I added.

Everyone agreed, and I uttered, “Class Change Enchanter!” Then, I cast Stone Skin and Status Boost.

For some reason, my battle instinct tingled, the same feeling I got a couple of years ago.

A trap, more enemies; my eyes scanned the surroundings as we ran toward the Transport Portal.

I might be able to defeat most individuals in this world, but facing a mass attack makes me uncertain about keeping everyone safe.

Given that most of the earlier attackers were likely above level 40, Claire and Rain's eyes were filled with fear as we continued to run.

Though their stamina was depleting, we pressed on.

Halfway to the gate, I spotted a familiar figure – Old Man Gray, the Guild Master, along with several academy professors who were there to escort us to the Transport Gate.

Suddenly, I sensed a malicious feeling, a clear intent to harm.

A light approached us from a distance, a Ranger skill called Extend Shot.

It was aimed directly at Claire.

In a split second, I pushed Claire out of the arrow's path, and we were blown away.

Earl quickly cast Gale Storm toward a Stone Wall, causing it to shatter due to the magical arrow.

The dust from the Gale Storm covered our retreat.

"Run towards the Gate!" I shouted.

Claire and Rain's stamina were depleted.

I sheathed Durandal into my inventory and grabbed both of them by the waist.

Old Man Gray seized Earl and Neil, dashing towards the Transport Gate.

While being carried by the Guild Master, Earl cast Stone Walls.

Miss Laila is carried by her fiance Mister Dale while Ash managed to run on his own, benefitting from his warrior class that offered decent stamina compared to archers, mages, and healers.

Around us, Exploding Arrows pounded the surroundings, as if we were being bombarded with mortars.

Glancing at my friends' HP, I saw it slowly depleting.

By the time we reached the gate, most of their HP was critical.

"Transfer: Maceria!" I hastily shouted as everyone stepped onto the transport gate platform.

A bright light enveloped us, and in an instant, we found ourselves in our city, Marceria.

"Claire, cast Holy Sanctuary!" I commanded in a panic. Claire swiftly complied, taking a gulp of her mana potion and using Holy Sanctuary to remove the negative status of everyone, particularly Burned caused by the Exploding Arrows.

Fortunately, Earl had cast Mana Shield, allowing everyone's mana pool to absorb some of the damage from the Exploding Arrow.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked.

"You can put me down now, Asriel!" Rain said, blushing.

"Thanks for carrying me," she added.

Glancing around, Neil and Claire were sitting on the ground, while Ash leaned against a wall.

It seemed the attackers quickly retreated upon hearing my shout, and Old Man Gray rushed to grab my other party member.

Judging by the damage I sustained, the Ranger who ambushed us with that skill had recently advanced to the advanced class.

It was evident because the individual chose to use Exploding Arrow rather than the Ranger's buff, Rapid Fire on Extend Shot, almost as if toying with us.

The city remained secure since accessing the Transport Gate required partying with someone who had access to the city.

Then, the thought of Cain being alive crossed my mind.

"Old Man, add Cain Alder to the blacklist to void his access to the gate," I urged.

The Guild Master had the authority to blacklist individuals from entering the city, a right obtained by purchasing access to the Ancient Pillar with ten thousand gold coins for a year.

Everyone contributed to this fund, securing exclusive rights to city access.

This measure was implemented to prevent unknown strangers from entering the city premises, and it was the same reason why Earl provided the Guild Master with the names of those residing in Castor Town.

"So, Cain Alder is still alive," Old Man Gray exclaimed angrily.

Guild Master Gray suspected that Cain Alder was likely Professor Klein's killer, given the negative status of the skill Bleed from Backstab.

Unfortunately, both healers with the Holy Sanctuary skill were in the enemy's hands, making it a more challenging situation than dealing with a poison that could be dispelled using a readily available antidote.

Burned and Bleed are negative status effects for which consumables to dispel the effects are not yet available.

I retrieved Howard’s death card from my pocket and handed it to Old Gray.

Earl then gave Old Man Gray three Death Cards.

“I believe these belong to residents of Maceria,” Earl stated, presenting the Death cards of Kyle Sifer, Rowan Gibbson, and Sheena Silver to Old Man Gray.

“I found them while exploring Emeth’s room,” Earl explained.

“I rushed over to Maceria to give them to the Guild Master, but I heard about Big Bro Asriel’s situation,” he continued.

“That’s why I decided to ask the Guild Master to guide me to the Abandoned Mine’s Transport Gate,” Earl added.

“These three Death Cards belong to Lucas’s three-party members,” Old Gray affirmed.

“Thank you for finding and returning them,” he added.

“Their families can finally know what happened to their loved ones,” Old Man Gray continued in a somber tone.

I could sense his frustration at realizing that the academy he created had been exploited by malicious individuals.

“There's something I realized after seeing an actual Death Card,” I shared.

“There's probably a hidden purpose, and there's a significant probability that we can bring them back once,” I continued.

“What do you mean by 'bring them back,' Asriel?” Claire inquired.

“Resurrection is a skill available to the Saint, the Healer’s Ultimate Class,” I explained.

“If this world works as I can remember, then there's a possibility that resurrection in this world exists in one form or another,” I continued.

“How sure are you on this, young man?” Old Man Gray asked with a glimmer of hope.

“Earl and I managed to incapacitate seven enemies on the quarry,” I said. “Six of those Death Cards were secured by the enemies,” I continued.

“I was asking myself before what purpose they served, but then I realized that this is not the Old World where death is perpetual,” I added.

Everyone's gloomy faces lightened a bit, even Earl, who was a bit down after handing over the three Death Cards.

I hope we can revive them, I said to myself as I started heading back to the Transport Gate.

“Where are you going, Asriel?” Claire asked.

“Guild Master Gray, keep everyone inside the city until I come back,” I commanded with a stern look.

As I stepped into the Transport Gate, I recast Stone Skin and Status Boost, then I uttered, “Change Class: Blade Dancer.”

“I’d love to eat some fried Sand Fowl when I return,” I said, looking at Claire.

“Transfer: Abandoned Mines,” I declared, contemplating how I would find the unknown assailant.