Chapter 1305 The 'Withering' (Part 1)
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Boom!
In a distant and isolated place within the Sacred Light Kingdom, there was a massive explosion that was so huge that it caused a serious disturbance in the surrounding area.
The explosion created a huge dome of energy that spread in every direction, destroying everything in its path. The flames that it had burned everything and turned them into ashes no long after.
When the energy dome reached a certain point, a powerful suction force suddenly appeared and pulled everything back. The blazing energies, the scorched and charcoaled trees, and dust scattered in the air were all sucked by that suction force.
The pulling only stopped after a few minutes of causing havoc. It formed a small spherical energy in the air that stayed for a moment before completely disappearing.
Everything returned to its usual calmness, but the place was left with complete destruction. There was a massive crater on the land that the explosion had swept through. It left nothing but desolate land that looked like a massive, inverted dome.
At the center of this massive crater, a lone figure stood while looking at the sky. He stayed still for a couple of moments before heaving a deep and heavy sigh.
He then lowered his head and looked at the two broken weapons in his hands before mumbling. "Close but not enough, huh? I guess it still requires some serious polishing."
Diablo stood lonely at the center of the crater as he recalled the previous battle. He had almost gone all-out and even activated their third phase of the 'Demon's Eyes' yet he only managed to fight Amon on an equal footing despite all of that.
He even used the 'Hyperactive Immersion' to the fullest, yet the result only barely able to win him a slight edge.
Diablo had not expected that Amon had also achieved the true 'Hyperactive Immersion' and even combined his personal style of swordsmanship with it. Not only did the latter incorporate those two perfectly, but he also formed multiple varieties of styles.
Diablo had only recorded at least two sword styles perfectly and was barely able to record the third one that Amon had used during their final exchange. It was also from that style that Amon decided to end the battle with a final strike.
Amon understood that it would be his loss if he let the battle continue for an extended period, so he chose to end it as soon as he realized that he still could not defeat Diablo with the second style.
In a sense, it was already his loss when he started using the third style since Diablo had already recorded his first style through 'Demon's Eyes'.
If not for their final exchange, where they poured every ounce of power that they had, which also resulted in an earlier explosion, then Diablo would have successfully recorded the third sword style of Amon.
Diablo could escape the aftermath of that explosion only because of the Unique Special Skill he had acquired during his adventures. It was a skill that could make him invulnerable to all kinds of attacks as long as he did not move from his position and let the shadow powers cover his body.
It would last for as long as ten minutes at the maximum, which was how he was able to survive such a destructive explosion.
What surprised Diablo was the powerful clash in their final exchange was able to destroy his weapons. He did not know that that clash would be able to destroy his weapons like that. Those were a pair of top-grade platinum weapons.
It looked like it was finally to look for a new pair.
After adjusting himself and regaining his composure, Diablo turned his head around and swept his gaze at the surroundings.
When he made sure that there was no one around, he took out a pair of daggers from his inventory and sheathed them behind his waist. It would be better to be ready for the unexpected rather than paying for his life later.
He knew that the earlier explosion did not catch Amon. He was sure that the latter was able to escape in time before the explosion erupted and spread in the entire area. After all, he did not get the notification from the system that Amon had died.
As for the Sweepers that were maintaining the formation to entrap him, he did not care about them since they could not pose enough threat to him.
After making sure that he did not overlook anything, he leaped toward a certain direction and started sprinting to the best of his abilities. He knew that the job was yet to be completed since the Dragon Centipede was still around. Even though he did not know where it headed, he was sure that he would be able to find it if he followed the trails that it left behind.
He was not sure if they would be able to take it down even if the rest of the Sacred Kingdom worked together. After all, the kingdom was already in chaos, so it would be hard to gather enough people to hunt it down.
Diablo was aware that Shin and the rest would not be enough if they wanted to take down such a powerful monster, but they did not have the choice to do it to complete their quest.
On Diablo's side, he wanted to gather some of the materials from the Dragon Centipede for his new set of weapons. He already had an idea of what kind of weapons he wanted, so this monster just came at the right moment.
He was not sure where the others would let him get the materials that he wanted.
Swoosh!
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As Diablo was tracking the Dragon Centipede, Shin was already helping the others with the defense of the Maze Forest.
At first, the people in the current base were doubtful of this newcomer, especially the players. But when they saw his abilities and learned that he was the famous Battle God, who was recently gaining more fame in the virtual world, they immediately acknowledged him.
They started regaining their confidence when defending the final fortress of the Sacred Light Kingdom amidst the corrupted land and forest.
After participating in the initial defense right after his arrival, Shin showcased a strength that put most of the players in awe.
He first delivered the crown relic at the center of the Maze Forest and met with Ithilien and the rest briefly before quickly heading out and helping the people desperately defending this final base.
The tide of monsters was almost unstoppable, and the players and NPCs were barely holding up. But right after he showed himself and announced his arrival, the corrupted monsters and demonic creatures were immediately slaughtered one after another, lifting some pressure from the people.
He had showcased an unrivaled power that overwhelmed the entire battlefield.
After freeing the players and NPCs from the pressure of the monster horde and stabilizing the situation, Shin quickly went back to the command center of Maze Forest to discuss a few things with the rest.
Not long after he joined, he immediately took the position as one of the main commanders of the base. Even the NPC Commanders were speechless at how they maneuvered their forces and put everything under control.
He even arranged an impenetrable defense around the entire Maze Forest despite having a limited number of people.
Most of their forces were stationed at the main entrances of the map, so they could not cover some of the gaps in their security, which also led to some breaches where the opposing side entered.
But with Shin's arrangements, he only had to station a few groups of players in every hole in their defenses before taking advantage of the terrains and unique features of the Maze Forest.
He had solved almost all their biggest problems one after another right after he had taken the commanding position. Even the elves, who were usually cold to humans, had to acknowledge him.
But despite solving almost all their problems, Shin was still able to relax. It was because of the other matter that he had to be taken care of – the former Big Three of the Sacred Light Kingdom.
Since those three biggest guilds had betrayed the kingdom, the situation that they were in had gone for the worst.
With the strength and forces of those three guilds, the problem that the Sacred Light Kingdom was facing had become almost unsolvable.
Inside the temporary quarters within the base, Shin was taking a brief break. He started to feel the fatigue right after he dealt with the most urgent matters.
Not long after, his friends entered the tent and checked on him.
Shin had already taken off his mask and put it on his inventory, so the others could see the hint of tiredness on his face.
"Working pretty hard, huh?" commented Owen when he saw Shin slumping on the chair.
Shin rolled his eyes at him and said. "Whose fault do you think is it? Isn't this supposedly a simple quest? How come it turns out like this?"
Owen shrugged his shoulders and took a seat on the nearby chair. "It is not like we are expecting this quest to escalate this big either."
"From a simple main scenario quest to a kingdom-level quest. We are also taken off guard," he added.
Shin ignored him and turned to Ithilien. "How is the preparation for the purification ritual? Will they be able to perform it before we log out? Or at least before I log out?"
Ithilien felt a little troubled when she heard him, which had given Shin the worst answer that he wanted. "So, they will not be able to do it."
He fell in silence for a moment before asking. "Is there any issue?"
Ithilien sighed helplessly as she nodded her head, troubled. "We are already preparing everything earlier, but a problem comes up. The 'Seer' is already old. He must rest well enough before performing the ritual."
"After all, the purification ritual must be performed continuously for an entire week to counter the effects of the withering. Then another week for hastening the process of the growth of the World Tree and formation of the Spring of Life."
"During these two weeks, the purification ritual can't be interrupted, or else we will have to restart from the very beginning."
Shin did not let Ithilien complete what she was saying as he already figured out what she was trying to say. "You are afraid that there are traitors within the base."
Ithilien nodded her head briefly, confirming his words.
Shin thought for a moment before asking. "Is it because of the betrayal of the big three?"
Ithilien sighed and answered. "Yeah. But that is not only the issue here. The problem is the NPCs are starting to doubt the players because of what happened, especially when the three biggest organizations of the players stationed within the kingdom have betrayed them."
Shin understood before the expression on his face turned dark. "But that is just one of the problems. We also have to keep an eye on these NPCs since they can also betray us, especially with what happened during the assassination of King Yulis."
"I refuse to believe that the people of Corrupted Cult and Demonic Churches can sneak within the castle completely unnoticed. That is the castle where the king of the kingdom is residing, the security can't be that lax."
"There must be a traitor within the castle that helps them enter," he added with a heavy tone.
He then turned to Lorraine and said. "Can you put your people to monitor some of the NPCs? Focus on the ones that are spreading the rumors and intentionally creating unnecessary chaos. The traitor must be one of them."
Lorraine shook her head and smiled bitterly. "I have already done it. Don't worry, I choose the sneakiest ones for this monitoring duty. They are not going to be discovered that easily unless someone purposely sells us out."
Shin smiled as he knew that she understood his intention. He then turned to his blinking notification bar, which indicated that someone had messaged him. Looking at it, he saw that Diablo had already dealt with the problem on his side.
"He is looking for the Dragon Centipede? It looks like he is also working quite hard," he mumbled before turning to others. "Ask some people to look for the traces of the giant centipede."
"That Emperor Class Monster Boss is one of our biggest problems. We also must form a team to hunt it down if possible. Help me look for suitable people, the others in our team are still quite busy," he added as he felt a little headache.
These problems were coming out one after another despite him solving them one by one. He felt that they were endlessly flooding his way.
He then thought of something before turning to Lorraine. "Can you contact Leo? Tell him that I ask if he successfully invited those people to his side."
"While I'll look for more friends," he added before opening his friend list and looking for a certain name.
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