Chapter 580 Chapter553-Temporarily Avoiding the Sharp Edge
John was actually completely unaware of Darklord's emergence.
Even if he had known about Darklord's intention to engage in a decisive battle with him, he would definitely not accept the challenge lightly.
At the moment, he was simply focusing on rapidly regaining his strength through the use of supplements.
Moreover, during the process of recuperation, he was also browsing through a series of posts on the gaming forums.
The posts on the gaming forums had almost thoroughly discussed the details of the previous battles in Storm City.
Although John had personally participated in the battle, he wasn't very familiar with the events that occurred on other parts of the battlefield.
After understanding the entire situation, John could roughly deduce the plans of the Mystery faction.
The Mystery faction was bound to launch an attack soon.
This is because the deity known as Mystery Saint has always been very cunning and would definitely not miss an opportunity where both the Order Faction and the Dark Faction were weakened.
After grasping the current situation, John immediately communicated with his allies.
His first concern was to check on the safety of Emma and SkyStars – were they safe?
Upon receiving John's message, Emma promptly responded with an update.
["Rest assured, my current situation is very secure. The Dark Faction's attack has been thoroughly repelled, and I am now assisting the guards of Storm City in repairing the walls. After all, it's possible that Storm City might soon face attacks from other hostile factions. Didn't you mention before that Mystery Saint also has plans to attack Storm City? We should definitely prepare in advance for an assault from Mystery Saint."]
SkyStars also quickly replied.
["My situation here is very secure as well. Although I encountered some demons from the Dark Faction initially, those demons were swiftly eliminated. Not only is my location safe, but the entire area south of Storm City is also very secure.
I'm also aware that the situation at Southern Harbor isn't as bad as it could be. Ocean Sage should be able to provide you with the necessary assistance. If you truly find yourself in danger, just hold on a little longer."]
SkyStars provided John with an additional piece of information.
However, John was not as confident as the other party.
He felt that Ocean Sage would likely prioritize defending Southern Harbor first.
After contacting Emma and SkyStars, John decided to reach out to Adam and Blue Sea.
However, he was slightly worried when neither of them responded to his messages.
It seemed they were preoccupied with other matters.
"It looks like both of them might have encountered some danger! Perhaps the Mystery faction has already made their move, or maybe Darklord is about to challenge me soon!"
John had a rough idea of what was likely to happen next.
Therefore, he decided not to concern himself with other matters and focused on enhancing his own strength.
Indeed, Adam and Blue Sea were in trouble, facing an attack from Darklord.
Moreover, Darklord didn't consider them his primary enemies and hadn't used his full strength in the attack.
He merely wanted to demonstrate that he was much more powerful than before.
"You two should stop opposing me. Your opposition in the past was probably because of John. You thought highly of his strength and believed opposing me would earn his support, so I couldn't make you pay a significant price. But things are different now.
My strength has greatly surpassed John's. Continuing to oppose me is foolish, and you won't get John's help by doing so. John himself is very afraid of me now. Aren't you curious why he hasn't shown up here? The reason he hasn't appeared is that he knows he can't defeat me."
Darklord's tone was exceedingly arrogant, but he had the means to back it up.
His strength surpassed that of most adventurers and was even comparable to John's.
Moreover, with a series of Sacred Relics provided by Mystery Saint at his disposal, he could easily defeat any adventurer, aside from John, with ease.
However, Adam and Blue Sea did not take Darklord's words to heart.
They would never easily defect to Darklord's side, well aware of his propensity for kicking someone when they're down.
If Darklord could betray his own guild's deputy leader, whom he trusted the most, what's stopping him from betraying anyone else?
"You needn't waste your breath; we will never collaborate with you. We will continue to fight against you, confident that John will indeed defeat you."
This time, it was Adam who took the initiative to provoke Darklord.
Adam's behavior marked a significant departure from his usual demeanor; he tended not to be cautious about his opponents under normal circumstances, but when faced with danger, he proved to be even bolder than Blue Sea.
Adam's words soured Darklord's expression momentarily.
However, the look of displeasure was fleeting, as Darklord knew better than to be easily provoked.
"You may say whatever you please for now. But my patience for this charade has worn thin. I'll be going directly after John, and I'll see to it that he is eliminated. Then, you'll be able to judge for yourselves who the strongest player is and who truly deserves your allegiance!"
After making this declaration, Darklord continued his advance towards the Duke of Arsena's palace.
He did not intend to trap Adam and Blue Sea in the Mirror of Mystery, aware that these players could find other ways to escape its seal.
Instead, he planned to have the creatures of Mystery keep them occupied.
Given that Adam and Blue Sea lacked the assistance of other deities from the Order Faction, it was virtually impossible for them to easily defeat the Mystery creatures summoned by Darklord.
After Darklord departed, Adam and Blue Sea indeed found themselves embroiled in a difficult battle.
However, they did not lose hope, believing they could rely on the help of other top players to extricate themselves from this predicament.
The area surrounding the Duke of Arsena's palace now had only two notable figures left: Kingserp and Mystery Protector.
Kingserp had been sealed by John during an earlier battle.
After defeating two Devils, John had not had the chance to deal with Kingserp, who then managed to break the seal through his own efforts.
Now freed, Kingserp was in a dire state. Aware that staying in Storm City would only lead to greater danger, he chose to head directly for the city's teleportation point.
However, upon arriving at the Storm City teleportation point, he encountered another individual: Mystery Protector.
Mystery Protector had been closely monitoring Kingserp's movements all along.
After successfully evading John's attacks, he realized the necessity of having alternative plans for himself.
Relying solely on collaboration with Darklord was only worsening Mystery Protector's situation.
Thus, upon intercepting Kingserp, Mystery Protector directly proposed cooperation.
"You must be one of the members of the Dark Faction. I'm interested in collaborating with your Dark Faction. Would you be willing to work with me?"
Mystery Protector's proposition caught Kingserp off guard.
He had assumed the other was there to hinder his next move, especially knowing that Mystery Protector was associated with the Order Faction.
Although aware of the past cooperation between Mystery Protector and Darklord, Kingserp doubted that this connection could be leveraged as a means to coerce cooperation.
"Why would you want to do this? Do you really believe that the Dark Faction's upcoming actions can still succeed? John has already demonstrated such formidable strength; do you think the Devils can defeat John?"
Faced with Kingserp's questioning, Mystery Protector simply smiled and responded, "It's true that John's strength is exceptional, and I certainly won't deny that. However, this doesn't mean he and I are allies. How could he, an adventurer, and I, a Legend Magus from the Northern Myst Empire, possibly be allies? The conflicts between him and me are far from minor. So, if you can offer me assistance, I am willing to collaborate with you."
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