Child of Destiny

Chapter 2188: Hidden Core Altars

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The situation at the Lesser Kingdom of Juron was slowly getting grimmer, especially the ones that had been killed by the Demonic Players, who were greatly weakened by the curse aside from the basic penalties when dying.

Not only had their levels dropped, but they had also lost quite a few pieces of their equipment in the process.

There were also quite a few opportunities that were taking advantage of the situation to scrap and pick up some items and equipment during the chaos.

Given that both sides were mostly elites among their respective factions, the equipment that they were wearing should be of the highest quality. Just picking up a few of them could already earn them a huge fortune.

As for the consequences that could come their way due to this, none of them cared.

After all, both sides were too busy to deal with each other, so they would have no time to take care of random scrap pickers.

This further fanned the flames of chaos surrounding the Oath City and the nearby regions, making the situation even more complicated.

Fortunately, the Titan Guild and its alliance were still able to hold the reins quite well, keeping almost everything under control.

Aside from the continuous battles against the Demonic Players, the overall situation was still within their limit of tolerance.

After learning more about the situation, the leaders present in the Oath City immediately ceased all the random battles against the Demonic Players and started a whole new operation under the lead of the Titan Guild and Diablo, a member of the Empyrean Talons.

Even though Diablo was just an individual, he was equal to an entire army. He was not just any random Maverick God or god-level expert at the unofficial rankings of the game. He was a powerhouse that could rival those monsters standing even at the peak of the Godly Ranking Lists.

Diablo, the Dancer of the Shadows – this name had become synonymous among the top assassins and thieves within the game, such as Death God Faker, God of Mischief Loki, Shadow God Zoldryck, and others.

With just that reputation alone, no one would dare to question his status unless they were someone of equal standing.

…

At this moment, in one of the VIP Rooms of the highest-tier inn within the Oath City, a trio was currently gathered for a meeting.

Two of them were Diablo and Mister Jiang, who represented the Special Strike Team and the Intelligence Unit within the current alliance, respectively, while the other one was Poseidon, who was the acting leader of the alliance.

”The Headquarters have contacted me. They said that they will be sending some reinforcements to lend us a hand, but they will take some time before they can arrive, given the current situation at hand,” said Poseidon with a bit of relief in his tone.

”Who are they going to send as the main fighters?” asked Mister Jiang almost immediately out of habit.

Poseidon hesitated for a moment, looking at the other party with a suspicious look on his face, before answering. ”They will be sending Hades and Loki to lead the reinforcements.”

Mister Jiang nodded for a moment before shaking his head.

”Hades, the God of the Underworld. He is quite a powerful Godlike Player of Necromancer Class, rivaling Lich God Immortal,” he added out of habit for being an Information Merchant, before adding a little remark for their current situation. ”He should be a good match against Leviathan given the nature of their respective class.”

”He is quite a good addition for our current predicament, but I do not think that Loki is a good addition,” he added before quickly adding. ”After all, he is dubbed as the God of Mischief for a reason.”

”He can cause us a lot of trouble if he does not control his strange antics of messing with other people,” he said with a bit of a frown.

Poseidon gave Mister Jiang a strange look, seemingly somewhat impressed at how accurately this guy gathered his information.

He then quickly recollected himself before quickly adding. ”You do not have to worry about that. Hade is sent here to keep Loki and his habits in check.”

Mister Jiang just shrugged his shoulders when he heard this. He did not care about it since he also knew that a big guild such as the Titan Guild would not do such a foolish action when it came to such a serious situation.

This was a kind of business that the big guilds were familiar with, so he had to leave it to them and just focused on his job of gathering the necessary information.

Seeing that Mister Jiang had nothing to ask, Poseidon turned to Diablo and asked. ”Whatʼs the situation with your side? Have you finished off every altar?”

Diablo shook his head as he answered. ”We have already taken down all the minor altars that can act as the ʼenergy sourceʼ of the main altars. However, we have never found the main altars, which will be the main cores of the grand demonic formation that they are trying to build.”

He then turned to Mister Jiang and asked. ”Are there still no findings about this matter?”

Hearing this, Mister Jiang could not help but wear an ugly expression before saying. ”Those guys are quite tricky to deal with.”

”They seem to know about you as well, which is why they are constantly throwing a lot of decoys that will further spread our people, which will make it quite challenging for us to track.”

”Some of them are quite skilled at covering their tracks, making it even harder to find their traces.”

”Aside from these minor altars and decoy places, we have never found the true cores that you are talking about,” he added, along with a complaining tone.

Diablo thought for a moment before squinting his eyes. ”I have some clues about the possible places that can be the location of those cores, but they seem to have used certain methods to mess with the surroundings.”

”Like Illusion and Isolation Formations?” asked Poseidon, along with a deep frown.

The game was constantly growing along with the players. Combat was no longer the sole attraction of the game.

The Lifestyle Players or Production Classes had also gained quite a lot of attention and fame during the recent months.

One of the main factors that affected these changes was the showcase powers that the Hand of Midas had shown everyone, proving that their so-called ʼuseless class for battleʼ could also beat someone with a combat class.

The tools and potions that they had created had also become handy on multiple occasions, particularly in huge battles such as wars.

Normally, the Blacksmiths, Tailors, and Alchemists were the main choices for lifestyle professions since they were the most useful ones, which was also proven in the previous games.

This was why the guilds focused on nurturing them and even had a specific branch within their guild that focused on training such players.

However, the other lifestyle and production classes had also proven that they were useful as well.

Engineering and Architecture had become a main factor in huge battlefields, particularly in sieges and raids. The strategic tools and siege weapons were major factors in such battles and wars.

The Runemasters had also proven themselves in the huge battlefields with their Magic Arrays and Formations, particularly when it came to strategic battles and utilizing the terrains and environments.

Even Miners and Farmers had become a major factor, albeit in a different sense. After all, the players had also started to gain their respective fiefdoms, which required classes that would nurture the land itself or harvest the resources within it.

The huge guilds could also see that the guild wars would soon concern territorial battles, given the current flow of the game.

…

”I think so too,” nodded Diablo, responding to Poseidonʼs earlier question.

Hearing this, Poseidon could not help but frown quite deeply, fully understanding the gravity of such news.

The people that they had in this place were mostly meant for combat, while the rest were for scouting and intelligence gathering, so they did not have any people who were familiar with auxiliary roles, much less dealing with them altogether.

”If those cores are truly being protected and hidden with such formations, then this is going to be quite problematic for all of us,” said Poseidon while wearing a deep frown. ”Even if we ask for Runemasters or Formation Masters themselves from the guild, the time that will take for them to reach this place is going to be quite late.”

”It is indeed already too late at that time,” nodded Diablo, acknowledging that it would truly be the case.

”Regardless, we still have to request people with such a profession just in case,” said Mister Jiang.

Poseidon nodded his head before contacting their side for additional lifestyle players to be included in the reinforcements that they were going to send.

He then turned to Diablo once again and asked. ”What about on Alucardʼs side?”

Diablo just shrugged his shoulders and said. ”They are still playing tag with Leviathan.”

Poseidon furrowed his brows when he heard this before easing up a little. ”At the very least, it is much better than that guy corrupting the said portal and turning it into a Demonic Portal.”

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