Child of Destiny

Far from the battlefield, there was a group of players watching everything unfold. They observed the ongoing battle as a ray of hope flashed in their eyes.

This was Axion’s group, who managed to survive the disaster and turned into Plague Race, which was also the one that triggered the event.

Axion was currently not with the group as he could not leave the tomb. He was forbidden from leaving that place until the final stages of the event or until the revival of the king.

The four were currently gathered as they had planned all of this without the consent of their leader.

“It looks like it has somewhat worked,” said the zombified samurai, Ken.

Magia, the sole female member of the group right now, shook her head. “This may work now, but it is just a trick that will only work once. After this, it will be hard to gather another batch of players into a trap.”

“They will realize that there is someone orchestrating everything from the shadows. It will not be good for a long-term process,” she sighed.

“What do you want to do then? The progress of the event is quite slow. If we wait until the final stages, then we will most likely watch our captain turn into the vessel of the king,” said Asesino, the Ghost Assassin.

“Moreover, our main goal is not to wipe them out anyway. We just want to harvest as many nutrients as possible to slightly hasten the process of plague corruption, which will then increase the spawn rate of the Plagued Monsters.”

“It does not matter if they realize that we are behind all of this, so long as the plague spreads faster and wider, everything will be worth it since the king will get more energy and lessen the burden for Captain,” he added.

“But I do have some uncomfortable feelings about this,” said Berdugo. The others could tell that he was frowning deeply despite the black sack covering his head as he continued. “The captain will be furious once he learns that we have moved without any of his orders.”

“We are assigned to guard different areas anyway. Our job is not only to hunt the players but also to control the Plagued Monster to eliminate as many players as we can, so why not gather all of them in a single place and kill them in one fell swoop?” refuted Asesino.

“But the combined forces of the players will also be stronger since they are together,” said Ken with a frown.

As they could see, the horde of monsters was not doing that much against the blockade of players. Even if the Plagued Monsters were able to kill a few in the process, the players were still able to kill more.

“That’s fine as well. You should know what will happen if there are too many Plagued Monsters die in a single place,” replied Asesino as he started at the ongoing battle. “The accumulated plague energy will be deadly enough to influence them.”

“Even if they have the protection of the talismans, they will still be affected by it due to the accumulated plague energy becoming more concentrated.”

“At that time, we will be able to convert more of them into our side. Their transformation will be unavoidable, turning them into Plague Race just like us. As for the corpses of the players who died in that place, they will turn into Plague Puppets, which is another batch of strong soldiers.”

“Regardless of the outcome of this battle, it will be beneficial to us,” he added with full confidence.

He had plotted this scheme thoroughly, making it into a multi-layer trap that would be impossible to avoid so long as there were enough players who took the bait.

Everything had started since the time the chieftain-rank Plague Monster was discovered, which then solidified after the players gathered due to their greed.

“They want to hunt more Plagued Monsters for event points, right? Then we will give them to them!” said Asesino excitedly as he felt more confident in his plot after seeing the ongoing battle in the distance. “More chieftain-rank Plagued Monsters will be born once the density of the plague energy becomes dense enough! The more they kill, the more impossible for them to escape!”

Even if the other three had some doubts earlier when they first heard his plans, the result was still presented before them, so they could not say anything.

Seeing that the Plagued Monsters were slowly getting stronger without the player’s notice, as well as the gradually increasing density of the plague energy in that place, the three of them could not help but acknowledge that this plan was successful.

It was at this moment when an unfamiliar voice sounded beside them.

“I see. So, that it is. It is a well-thought-out plan. It seems like you have put quite an effort into constructing it.”

“Hmm. Hmm,” the three subconsciously nodded after hearing the compliment.

Asesino, on the other hand, could not help but feel a little proud. He also nodded his head as he explained. “It is not that much. It’s just-…” Stay tuned for updates on empire

But he suddenly paused when he realized that something was wrong. The unfamiliar voice did not belong to their group!

The others realized this as well, making their bodies tremble.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

They quickly jumped into action the moment it sank into them. They swiftly jumped away from their current position and coordinately surrounded the unfamiliar person, who appeared out of nowhere.

When they looked in that direction, they saw a cloaked individual standing soundlessly in their previous location.

They also started sweating profusely after realizing that they could not sense the presence of the other party, no matter how hard they tried.

It was as if this person had merged with the surroundings, making him a part of it.

If not for them seeing him standing still in that position, then they would most likely mistake him as a shadow or an illusion.

If this person did not talk, then they would never discover his presence at all. They would even be killed in the process if he wanted to.

“Strong!” through the group as they warily looked at the other party.

They quickly assumed their battle stances and got ready for the battle while warily staring at the hooded person.

…

Shin, who remained standing on the same spot, clicked his tongue as he ‘complained’. “What’s with the tenseness? We are just here to chat. Tell me more about the plan and this so-called king or something – I am quite interested in him.”

Seeing Shin acting nonchalant despite the current situation, the four could not help but become even warier as they could tell that this person was among those who were standing at the pinnacle of the game.

Even if they were quite strong themselves, along with the Molding Skills that boosted their stats and made them comparable to a boss monster, they still felt an immense threat coming from the other party.

Molding Skills were a special set of skills meant for Named NPCs and Boss Monsters, which made them very strong. Most of these skills increased the ratio scaling between the stats of the monsters and NPCs just like how they had more HP Bar compared to the players.

Some of these skills even gave them special talents that made them immune to certain types of damage or boosted their damage by a larger margin.

But from their perspective, Shin looked more like a boss monster than themselves.

Seeing their reactions, Shin shook his head repeatedly. “I guess you don’t want to.”

He then paused for a moment as he raised his head slightly, somewhat revealing the half of his mask hiding behind the shade of his hood.

When he swept his eyes at the surroundings, a cold glint seemed to flash from his eyes, sending an intense shiver down their spine.

“I wonder how many event points I can get from you and if the later stages of the event will immediately bring forward once I wipe you out,” he said in a tone similar to talking to himself.

It was at this moment when Asesino and others realized the identity of this person.

“Run!” shouted Asesino to Magia as he could tell that even if they worked together, they would still lose against this person, especially when they did not have the assistance of the Plagued Monster under their command.

If they insisted on fighting such a scary person by themselves, even with their insanely huge Health Points, they would only be stalling until the other people noticed the commotion.

When that happened, the other top-notch gods fighting on the battlefield might be able to realize what was happening and pinpoint their location through the sounds of the battle.

The best choice was to let Magia, who had the least HP Bar and weakest defense among them, run back to the tomb while the rest held Shin down.

They could not risk getting annihilated here when they had already plotted a perfect scheme for the players.

So long as one of them survived, then everything would be worth it.

They had to leave at least one of them to oversee the Plagued Monsters later.

Asesino was the ideal person for this, but he chose to send Magia since he could leave by himself later anyway.

Shin was able to see through their plan, but he did nothing against it as he had a better plan in his mind. “Let’s play for a moment.”

……