Child of Destiny

Boom!

The forces composed of powerful guilds, mercenary groups, adventurer teams, and independent players were unable to help themselves from halting their tracks after seeing the sudden change on the battlefield.

They had just arrived, so they were not too clear about the situation.

They were supposed to be here to save the city, but all the fighting seemed to have stopped all of a sudden.

All demonic monsters stopped attacking the city. The remaining demonic players hiding among them seemed to have all disappeared.

All they saw was the massive explosion that lit up the sky before revealing the seriously wounded King Juron.

Then another strange thing happened. The Demonic Bishops from the Demonic Church of Envy had suddenly turned into dust before a massive earthquake shook the entire region.

There seemed to be something ancient awakening from the nearby mountain closest to the Oath City itself.

…

Then came another change; the mountain that they were standing on suddenly released an intense crimson light that swallowed everyone in almost an instant.

The seemingly hundreds of thousands of reinforcements froze in place as time itself had stopped.

They were unable to respond to the sudden turn of events before finding their bodies turning into motes of light without being able to fight back.

The players—the guild elites, the mercenary companies, the adventurer teams, the independent players—and even the few NPCs that came along with them, all of them had turned into specks of light that scattered in the air.

Not a single corpse remained. Not a single drop of blood touched the ground. All of them had simply vanished.

The entire battlefield fell in absolute silence.

No one spoke—no one could.

No one moved—it was because they were unable to.

Everyone simply watched as the endless rivers of crimson light flowed across the sky. It looked almost beautiful.

It was only then that they realized that every crimson light represented a life that had just been sacrificed.

The four commanders standing on the city wall—Alucard, Poseidon, Loki, and Hades—were unable to say anything as well. They were simply too stunned at the sudden turns of events.

…

In the distance, Henrick did not care what the heretics from the Church of Envy had done. Instead, he was too focused on the task entrusted to him by Dragulia right before the latter fell under Diablo’s shadows.

He stood atop a cliff, looking over the battlefield for another time, seemingly carrying an unconcealed satisfaction.

Below him, the surviving demonic players—believers of terror—had already begun their orderly retreat. None of them looked back since there was no need for it.

”This Grand Sacrificial Ritual-…” Henrick spread his arms toward the sky as the endless river of slaughter energy ’harvested’ from the earlier ’reinforcements’ converged overhead and headed straight to the main altar. ”…-is finally complete!”

From the very beginning, the city itself had never been the sacrifice. Neither the defenders nor the monsters.

They had merely been a distraction.

A large battle enough to force every large guild in the kingdom and the nearby forces, particularly the Titan Guild and other first-rate guilds along with the mercenary company and adventurer teams, to send reinforcements.

It was only then that enough lives would gather in one place. It would also be the time when enough slaughter energy would accumulate.

That siege they had orchestrated along with the Demonic Church of Envy had merely been a bait.

It was just a pity that Dragulia, who was supposed to receive the blessing of the Demonic Dragon of Terror, was currently not present.

But Henrick did not complete either. As the person with the highest authority present on the field, he would naturally receive that blessing instead.

”It’s not like I am going to complain,” he smiled fanatically before turning around and heading to the second point where the blessing was supposed to descend.

It was the second point that they had prepared if everything had crumbled after encountering a series of accidents.

He must admit that the person who had crafted this plan was someone who possessed incredible foresight. It was as if they had predicted everything from the very beginning. He was starting to wonder who that person was that their Master had come in contact with.

Thinking about all these, Henrick could not help but feel excited. After this event, he would most likely become an Arch Heretic of the Demonic Church of Terror just like Dragulia.

…

However, it was at this moment that something felt wrong.

He swiftly turned and saw the rivers of slaughter energy.

He immediately realized that they were not moving toward the ritual prepared by the Demonic Church of Terror—neither the main altar, nor the second gathering point.

It had changed its direction instead!

”Hmm!?” Henrick frowned

His gaze followed the countless crimson streams that abruptly twisted in midair before surging toward the other direction. It was heading toward the mountain where those heretics from the Demonic Church of Envy had ’summoned’ something.

”What!?” his smile slowly disappeared, seemingly realized something.

Back in the sky, the Demonic Bishop of the Demonic Church of Envy was still in the process of turning into streams of black blood.

There were heretical smiles on their faces, which seemed to be indicating that they were fully willing to sacrifice themselves just to awaken whatever it was.

The black blood stayed still for a moment before transforming into terrifying runes with unknown meaning. These ancient demonic runes then transformed into lights that engraved themselves on the floor of the Oath City before exploding underneath.

The entire city trembled violently. The streets, the walls, the towers, and any other buildings began glowing with demonic light.

Not long after, the city itself seemed to have manifested something intangible before heading to the nearby mountain.

The crumbling in the distance was then split apart, followed by an unimaginably gigantic gate slowly emerging from within the earth. It was as if it had been buried there since the dawn of time.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Countless chains wrapped around it. Each one was thicker than the castle walls.

Swoosh!

Black light crawled across the ground like living shadows, connecting the city to the ancient gate.

Everyone then perceived it. Something moved behind that gate. It was neither a monster nor a demon. It seemed to be something even older. Something that should never have awakened.

Henrick’s pupils contracted when he saw this. ”No-…!”

His voice was trembling when he finally confirmed something. ”They-… have stolen it!”

Every drop of slaughter energy that they had painstakingly accumulated. Every sacrifice, every death, every ounce of fear that they had forcefully manifested—everything was being diverted.

They were not heading to the ’Terror’, but toward whatever was imprisoned beyond that gate.

Henrick’s face twisted with fury. ”Those bastards! Those pieces of shits! How dare they betray us!”

His roar echoed across the mountains, yet nothing could stop that time now.

It was then that he realized that those heretics from the Demonic Church of Envy had backstabbed them at the most crucial moments.

The ritual had already changed hands.

However, was it truly ’Envy’ who had done it?

…

Back in the Oath City, everyone stood frozen.

No one knew what was happening anymore. The series of events was too fast for them to properly process everything.

They had even forgotten that their reinforcements, who were supposed to be saving them from the situation, had turned into sacrificial lambs instead.

The two demonic churches had fought side by side throughout the siege. However, they seemed to never be in alliance at all.

Each had been plotting against the other from the very beginning.

The Demonic Church of Terror had manipulated the world into creating a perfect sacrifice, but the Demonic Church of Envy had simply waited until the very last moment to steal all the fruits of their labor.

…

At the same time, far from the center of the battlefield.

A lone figure walked leisurely through the silent forest. His black robes fluttered gently with the wind.

Around him, skeletal ravens silently perched upon the branches, watching the distant mountain with hollow yet terrifying eyes.

He paid no attention to the slaughter, nor the collapsing rituals, nor even to the fat of the Oath City. His destination had always been elsewhere.

Within the ancient gate, the prison seemed to be about to open, giving this person a faint smile that slowly spread across his face.

”So-…” Immortal murmured as pale blue soul flames flickered within his eyes. ”They’ve finally reached this stage.”

His footsteps never slowed. ”The greatest treasures are always born from the greatest disaster.”

He lightly tapped the weathered skull hanging from his waist. ”Let’s see-… whether your heat is worthy of joining my new collection.”

Without another glance at the battlefield, this man known throughout the virtual world as the Lich God disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

However, his ambiguous words seemed to be trying to say that he was about to announce his presence once more after being dormant for quite a while.

...…