...
On the outskirts of the Saint Heaven Kingdom, bordering the Frozen Kingdom, the Hydra Guild was currently having a meeting with the Corrupted Cult members.
Immortal, who was representing the latter side, sat silently in his seat. Aside from him, the representatives of the Hydra Guild and Blood Carnival were also sitting around the table.
Cobra, who was the representative of the Hydra Guild, was currently glaring at Immortal. And when he finally couldn't suppress his anger anymore, he suddenly slammed his hand on the table and shouted. "How is the Corrupted Cult going to compensate us now, Immortal?"
"We help you in a condition that you guys will guarantee that our businesses are not going to be affected by your sudden invasion!"
"Because of what happened, a lot of our businesses are not only suffering, but we are also burning a lot of profit to recover most of them!"
Unlike him, the Blood Elf sitting right across his seat seemed not to be bothered at all. He was the representative of the Blood Carnival, and since their guild was a Dark Guild housing red-named players, the current state of the Saint Heaven Kingdom was somewhat favorable for them.
Chaos was their best friend since it was a perfect time for their members to do everything they wanted without being captured by the NPC Guards.
Of course, large cities were still out of the question, but the towns and villages that suffered a huge hit on the previous event were Heaven for Dark Players like them.
Bang!
Cobra slammed his hand on the table for another time and glared at Immortal threateningly. "You better have a good offer this time, or else, your plans may fall apart before they are fully built."
It was at this moment when the Blood Elf finally opened his mouth. "Hey, hey! Talk it easy, Cobra. Nothing will come out good in this meeting if we are going to let our emotions get over us."
Shing!
Hearing those words, Cobra quickly pulled out his dagger and pointed it toward the Blood Elf. "Stop with this façade, Mad Dog! We both know that you are enjoying this situation better than anyone else."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"The other high-ranking members of your guild are pulled out from this kingdom the moment you arrived. Do you honestly believe that we don't know what it means?"
He then stabbed his dagger into the table and added. "That can only mean a single thing, you guys are planning to lay your hands on our goods!"
The Blood Elf, Mad Dog, picked up the greatsword leaning on the edge of the table beside him and looked at Cobra straight in the eyes. "And what if that is that is the case? The Saint Heaven Kingdom is not your turf in the first place, so we don't give a damn!"
Bang!
A fight was about to break out between the two but a powerful pressure suddenly suppressed their auras, making them regain their sense.
"That should be enough. We are here to discuss our next course of action and not to fight among ourselves," said Immortal in a calm tone before turning to Cobra. "As for the compensation, the main headquarter is already making negations on with your guild to compensate your losses."
'The headquarters? That means, these lunatics are really trying to destroy this whole kingdom,' thought Cobra as he read between the lines of what Immortal had said.
'It looks like we really need to give up on this place and cut out losses as minimum as he can,' he added with a deep frown.
Regardless of his thoughts, he was still not willing to just give up everything without having assurance from the Corrupted Cult. "But how can you be sure that everything is going according to your plans?"
Immortal shrugged his shoulders and answered with a confident tone. "Because it is already impossible to save this dying kingdom."
Cobra was still confused and asked. "What do you mean by that?"
Then Immortal quickly responded. "It is a system setting. Because of the sins that the ancestors of this kingdom have committed, divine wrath is destined to fall on them."
"Regardless of what they are doing, the Saint Heaven Kingdom is already doomed," he added while wearing a huge grin.
"But the other sides are the Empyrean Talons and the new party that God Slayer had created. On top of that, the reports that we just received said that Zero and his right-hand man are even helping them," said Cobra with a doubtful tone.
"You should know what they can do better than anyone since you already faced them more than once. And you end up being defeated on those occasions."
Hearing that, Immortal couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Are you telling me that a group of players can stand against the will of a God in this world?"
"Don't make me laugh, all of us on the Corrupted Cult personally experience the power of a God within this game. No one can oppose them on the current stage of the game as their divine authority is absolute!"
"Unless those guys have someone with the same level of authority on their side, they are bound to fail this quest miserably."
He paused for a moment as he reached that point before continuing. "And you are right that I've lost to them multiple times, but it is also because I suffer a series of defeats on their hands that I know how strong exactly they are."
"They don't have enough power to clear that quest. And it is a terrible mistake for them to attempt clearing it at the current state of the game."
"We are only planning to purposely fail that quest in the first place since it is unclear from the very beginning. But since they volunteered to sacrifice themselves for it, we are more than happy to give them the 'honor' of failing it."
"After the end of this operation, the virtual world will witness the fall of the rising star, Empyrean Talons, and the returning stars, God Slayer and Death God. And alongside them is the sudden disappearance of the current brightest star of the game, Zero."
Immortal couldn't hide his excitement when he thought about that. 'What if I lost to them? In the end, I will still get the last laugh. The winner is not always the strongest, but it is whoever remained standing in the very end.'
Hearing the confident words from Immortal, Cobra couldn't help but fall in deep thought. He was still not sure where this Lich God get his confidence but since he was so sure about the outcome of this operation, he had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Moreover, the Corrupted Cult was currently negotiating compensation with the Headquarters of the Hydra Guild, so they had nothing to lose even if either side succeed.
As usual, Mad Dog, as a representative of the Blood Carnival, had no interest in it. Their guild would still continue to operate regardless of the outcome. Though, he was leaning more toward the success of the Corrupted Cult since the more chaotic the kingdom became, the more favorable for them.
This was the main reason why they agreed to work with them, a Dark Guild like theirs had more freedom if the Kingdom was in chaos.
Immortal then started to discuss the main point of this meeting. "Now, how about we proceed to our main issue here?"
"The top guilds who are in control of the resource maps in the Kingdom are greatly weakened, especially the Wing's Alliance who just suffered a defeat under the hands of the HeadHunter Guild."
"We can expect that they will not immediately recover since the internal conflict with their Headquarters is slowly growing. I heard that the factions of the Grand Elder are starting to show their fangs. Because of that, the Alliance Leader is forced to make his move."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Given that, we can take the Wing's Alliance out of the picture for the time being."
Cobra pursed his lips and immediately stated. "But the HeadHunter Guild is starting to gain some influence due to their previous victory. And Cruelty also started to become more popular because of his stupid speech."
Mad Dog slightly nodded his head and added. "This leaves us with the Dragon Pavilion, Tyrant Guild, Hand of Midas, and the Assassin Union. These powerhouses are the only ones that we need to be wary of aside from the HeadHunter Guild."
He then turned to Immortal and asked. "Do you think we have enough power to deal with them altogether?"
Bang!
Cobra slammed his hand on the table once again and commented. "Why are you grouping the HeadHunter Guild with them? We all know that the other guilds don't have a good relationship with the other four regardless of the positive responses that they are currently getting."
"The Hydra Guild will deal with the Dragon Pavilion as usual while your Blood Carnival will take care of the Tyrant Guild, then the other two organizations will be left to the hands of the Corrupted Cult! That simple!"
Immortal was silent for a moment before speaking. "Mad Dog has a point. There is clear evidence that the HeadHunter Guild is receiving some hidden support during the previous war."
"We still don't know who exactly is it but our main suspect is the Hand of Midas Guild since they are the only ones who are capable of changing the tide of that war in this Kingdom."
"Given this, we can't overlook the possibility of them working together," he then paused for a moment and turned at the two before continuing. "Our hands are full, so we don't have enough people to keep them in check."
"Moreover there are also some variables that we are not expecting to appear. Just like the sudden appearances of the Frost Goddess Snow White and the previous rank one player Khing which clearly catch us off-guard."
Mad Dog and Cobra suddenly squinted their eyes as they could tell what Immortal was trying to say. And just like they had thought, the Lich God was really planning to invite another party to join them.
"This is why we are planning to hire some people to take care of those annoying variables," said Immortal as a group of players entered the tent, catching the attention of the two.
The two couldn't help but become surprised when he saw the faces of those players. They then turned to each other before quickly turning back to Immortal and slowly nodding their heads.
They both knew that the success rate of their plan would be boosted by a large margin with the help of these people.
Seeing their reactions, Immortal nodded his head in satisfaction and continued. "Then how about we proceed and further polish our plans?"
...