168 The Real Culprits

.....

On a mountain peak not far from the ongoing battle, a group of four players are currently watching the war with calm gazes. Two of them are in the forefront while the other two are standing behind the former two respectively. 

One of the hooded figures standing in the front was Snow White, the Guild Leader of the Hand of Midas lifestyle guild. Behind her was her trustful aid inside the game, Delusive Smile. On Snow White's right side stood the Operation Leader of the Assassin Union, Cold Moon, and behind her stood her right-hand man, Fake Grin.

And after few moments, Cold Moon opened her mouth and said to the woman beside her. "Are you sure that we don't need to act, Sister Shiella?"

Snow White gave her a quick sidelong glance before saying. "Don't worry. The manpower that we sent is more than enough for the current situation. They can handle the rest with themselves."

Cold Moon hesitated for a moment before saying. "But we can end this war as soon as possible if we join the battle."

Snow White shook her head and smiled bitterly after hearing that. Then she said after that. "Moon, I know that you want to help them for as much as you want, but please, don't let your feelings cloud your judgment. We also have some troubles of our own so we can't act rashly."

"I have some competitors now and they are quite troublesome to deal with, so I need to be careful on each of my moves or else those guys will snatch my clients. And because of that, my hands are in bind unless I was left with no other choice but to take some personal actions."

Snow White paused for a moment to look at Cold Moon before continuing. "You, on the other hand, have some problems with your family. Unlike my Hand of Midas Trading Firm that I had built by myself since two years ago, your Assassin Union was built with your family members. So if you made a one wrong move, the opposing group in your family will swallow your guild at one fell swoop."

"As if I care." said by Cold Moon out of instincts.

Snow White shook her head and sighed helplessly. "Of course, you need to care about that. Because you are just going to give more trouble to your brother if you don't. Do you think he gambled everything two years ago just for you the act this way? At least think about his sacrifices."

"Hmph!" Cold Moon didn't respond at her after hearing that.

Snow White released a helpless sigh when she saw that. Then she directed her eyes on the battlefield once again before adding. "What's more, I already have some doubts about this so-called event at the very beginning."

Cold Moon's ears suddenly jerk a little after hearing that. Then she turned her head at Snow White and asked. "What do you mean about that, Sister Shiella?"

"First is when the quest can have a huge impact on the game world while other is when the quest is somewhat related on the opposing group's quest."

Then Cold Moon suddenly chimed in. "By opposing group, did you mean the opposing functions, The Corrupted Cult and Demonic Church's players?"

Snow White nodded her head and said. "Who else but them? And I'm sure that those idi*ts down there are still don't know about that. Well, of course, aside from God Slayer's group. And us, who are fully aware of the real situation."

"Those guys from the opposing Alliance think that this quest is related to Holy City and the Sun-Moon Church (I just make a little shorter) all this time, and that is why they are going all out. But contrary to what they know, this quest is not what they think. Given that, they will suffer much more losses after this event."

"And that is enough reason for us to restrain ourselves and wait until the real quest or event starts."

Then Cold Moon looked at the battlefield and said. "Now I feel sorry for these idi*ts. Tsk! Too bad, The Wing's Alliance and Titan Guild didn't join this time. If only they are also in here, things will surely be even livelier."

Snow White smirked after hearing that. "Who said that they will not join this event? Those guys just waiting like us. I don't know how, but I'm sure that those two Guilds happen to sense that there is something amiss and dodge a deadly bullet this time."

"What's more, they are also gaining something by just watching on the sideline. It is because these idi*ts will spend a large amount strength and manpower in this 'war', and it will weaken them greatly after this. Given that, those two on other 'bystanders' will take advantage of the situation to conquer other resorouses."

After some time, Cold Moon suddenly noticed some movements on the forest below. She knitted her brows before activating her ocular observation skill to take a closer look. A moment later, she saw that they are group of hooded figures.

Cold Moon's brows frowned even further after seeing them so she urged her ocular skill to the max of its ability, making her able to see through those guys disguise. In her eyes, their cloaks suddenly turned transparent, letting her to see their true appearance.

They are players without a doubt because of the player indicator above their heads, but the appearances of this group of players didn't belong to any of the available races of the game. They had a humanoid figure but they vary from different sizes; and they looked pretty much like a monster if you got a closer look.

Given that, their identities were also been revealed when Cool Moon saw that. Then she turned her head to Snow White who stood beside her and about to say something when she noticed that the latter was also using a high-class ocular skill of her own.

After a moment, Snow White was also done observing the new group. Then she jumped off from the cliff while saying with a loud voice enough to be heard by the other three accompanying her. "Let's go, those guys don't have their leader corrupted player so we can take them down before they manage to create a mess."

And without further ado, the other three followed after her.

...

At the time when Shin was pushed on the teleportation gate.

Shin stumble on the ground after getting through the void gate created by Hanzo. "D*mn you, Lawless!"

A moment later, Hanzo also walked out of the void gate before throwing him a pitiful look at Shin. He was about to say something when he noticed the atmosphere of their surroundings. He lifted his head before observing the place that they were in.

Shin stood up on the ground and patted his clothes/armors. And while doing that, he also noticed the eerie feeling of his surroundings. He raised his head and saw that this place was not the coordinates that he set when he let Hanzo create his teleportation gate earlier.

And that was when Shin heard a cheerful voice saying. "Welcome to my wor-! Eh!? You are the only one that entered the gate? Tsk! Then the others are still on the other side. D*mn! Looks like I choose to bet on the wrong place once again."

Shin's brows were locked into a frown after hearing that voice. Then he turned his head at the source and saw a silhouette of a person sitting on top a boulder few meters away from him. The boulder was under the tree so Shin couldn't get a clear look of the person because of the shade of the tree.

Shin gathered a bunch of Mana on his eyes activating his 'True Sight' skill out of instincts. And with that, his view suddenly changed; he can now clearly see the real appearance of the person. No... It was not entirely a person to be more precise. It is a player without a doubt, but Shin was pretty sure that this guy's race didn't belong to the races that were available major populace of the game.

And since he have the special index of different races as one of the special rewards that he received when he got the 'All-Rounder' special title, Shin could tell that this guy belong to the corrupted races of the dark functions of the game. Meaning, this guy was a player that belongs to the side of the Corrupted Cults.

"A Corrupted Race? So you must be one of the guys that are behind all of this mess," said Shin while looking at the Corrupted player's details.

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Player Name: Rhaba

Race: Corrupted Human (Semi-High)

Level: 100

Class:

-Main: Master Necromancer (Tier 2) 

-Sub: Dark Swordsman

Affiliation:

-Guild: Undying Guild

-Adventurer Team: N/A

Player Recognition: 

-High Ranker (Potential Titled)

Ranker's Title: Undying Blade (Previous Title)

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"Oh~! A High-Class ocular skill that can see through my Advance Concealing Cloak, you must be someone that have a decent potential," said by Rhaba while showing some surprised expression on his face.

After that, he jumped down from the boulder before walking forward, enough for him to get out from the shade of the tree. Then his figure was now fully exposed to Shin.

This guy really resembled a normal Human and a Fallen Human (sub-race of Undead). The only difference was the black-colored tattoo-like runes on the surface of his skin. He already removed his hood since he knew it was useless with Shin's 'True Sight' Skill. On Rhaba's back hangs a broadsword with a length of one and a half meter.

And based on the description on the information panel, this guy was a Necromancer yet a Swordsman at the same time. Just one look of it is enough for Shin to know that this guy was not simple.

Rhaba grinned at Shin and said. "Well, since you are the only one here, I think this is the end of road for you."

Shin's ears suddenly jerked up after hearing those words. Then he shook his head and released a helpless sigh before saying. "I'm being underestimated too much in this game, Huh?"

Then he tightened the grip of his left on his sheathed sword and added. "You know, I'm quite in the bad mood since I started doing this quest. Maybe you are a good candidate to vent out more of my frustrations."

Rhaba was taken aback at first when he heard Shin's bold words, but after a brief moment of surprise, he started chuckling and sneered. "Hehe... What a bold word to claim. Are you sure that you can back it up? Be careful not to bite your own tongue, Kid. Do you even know who I am?"

"Is that even important?" said Shin while stretching his head left and right, creating some cracking sounds in the process. Then he added after. "I guess not, since it will be immediately forgotten once I defeated you."

The look on Rhaba's face suddenly became solemn and looked at Shine with a cold gaze. This time he didn't say anything and just waved his left hand, summoning a bunch of skeleton soldiers, a group of zombies, a pair of ghouls, some banshees and a Death Knight.

And he didn't just end it there, because the moment he waved his hand for another time, the skeleton soldiers started clamping together while the banshees fusing with each other. The zombies, on the other hand, started merging with one another while the ghouls ate each other. And in the next instant, Shin saw a new batch of creatures.

The first one looked like a skull-headed knight with full-body black armor coupled with a helm that has two curved horns on each side. The other creature was a humanoid one with a hulky bare upper body. It had a bunch of stitches on the surface of its body; this guy looks like a zombie-man stitched from multiple corpses.

The third one was also a humanoid one with a muscular body. It looked like a human that had been skinned alive. There were also some spikes around its chests that extends to each of its shoulders all the way on the middle of its back. The last creature, on the other hand, was a ghostly figure that had a pair of crimson eyes. And from time to time, you could hear some cries of agony coming from it.

What's more, the threat that Shin was getting from these new guys are not weaker than the Death Knight standing beside Rhaba.

Shin knitted his brows after seeing that, it was not because of the fast summon of his opponent. From what he had learned so far, there are some skills that can allow a caster or summoner to insta-cast their spells and summons. In fact, he even saw Charlotte instantly summoned four types of elemental dragons before, so it was not surprising for to see this kind of feat.

What made him frowned his brows was the thing that happened next. He never heard a technique that could fused some group of undeads before creating a new one; what's more, using this kind of special method. Moreover, the new creatures that they evolved into are quite troublesome to deal with with just one look at them.

Then Shin clicked his tongue and muttered to himself. "Taking me on with powers and numbers, Huh? Good thing I also have some."

After that, he started summoning his gang one by one.

"Tsk! Another troublesome chore," said Grimrace after getting summoned. Then he added after taking a good look at their opponents. "Oh! Hey, Mosquito. Aren't those guys come from the same species as yours?"

"Bah! How can you compare an awesome and amazing Spirit like me to these filthy creatures? I'm a noble being that should be worshiped by these inferior beings." replied Vladimir with full of disgust. The he quickly added after a brief pause. " And don't call me on that nickname, you lowly Clown~."

Hanzo, on the other hand, released a helpless sigh after seeing the two bickering with each other just after being summoned.

Roar! Roar!

Then Whitie and Blackie appeared behind the group while looking viciously at the undead creatures few distances on their front.

One of Rhaba's brows suddenly curved higher when he saw Shin started summoning his group. Then he formed an interested smile with his lips before mumbling to himself. "Heh! What an interesting guy, I guess this going to become interesting."

...