687 Chapter 687

With a loud creaking noise, the large door leading into the spacious meeting room opened up.

The dim light coming in from the hallway was quickly overwhelmed by the much more intensive one coming from inside the room. The several chandeliers and candles have provided a much better atmosphere than the one from just outside the thin walls.

The door slowly parted ways with the wall, giving leeway to both the figures already situated inside and the duo just arriving.

Captain Dragha and the rest of his team of Saurus Captains instantly flashed elated, reverent looks and expressions as they saw the duo standing just behind the mysterious second-in-command, Lady Circe of this shadowy organization, the Dark Shadow.

The large hulking monstrosities looked like gleeful children all of a sudden, barely able to contain their excitement, joy, and happiness as their lordship has finally arrived, allowing them to even the scales and reach a mutually beneficial understanding for both parties.

Aiden was smiling under his hood long before arriving in the meeting room. The initial mental barrier that somehow managed to thwart his attempts to scan the premises have vanished once he took a step inside the downwards leading tunnel. Since then, he took that short little journey of their descent and ventured across the same halls and tunnels where Dragha and the team have taken to properly map out everything he could.

He even took the opportunity to spend a bit of his vast [Soul Power] reserves to enhance his [Dark Sense] skill and find and investigate every detail, map out every nook and cranny and mark up every life signature regardless if he or she was trying to hide from his nigh-omniscient gaze or not.

Thus, by the time they have arrived at the last door on the end of the winding hallways, Aiden was pretty much done with analyzing everything. At the same time, he was greeted with a welcome and long since missed surprise.

*Ding!*

The familiar notification of a new system message rang in Aiden's mind as the door pushed open and its residents were confirmed before his presence.

[Note: The hidden optional quest: Int(r)o the Dark Shadow have been completed! In relation to that, several other active quests and storylines have been altered. Please check details below.]

[Optional Quest: Int(r)o the Dark Shadow

Difficulty: C

Objective: - Locate the Hidden Base for the Third Hidden Party related to the Draconic Skink Civil War (1/1 - Completed)

- Identify its Leader

Reward: 1500 Experience Points, +2 Spirit]

[Note: The details of host's Main Quest: Tipping the Scales (Part 1) have been updated. Please check details below.]

[Main Quest: Tipping the Scales (Part 1)

Difficulty: C-A -> * B-S

Objective: - Meet with the Ancient One

- Bring the little girl, Tolliah alongside to the meeting -> * Have the Dark Shadow Leader come along

Optional: - Make sure that Tolliah the girl becomes subordinated to you through the system.

- Banish the Traitorous Guardian's Influence (* Learn more about the history through the Dark Shadows's lone exile guardian survivor)

Reward: Ascendance, ???? -> * New Divine Grade Servant, Experience, Draconic Skink Free Evolution

Failure Condition: - Tolliah becoming hostile,

- *Dark Shadow becoming hostile / being destroyed

- Failure to protect Tolliah and *The Dark Shadow leader from being captured by the High Priest Zuruk

Penalty: ????, Marked as the Herald of Doom, Actively hunted by all of the Underworld's Tribes]

Aiden could barely contain his shock and surprise as he quickly paced through the series of messages that suddenly popped up. From his simple decision made out of the trials of his past he had taken the chance to make sure there are no surprises lying in wait and that he would be prepared for anything that could have awaited him, he was granted such a boon, such a great blessing!

An optional quest, one that seemingly was kept hidden from him by the system, has been marked as completed, giving him a lot of rewards in the process. Whilst the experience and the extra attribute points to the most obscure, hard to understand Spirit attribute was certainly a welcome gift, the fact that it updated one of his most important quests related to this world was what truly stunned him.

A lot of the fog that still veiled the details have finally been lifted. Though it has also meant that the difficulty was now categorized higher, ranging from the Average B marking all the way to the Hard S rank, from its initial C to A. At the same time, the system seemed to have sensed something important related to the robed figure sitting patiently at the helm of the room, looking at all present creatures with the same neutral, almost friendly expression adorning her face.

The system gave not just one, but actually two key hints regarding her. For one, he was given a hint to one of his optional tasks, giving her the auspicious title of 'The Lone Exile Guardian' Survivor. A bit below, it goes even further, confirming this earlier statement at the listed rewards, from where the fog was also lifted.

What was previously listed as simply a bunch of questions marks, now gave him the opportunity to directly subjugate or perhaps simply gain a new System Minion, and it would be of some remarkable 'Divine Grade' power at that.

Still, it seemed that no matter how much he wanted to avoid it, Tolliah needed to see this whole thing through, and reach up to the end alongside him. Even if he wanted her to avoid witnessing the cruelty, hear the sinister, vile thoughts and remarks of a guardian that have sewn the lingering few threads of fate that still kept this dying realm afloat the cosmos to his twisted desires, it seemed that her destiny was unavoidable.

At the very least, Aiden could make sure that she would be kept safe. If nothing else works, he still had one last charge in his Blessing he received from Ioris back when he was transmigrated back to this world.

Even though he could not even guess how horrendous the backlash of such an action would turn out to be, he would not hesitate to do everything in his power and utilize everything. Ever since he has met her, and had made up his mind, Aiden knew that he would keep this little bundle of happiness and joy safe.

No matter if it was the fabled 'High Priest', the grand oppressor of his own surviving species of Draconic Skinks, the entire church behind him, this whole gods' forsaken world, or even the supposed last guardian or custodian of the gods that have already left, Aiden would not let any threat, any harm towards his precious family be left unanswered.

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Planned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at some later point)

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