......

    deep in the wilderness around the divinity city, a group of hooded players run through the trees to the best of their abilities.

    swoosh! swoosh! swoosh!

    their figures kept disappearing and reappearing in different places as they burst in speed during their sprint.

    but instead of having an intimidating presence despite the overwhelming auras surrounding their bodies, which were terrifying enough to scare some of the common rank monsters nearby, these players seemed to be running for their lives as if something more horrifying was chasing after them.

    "damn! how can they be this powerful? this is the fifth company already!" said one of them as they continued running toward the city.

    the others also kept on cursing as they also found it ridiculous that the alliance formed by the top experts of multiple guilds was slaughtered by a small group of players. it was not just once or twice, but five times already, which was ridiculous.

    they were also experts themselves, which was why they had passed the test of the mysterious instructors and gained their recognition. moreover, they were also in the third tier of their respective classes, so they shouldn''t be that weak.

    these were also apex experts, who had mastered their respective combat states and created their unique mana manipulation method that became one of the signs of reaching the pinnacle of the game.

    of course, there were some differences and noticeable gaps between experts. but almost every person who had reached the awakened continent was not weak, so it was surprising that the gap between them and the group that they were currently targeting was that huge.

    what was even more frustrating was they were supposed to have the advantage in terms of numbers. after all, each company that they had sent was composed of at least 20 highly skilled experts when hunting.

    yet, all these people were getting slaughtered one-sidedly despite all the preparations that they had.

    "tsk! we have already expected that these guys are plotting something since they have reappeared since their mysterious appearance. but how can they gather at a single location when we are sure that they are separated from each other after leaving that inn!" cursed the leading figure of the group as they ran as fast as they could.

    they were sure that simba and the rest of the opposing group went in different directions after leaving the inn where they had been staying earlier. they had even put their most skilled assassins and thieves to tail those guys to make sure that they had been marked properly.

    after that, the alliance sent their highest number of experts to simba and diablo as they were labeled as the ones with the highest level of threat among the group that was left behind.

    almost all the titled rankers under their command went to the case after those two high-profile targets while being led by a couple of godlike players and maverick gods.

    each group had at least two ''gods'' in their ranks, making sure to avoid any accidents. even if these weaker gods were not as strong as simba and diablo, who were known in the circle as one of the peak gods within the game, the ones that they had sent should be strong enough to hold their ground and prevent them from escaping until their reinforcement arrived.

    diablo was quite troublesome to chase due to the nature of his shadow dancer class, which specialized in stealth and fast movements.

    the alliance put a lot of consideration into this as they put some highly skilled archers with powerful marking abilities. adding the cursed mark put on diablo''s body, catching him should be inevitable.

    but before they could even catch up to him, the group that was chasing after him was ambushed by some unknown individuals, who swiftly slaughtered the archers before they could even realize what was happening.

    one of them was shot in the head, instantly getting killed, while the other got his head severed by an unknown strike, gaining him a similar result.

    then, with diablo''s insane speed and unparalleled assassination skills, the rest of the group was slaughtered without any resistance despite having a pair of godlike players or maverick gods in their ranks.

    the combination of diablo, the mysterious ''assassin'', and the sniper, who was targeting them from who knows where was an absolute nightmare for those two gods.

    in the meantime, those who were targeting simba, had a hard time fighting him as he fought ferociously despite being in number disadvantage.

    he never backed down in front of adversity even though he was surrounded by his enemies from all sides.

    they knew that trying to take down this god of war would not be easy, which was why the alliance had prepared quite a lot for him. but they still did not expect that the burst in power that simba had when he entered the state of reality manifestation alongside the bunch of inheritances that he had under his arsenal would be that explosive, even pushing those two gods marking him at a disadvantage.

    then his reinforcement came out of nowhere, leading the group to be slaughtered one-sidedly.

    "ugh!"

    those who were trying to run were immediately blasted back by the powerful shockwave produced by the impact, sending them flying in the air.

    bang! bang! bang!

    then a series of gunshots rang once again before a hail of bullets rained down at the group, killing most of their remembering members.

    "ahh!"

    "ugh!"

    "argh!"

    as for those, who managed to survive, they fell one after another without realizing that they died.

    as for the leader of the group, his body was split vertically in half as a sword flash fell at him.

    not long after shin and the others revealed themselves one by one before scanning the battlefield.

    "this should be the last of them," said leonard as he fiercely swept his gaze at the surroundings.

    shin turned to lorraine, who was currently in disguise and hiding her figure under a special cloak, "this should be enough to discourage them from coming after us for quite a while."

    lorraine nodded. "it should be. after all, they have lost quite a lot from our ambushes. they even suffered greatly as a lot of their experts got slaughtered by us. they shouldn''t have that many experts to explore the awakened continent by now."

    "i doubt they will be stubborn and insist on targeting us. the death penalty may still be tolerable in the aurora continent, but it is different here in the awakened continent. after all, even a single day is more than enough to be left behind," she added.

    she was quite an experienced commander of an adventurer team, so she knew how devastating the damage that the alliance had suffered after this event. not only their progress in the second continent would be delayed, but they would also lose the initiative at the upcoming big event.

    she was confident that they would be unwilling to lose more than what they already had.

    even if they tried to send their strongest combatants, success still needed to be guaranteed. after all, their lineup was not that weak, and it was even monstrous.

    there was also a huge risk of failure, which would be the greatest discouragement. they could not afford to lose these people when such a huge event was right around the corner.

    after considering everything, they should stop targeting the members of the empyrean talons.

    "that is unless they are idiots," she added before asking. "so, what''s next?"

    shin thought for a moment before asking. "what do you guys want? should i help you to remove the cursed marks on your bodies or do you want to stay at the underwater temple for the time being and level up peacefully?"

    diablo thought for a moment before answering. "i am done with all my quests here for the time being. aside from the ones that i can''t clear at the moment, there is nothing else that i want to do."

    "trying to hunt underwater shouldn''t be that bad. i can use this opportunity to train my underwater skills," he added.

    owen and alucard felt that it was reasonable and nodded their heads.

    "alright. let''s go to the forgotten temple first and discuss it with the others," shin nodded before turning to lorraine. "you can send the recorded videos to miss bunny, and she will know how to handle the rest."

    "you are so evil! after beating them in submission, you still want to drag their names in the mud!?" lorraine shook her head and clicked her tongue before adding. "but i like it!"

    ......