...

    Within the Plagued Lands, a five-man group was currently surveying the area that was assigned to them by their superior. They were currently in a net formation that covered at least a 2-kilometer radius.

    They were meant to trap any people who would enter the formation and eliminate them while also hunting as many Plagued Monsters as possible.

    The strategy was quite effective as they were able to gather quite a lot of points in just a couple of hours while also cutting off the number of their competitors, who mistakenly or voluntarily stepped into the formation.

    "Why do I feel that the number of Plagued Monsters decreased by quite a lot recently?" said the Human Artillery of the group, one of the special paths meant for the Sniper Class of the Human Race.

    It was one of the rare class paths that the players of the Human Race could take when they were doing their Tier 3 Class. It might not be as powerful as those upgraded classes and could turn an ordinary Human into a Conqueror, but it could be still considered a special class, which could be ranked right behind the Ascended Class.

    He furrowed his brows deeply as he activated his ocular skill to survey the surroundings. He further frowned after failing to find any signs of a monster.

    The Human Knight Lord, another variation of a Tier 3 Class for Knight Classes, which was neither an Ascended Class nor belonged to the regular upgraded class of the knight path. But just like the Artillery Class, it was a real Tier 3 Class slightly behind the Ascended Classes.

    "Isn''t it normal for us to see a limited number of Plagued Monsters given that we are regularly clearing them within the net formation?" said this Knight Lord.

    The person next to him, who seemed to be a real Conqueror and was comparable to Neanderthals of Ascended Race, also nodded his head. "Don''t be too paranoid, Hun. I know we have been clashing with the Assassin Union a little too much recently and have suffered quite a lot in the process, but that did not mean that we are weaker than them."

    "We are just a little unlucky because of the interference of the Goddess of the Everlasting Night, Cold Moon. If our Guild Leader is in the scene at that time, then we will not lose that much in our most recent battle," he added.

    This person was Lambert, a respectable expert in the virtual world. He was quite well-known in the circle for being one of the strongest Titled Rankers right beneath the Godlike Players.

    His skills and abilities were also top-notch. He could even be qualified to gain his own Godlike Title if he wanted to join any official Godly Events of the virtual world. But he refused to join any of them due to his special position with their guild.

    He was one of the trump cards of the Death Knell, which was one of the scariest assassination groups in the virtual world.

    Unlike the Assassin Union, which was a private organization that was built to nurture true assassins in the real world, the Death Knell was a dark organization within the game, which was no different from the dark guilds of the game.

    "Her hands are also full of the preparations for the upcoming raid against that Chieftain Rank Plagued Monster that we have recently discovered. She was already busy enough," she added with a sigh.

    She was a Holy Mage of the group, who acted as both the main magic dealer and the healer of their small team.

    Her class and race seemed to be a little special as it belonged to the special ascended path for Holy Mages, surpassing most of the players. Given that she was also a peak Maverick Ranker, her skills shouldn''t lose too much compared to the three peak Titled Rankers of their group and only slightly behind their leader, Lambert.

    Hearing their complaints, Lambert could only click his tongue and purse his lips in disappointment. His only option right now was to look for a Plagued Monster to vent his frustrations, but they hadn''t found anything for quite a while now.

    Not long after, Lambert suddenly halted his steps while squinting his eyes. He sharply scanned the surroundings while using his ocular skill but was unable to find anything, making him frown deeply. "Is it just my imagination?"

    Seeing his action, the other four also went on high alert while simultaneously using their ocular and detection skills to scan their surroundings.

    Hun, the Knight Lord, positioned himself right in front of their sole healer while raising his shield and preparing for the battle.

    Magnolia, the healer and mage of the group, quickly clasped her magic staff as she started chanting out a series of prayers in response.

    Hun of Artillery Class quickly raised his sniper rifle as he kept on turning around while using the enhanced version of his ocular skill to scan the surroundings. As the marksman of the group and the person with the greatest number of methods to uncover any assassins or thieves hiding in the shadows, it was his job to look for the hidden enemies.

    Meanwhile, Night Hound, the elven thief, quickly entered stealth to hide himself while also looking for the traces of their enemy.

    Their actions were executed in a very short time, signifying how skilled they were and how good their coordination was. This could also tell the opposing side that they were not someone to be trifled with.

    Lambert''s expression was solemn. From a glance, he could feel that the atmosphere of the place they had stepped into was filled with the air of death.

    "This is no ordinary opponent."

    Continue your journey with empire

    ......