...

    "Tsk! Tsk! Will you look at this? Such a live place," Shin appeared on the cliff, where he could see the huge gathering of the players in front of the cave where Death Knell had discovered the chieftain-rank Plagued Monster.

    The crowd of players was divided into multiple groups, which represented the factions they belonged. They were from the top guilds and large organizations within the game, which controlled the largest and strongest forces within the region.

    Some of them were also from the famous adventurer teams and powerful mercenary groups filled with top-notch experts.

    Some of the groups were funded by huge corporations and financial groups from the real world, who were unwilling to invest in the already existing powers within the game and wanted to form their factions.

    There were also some scattered individuals and smaller groups, which were the independent and solo players. Some of them formed a team for a temporary alliance while the rest were lone wolves, who refused to work with anyone.

    Shin was able to spot Exheart, Bryan, and HellBan from his current location, but he did not join them as he had other plans. He chose to observe everything in the distance, not planning to reveal his presence right away.

    After observing for quite a while, Shin spotted quite a few famous experts, who had a solid reputation within the gaming community. There were even some ranked Godlike Players.

    His fighting spirit was immediately ignited after seeing such several strong people. He did his best to suppress his urge to challenge them right away as he needed to wait for the right time to appear.

    "Hmm. Tsk! I hope I will not get too bored this time," Shin wanted to be idle for the time being, planning to understand how these apex experts would perform.

    He also wanted to understand how far they were in their respective combat state, which was now the standard for their experts at the Tier 3 Classes.

    ***

    As the events at the Awakened Continent were slowly getting heated, the current state of the Aurora Continent was quite lively as well.

    The ongoing war between the Righteous Churches and the Demonic Churches was slowly reaching a much more intense stage.

    It was because of the appearance of the Demons in the war.

    Even if the true vanguards of the Bug Tribe had yet to arrive, a few demons of the lowest ranking from the other side of the Dimensional Gate started to pour out.

    These bug-type demons started to contaminate the surroundings right after they appeared in the Atlas World. Their dense demonic energy immediately spread and started to affect the environment.

    They might not have any combat capabilities, but they were able to spread their demonic energy and transform the surroundings into a polluted land that could be inhabited by their kins, the demons from Hell.

    Not long after, Lucifer entered the room and walked straight to his seat, not bothering with the greetings that the others had offered him.

    He sat down and went straight to discuss his purpose in coming here. "The main branches of the Demonic Churches have contacted our elders. They are asking us to send some Otherworldly Individual under our forces to the Awakened Continent."

    Hearing that, Paimon could not help but frown. "Isn’t that job assigned to the Church of the Demonic Beasts and Hall of Darkness? Why are they asking our faction to join them as well?"

    "Our Seven Churches of Sin and the Cult of the Demon Kings on our side seem to have agreed to cooperate with them," replied Lucifer as he added. "I am not sure about the details, but their side seems to require quite a lot of Otherworldly Individuals to participate in a certain event."

    "Ah~! They need to fill their numbers as they don’t have enough players who are qualified enough to reach the Awakened Continent," said Baal mockingly as he realized what Lucifer meant.

    "Event? Is it about the Plagued Lands that suddenly appear near the vicinity of the Divinity City?" asked Belial keenly as he read deeper into the information.

    "Does it have anything to do with their factions?" asked Paimon while raising his brows.

    Lucifer nodded as he further explained. "The trigger of the event seems to be related to a Fallen King from the Ancient Era. The Hall of Darkness and Cult of Torment seem to be interested in this."

    "They are either planning to snatch something from the tomb of the king, most likely the source of the plague itself, or they are thinking of inviting the Fallen to their side once he has successfully resurrected."

    "That is the most logical conclusion that I can think of based on the clues that the elders have given us," he added before turning to everyone. "Anyone, who wants to volunteer to lead this operation?"

    None of the four replied as they had more important matters to attend to. Even if the Awakened Continent aroused their interest, it was not as alluring as the Realm of Hell, which was about to connect with the Atlas World.

    After all, that place was more suitable for Demonic Players like them.

    Lucifer thought he had to appoint someone because no one wanted to volunteer. But before he could even say anything, Baal suddenly voiced out a suggestion.

    "Such tasks are usually handed to the Seven Sin Devils. But since they could not leave the Dark Cloud Kingdom, I suggest dispatching either of those ’four’ and their respective legions."

    "After all, they were currently not doing anything," he added.

    "Those four? Morax, Barbatos, Zagan, and Malphas?" said Paimon while raising his brows. He then nodded as he agreed. "I think it is a good idea. Just send one of them and the legions that they lead. That will be more than enough to fill the numbers that those factions required."

    Lucifer did not immediately respond as he considered it. He repeatedly tapped his fingers on the table as he weighed the pros and cons of sending one of their legions before nodding. "Alright. I will choose one of them."

    "We have already revealed ourselves anyway, so it will not hurt to reveal one of our armies to everyone," he added before turning to the four. "Tell me the update on your current tasks. Let me hear your progress."

    ......