...…

Meanwhile, in a deep forest not too far from the fallen thirteenth outpost, a group of hooded players were currently gathered together. These players were seven players in total. And there was no need to guess their identities for they were Immortal and his apostles.

All of them met on this meeting place of their when they received the signal of retreat. And obviously that was when Immortal summoned the King-Class Corrupted Monster earlier. And now they seemed to be planning what they were going to do next.

"Boss, what are we going to do next? It seems that our plans have gone a little off, but the horde will still hit the Holy City," said Larc as he looked at the man sitting on a rock boulder a few meters away from him.

Immortal turned his head at Larc for a moment as if he was giving the latter dangerous signal. Larc got a sudden intense shiver on his spine the moment when he saw that look. And he was about to explain himself when Immortal retracked his sight away from him while saying. "The plan will still go on. No matter what they do, the monster horde will still hit the Holy City even if Simba was still on their side."

Then Immortal swept his gaze at the others before saying. "With that, I want all of you to make sure that everything will go according to our plans. The disaster corrupted monster that I have summoned may not be the original monster the we wanted but it is still enough once the Corrupted Overlords hidden in the City underground are release."

"Another thing, I want one of you to report to that acting King of the Holy City that the captive is save by the opposing group, so he needs to look for that guy as soon as possible or be more careful at the very least. That King Cassius may be weaken due to his injuries, but he is going to become a real trouble once he recovered his strength."

The he directed his eyes at the two personal apostles that had a bout with Simba and said. "You two, I want the both of you to spearhead this operation. Everything is already set in motion, all that you need to do is to keep an eye on the things to make sure that the Holy City will be weaken greatly during this monster horde. If this operation still fails then I hold the two of you responsible for its failure."

The two quickly nodded their heads, indicating that they understood and would accept the consequences of this operation. And when Immortal saw that, he nodded his head at them and said. "Alight, that is all, I guess. I will be going now; I need to go back to the base for now so that I can recuperate from this weakened state. Report to me immediately if something that you can't handle suddenly pops out."

The others were about to nod their heads when a voice suddenly sounded in a distance. "Ke ke ke, what a heartless boss we have here. Aren't you being a little too cruel at them by putting everything at their shoulders? Especially when you are the one that should be responsible for messing up your own plans. Ke ke ke…"

The apostles of Immortal suddenly got an intense threat coming from that voice that was why they immediately put their guards up while taking into a defensive formation around Immortal. At the same time, they were carefully scanning the surroundings as they searched for the owner of the voice. But no matter how they tried, they couldn't find the source of the voice at all.

Immortal, on the other hand, was looking at the shade of the three not far from them with a solemn look at his face. Then he said a little later. "What are you doing here?"

The others suddenly knitted their brows when they heard their boss. Then they looked at him and saw that he was currently looking at something under the tree in front of them. And when they directed their gazed at that direction, they saw a hooded man suddenly walked out from the shades of the tree.

And when this man walked out of that shade, the atmosphere on their whole surroundings suddenly turn cold. The apostles of Immortal even felt that they were sent at the center of an endless abyss. What's more, their bodies were being drench by sweat even if the temperature of the place was too cold.

– "This guy is definitely as strong as boss when he is on this peak condition." – was the thought that were running in their minds when they saw this man.

This man was the same man that appeared at the throne room of the Holy City and had some conversation with the fake king. And when he walked out from the shade of the tree, he couldn't help himself but chuckled at the sight in front of him, especially when he saw the tensed faces of the other side.

"Ke ke ke… You guys don't have to be too tense in front me, we are on the same side after all," said the hooded guy as he leaned at the tree beside him.

Immortal was still looking at the hooded guy solemnly before asking for a second time. "I am asking you why are you here. This is not your area of jurisdiction, Hoawin."

The faces of the apostles around Immortal suddenly turned weird when they heard that.

– "What the? Hoawin? The same Hoawin what was addressed as the God of 'Carnage'?" –

The hooded guy, who was addressed by Immortal as Hoawin, suddenly removed the hood of his cloak that was hanging over his head while clicking his tongue and saying to Immortal. "Tch! What a coldhearted guy. Aren't we on the same side? At least greet a little warmer."

The what was revealed in the sight of the other group was a pale-faced man with a pair of sort horns on his forehead that were curving upwards. With a single look, you could immediately guess what was the current race of this guy. This guy possessed a race that was notoriously wanted on all of the Kingdoms and Empires, a Demon.

Immortal smirked at them said. "Heh! Why would I treat a greedy and cunning guy like you is a warm way? I rather die in the hands of my enemy to trust you."

Then Hoawin sneered at Immortal. "Heh! Are you sure about that? Let me tell you, a very troublesome guy is coming after you. If you refuse me now, you will surely get captured by him and surrender you to the Supreme Temple; which will also force you to either delete your account or wait for your function to save you on who knows when."

Immortal suddenly frowned his eyebrows when he heard that. Then he glared at Hoawin even more fiercely before asking with a solemn tone. "And how in the hell did he manage to track me down? "

From that tone alone, Hoawin could tell that Immortal was suspecting him. That was why he innocently raised both of his hands in the air and said. "Hey! Hey! I also don't know why. Do you honestly believe that I am going to sell you on the other side? What's more, that guy will never trust me even if I did. We may even end up in a fight if we make contact with each other."

Immortal was still suspicious at Hoawin but based how the things were going and together with the current state of his body, he had no other choice but to give this guy a little trust that he can.

"What want do you want in exchange with this help that you are going to offer." Asked Immortal since he knew that this guy would never offer a helping hand unless there was something that he could get in return.

Then Hoawin made a snap with his right-hand thumb and middle finger and said. "That is what I am saying! I really like talking with smart people! They can get that I want without me stating it."

He paused for a moment to recover himself before continuing. "Alright, there is nothing much that I want. Just a little slice of the pie from that newly discovered ruins in your territory. Just let some of my people to join the fun."

And when Hoawin saw that the faces of the other side were turning solemn, he immediately added a little later. "Of course, I am going to help you to repel the guys from the Central Order. What do you think? That was not a bad offer, right?"

Immortal suddenly knitted his eyebrows when he heard that and asked suspiciously. "That is not related on this place. What are you scheming this time?"

Hoawin shrugged his shoulders this time and said innocently. "You don't have to worry much about it. I am not interested on the things in this place. I prefer taking some slice on that ruin since that place can give me some benefits. And you can consider my help on this place as a bonus, just that."

Immortal squinted his eyes and look at Hoawin coldly as he couldn't help himself but hesitated. Earlier, he wanted to accept the offer since he had not much of a choice. But now, he couldn't help but became suspicious even more. 'Looks like he discovered something important in that ruin that even us were unaware of.'

When Hoawin saw that Immortal was suddenly fell into a deep thought, he couldn't help but smiled bitterly and said to himself. 'Tch! And this is also why I don't like talking to smart people. Having a deal with them is quite hard when you gave them an obvious clue.'

'But I am still in the upper hand,' Then Hoawin grinned evilly before saying to the other side. "You don't have much to decide, Mr. Lich God. You guess is almost upon this place."

And the moment those words come out of his mouth, there was a gust of wind that came from a distance. And that blowing of wind was starting to become stronger little by little.

Then Hoawin suddenly added. "Speak of the Devil. Ku ku ku…"

One of Immortal eyebrows suddenly turned upwards the moment he felt that gusting wind. Then he turned at the direction where it coming from while having an even solemn look this time.

Then he said to Hoawin. "Alright, I agree with your terms as long as you don't mess up with my plans and arrangements."

Hoawin snap with his fingers once again before saying. "That is what I am saying! Should we make a contract them?"

After that Immortal immediately summoned a system contract and state his terms. The same goes for Hoawin. And after the both of them agreed with the terms, the latter immediately said to them. "Alright, you guys should take you *sses out of here now, and leave this place to me for now. But remember the deal. Ku ku ku…"

And when he was done saying that, a silhouette of a hooded figure appeared in the horizon of the direction where the gusting wind was coming from. This hooded person that was calmly walking towards them gave of a feeling of a sword that could cut anything.

The apostles of Immortal suddenly broke with another cold sweat when saw that hooded person. They couldn't clearly that person, but they were sure about the identity of this player since they already encounter this guy a few times before, together with their boss.

– "Why the hell is this guy here?" –

Hoawin, on the other hand, seemed to be quite excite when he saw the hooded person. "Looks like this is going to be an interesting. This guy become much stronger since the last time I have a little bout with him."

Meanwhile, Immortal seemed to be having the same feeling. Unfortunately for him, his stats were in a miserable state, so he couldn't help but become disappointed. Then he looked at Hoawin and said. "I hope that you will not end up in a miserable state after facing this guy."

After that, he turned around and walked at the direction opposite to where the hooded figure was coming from. And when his apostles saw that, they immediately followed after him.

Hoawin shook his head and smiled bitterly the moment he saw that. "Thanks for the encouragement. Ku ku ku…"

...…