Child of Destiny

...…

With the camp of the Plague Race, Berdugo was constantly giving out orders to his subordinates. He was also controlling some of the Plague Monsters, organizing their forces.

He was about to lead the Plague Forces when Magnolia suddenly ran at him with a hurried look on her face. From the look of it, it seemed like something serious had happened.

Frowning deeply, Berdugo turned at her as he mumbled to himself. "It is rare for her to leave her post and come here. Something very urgent must have happened for her to be personally coming here."

Sure enough, Magnolia immediately went straight to the point right after reaching him. "There is a huge problem. Our core nests are under attack!"

Berdugo could not help but raise his brows after hearing her words. This was much more serious than he had expected.

Those three nests were the main source of the Plague energy that filled the entire region aside from the Tomb of that Fallen King.

"Tell me exactly what happened," asked Berdugo.

He might not be as cunning as Asesino or as smart as their leader, but he still had a lot of experience when it came to commanding their forces given that he was a veteran of virtual games.

This was why he was one of the authorities of their adventurer team. Whenever they needed someone to decide what to do due to the absence of the other leading figures, it was he who was leading them.

"I am not sure about the exact situation either as I just received the report that the core nests are under attack," started Magnolia, trying to organize the information inside her head.

"But from what I just heard, one of those nests has already been taken down by the assailants when the reports have reached my ears."

"Everything happened a little too fast, making us unable to respond," she added as a serious look washed over her face.

Berdugo suddenly frowned even deeper as he heard more of the report. "How can it happen? There is a Lord Rank Plague Monster stationed to protect those nests, so it is hard to take it down without our notice."

"Especially when we have placed an elite group to guard those places as an additional power," he added in confusion.

"Who are the said assailants?" he asked as he felt that this should not be that simple.

Magnolia hesitated for a moment before answering. "It is not confirmed yet, but based on the descriptions of the survivors-… there is a high chance that it is that monstrous duo, who are creating trouble for everyone just recently."

"Battle God Sickarius and Gentle Goddess Arielle?" it did not take Berdugo that long to guess who she was talking about as there was only a single pair who could achieve such a feat present on the Plague Lands.

He then further deepened his frown when he thought about this. "With just the two of them?"

He did not believe that those two could take down those Lord Rank Plague Monsters that easily even with their unrivaled powers.

Even if this monstrous pair could possibly do such a thing, it shouldn’t be that fast, where their forces were unable to respond and call for some reinforcements.

"It is impossible. I know that they are strong, but it is impossible for them to ’solo’ such a boss monster yet given the progress of the game."

"They may be a little ahead of everyone, but the gap can’t be that huge. If it is just a Chieftain Rank Monster, then it can still be possible. But a Lord Rank one here in the Awakened Continent? Impossible!"

As Berdugo was trying to deduce the reason why their core nest had fallen that easily, Magnolia suddenly injected. "Some of the survivors said that they had seen the Gentle Goddess summon a powerful Valkyrie that helped them take care of the Lord Rank Plague Monster."

Hearing that, Berdugo frowned a little deeper as he mumbled to himself. "If that is the case, then it may be possible. But for such a summon to be that powerful, there must be other variables that make it even stronger."

It did not take that long for him to figure out the reason. "Quest Scenario! They must have triggered a quest scenario opposite to us!"

"We have to inform the leader about this! This going to be the main piece of what we are waiting and looking for!"

As he was about to say something more, the expression on Magnolia’s face suddenly turned grim as she received another report.

"The second core nest has already fallen! What are we going to do!?" she started to panic as she knew that they would be in dire states if they let this continue. "Are we going to send reinforcements to the third core nest or are we letting them do what they want?"

"If only Asesino is not captured by those bastards, then he can manipulate the battlefield with ease."

Berdugo sighed as he heard the latter parts of her words. He then could not help but praise how cunning Shin was with his plans.

"I am sure that this is all part of his plan. Starting from creating trouble to attract all our attention up to provoking the Plague Behemoth-… then to suddenly ambushing the core nests-… everything must be a trap after trap to lure us in!"

He then turned to Magnolia as he voiced out his plan. "Issue a command to our remaining forces – tell them to gather at the tomb and guard the entrance!"

"I am sure that it will be their next destination after taking care of all the core nests. We must welcome them with our warmest. That will be the final battle."

Hearing his words, Magnolia could not help but furrow her brows. "Are we not sending any reinforcements to the third core nest? You must know, that the process of resurrection will be delayed greatly if all three nests are taken down."

Berdugo shook his head as he said reassuringly. "It is fine. Our goal is never been the resurrection of that king the moment when the Evil Factions have gotten involved. It is to survive and buy as much time as we can for our leader."

"I am not sure what it is, but I can tell that he is planning something after using those words when he is locked inside the tomb hall."

He was one of the longest members of their team, so he was very familiar with their leader. He could tell that Axion had some other plan after seeing the involvement of the Evil Factions in this event.

Magnolia still had her doubts, but she still chose to trust this brute one more time as he was more senior than her within the group.

***

Boom!

A huge temple made of bones suddenly collapsed within a cave, which seemed to be hidden away from everyone.

Amid the settling cloud of dust that was caused by the collapse, a pair of silhouettes walked out of it in very calm steps.

Shin, who was one of them, turned around and looked at the collapsed temple before saying. "This is the third and last one. What’s our next move?"

At the same time, he raised his hand a looked at the set of sharp teeth of an unknown beast in his hands. These teeth were radiating with the densest plague energy that he could find in this region.

"And are you sure that you don’t need these things? I feel like you may find some use of them later," he asked as he turned to Cloe.

They had collected two other things from the previous nests, which were acting as the main core of those places, signifying their importance.

One of them was a pair of goat horns while the other was an elongated and toothless skull of another unknown beast.

He was sure that they would have some uses later once they reached the main tomb that was causing all of this, especially when they looked like a whole set.

Cloe shook her head repeatedly as she answered. "I have no use for them, especially when they look like a set of cursed objects. Do you think a Priestess like me will be needing them? Especially when I am the Holy Maiden of the Church of Light?"

"You can just purify them," Shin shrugged his shoulders in response.

"And do you think it will be that easy given how dense the plague energy that they are carrying?" Cloe snarled before adding. "Given that we are short of time, we don’t have to luxury to head to the church either."

"Moreover, I can feel that purifying the spots of the three nests is more than enough," she continued as she looked at the Valkyrie floating in the collapsed temple while chanting out a series of holy prayers.

Swoosh!

Not long after, a burst of blinding light illuminated the entire place before exploding into specks of tiny lights that slowly fell into the ground.

The moment when they touched the ground, the plague energy that was still lingering in the cave suddenly dissipated.

The entire place was now purified.

Right after this, Cloe received a notification from the system. She skimmed through it before turning to Shin. "I’ve got an update from the system."

She paused for a moment, organizing the information inside her head, before continuing. "It seems like we still have to participate in raiding the Overlord Rank Plague Monster and take two more curse objects from it before anyone else."

"Did it mention which curse object we are looking for?" asked Shin.

Cloe glanced at the notification for another time before answering. "It said that we needed the claws and—... the brain next."

The corner of Shin’s mouth suddenly twitched when he heard that before asking. "Are you sure that you have not taken the wrong quest?"

"Why do I feel that it is a Cult’s quest rather than something issued by a Righteous Church?" he added, feeling something weird about the quest.

Cloe, on the other hand, shrugged her shoulders before saying. "That is why I am leaving the curse objects to you to handle."

"If something goes wrong, it is you, who will take on the first bunt before anyone else," she giggled, teasing him.

...….

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