Is this really a Game?!



Reign and Basred led their group into the depths of the demon stronghold, descending through layers of dark, ominous corridors and chambers. The air grew heavy with the palpable malevolence of the demonic presence. The walls were adorned with grotesque symbols and eerie paintings, showcasing the dark history of the demons.

As they ventured deeper, they encountered sporadic resistance from demon remnants who had not participated in the defense of the stronghold's outer walls. However, these isolated demons posed no real threat to the seasoned warriors of humanity, and they were swiftly dealt with.

Finally, they reached the heart of the stronghold, where the demonic core was said to reside. It was a massive chamber filled with dark, pulsating energy. At its center, embedded in the floor, was the source of this malevolent power—a demonic core.

The core resembled an enormous, obsidian-black crystal, radiating an aura of corruption and decay. Dark tendrils of energy emanated from it, connecting to various parts of the stronghold and feeding on the planet's life force. It was clear that this core was responsible for siphoning the world's energy to empower the demons.

Liara, Reign, Basred, and the others gathered around the demonic core, their expressions grim. They knew that stopping it was crucial to stop the draining of the world's power.

"From what I know, we would only need to contact the will, and with our help, it would take over the core, turning it into one that worked for us and didn't drain any power, but this is the first time we are attempting this, not to mention that we have to rely on ourselves and not contact the Will."

Basred said before glancing at Liara and Reign.

Reign turned to Liara, who held the artifact. "Liara, can you use the artifact's power to weaken the core?"

Liara nodded, her eyes fixed on the malevolent crystal. "I can try. The artifact's abilities are versatile, but I've never attempted something like this before."

With determination, Liara channeled the artifact's energy, shifting its focus from offensive capabilities to disrupting the demonic core. The artifact's radiant glow intensified as she concentrated her efforts. Dark tendrils recoiled and writhed as if in pain, but the core remained resilient.

"It's resisting," Liara said through gritted teeth. "The core's defenses are formidable."

Reign stepped forward, his own powers of light and darkness surging. He extended his hand towards the core, his eyes glowing with a purple hue. The energy from his palm began to merge with Liara's efforts, creating a powerful synergy.

The demonic core trembled and emitted agonized shrieks of dark energy as the combined might of Liara and Reign assaulted it. Cracks appeared on its surface, and the surrounding tendrils weakened.

Basred, Laura and the other guardians joined in, contributing their own energy to the assault. The chamber filled with blinding light and surges of darkness as the group's collective powers surged against the core.

The guardians didn't contribute any energy, they were made by the artifact and Liara could use their energy whenever she wished, so they were helping Liara control the energy instead.

"I don't know what will happen if we destroy the core, the ten regions we control do not have a core like this one, but I don't know if it will be difficult for the Will to create the walls without the core which actually stores a lot of energy in it."

Basred said, his eyes showing determination, but also caution.

"If we destroy it, there is a high chance of the energy within to swallow us whole, killing us in the process."

Reign and the others nodded, changing their tactic from trying to overwhelm the core and destroy it to doing their best to cut it off from its surroundings.

The core was sending its shadowy tendrils below the ground, which was how it collected the world's energy, and they were now trying to sever those tendrils and isolate the core for a period of time.

Time continued passing as tendril after tendril was severed from the core, each time one was severed, the core would send a pulse, as if it was feeling pain.

Finally, they severed the final tendril before using the artifact's power to control mana and demonic energy and create a barrier around the core that would stop it from creating more tendrils and resuming the collection of world energy. Dark energy burst forth in a chaotic display, dissipating into nothingness before it was contained by the barrier.

"Good, thanks to the fact our own mana is in that barrier, the Will should be able to easily bypass it and take over the core after we contact it." Basred said as the others nodded, visibly tired from what they had done.

A sense of relief washed over the group as they witnessed the core's final struggle. Stopping it meant that the demons could no longer drain the planet's energy in this region, which was a great victory for now.

Liara, panting from the exertion, lowered the artifact. "It's done. The core is stopped."

Reign nodded a satisfied smile on his face. "Good job, Liara. That was a crucial step in our mission."

As they made their way back to the surface of the stronghold, they encountered fewer and fewer demon remnants. The news of the core's sudden stoppage had undoubtedly reached the remaining demon forces, sowing fear and confusion among them.

Upon returning to the stronghold's surface, they found their comrades organizing the captured demons and securing the region. With the stronghold's inner workings disrupted, it was only a matter of time before the Will could take over and fortify the region.

Reign turned to Basred. "We should prepare to move on to the next region. We have a limited time frame before the demons realize the extent of their losses here."

Basred nodded. "Agreed. We've made significant progress today, but there are many more strongholds to conquer."

"The next region is the one controlled by the Ethereon demons, their leader is still there, you can leave him to me and focus on taking the stronghold down." Reign said as Basred nodded at him.

"After we arrive in the region, I can send a message to Alvia, the leader of the Lucretius region, and she will come with her men to help during the battle," Basred told Reign who nodded his head before they started making their way toward the region.

Their success in stopping the demonic core was a turning point in their campaign to reclaim their world. The captured demons, who had witnessed the sudden halt in the energy drain, were in disarray, and their morale plummeted. The element of surprise remained in humanity's favor, and they aimed to capitalize on it.

Reign and Basred began coordinating their next move. They knew that the demons, once they realized the core's disruption, would likely launch a counterattack to reclaim the stronghold, they needed to take over as many as they could before calling the Will so that it would create the walls.

Basred addressed their comrades, who were overseeing the captured demons. "We can't afford to stay here for long. We need to press on to the next region and continue our campaign. The demons will regroup and retaliate once they understand what has happened."

Reign added, "Our goal is to capture as many regions as possible before the demons can muster an effective response. Our success today has dealt them a significant blow, but they won't stay idle for long."

"We don't need any demons as prisoners, they will only slow us down and could potentially remove their restraints and attack us from behind."

The group quickly organized themselves before glancing at the prisoners. They all nodded at each other as they knew what had to be done. They couldn't risk any surprises from their captives, and they didn't harbor any feelings of guilt over killing demons.

They took their weapons and executed all the prisoners before getting ready to charge the other region. With preparations complete, they departed from the conquered stronghold, leaving behind a region in disarray.

The walk over to the other region took them a couple of hours, during which Basred contacted Alvia, who quickly replied and made her way to meet them near the demon stronghold. They arrived first, but they didn't need to wait long as Alvia appeared about 20 minutes later with her Tier IV combatants.

Reign raised an eyebrow as Alvia looked like she was in her late twenties, but he knew that she was much older than that. Long black hair fell down to her waist as a giant sword was strapped to her back.

She wore leather armor that was a very tight fit and was definitely a person who could be called gorgeous.

"To think Siggurd would die like that, may the Will rest his soul," Alvia said as she placed her arm on Basred's shoulder and nodded at him.

"Leader." Liara arrived in front of Alvia who hugged her strongly.

"Ohh my darling, I can't believe what you managed to do, well done, really, well done."

"And this must be the person that made all of this possible," Alvia said as she glanced at Reign while still hugging Liara.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, otherworlder."

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