MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

Magnus used multiple setups to force Alex into going all out, but after the first one, he was able to avoid them or prepare in advance to take the hit without receiving any major damage.

While Magnus was casually throwing around peak fourth and early fifth-rank spells of devastating might, Alex was facing no trouble.

Alex knew Magnus was not using his true strength because if he did, he would be in serious trouble, but even if he did, he was confident of holding his own till the time when the battle against the Quetzalcoatl reached a critical point.

Unbeknownst to Alex, while he believed Magnus's goal was to prevent his victory in the event, in reality, he was actually assessing his abilities and limitations, observing how he adapted to various battle situations.

If Alex could have heard Magnus's thoughts, to say he would be surprised would be a massive understatement.

'If what he had shown is all he is capable of, then none of us need to worry for the time being,'

'While he is growing stronger at quite an astonishing speed, his growth will soon reach a wall, and the only things he would be improving at would be his darkness and chaos manipulation,'

'He could add a few time skills to his arsenal, but that would be it, and if that's all he had to offer, then he wouldn't pose any challenge if he decided to take on Caden,' Magnus thought, his eyes tracking down Alex.

Alex was really underestimating the knowledge that Ahrimon had about Rulers and how he wouldn't share it with others or use it to manipulate him.

---------------

Months Prior to the Event.

In a dimly lit room, two figures sat on plush, dark velvet sofas, facing each other across a large stone board adorned with black, gold, and red markings.

The board was divided into small squares, 20 by 20 in each direction, and on top of it rested intricately carved figures resembling knights, tanks, pawns, and even titans, dragons, and beastly creatures like cyclops and banshees, with hardly half the pieces resembling each other, and the only thing separating them being their color.

The two men were moving the figures on the board, one after another, sometimes piking and setting aside a piece or adding a new figure to the board, and if any player saw it, they would be surprised to see how fast and well the two men were player the incredibly hard game known as the Ancient Conquest.

"So, how was he?" The man with radiant brown hair questioned, his eyes not leaving the game table nor his hands stopped moving.

"He is an immortal adventurer, so quite stupid, and he is that famous player that rose to fame from taking down the soulreaver cannon and giving the armies time to retreat, and then even timely informed about the attack on the capital cities,"

"But Aeon is not his real name, and as I was not allowed to see his real identity, I can not tell you who he really is," The man, with a youthful appearance and flowing silver hair, replied with a chuckle.

If Alex were present to witness this scene, he would immediately recognize the figures as Magnus and Caden Silver.

Magnus, about whom he knew little but knew, was very accomplished and dangerous, and Caden Silver, who he knew was the heir to the throne of the Gold Kingdom and also the snake who was the Sin Champion of Greed.

"The situation with him is very strange because the great Demon King went to such lengths to meet with him, yet he didn't kill him when he could with ease,"

"Now, my master told me what was likely done to all of the sin champions, that we need to prepare for the Ancestral Blood Groud and make sure we hunt him down in the land of the ancestors, yet they wouldn't allow me to hunt him in the real world which would much easier nor allow me to go on a war against his organization," Magnus said, his voice sounding puzzled.

"What's there to understand? He's just a pawn in some scheme being orchestrated by the great Demon King." Caden said without missing a beat.

"That's the thing I dont understand,"

"It's like the great Demon King wants him to grow stronger and is using us as his motivation, but at the same time, he wants his virtual avatar to be erased, which does not make any sense,"

"It only makes sense in two ways."

"Either He can not be killed in the Ancient World because of his connection to the Domain, and that connection is cut off in the Ancestral Blood Ground, where even the time flows differently than our worlds,"   

"Or, we are just stepping stones being thrown at him as his great challenge so he could grow stronger by ultimately killing us," Magnus said, and before he finished his sentence, the entire room was cloaked in thick killing intent.

"In both cases, do you see a problem," Caden said, his tone laced with killing intent.

"No, it would be an honor to lay down my life for the great Demon King," Magnus said with a friendly smile.

'Like hell, it will be an honor,'

'Unlike you brainwashed fools, I will become the Sin Overlord, and to do so, I will be killing the Demon Dukes, but before that, I will need to eliminate the bunch of you, and if that Ruler kills you, it will only save me some effort,' Magnus thought, an unseen glint appearing in his eyes.

"It appears it's my win once more," Magnus said, as he simultaneously moved four pieces on the board before he stood up, still carrying a friendly smile on his face.

---------------

'What is he trying to achieve?' Alex questioned, as he saw the burning lightning raging around Magnus calm down.

It had been a bit under three minutes since their clash began, and Alex had taken out nineteen of the thirty-one players that came with Magnus.

Now, when Alex thought that at any moment Magnus would go into his element embodiment form, he raised his hand in what seemed to be surrender and made his arcane specter vanish.

"You are better than I thought, and now that my work is done, I do not see any point in continuing this battle,"

"But if you are ready to abandon the event, then you are welcome to continue this battle," Magnus said with a friendly smile visible on his face.

The twelve or so players reacted very differently, as few simply dropped their battle stance, already knowing about this outcome, while the rest looked confused as they stared at Magnus before beginning to throw questions at him.

'Is this a trap?' Alex questioned, his senses spreading to their limits, yet he saw no abnormality.

"I owed one of the players a favor, and to repay it, I needed to hold you until things began reaching the finale against the Quetzalcoatl,"

"However, I do want the Doom Cube, so if you can agree to sell it, I am willing to match any price that I can," Magnus stated before his figure blurred and he left the dark enclave.

Alex felt something was not right, even when Magnus's story made sense because of the friendly smile his face carried, which he had seen too much on opportunists and fake bastards in his previous life.

It could be that he was thinking too much because of what was at stake, but because of his life experience, he knew better than to ignore his gut feelings.

Alex watched Magnus leave the dark enclave and appear next to the edge of the barrier, standing there leaning on it and watching the ongoing battle at the center.

Lykos, who was the only survivor of his team, was swift to disengage from his clash against Venedikt and appear next to his captain, and the same scenario occurred in multiple battles, confusing the rest of the engaged parties.

Alex took out three potions and chugged them down swiftly as he cleared his mind of the various questions before he stopped using the dark enclave and rushed to the side where his teammates were battling for their lives.

"I will deal with the Quetzalcoatl. You should take care of the team," Alex stated as he appeared next to Venedikt, who stood a bit confused like many others.

"Did you strike a deal with him?" Venedikt asked, as he looked toward Magnus standing in the distance.

"He achieved his goal of stalling us, so he pulled out, but the same could not stated for the rest of these teams who are not aware of his plan, nor they seem to agree with him," Alex said, as he gazed toward the beauty in dark knights armor, staring at him whom he recognized as Hela of Asgardian guild.

"You can go ahead. I will handle things here," Venedikt said, and with a silent nod, Alex departed for the front line.