MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

"It was Lilith, the Embodiment of the Sin of Lust," Emperor Melvin said, a faint tremor in his voice betraying the unmistakable tinge of fear.

Alex, the Elders, and the Emperor were seated around a round table, having concluded the pleasantries and heartfelt words of appreciation from the Emperor for saving his life.

"Lilith was invading my dreams without my knowledge for years, slowly chipping away at my soul, which was the reason why my mana veins were eroding,"

"It was all so they could slowly put me in a permanent state of coma, but after finding out my connection with you, they changed their plan and dropped their slow approach and directly attacked me with the intent to put me away,"

"They planned to open a passage that could bypass the restriction of the barrier around the Demon Continent, the barrier that prevents any Demon with the strength of an Elemental Ruler from leaving, and though the portal will come one of the seven Demon Generals, Leviathan, The Embodiment of Envy,"

"As for how they will create the portal, it would be created by Leviathan using the Essence Conduit crystals that will allow him to channel his power to their full extent,"

"The Essence Conduit crystals are created by Mammon, the Embodiment of Greed, using his Sin law, and they are capable of not only channeling energy from vast distances without restrictions but could also hold an immense amount of energy of any kind that could be used by the one who has branded those crystals with his soul brand,"

"Leviathan will use those crystals as an energy source, and the endpoint of the gateway he will open for himself using his Law of Envy,"

"The crystals should have been delivered to the Human continent more than a month ago, and I was told all of this by Lilith in my last waking moments, with a message for the Domain Ruler from the Ahrimon the Demon King," Emperor Melvin said, and after moments of silence, he continued.

"Boy, I have sacrificed two of the generals to set up the ultimate stage for us to play, and if you win, you get to enjoy a small victory over me and postpone the chaos by a few years, but if you lose you will see the start of the greatest apocalypse this world has ever seen, and it will begin with the destruction of the Human Continent,"

"There are eight Essence Conduit crystals, and each one is in the hands of a strong and trusted individual, being fed with essence to get ready for its intended purpose,"

"You can either look for them using any means in your possession or patiently wait for me to reveal the location to you," Emperor Melvin said, and went silent, his fist clenched as he imagined the fate of his beloved Empire if he failed to stop this looming calamity.

The room stayed silent once the explanation ended, and Alex felt like his heart had dropped into his stomach as the message rang in his mind in the voice of Ahrimon.

Alex was brought back to his senses by the ringing of messages from Venedikt, and knowing his brother's nature, he was quick to open them, understanding it would be something truly important, and seeing the contents, he felt like the world was playing a joke on him.

'What the hell, is this bastard for real,' Alex thought, seeing how all eight Chaos Generals had been taken to some unknown place.

Alex knew that none of the Beastmen could contact him when he was in the Malefis Domain, so he made sure that Boras stayed on the human continent so he could report any findings of the Beastmen to Venedikt at a moment's notice.

Less than fifteen minutes ago, all eight Chaos Generals were gone without a trace, or it was accurate to say that the two Beastmen Elemental Rulers both simultaneously detected that the presence of the Chaos Generals at their locations was gone and with little effort found that it was the case for all eight places.

The Beastmen were quick to move and check the chambers, trying to find the teleportation mark or any clue as to where the Eight creatures went, but they found the magically sealed doors wide open, with just the words "Boy, Entertain Me" written in bold letters left behind in the cold empty chambers.

Alex was already shaken by all the info about the Sin Duke's abilities and being once again forced into the plan of the demon bastard only made his panic grow.

"All Eight Chaos Generals are gone," Alex said, breaking the silence, before sharing the findings of the Beastmen.

"They were likely taken away within the last month because they were present during our last visit, and as for the timing of the event coinciding perfectly with Melvin's awakening, it's probably due to Lilith leaving a soul imprint on him."

"They used the soul imprint to monitor his soul resonance, and upon seeing it recover to a healthy stage, they stopped the barrier maintaining the presence of the mayhem general active," Lady Margaret explained, and the Emperor was quick to confirm it.

"Your deduction is correct,"

"It seems I need to be updated on the current state of the Human Continent," Emperor Melvin said, asking the question he had been eagerly awaiting an answer to since he woke up.

Alex began to share what happened since the Emperor went into slumber, telling him how his first son took over his position, the alliance he made with the Terbis continent, how the Elven Empress was working with Demons, and the possibility of his son being a traitor as well.

As Alex continued to speak, the color drained from the Emperor's face, almost as if blood was leaving his body, and as the weight of the situation settled in, clear despair became evident in the once proud and mighty eyes of the Human Emperor.

There was heavy quiet once the account of the events ended, as while the Emperor was left alone to sort his thoughts, the Elders were quick to share their thoughts with Alex.

"Domain Ruler, Ahrimon is playing mind games to influence you, but you should understand one thing very well that he would be doing his heinous acts even if you were not present,"

"So, while I don't mind you getting involved in this matter, you need to make sure that you don't get influenced by the things that will happen in the future because I don't know who you can save and who you can't."

"But if you break under the pressure and make a wrong decision, the consequences of it will be suffered by the entire world," Guardian Elmara's voice sounded in Alex's head, giving him the cold truth of reality.

'She is right,'

'The Devourer Beast alone would be responsible for the death of more than a billion people in just two years, and it was just the beginning of the disaster,' Alex thought, understanding that while he might be involved in the incoming disasters, he held little to no influence over them.

"Domain Ruler, You can take the elites of the Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth regiments of the Royal Guards to the Human Continent, while I will also give Darrien and Margaret the artifacts that could help you locate the presence of the energy anomalies or the Chaos Generals,"

"If Ahrimon has prepared to keep something hidden, it is extremely unlikely we will find it, but he can only do so much when things are in the hands of weak demons and human slaves,"

"So I can assure you that we will do everything in our power to prevent the destruction of the Human Continent," Varon said, making Alex sigh a breath of relief aware well that with the complete backing of the Domain, they had a great chance of stopping the worst from happening.