The Freedom Alliance’s stronghold had been destroyed by a Legendary BOSS, but nobody knew the identity of the BOSS.
It was a piece of joyous news to the players of the City of Dawn on the forum!
Freedom Alliance was the first player group to gain a foothold in Emerald Grand Duchy. The group bullied the players who arrived later in the duchy.
Their members would commit atrocities like beating up fellow players, stealing loot of monsters killed by other players, and sexual harassment of female players.
Hence, when the stronghold of the Freedom Alliance was destroyed, nobody pitied them. Instead, everyone gloated over their misfortune. This infuriated the players of Freedom Alliance.
What angered the players of Freedom Alliance, even more, was that a game official had pinned a forum notice containing a warning written in red. It said: The result of antagonizing a Legendary NPC!
Tsk, tsk!
Many players of Freedom Alliance either quitted the game or secretly defected to other guilds. There were about 20,000 of them, but none of the guilds wanted to accept them.
The players of the Freedom Alliance had a very strong belief system, and many of them had an unyielding spirit.
William was an outstanding and cute Legendary BOSS. He was going to accomplish great feats, so he could not be mean to the players. He would only allow Eric, who was stationed here, to bring forth a wave of the massacre whenever he was bored…
Eric would be continuously killing them in order to disrupt their daily lives.
He would force them out of Emerald Grand Duchy.
The arrogant members of the Freedom Alliance could settle in the smaller kingdoms!
When the City of Dawn became a kingdom, then the players of the City of Dawn could challenge the players of the Freedom Alliance to a fair fight.
William was pushing the Freedom Alliance’s players towards defecting to a powerful nation and goading the players of the City of Dawn to attack them.
William and his companions were traveling on the official route to Nightmare Forest. They encountered professionals who were also on their way to the forest. All of them were cautious and reticent.
The Nightmare Forest was the separation between Lan Yu and Emerald Grand Duchy. The forest was huge, and it extended to the boundaries of the kingdoms in the north. In the south, it touched the Slovan Dukedom.
Many magical beasts and dark creatures inhabited the forest.
Hidden Dark warlocks, vampire murderers, Bounty Hunters, and Great Dragons could also be found.
William also knew that there was a city belonging to the dark creatures in the forest.
It was commonly called Dark City, with an alias, Killing City.
This city was unlike the East Sea Metropolis of Bernard. The inhabitants there followed the rules of the Human empires.
But the inhabitants of the Dark City committed evil deeds like creating chaos and destroying things. They would sow discord between the other nations and kill genius professionals.
William suspected that the news of the Blood Fruit could have been rumors spread by them.
He recalled that one of the maps of the ‘Blood essence of the Blood Dragon’ lied in the Dark City. It was owned by a powerful vampire.
“If that’s the case, it would be interesting.” William pondered silently.
In his previous life, at the beginning of version 3.0, the issue of the Darkness Invasion had been mostly resolved. The players were no longer concerned by it.
After the players traveled to Emerald Grand Duchy, they discovered that Lan Yu Grand Duchy, Emerald Grand Duchy, and East Sea Metropolis were almost at war.
But the players did not have the time to investigate the cause of their conflicts.
Just like in version 1.0, they could only make a choice to support their favorite faction.
Then they got to know about the Dark City in Nightmare Forest.
The players began to suspect that it was the Dark City that had been sowing discord.
It was a bloodbath in version 3.0. Many factions were simply fighting each other. The players were befuddled as they did not know the reason for the conflicts.
“Then, the players understood the truth while working for a group of vampires. Tsk, tsk! It’s heart-wrenching.” William recalled the missions in version 3.0. He had felt cheated by the game.
The game ‘Gods’ prepared the players for a surprise by training them in their analysis and adaptability skills. When the players encountered issues, they started to ask questions without any prejudice.
When the dust finally settled, they would conclude who were the good and the bad
guys.
Even when things were concluded, many players still had their doubts.
They had been cheated many times!
However, there were many obstinate players like the members of the Freedom Alliance. William came in and taught them a lesson while earning some experience points.
Teams of professionals who had gathered relevant information entered the sinister Nightmare Forest.
William watched many teams fighting with each other. He was trying to figure out whether they were looking for the Blood Fruit or were here for the fighting.
William did not have any mishaps as the professionals that his group had encountered were inferior.
They reached a point from where onwards it was not possible to travel on horseback. They had to walk until their legs started to tremble.
William and his companions dismounted from their steed and entered the forest. They had an ominous feeling.
“Tsk, tsk! Take a look at that creature. It’s rather intelligent looking.” Violent Dragon pointed to a large spider having hundreds of eyes, and he extended his finger to let the spider climb on board.
“Gosh, it’s time to leave,” Wells said while shivering
The other companions nodded and avoided Violent Dragon. The spider was not venomous, but it was extremely disgusting. They had not expected Violent Dragon to be fond of such disgusting creatures.
“Something’s not right. Take caution. This Nightmare Forest is strange. Let’s follow the trails of the other travelers.”
They did not fly up to the sky because the flying skill of Advanced professionals was trash.
With the exception of the Seraphkin, the Advanced professionals were just live targets for the magical flying beasts.
Burned Cinder surveyed the surroundings. He found the trees of Nightmare Forest had turned black and were strange. The trunks looked like human faces, while the branches looked like claws of monsters.
The sight occasionally gave them frights when their clothing got hooked by branches.
William nodded and said, “There are very few green plants. The surrounding is filled with a dark aura. It indicates the presence of many Devil’s Dens and dark creatures.”
Pfff!
Violent Dragon squished the spider that was biting his finger. Green blood flowed from his finger, as he tossed the large spider away and frowned. “The venom is strong. Even though the spider is cute, it’s not very obedient.”
The other companions were left speechless. They were about to enter the deep end of the forest.
They heard a heart-wrenching scream.
Everyone looked at William.
William raised his brow and snapped his finger. He gestured for them to take a look.
The six of them edged closer to the voice.
They saw a figure who was stuck in a trap!
The person who was wearing a black cloak had both of her legs inside the trap. Her leg bones were exposed, and blood was all over the leg. Her screams were becoming weaker. It was as though she was at her last breath.
William and his companions merely watched…
They did not move an inch.
They had no intention of helping.
That was obviously a trap.
They were experienced BOSSES, not morons. How could they be easily fooled?
William was getting impatient.
He knitted his brows and took out the Legendary Lightning Bow and fired.
A Thunder arrow flew out and hit its target.
Pom!
The figure in the black robe instantly perished.
Her true form was revealed.
It was not a Human but a captured carrion monster that was used as a bait for the trap.
Everyone frowned. If they did not have experience fighting dark creatures, they would not have known that the screams of a female carrion monster were similar to that of a Human.
Meanwhile, more than twenty well-hidden professionals came out and surrounded William and his companions from the sides.
Just like William, these men were also in black cloaks, their faces hidden within the hood. They did not have good intentions.
William stroked his brows. He smiled as he said, “We’re all here for the Blood Fruit, and we haven’t arrived yet. Why should we kill each other, while other professionals reap the rewards?”
The black-robed men looked at each other before laughing in a condescending tone.
In front of William, stood a man who was engulfed in black flames. He sent the carrion monster flying with a kick. Then he tilted his head while gazing at William. His voice was cold. “Take off your equipment and the space ring. Scram.”
William and his companions froze while William used his insight. Even though he was unable to get detailed information, he could determine their bloodline potential.
The man in front was a Legendary professional.
There were six Epic and eight Grandmaster professionals. The others were Advanced professionals.
25 in total!
William recalled something when he saw the black flames. Why was the man so familiar?
William just said, “Adolf.”
Once the words were spoken, the atmosphere became awkward.
The man with black flames was bewildered. Had he been recognized?
Was there a mistake?
This was Nightmare Forest and not Blackleaf forest.
Ever since Adolf had been defeated in Blackleaf forest twice, he came to Nightmare forest and changed his identity. How could he be recognized?
Adolf was full of doubts.
William was also curious. Adolf was supposed to be of an Epic bloodline. Did he obtain some treasure that upgraded his bloodline to Legendary?
Perhaps the Blood Fruits were real?
Or Adolf had other treasures?
Perhaps the rumors of the Blood Fruits were released by Adolf in a bid for him to rob the innocent?
Bounty hunters were sinister professionals who would rob anyone, including their own people.
William and Adolf gazed at each other.
No words were exchanged.
Before long, a deafening bellow was heard.
Adolf and his companions ran immediately towards the commotion.
William and his companions looked at each other before following Adolf. They wanted to take a look at the monster. Could it be a guardian beast of the Blood Fruit?