169 Erafir: The Spy In The Treasure Chest!

Hours later, the moon soon reached its peak--emitting the brightest light for the night. When the throne room was illuminated, it revealed several men that were hanged all over the place. 

Blood dripped from the holes in their chest to their feet, before dripping into the ground. Their blood had consequently covered the intricate design of the floor and, at the same time, it had damped the blue carpet heading straight to the throne.

At this moment, the stench of blood had started to spread across the room. However, the doors that open inwards were blocked by a pile of treasures--consisting of gold coins, weapons, gems, and other precious items or equipment.

This had sealed the only entrance into the throne room--consequently causing the air to flow out of the windows. With this, it would take a longer time for the Royal Knights or anyone else to notice the tragic fate that those inside the throne room had suffered.

That said, after a few hours of nothing but the dripping sound of blood echoing into the room, the huge treasure chest located on top of the mountain of treasures had started to shake as if it was an egg that was about to hatch. It was so huge to the point that even two or three humans might fit inside it.

Later on, a golden key shot up from the piles of treasure and perfectly inserted itself into the lock of the treasure chest. Then, it turned around making a 'clack' sound--signifying that the lock of the chest was opened.

However, the chest did not burst open like it usually did in the dungeons. Instead, its cover was simply lifted a few centimeters high--just enough for anyone to peak in it. But on the contrary, a man's eyes peaked from the inside and glanced around the throne room as if it was checking if there were anyone outside. 

Seeing nothing but dead bodies hanging around, the man pushed the cover of the huge treasure chest upward--completely opening it and revealing the figure of a man that was inside. But in the next seconds, the man was able to sniff the strong metallic smell of the blood--making him cough as if he was about to vomit. 

"This..." The man coughed several more times before he bit into his arm to avoid vomiting. 

'I need to tell Guild Leader about this!' The man thought as he navigated to his player interface and started typing as fast as he can. 

[Erafir: Guild Leader Weyron! Urgent News! The Tarala Kingdom would soon fall like the Kagat Village! I am currently inside the throne room of the Tarala Kingdom's Royal Castle!

Ernald, the King... together with the rest of the royalties, the elders, and the advisors are hanged to their deaths, inside.

It would be easy for me to take all these treasures and escape from this place. But... I think that this is a good opportunity for us to take over this Kingdom!

You can leave the setup to me! I'll just make it look like the advisors and elders were the ones behind this horrendous event.

All you need to do is find a way to get into the Tarala Kingdom's Royal Castle and bring some knights with you to act as witnesses.

Please do send me a message about the arrangement within these two days. If you guys won't be able to arrive, I'll take all the treasures and I'll hide back inside the chest until everything is clear. 

You don't need to worry about me being detected. Rest assured that even the demons were not able to sense my presence whilst I was inside this chest that we got from Meen.

So... I'll leave the rest up to you, Guild Master. Just... I hope that you won't forget to put this treasure chest into a 'safe' place. 

It would be ideal for you to bring a person who could take over the throne of the Tarala Kingdom. Maybe we can ask the other 'Infis' if they knew any noble from the other nearby Villages or Kingdoms that are related to King Ernald.

We can establish a contract with them and make them the new rulers of the Talaca Kingdom. 

A child is our best option. They would be easier for us to control.

On another note, It seems like the 'goddess' that Kageyama and the Japanese players referred to was actually a demon--a vampire. She, together with another man, were the ones responsible for the death of the heads of this Kingdom.

Based on what I heard, the inheritance that the top players from the United Asian Force used was actually just a contract made by them. Unfortunately, I was not able to gather any further information about how it was created. 

I just know that it won't bring us anything good, even if it would give us elemental powers that could make us stronger than the ordinary players.

In any case... That's all for my report.

Please remember to be here in the Tarala Kingdom in two days.

Whether we gain control of the Kingdom or not, we would benefit, either way, just being in this Kingdom.]

~~~~~End of Spy Erafir's Message~~~~~

After sending his message, Erafir went out of the treasure chest while his left hand was covering his mouth and nose. He glanced around and assessed what 'setup' would he do to the horrible state of the dead NPCs. 

He could only force out a smile when he noticed the marks that the ropes were making around their neck. If it was in real life and technology, the cause of death would have been obvious.

Thus, he knew what he had to do first. He glanced towards the swords that were piled up with the rest of the treasures and said, "Let's start with putting them down." 

Erafir pointed his right hand to a golden sword. Then, he lifted his hand, consequently making the sword flew 'magically' into the air.

And with the guide of his hand, he cut the ropes that are hanging the Royalties, Advisors, and Elders by their neck. 

This made them fall into the ground for Erafir to set up--framing the Advisors and the Elders as perpetrators of this event.

~~~~~~Back to the Plains~~~~~

The NPCs led by Charlotte fall back near the shore. The treants had requested them to stay back as far as possible because they might accidentally get hit by the Treants as they fight once again. 

Mathew had also agreed to this point. He knew that the Treants would be more destructive compared to earlier because they would be driven by their anger and their thirst for revenge for what happened to their comrade. 

Well... Charlotte and the NPCs with her were fortunate to follow the Treants' request. The ground shook heavily as the forest was slammed into a paste by the Treants.

The tremors were even felt from where Charlotte and the NPCs stood, and it was even enough to make some of them fall into the ground. It was as if there were several Mathews bulldozing their way deeper into the forest but in a more explosive and powerful manner.

As for Talia, she commanded her babies that was left at the border of the plains to go underground and advance ahead to the south--specifically to the path going to the trail of Woba mountain.

This way, she would be able to attack at full force after she ensures that Yojiro was brought back to safety. At the same time, she wanted to avoid her army from being crashed by the Treants. Thus, went towards the direction of the Woba Mountain that was far from where the Treants are heading.

On the other hand, Sabrina flew around the forest that was ahead of everyone else. She was their first line of offense. Her pen-knives killed as many as it can, making her surpass Mathew in the second rank of the Continental Quest Event.

As for Pedro, he sent Arvedar to the healers of the Karakoa Ship. At the same time, he inspected the ships and talked with Paul about them. He instructed them to check every single corner of the ship and that they should be ready to depart at any moment. 

And when he was about thinking of what to do with Antonio and Aks, Aunt Veronica rushed towards him and said, "Nephew! Nephew! I have confirmed that it was the two adventurers that perished. They made new characters with the same name and similar looks so that they would be easily identified. Also... They told me that they spawned at Axutar Village that was located in the Eastern part of the Aquari Continent. Unfortunately... They can't join us now because they had decided to spend the night in that village for safety reasons."

"Axutar..." Pedro frowned as he rubbed his chin--pondering the location of the said village in his mind, based on his experience in his past life. "Noted, Aunt! We'll meet with them as soon as we are able to fend off the monsters coming from the south. For now... Tell them to remain in the village and gather information instead. It would be too risky for them to travel on land while the Continental Quest is still active."

"Got it!" Aunt Veronica said as she opened her interface and started to message Lony and Roval.

Pedro, in turn, glanced towards Antonio and Aks, who glanced back at him as if they were waiting for his command. Just when he was about to glance at Paul--who was behind him, his player interface popped out and showed a long message that he received from his Aunt.

Since his Aunt was just in front of him, he can't help but stare towards her--confused about why did she send a message to him instead of telling him about it personally. 

"What's this message about, Aunt?" He asked.

"It's a message that your cousin, Weyron, had sent to me. He said that it was best for you to personally know the report of his Infi. He also said that you would be greatly interested in this matter... Because he knows that you can do something with the "Succession" thing... And... It would be greatly beneficial for us." 

"Succession?" Pedro frowned as he glanced several times into the battlefield. Noticing that everyone seems alright, he decided to check the message that Erafir made--that Weyron forwarded to Aunt Veronica, his mother--and that Aunt Veronica forwarded to Pedro.

After a few minutes of reading the message, Pedro smirked evilly and murmured to himself, "Tarala Kingdom, huh?"

He glanced at everyone, and said, "Change of Plans! The East seemed to have some problem! We have to pay them a visit as soon as possible... and give them a hand!"