Back in the Xion realm…
A pair of sharp eyes looked up to see the sky darkening.
A million stars were twinkling in this vast endless night sky making everything look even more beautiful.
However, this did not bring any comfort to the person who was currently sitting on the forest grounds and looking up to this vast wide sky.
Mia let out a soft sigh and then turned to look at Shen Yue who was sitting a few feet away,casually leaning against the trunk of a tree, and roasting some sort of meat.
Before Mia could ask her something, she absent-mindedly replied on her own. "No, still no messages."
And right after she did, the other person, who was sitting beside her also turned to Mia and shook her head.
"Nope. None." Mei Mei replied, while continuing to munch on the roasted pieces that Shen Yue finished cooking.
Hearing her words, Mia trembled ever so slightly but she quickly put her head down, as if she did not want anyone else to see her reaction.
It was almost the end of the day and still, there was no word from Liam.
She knew that she was supposed to trust him but… these many hours had already passed…
She could only imagine what Alex was going through in enemy's hands or rather she did not want to think about that.
She just wanted to save her and bring her back as soon as possible.
"How much longer are you going to take Liam?"
She mumbled to herself, clenching her elbows with her fingers and craddling her head in between her knees.
Though Mia did not want anyone else to see her weakness, unfortunately, at the moment, it was only painfully obvious.
The whole group was currently waiting outside the small inconspicuous town that no other player would probably give a second glance at.
Liam had asked them to stay here at a safe distance from the affected area, but he had not given them sufficient warning about how long.
At this rate, they were going to be stuck here all day.
At a time when everyone else was busy grinding 24-7, conquering dungeons and rare elites, establishing guilds, and trying to buy lands and properties, they were sitting here idly and doing nothing.
The people who were already acquainted with Liam did not have any complaints about this and thoroughly rested themselves.
They knew about him too well and they also knew that this was a rare chance. Only the other newcomers were slightly restless.
"Sis Mia, what is happening?" One of the healers approached her. "We have been sitting here for a while now, shouldn't we be doing something?"
Another hunter as well loudly expressed his disgruntlement.
"We are just wasting time when others are working hard. At this rate, everyone will cross us by."
Mia was too preoccupied at the moment and she couldn't care about these other things. So she remained silent and this made the situation worse.
"Sis Yue, should we say something? These people are being too impatient." Mei Mei frowned.
But Shen Yue unexpectedly shook her head. "No need. We don't want to make things worse."
However, just as she finished talking, someone else loudly spoke. "Please don't misunderstand us."
"No one here is commenting anything about leader Liam's strength. He is an amazing expert but the thing is not all experts are good leaders."
"We need rest but at times like this, rest can be pushed back a little. We should maybe do some scouting, monitor what our enemies are up to."
"There are several things that we can do…"
"All I am saying is… just sitting simply like this is a waste of time."
Hearing this, Mei Mei no longer remained quiet. "Just because you are wasting time, don't include everyone in this list."
"See, Sis Yue already increased her cooking skill by 2 levels." She retorted back.
"And what did you do, little miss?" The archer rolled his eyes.
"You!" Mei Mei's nostrils instantly flared up.
Everyone had watched her snooze, snoring loudly, and afterward gobble up several pieces of fragrant roasted meat one after another.
So they all knew what the person was talking about and this made the young girl very embarrassed.
The archer also did not hold back. Even a little girl was bossing him around these days and it did not sit well with him, so he talked back.
The two silently glared at each other, sending invisible daggers but Shen Yue silenced her and stopped her from continuing the argument further.
Nevertheless, an uncomfortable silence prevailed in the group.
A few more minutes passed by just like this when suddenly someone shouted out loud. "Look. There are signs of battle in the distance."
"Can you guys hear the sounds?"
Mia instantly stood up as if a bolt of lightning hit her. Just like the person had said, there were indeed signs of battle.
Grey smoke plumes rose up into the air and the distant dark sky lit up like fireworks. They also hear some faint distant noises.
The noises could be anything but coupled with the visual show, without a doubt, this was a sign of a disturbance.
Seeing this, immediately, before anyone could stop her, Mia dashed towards the source of this disturbance.
This was the same place where they had fled from hours ago and now she was returning back to the spot.
Her level was still the same, her strength was the same, and nothing had changed. The chances of Alex being there were also slim.
However, she did not hesitate as she ran towards their enemies at full speed. She also did not ask anyone's permission or ask for anyone's help.
A few others also stood up to follow her, but Shen Yue quickly stopped them. "I don't think it's a good idea to leave without Liam giving the green signal."
Half the team immediately stopped but the other half seemed reluctant, considering that they thought of Mia as the group leader rather than Liam.
But luckily the next instant, everyone's problems were resolved. A big message flashed on everyone's status screen.
"Now. Attack."
It was just two words but the meaning couldn't be clearer.
Shen Yue no longer held anyone back and she along with the rest of the group also started hurriedly moving in the direction of the loud horrendous sounds of the battle.
But even as they were en route, everyone could feel that something was off. Something was different.
Compared to the last time when they had fought with the dark elves, this time… the sounds… the lights… the thundering battle waves… everything was different.
It was almost as if two countries were clashing against each other with their full strength, using all of their battle forces.
Just what the hell was happening? Was it even safe to go near this area right now? Wouldn't they also be caught in this battle?
Everyone had this small doubt, nagging in the back of their minds, but Liam's orders were clear. So they did not hesitate and continued moving.
However, after getting closer to the spot, the whole group came to a sudden unexpected halt.
Just a few feet ahead of them… Mia was standing dumbfounded, rooted at the same spot.
"Ummm… What happened, Miss?" As a tank, Shin Soo stepped forward to take a closer look.
He was afraid to talk to Mia but nevertheless, he steeled his nerves and asked her.
However, Mia unnaturally did not answer him. Instead, she only raised her hand to point forward, slightly towards the right.
Shin Soo as well followed her hand and tried to look but only saw the thick black mist again.
"What-" He began to speak when Mia interrupted him, lifting her index finger, placing it on her lips, and making a 'remain silent' signal.
"Observe carefully." She said.
A few others including Mei Mei and Shen Yue also walked forward and tried to see what Mia was pointing.
The black mist hovering around was dense and thick. No one also knew what they were looking at.
So it took everyone a few good seconds and when suddenly, perhaps because of the strong waves produced by someone's attack, the mist shifted a little and they were finally able to see…
In front of them was a real actual battle!
It was nothing like the one they had fought. It was several times more violent and bigger in magnitude.
Hundreds of dark elves were littered everywhere and fighting against them were unexpectedly hundreds of demons!
Tall, short, thin, fat, blue, green, horned, no horns, several demons in various shapes and sizes were sprawled in front of them.
No one could understand from where these beings had poured in from.
Why were they all here and why were they fighting against the dark elves all of a sudden?
Everyone stared at this sight in disbelief, not able to register what was happening and what they were supposed to do in this amalgam of utter chaos and bloodshed?
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