What was she saying? Seeing the malicious smile on the angelic face Liam had a bad feeling. The high priestess's gaze locked on to him, observing him with glee. It was as if she wanted to savour his desperation and misery.
The next second a loud system announcement chimed in.
<Ding. Congratulations on successfully defending against the beast horde. The event has officially ended>
<Ding. A system update is starting>
All the players around the world suddenly found themselves free from the beast horde that had been terrorizing them nonstop for the past couple of hours. The whole event had lasted barely for four hours but it sure did not feel that way.
Huzzah! Everyone started immediately rejoicing. Many people even took the chance to log out of the damned game which was hell-bent on claiming their lives.
The various guilds on the other hand weren't all that happy with this sudden turn of events.
The winners of each kingdom were happy and looked forward to the reward that the system was going to provide but the losers cursed to their heart's content because they felt as if they could have won if they just had some more time.
But in the midst of these celebrations and pity parties, no one expected the next system message which chimed in after a couple of minutes.
Liam's face turned ashen as he slowly read the new notifications.
<Ding. The system update is finished>
<Ding. Congratulations! With this, the tutorial is coming to an end. The real world awaits you. The game will shut down permanently in 3 hours. Good Luck!>
Unable to believe what he was reading, he looked up at the high priestess in utter dread. The thing that he feared the most had happened and too far sooner than it should have!
"Ha Ha Ha Ha." The high priestess chuckled, thoroughly enjoying the scene. She licked her lips with an unmasked glee as she sneered at Liam. "A first-order cockroach wants to stand up against me?"
"You should have licked my feet and worshipped me like how your bitch here did." She snapped her finger and Mia's head hung low like a puppet.
Liam gritted his teeth. He knew she was lying. Mia was probably tricked. He clenched his fist tightly, anger and regret surging inside. Maybe if he had found out about these people sooner, maybe if he had worked harder.
"Ha Ha Ha Ha!" The woman laughed at his anger. "What are you angry for? At least this way she is living, isn't she? You and I both know what is going to happen to you! Good luck!"
The high priestess revealed a smug ugly grin. She then glanced at Luna and then back at Liam mockingly before she smiled again and all three of them disappeared.
"Priestess, are we really going to leave him just like that?" The golden knight immediately asked. He was not quite satisfied with how things had proceeded.
However, the high priestess seemed to be too occupied to answer him. "A first-order cockroach right in front of me. Who would have thought that this day would come?" She mumbled to herself.
"Someone managed to actually crawl up despite being born in a shitty trash realm. It seems that we have become far too lenient. For the next realm, we need to put tighter controls."
"Hmmm. Yes. That should do it. Just offer the right rewards and the fools will automatically scramble to worship us."
As she continued making plans and adjustments, the golden knight couldn't help but ask her again. "Your eminence… about him…"
"Hmmm. What about him?"
"Changing everything just for him… was that really necessary?"
"Yes. It was." She nodded solemnly. "Even though the enemy is a lowly mortal, never underestimate anyone."
"Yes, your eminence." The golden knight bowed. "In that case, should I do anything else?"
"Hmmm. No. Not necessary. He doesn't know it yet, but I have already cut all his legs. Now he has nothing to stand on."
"Ah?" The golden knight hadn't expected this.
"Sure, he has a lot of interesting things like that divine beast. Unfortunately, that's all he has. He cannot take anything out. I made sure of it. I have already shut all of his routes of escape."
"He is nothing anymore. Just a broken toy." The priestess chuckled and then added, "And I am happy with the whole one that I have." She gave a look at Mia and patted her as she smiled.
"What about this nether affinity?"
"Ha Ha Ha. Nether affinity? I don't know how a mere human being came to possess a nether affinity but mark my words. That is not a blessing. That is a curse." The priestess laughed again.
"No human can ever withstand an affinity to the undead. Only a demon would be able to bear the weight of such a curse. Mmm… That kind of power will eat him inside out."
"Yes, your eminence. You are wise." The golden knight bowed, but he was once again ignored as the priestess walked ahead by herself.
"I need to inform the higher-ups about the change in schedule. They won't be pleased." She lifted a white ball in her hands that contained something like mist inside and tossed it up and down in deep contemplation.
"Tch. Tch. It is not even opaque yet. What a poor harvest." A golden glow covered her and in the next instant, she disappeared.
A couple of seconds after she left, the golden knight stopped staring blankly and mumbled something as a divine spell engulfed Mia. She then returned back to her former cold indifferent self, still lacking all her memories.
"Go. Go and do what you are supposed to do." The knight commanded her as if she was a puppet and he then he himself settled in front of the gigantic mirror that currently displayed Liam's horrified face.
The priestess had told him no more actions were necessary but he wanted to make sure of it so that her words indeed were proved correct.
