Long's palm swung down, like a guillotine about to decapitate its victim, but he suddenly sensed a strong pressure from his side. His palm changed direction to where this pressure was coming from.
A cloaked person was there. This person's hand was glowing with strange light. This glowing hand caught Long's palm, stopping its advance. The hand then formed into a claw and slammed into Long's chest.
Long felt as if his chest had been crushed. He slapped the glowing hand and jumped away before that hand caused further damage. He lost almost one-third of his HP from that claw.
"You, old geezer. You finally show yourself," Long uttered.
The newcomer took off his cloak, revealing an orc's face. He was Wong.
"Thank you," Domon said to Wong.
"We are now even," Wong replied.
"Master, we have to leave!" Bowler urged. Everyone else had been moving away.
"Let's go," Domon said.
They stepped away while keeping their eyes on Long, who also stared back at them. If Long wanted to chase them, they wouldn't be able to escape from his speed. If it was only the half-dead Domon and the two clowns, Long wouldn't hesitate. But with a full-health Wong in the mix, he wasn't that confident.
One more thing prevented him from chasing. Right now, his body was shivering. He had been using too many ancient arts, especially the Nine Yang Restoration which he hadn't fully mastered. The multiple usages had strained his body. He doubted if he could use that ancient art another time.
Hence, he stayed his ground and watched the four retreat.
He had fulfilled his objective. Killing Domon was just a bonus. Failing that wasn't truly a problem. He was happy enough that he got to test his competence against this so-called number-one martial artist. He had to admit, though. Without his superiority in stats, he wouldn't have been able to win the fight, even with his Nine Yang Restoration.
When the effect of the Hex of Power Restraint was gone, Bowler quickly cast his healing spells on Domon. All around them, skills and spells started flying. The situation turned even more chaotic.
They could receive messages again. John sent the order for everyone to disperse and used the guild return scroll after leaving combat status. They were to reconvene at headquarters.
Wilted, who was among the fleeing players, took out a pipe once the Hex's effect was gone. It was the Pipe of Monster Control that was given by Goddess Serenity. She blew the pipe.
The pipe had a restriction to only be able to be used against the force of Liguritudum's rebel prince. World Maker was considered a part of that force, so the pipe was viable to be used here.
The monsters in the immediate surroundings had been cleared for the convention, but the pipe had an AOE with a radius of five kilometers. Soon, a horde of monsters with grades ranging from basic to special elites came charging.
The fleeing players were at first terrified when the horde of monsters appeared in the direction they were running to. Some even started throwing range attacks at these monsters, but these monsters just ran past them. The monsters continued running until they encountered the pursuing players. They then pounded on these players.
The fleeing players were confused, but they didn't stay around to find out which merciful God had sent this reinforcement. They fled while the monsters kept the pursuing players busy.
Some continued running even after they were out of combat. Most used their town return scroll or guild return scroll to escape.
*
"Damn it all to hell!" The Man slammed the table in their guild hall. They gathered here after successfully escaping. "So, the convention is just a ruse to get to Jeanny, Leavemealone, and Red Death?"
"We have been careless," John said. "Master has been focusing on the war effort all this time, we have neglected his main objective. That convention is a perfect place to get all the players who have the divine treasures in one place. I just didn't expect he already knew that Jeanny was also a bearer."
"I bet he expected Jack to come too," Paytowin said.
"If Boss came, things would have been different," The Man uttered.
"I doubt that," John said. "The convention is not country-related conflict. He can't summon Broidrireg, while Master has two eternal-grade dragons. The result wouldn't be that far different."
"I agree," Wilted said. She had followed the others here to Heavenly Citadel to discuss their next course of action. "If Jack also came. Things could have been much worse. He could have been captured as well, then Master would have everything he needs."
"Where is that bugger, anyway? Can anyone contact him?" Paytowin asked.
"I can't. I have been trying since before the convention," Grace said.
"We can't keep on relying on him. We have to solve this ourselves," John said.
"What to solve? Master got six out of the seven divine treasures now. We are f*cked!" Bowler exclaimed.
"Thanks for the motivation, mate," The Man said sarcastically.
"We will still be okay for some time," Wilted said.
"What do you mean?" John asked.
"Like the Second Soul Remnant which gave additional class, the divine treasure was also considered an object of incredible power," Wilted said. "He won't be able to fuse with all of them at the same time. The world system won't permit it. After he fuses with one, there will be a one-month cooldown before he can fuse with another."
"That will give us two months before he has six divine treasures inside him…," John said.
"Dude, even with three he is already a monster. Can you imagine him with more?" Paytowin said.
"Nevertheless, this is what we have to deal with," John said. "One positive thing out of that mess we just went through is that we have gained more allies. Master had shown that he was not a trustworthy person. I bet a majority of those players who were standing on the fence will choose our side before long."
"I think some of the players who sided with him during the convention will also switch sides after seeing what he did," Bowler said.
"Except for the coward ones," Paytowin remarked.
"Or those desperate enough to return to the real world," The Man added as he thought of The Real Man.
"Those who have sided with us during the convention mentioned they will come to Thereath to cooperate with us," Bowler said.
"Good! We will incorporate this additional force into our army," John declared. "We will use overwhelming force to crush Liguritudum. Once we dethroned Master, we will hunt him down with the armies of this world before he fuses with more divine treasures."
