Grand Lust Sovereign

Blended well within the leaves, Ivan said, "There's nothing left for us to do. We should leave."

Keeping her bow trained on the chest, Kayla was about to slip away when she noticed a figure dashing toward it.

"Wait, there's someone here!" Kayla exclaimed and made Ivan turn around to look at the figure. 

Her eyes locked onto the runner, and without a second thought, she let an arrow fly.

*Fwwwwipppp—!*

The arrow sliced through the air, aimed directly at the person's heart. But to Kayla's dismay, the runner leaped and dodged it at the last second.

"Damn it! How did he know!?" Something wasn't right. Kayla got up and immediately turned around. 

"Ivan, ru—"

She grabbed her twin brother's hand, but before they could flee, a numbing pain shot through her head, plunging her into darkness.

*Bonk—!*

*Bonk—!*

Ivan's world went black too, and he crumpled onto the thick branch. Just before losing consciousness, he caught a fleeting glimpse of a blurry figure.

The attacker, Julien, swiftly hoisted the twins and teleported back to Amelia, who was waiting below.

"Your timing was good." Julien praised when he saw the tall nun with a red blindfold. 

"It's all lord's grace, Master. We must praise him instead…" 

Amelia joined her hands and thanked her god with a smile. 

Julien shook his head, leaving her to her own devotions.

Just then, Jackie returned. His eyes widened as he saw the figures lying on the ground. "Are those…the Loph twins!?" he gasped in disbelief.

"The Loph twins?" 

Having only spent a day in the outside world, Julien was clueless about most things. He didn't even know where he himself resided, let alone anything about these twins.

Jackie facepalmed and answered, "They are prodigies of the Loph Family, said to be some of the strongest novices in the world. They are as strong as Christopher Ingress, from whom Master saved my life."

Christopher's name left a bitter taste in Jackie's mouth. The memories of that time weren't pleasant.

"…if he did not resort to cheap tactics, this wouldn't have happened…" Jackie regretted believing that boy would play fair. 

Julien understood the gravity of the situation. If these two were similar in strength to him, then it made sense why Jackie seemed so shocked. 

"Amelia, are we in trouble?" Julien asked the trusty sister. 

Being the innocent lady that she was, Amelia clasped her hands and was about to say something related to god when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. 

"Amelia, for the love of god, please get straight to the point. God won't hate you for not taking his name every time you speak, okay?" 

"Eh? How did Master know what I was about to say?" Amelia was surprised. 

Even an idiot would be able to figure it out! Julien thought to himself. 

Since it was Julien's command, Amelia did not take the lord's name and got to the point. 

"I believe we should be fine. Nobody, including the twins, saw us interacting with them after all."

"Right." Julien nodded and backed off. He walked towards the fallen twins and began rummaging through their belongings.

"Then, we should hurry up and deposit their tokens. There's many teams who have not joined the alliance so won't seem as suspicious." Jackie added. 

"Okay. Help me get their stuff." 

"Coming."

.

.

.

[Ding!]

[The Player Kayla Loph is eliminated!]

[The Player Ivan Loph is eliminated!]

[All team members of Pact of Loph have been eliminated!]

[Pact — Pact of Loph has been dissolved!]

[Teams left: 63]

…..

Seated within a ten, a boy in full body armor was staring at a map. Surrounding him were two men with a burly build, indulged in a discussion with him.

At this instance the system's voice rang in everyone's ears. 

[The Player Kayla Loph is eliminated.]

[The Player Ivan Loph is eliminated.]

"What?" The boy slammed the table and stood up in shock. "Even the Loph twins!?"

"The threat is bigger than we thought, commander." One of the two men said. 

"If he gets out of this tutorial, the world would be at a serious threat." The other man said. "We must find him before the timer runs out!"

"Tell me something I don't know, you idiots!" The commander yelled.

"Fuck! Now I have to contact them again." The boy pinched the middle of his brows. 

"Bring me the final communication amulet. I didn't think I would have to use it so quickly." 

A man took out a bronze colored amulet and gave it to the boy. 

The boy injected his Essence into it, and the bronze amulet shone with a bright light.

A cloaked figure's projection came up and looking at him, the boy said, "Your Holiness…"

The boy drew an upside-down cross on his chest. 

"May the night be eternal, child. Speak, what's casting a shadow upon you?"

"Your Holiness… the Loph twins have been eliminated."

"Hm. That was quick." The man in dark clothing said. "Anything else?"

"Yes. There's nothing available for us to identify the person. What should we do? How will we know it's him when we cross paths?"

"He won't be alone." He murmured, more to himself than the boy. "Someone from the light side… yes, there shall be someone from the light side with this man, a nun, perhaps. The light always tries to cling to the shadows, hoping to pierce the darkness."

The boy pondered deeply over it.

The cloaked figure's voice then turned cold and he continued, "Seek out this nun. She'll be his downfall. Where the light goes, the night will follow. Track her, and you'll find him."

"Understood, Your Holiness."

"I must leave now." The man's tone was firm and resolute. "The world shall be reminded of this emerging threat again. Word shall spread and reach the ears of other novice Players. Club them and surround this threat. May the night be eternal."

The projection flickered and vanished, leaving behind only the broken remains of the amulet.

The boy examined the map closely, his finger tracing the contours. "The safe zone is going to shrink again. We're currently here…" He circled a specific area and showed it to the two men standing beside him.

"If we force all teams to converge in one spot and the safe zone shrinks to its limit, we'll corner that nun and the man."

He looked up, his eyes sharp with determination. "Relay my command. All teams are to cease fire and converge on this location."

"Yes, commander!" the men replied in unison, before hurrying to carry out his orders.