About thirty minutes earlier, in the Kings castle.
The king sat uncomfortably on his office chair as he stared at the documents handed over to him by the man on black suit with long flowing golden hair.
He had a pair of red gem eyes and his gaze was fixed on the King.
"This is not a matter that can be handled by the King's legion.." the man said.
"The neighboring kingdoms are finally showing their hostility…" the king muttered slowly, dropping down the document. "And we lost a Jun…."
He stroked the hem of his hair while his finger tapped his table.
The man, apparently his butler, slowly walked up to his side. "We still have 6 more…."
"....." A sigh escaped from the King's lips as he stood up from his chair. "They do serve the kingdom… but other great families are involved as well….I want you to prepare an elite team"
"An elite team ? Without the great families ?" The butler asked with a raised brow as the King walked towards the door of the room
"Yes…..an elite team of players….I shall summon a great congregation meeting".
"But my liege? Why people that use the system ?"
"...the great families are our biggest allies but also our biggest enemies…if they decided to overrule the king….then doing so wouldn't be a difficult feet for them"
".....that is something that would never happen, my liege…"
"Only when we tie them down when they are at their most weakest…..do as I say and do it discreetly". He opened the door, giving his butler one more look as he said. "I expect great things from you, Jester Ophiux"
He locked the door shut soon after, turning towards the large window in front him while he gazed upon the moon.
'...at least…I still have hope…' he thought when a black aura suddenly began to creep around his body.
His expression seemed to lose its color on his face as he turned towards the left direction and walked slowly.
"Is there something wrong ? My King". An eerie voice, different from Layla's and dissimilar from any human property projected in his ears as his pupils began to lose its white color, turning into an empty dark husk.
"Not at all, sovereign….I am only excited about the plans you have come up with…." The king muttered.
"Is that so, well that is good….keep up the good morale….oh…and one more thing"..
The floor suddenly rumbled in shock causing the King to quickly place his body on the window, narrowly escaping falling to the ground.
"It seems there was someone else like me…" the voice said as the black aura slowly formed a ghostly figure in a dark worn-out cloak. "A ghost….lives in the castle…find her…and exorcize her"..
"A ghost ? But how ? No one but you should exist in the human world…"
"They are many ways of being a ghost, My liege….you have formed a contact with a higher demon and I am his subordinate….but this ghost is different"
"How so ?"
"She seems to have no ties with the Demons I know of….yet she somehow lives in the human world…she is too dangerous to be left unchecked".
".....is she the cause of that tremor ?" He asked as he slowly got back up when the tremor resounded again, louder and stronger than the last.
"It very much is…my king" the ghost began to dissipate as the black aura disappeared from the King's body.
'....it seems I will have to check it out with the head guard'. He thought while walking towards the exit of the castle.
***
Michaelo was just about done with the number of chimeras that had appeared.
Each time he wiped them out, a stronger and more diverse set of chimeras forced their way out of the portal.
It had continued like this for over an hour now but it seemed to have reached a level cap.
The same set of chimeras had come out from the portal 3 times. This makes their fourth.
Michaelo was slicing off the head of the last one that stood in his way when he noticed the sound of intruding footsteps.
He turned towards the castle knowing fully well that the King's soldiers were on their way.
He turned back towards the portal. "It is such a shame….but I am about done here…" he said as he stretched his left hand.
The chimeras that seemingly forced their way out of the portal froze as if time had come to a halt as each of the portals suddenly disappeared.
Blood dribbled down his lips and an expression of fatigue watched over his tired face.
'This technique…uses too much of my aura' he thought as he walked towards the Lake. What he had just done was similar to switching positions but instead of switching himself, he switched the portals for free air causing the portals to appear at designated intervals and lands.
He looked through the water and he could mark where the ghost passed through by controlling his aura in the water through his sword.
'Wait for me…my son…' he thought as he jumped into it just when the Kings guards finally got to the area.
"Search for any body or any foreign object belonging to someone of the other Kingdom"
The kingdom soldiers thinking the intruders could be likely intruders from another kingdom were frozen in surprise at the gruesome sight before them.
A particular soldier that led them wore silver plated armor and he had an eye patch covering his left eye. He sighed as he turned towards one of his soldiers.
"Report to the King immediately, they are signs of Chimeras in the area".
The soldier nodded and was about to leave when they heard the sound of their King.
"Do not leave your position"
The soldiers quickly knelt on one knee noticing their King walk up to them from behind.
"Your highness" the man on an eye patch greeted.
"Cain….this is a matter I shall personally take care of…I want you to protect me at all times….is that Understood ?"
"As you command, Sire".
"Good…..withdraw your squadron, inform them to inspect the Castle for any signs of intrusion"
"As you command, Sire…" the eye patch man, Cain slowly stood up and did as the King had commanded.
His soldiers quickly retreated from the area, leaving the King and Cain alone.
The King stared at the Lake with a perplexed expression on his face. He always felt something was amiss in this place and it felt burdensome that it suddenly decided to show itself now.
"I shall lead the way".
The King, as much as he may not look it, he is a 9 star King. He is already on the path of a Grand mage.
He spread his mana around his veins as blue flames lit up at the tip of his finger nails.
The flames grew wild and formed a large ball of flames as he slowly dropped it in the water. "High tier 7th magic ! Flames of gehenna"
The flames sank into the lake untouched until it reached the bottom as it suddenly grew larger and wider forming the face of a ravaged beast as it evaporated the lake to its last drop.
Cain felt amazed by the power of the King as he slowly looked up at him. He was a player himself, but the growth of a player is far easier than non-players.
The system works in unpredictable ways.
The King jumped into the lake and Cain quickly followed as they landed on the dry hard ground.
His gaze wandered around the walls of the now formed Basin.
"I see…" he noticed the closed door that was locked shot at one end of the wall and he walked towards it.
"Brace yourself Cain, even I don't know what lays in wait in that place"
"I will heed your warning, Sire".
'....The sovereign mentioned a ghost….but to think all this while there was an underground system… how did I not know of this…' the king thought as he punched the door open exposing the dark humid path that led to the deeper paths he wasn't aware of.
"Let us go in"
******
The large lizard slammed its head on the ice walls as it made an attempt to break off the ice that had seemingly frozen most parts of its body by now.
It screamed and snarled in annoyance as it searched the room for Raph.
"If you're looking for me…."
His voice attracted it and it snarled towards its direction with its mouth open revealing its large set of canine tooth
"How bothersome" he muttered as he suddenly appeared behind the Lizard with his sword facing up.
The right fore and hind limbs of the Lizard suddenly cut off as blood splurged out of its wounded parts. It screamed in pain.
"What are you doing ?!" The ghost screamed out in annoyance.
"....it can't defeat me..the way I am now" Raph said, turning towards her direction. "I didn't just freeze the surface but the internal organs as well, everything required to produce energy has been put in a dormant state…..do you possibly think your last trump card would work against me ?"
'Freezing its internal organs ? What sort of….' She thought with an aggravated expression.
"I shall come for you next". Raph said as he quickly sliced off the other half of its legs.
It cried out again, landing flatly on the ground causing loud tremors.
"....I wouldn't be surprised if the King arrives here to check out the situation". He said as he walked towards the Ghost with slow steps until they stood facing each other.
"Your plans….were useless from the start….you realized we were of the Jun household and yet you chose to attack us ? Are you a ghost without a brain ? You are a ghost right? Do I need to exorcize you ?" Raph asked as he pointed his sword towards her seemingly pale face.
Her lips curled into a smug.
"What ? Do you think you can freeze mana as well ? I am made up of a large vast amount of energy….so for someone like you….exorcizing me….is a mere thought…."
She raised her hand up in an attempt to attack when a sword suddenly sliced her in half and an immeasurable pain washed over as her face curled into a confused and shocked expression causing her to scream in pain.