Chapter 382

Fifty kilometers north of Shanathar, lies the underground city-state of Itkazar.

This is a small city with only twenty thousand inhabitants, but despite modest size, Itkazar holds significant prestige throughout the Hermetic Alliance.

This is because Itkazar serves as the headquarters of the Church of Death in the underground, and the highest leader of the church, High Priest Niel, who is a Godwarden with legendary-rank strength, has also resided in this city for a long time.

And it is rumored that among those who spread the faith of the Goddess of Death in the underground, the Evangelist, the Guardian of the Netherworld, once a demonic pet of their Patron Deity and now a commander of the Heroic Spirit Legion, the Demon Wolf Fenrir is also slumbering here.

For sentient beings in the underground who worship the Goddess of Death, this place is their sacred holy land.

At this moment, inside the towering obsidian-built structure within the city, known as the renowned Cathedral of Itkazar, a gathering of ethereal figures is gathered around a shimmering and deep-glowing orb, discussing something.

These illusory figures are the spiritual projections of chieftains from different city-states within the Hermetic Alliance.

Through the soul-storing orbs in the temples of various city-states, they project their spiritual powers into the Council Chamber of the Church's headquarters to discuss important matters of the alliance.

The chamber exudes a heavy atmosphere.

One chief of a city-state looked at the ethereal figures lined up on both sides, then glanced at the vacant position in the upper left corner, and sighed softly.

"Shanathar... has fallen. Even with the support of the elves, this war may be difficult to continue, as the forces of Dark Alliance have advanced too aggressively. The Holy City of Itkazar may be the next one to come under siege."

As his voice falls, the dozen or so figures around him begin to murmur and whisper among themselves.

At this moment, Firebeard, the first among them in the upper right corner, promptly stood up.

"Your Excellency, do not underestimate the power of the elves. They are our allies under the divine oracle of Her Majesty and, like the heroic spirits serving under the Goddess, possess undying abilities. As long as our alliance can provide them with sufficient rewards and secure the path through the Blade City to connect Itkazar, this war can still proceed and turn things around..." He reasoned as his ethereal voice resonated throughout the cathedral.

Upon hearing this, the sixteen city-state chiefs once again engage in heated debate.

The governing chieftains have clearly been divided into two factions;

One has become completely pessimistic, while the other, led by Firebeard, believes the war can still be won.

For a while, the entire Council Chamber buzzes with heavy discussions, albeit with no consensus reached among the participants.

"Silence!"

At that moment, Niel, the Grand High Priest seated at the head of the round table, spoke up.

His words instantly silenced the arguing chiefs seated below.

Grand High Priest Niel is a dark dwarf with an all-white beard.

He wears a large black robe adorned with intricate patterns, embellished with the scythe-shaped symbol of the Goddess of Death.

He maintained a calm expression, with his gaze clear and bright, showing no signs of nervousness or anger despite the shocking news of Shanathar's downfall.

His eyes sweep fully across the chamber, before finally resting on Firebeard.

"Convey to our elven allies that this war has only just begun. Urge them to swiftly come to the aid of Itkazar. The Church will naturally bear all costs."

Firebeard showed a relieved expression upon hearing it, whilst nodding in agreement.

The other city-state chiefs opened their mouths as if to say something, but seeing the firm and serious expression on Grand High Priest Niel's face, they ultimately refrained from speaking out.

After giving the command, Grand High Priest Niel then turned around and faced the ancient mural in front of the Council Chamber.

The mural depicted the story of the arrival of the demonic wolf Fenrir in the underground, as he spread the faith of the Goddess of Death under the divine oracle of Her Majesty...

Following the gaze of Grand High Priest Niel, Firebeard's heart stirred, and he formed a certain conjecture.

Looking at the majestic figure of the demonic wolf in the mural, Grand High Priest Niel said with a clear gaze:

"I bring good news. The elves had bought us considerable time for our war. Lord Fenrir was on the brink of awakening."

Upon hearing his words, the spiritual projections of the more than a dozen chiefs in attendance were instantly invigorated, finally understanding the plan of Grand High Priest Niel.

They showed joyful expressions:

"Lord Fenrir was about to awaken? Had his injuries already been healed? Then... d-does this mean..."

Grand High Priest Niel nodded slightly:

"Indeed, Lord Fenrir is our true trump card."

"The armies of the Dark Alliance may have been vast, but they are nothing more than a forced amalgamation of the Lich King's forces, each unwilling to yield to the other."

"After capturing Shanathar City-State, they would inevitably divide their forces. As long as Itkazar could hold on for a while longer, with Lord Fenrir's awakening, everything would be reversed in due time..."

"Under the true gods, no one could match against Lord Fenrir..."

"What? Shanathar had fallen? Their city defenses were even stronger than Blade City's. How could it have fall that easily?"

In the commercial district of Itkazar, Demacia looked surprised as he watched the lively discussion unfolding within his guild chat.

He had come to Itkazar to explore new business opportunities.

Ever since the conditions for advancing to a higher jobclass were announced, Demacia had been thinking about how to secure a spot for himself.

And after deliberating upon it, aiming to reach the top five in any of the leaderboards seemed entirely too difficult for him. So, in the end, he decided that his best bet was still the lottery tickets.

And to get those lottery tickets, he needed to spend a massive amount of contribution points. To this end, the quickest way Demacia could think of was to do business, then offer the gold coins as sacrifices to the goddess in exchange for lots of contribution points.

"Big Bro Dema, should we still set up the Amway headquarters here? Shouldn't we relocate somewhere else? It feels like this city is about to be engulfed in war!"

Another member of the Natural Heart Guild, who had come with him, stated pessimistically.

Demacia shook his head in response:

"It's already too late. Shanathar has fallen, and the teleportation array was destroyed. We had no way to teleport back, and no one else could teleport here either. Our only option left was to travel on foot..."

"We received information in the intelligence sharing group that after capturing the Shanathar city-state, the Dark Alliance had split into five groups, each attacking one of the five city-states of the Silent Alliance. One of these armies was marching towards here in Itkazar."

The intelligence sharing group was a private chatroom among the leaders of several major guilds, specifically for exchanging information.

"Even if Brother Mu organizes his troops well, it will be difficult to win without the teleportation array. Moreover, with our current strength, we can only reinforce one city at most."

"Reinforcement was definitely necessary. Otherwise, this large-scale war campaign would surely fail. Moreover, Brother Mu and the others had already agreed. The target needing of our reinforcement the most was Itkazar, the holy city of the Church of Death. If this city fell, nowhere else would be safe!"

"So, all we have to do is to wait there..."

As he spoke, Demacia scratched his head again:

"Speaking of which, the reaction of the Hermetic Alliance was a bit strange. According to Brother Mu, Firebeard, the chief of Blade City, didn't seem worried at all about the fall of Shanathar. I couldn't help but feel... they must have had some contingency plan we don't know about."

"Well...we just had to wait there."

"Anyway, up until now, neither side's legends nor demigods have made any move yet! When we fought the half-orcs before, legendary figures intervened. With such a large-scale underground war, these high-ranking individuals still hadn't acted yet."

"Perhaps there is still a chance to turn things around..."

The players acted swiftly.

After the fall of Shanathar, the three major guilds urgently assembled their teams once again, preparing to reinforce the other city-states of the Hermetic Alliance.

After discussions among the major guilds, their first choice was the Holy City of Itkazar, which was relatively close to them and of significant importance.

At the same time, as players were mobilizing their troops, they also received a request from the Hermetic Alliance.

As they had predicted, the Hermetic Alliance requested their reinforcement for none other than the Holy City of Itkazar!

Simultaneously, a new main questline appeared within the sight of players who accepted the "Large-Scale War Campaign":

[❗ ]

[Main Storyline Quest: "Support for the Holy City of Death" initiated]

[Quest Objective: Support Itkazar, the Holy City, until the appearance of strong figures from the Hermetic Alliance.]

[Quest Deadline: None]

[Number of Participants: Unlimited]

[Quest Level Requirements: Level 11]

[Quest Rewards: 20,000 experience points; 5,000 contribution points; 3 lottery tickets for the Lucky Pool]

[Special Storyline Quest Reward: The top 5 players with the highest number of enemy kills would receive an Advanced class slot (players who already had a prior slot will not be included in the kill ranking)]

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[ MAIN QUEST: SUPPORT THE HOLY CITY OF DEATH ]

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