Chapter 426

Inside the vast palace, a strong man with long black hair and wearing heavy black armor sat on the throne, his blood-red eyes like snake pupils, every gaze filled with majesty.

Below the thousand steps, the purple-eyed figure appeared tiny, forced to bow his head in respect to the great 'Deathwing'.

"Neltharion, can you find this 'Hidden Sage'?"

"This will take time. If the prophecy hadn't told me it still existed, I would have thought it was dead," the man said in a deep voice. There was no need for a prophecy; with such a huge accusation leveled against him, any Hidden Sage of intelligence would have jumped out to clarify things.

But He did not appear; either He was impersonated, or a powerful being quietly advanced to the Epic level.

This is normal in the Aether Particles. If anyone dares to advance in the Outpost, they will only face death. No one will give them time to familiarize themselves with the qualitative change.

Resources are limited, and this pie cannot be divided among too many people.

"We must find Him, and quickly." The eyeball raised its head, conveying an unquestionable command.

"Don't rush. It's possible that He was impersonated. If He really was in the Aether Particles, He would have qualified for the Epic Ascension, and there wouldn't have been no trace of it."

Neltharion isn't berserk, or rather, players with similar negative effects would immediately seek to remove them, raising their hands with a greedy grin.

"Speed comes at a price. Can you afford that price?"

"Yes, as long as it truly exists within the Aether Particles, we will dedicate our power." His eyes paused for a moment; the secret had been unlocked, and there was no need for the previous taboo. "If it is confirmed to be related to 'Taiyi,' we will spare no effort."

Taiyi? That legendary player?

Neltharion gasped, never expecting this matter to involve his own faction. After a moment, he understood why the Judge's attitude was so resolute.

Judge should not, and cannot, intervene in faction wars. This is not a limitation of the Reincarnation Game, but rather because all factions fear that power they wield as referees, and the foundation that allows them to remain detached from worldly affairs is impartiality.

As the Judgment Sword, acting on behalf of the game's will, how can it interfere with normal players?

For the sake of 'Taiyi', they were willing to personally get involved?

The man wasn't overjoyed; instead, he asked with interest, "Why did you choose me?"

"Not just you, any player who covets greater power and yearns for greater conquest is a candidate. 'Taiyi' is a stumbling block on this path." Eyeballs raised their hands, their voices like murmurs, the murmurs of the Reincarnation Game.

"He must be wiped out again, completely!"

Chapter Five, here comes another one.

Hey, they were looking for me after all.

Somewhere in the Aether Particles, Yuki stood in front of a notice board, lost in thought. If the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons was a series of sturdy fortresses, then the Aether Particles were like self-contained towns.

Most of them are medieval in style, with people living together based on their ethnic groups. But this is, after all, Reincarnation Game, like the notice board in front of us. Once touched, the message can be sent back to the poster. Judging from the aura, this 'wanted poster' was jointly issued by the Great Tomb and the Monster Front.

It's an old friend, but the content is strange. They can't describe any characteristics of the Hidden Sage, only saying that he is a lone player who may possess a musket powered by souls, and perhaps items related to Valhalla.

Without a doubt, this arrest warrant was issued by the Judge; only they have the ability to uncover the inside story of 'Nighttime Murder'.

They've taken the bait.

Yuki rubbed his chin, his hands sticky with blood, then frowned and shook them lightly.

Corpses lay all around, wisps of smoke rose from the ruins of buildings, and a colossal fire demon was pinned to the ground by the Storm Dragon Spear, golden arcs of electricity shattering buildings within a radius of several kilometers.

Yuuki forgot the name of the Yuki, but when he saw the notice board, Yuki finally understood why.

"It's dangerous for a lone player in the Aether Particles. Whether I'm the Hidden Sage or not, I'm going to be in trouble today."

The process was trivial; it was nothing more than the players in the town wanting to rob him of everything, so they fabricated a charge of being a 'suspected Hidden Sage's to force him to hand over his items and equipment for inspection.

To everyone's surprise, Yuuki, with a Yuki of 'How did you know?', simply and brutally slaughtered nearly a hundred players in the town.

"You're really amazing. You recognized me even though I was hiding so well."

Yuki stepped onto the body of the Balrog, drew his sword and spear amidst its weary and disillusioned gaze. Even a fool would know that the Balrog wouldn't be arrogant.

A Monster IV player, regardless of which faction they belong to, would be a high-ranking player. Following the conventions of Aether Particles, they should be called a 'Lord'. This town and the surrounding players are all under their rule.

"Have the messages been relayed back to the affiliated forces of the Monster Front? Which forces have disregarded the wanted posters?"

Looking into its eyes, filled with hatred and curses, Yuki raised his index finger, making a shushing gesture.

"No need to answer, I have a more efficient solution."

Purple threads climbed up the remaining embers of the flaming body. This Balrog, originating from The Lord of the Lord of the Rings, found itself unable to control its body. Yuki listened intently beside it, nodding occasionally.

Most of the forces in the Aether Particles chose to cooperate, but Neoricar certainly didn't have that kind of influence. Presumably, the Judge mediated between them, but several of the seven epic forces chose to refuse.

The Sage's Tower? The Hero Kingdom?

As Yuki listened, he flipped through the intelligence reports, raising a slight brow when he came across the 'Sage' section.

This is a blurry portrait containing some information about the epic player 'Ancient Magician'.

"I have a strong liking for Elves; I heard that my teacher in their homeland was an elf, and then there's this appearance..."

Frieren, you're really unlucky. A great opportunity was right in front of you, but you didn't know how to seize it.

Yuki closed the file, feeling the irony of Destiny. After a few seconds of silence, he turned around.

Space was clearly distorted, as if a city wall had blocked out the area for hundreds of kilometers. In the distance, a dozen or so black dots were flashing and approaching, each flash covering several kilometers.

The area is fraught with danger. At the cost of the Flame Demon's life, the Monster Front have already mobilized in full force. The legendary black dragon is surely lurking somewhere, waiting to launch a fatal attack.

Very skillful fishing technique, and there's absolutely no sense of camaraderie involved. Using Monster IV for fishing is quite a feat.

Yuki glanced at the surrounding ruins and corpses, showing no will to fight or desire to break through, and snapped his fingers.

Smack

With a crisp sound, the person vanished into thin air, as if they had disappeared into the air itself.

"Then let me teach you what Hidden Sage is."

Where are they!?

The burly, black-haired man landed in the center of the ruins, surrounded by bewildered players. The two factions, with nearly a hundred players, were all at least Monster III level or higher, and there were also many powerful scouts.

They searched the area within a hundred miles, scrutinizing every single air particle, but the target seemed to have vanished without a trace.

Neoric's legs went numb from squatting, so she had to jump out.

"Your Majesty, he has vanished." A beautiful succubus knelt on one knee, touching her forehead to the ground.

"So how did he disappear? The moment he made his move, the entire area was sealed off. Even epic-level players couldn't escape the spatial barrier." Deathwing was equally confused. This plan had been prepared with various contingency plans. No matter which direction Yuki ran in or what abilities he possessed, he would be watched by Deathwing and hundreds of players.

Did he go to the Borderlands?

"You think I would make such an outrageous mistake?" Neltharion glance sent shivers down the spines of his subordinates. He had already used his authority to erase the town's teleportation crystal long ago; could it be that the other party's authority was superior to theirs?

He glanced at a gaunt, bespectacled demon not far away and coldly asked, "Demiurge, what do you have to say about this?"

The plan was devised by this devil; if one didn't know the 'Great Tomb's' demands, one would think they had fallen for a scheme to kill someone with a borrowed knife.

"As expected of the Hidden Sage, he managed to escape right under our noses even after stepping into a trap."

"I trust you, not because I listen to your boasting about the enemy's strength!"

"Sorry, I had a momentary illusion that we had met our match." The demon bowed gracefully, pacing back and forth. "He deliberately exposed himself. With his abilities, it's impossible for this powerful fire demon to recognize him."

"Is He demonstrating against me?" Neltharion realized, and this answer only fueled his anger.

A player who's just entered the epic realm, a lone wolf with no foundation, dares to defy me?

"Undeniably, it's arrogance, but I must admit he has the right to be arrogant. As an epic-level player, he can't just act like a stray dog."

Demiurge understood his enemy's feelings and said with certainty, "The Hidden Sage, I think His Epic Metamorphosis lies in the word 'hidden,' so destroying the Balrog wasted a lot of time."

This hypothesis is logically sound and very convincing.

An Epic Tier I player cannot be good at everything. In crude terms, this is an epic-level assassin, an assassin who has no worries and comes and goes without a trace.

Hiss...

Many people gasped. These kinds of players are the most troublesome. There's no way to guard against thieves for a thousand days. They might kill one of you today and another tomorrow. Nobody can stand that.

Neltharion's eye twitched slightly. He hadn't expected this Hidden Sage to truly take 'secrecy' to the Limit, rendering his elaborate trap utterly useless.

"How do we lure him out? This person is very careful; he didn't pick up a single prop, so there's no way to trace the cause and effect."

He's starting to resemble 'Taiyi' more and more; otherwise, why doesn't he step forward and clarify things? Isn't this just a guilty conscience?

"It will definitely be troublesome for us, but this confirms the existence of the 'Hidden Sage.' The Judge can't just tell us to solve the problem without our consent." Demiurge stopped and turned around.

"We request the Grand Inquisitor's intervention. We must find out the details of the Epic Metamorphosis the Hidden Sage's Epic—is it a spatial rift, or something else entirely?"

"That makes sense." Neltharion nodded, a hint of delight in his voice.

The more troublesome the Hidden Sage become, the more attention the Judge will pay. I can then use them to conquer the Outpost. As for the subsequent consequences, what do I care?

"No wonder the Judge went to great lengths to find Him; He's certainly a formidable opponent."

The dragon looked into the distance, and as if someone had pressed the reverse button, the corpses scattered all over the ground stood up, and the body of the fire demon began to reassemble. Golden lightning filled the ruins, and a blurry shadow swam in the middle.

This is the Hidden Sage.

"Keeping him alive would be beneficial to both of us. Should we keep this information a secret?" Demiurge asked tentatively, clearly intending to keep him around for his own benefit.

If the Hidden Sage are unearthed, they become worthless. It's best to keep them around so that the Judge can continuously invest in them and then use them to unify the factions.

"No, the Judge is clearly desperate." Neltharion raised his hand, but the tempting idea only lasted for a moment.

"If I try any tricks now, I'll be the first one to die."

"Trying to ambush me? Go eat your own shit."

At the same moment, Yuki had returned to Thorny Rose, a cold smile on his face.

When Yuki discovered that the teleportation crystal had lost its activity, he knew that the Balrog was just bait. But how could he say that he wanted to take the bait, he still had to do his job.

"This cheat is even more useful than in dungeons. After all, you can't escape dungeons, but you can come and go freely from the Outpost of each faction, and no one can hold you back."

Players from all factions must use a 'medium' to enter and exit. This medium cannot be carried around. Entry can be done using a shared medium, but leaving the Outpost to go to the Borderlands requires certain conditions.

Once a player with the necessary privileges seals the medium and physically blocks the surrounding space, escape becomes virtually impossible.

"But I'm not a player of 'Aether Particles' now. As an intruder from another faction, my emergency escape is all about complete access control. From what I've observed, no one can compete with me on access control so far."

When he entered, he was a genuine Aether Particles player; when he left, he became an intruder.

Back-and-Forth Dodge between these two identities, constantly Reincarnation Game, it's really...

"How delightful!"

Yuki doesn't even want to do dungeons anymore. There's no way to get ahead by robbing, like this blood-red diamond in his hand, a soul material from a Monster IV player, which is comparable to a side quest.

Yes, if I sell this thing, it's easy for them to track me down, but I can use it as a Soul Bullet.

A fake pay-to-win game where players focus solely on making money, earning points, building a business empire, and crafting equipment.

A true pay-to-win player, wielding a weapon, only engaging in risk-free transactions.

"Let these idiots keep busy for a while. We'll probably have to ask the Judge for help anyway." Yuki was delighted at the thought of Deathwing leading a group of players to dig deep into the ground; this was also part of the plan.

He anticipated the Judge's predictions and knew they wouldn't easily take the stage, so he needed to prepare enough bait to lure them into it.

Since the spark for war can't be ignited in the Thorny Rose or Valhalla, we'll have to rely on the Aether Particles.

"I may not be able to find friends, but I can definitely help you find enemies. Anyway, the effect is the same, and I don't have to bear any moral issues."

Yuki spread his hands, revealing a nested doll-like structure with multiple identities, allowing him to pull off a variety of maneuvers. Just as small waves gather, by the time people realize what's happening, they have already formed a massive tsunami.

He opened the door with a soft whistle, completely unhurried. The more careful the players were, the more they racked their brains, the more they would discover the 'hidden' terror. This person had vanished right under their noses; if they didn't figure out why, things would get really messy.

"Since I've already gone home, it's no wonder I can't find any clues. Wait, why is Mona still with me?"

The moment he opened the door, he heard the sound of running water from the faucet. He subconsciously raised an eyebrow. Mona's biggest flaw was that she was anything but 'well-behaved'; she would readily agree but never actually do it.

The next moment, he sensed something was wrong; his keen senses told him that his breathing had stopped after he looked up.

Mona was kneeling obediently in the middle of the living room, looking completely innocent, as if she knew nothing. Opposite her sat Mai Sakurajima with her eyebrows slightly raised, and to her right was Hayasaka Ai with a scrutinizing expression.

Hiyori was looking down at her book, but she was actually observing the subtle atmosphere in the living room. Frieren looked back and forth, unsure what to say, then lowered her head again. Kaguya seemed hesitant to speak, and only she knew whether she wanted to add fuel to the fire or defuse the situation.

At the same instant, everyone with equally keen senses looked up and saw Yuki push open the door and enter. In that instant, you could hear a pin drop in the room.

The atmosphere was so good, it made me grip my toes tightly.

Yuki licked her lips, seeing her senior's gentle eyes, Hayasaka's kind smile that seemed to say, "Shouldn't you give me an explanation?", and of course, no shortage of worried, teasing, or gossipy glances.