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Gathered there were not only Rudolph, the City Lord of Riverfall City, and Lucia, the President of the Mages\' Association, as well as Witch Doctor Franklin.

The President of the Adventurers\' Guild, Bayou, and Bright, the President of the Assassins\' Guild, were present too. Even Bayou Kurk, the City Lord of Redwind City, had been summoned by Sophia.

The meeting hall was packed with powerful figures.

Among them, including Sophia, the weakest were mid-tier professionals, and most were high-tier.

In essence, nearly all of the mid- and high-tier professionals from the vicinity of Riverfall City were there.

At the front of the room, Sophia, dressed in a regal gown of black and gold, stood addressing the crowd about the Abyssal Node.

"Abyssal Node?!" The expressions of many high-tier professionals changed upon hearing her words.

Given their ranks and experience, they all had some knowledge of the Abyssal Node and understood its terrifying implications.

The President of the Adventurers\' Guild, Bayou, a short and elderly man.

His graying eyebrows furrowed tightly, spoke up. "Ever since the Abyssal Node in the Northern Territory was destroyed by the former emperor fifty-three years ago, there hasn\'t been another sighting in the Clinton Empire for decades."

"If what Miss Sophia says is true, this could spell disaster not just for the Clinton Empire but for the entire Eternal Continent!"

There was an air of skepticism among those present, as they questioned the veracity of Sophia\'s claims.

For an Abyssal Node to suddenly appear near Riverfall City after so many years seemed almost impossible.

Rudolph, the City Lord of Riverfall City, fixed his gaze on Sophia and spoke in a serious tone. "Miss Sophia, are you certain that what was discovered is indeed an Abyssal Node? This is not something to be taken lightly."

Sophia shook her head slightly. "The information came from a fellow student of mine. I\'ve already sent Cassman and the Iron Mountain forces to investigate. We should have confirmation soon."

"Fellow student?" Lucia and Franklin exchanged glances, both clearly surprised.

They were well aware that Sophia only had one fellow student.

It meant this information had come from... Luca?!

The others in the room didn\'t seem to realize who Sophia was referring to when she mentioned her student.

Upon hearing that the Abyssal Node was not yet confirmed, many of those gathered let out a sigh of relief.

Redwind City\'s City Lord, Kurk, chuckled and said, "Miss Sophia, with all due respect, it sounds like this young lad may have just stumbled upon something and mistaken it for an Abyssal Node. No need to make such a fuss."

Bright, the President of the Assassins\' Guild, nodded in agreement, politely adding, "Miss Sophia, if there were truly something happening in the Beast Forest, being so close to it, we would\'ve noticed by now."

The Beast Forest was so near to Riverfall City that any unusual activity would have been detected long ago.

Yet, until now, none of them had sensed any disturbance from the Beast Forest.

Especially since this information had come from one of Sophia\'s students.

And with no news yet from the team sent to investigate, it only deepened their doubts.

Sophia\'s expression darkened. She had considered many possibilities, but the one thing she hadn\'t expected was that after hearing news of the Abyssal Node, none of these people actually believed it.

However, what puzzled her as well was the follow.

The lack of any disturbance from the Beast Forest, despite its close proximity.

Something felt off.

But she couldn\'t pinpoint the issue or find a way to explain it.

At the head of the room, Rudolph calmly sipped his tea, his expression unchanged.

But deep in his eyes, there was a barely perceptible glint of mockery.

A young woman, trying to stop the descent of the Abyssal Demon Lord?

Absurd!

The activity in the Beast Forest had long been concealed by the methods of The Nightmare Cult.

If it hadn\'t been for that lucky fool Luca discovering the node and alerting Sophia, there wouldn\'t have been any of this trouble.

But no matter—Lady Tia had already prepared for unexpected setbacks.

All he needed to do was delay them a little longer. Once The Nightmare Cult\'s plan succeeded, he would reap the rewards and finally become the Count of the Emerald State, a title he had dreamed of for so long!

Just as Rudolph reveled in his thoughts.

The sound of hurried footsteps and a heated argument suddenly echoed from outside the meeting hall.

A voice bellowed, "Out of my way! I have urgent news to report!"

The doors to the hall were flung open.

And a bloodied city guard stumbled in.

His face was pale, his armor shattered, clearly having suffered grievous injuries.

This guard was one of the men who had been with Matthew.

Behind him, several gate guards entered with weapons drawn. One of them, looking embarrassed, stammered, "Apologies, Lord Rudolph. We couldn\'t stop him."

Seeing this, Kurk, the City Lord of Redwind City, smirked and teased Rudolph, "It seems, Lord Rudolph, that your men need a bit more training! Letting someone burst into the meeting like this, really?"

Rudolph\'s expression darkened, and he coldly ordered, "Throw him out! No matter how urgent it is, it can wait until the meeting is over."

The gate guards immediately moved to drag the injured city guard out of the hall.

But before they could, Sophia interjected, "Let him speak. And fetch a healer to treat his wounds."

The soldiers exchanged glances, unsure whether to follow Sophia\'s or Rudolph\'s orders.

Rudolph smirked inwardly, saying nothing.

Sophia walked up to the gravely injured guard, her expression softening slightly. She asked, "What happened? Where is your squad captain?"

Upon seeing Sophia, the guard\'s face lit up with desperation.

A feverish flush spread across his pale cheeks, and he stammered, "Miss Sophia! The monsters in the Beast Forest... they\'ve gone berserk! They\'ve formed a monster horde! It\'s Matthew and Freeman, they—"

Before he could finish.

One of the soldiers behind him suddenly had his eyes flash with a purple light.

He suddenly sprang into action, his blade slashing viciously toward the city guard\'s neck!

"How dare you!!" Furious shouts erupted from all corners of the meeting hall.

The fastest to react was Bright, who in an instant appeared in front of the attacking soldier.

Clang!

With cold eyes, Bright deflected the blow effortlessly. A dagger, sparkling like blue crystal, had appeared in his hand at some unknown moment.

With a simple strike, he sent the soldier, along with his weapon, flying across the room.

But before anyone could feel relieved—

Boom!

The soldier\'s body exploded, dissolving into a cloud of blood mist!

The mist didn\'t settle but instead transformed midair into numerous eerie blood-red runes.

The runes rapidly aligned themselves, and in the blink of an eye, they formed a massive crimson array.

It enveloped the entire meeting hall!

"Blood-Sealing Formation?!" Lucia\'s eyes widened, immediately recognizing the sinister origin of the formation.

Everyone\'s expressions darkened.

"We\'ve been trapped," Bright snarled through clenched teeth. "That man had a formation stone hidden inside him. Someone wants to keep us all locked in here!"

The City Lord of Redwind City, Kurk, slammed his fist onto the table in rage. "Damn it! They even used the Blood-Sealing Formation! If I find out who\'s behind this, I\'ll tear them to pieces!"

Franklin glanced at the others\' grim faces, puzzled. "What\'s this formation? Is it really that powerful?"

Some of the mid-tier professionals in the hall looked equally confused.

They not understanding why everyone was reacting so direly.

The President of the Adventurers\' Guild, Bayou, sighed. "It\'s not about strength—it\'s about how tricky this formation is. The Blood-Sealing Formation is an advanced secret art. While it doesn\'t cause direct harm, it\'s nearly impossible to break through from the inside, even for high-tier professionals. We\'re stuck here until it fades on its own, which takes a full day."

"A whole day?" Sophia\'s calm demeanor broke as panic flashed in her eyes. "No! We can\'t stay here for an entire day. We have to get out now!"

Though she didn\'t know who had plotted against them, the fact that so much effort had been put into trapping all the powerful figures in one place meant the enemy had sinister plans. If they stayed trapped here, who knew what could happen outside!

The other high-tier professionals had realized the same thing, but there was nothing they could do but shake their heads in frustration.

Rudolph wore a heavy expression, though inwardly, he couldn\'t help but sneer.

To break the Blood-Sealing Formation, it would take at least a high-tier formation master, and they would have to be outside the array to have any chance.

Unfortunately, there wasn\'t a single high-tier formation master in the entire Emerald State.

Thinking they could escape? Pure delusion!

...

Meanwhile, deep within the Beast Forest.

The Iron Mountain forces had just clashed with the monster horde for the first time. The roars of the monsters and the shouts of the soldiers mixed in a deafening cacophony that echoed throughout the forest, shaking the very ground beneath them.

Cassman led the charge at the front, his golden Battle Will swirling around him. Wielding his enormous sword like a meat grinder.

He mowed down every monster within a ten-meter radius, obliterating them with his powerful sword aura.

Catherine was just as fierce, her graceful yet tall frame weaving through the monster horde. The long spear in her hand glowed with a soft white light, each strike lethal. With every thrust of her spear, one or more monsters fell.

The two of them spearheaded the Iron Mountain elite, carving out gaps in the monster horde, reducing the pressure on the soldiers and players behind them.

While they hadn\'t gained much of an advantage, at least the situation had stabilized for the time being.

Luca, on the other hand, stayed quietly behind Cassman, finishing off any lingering monsters.

His Heavenly Thunder Purple Fire had too long a cooldown.

And with little time to prepare beforehand.

He didn\'t have enough magic runes on hand to sustain a prolonged battle. Forced to conserve his resources, Luca retreated to the second line.

On a nearby hill, Matthew\'s face had grown sour.

By his calculations, the Iron Mountain forces should have been overwhelmed by now.

But to his disbelief, they were holding their ground!

Matthew gritted his teeth. "We can\'t wait any longer. If we delay and the reinforcements from Riverfall City arrive, killing Luca and the others will be much harder. We need to finish this, now!"

Freeman was already on the same page.

If they missed this opportunity for revenge, who knew when the next chance would come?

With that in mind, Freeman made a swift decision. He pulled a bottle of Demon Lure Potion from his storage ring, his expression twisted with malice.

"I\'d like to see how long they can hold out against even more monsters," Freeman growled as he uncorked the bottle.