Is this really a Game?!



The demon region was simply too large to be searched quickly, even the demons had not been able to find the artifact for the last three days, and it was in a region that was under their control, a region they knew better than the humans did.

Upon coming back, all the team leaders went to the meeting hall to give a report. On the large map that was present in the hall, the areas the team leaders had already been to were marked so that they wouldn't search them again.

Each team leader had a smaller map as well, and the changes made to the big map that was in the hall were visible on their maps, allowing them all to know exactly what places they had searched and where to go next.

It was a very valuable artifact that the humans of the Lumon region had found years ago. The big map was the artifact, but one could create smaller maps and imbue mana to them before connecting them to the big map so that they could see any changes that were made.

That way, it became easier for Basred to give out orders after people were sent out as they would immediately see it on the map. The map also allowed the person carrying it to see where he currently was, so there was no way that any teams would mistakenly go to a region that had already been searched and deemed as clear.

The only drawback was that the artifact used quite a lot of mana, and right now, it was limited to only showing the demon region in front of Lumon. It could show more, but it would need a lot more mana.

The further the area was from the map, the more mana was needed to show it on the map, and since they rarely ever needed to go to other areas, the full power of the map was never used.

Actually, they didn't even know just how powerful the map was and how much it could show as right now, showing three regions at once was the maximum they could afford. The Lumon region had a mana vein coursing through it, a pathway for mana that erupts outside.

By placing something above that vein and creating a channel for the mana, they can power up things by that mana, but unfortunately, even though all 10 regions that were under human rule had a large mana vein passing through them, they couldn't use them as the mana vein was already in use.

It was the walls that were being powered by the mana vein. Not only did the mana allow the walls to be incredibly tough, but the walls could activate a powerful shield that covered the entirety of the region, one similar to the one that the golden tree back in Doncaster and Wilkashere could.

Of course, if comparing the golden tree to the walls, the differences were humongous.

The walls covered an entire region that was hundreds of miles long and wide, the difference between being able to cover such an area and the area of one town and city was too big.

They had never needed to activate the full power of the walls since luckily, the regions around them had not fallen to the demons, and even though they had fought against the monsters in the past, they had never been assaulted by them in full force like they had by the demons.

The most the walls were used for was to cover the front part of the region, as well as a bit of the sides so that the demons that can fly and the more powerful ones couldn't reach the region during battle.

The walls, as well as the protective dome that can be activated thanks to them, were the only reason the demons hadn't been able to take the last remaining human regions. They were their bastions of defense, the last safe havens for humanity on this demon-infested planet.

Upon giving their reports, Reign and the others were free for the day. Evening was approaching, and it would be hard to search for the artifact since visibility was incredibly low, even the demons didn't search for it actively at nighttime and would only send out a handful of patrols just in case.

Even though one would think it would be beneficial for them to search day and night, nobody wanted to overwork those that were in the search parties, they would do their best during the morning and afternoon, and the valuable and important rest time was needed for them to continue searching with the same efficiency the next day.

All 10 of the team leaders had gathered together with the teams outside of the meeting hall.

Tonight, they would hold a meeting, well, it was more of a feast for the people who were in the search parties. The main goal was to exchange information and for the team members and the different team leaders to get to know each other better.

Planning their strategy, talking about what they believe the artifact could be, where the artifact might be located, and how to deal with the demons who were present in the territory, all of those things would be done during the feast.

Reign and Laura walked side-by-side and talked about what they had come across during their respective searches before sitting down.

The location of the feast was deeper inside the region of Lumon, inside a forest that was relatively close to the base that was next to the wall.

Many benches were laid down, and a large campfire had been lit. Food was being placed above the fire and cooked while drinks were available to all.

The second-in-command of the Lumon region, Alistair, was the one that had prepared the feast. He wanted the multiple groups that had arrived here to help them to feel more comfortable with each other so that they would be able to cooperate better.

Of course, the other reason was so that the team leaders could get together and brainstorm a bit. It was important for everyone to have their words heard as one could never know what they would say. If one of the team leaders had some sort of outrageous idea of where the artifact was, or what the demons might be doing to locate it, but were a bit too apprehensive to say so, the mood during the feast, as well as the alcohol, might be enough to get them to talk.

Alistair believed firmly that there was quality in quantity. No matter how powerful one person was, they couldn't be good at everything, they couldn't think the same way other people could, and they might overlook some things, but if multiple people were doing their best to solve a problem, they would create multiple ideas of how to solve it, some that another person might never think of.

As the feast started, Reign, Laura, and the other team leaders all introduced themselves to each other, as did the other Tier IV combatants from the region.

Even the Tier IVs that were not on any teams were invited so that they could give them some potential insight.

The evening started a bit awkwardly. After all, there were 35 people from two different regions, as well as Reign and Laura who were from an entirely different planet. Laura was mingling with the others quite easily as she had been to the Timen region twice, had passed through the Lucrecius region, and was in the Lumon region for a bit, so she knew some of the people from Lumon too.

"Your friend seems to be getting along with others better than you." A familiar voice was heard behind Reign who turned his head, only to see what he at first believed to be Lieara, but quickly understood it was Liara, the second-in-command of the Lucrecius region.

"She has been here before, I haven't." Reign said before drinking some of the beer that was in his hand.

"Yeah, but it seems like you aren't even trying to get to know the others," Liara said as she sat down next to Reign and took a sip of her drink.

"What's the point of doing that?" Reign asked as he glanced at her.

"I'm probably never going to come here again, I will probably never see you or anybody that is here again in my entire lifetime, so why bother and make friends that you will never see again?" Reign asked Liara who cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips as she started thinking.

"Because there's no reason not to because even if you, in the end, decide you don't like the people, you will never see them again?"

"It's also just human decency to get to know other people and talk to them, you know?"

"Ah, but see, I'm not really human." Reign said with a smirk as Liara chuckled.

"Well then, you are the most human-like but not human being I have ever met till now, Reign," Liara said as Reign chuckled before shaking the hand she had extended.