Bloom didn't close his eyes as he wasn't accepting such an end, yet he didn't have anything in hand to stop it. As the sword moved to hit him, another sword suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking it, and saving his life.

"Duck!" the next instant he heard this female voice ordering him, and without any second thoughts he did as he was told.

"Boom!"

Another sword appeared to hit the bishop directly in the face, followed by a whip-like leg kick that was so fast that even Bloom could see only its shade.

Bloom didn't play hero, and the next moment he hurriedly ran away. He was this close to die, to really lose his game account and lose any progress he had so far.

And that impulse drove him to leave the place where the sounds of two swords hitting each other started to echo everywhere.

"System alert: player has been relieved of the shrine of life curse."

"Damn! This isn't the shrine of life, this is the filthiest shrine ever," Bloom shouted loudly towards the direction of that bishop while stopping running. He was now freed from the curse, and so he had nothing to really threaten him.

"Even if I would lose a level, I won't let this damn prosperity era come," he moved to the front while the fight raging on was on a totally different level to him to keep track.

The moment he was freed from the curse, he was also freed from the stealth and the scrolls also stopped working.

He knew that the bishop had more scrolls for sure, but he was now pinned with that strange NPC. "So it's a she not he," he muttered as he cracked a soft smile before moving his glance towards one side.

There the three wagons were smashed on their sides and all their content was thrown everywhere. He glanced at the bishop as he waved his hand and shouted: "Hey dumbass, come and stop me from getting your relic if you can."

He then ran. He wasn't alone, as all the surviving pets of his arrived to stand around him as guards. He glanced at the twenty monsters with giant bodies and sighed. "This is all what remained from them…"

"Stop your dirty hands…" The bishop screamed yet this moment of distraction enabled the cloaked NPC to hit his shoulder with one sword, severing it.

The bishop hurriedly blocked the other sword with one hand before retreating fast.

"Where do you think you're going?" the NPC's feminine voice came with a soft chuckle, "my disciple here wants you dead as much as I do. Please don't stick to illusions and die."

The NPC moved to the front with slow steps as if she didn't even care about the bishop.

"Fighting one armed man with two? Where is the fairness between shrines?" the bishop viciously said, making Bloom want to puke.

"Shrine code of honor?" the NPC smirked before suddenly she threw the two swords high in the air as she added, "fine, I'll fight you one hand Vs another, and you'll still fall here."

The two swords strangely didn't fall. They stood in the air, floating one beside the other while the NPC only stretched her right hand to form a grabbing fist in between the two. "Let's fight, shall we?"

"N- No way…" the bishop stuttered as his body trembled while retreating backwards out of fear. "the dual sword holder… the cloaked queen of the dark… w- what are you doing here?"

He was retreating now faster, even running away like seeing his own death.

"Oh, never thought I would be this famous," the cloaked dual sword holder laughed while only descending her high up fist, and the two close by swords moved at once to hit the bishop in the back.

The bishop tried to rotate on himself and defend, yet he only managed to do nothing as his sword just moved in the small distance between the two swords.

It looked like the bishop missed out of fear and rashness, however Bloom knew this was all thanks to the timely control of the cloaked queen of the dark.

"Y- You w- will r- regret this!" the bishop spoke with extreme difficulty while the two swords penetrated deeper into his chest and neck, taking his body down to the ground.

"You won't be there to tell that," she simply smiled before making a grabbing motion again and the two swords returned to her side.

"Now," she turned to glance at Bloom who was standing speechless just nearby the three wagons, "what should I do with you?"

Just as she said this, Bloom laughed as he turned around, leisurely giving her his back. "Don't act this cold, if you wanted me dead from the start then you shouldn't have interrupted that sword of his."

"Hahaha, you are a really interesting player," she laughed before sheathing her swords and then went after Bloom. "You know I have set my gaze upon you for so long already?" she said with a chuckle.

Bloom reached the place of the smashed wagons before turning to her. For him, the cloak covered every single aspect of her face, only darkness was there like a deep, bottomless pit. "I bet you are a jewel to marvel."

"Oh, never thought you have such a sweet tongue," she laughed before adding, "or even have the gut to flirt with an NPC, a high level and rank NPC like me."

"You are still a piece of art to me, no more," he simply said, in a tone that didn't match his look and age.

"Interesting," she muttered before watching him turn to the wagons as he asked: "Where is that damned shrine quest item?"

"It's in a small wooden box engraved with symbols of plants and flowers," she said while watching him dig in the debris here until he finally found what he was looking for.

"It's locked!" the moment he got it, he tried to open but couldn't. "Can you open it for me?" he turned to her before adding, "this thing must be destroyed."

"Destroyed?" she laughed before shaking off her head, "oh boy… you dear got it all wrong."

"Wrong?" Bloom didn't get her meaning as he asked, "isn't it used to initiate the era of prosperity?"

"Indeed it's," she softly nodded.

"Then why risk keeping it then?" he pointed to the box as he added, "I don't want any more prosperity here."

"A true agent of chaos indeed," she whispered while suddenly asking, "may I know your true aim for doing that?"

Bloom glanced weirdly at her before she added, "there are shrines for light and darkness, shrines of life and death, but we, dark agents, aren't part of any. We aren't shrines, we are opposite to them. So I need to ask, why are you doing this? Why destroy the relic and prevent the prosperity era?"

He was lost for a second there, before he simply answered, "I don't like the order of this world."

"And?"

"I want to change it. simply making the opposite doesn't mean I'm bad."

"I didn't say that," she raised her hands while adding, "but why not hide it and let someone else make another quest of it? why destroy the entire relic and end this era before beginning?"

Bloom didn't know what was her aim from all that, but he frankly and honestly said, "I'm here not to play, but to wreck this game."

"Interesting answer," she muttered before laughing, "alright, I can tell you what's inside that box of yours."

"C'mon, I know it's a relic used by the shrine of life to summon the prosperous era," he complained loudly, "I didn't ask to know what it is, I wanted to smash it!"

He wanted to add, 'are you stupid or what?' but he refrained at the last second from saying this.

"I'm not stupid, it's you," and she suddenly spoke up like she read his mind.

"Hahaha, don't give me that look. I just can feel people's thoughts, and you were like an open book to me."

"Sigh," he shook his head before pointing to the box in hand, "returning to the main issue."

"This isn't a relic of a shrine of life, or even belonging to any shrine. It also doesn't cause the beginning of any era," she said while pointing to the box as she added, "this is both a blessing and a curse."

He glanced silently at her, knowing how NPCs loved to make epic entrances to their info and quests.

"I'm not exaggerating or lying," she managed to read his mind up again, "this box contains something that holds extreme value to you."

"To… me?" he was speechless there for a moment. "Other than smashing it?"

"C'mon, don't act like a child. I know you aren't," she said before adding, "this is a very important thing, but you won't be able to handle its powers for now. You need to get stronger first."

"Sigh," he shook his head as he stored the box inside as he added, "how much?"

"How much what?"

"The levels needed for me to open it."

"No, you mistook me," she shook her head before adding, "this isn't something determined by your game strength. I meant your other strength."

He unconsciously stole a glance down below. "Not that, naughty big boy," she hurried to shout to stop him.

"Then what?" he softly laughed embarrassedly from this awkward moment.

"Your real life powers, your human powers I mean."

"…"

And her answer just made him glance again down there.

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