"Bro! What the hell is happening? Haga City is also one of the neighbouring cities of Niera! I know this. We always use Haga City's teleportation portals to get here. How come their ruling party has changed suddenly? Wait. How did this bastard become a city lord? I know European Coalition, and I have never heard of this guy's name before!"

But the system notifications still did not stop. Another series of golden notifications flashed brightly in front of everyone's eyes.

[Ding! Rune Priestess has become the new city lord of Ebiza City]

[Ding! Rune Priestess has earned 5000 reputation points and 1000 fame]

[Ding! Guild Southern Vanguard has become the third guild to possess a guild residence]

[Ding! Guild Southern Vanguard has earned 5000 reputation points and 1000 fame]

Blood Wraith's eyes went wide. He could not believe what he was seeing. Within a span of 5 minutes, three cities around Niera city have fallen into players' hands? That too, just a couple of hours before the blood hall siege was about to begin? This was completely ridiculous!

The room fell silent. Everyone stared at the golden dings floating in the air, thinking pretty much the same thing.

"Wait… what?" Blood Wraith laughed, but it sounded small. "Haga City? Ebiza? How did they all flip at once?"

Mark slammed his palm on the table. "This isn't random. Someone's making a move. Fast."

"They can't really contribute to the battle, right? I mean, it's all very last minute. There is no way they would be able to get an army ready by the time the siege starts?" Blood Wraith asked nervously.

Phoenix shook her head. "No. You can count on it. The hidden families have finally made their big move. These three cities are definitely going to participate in the Blood Hall siege along with the main army coming from the Kingdom, the Priest Hall, and the Divine Temple."

"Hidden families?" Mark asked.

"Right, you don't know about them." Blood Wraith became serious as he tried to explain as best as he could. "These hidden families are extremely powerful and influential families in our real world. They are behind the world's economic and political landscape. Do you think the president of the United States is the most powerful man in the world?"

Blood Wraith bitterly smiled and shook his head. "Nope. The most powerful man, in fact, would be the old man from Northern Frontier, or so I have heard. The hidden families are always mysterious, and they are constantly trying to one-up each other. No one knows who is the most powerful one, but they all hold an almost equal standing. At least no one has yet dared to openly fight against another hidden family."

Mark and Kate listened intently.

Phoenix continued her brother's explanation. "Right now, these things are not important. The most important thing you have to know is that these hidden families have each established their own guild in the game, and so far, they have all been in the shadows. I thought they would continue to rule in the shadows for a while longer, but shockingly, today they have revealed themselves."

"So these Dawnbreaker, Celestial Hero, and Rune Priestess belong to these hidden families?" Kate asked.

Phoenix nodded with a strange light in her eyes. "They don't just belong to the hidden families. They are the young leaders or young masters, whatever the term, of these hidden families. This is extremely drastic even for them. They have just directly taken control of their guilds and come out in public, holding nothing back at all. And I can only think of one reason why they would do such a thing."

Phoenix paused and looked at Kate and Mark. "Tell me. Did Blood God have something to do with the Abyssal zone?"

Kate remained silent while Mark shook his head. "We have no idea what Damon does or why he does. We only know what he tells us." The thing was, Mark and Kate did indeed know more about the abyssal zone, but without Damon's permission, they did not want to reveal anything, even if it was Blood Wraith and Phoenix.

"Fine. Maybe he is involved. Maybe he is not. But let me tell you one thing. He has to be extremely careful now. The hidden families have made a big move today. They are not going to be satisfied without seeing blood. If they made themselves public, then there is only one reason. They want to take down Blood God and step on his corpse to grab the world's attention."

Mark clenched his fists. "It's fine. It doesn't matter. Even if their army is bigger, we will win. We will not be the ones losing today."

Phoenix shook her head. "You are underestimating them too much, Mark. Do you know why the hidden families were able to establish powerful guilds within the game?"

Mark did not say anything.

"Do you think just economic and political power is enough to establish big guilds in the game? Think again. The hidden families are powerful for a very different reason. Their real power is not their position in the real world. Their real power comes from blessings."

Both Mark's and Kate's eyes widened as they heard the familiar term.

"So you do know about Blessings. Let me tell you something. Every single hidden family has a God backing them up. They have a direct blessing from a God. Not the God in our mythologies and stories. Actual Gods."

Suddenly, everything became clear to Mark. Damon's blessing, and the fight they had back at the frozen lands in the north in the real world, everything became abundantly clear.

Mark still remembered the fear and pressure he had felt back then from that bizarre creature. He had always wondered what had happened back then. Now he knew.

Phoenix let out a sigh, seeing their blank expressions slowly changing. "I don't know why Blood God hasn't explained any of this to you guys. You need to be more prepared. I am sorry to break this to you. I am sure you both are talented enough, but someone like you can't possibly stand against monsters like them. If they decide to take you down, you cannot win. It is as simple as that."

***

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