Is this really a Game?!

The group quickly made their way to the queen's palace, eager to hear the news about the enemy's rituals. As they entered the queen's chambers where the queen and Drayce were waiting, they could sense the tension in the air.

"Welcome, please do sit down, we have quite a bit to discuss." The queen said with a smile as Reign and the others nodded before sitting down and staring at them.

"We managed to figure out what most of the runes and symbols mean, including the ones you copied from inside the tree that gave birth to the spawn, as well as the one where you think a spawn is being created, which is true, by the way."

The one who had copied the runes and symbols that were being created inside the tree was Wolf. Upon noticing them, he immediately started copying them down, aware that they might be helpful to the two.

"As we have suspected, the sources of corruption are portals, but portals that go one way, and only immaterial things can go through it, which, as you might have guessed, is the corruption."

"One thing we managed to discover which actually surprised us a bit, however, is where the portals lead to," Drayce said, to which Reign and the others stopped even moving and waited with baited breaths to hear, only for Drayce to smile at them and keep quiet, which quickly make Shadow a bit upset while the queen sighed.

"It would have been really nice if you still had that dagger, Beast," Shadow said with a smile as he stared at Drayce who stared back at him with a similar smile.

"It wouldn't work on me, so it doesn't matter."

"Anyway, so we have also managed to uncover what the runes and symbols inside the trees mean as well, they-"

"Don't just skip such a big point you bastard, we want to know where the portals lead!" Shadow yelled out as Tank and Greenie nodded vigorously while staring at Drayce who chuckled.

"Of course, apologies, my friends."

"The portals lead to Earth, all of them lead here, none go to any other planet or layer, not even one of them."

"We knew that already, how would the corruption be transported if they didn't lead here, we want to know where it comes from!" Shadow said, to which Drayce sighed and shook his head while Reign, Beast, and some of the others glanced at one another with slight worry on their faces.

"See, they understood what I meant," Drayce said as he glanced at Reign and Beast.

"That was what I meant, little Shadow, the corruption comes from here, from Earth, the portals are connected to a place on this planet and are spreading the corruption that has somehow already arrived here."

Shadow stared at Drayce in shock, as did everyone else.

The corruption … was coming from Earth?

"Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that the corruption is something native to the planet, it could have been placed there by the system, it could have been sent over by another faction, it could have even made its way over here by itself, there are many different reasons why it might exist here."

"Of course, there is also the chance that the corruption was somehow brought here by those other players, one of them, probably the leader, might have somehow established contact with another force, or perhaps he was given an ability that allowed him to connect to such corruption, again, the reasons why and how it could have happened so are truly numerous."

Reign nodded his head as he understood. There are many different kinds of abilities in the universe, and one that could allow a person to establish contact with corruption is not an impossible one.

After all, Aelrinder had an ability that allowed him to draw power from the stars, store it inside his body, and utilize it in many different ways.

It was a power that had quite the limitations, but its power was not to be underestimated, even back when it was an ability he learned, much less now when it turned into an innate ability.

"As for the trees, your thoughts were correct, the enemy is trying to artificially create a spawn in that one tree, but it is only started, they would have to repeat the process multiple times for such a thing to happen."

"Wait, you said the portals all connect to the same place, do … do you know where it is, that place that the portals are connected to?"

"Well, we don't know the exact coordinates, but we do know the region and area, that much we have been able to figure out from the runes, the rest of the runes, the ones responsible for setting the exact coordinates dissipate upon the activation of the portal, so it's impossible to know where exactly that place is."

Reign's eyes slightly widened as he smiled and nodded his head at them.

"That much is fine, as long as we know which one it is, we can find it."

"Do you think the portals are connected to their base?" Beast asked Reign who nodded his head.

"I understand the need to hide since the enemy faction is one spreading corruption, and most players they come across would definitely not like it and will be unfriendly, but the way their base was made, how well it was hidden, and how much they have done to make sure even their own people didn't know where it was, it's far too much for just a base, even if it was their main base."

"But if the portals led there if the source of the corruption is something that is found inside that base, maybe below it, then I understand why they had done what they had done."

"Perhaps another reason why it is so well hidden is that they had to do so in order for the corruption to not spill out, after all, we already know that the air inside the base is different, probably because of the corruption."

"They work with the corruption, so it's highly possible that it does nothing to them, but if the base was out of the open, would it show, would the grass, trees, and everything else around the base be dead because the corruption was present there?"

"You think they have an array in place that keeps it inside?" Beast asked, to which Reign nodded his head.

"Maybe that is another reason why they are spreading it and making the portals, maybe they have to as the corruption can get too thick and powerful inside the base after a while, and the people might not be able to take it for long."

The Queen and Drayce stopped talking and were staring at Reign while thinking about what he had said.

"That is … quite possible." The Queen suddenly said as Drayce nodded his head.

"If the corruption was found there by their leader, and he was the one to establish contact with it, somehow connecting himself to it and gaining more power, it is highly possible that the enemy faction has done what they have done in order to stop others from realizing it."

"So, we are only left with locating it, Drayce, what region is it that the portals are connected to?"

"One quite close, bordering our own, it is not far from the jungle, to be honest, you have to pass through two areas and you will be at the border of our region, then you need to pass through one area inside that region and you will be inside the area the portals are connected to."

Drayce suddenly took out a map before allowing it to float between him and the group. The map suddenly stood straight in the air before becoming larger and larger.

"See, this right here is the jungle, this is the area you have been to, the one where you fought against the enemy today, and after you pass it, you will enter another one, a desert area that you will need to pass before entering the swamp that is present in the other region."

"The final one is another desert, which is a great place for the enemy to hide a base, they will be able to oversee everything around them, and even if some of the corruption leaks out, it won't be visible since there is nothing there except sand, and it will be very difficult for an enemy to get near them without being spotted."

"Great, so if their base really is there, then we will have difficulties hiding ourselves, not to mention the fact that trying to locate an invisible base in the middle of a freaking desert is going to be a pain as well," Shadow said before looking at Reign.

"Should we just try to take over a side base and use the portal to enter the main base, it does seem much simpler to be honest."