"Are you sure this is the right place?"

"Yeah, just at the end of this tunnel, and we're out."

"W-What happened to this place..."

Ruined palace, burning houses, a crater the size of a lake greeted their vision.

"T-This is where Stonehelm located right?"

"I-I don't know...Are you sure we're not lost..."

----

It was the start of a new day, forecasted to be sunny with a bit of cloud. Yuri woke up early, as usual, and the first thing he did in the morning is that he cleaned up the place, especially his room, instead of his usual workout. He decided to throw his old rugs that were stained with his black substance, although he already cleaned it up, the unbearable odor still lingered inside his room.

Time passed and Lillie opened her eyes by the noise. She hasn't had a good night sleep in her stays in the hospital, but after sleeping in her own bed, she felt relaxed and energized after she woke up. She changed a set of clean clothes and washed up first, before going out of her room with a smile on her face.

Thankfully Yuri already threw the poisonous rugs, if not, the smile on Lillie's face would face and turned into a sour one. He also made breakfast for the two of them. The morning of the sibling households was a simple one, a warm coffee, breakfast, and a little family talk. Although the burden in their shoulders now been multiplied, because of the gamble they took for their chance of survival. They decided to be happy in their daily life, while at the same time do their best with their objectives.

Emperor's Destiny to them wasn't a game anymore. It was their treasure and their future. And now, his first mission was to set foundations to their empire inside it. He asked Lillie how to establish one, and the inner workings of it, while Lillie answered all the details that he asked. The best course of actions and the best strategy to grow a strong empire.

Yuri memorized all of Lillie explanations. But, in his minds, he asked why her little sister didn't make an empire if she's this informed about the game. To his surprise, she only had one [Heaven's Will], she risked all of his avatar progression on that one item, and she gave it to him, hoping that one day he will play the game, which turns out to be true.

His eyes became determined, he had the thought to return the item but knowing the heavy burden it carries, he gave up the idea.

The sun rose at its highest. The siblings returned to their own room, intending to log in into the game. 'Power...That's all that matter...' Yuri thought in his mind, as he put on the dive helmet.

----

"Look! A person!"

"Where??"

"In the middle of the crater."

Yuri opened up his jade eyes. He was stunned, the first thing he saw was a crater and the barren landscapes.

"W-Where am I..." He scanned his surroundings at saw a ruined palace in the distance, "N-No way...T-This is Stonehelm..."

Stonehelm, a city with more than twenty thousands citizens vanished into nothingness. Replaced by ruins and destruction. The beautiful landscapes were no more. The lake, the forest, the green vast plains, were nowhere to be found. Only vultures and the cracked grounds filled up the place.

He was shaking, was it his doing he said in his minds. He was a mass murderer he said in his minds. After knowing the fact that this place was a real place in the vast multiverses, added the sense of reality into his minds.

"N-No...It was the gods...Not me..." He tried to deny the possibilities, but his evolving minds had conflicting thoughts about it. Although he didn't have any attachments to the place, his morality told him otherwise.

Knowing the fact that it already happened and nothing will change even if he admits to it. He decided to close his eyes, and took a deep breath to calm his mind. He carved the image into his memory, and reminded himself, that the same situation will happen to his world if the gods invaded.

"Your...Sacrifices will not be in vain..." He said it while opening his eyes.

----

"HEY! HEEEEEY!!"

The yell traveled into his ears. Yuri turned his head towards the direction of the sound with his usual stoic face. He saw two men wearing iron armor armed with a sword and an axe.

"Hey, did you know what happened here??" The man with the sword in his waist asked.

Yuri shook his head, although he knew exactly what happened, he decided not to tell them.

"This is Stonehelm right??" The man asked again.

"Yes..." Yuri answered.

"Damn! Is the war already extended to this area."

Yuri perked his ears, "War?"

"You didn't know?" The man with the axe in his back scrutinized Yuri from top to bottom, "Judging from your equipment I assume you're a newbie?"

Yuri nodded, although his equipment was a rare one, the visual of it still looked like an item that a newbie would wear.

"Okay. Let me tell you about it then." The man with the axe took a breath, and continued, "I assume you know about the announcements that the company made right? About the events and stuff."

He was puzzled at first, but nodded afterward, pretending to know about it.

"Right. That announcement triggered all the players that had a territory into a frenzy. They speculated if they were to conquer all the lands they would have the chance to became gods themselves."

"Gods?" Yuri asked.

The man with the sword in his waist had his eyes sparkled by Yuri questions, "Yes! Gods! They would have the chance to break the level eight hundred barriers."

Yuri turned his gazes towards the man with the sword, "Is that true?"

"I don't know the exact details but, there was this thread in the game forum that said if they acquired the emperor's throne, they would have the chance to get a legendary quest, that can break the level limits if they succeed."

Yuri racked his brain, he speculated that this was one of the gods schemes, but for what reason, if the players would become a god then wouldn't that mean they have one more enemy to fight? He was puzzled, but, intending to dig more information, he asked, "No way they would believe in that right?"

"Yeah, it could be a HOAX too." The man with the axe chimed in, he was also invested in the story that his companion told.

"Dunno. But, it seems like the top players believed in that. But, you didn't have to worry about it, you're still a newbie after all." The man with the sword shrugged his shoulders.

"Right..." Yuri smiled awkwardly.

"Anyway, we decided to go to the next town, Lindow, you want to tag along?"

Yuri was tempted with the offer, but, he had a conflicting thought. Should he tag along or use the [Heaven's Will]. He was weighing his options for a second, and decided to tag along. He can use the [Heaven's Will] at any time, but he didn't know where he will end up, so he decided to go to the next town instead, aside from gathering more information about the war, he also needed to upgrade his inventory slots.

"Yeah. I'll tag along, thanks." Yuri smiled.

"Let's go then before it gets dark." The man with the sword led the way, "Oh right, why didn't you join our party newbie."

"Ah, I didn't want to leech your experience...I'm just a burden anyway." Yuri declined with a smile on his face, he assumed that the two was a high leveled player.

The man with the sword became stiff when he heard that Yuri said he was a burden. Now, he was obliged to defend him from the onslaught of monsters along the way, he smiled awkwardly, "Oh...Just don't stray away from me...ROMMEL!! WE'RE DEPARTING!!"

"COMING!!" Rommel, the man with the axe strapped behind his back, ran towards the two.

The three journeyed through the barren wastelands, they walked pass the Stonehelm ruins. Yuri scanned the ruins along the way. He was horrified by the sight, he also saw the skeleton remains of the citizens, littered across its broken pavements.

----

"[Bull's Charge]"

"[Triple Slash]"

The sun glowed in orange radiance, the three has walked along the great plains of Arugal for three hours, and finally arrived at the entrance for Lindow forest that connects between the two towns. They were ambushed along the way, mainly by bandits and wolves, but the two men took care of it like it was their usual daily business. Yuri, on the other hand, was watching in the back, deciding not to get in the way.

Clop Clop

The three perk their ears.

"Infantries?" Rommel asked.

"Probably a small scouting unit...But...What are they doing in here? Also from which army?"

The sounds of metal clanging and horse walking spread throughout the forest. The two hide their presence in the bush near the main dirt road. Watching the two actions, Yuri did the same.

The soldiers walked passed them, there were around a hundred people in that unit. They were armed to the teeth, marching slowly towards the perimeter of Lindow with their boar face sigil in their banner. Yuri also saw the leader, riding in his armored horse and guarded by four more horse rider in his front and back.

'Maybe this was Lindow army...' He thought in his minds.

*CREAK*

Yuri was startled by the sudden noise, he turned his head towards the two, and noticed that their face turned pale, 'SHXT!'

"WHO GOES THERE!"

The soldiers armed their weapons and aimed at the noise source, "COME OUT!! OR WE WILL ATTACK!!"

The two were pale, they walked out from their cover with their hands holding the back of their heads.

"ARE YOU, ENEMY SPIES!!" One of the soldiers asked, he scrutinized the two, and point his weapon to Rommel, "YOU!! TALK!!"

Rommel panicked, his hands were sweating, and his eyes were trembling by fear, "N-No!! We're just an adventurer, intending to go to Lindow."

The soldiers were staring at them, their faces were wet with sweats. It rolled down through their cheeks and dropped into the ground. The leader moved towards them, he scanned the two once more, "Kill them." He ordered on top of his horse.

The two trembled, if they were to die now, they will have to wait three months before they can play again. Their accumulation of deaths have been stacked up since their newbie days, and they can't afford to add it once more. They dropped to their knees and begged for mercy.

Yuri saw all of it happening, especially the scene where the two begged in their two knees. Currently, he was still hiding in a bush near the back side of the soldiers, but, his morality side and his logical side was clashing inside his brain, if he were to die here, it would delay his plan, while the gods moved a step further from him. But, even if he confronted the soldiers, he didn't know if he will successfully escape with the two.

In the end, he chooses his morality instead of his logic, he knew the truth of this world. That, even if the body in this world was only a substitute, their souls remained theirs, and it only would damage them further, making them a cripple if they would experience death over and over. Knowing that fact, he gritted his teeth and jumped out from his cover.

He jumped too far and landed in front of the army leader. His thought was in chaos. He can't get out of the situation now. He still gritted his teeth, and at the same time, he stared at the leader while all the soldiers weapons were aimed towards his neck.

The leader saw his determined eyes through the slits of his helmet, he judged Yuri basing on his tattered equipment's "Oh. A weakling dares to show up?" The leader said with a smirk under his helmet, his eyes turned vicious and ordered, "Kill the two. Slowly! And, let this one witness it!"

The soldiers shivered by their leader orders, but, they were only a grunts soldiers and can only submit to orders, they gulped, and yelled, "YES, SIR!"

The leader laughed maniacally, and said, "After that, kill him too. HAHAHA!" While making a slitting motion across his neck.