Ren tried to rummage through his memory about a certain player named Joker, but he couldn't think of any information about him. It was like he just came out in thin air and disappeared in the future.

Ren had never heard of a player with the name Joker before and a Chronomancer at that.

Did his actions cause this?

He had changed a lot of things in the present, so maybe it caused a butterfly effect, causing previously unknown players to come out and unknown events to ripple in the present.

Ren was busy thinking about it, and his focus was momentarily shifted on this topic. It seemed like Black Lion would win with the arrival of an unknown player.

Back in the war, Xian and the others couldn't move. Time had stopped in their location while Scar did quick work out of them.

With [Multicast] in his arsenal, Scar unleashed [Death Cavalry] twice. The damage was enough to kill Xian and his subordinates, claiming their much-awaited victory once and for all.

Black Lion had been leading from the start, and if they managed to destroy Guns and Knives' TH while successfully defending theirs, then that was the end of it.

Guns and Knives lost to Black Lion with a gaping one thousand points difference since they didn't manage to break Black Lion's TH. Though they made up for it by destroying other structures, it was not enough to close the gap.

From start to finish, Black Lion's aim had always been the opposite side's TH. Their plan was always to deploy near the enemy's Town Hall and ignore the other structures and defenses.

This made Ren wonder if that was also a calculated risk on Black Lion's part and if everything was planned by that green-haired guy named Joker.

Scar would never be that bold. That guy was always cautious and greedy, wanting it all. If it had been up to him to decide, Black Lion would definitely try to break as many structures before destroying the TH to make sure that they earned enough points.

As Ren watched the screen that rained confetti and boomed cheers for Black Lion's victory. With their win, they had claimed their spot as the number one guild.

Ren couldn't say that he wasn't disappointed, though. He would be a hypocrite if he didn't wish to see Black Lion went down in the rankings.

They were enemies, after all.

It would be nice if Black Lion continued to plummet in the rankings, but it seemed like they were desperate enough to employ someone, even at the cost of giving up the leadership.

Ren's lips quirked at the side . . . Well, he was always up for a challenge. It was about time that someone showed up to spice things up.

When the camera zoomed in on Joker's face, Ren didn't know if it was just a coincidence, but their eyes met, and Joker smiled at the camera. His gaze was an endless pool of mirth, like he was challenging him somewhat.

". . ." Ren didn't back down.

No matter who it was, Ren would defeat him as he did to Scar and all others that had gotten in his way.

Leonel slumped into his seat after releasing a long blast of breath into the ceiling. "Too bad that Isolde and the others lost."

"Being second is already amazing amongst the hundreds of guilds in their category," Ren said.

"I wonder if Isolde's going to be alright."

Ren briefly shot Leonel a look. "Why?"

"It's because she failed to defend their base. She told me that she gets blamed a lot by Xian. That's why she doesn't like staying in the guild."

"Even if Isolde did defend their TH, as long as Black Lion destroyed theirs, they still won't win. So Isolde isn't to blame here. Besides, she's the reason why they're number two in the first place. No matter how good you are, you can't carry the whole guild."

Leonel was only nodding his head the whole time. "Right. Right. Exactly what I thought. But I'll still call her, just in case. Being number two is not bad."

Ren stared at Leonel, eyes full of meaning as he flashed a lazy half-smile. "You're awfully concerned about her."

Leonel paused and shifted his eyes to Ren. "Aren't you? She's our friend, so it's only right that I'd get worried."

"You sure that's the only reason?"

". . ." Leonel blinked, face genuinely baffled as to what Ren was talking about. "Yeah? What else could it be?"

Ren decided to shut his mouth. The last time he interfered, he caused a huge misunderstanding between the two. So this time, it would be better if they took their time without any outside interference.

"There's going to be a short break after this, right?" Leonel asked.

"Yeah," said Ren, chin perched on his palm as he watched the awarding ceremony of the Guild Wars on the wide screen above them. "But this time, it's only going to be a half day break in preparation for the Halloween Event."

"I guess there's no rest here. There are tons of events that keep you on your toes," said Leonel while messaging Isolde. "After the Halloween Event, there'll be a Christmas Event, and then the New Year's Event, and then the Valentine's Event."

Leonel went on and on until Scar showed up on the screen, speaking in an interview.

"I guess Black Lion would be the talk of the news for days to come."

Those were Leonel's exact words, and Ren couldn't agree more. They expected that Black Lion would be the front cover of the news and media and that Scar's face would be all over the net. After all, they were the champion of their league. And they reclaimed their spot as number one in the leaderboards.

So that was how shocked he was when the next day, it wasn't Black Lion who was the talk of the town, but a certain player that Ren knew.

"Evie?" Ren was surprised to see Evie all over the news the next day when he woke up.

The first thing he saw when he checked his phone was her face in every forum.

Her real face!

There was even a video of her removing her mask, revealing her real identity. Everyone's focus were on the video but Ren couldn't take his eyes off of that beautiful face of hers. The sound of his heartbeat was so loud that he couldn't hear anything else.

Black Lion's win in the Guild War was completely overshadowed by this shocking news.

In fact, Black Lion's spot on the column was so minuscule compared to the numerous news related to Evie's face.

Evie's real identity became the highlight of the war, overshadowing Black Lion's win in the Guild Wars.

Ren didn't have time to ponder what happened next. Without even cleaning his face and taking a gurgle, he jumped into his pod and immediately teleported to where Evie was located.

Based on the time she posted the video only an hour or so had passed, and the half day break wouldn't start until another thirty minutes so she might still be there . . . in Lone Valley.

Why didn't he tell me?

Those were the thoughts that kept Evie awake the entire night and the reason why she wasn't functioning like a normal human being the whole day.

She purposely took a leave of absence the day before yesterday so she could go to Zephyr and ambush Leonel for a good talking.

A good thing that Leonel was alone when she cut his route going to school.

"What are you doing here?" she remembered him asking, looking at her with a mixture of surprise and unease.

She ignored him and approached him slowly. "I need to talk to you," she said as she looked over at him.

Now that she was standing face to face with his real body, Leonel's height was really something that it strained her neck.

Leonel shot up straight, clearly not expecting her sudden appearance and question. "A-about what?"

"You know exactly what. What's in the video that Saya has about me? Is that the reason why Ren is together with her?" The words tumble out from her lips like cascading waters.

She needed answers. Now!

Leonel was tight lip at first but her blank stares and poker face did wonders and he cracked under pressure.

She didn't know what to feel after what everything he said, though. Her inside swirled like the very strongest of tempests, and a web of emotion spun behind her wall of silence.

Until now, even after the Guild War was finish, Evie was curled on her bed and thought of her next move.

( . . . continuation on NOTES)

A/N

I was to busy today so only one chapter.

BONUS Chapter will be posted tom

Thank you to mYdr3Amw0r1d for the Super Gift

and everyone who supported the story this far