The whale settled down, and little Fey used metamorphosis to sit in front of him. Her form grew until she was exactly the same height as the whale, and Mistie looked into his eyes seriously.
"What happened, where have you been?"
She asked, and in her eyes Alm and Bruno saw many doubts, certainties, and extreme concern. She had discovered some very serious things and now wanted to confirm directly with them; she was digging, but in an honest and straightforward manner, which pleased both of them.
"It was as we predicted, the sect’s branch invaded the secret world. But they didn’t send an army; it was just a small group. Their leader was a heroic disciple of the Shadow God sect."
She listened to the introduction without surprise. She didn’t know exactly what had happened, but from the reports of the disciples who returned from the secret world, she had an idea. So, the whale calmly explained that Dem Zarn was sent on a mission because of the branch’s plea for help. In the end, the two groups fought, but neither side emerged victorious.
"We were destined to lose eventually," the whale explained lightly. "But luckily, we discovered the method they used to enter the place..."
They told something that wasn’t entirely true or entirely false. Their group managed to kill one of Dem Zarn’s women, and with her, they found something that saved them: a cyan spherical object...
Mistie’s eyes trembled slightly. Alm and Bruno realized that she had fallen. Surely, the method of locomotion among heroes to other universes was something known by the leader of one of the top twenty sects in the universe.
He went on to explain that all the enemies were Conqueror Empyreans, and their power was a pseudo-immortality. But he counted on luck and managed to use that and escape with everyone by the time the enemies were reborn.
"I fled with my tail between my legs to a distant place in the ascending world. It took me all this time to return. Along the way, I made friends with some new Empyreans... anyway, that’s what happened."
The whale finished speaking gently, and Mistie, attentive to him, couldn’t feel any fluctuation of lies or doubt in his words. She deeply believed that, with her experience, she could sense that coming from a young human. Then, she reflected on what he said and what she already knew; there were no conflicts, and it seemed believable, despite him having almost divine luck.
"It seems like Heaven’s Will is on your side..." She murmured with a heavy sigh. Alm and Bruno chuckled inwardly; she kind of hit the nail on the head perfectly, unknowingly.
"After the disciples returned and you didn’t, I and all the major powers of the sect demanded an explanation from the branch. I was ready to start a war; we had justifications to attack; our disciples saw the invaders, and that secret world belongs to us. The Shadow God himself couldn’t say anything." Mistie spoke quickly. "But when we reached the entrance to the world in the branch, everything was completely sealed. We surrounded them for several months, and nothing changed. Until we were forced to leave."
Alm and Bruno understood. That was why Dem Zarn and the Shadow God didn’t notice the abnormality within the branch’s world. The Yinblood sect had surrounded the entire area, and Dem Zarn simply ignored it.
The whale explained that, as he approached the region dominated by the Yinblood sect in the ascending world, he passed by a planet and saw demons attacking. There, he encountered the harpy who he brought along.
At that moment, Mistie clenched her fists tightly. "Yes, it seems that after your heroic disciple failed, something happened, and the Shadow God sect decided they would dominate all our resources and influence. For some reason, wherever members of the Yinblood sect were in the galaxy, they killed them. Thousands of Feys, along with our entire domain, were destroyed; we can’t even use our secret worlds. But they dare not invade the planet and use excuses to cover their deeds."
Seeing the extreme fury and concern in that Fey, Alm and Bruno sighed and spoke calmly. "Followers of the Merchant God were killed along with your commercial planet?"
"Hm? No, the Larimar Market seemed to have received the warning just before, and everyone fled. Besides the Heroes, no one dares to touch the followers of the Merchant God. They’re honest and fair, but if someone does something, an abnormal power is granted directly by their God in retribution, and they can kill anything," she quickly replied.
"Great. Can you get in touch with them and create a market again for the Merchant God?" the whale asked lightly.
She looked at the whale skeptically and said, "It’s possible. But our sect has nothing attractive left for them to rebuild near us. All our resource sources have been cut off, and everything we have stored will be used internally to sustain us temporarily."
"Didn’t I tell you before?" The whale seemed surprised and spoke quickly, "My allies are powerful, not just because they are Empyreans. Even that heroic disciple named Dem Zarn couldn’t defeat us. That’s because we have the power of a God on our side, my master. I am a disciple of the Forge God."
Fey immediately froze in surprise, then asked incredulously, "How? You came from an ascending world... by the way, how long has it been since you visited your home?"
"A few years; shortly after Nafeyu invited us and left, I left with my group," the whale innocently replied. Then he pulled out a weapon he had forged long ago, which bore a runic seal.
Fey looked at that runic seal on the weapon and forgot to breathe. Then Mistie looked him straight in the eyes and fell silent. Surely, she had researched the whale’s origins and his group; she had found out that his entire planet simply disappeared. Upon further investigation, she learned that something abnormal and hidden had happened. But the information was secretive and related to heroes.
Nafeyu had been on that planet, and his faction of disciples had business there. She investigated with him, and he didn’t see anything too wrong. Everything seemed to have happened on that planet after the whale left... but she felt that something was amiss.
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"I understand... you left everything behind," she murmured and decided to accept. There were no clear reasons to doubt. "Disciple of the Forge God... well, that place was special; it makes sense there would be a heritage, so you... you can forge!?"
Immediately after reflecting aloud, her eyes lit up. "Do you want the new market to sell your weapons? They will run immediately after knowing this."
"Yes, tell them the sect now has a forger and is willing to sell fairly. With them nearby and a steady flow of these weapons, they will protect the new Larimar Market and won’t flee again. We can charge favors, big discounts, and ask for many things in return."
The whale explained, and Mistie pondered the consequences with her heart pounding. The followers of the Merchant God didn’t just sell things; everything could be negotiated at a fair price. And a disciple of the Forge God was something she wasn’t even sure existed in her galaxy. The Yinblood sect providing a steady stream of these weapons would be a very valuable treasure for these merchants; they would do everything to fairly repay this benefit.
Remembering that a galaxy was absurdly vast. Information about Vuard and the fact that the four families had a disciple only reached very few places, and everything ended before reaching that sect.
"The sect could form a partnership with them and create a great market... yes, I’ll allow them to build within the Gloom planet. That way, we can buy all kinds of things from them at an abnormal discount. It will be a unique benefit that no other sect will have."
Alm and Bruno nodded; she’s not a leader for nothing. "The sect members won’t need to go out to get things from outside. And we can also use the Larimar Market as a shield in strategic moments."
Fey’s eyes sparkled. That would be a lifeline holding them back from falling off the precipice. The followers of the Merchant God moved between planets and galaxies and had many contacts; they could be paid even for security during travels, all at a low price.
"With this, if we burn through our accumulated treasures, it will be very beneficial. We can sustain ourselves for an entire generation as a large sect, even without gaining more," she murmured, but Alm and Bruno chuckled sinisterly and said:
"Burn through? No, we’ll still get more and more resources from outside. The sect still has the red secret worlds, and we can ascend to the higher level without hindrance, right?"
Mistie made a strange face and replied, "In the higher secret worlds, any sect can send disciples. As for our three red worlds, although we still own them, the Shadow God sect will clearly invade and kill everyone. It’s not worth using ours, nor going to the higher ones."
"Don’t worry about that. My people will go in, we’ll use the three red worlds, and we’ll also go to the higher ones," the whale said calmly, leaving Fey shocked.
"I intend to expand my allies. I’ll use the sect to create factions with various people, so we can enter and obtain resources for the sect. But I’m very strict about accepting people. Therefore, in exchange for helping the sect, I think it’s fair to be able to change some rules and do things my way; it’ll be a partnership of mutual assistance."
Mistie looked seriously into the whale’s eyes. What did he intend? How did he have such confidence? Why couldn’t she doubt him? Many thoughts raced through her mind, but without him, the sect was doomed to become merely a protector of this planet’s secret, without any autonomy or power.
Currently, the Gloom planet was the home of almost all the Fey in the galaxy. It was a safe haven where, in the past, the sect’s founders united all the scattered Fey clans in the galaxy. Only a few clans did not join them.
There was no record in the universe of a planet where a specific race lived united and safe. Currently, on this planet, the Fey could live freely and, if they wished to simply live away from the outside world in the forest, they had that freedom.
But if the sect were to collapse, they would be used by outsiders at their whim, and the Fey of the planet would scatter; this paradise for the race would end, and all the efforts of their ancestors would be wasted.
"I have to discuss this with the counselors," Mistie said seriously, then stared at the whale and asked something from the depths of her soul, "You... what do you intend with all this? As a disciple of the Forge God, you could simply leave and easily elevate yourself."
"Hm? I understand your point... but I am just one person. Individual power has limits, so I won’t make the mistake of just elevating myself." The whale replied, determined to follow this path. Alm and Bruno had already treaded another path and didn’t see a good ending. Now, they really wanted to see where this would lead.
"You’re the leader of the sect; I’m placing my trust in you. If you grant me freedom for me and my allies, I promise that the Yinblood sect will reach heights you’ve never even dreamed of."
She listened and felt an infinite weight and ancestry coming from him, which made her not doubt. Then she took a deep breath and nodded, even though she didn’t understand why, she chose not to question it.