"If those planning the downfall of the world wanted to succeed, then they have to take down such a force before attacking the world," William muttered to himself, while sitting in a room that was just enough to be called a small house at any other place.
It was all made out of stone, and even the fine touches of carpets and paintings on the walls failed to remove the cold touch of the stones making the entire place.
To him, it felt like a grand prison. And what he didn't know was that the Cardinals were watching and hearing everything he was doing and saying since getting into this room.
They didn't want time to just make up their minds about his offer, they also wanted time to closely watch him. And what he said next made their minds freeze.
"If so, then I have to help these folks in surviving the hit they don't realise coming… I have to prepare them to first defend their lives and preserve their order and Cult, before even saving the entire world later on…"
William's words weren't casual, and he looked dead serious when he said it. Back in the grand meeting hall he just left, and on top of the huge stoney table that the Cardinals were sitting around, a giant silver ball floated as if it was some sort of a screen.
It conveyed everything William did and said since leaving this place. And when William's words landed, everyone couldn't help but look at each other in doubt and disbelief.
"He can't be serious, right?" one of the Cardinals asked what others had in their minds, "he can't be thinking we are this weak or something, right?"
"I can tell he isn't lying about his words," another Cardinal said, while his eyes shone brightly in purple light. He got the same gift as Panther, the ability to see bits and pieces of the future.
"I can tell he believes what he just said, totally believing it down to the bones," another said while his body shone in cyan light. He got the gift to tell if someone's emotions and feelings were when speaking about something, a way to tell if someone was telling the truth or lying.
"If he believes what he said, and he isn't lying, then we have to take these insane words quite seriously," the Grand Cardinal had a better impression about William more than any other Cardinal here.
"Are you suggesting we are going to get attacked? That's not what the prophecy says…"
"The prophecy came from a long time ago," the Grand Cardinal rolled his eyes, "and the Grand Cardinal who said it died before continuing his words. Not to mention what guarantee any of us has that the old Cardinals saw everything related to that crisis? You all know how hard it is to get the bottom of anything in the middle of any backlash."
The words of the Grand Cardinal landed, and everyone went into silence. What he said was true, and they started to think differently, different from what the prophecy kept controlling the minds and thoughts of everyone for long time already.
"But we aren't weak!" another Cardinal argued, "no one in this world can handle us if we wanted to act."
"That's right, we have power, knowledge, resources, and our branches are everywhere! We can do anything we want without worrying of anyone or anything."
The Grand Cardinal let them all speak and express their thoughts. He knew they got the right to feel so, as all this was true. There wasn't a single known force in this world that could threaten them. And that made what William said seemed crazy.
"Let's not take any risks then," the Grand Cardinal waited until everyone said their piece and returned to silence, "we won't lose anything if we fortified our bases and armed up our forces for any upcoming war."
"Our bases are already fortified inside grand mountains," a Cardinal said, "it's impossible for anyone to attack us!"
"We are well secured indeed," the Grand Cardinal seemed to notice something in the attitude of everyone here, an attitude he once used to have, arrogance, "but there are many masters out there who can crush mountains. We aren't that safe actually. And when I thought about it just now, if we lost the outer shells of mountains, we are powerless and defenceless against any enemy."
"We won't let anyone touch the mountains without a fight!"
"Yes! We got enough forces to protect the mountains!"
"But we have zero traps or defences around the mountains," the Grand Cardinal didn't buy any of what his friends said, "and without this, without heavily fortifying the entire region around each base, we aren't safe. We don't even have detection traps around! How can we fend off any enemy if they knew about our bases?"
"Your point is?"
"We need to start fortifying our bases," the Grand Cardinal said it as if he took the decision on his own, "we need to study the areas around our bases extensively, start to prepare plans to fortify everything. Even if we have to go beyond our regions to lay down defences, we'll do! No matter what, we have to secure our homes."
This was just the beginning of a long and tiring discussion that lasted for few days. At the same time, William was sitting in his room, checking the scrolls he got, reading through their content.
At first, he planned to go through the scrolls fast. But after reading through few scrolls, he couldn't help but get lost and totally absorbed in their content.
The scrolls spoke about a new world that wasn't known to him. The Mystic Arts used by the Cult members weren't just aimed to see through anyone's fate and destiny. To William's surprise, these arts would help anyone to uncover the past, present, and the future of anyone, besides a far terrifying side of affecting someone, and making him make a certain decision.
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