"This way, esteemed Cardinal," one of them, their leader, moved fast and pointed towards one portal. As William guessed it, there was a portal leading to the capital. And that meant he'd not waste a single second going back and forth towards Lara's city.
And yet as he followed that master and his team, William didn't feel any relief as he expected. Instead, the worry inside his spirit kept stirring up the closer he got to the portal.
"What's going on exactly?!" William didn't like this feeling, and he never doubted his alarming senses. This feeling was like an annoying bustling police whistle, a siren that kept ringing in his mind, as if he was heading towards a grand disaster.
And he was indeed walking towards one right now.
The moment William came out from the portal, he found himself inside another base of the Cult. this one didn't look much different, carved inside a mountain, but had one portal only there.
Unlike the base that controlled the entire continent, this one had only one master standing on guard. And when William, Alfred, and others appeared, he lazily walked towards them as he asked: "Please state your purpose for coming here."
"I want to go to the capital," William raised his ring. And the moment that master saw it, his face instantly changed. He was a middle-aged man, seemingly at dark gold grade. Yet he showed utmost respect towards William when he recognised that ring.
"Sure, this base is near the capital, esteemed Cardinal," the man paused before asking in caution, "I never saw your face before at the Cardinal Council list. May I ask if you joined them recently?"
"He just joined them minutes ago," Alfred responded on behalf of William, and the latter didn't find any problem letting Alfred handle such a situation. As the man was hearing the bits of news Alfred was aware of, he led everyone inside that base.
The base was really small, not like the main base William came originally from. The base just had five levels, and they appeared at the second one.
The middle-aged man explained that this base was temporarily used by the Cult legions if they had any missions to do in the area. Aside from him, there were five more who were out right now, doing reconnaissance tasks for the Cult.
His name was Liam, and according to him, this base expected the arrival of an entire legion just when the contest would start. Their task was to ensure that nothing wrong would happen, and William liked how the Cult placed importance over the contest.
Yet he knew no legion or legions were able to stop what was coming. He knew that Nightmare monster loved to do things in great detail, letting no room for any chance to happen.
William just listened to the talk between Alfred and Liam, before ending up at a long tunnel that led outside.
"This is the farthest I can lead you to," Liam stopped just at the entrance of this tunnel, "keep following this tunnel, and you'll end up at the ground just twenty kilometres away from the capital. Head east, and you'll arrive there in no time and without any problems."
"Monsters? Dark masters?" Alfred asked as if he was used to such situations, while William remained silent.
"The entire area is cleared regularly," Liam said in reassurance, "just head directly in full speed and don't worry about anything."
"Thanks," William waved while moving towards the tunnel. Just as Liam said, they walked for ten minutes or so, ending up on the surface through a well-hidden opening that was covered with a thick layer of bushes.
They appeared just from the middle of the bushes, and William could tell it was an array that would change the shape of the terrain here.
"Let's go," William located east easily thanks to the direction of the sun in the middle of the sky, "when we are moving, keep a distance of less than one hundred metres from me, from each other."
"This…" Alfred could tell this was a formation used while moving, fearing any attempt for decoy or something, "but the entire area is safe."
"I trust no one but myself," William knew once he arrived here, and danger lurked anywhere he went towards. And yet he never expected that the main danger was waiting for him at the capital.
In front of William's strict orders, Alfred and his team didn't find any room for negotiations. They followed his instructions to the letter, admitting his high status as a Cardinal and their future boss in the upcoming months.
After all the Grand Cardinal was clear on this, they were going to follow William for an entire year. So they moved, and as Liam said before, there was no danger anywhere till they arrived at the capital.
But when they approached the colossal and complicated walls of the capital, a large number of masters moved out from the nearby gates, running directly towards them.
William didn't feel anything unusual until he and Alfred's team got surrounded by dense numbers of masters. It felt weird, and he silently warned Alfred against doing or saying anything, letting him handle everything.
William waited for the masters to settle a bit, and someone eventually showed up. The masters parted ways and an old looking man, with long white hair appeared, walking slowly and yet he arrived in no time in front of William.
"A pinnacle master? What an honour!" William was calmly speaking, and yet his eyes showed how serious he was.
If they wanted to take him down or anything, he would fight and find a way to get out. But he felt they weren't that hostile to him, or else they'd have attacked the moment they got closer from them.
"I assume you are William, the leader of the Fox Guild, correct?"
The master spoke in a tone that showed no room for warm welcome or anything. But William felt it was his nature to speak this way, which made him doubt he was a normal pinnacle master in the capital.
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