The ground was pitch black before, filled with lots of redness that came from lava that came from underground. But now it was white in colour, with a very distinctive black tower, one long and huge tower at the end of his sight.
He didn't need to go there to guess what it was. Just from all the clues he gathered so far, he could easily tell it was a Black Tower.
"Black Towers only appear when a world is going to end, and another is on the verge of getting birth in its place… What's going on here?!!" William was deeply puzzled by this.
The Black Towers were something that wasn't done by man, not by monsters as well. It was a natural phenomenon, one that many described as the attempts of the universe to fix something big, balance what got ruined in a certain world.
It wasn't something related to pocket worlds, but to real big worlds. Many tiny worlds suffered from such fate. Any place the Black Tower appeared, many would appear as well at different parts of the world, ending up engulfing the entire world under a colossal formation, ending all lives there, destroying the world before reforming it again.
It wasn't the end of life, but new life would appear next out of nowhere. It was one of the biggest mysteries in the universe, and William knew this wasn't a good sign at all.
He was entrapped already inside one of the Black Towers' areas of effect. As long as a tower is formed, no life is allowed to continue in a certain zone around.
"We need to stop it!" He knew this was the only hope they got. Luckily for him, he found out about this quite early, before this tower got completely formed. Or else, there was no way to stop it, no way to save his and others' lives.
He instantly dropped what he was doing, returned back to the tunnel through an opening. There he found everyone were heading towards his direction, as if they intended to join him up above.
"Don't scare me again like this," the moment he returned back, Lara jumped and hugged him, crying in his arms. Next it was Berry, then other girls except for Lina and Sara. These two got better control over their emotions and didn't show the same reaction as others.
"What did you find out there?" Sloth appeared next, alongside many other strong masters who got saved by William before.
"We need to pick up our pace," William didn't explain things in detail, "or else, we are going to die."
"Is it this bad?!!!" The words of William didn't explain anything, but they were enough to scare and silence everyone. Even the girls in his embrace distanced themselves for a few steps, looking at him in doubt and disbelief.
William wasn't the type to say random stuff, not the type to exaggerate anything. So, if he said this was bad, then it was much worse than what he tried to convey.
Sloth spoke on behalf of everyone, and William nodded.
"I estimate we have less than one week here," William paused, "we need to disperse, form five teams, each will head towards a certain direction…"
William didn't just tell them it was bad and hopeless, but he started to instantly relay his orders. He had a plan, and from his words, tone, and attitude, everyone got that they had a chance if they followed what he was saying to the letter.
His plan was simple. He wanted them to go to five different directions, each led by one group of high-end masters of what they got. Luckily many survived, and thousands were here right now.
William told them about the directions they were heading towards, took out scrolls and started writing and drawing certain arrays.
"Once you are done, don't wait for anything, sit on the ground, and start training on this technique…" he even wrote down a certain technique, one that was responsible for activating the arrays, the grand formation once everyone finished their tasks.
"This technique…"
"Is it one that will destroy this place?!!"
The old and experienced masters recognised the general effect of this technique, couldn't help but turn to William and as in doubt and confusion.
"We need to do something, not to destroy the world, but to destroy something that's appearing right now on the top of our heads," William paused, thinking about telling them everything but deciding against it, "you just need to trust me on this. Our lives, all of our lives, including mine, depend on this."
"..."
His words carried their own weight over their spirits and minds. They decided without the need to chat among themselves to follow what he said to the letter.
"What about you?" As the teams were getting formed, everyone noticed that William stood away, distanced himself from any team, "what are you going to do?"
William looked at Sloth, while his closest friends sighed.
"He is going away," Ibra shook his head, "alone like always."
"This is growing to be a habit," Berry crossed her arms, "a bad one if you asked for my opinion."
"I've to do something, only I can do it," William didn't delve into any details, kept them in the dark for now, "just do your part, and leave the rest to me."
"If you want help, not a burden, then let me come with you," Sloth offered his help, ending up getting rejected.
"I have to do it alone, only I can do it," William acted stubbornly in their eyes, "I need all of you to stick and work together. Don't think this is going to be an easy job. The moment you start laying down the array, the entire world will come for your heads."
"As if it didn't already happen," Sara scoffed, "don't worry, leave this to us to handle. Just make sure you will return safely."
The discussion ended here. Everyone got that their tasks weren't as easy as William made them look like.
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