When Cekt ended the communication, a broad smile illuminated Will's previously ashen and gloomy face. Those standing nearby didn't miss the transformation. It was the first time in months that the merchant had shown a smile.
"Who was that you were talking to?" A tall beauty with unnaturally pale grey skin asked, a cryptic glint in her eyes.
This woman was far from ordinary. In addition to her long golden hair, wise golden eyes, and exquisite dark golden armor molded from the chitin her body excreted, it was the four pairs of deep golden angel wings folded behind her back that truly drew the eye...
'Damn, I had forgotten about her,' Will internally lamented. 'I should have asked what to do with her.'
The woman was none other than Caphriel, the supposed Schwazen Virtue, who had remained loyal to Aurae and escaped the Corruption that had swept through her race. The truth, however, was another story. She had fearlessly confessed to Jake that she was a double agent, a Digestor Trojan through and through.
The only difference between her and someone like Ruby was that Caphriel managed to retain her sanity and obey the orders of her creator, Aurae. Whom her loyalty truly lay with was unknown, but as long as she didn't commit any unforgivable mistakes, both Aurae and the Digestors would continue to use her.
Upon Jake's departure, Caphriel had burst onto the scene, full of smiles, and presented herself as a friend of Jake and Hade, intending to join their faction. At first, Will didn't doubt her words, as they could be easily verified. However, over time, her behavior - far from appropriate for a high priestess of Aurae - raised suspicions.
For instance, his investigations revealed that Pyrakkles and Caphriel had been seen together multiple times before he decided to partake in his Fifth Ordeal.
Whether she merely encouraged him or outright manipulated his suppressed ambitions remained uncertain, but mistrust was present.
Strangely, when Will and Asfrid dug deeper, they found her fingerprints on every disaster that had befallen their faction over the past four years. Grimwald, Xaverie, Lysander, Qewie, and many others, they all interacted with the enticing angel before taking the plunge.
If she had only helped them clarify their ideas or overcome their fears, Will would have nothing to say. The problem was if they had been brainwashed.
For a while now, he had suspected her to be a Corrupted one, not considering the possibility that she could be a self-controlled Digestor Trojan given Ruby's unpredictable behavior.
He mentally pondered whether to honestly answer her question but realizing it wouldn't make any difference, he stood up from his seat, a determined aura emanating from him, a far cry from his usual anxiety. Standing tall and with a conquering gaze, he seemed to have shed years off his age.
"Notify our willing members that the time to register for our Fifth Ordeal has come. Order of the boss."
Will carefully studied her expression for signs of panic or annoyance but was taken aback when the angel's beautiful face lit up.
"Finally! I've been itching for some action. I can't wait to see Jake slaughter them all." she giggled, having a hunch why he hadn't returned in four years. Suddenly, she licked her lips thinking about another person. "Hade will participate too, right?"
The merchant frowned, puzzled by her out-of-the-blue question, but he nodded coolly, "He'll be there. So will Lucia and Ulfar."
With that, Caphriel wasted no more time, exiting the building where Will had secluded himself. The next moment, his ears picked up her amplified voice echoing throughout Jake's Floating Island, announcing the good news.
At that moment, it dawned on him that he had forgotten to ask her what she was doing in his Sanctuary, or rather how she got in. Was it because it was a gift from Aurae and she was one of his created angels? If that was the case, he'd need to take precautions next time he went into seclusion. His Dragon Guard was not enough.
When Caphriel's announcement ended, a wave of eager uproar immediately swept through the territory. Having long since restored wifi on their islands, in lieu of the Aether Network, heated comments quickly flooded the substitute Faction Chat, drowning out the previous conversations in the blink of an eye.
[Mufasa: At long last...]
[Crunch: The master's back!!]
[Lord Phenix: About damn time! What's the point of immortality if I get no chance to fight?]
[Gerulf: I never thought I'd say this, but I'm starting to see this Fifth Ordeal as a vacation. With Pyrrakles and these Space Digestors hassling us, I can't catch a peaceful nap.]
[Peter Brady: That's the longest and most intelligible sentence I've heard from you since we met.]
[Gerulf: ...]
[Rogen: I can do better!]
[Peter Brady: ... Please, don't.]
[Enya Velseyel: Will? Is this for real?]
[Will Hopkins: As real as it gets. I don't joke about these things.]
[Esya: Hell yeah!!! Let's see if that Pyrrakles bastard dares to harass me once Jake is back!]
[Lily Wilderth: That creep doesn't even spare minors...]
[Tim Paradis: Lily, I swear he won't lay a finger on you!]
[Secyone: Sigh... I mainly hope that when he returns, my two sons won't have to give their blood to the Dracul clan for peace anymore. I thought at least with his empire, we wouldn't have to fear these vampire clans, but in the end, the danger came from within...]
[Aisling: I feel ashamed...]
[Maeve Gibson: He'd better have a good reason... Meanwhile, I still have no clue what happened to my brother.]
[Qewie: What's even worse is that he's still alive...]
The comments kept pouring in, and although most were enthusiastic and positive, there were those like Maeve who harbored bitterness against their leader for his four-year absence when they needed him the most. As for Qewie's clearly hostile remark, no one challenged it, fully understanding her reasons.
Beyond blaming Jake for the massacre of her Avian Clan and her uncles, she also held him responsible for the death of Lysander and numerous Werebeings who were forced to participate in their Fifth Ordeal unprepared.
It was certainly irrational and unfair, but Qewie was still an immature young woman. She would grow up eventually. In contrast, Kenway's silence, even after the good news, was considerably more worrisome.
Judging by certain comments, it was abundantly clear that Pyrakkles and his minions had been shut out from this new Faction Chat. Will had no doubt about the likely presence of spies, but he hardly cared if word of the conversations trickled back to the Myrmidian. After all, no one was hiding their disdain towards him and his shitty empire.
Actually, Will wanted them to be in the know. He wanted them to grasp that the fun and games were over, that their reign would meet its end...precisely at 8 a.m. sharp the day after tomorrow!
While the Myrtharian Nerds' joyous celebration seemed set to last all day, a series of thunderous crashes followed by the shrill blare of an alarm abruptly silenced the merriment.
Will, now comfortably seated cross-legged in his dragon sanctuary, tethered by an unseen spiritual link to his dragons that lurked protectively in the shadows, lifted his head at the noise and grumbled with a sullen expression,
"Here we go again... After the announcement Caphriel just made, I bet Pyrakkles won't be handling this with as much enthusiasm as usual. Charizard, let's go all out today!"
Outside, hundreds of thousands of Space Digestors had already crowded the sky, crashing against their previously nonexistent energy shield, which instantly shattered. Their Ranks weren't too high, thankfully, or they would have suffered heavy losses from withstanding all these attacks from outer space.
The only problem was that the frequency of these assaults, as well as the number and average Rank of Digestors in each wave, kept escalating. For now, Pyrakkles, Phirune, and the vampire clan elders behind Wyatt were more than enough to keep them in check and deal with their alphas, but who knew how long that would last.
Jake's return announcement came just in time. Without him, they likely would've been thrust into their Fifth Ordeal willingly or not within a few weeks to a few months.
This wasn't just because of the recurring onslaughts of Space Digestors but also due to the end of their diplomatic immunity. The emissary from Mirror Vanguard had arrived by spaceship a few weeks earlier, and the news he brought with him was less than heartening, to put it mildly.
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