Their shock was justified. Even within the shadowy corridors of the Dark Master organisations, the existence of the Mystic Arts was a myth, a whispered legend that most dismissed as fantasy.
They themselves hadn’t truly grasped the heaven-defying reality of such powers until their clandestine eting with the monsters who had commissioned this mission.
And here stood a youth from a "lower realm" who wasn’t just aware of these secrets—he claid to be a Cardinal, a high-ranking powerhouse of that very hidden world.
Suddenly, a cold, sickening clarity hit them. They realised, with a sinking dread, that they had been sent on a suicide mission.
The monsters hadn’t hired them just to kill a troubleso master; they had targeted William because he was a Cardinal, a natural predator destined to thwart their grand designs.
The organisation had sent them to face a force they couldn’t possibly comprehend, and while they didn’t know why the monsters hadn’t moved personally to eliminate him, they now understood that dealing with William was a task of cosmic difficulty.
"Well, the answer for that is simple," one of the masters finally managed to speak after William’s stern, expectant gaze began to feel like physical pressure. "To activate the lost formations of the Lookman’s era, one must exhaust an astronomical amount of scarcely valuable resources. Primordial cores, stabilised spatial dust... the costs are staggering. The price the monsters put on your head, while generous, wasn’t enough to justify such an expenditure. We are a business, first and foremost. We had to cut our losses and use known formations that cost relatively little to maintain."
"Are you telling you acted stingy, and that petty greed led to your downfall?" William stared at them, speechless for several long seconds. A look of profound disappointnt crossed his face.
"You chose coins over survival, and now you’ve lost both. Damn! That really hurts to hear! To think I was breached by an organisation that shops in the bargain bin!"
William sighed deeply, closing that ntal Chapter and storing the scrolls away into his spatial ring with a flick of his wrist. His eyes turned icy once more, the brief mont of academic interest vanished.
"Now, tell about those monsters. How did you et them? What exactly did they ask of you? What were the specific terms of the deal, and what were the ultimate benefits you expected to gain? Tell everything—their long-term plans, their current whereabouts, and the nas they use. Give every scrap of data you possess!"
William rained a deluge of questions upon them, his voice sharp and unrelenting. However, as he spoke, he noticed the three enemies exchanging subtle, flickering glances. They were communicating through spirit telepathy, weaving a desperate plan in the silence between his words.
"How about this," the oldest of the three suddenly interrupted, his voice gaining a sudden, strange stability. He looked at William with a gaze that had moved past fear into a territory of radical pragmatism.
"We will share everything we know with you. And I don’t just an the answers to the questions you just asked. I an everything."
"What do you an?" William’s eyes flashed with a dangerous, predatory light. His mind began to spin, calculating the angles, guessing what kind of gambit these three were about to play.
"I an... everything!" the man repeated, leaning forward despite his wounds. "The secret intelligence regarding those monsters, the blueprints of their global plans, every detail of our negotiations... but also everything we know about the Dark Master world in the Upper Realm. The secret deals with various continental forces, the hidden agendas of the great sects, and even the classified information regarding that deadly and terrifying Fox! We will give you the keys to our entire organisation’s knowledge. All of it, Young Master!"
He bowed his head low, the movent followed instantly by the other two.
"Young Master, please accept us as your useless servants!"
"Young Master, we are willing to serve you unconditionally! From this mont on, our loyalty is undying!"
In front of William’s widened eyes, the three high-ranking Dark Masters—n who, hours ago, carried themselves with the haughty arrogance of the Upper Realm—leaned their foreheads to the blood-stained ground.
They knelt in the dirt and debris of the plaza, their broken pride replaced by a frantic, survivalist devotion as they addressed him collectively as their Young Master.
The sight was so surreal it stopped William in his tracks. For a mont, even his vast, calculated mind froze.
He had prepared for a bloody interrogation; he had mapped out the psychological pressure points needed to break their wills; he had expected a struggle of spirits. He never saw this coming.
The re thought of these elite hunters switching sides so shalessly had never flashed through his mind before.
And yet, as he stared down at them, the strategist in him began to stir. He thought about what this rising dark organisation truly represented.
These were not just foot soldiers; they were the architects of a shadow network that spanned the realms.
The amount of information, the deep-seated secrets of the Upper Realm, and the logistical reach they could share with him was staggering.
If he held their leash, he held the keys to the very kingdom he intended to conquer. He had to seriously consider the offer.
"If I were you, I’d take what they offer."
Just as William was feeling puzzled and at a loss, a sudden, familiar voice startled him. He turned to see Becky and Lara finally arriving at the plaza, flanked by the fifty strong monsters that had served as their vanguard.
The two girls looked battle-worn but triumphant. They had done exactly what William expected: they had thodically exterminated every enemy force at the base of the mountain.
With no working portals left to take them back to Lara’s city, they had ascended to the fortress to regroup.
As they approached, Becky had utilised her spirit sense to eavesdrop on the final monts of the negotiation.
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