Chapter 511: Passing the Gates of... (1/2)

Once the last of the strange hulking eerie figures disappeared through the portal, the robed, hooded figure turned around and walked back to his seat. Only after he was gone and sat down did Sebas, the representative of the last bastion, the Masked Mistress, stood up and walked up to take his place next to the swirling gateway.

He gave a silent, but courteous bow towards the crowd, then turned and looked at the last group standing at the side Aiden and the Silver Howl mercenaries.

As their gazes met, Aiden gave a calm, collected smile, and turned towards his group.

”Come guys, let's go.” He said motioning for his team to step up.

Unlike the others before him, he waited until everyone was up, and instead of standing at the front, he stood at the back, allowing Captain Don to act as the front of the group.

After all, it looked much more acceptable that a veteran was leading instead of a youngster.

Stepping up to the stage, the team stopped in front of butler Sebas. The elderly man, once everyone got close, flashed a polite-looking smile and bowed once again as he spoke.

”Sirs and Madams…” He began in his usual respectful tone. ”The Mistress wishes you all good luck and wants you to stay safe no matter what. Watch out, stay together and work as a team. Only then can you survive this ordeal.”

He gave a momentary pause in his words before continuing.

”The Mistress also wants to reassure you all that once we are able to, we will get in touch. Until then, stay close together and work to settle a base camp at a safe spot. Besides the other teams, there are many other dangers lurking in the shadows. Though they present this world as 'deserted', that term is far from the truth. Watch out.”

Ending his speech, he bowed once more and took a step back giving way for the team to step up to the portal. They took a look at the swirling dark void before Captain Don, raised his hand, and gave the marching order.

Following his words, the team walked through leaving only Aiden as the last to step through himself.

Meanwhile, Sebas was focused on the portal, looking at it with a stern gaze, seemingly deep in thought.

Just as Aiden stepped into the swirling mass of space essences and half of his body submerged in it, the dark void suddenly flashed again, the strange eerie red tint flared up once more.

A violent torrent appeared, sucking greedily at the stunned teenage boy, causing his body to abruptly fall through the barrier and vanish from sight. Ripples traversed across the previously calm surface as his figure was forcefully pulled through the dimensional gateway.

A moment later, as the last of the contestants crossed through, the surface of the gateway began to violently churn and twist. The reddish hue faded a moment later, returning it to the previously dark ebony tint just before the entire spell began to lose the last of its power and crumbled into tiny particles in the air.

In a few moments, the grand display, the mighty portal was gone, leaving no entry into, or a way to escape from the other side where several dozens of soldiers, little chess pieces for the four pillars have traversed onto.

With a heavy sigh escaping his lips, Sebas looked at the strange, masked, hooded figure with a solemn gaze, as he walked back to his seat and took his place. At the same time, he could only hope that his worries were unfounded and there was no foul play involved…

—

Beneath the dark canopy of the trees, at another plane, the usually deep silence was suddenly disturbed. The air just a couple of inches above the ground abruptly began to twist and flicker. The lingering essences in the air began to line up and form a rugged line, as a vermilion, dark red line appeared. The strange-looking spatial tear rapidly expanded, in a couple of seconds, an amorphous hole hummed with an eerie noise. Ripples spread across its surface, growing in intensity with each passing moment.

Eventually, the hole spread until it reached the size of a window only for its surface to ripple with even more power and spit out something or most likely, someone from its depths.

As the figure crashed onto the dewy grass, the hole began to shrink, only to disappear just as swiftly as it came.