1340 Construction 2 (1/2)
”The White Dragon Mountain is by no means a single entity, there are many factions within it as well. Yes, I do hate those two emissaries to the core, but that has nothing to do with these two powerhouses before me. Besides, they've come here especially to help me solve my problems,” Garen retorted. ”I have no interest in pushing away my own helpers.”
He looked at Kratos.
”However, you, Kratos, made an enemy of me in the past. You knew that these two masters are here especially to meet me, and yet you came along with them. Add that to your words from earlier, and are you sure you're not here just to raise suspicions between us?!”
As soon as he said that, the two geezers' gazes on Kratos changed slightly as well.
Kratos was completely flushed red as he stared at Garen with eyes full of hatred, but he did not know what to say just then either. His antagonizing attitude aimed at creating a rift between them was too evident earlier, which made it hard for him to deny right now.
”Alright, both of you, take a step back. After all, Kratos is here on behalf of Wanku Fortress. He's here on business matters this time.” The friendly elder hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
”Hmph.” The other elder harrumphed coldly, and his gaze on Kratos had become slightly unfriendly as well.
Kratos knew that he could not stay here any longer, so he decided to just leave. Before he left, he gave Garen one fierce glare.
Garen hesitated but still did not make a move.
Kratos was here on behalf of the Wanku Fortress, which meant that if Garen attacked him now, he would be attacking the Wanku Fortress. That would definitely greatly anger the Wanku Fortress Master, and then it just would not be worth it.
Besides, since Kratos dared to come here alone, that must mean he had done all the necessary preparations. If Garen attacked and still could not keep him here, things would get very troublesome.
Garen persuaded the two elders properly and then sent someone to follow Kratos. As expected, the guy still had another bodyguard, another mysterious character with an obscure aura who followed closely behind him.
After he settled those two old geezers, giving them all sorts of tasty food, delicious drinks, and fun distractions, Garen turned around and left the mansion. Bringing two members of the White Feather Guard with him, he headed straight for an underground cave outside the city.
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Upon entering the underground cave, taking many twists and turns in the dark tunnel, he walked on for goodness knew how long, and finally saw the wall at the end of the cave appear before him.
Garen gestured at the two White Feathers behind him to stop, and he walked forward alone.
He knocked the wall lightly. The stone wall immediately began to fade on its own, like an illusion, and Garen instantly walked into another dark black ancient temple.
There was a faint illusion-like fog permeating through the temple. If you were not paying attention, you would feel as though this fog was everywhere, but when you looked at the fog carefully, you would notice that they did not seem to exist at all, and it was the distortion and refraction of light.
By now, a few figures had already gathered in the temple.
When they saw Garen enter, the figures all turned around.
”Commander, why did you summon us here so urgently?” said one voice drily.
”An important event is approaching, and this is the crucial moment right now. We should avoid meeting as much as possible, just in case anything goes wrong,” someone else said softly.
”I have an extremely troublesome problem that I need your help with,” said Garen seriously.
The group before him was a small group called Proof of Deception. They were an underground organization, and even the weakest of these members were at Level Twelve. One of them even vaguely had the aura of a Demigod.
A Demigod! That was a being as powerful as Lady Vengeance's true body, that was more than enough to become the Fortress Master of a fortress in the Ten Thousand Abyss Plains.
Such a being had actually appeared in this small group, and that was also the main reason Garen treated this group so solemnly.
If it were not for the fact that he was backed up by the almighty Ann, he probably would not even have the right to sit here and talk to these beings on equal terms.
Although Proof of Deception treated him relatively respectfully, they were not his subordinates. When they heard that he needed help, they instantly fell silent.
”This matter could even provide you more souls in preparation for the important event around the corner.” Garen smiled faintly. ”I believe all of you are still fretting over a source of Advanced Souls, no?”
”Oh? You have a way?” said the leader of the Proof of Deception, the one that almost seemed to be a Demigod.
Garen smiled.
”I wouldn't say I have a way, but I happen to have two ready-made souls…”
”If we can have two more pinnacle souls among the offerings to the Deception Demon Master, perhaps we might be able to speed up milord's rate of regeneration?”
”But what about the chaos that may cause?” said Proof of Deception's leader, frowning. ”Every Level Fifteen peak powerhouse has deep roots and foundations. When they've reached that level, even if they die, their souls will be retrieved by the God they revere. If we steal such a soul, our troubles will be endless.”
”I'm not afraid of trouble.” Garen's expression darkened. ”Besides, didn't we come to this world in order to create trouble?”
He was stuck at a bottleneck, and there were only two ways someone with enough power could break through to Level Twelve. One was in divinity research, but that required a Wizard Tower to block out the Gods' detection.
The second was the method he had newly discovered, utilizing the Enneahedron and the evolution of his Void Original Opus.
Throughout just the past year, he had seen some Void Creatures use the Enneahedron with his own eyes. They slaughtered indiscriminately within a few short months, and went from lower than Level Eight all the way up to Level Thirteen, advancing so quickly that even Garen could barely believe it.
These Void Creatures only stopped when they reached Level Thirteen, having apparently reached a bottleneck. But such a speed of progression had already surpassed how Garen's pace from back then.
According to his secret observations, those Void Creatures also seemed to be the souls of middle-level Demon Lords. Just like him, they had all sorts of special abilities, with a great variety of methods and incredible survival power.
If it were not for his relationship with Ann, Garen would have been in danger of losing his position as Deputy Commander a long time ago.
He exchanged communication methods with the people from the Proof of Deception.