Chapter 408: Meeting (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Within the Tarry River region, at a particular part of a mountain, there was a huge and dark cave; and at its entrance, there was a small lake, which reflected the azure sky and the white clouds amid it.
More than 10 people were waiting nearby the lake, all wearing black robes. Despite gathering so, all of them kept some distance between each other. Most of them were watching a red-robed person seated at the mouth of the cave.
"We have waited for two days already. I must return within the next three days or else they'll start suspecting." A woman standing beside the small lake questioned, "Where is Master Purple Eye?"
"Let's wait. He should be here soon," a man answered in a whisper, "Turin should have met up with him already."
No longer talking, the woman walked to one side and started meditating with her eyes closed.
It was already noon time. Time seemed to pass by slowly. The swooshing sound accompanying the wind was becoming louder, as if a banshee was screaming.
The loud noise awoke several wizards that were meditating.
"He's here," someone said.
The wizards nearby the cave glimpsed at the forest.
Two people were slowly heading toward the cave they were at, coming from the dark green forest.
All of them ceased chatting and those who were seated all stood up, their gaze falling on the two persons walking to them.
Of the two, the one in front was a man clothed in a robe of black, though the robe was not long enough to hide his dark red hair. The man looked at all the wizards there quite calmly, and he wore a purple-eye-shaped ring on his left hand.
"He must be Purple Eye," someone spoke seriously.
Angele walked before Turin and observed them carefully.
He checked the information stored in the biochip and identified them quickly.
Angele walked to the cave entrance and looked around.
"I'm glad everyone is here. The organization has assigned me to become the leader despite the fact that I may not be the strongest here, and…" Angele paused for a second then continued, "I hope you cooperate with. Everything we do is for the better future."
No one reacted or spoke out as if they were waiting for one who would begin talking.
The cave bore pure darkness within, behind the wizards, and cold winds were coming out of it. The temperature of the surrounding area also plunged because of it.
Angele scanned the wizards, "Do you have anything to say? If not, I shall start giving out orders in accordance with the rule."
"Wait!" Someone took a step forward right when he finished.
The person was a man clothed in red, had a pair of purple eyes, and a see-through skin wherein the bones could be seen by Angele. The oversized robe he was wearing made him appear to be a child in an adult's clothes.
"I have a question." The man eyed Angele.
"You're Victoria, aren't you? Go ahead." Angele stayed unperturbed.
Victoria chuckled. "I want to know, what will happen if we don't obey your orders?"
Angele looked around, a smile appearing on his face. "I won't give out orders that won't benefit us all and orders that are impossible to fulfill. And since you're here, I think you already know what's going to end up happening. The world is changing as ever, yet there is nothing we can do. Ergo the reason we came together in this place. As long as you obey my orders, I shall protect you in the pandemonium that will soon come.
"Also, if you ever try to betray my trust, I shall enforce the rules and punishments of the organization upon you." Angele lifted up his left hand and blatantly revealed the purple ring to everyone. "This ring proves my identity as your superior and the right to banish you from the organization. If you do not obey my orders, or if you make a big mistake, you know what will happen."
Angele derided them. "All of you knows the secret. You should know the consequences if you're banished from the organization, v ery serious consequences."
"We know the consequences. We will be chased down, killed, and then turned into puppets at the beck and call of the organization," a middle-aged female wizard answered him. "What I want to know is the standard of this 'big mistake' you mentioned."
Angele's eyes fell on Victoria, who was standing before him. "You must restrain yourselves, and never do anything that will become a hindrance to the entire plan as a whole."
He paused for a second then carried on, "Earlier, Turin slew a band of bandits and the people whom they were attacking. I have nothing against that, but it's completely unnecessary. I don't think drawing the attention of the public is a good idea at this point."
"Huh? It's not necessary? What should have I done then?" Turin stepped up and asked.
Angele glowered at Turin. "You could have killed the bandits and made yourself seem like a hero just passing by. It would have been fine had you killed the bandits only. But killing all of them was a problem. There's a line between good and evil, and you broke it. That way of dealing with such situations isn't a clever one."
"My mistake then," Turin smirked and bowed slightly to Angele. "I'll be careful next time."
"Good." Angele nodded then turned once again to Victoria.
The red-robed Victoria was watching Angele with a detached face.
"Also, Victoria, you're the troublemaker of this group." Angele traded a glance with this bloodsucking murderer. "As a wizard, we ought to devote our time to improving ourselves to become much stronger. Meaningless genocide will only drag you into the spiral of vengeance."
"I have my own way of dealing with things," Victoria retorted.
"Slaughtering for no reason will increase the possibility of our secret plan being exposed to the society."
"Giving orders already, are you? I may show you respect, but that doesn't mean I'll obey you," Victoria screwed up his eyes, "or do you really think I won't try to kill you?" Red fluid gushed out of his red robe, his body seemingly surrounded by red mist. Purple glow filled his eyes, and he started releasing a terrifying mentality in every direction.
Woooo!
Victoria conjured a vortex that contained pressure. The vortex began its expansion, albeit slowly.
"I didn't give you an order, only telling you what a true wizard is," Angele spoke out calmly.
Chi!
Victoria raised his right hand up.
A streak of light flashed and completely materialized into a crimson crossguard sword.
The sword-point touched Angele's nose and left several thin lacerations on his skin.
"Are you serious? Are you telling me that I don't know what a true wizard must do?" Victoria's voice turned cold. Angele could now feel the intent to kill surface from the man.
Yet, Angele's facial expression did not change. "I'm only telling you what I think. You have two choices, kill me or obey me."
Victoria's gaze slowly switched onto the purple ring on Angele's left hand.
Chi!
The blood-sword dissipated and transformed into a blood sphere, sinking into his robe. An amiable smile instantly surfaced on Victoria's face.
"Why would I kill you? You're the leader assigned by the organization and if you want, you can banish us from the organization. No one here will… mess with you. Don't worry."
"That's good if those are your true thoughts." Angele seemed oblivious to the wounds on his nose. He, too, smiled. "The organization would punish you if you killed me, and had I banished you from the organization, someone from the organization would solve the problem for me. No one wants to die a turncoat, right?"
"Absolutely." Victoria walked to Angele's right. Turin was standing on Angele's left. Both of them were expressing their submission.
"What are you doing?" Angele's voice turned cold, as he stared at Victoria.
"You!" Victoria's face soured as he, too, looked at Angele in the eyes. The atmosphere became heavy. It felt as if a battle between the two could start at any time.
Angele lifted up his left hand. "Maybe I should banish you from the organization."
"I'm sorry, leader." A smile appeared on Victoria's face yet again. When he lifted up his right hand, a red light flashed in the air.
His right hand fell to the ground. Blood was boiling in his wound, yet it did not splatter.
Victoria was still smiling.
"I totally respect your words. Please forgive me."
Angele loosened up. "Why, Victoria? Cutting your hand off will weaken your life energy. I knew there was a misunderstanding. You know I was just trying to clear things up, right?"
"Yeah… It took me some time to understand the situation." Victoria picked up his right hand and walked up to Angele.
The rest of those who gathered were not crazy like Victoria. They already had understood the situation and paid their respect to Angele. Turin and Victoria were the only two persons who wanted not to be controlled by someone weaker than them, while the other members had none such problem.
Turin and Victory were the only ones here that were stronger than Angele in any case.
"We have nothing against your decision if Master Victoria follows your orders."
"You're the Purple Eye. The rule says we must follow your orders."
"There will always be one or two persons who would want to test you. They don't even know how powerful you are."
The wizards started licking Angele's boots. In spite of that, one person thought otherwise.
The crowd quieted down as a person wrapped in a black robe took a step forward.
The person put down their hood. It was a woman, a beautiful woman who had a pair of attractive and clear eyes.
"I wouldn't be as kind as you are right now if I were you. Victoria will bring trouble to the group. We should kick him out." The woman seemed to despise Victoria a lot.
"It's you, Lela!" Victoria recognized who the woman was, but his reaction was a bit unusual. The man began surveying the surroundings as though he was looking for something.
"Where are your cuties? Didn't you bring them here?"
Lela chuckled. "They are here, but I'll never reveal them to you."
Angele moved his eyes and looked at Turin, Lela, and Victoria successively.
He noticed how the others seemed to fear this wizard called Lela. She must have a powerful backing and a high skill level. Only basic intel about her was on the report sent to him by the organization.
"All right, let me explain my plan." Angele clapped his hands to draw everyone else's attention. "You have already agreed to join me since you're here today. Turin, Lela, and Victoria will each be a captain of a unit. All of you should have powerful backing in your own territories. Everyone here has different specializations. In any case, please send all intel to Lela, who will then send out a report to me after verifying the gathered intel. Victoria and Turin, you two make sure we possess a powerful force at our disposal whenever necessary. Only elites shall be selected as soldiers; I don't need weaklings. I hope all of you can contribute to the establishment of this army. I'll reward each of you with mission points accordingly."
Angele fulfilled his plan of asking the wizards to build up an elite troop directly under their control so that he could have a force that could fight for him whenever necessary. Using mission points as a reward was also a reasonable action.
The wizards began pondering after Angele said everything.
Although they decided to serve the organization to survive in the future pandemonium, they were worried that the organization would dispose of them once they could no longer provide the required quota. They had to figure out how much they should contribute to the organization.