Chapter 671: More Than a Guild

The sound of the guitar could still be heard among the ancient pillars.

After returning to the campsite, Lian stood beside one of the rocks for a while and looked at his three companions.

Rindo was examining the paths ahead, his Ten Star Spear was beside him.

Alicia was sitting a little farther away, using a small cloth to clean the dust from her sword’s blade.

And Noah was leaning against a rock, tapping his fingers on the handle of his closed umbrella; apparently, he was trying to copy the music that could be heard from far away.

Everything seemed normal.

But he could no longer fully trust this peaceful situation as he had over the past few days.

White Oblivion...

He now knew that the being imprisoned at the center of the prison was one of the Five Ancient Calamities; a being whose presence even the Nine-Venom Castellan feared.

On the other hand, Four had confirmed that the same Calamity was calling the Withered toward the center against their will.

But was its influence limited only to the prisoners?

Lian was not so sure.

Roderick’s behavior was the first thing that came to his mind.

He had hated Lian since the past, but during their final battle, his anger had turned into madness that had even destroyed his instinct to survive.

And if White Oblivion really had the ability to influence human minds, perhaps its interference had begun much earlier.

Even on the first day.

When Lian, Rindo, and Amelie had decided to investigate the ancient spring.

At that time, none of them had any particular reason to doubt that decision, the area was full of valuable resources, and investigating the spring seemed completely reasonable.

But now?

What if we only thought that decision was our own?

Of course, another possibility existed, perhaps their decision had really been independent, and he was now becoming too suspicious of the past.

Lian preferred not to consider either possibility certain without evidence.

His previous examinations had also shown no signs of a foreign force successfully entering his own soul or mind, the structure of his Golden Nine-Dragon Soul was still safe.

But he did not have the same information about the others.

Could they go crazy like Roderick? Or does its influence have other forms too?

His gaze stopped on Noah for a moment.

"What? Is there something on my face?" The young Frenchman noticed.

Young Vorhelm looked at him for a moment.

"No."

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

The corner of young Vorhelm’s mouth rose.

"I was wondering how you still haven’t gotten tired after talking so much."

Noah placed his hand on his chest.

"I can’t believe it! I’ve been trying to keep everyone’s spirits up this whole time, and this is how you thank me?"

Rindo laughed without looking away from the path.

"Actually, I sometimes wonder the same thing."

"Not you too!"

Alicia also gave a small smile.

Lian laughed with them, but he continued watching their reactions.

Noah was still the same talkative young man from the past few days, Rindo was still thinking about the safety of their route despite his exhaustion, and Alicia was still behaving calmly and carefully.

For now, there were no clear signs of anything unusual, but normal behavior doesn’t prove anything.

He decided not to rush.

If White Oblivion really could affect human behavior, he would first need to understand his companions’ personalities and motivations better to notice possible changes.

Of course, even such knowledge would not guarantee that he could always detect the interference of an outside force, even so, it was better than ignoring the problem.

"Anyway, did you find anything?" Noah asked calmly.

"No, I couldn’t find any trace of the musician."

"Ah, that’s too bad, looks like we’ll have to keep listening to this song." The young Frenchman sighed.

Lian looked toward the path ahead.

"Anyway, well, let’s get moving, we still have a long way to go before reaching the center."

Rindo folded his map and stood up.

"I checked the nearby routes, if we take the eastern platforms, we won’t need to cross those huge cracks we can see in the distance for now."

"Good, then we’ll take that route."

Lian raised his right hand.

[ Hive Dominion ]

Two streams of light formed in front of the group.

A moment later, One, the Colony’s giant ant, appeared on the ground along with Two, the Eight-Disaster Wolf.

Noah gave a short laugh when he saw the wolf.

"Well, it’s time to trust our lives to this gentleman’s claws again."

Two turned his head toward him, and Noah immediately raised his hand.

"I didn’t mean anything bad! Actually, you’re one of the best means of transportation I’ve ever seen."

The huge wolf only moved his ears.

Lian laughed.

"I don’t think he liked your compliments very much."

A few moments later, Lian and Rindo sat on One’s back, while Noah and Alicia climbed onto Two.

As the two creatures began moving, the group’s journey toward the center started again.

The eastern route was in better condition than the previous regions.

Large stone platforms were connected by natural passages, and in some places, the remains of old roads could be seen among the white roots.

The Hollow Sun was still rotating in the sky.

Farther away, several Withered were moving toward the center with strange movements, some did not even pay attention to the group and simply continued on their way.

Lian watched them for a while and then looked forward again.

The sound of the guitar could still be heard.

After crossing one of the stone bridges, Noah, who was sitting on Two’s back, leaned toward One.

"By the way, Lian!"

"What?" Young Vorhelm turned his head.

"There’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time."

"Go ahead."

He smiled for a moment.

"Did a Celestial really personally ask you to join his Guild?"

Young Vorhelm raised an eyebrow, he had not expected such a question, but it was not something he wanted to deny.

"Yeah."

"See? He didn’t even deny it!" Noah immediately looked at Rindo.

Rindo laughed.

"Well, the news had already spread."

"I know, but hearing it directly from Lian himself is different."

The young Frenchman looked at him again.

"I’m serious, how did it feel? I mean, having a Celestial personally come to you and say he wants you to fight under his banner."

Lian did not answer immediately and looked toward the path ahead for a moment.

Just one year ago, his situation had been completely different.

His failed awakening had caused many people around him to believe that he did not have a very bright future, even within his own family, the way people looked at him had changed.

Back then, receiving an offer to join a powerful Guild was not something he could easily expect.

But now, a Celestial had personally shown interest in his abilities.

Naturally, such an event meant a lot to him.

Even so, Lian had learned other things during this time.

The power and resources provided by a large Guild usually did not come without obligations, the more powerful the organization was, the more responsibilities and restrictions would probably come with joining it.

He had experienced many things over the past year, he had learned many secrets and had also made new friends.

All of these things had changed his views.

And he still had goals that even his closest friends did not know everything about.

Finally, he answered.

"If I said I wasn’t happy, I’d be lying, especially after spending so long with others thinking I’d never achieve anything."

"But?" Noah was listening with interest.

Lian gave a short smile.

"But being happy about an offer and accepting it are two different things, it feels good when someone powerful recognizes your abilities, especially someone at the very top of the world’s power, but before you go under his banner, you need to know what you’ll have to give up in exchange for what you gain."

The young Frenchman thought for several seconds and then asked.

"So you’d rather stay independent? Even if a Guild could help you become stronger much faster?"

"It depends."

Lian looked into the distance.

"Being independent is good, but if you don’t have the power to protect your independence, sooner or later someone else will make decisions for you, on the other hand, joining an organization isn’t always a bad decision either."

He turned toward Noah.

"I don’t have a problem with cooperation, I just don’t want to accept an offer without thinking simply because there’s a famous name behind it."

"I agree with that part, but I think sometimes having a powerful organization behind you can be more valuable than complete independence." Rindo nodded.

Lian looked at him.

"For example?"

"For example, this very mission."

Rindo pointed toward the land around them.

"If the government and the Academy didn’t have enough resources, we wouldn’t have been able to enter this region at all, even now, if we find a way out, we’ll probably need help from more people to investigate what happened here."

Lian thought about his words.

His friend was not wrong.

Even he had used equipment, information, and opportunities many times in the past that would have been difficult to obtain without the support of large organizations.

One example was entering the Special Area, the reason he had been able to enter that place was the Academy, and the Academy had obtained several entry spots for its students through the government and the Federation.

In the end, he was still dependent on organizations.

"That’s true."

Rindo smiled.

"I can’t deny that one."

Lian looked at the two of them and shook his head.

But Alicia, who had remained silent until then, asked another question.

"Mr. Lian, may I ask you something a little more personal?"