Chapter 50: Getting out

Leon took a step back, as if the distance would make sure that the puppeteer would not be able to take control of him.

"I don’t know what you want to observe, but you cannot control any human you want whenever you want," Leon said.

"Hmm? I guess a human would find an issue with the way that I do things. That’s fine." He said and then walked closer. "I have a feeling that you alone will be able to observe and give me more information than a bunch of random hunters will be able to provide."

He paused for a moment and allowed what he said to sink in, and then he proposed what he wanted to propose. "How about you become my eyes and watch for me?

You will observe everything that’s happening and tell me. If you agree to do that, I will promise not to control any humans and simply run this as a normal gate that humans can come into and fight."

Leon heard the offer. It seemed like a good way to ensure that no one got hurt, but he still needed to weigh other options.

The puppeteer seemed to understand that Leon wanted to think of other ways out of this and decided to tie the loose ends.

"If you do not agree to it, I’ll have no other choice but to kill you and proceed to control everyone down there.

If you agree and leave and then rat on what we have discussed and I somehow discover it, I’ll ensure that I cause more damage than you can imagine.

The safest bet for you now would be to agree to my deal and help me out as much as possible, and you don’t have to worry, there will be rewards in it as well," he spoke calmly.

Leon gritted his teeth. He did not want to allow things to flow this way easily, but it was clear that this monster was willing to push things to ensure that he got the win here.

"Fine, I’ll agree to it if you tell me exactly what you want to observe," Leon said.

"Haha, that’s better. The monsters from other gates have started to act in strange ways. Many strange things are happening in the gates, and I want to uncover what is happening.

It is not normal, and something is manipulating it. I need to know what it is exactly before it is far too late for anyone to stop it," he explained.

’The monsters have been acting differently indeed. Even I was able to see that.’

Leon gritted his teeth. "I’ll do it. I’ll watch and bring you as much information as you need. It might take some time, though," Leon said.

"Sixty days. You have to bring me a report in that time, and our deal stands."

"Fine, sixty days. That’s what we will work with," Leon said.

After hearing that Leon agreed to the plan, the puppeteer waved his hand, and something appeared on his palm. It was a scroll.

"You are strong, but still weak in the grand scheme of things, so take this scroll, and it’s going to help you out."

Leon stared at the scroll for a few seconds and then took it. The moment that his hand touched the scroll, he vanished from where he stood and appeared back in the tunnel where everyone was.

Immediately he appeared there, Sophia rushed over.

"Leon!"

She threw herself at him and wrapped her hands tightly around him as if he would vanish again. After she finally let go, Lily hugged him tightly and refused to let go for more than twenty seconds.

"I’m alright, sis."

"No, I don’t want to hear it," she said while shaking her head.

"What happened to it? The monster?" someone finally asked, looking at Leon for a response.

’I can’t tell them what happened, nor do I want them to go out and tell people about the monster. It’s going to make eyes be on me.’

"I managed to get away. The monster attacked me and almost killed me." He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. "I managed to get away."

They all looked at him for a few seconds, trying to see if his story made any sense, but before their minds could fully make a decision, Riker pointed forward.

"The gate, the gate appeared!" she yelled.

[...]

The first expedition had been many things to many parties. To those that had invested in the gate, it was a success because now they knew that it was an S-ranked gate, which meant great returns in a very short time.

As for the hunters that had gone in, the scar of what they saw would be in their hearts forever. The horror of everything would never leave.

Leon and his party had all survived thanks to their preparations. The gate did not turn out to be the adventure that they all thought it would be. It turned out to be far worse, and they were forced to leave early.

Leon was still happy about it because this gate had taught his party more about the gates than any information somewhere would be able to.

"You really predicted that this would be a great investment," Kate said as she sat opposite Leon in a restaurant. Her assistant stood next to her, tapping away on the iPad.

"Yeah, an S-ranked gate is the best anyone can look for," Leon replied. He grabbed the cup in front of him and sipped the water inside. He placed it down and looked at her. "But a lot of lives were lost because of it."

"That was bad indeed. S-ranked gates are rare, so we did not expect it to be that at all. I guess the Guild will have to learn from this in their future expeditions."

She grabbed her own glass and took a sip. She put it down and then got to her feet.

"I have somewhere to be. I’ll keep in touch. Also, don’t let their deaths get to you."