World's Last Hope-Chapter 76: The Other Side

Grandmaster Aldemar was looking at the place where the pillar of his niece - Olivia - was supposed to be.

Yet it was nowhere to be seen.

When Grandmaster Gryndor told him that his granddaughter’s pillar had disappeared, Aldemar feared the worst. He feared that the trio had died on their way to the cathedral, but he had hoped that Aria had succeeded in becoming a Grandmaster...

Until a few days ago when the pillar of Olivia had disappeared as well.

No matter how much he wanted to deny it, he knew the truth, Olivia, his niece, was dead. There was virtually no chance that the trio had managed to liberate two cathedrals in a single expedition. Never in the history of mankind had this kind of miracle ever happened, nor would it ever happen. The corruption was just too much of a threat.

"I am such a failure of an uncle!" Aldemar cursed as he clenched his fist. It hurt—he had not only lost his niece, his only family, but she was dead because of him.

He knew that if he hadn’t sent her, this wouldn’t have happened.

Originally, the Grandmasters discussed the matter privately and concluded that the trio would return, realizing that liberating a cathedral with three people was a foolish endeavor...

And yet they had not. They most likely proceeded, not wanting to admit defeat, and that eventually killed them.

Aldemar let out a long sigh. He wanted to blame the otherworldly person—the one that called himself Eric—but the truth was undeniable.

He had just come from another world and suddenly declared that he would liberate a cathedral? It was obvious he didn’t know what he was talking about... and yet they had let him do what he wanted because Aldemar couldn’t control his temper.

He couldn’t help but laugh as he muttered under his breath, "Ah, brother, it seems that killing you is still weighing on my mind... not that I regret it, though."

"Grandmaster Aldemar," a woman in a blue robe spoke firmly as she bowed her head in respect, slowly.

"The time for the meeting will soon come. We have just a few hours."

The time to discuss the matter of the expeditions had come again, though Aldemar already knew it all, zero. There were zero cathedrals liberated despite all the teams they had sent.

Not only that, but Grandmaster Lucas was dead as well, so that meant they had actually lost a cathedral.

Grandmaster Lucas had died, so even though his cathedral was in their territory, the only way to claim the structure was if a Master entered it and the said cathedral recognized the Master as worthy. Yet, despite all the Masters that had attempted, it seemed none were worthy to become Grandmaster.

As a result, they were now down one cathedral.

The only reason that Grandmaster Lucas had gone on the expedition was because the city was in desperate need of another cathedral of the God of Ocean. The mission was supposed to be easy...

But now, seeing that even a Grandmaster hadn’t managed to return alive, everybody could now only shudder at the thought of what was strong enough to defeat a Grandmaster in combat.

Was that thing a guardian bound to the cathedral?

Or was it a creature of unfathomable strength that was slowly approaching the city?

"What a mess," Aldemar sighed as he stepped forward.

It was time to go to the meeting.

*****

Taking a step inside the grand room, Aldemar shifted his gaze around, observing the gazes of the people gathered.

The Grandmasters all wore unsettled expressions, most likely knowing the dire state their city had found themselves in.

The Masters behind them seemed to not grasp the reality of the situation just yet, as most of them were just wearing their neutral expressions, waiting for the meeting to start.

Aldemar shifted his gaze to Gryndor. He was currently in the worst state, just by looking at the heavy circles under his eyes, it was clear that he hadn’t gotten much sleep, most likely worrying about his granddaughter.

’Has he accepted the fact that she was gone?’ Aldemar asked himself but didn’t pay much attention to his friend. Now wasn’t the time for personal feelings. He couldn’t comfort his friend, no matter how much he wished to.

Not that he was in any way, shape, or form capable of providing support himself, as he was currently trying to suppress his emotions.

There was time to grieve the loss of his niece, and it wasn’t in front of all of these people.

He was a Grandmaster, after all, he had to appear as if he was emotionless, as if he had everything under control.

If he didn’t, who would? This was what the Masters were going to ask themselves, slowly letting despair settle in their souls, and Aldemar couldn’t allow that to happen.

Taking heavy and slow steps, he slowly approached the throne as the Masters behind him slowly took their seats.

The tension in the room was heavy, almost like it could be cut by a knife.

Eventually, silence befell the room as everybody awaited the Saint.

After a few minutes, everybody shuddered a little as footsteps echoed across the room and Saint Gabriel appeared in view.

No matter how strong a person was, they would pale in comparison in front of the Saint. He alone was the reason the last city still stood, unclaimed by the corruption.

Saint Gabriel reached his throne across from the door as he slowly sat.

He shifted his gaze around everybody present, his eyes darkened as he counted fewer Masters than last time.

His gaze stopped for a second on a particular spot—that was where Grandmaster Lucas would have sat if he was still alive.

Taking a deep breath, Saint Gabriel spoke.

"Today is the time we discuss our progress with the liberating of the cathedrals."

Everybody held their breath as they listened closely to the Saint.

Even the Masters that seemed oblivious to the situation a second ago darkened their expressions as suddenly realization hit them—that if the Saint sounded so cold, it meant that things were proceeding really badly.