World's Last Hope-Chapter 81: Rising Tension

"YOU WHAT?!" Gryndor shouted in disbelief as he gazed at his granddaughter.

After the death of her parents, she barely showed any kind of emotion. That all changed the moment Eric arrived. It made sense, honestly—both of them were at an age where hormones were pushing them to want certain things, and those feelings would have no doubt intensified even more when they had barely survived in the death zone for a few months. But that didn’t mean it was easy to accept.

Aria’s expression became grim the moment she heard her grandfather shout.

"What do you dislike about the fact?" she asked with a hint of aggression in her voice.

Gryndor massaged his forehead as he sighed.

"It’s not that. It’s just that the news came as a bit of a surprise to me. I didn’t think you would have thoughts about things like that..."

"I... I didn’t... until I met the right person, I guess," she admitted.

Gryndor flashed a glance at Eric, with the request to give them some time.

Fortunately, Eric got it as he nodded and quickly left the dining hall.

After seeing Eric leave, Gryndor spoke, "I am not sure how to react, honestly. All of this is coming as a bit of a shock," he admitted.

"I guess that it may look strange from your point of view," Aria apologized as she sat on the chair.

"So... if you love him, I guess that’s good. But as I am your grandfather, I have to ask... What did you see in him? What made you love him?"

Aria didn’t even seem to need time to think as she answered immediately, "He is dependable... and saved me when I thought I was about to lose myself... so that is the reason I fell for him."

Gryndor’s eyes widened for a moment in realization. He didn’t need to ask what moment she was referring to. She was now a Grandmaster, so she must have managed to cleanse a cathedral all on her own. And despite her personality, even though she seemed to have gotten a bit more expressive, it was mostly unchanged. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"When you say that he helped you—"

"He has a way to enter the corruption and provide assistance," Aria interrupted, answering his question.

Gryndor was left speechless for a moment. He scratched his chin, deep in thought.

"If that really is the case, then... we might really be able to come up with a plan for getting rid of the corruption," he muttered under his breath.

He stood up as he spoke, "Okay, let’s go."

Aria raised an eyebrow. "Go where?"

"This talk will continue when we gather with the other Grandmasters."

Aria and Eric were up, and Olivia was as well, most likely, so it was time to gather and discuss the future of the city.

*****

It was refreshing walking through the city streets without having to rush, even though they were going to a meeting. In a way, they were the guests of honor, so they could afford to take it a little slower as they walked. Currently, they were heading to the center of the city, or in other words, the place where the Saint resided.

Glancing around, Eric saw that the streets didn’t look peaceful, but they didn’t look hostile either. It was just kind of chaotic.

This wasn’t good news—they were currently in the city center, or in other words, the safest place in the city. And yet, the city was so chaotic. One could only imagine how bad it must be close to the walls, where the danger was the highest.

One didn’t need to be an expert to tell that the city was struggling and falling apart.

"This is what we have to change, I guess," Eric muttered under his breath.

After walking for some time, Eric’s gaze fell on the massive castle. This was where they were going to discuss the future.

Eric, being a Master, not to mention having two Grandmasters with him, meant that they weren’t even stopped at the gate. The second the guards saw them, they opened the gates without hesitation.

Entering in, Eric and Aria followed Gryndor. It was clear that they weren’t going into the grand meeting room they had gathered in before but were going somewhere else.

After some time, they stopped before a door.

"We are here," Gryndor spoke as he opened the door without hesitation.

Eric’s eyes narrowed for a moment. In the small room, there was a circle-shaped table, and around it, there were 23 Grandmasters waiting. Across the door sat the Saint himself.

As Aria and Gryndor joined in, it meant that all 25 of the Grandmasters in the city were here.

Eric, even though he tried not to show it, was quite overwhelmed because of his miracle ’All Seeing Eye’ which allowed him to gauge a person’s strength, was always active, it meant that being near so many powerful people gave him a nauseous feeling. But he was a master at concealing his emotions, so it didn’t show on his face.

He threw a quick glance to where Olivia was waiting, with two spots empty, most likely for him and Aria.

Quickly getting their seats, the gazes of the Grandmasters were now fixed on the trio. It was clear that they wanted information on what exactly had happened on the expedition.

Eric took a deep breath as he began to explain.

’This is going to take a while,’ he thought.

*****

The only thing Eric concealed was the fact that he had slept with Aria, and every other fact he decided to share.

All about the different types of monsters that had chased them, and they had killed, about the tower, the guardians , and even the traits that Eric had gotten.

When he shared the fact that he had the ’Brave’ trait, all the Grandmasters turned their heads to the Saint for a moment, waiting to see if Eric was indeed saying the truth.

The Saint nodded without saying anything, and in turn, despite keeping quiet and not disturbing Eric as he spoke, it seemed like a certain light had begun to shine in their eyes—hope.

The same thing happened when he shared that there was a entity who was constantly hunting him and always knew his location. Eric originally wondered if he should reveal that information or conceal it. But he remembered that when he watched zombie movies when he was a kid, there was always one idiot in the group who got infected and didn’t share the info. As a result, a lot of people would die because of the actions of one person.

Eric wasn’t going to become that idiot, so he shared all that information. Who knew, maybe there was a Grandmaster who had a way to help him with the being?

When the Grandmasters confirmed that he was also saying the truth about the entity hunting him, another emotion began to show on their faces, despair.

Quite poetic, wasn’t it? It seemed that Eric was both able to bring hope and despair at the same time.

At the end, it took about three hours to share all the information they had gotten on their journey.

No one doubted their words, as the Saint had confirmed that everything they had said had been the truth.

So a heavy silence befell the room as everybody was deep in thought.

After finally some time, the Saint spoke.

"First things first—"