William expected this battle to last for at most half a day. After that, the dark masters would be all gone and only the academy was left behind. At the same time, it seemed attacking the academy didn't trigger anything. And that meant they got to enter the academy to trigger the traps.
William didn't want to go in there, but it also was clear they got nothing to do about this bubble thing. After half a day, the battle with the dark masters ended. And now everyone was trying everything in their power to take down the bubble.
William was now standing side by side with the leaders of the army. They were feeling a bit helpless against this bubble. No matter what they used, no matter how strong the techniques they used, nothing worked.
"This is really disappointing…" One of the leaders said, expressing what everyone else felt.
"We tried everything… Shall we try offensive arrays as well?" another suggested, but Zin shook his head.
"I tried it with a few of my friends here and failed."
"This…" the rest of the leaders who didn't know about this got their faces dropped. It seemed they placed high hopes over the work of arrays over such defensive shields.
"There is a way," as there was no other option, William decided to take the risk. And when he said such words, everyone turned to look at him with anticipation, "but… I can't guarantee what will happen next."
"We are ready if the ground falls, but these clouds are something that we know nothing about," Zin got what William wanted to say. What William meant was that once he got inside, he might not be able to help them at all. In addition to that, the traps would be all activated.
"Can't we come with you?" Lara paused, looked at Stark, Zin, Nonoa, and others, "there might be a grand army inside."
"If there is one, then it should have appeared a long time ago," William shook his head, "besides I got no guarantee that I can take anyone inside with me. So let's just do it as we planned."
"The last resort? Fine," Zin knew what William wanted to say, others also knew, "give us two hours to prepare, then you can go."
"Won't we help?" Lara still wanted to go with William, all of his friends were.
"It's not an option," Stark cleared up his throat, "we got to trust him."
"But…"
"Just make sure you all would escape if things went bad," William smiled a calm one, a smile that told everyone here he wasn't that worried as his friends or Lara, as the leaders of the army, like anyone in his spot, "you got two hours. Once done, just notify me and I'll start."
"Got it," Zin ended this discussion for now. And as every one of the leaders went to do their part, William's friends all gathered around him, trying to convince him to take a few inside that academy.
But no matter how they tried, he still turned them down.
William was now standing alone, in front of the grand bubble that surrounded the academy. He was around half a kilometre away from it, yet he felt impressed by the grand defensive structure in front of him.
"If we got to know how to do it, then all the big cities and forts in the world can be well protected against that disaster…"
William wasn't thinking about any of the current traps here, or the upcoming challenge waiting for him inside the academy. He was impressed by this defensive bubble the most and thought about how to use it for the grand benefit of the master community.
One hour just passed when something unexpected happened. William heard an alien voice echoing in his mind out of the blue, greatly startling him.
[You are William, the Fox Master, correct?]
"Who are you?" William knew that the one who spoke to him used spirit telepathy to do it. And that meant he was at dark gold grade.
[A friend]
"You aren't part of our army, then you are one of the enemies?" William was vigilant against the voice owner, vigilant about anything related to this place.
[Told you I'm a friend] the speaker paused for a second, [I came from a long place to help you. Can we meet up?]
"Came from where? Help me exactly in what?" William didn't respond to this stranger's request, asked his questions and waited for the answer. He looked around, but he knew he wouldn't be able to spot that stranger in the middle of all this mess, "where are you?"
[I'm on my way towards this region. As for the help, it's related to those black clouds. I bet you know nothing about them, right?]
William instantly froze the moment he heard what this stranger said. This was indeed true. "Sounds like someone who knows his stuff," William paused, "tell me then what are these clouds?"
[A destiny changing curse, one that's able to turn any victor to a loser, any king to a mere slave]
"This…" William never heard of such a thing before. Something that could change the course of fate and destiny? But when he thought back towards how that Nightmare monster seemed confident about this clash, he started to believe such insane words.
[I know you won't believe me, but I hope you do. I came from a place that's specialised in dealing with such weird things. And I'm sent here to help]
"Hmm… So, tell me how I can stop these clouds from affecting destiny, and I owe you one."
[It doesn't work this way] the stranger laughed, [My name is Leo, and I'm the leader of an entire force specialised in dealing with such matters. You have to entrust us with such task]
"Entrust a stranger who says things I never heard before? Sure! Why not?" William laughed, "give me a reason to do so then."
[How about this, you met one of our people before, at that city, one who read through your destiny and answered a question for you]