Chapter 727 - A Trap
"What should we do now?" Arthur asked as he was very conflicted at the moment.
"If he is a traitor…" Amera carefully chose her words before adding, "then he won't allow us to execute our plans."
"He will attack the array," Arthur nodded, "but that's hard…" he turned to glance at all the surrounding mages who followed Marcos to here.
"Yeah, who knows who is already involved in such treason and who is fool enough to follow their leader," Amera got his point and muttered in obvious worry.
"What about taking them inside your garden?" she turned to ask with hope in her eyes.
"I… can't do that right now," Arthur couldn't help but bitterly say, "I had to sacrifice something to save the rest of us back then."
"That gigantic portal… I see," she muttered before adding, "then all we can do now is to try and separate him from his men."
"That would be an issue," Arthur said before adding, "if he is the traitor then he will be smart enough to know how important these mages are."
"Doaf is higher in rank than him," Amera suggested but Arthur glanced at her for a long minute in a meaningful way. "Yeah, I also doubt he can control them on his own."
Arthur was lost in silence before he got an idea. "Let's set up a trap for him," he said, "like saying you have a way to summon the grandmaster in the flesh here."
Amera glanced in interest at him as she nodded, motioning him to continue.
"We'll let Doaf know about our doubts," he said before hurriedly adding to stop Amera from objecting, "but we won't specify who the traitor is."
"Hmm… that might work," she nodded, "but this way we'll have to establish this trap far from here."
"That's given," Arthur nodded, "we need to separate him from any mages here in the first place."
She gave the idea some thoughts before nodding. "Alright, I'll do it now. I'll go to the two and inform them about this."
"Ask Doaf to come to see me while you select a handful of your team and go to that side."
He pointed towards the part of the forest he first came from.
"Only a handful of them?" she asked in doubt.
"If you selected a lot he would be suspicious," Arthur explained, "but don't worry, you'll inform your men to follow my lead at any moment and I'll always keep an eye on you and him."
"What if he can shield what he was doing?" she suddenly asked.
"Like those dark mages?"
"He is now considered one of them, right?"
Arthur realized this simple yet fatal flaw in the plan. "Well… I'll keep an eye on him then. If he moved, or sent anyone after you then I'll dispatch some of your men first. If he vanishes then I'll come at him with all we got."
"I doubt I won't last long enough until you guys arrive," she said, "but don't be late, or else you'll lose your previous reward."
She winked at him and he recalled the promise she once gave him. "C'mon, you owe me a kiss," he laughed.
"After all this moron," she chuckled before turning around to leave, "who knows, it might go beyond just one kiss."
He couldn't help but smile while watching her move so fast towards the direction of Doaf and Marcos.
"Things are getting more complicated," he sighed, "I hope we can pull everything together just in time."
'Ding! don't worry, we'll be fine.'
"Now how about that world's plan?" Arthur thought for a moment, "It's better to tell me what's needed so I can prepare."
'Ding! As I previously said, you need to go to the shrine with your soul.'
"Something I can't do now, huh?" Arthur took a deep breath, "but what next? I don't believe I would only take her out and let her take the empty throne, right?"
'Ding! well… to be honest I never tried something like this before.'
"And?" Arthur wasn't satisfied with such an answer.
'Ding! in theory you'll need a power far greater than all the power in the entire world to put someone on that throne.'
"This…" Arthur was shocked to hear what the system said but the system's next words made him realize the hope there.
'Ding! but you have something that can overcome any form of power in this world… That tribulation you kept postponing over and over again.'
"Oh… you mean I should use the tribulation power to disturb the world's energy and so she can ascend the throne?" he muttered in a deep voice before adding, "but…"
'Ding! I know… I know… that will make things much harder for us in the next few days. However we will go to that world and be surrounded with a lot of strong mages. What possibly could go wrong?'
Arthur was lost in thought for a long time before sighing. "My old friend, you are underestimating the tribulation so much," he couldn't help but shake his head, "doing such a thing will bring a disaster upon my head, that's a given."
'Ding! and you might be wrong!'
"Nothing about the tribulation is wrong," Arthur firmly said, "We'll have it hard, and you should be prepared for it."
'Ding! but we don't have another choice,' the system sighed, 'Ding! after all this is the only way to see this through.'
"Yeah… that I can't argue with," Arthur took a deep breath before adding, "alright. First things first. I'll see the trap plan then I'll go to that shrine and start the ascension there."
'Ding! What about Gege? Should I call her?'
"Not now," Arthur slowly said, "let's wait an hour before he takes the bait."
'Ding! Will he wait this long?' The system seemed to doubt this arrangement of Arthur.
"Someone like him won't be impulsive," Arthur said, "he will act as cautious and plan meticulously for each action of his. He knows better than any of us that a single mistake here and he will be exposed."
'Ding! I hope Amera will be convincing then,' the system said, 'Ding! or else he might not move a muscle at all.'