Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Jules needed Eren's presence as an anthrope to open purgatory.

A ranker's purgatory, or just purgatory, was similar to a ranker's utopia in many ways. It was a separate dimension created by S-Rank entities in their final stage of the rank to choose their successor by testing their mettle.

But unlike the ranker's utopia, a purgatory was created by heretic rankers of their time now known as cultists. A purgatory was much more brutal and dangerous to explore than a utopia. Purgatory exploration usually results in heavy casualties.

But these risks carried substantial rewards. A purgatory usually contained the S-Rank entity's complete inheritance. High-ranked heretic rankers of their times would rob and plunder all the riches they could find. And then they would dump all their loot in the separate dimensions they created.

As a result, a purgatory usually contained a variety of riches that appealed to rankers and cultists of different paths and elements. Purgatory was a sought-after place despite the risks it carried because it offered heftier rewards upon its successful conquest.

Eren finally understood what the non-disclosure contract was for. It seemed that the Illuminatis wanted to keep this purgatory a secret from prying eyes. His expressions of surprise were then quickly replaced by stoicism as this understanding dawned on him.

He let Julie continue:

"They say the way to Elysium is through purgatory. Because of the special nature of this purgatory, this statement couldn't be more accurate. It must hold a lot of unseen ranking resources we could use.

Now that you know and have signed the contract, I'll ask again. Are you interested in exploring the purgatory with the Illuminati?"

Ronny shook his head before raising another of his doubts:

"I'm not that easy to commit, Jules. You know that. I understand the secrecy and your extended line of questioning. But why the need to keep things a secret from other cultists?

I have known cultist organizations joining hands with others of their kind in exploring the purgatories found in the past. The things you discovered are ideal for you to explore with Beast Bloods. Why the secrecy?"

Jules chuckled in response to Ronny's query before explaining further:

"It seems you were kept away from the organization's politics when you were in the Beast Bloods. That bunch of rag-tag cultists are wilder than hungry boars found in the wild.

What do you think they will do when they find a purgatory made exclusively for them? They will try to outplay us, the ones who have found it first.

Finders keepers, Ronny. We don't want to share the purgatory with anybody else. Our appetite is that big.

Cultist organizations forming alliances isn't a novel phenomenon. In general, those seeking to explore purgatory seek out allies to share the damage and mitigate. But…"

Jules trailed her explanation, hoping her companions turned allies would get what she was referring to. The butcher didn't disappoint her:

"But cultists are cultists. They would betray and backstab anyone for greater benefits. They would find loopholes in contract or face the grim aftereffects of breaching the contract itself to gain shallow benefits."

Jules nodded her head before taking his line of thoughts further:

"That's right. The Illuminati have seldom operated with other cultist organizations. That's because we understand how other organizations work.

We have much better and efficient ways to deal with such problems. In general, we would activate our sleeper cell contacts within the kingdom's hierarchy to find us external help.

We usually try to sort such problems by ourselves without involving any other cultist organization. Anonymity and no-mess operations are our forte after all.

It's only when things get out of control do we look for allies. But this is not the time to look for allies, Ronny. This is our time to try to get all the benefits purgatory has inside it for ourselves."

Eren scratched his chin in Ronny's form. Another obscure point became clear to him at this point.

'So the reason this vixen is looking for rogues from the Beast Bloods is so that they won't report it to their organization. Their absence would not be noticed by the same.

Her illusion spell was for her to confirm that I'm indeed an ex Beast Blood and not connected to the organization anymore.'

Reen was also thinking of another point after she processed what the vixen had said to them. She let her master know what she was thinking:

"Erni, the Illuminatis fought with an unknown cultist organization in the previous timeline's future right? Maybe it was because of this purgatory that it had found.

The other organization must be the Beast Bloods. Since this anthrope dominated organization partakes in the path tabooed by the kingdom, all the information related to its existence and activities would get heavily censored or redacted entirely.'

Eren agreed with Reen's conjectures. He even praised her before adding further:

'It seems the Illuminatis didn't have a choice but to fight with the Beast Bloods in my previous timeline. The high-ranked entities of Beast Bloods are pure heretics at their core. When they discover the peculiarities of the purgatory in question, they will act with desperation.

The Beast Bloods likely discarded or didn't care about dominating the resources when they discovered that they couldn't take on the Illuminatis alone. That means they leaked the news to other cultist organizations in the hopes of raising a united front to fight against it.

It might have forced the Illuminati's hand and it was forced to look for allies against the Beast Bloods and the allies they had found. That was how the war among cultist organizations might have taken place in my previous timeline.'

"Ronny, what are you thinking? Are there any questions you want to ask?"

Eren's dialogue with Reen was interrupted by Julie as she thought he had some questions on his mind. The latter shook his head before giving her the reply to her earlier question.

"No. Everything is clear. I'm in, Jules. But I'd need some time to prepare. Like a few weeks to two months. Will it be okay?"

Eren agreed to join the Illuminati's expedition but with a condition. He couldn't just walk into a lion's den without preparing for countermeasures. Most of all, he didn't trust the Illuminati. As sophisticated as they might seem in handling their business, they were cultists at their core.

In this life, Eren had decided that he would do the backstabbing and not the other way around.