Ch 187 – Secrets Revealed

"I really can't believe that we're still in 2055, are you sure we're not in the future right now?" A woman wearing a white gown embezzled with golden glitters asked. Both of her hair and eyes were a brilliant holy gold color as if they were the clouds of heaven.

Beside her, a man with long white hair and a grand sagely beard added: "Indeed, indeed! The Paragon Guild has truly been hiding their strength just like a crouching beast waiting for the right moment to strike."

"I wouldn't mind paying a high price if you want to sell this tech you have here, Isaac," A man with black hair and golden irises added with a grin.

Looking at the people gathered around him, Isaac smiled lightly and said: "I would of course share this tech, but only at the right time."

Hearing him, they chuckled and could sense the righteousness laced within his very words. Even though he appears cold and detached, he's known as the greatest hero of Earth. He gave away expensive equipment to strong hunters, helped rebuild cities and nations who are in need, let the people have free water and food, and built shelter for the homeless; he was now titled the 'Messiah' of Earth, the savior of humanity from this sudden apocalypse.

Not only that, but he wielded the same strength befitting of his title. He was the leader of Paragon Guild, an organization that has five Z-Rank Hunters, namely: Isaac Deathwill, Gal Jum, Yokota Makoto, Qian Feng, and the mysterious new member titled Eternal Dream.

Any of them were powerhouses of Earth, acting as stable pillars that keep the world together and not let it face destruction from the constant onslaught of Z-Rank beasts. Just in this week alone, they have proven their might that can easily destroy countless nations if they wished. Now, the whole world, especially those higher in power were fighting amongst themselves to receive the help of the Paragon Guild, while also making sure to not offend them in any way whatsoever.

This was a world that has slowly transformed where might means right. In a world where a single man holds the same power as the strongest nuclear bombs, in a world where the wave of a sword can split the seas, a single fist can divide the skies, and a single finger's wag can cause mountains to shatter, those at the top are those who hold corresponding strength.

This was no longer the world of corrupt politics with fat businessmen that relied on mommy's money to succeed and reach the top, this was no longer a world where rich young cunts can flaunt their wealth and never face consequences, this was no longer a world where money is the priority; this is a world where might means right!

And currently, all the beings inside the room knew that well. Even though the masses don't like to believe, those at the top know too well about the current structure of the world, and how powerful Paragon Guild truly is.

"Immortal King, has our new facilities helped your sect prosper?" Isaac Deathwill smiled lightly at the old man who smiled back in response.

He stroked his beard while his eyebrows raised in joy: "Yes, yes. The new facilities that were installed at our sect have greatly increased the battle strength of our sect's disciples. Now, we are confident of defending the majority of China from all threats below Demigod."

"Good, good. I presume that Qian Feng has also been a great teacher?"

"Of course! Many of our disciples are already treating him as an Elder of the sect, and many are asking to build the Sword Immortal Hall just for him. Perhaps you might be interested in allowing Qian Feng to raise his own batch of disciples inside the sect?" Immortal King inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Hmm, I suppose that this is a win-win situation not only for us but for the entire world as well. But the time is not yet ripe, perhaps we can continue discussing this matter when the whole world is a lot calmer," Isaac Deathwill smiled.

"Very well, and I must truly give my thanks to you, Isaac Deathwill. Without you, this whole world would have undergone chaos and destruction already," Immortal King smiled and added.

Turning his head, Isaac Deathwill turned his head towards the center of his room and everyone stared at him with curiosity. He paused slightly, before continuing: "I suppose all of us here already know the secret of one another, that we are God's Chosen and wielder of this power I named a cheat?"

Hearing him, Angela, the Empress of Light, burst with laughter and the others also followed. They all knew too well about each others' secrets, the reason for their rise, and how all of them are currently at the pinnacle of the world.

"Of course," Angela said with a smile.

"How could I not?" Immortal King said.

"You really think a normal boy living in the slums would become the founder of Treasure Heaven? Of course, I have a cheat," Grid Valere said.

"…" Shadow Monarch nodded.

Seeing all of them agree, Isaac Deathwill grinned and continued: "Now that we're all on the same page, I assume that none of us know each other's cheats, right? So, I suggest that we all share our abilities, and to build trust, I'll go first."

Without waiting for them, he opened his mouth and said: "I named my cheat Undead Growth, it allows my undead soldiers to grow in strength by absorbing the life energy of slain enemies. This is the reason as to why I have so many S-Rank undead in my army.

Seeing that he already revealed his secret, and how their own detection methods showed that he said the truth, Shadow Monarch went next and said: "I never bothered to name my cheat, but it's nearly the same ability as Isaac Deathwill. I can transform corpses, including humans, into Shadows, immortal creatures that act just like undead servants. But the clear difference is that mine not only grows stronger when slaying other beings but a portion of that strength is given to me, which is attributed to my own powerful strength."

"Well, I already knew that. For me, I have named my cheat Empress of Light. It allows me to, as its name suggests, become an Empress of Light. I have the ability to wield light just like an elemental spirit, and I have absolute control over any spirits of light. So yeah, pretty cool ability," Angela said while motes of light appeared all around her open palm.

"Well, I myself have quite the peculiar ability. It calls itself [Sect Building System] and gives me an array of abilities the stronger my sect becomes. Due to it, I also wield a power called Qi instead of magic, and I follow the path of cultivation just like you see in Chinese novels, though I was quite surprised that Qian Feng follows a different power system just like me," Immortal King said which surprised the others.

"Qi? As in the fucking Qi?! That's so cool! How do you even have it? Isn't there only mana in the Earth's atmosphere?!" Angela's eyes glowed brightly like stars upon hearing the Immortal King's words.

"Well, Qi in itself is also mana, but the difference is that I store it in my dantian unlike with magic where people store mana in their soul. That's also the reason for my sect disciple's strange abilities far from the norm of this world," Immortal King explained with a smile.

"Ohoho? Qi Cultivation, huh? I supposed that's not a surprise for me because I already saw Qi Cultivation manuals with my cheat, though I never underwent that path of power," Grid Valere said which intrigued the people in the room.

"You know that Qi Cultivation existed already?" Immortal King inquired.

"Well, my cheat is called [Multiversal Store Sytem], which as the name states, I can buy stuff all throughout the-"

"Wait, wait, wait… The multiverse?!" Angela stood up in surprise upon hearing the name of the system.

"Well, I myself was shocked, but all of the ways to traverse the multiverse in my system are locked behind an astronomically high price that I wouldn't even attain in an eternity. So just forgo those dreams you currently have about the multiverse, because you're never gonna enter the multiverse in a trillion years," Grid Valere said harshly, but he knew all too well about the shock one would experience upon realizing that the multiverse was indeed real. He himself experience many mental struggles as he knew that the multiverse was something anyone would do everything just to catch a glimpse of the wider reality.

"But still… The multiverse is real… What about our other alternate selves? Are they also facing this sudden onslaught of monsters just like us?" Angela asked.

"Well, if the theory was true, then yes," Shadow Monarch answered as silence dawned in the room.

They suddenly just received a sudden shock, but unbeknownst to them, Isaac Deathwill remained silent as his eyes gleamed with a flash of maliciousness.

*BRRINNGGGGG*

Their eyes instantly widened and they saw the hologram floating atop the circular table rapidly change. On it, they saw the globe of Earth colored green and blue having multiple red dots blinking all over the place.

Those red dots represented the opening of rifts that have Demigods within them, but this is something they've gotten accustomed to already the past week facing the onslaught of monsters every single day. No, the thing that surprised them was how many rifts opened at the same time.

There were five rifts that opened in five different areas, this was a level that was nearly comparable to the start of the second apocalypse where the monster tide was at its peak. Seeing this, Isaac Deathwill swiftly moved his hands, and the hologram over the table rapidly shift and move, as icons of the members of the Paragon Guild were shown, with each individual member being paired with another person that was currently in the room.

"Shadow Monarch, you'll go with Gal Jum to deal with the Ancient Undead Dragon that appeared over Korea. Grid Valere, you'll team up with Yokota Makoto to kill the Chimera Overlord in Africa. Immortal King, an Evil Spirit Demigod appeared near your sect's headquarters, I believe you can deal it with Qian Feng. Angela, you go with me towards America to deal with the Hydra Demigod that appeared. Lastly, Eternal Dream can take care of the Cloud Serpent Overlord in the Pacific Ocean by himself, so you don't need to worry about that. Does anyone object to the arraignments by Ai?" Isaac Deathwill asked, but no one rebuked.

How could they rebuke? This plan was directly formulated by Paragon Guild's own artificial intelligence named AI. It was an AI that is currently helping the entire world remain stabilized as machine after machine was controlled by it, forming a tight defense system that can handle most S-Rank monsters when needed.

Seeing them stay silent, Isaac nodded his hands and said with a heavy tone: "I suppose we all have our own teleportation capabilities?"

"Of course," Immortal King said and everyone also answered nearly the same.

Hearing that, Isaac waved his hands and a purple gate opened behind him, "Then I won't keep you guys waiting. Angela, let's go," Isaac Deathwill said and just like that, the room became empty as multiple blue dots suddenly appear near the red dots in the holographic globe.

But in that silent room, a woman with blond hair and blue eyes suddenly appeared from nowhere. She nonchalantly sat on Isaac's seat while staring at the blue globe in front of her, "Ai, do you think Isaac would succeed in his plan?"

"Isaac's success rate… 100%," Ai called out.

Hearing that, the woman smiled brightly and said: "That's good to hear. After all this hardship, Isaac will finally have the whole world by the palm of his hand."

With that, the woman paused for a second before continuing to gaze at the hologram in front of her with an intense gaze.

AN: This chapter has 2041 words.

(November 6, 2022 – 347th day of writing)