As Zorat arrived at the auditorium in his simple protective leather gear without the added protectors, looking both ready for an adventure and not particularly concerned about his safety.

He looked around the same space they had come to when they were to be teleported to the entrance of the catacombs of permafrost, and saw that the other heroes were already gathered in their more appropriate protective gear.....

And some of them were even wearing high-value armaments, like Andrew and co. No doubt gifts from wealthy nobles trying to butter up the golden goose, even as the kingdom was going through its toughest time.

Azaria was still nowhere to be seen, with the king already present on the raised platform, behind him some ministers, beside him the princess, and to the other side, seated in a fancy seat as well, was the saintess herself.

She wore a soft smile on her face as she observed the gathered heroes, but as soon as her gaze caught Zorat’s, she immediately averted her eyes and refocused on the others.

This wasn’t surprising to Zorat anymore since this wasn’t the first time she had done this.

He understood now that she had somehow noticed the weight of his influence on that day, and was probably confused as to what that was.

Hehehe.

Zorat understood there was something quite special about the saintess. Even faced with the weight of his influence, she had fought it off and was still fighting it in her own way.

It strangely didn’t feel like her own power or will, since he realised her own actual willpower was strangely weak when he had first tested on the day of his arrival.

But Zorat soon removed his mind from that thought. There was soon to be a copious amount of time and opportunities to fully unravel the saintess for all he was curious about, while also doing what’s most important.... Retrieving the sixth divine authority fragment from the hero of flame, Ariana.

With Zorat’s growing standing amongst the heroes, as soon as he made his appearance and walked towards them, they all happily engaged in conversations with him. With the exception of Lily, who acted as if Zorat wasn’t even there, and Jacob, who had a weird grin on his face as he observed Zorat.

This will be such a fun adventure...hehehe.

Zorat was really looking forward to all that would happen on their journey. He knows that just as he has his own plans, other people do too, and he couldn’t wait to see how all that would play out. If he would be entertained or bored out of his mind.

King Helion Starfall soon began his address to the gathered heroes in the presence of the heroes, princess, saintess, and ministers of the royal court.

In general, he wished them well on their journey, and a lot of the rest of the speech was him thanking the saintess for her generous services.....

He then heavily emphasized the need for all of them heroes, to report to the kingdom’s borders and hunt down the encroaching demons to help speed up their development.

Though it was obvious to not just Zorat, that going to fight for their ’development’ at the kingdom’s borders, was less about their development... and more of the fact that the kingdom was being pressed by the demons at the moment, which was no longer a secret.

And they had literal walking, talking weapons on hand, which happened to be them, the heroes.

King Helion also warned that no matter how long they are to spend on their journey to the border and back, including doing all that needed to be done.....

It shouldn’t be more than three months. Because in three months, something called the heroes summit will begin, and they most definitely need to be back in the kingdom at that time...

Whether there were still demons pressing the borders or not, it didn’t matter.

He said someone called General Garax was well aware of all this, and he would be the one welcoming them at the war border after they had handed off the saintess to the delegates from the holy sea.

Obviously, this heroes’ summit was really important to the kingdom, of which its information is still shrouded in secrecy. But all will be brought to light soon. Zorat thought.

Since the secretary of the imperial court was among those who were executed along with his entire family on the night of Victor’s treason.....

Another minister had to step up as the acting secretary and provided them with the remainder of the information since it’s not the king’s place to do that.

The acting secretary of the imperial court proceeded to inform them of their expected route and duration to the kingdom’s border. It was actually quite straightforward.

As they did on their journey to the catacombs of Permerfrost, they would still have to bypass several provinces of the kingdom after leaving the capital, and make their way to the expansive ’forest of no return’.

Though the name does sound intimidating, it was the only straight path to reach the kingdom’s borders, and with enough strength, it’s perfectly doable. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Since the beasts in there are usually in the master to the early paragon realm, with master being quite common and paragon counted on one hand, ruling their own territories.

The heroes who can easily fight above their realms would take care of these monsters with their tested tactics as they’ve been trained, and also blessed with synergistic skills.

Just as they’ve done before on their journey back from the catacombs of Permafrost.

And this will also improve their levels some more, in preparation for the real leveling up at the borders.

They would also not be going alone this time, with a guest as important as the saintess, several master realm imperial soldiers, and a few grand masters would be accompanying them on this journey.....

Though they would only ever interfere if the heroes failed to do their duties of escorting the saintess and preserving her life.

There is also the expert who will be accompanying them. A person who knows all the places to avoid in the forest of no return, and has himself gone through that route several times.

In conclusion... The journey should be smooth sailing.....

So long as nothing unexpected happens.