Within a few minutes of travel, the car stopped as we had arrived at our destination.

Opening the door, I stepped out only to be greeted by a cold breeze.

Being surrounded by trees surely had an advantage of its own.

Before me was a building that appeared to be an inn.

Not caring to read its name, I walked towards the entrance, with Julien and Arthur following closely behind.

Entering the inn, a huge hall greeted us, as I turned my head to look at the receptionist, who returned my gaze with a polite smile.

But before I could move, a man in casual black clothes blocked my path.

"Sir!"

He saluted me in a low voice, just enough for me to hear.

"No. 5 reporting, sir!"

Recognising the guy, I extended my hand as No. 5 returned the handshake.

Strong.

I always knew that No. 5 was strong, but just feeling the grip of his hand made me realise his strength once again.

A Diamond 2.

No. 5 had his own backstory which made him join D.X.

His strength, coupled with his loyalty, had allowed him to quickly rise in the ranks, and now he was one of the core members of D.X.

"So... what’s the status?"

As No. 5 led us to the resting area, I looked around, taking in the view of the inn.

It could even be called luxurious for this city.

"I had proposed all the offers that were beneficial for both us and the cult, but their leadership is craving for more. They are taking us for granted and want to squeeze every last drop of profit from us."

Though I had received the report from Julien, I still wanted to hear it from the person in charge here.

"Was the leader an Immortal?"

No. 5 narrowed his eyes at my question, as he thought over it.

"No. The leader was at Diamond 1, while the rest of the leadership was at the Platinum rank. At least according to my understanding, there was no Immortal in the room, though I can’t say for certain, as my senses aren’t strong enough to detect one even if he was by my side."

Fair enough.

I wasn’t expecting any real answer, but it was better to clarify rather than staying in the dark.

As we took our seats on the sofas that were arranged in one of the corners of the hall, No. 5 moved his gaze to Arthur before slightly bowing his head.

I didn’t pay much attention to it, as I thought over the things that I could offer to the cult.

"I had informed their leadership about your arrival, so they will be sending some people to guide us. I mean they should have already sent them as it had been four hours since our meeting, but—"

"We can wait."

Julien spoke from the side, though his eyes were still fixed on the device in his hand.

Well... that was true.

Anyone could easily tell that the cult was purposefully trying to look down on us, but... I wasn’t one to care about such petty theatrics.

For me, results mattered the most, not the process through which they were achieved.

And after the completion of my mission, I would surely pay the cult all of the debt in its entirety.

Seconds soon turned into minutes and then hours.

The wait was long... far longer than what I had initially assumed.

After waiting for two full hours, a petite woman walked in our direction, wearing the uniform of the staff, as she smiled while looking in my eyes.

"All of you have been summoned. Follow me."

Her words didn’t exactly match her smile, which looked too polite to be true.

Summoned, huh.

I was amused at the choice of words, but chose not to comment on it.

Seeing my neutral reaction, No. 5 too seemed to have cooled down, along with Arthur, as both of them were moments away from doing something that might not have been the most pleasant thing for the poor woman.

We were soon led deeper into the inn, before heading downstairs.

Haa...

Maybe underground meetings were a trend in this world.

The lights around us had considerably dimmed, as we walked in silence for the entirety of two minutes.

Soon we had reached the basement, as bright lights greeted us at the end.

Opening one of the glass doors, the woman led us deeper, and soon... we were before the leadership of the cult.

A long table was placed horizontally across us, as the entire leadership sat on the other end, with some having their feet placed over the table.

Sigh.

Why were they being so dramatic?

"You wanted to meet us."

A man sitting in the middle was the first to speak.

"He is the leader."

As I focused my gaze on him, No. 5 commented from the side.

So he was the one at Diamond 1.

Looking at his physique, I couldn’t exactly picture this man to be a strong one, as every inch of his body screamed of privilege.

Though I knew that looks could be deceiving, as reaching the Diamond rank required more than some high-quality resources.

Without consistent effort, hard work, and having faced a considerable amount of battles, no one could advance to the Diamond rank—

As the rank was more than just evolving one’s core.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you all."

It was Julien who answered the greeting in a polite way that made the people sitting across us raise their brows in surprise.

After making us wait for hours, coupled with the disrespect that we were made to go through, the cult’s leadership might have expected the same arrogance from us.

But—

"My comrade here had informed me of the offer that you had presented, and we are here to negotiate for the same."

Julien once again spoke in words that were too polite for the atmosphere around us. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

No. 5 was at Diamond 2, yet despite knowing that, if the leadership of the cult showed such attitude... then it was clear that they were being backed by someone far above mere Diamond cores.

An Immortal, huh.

Well... I had never doubted Julien’s sources, and now the truth was before us.

I just wondered where that Immortal was, and if he was here, then what rank had he sensed from—

I shifted my gaze to Arthur, who obediently stood beside me without uttering a single word.

I may have needed a device to hide my rank, but an Immortal like Arthur...

I knew that Arthur might have hidden his rank and displayed some lower rank, as the Immortal with the cult was still letting this drama unfold.

Heh...

Things were starting to get interesting.