NOVEL NEXT Chapter 506: A step ahead
After hearing Leroy's clarification, both Sarah and Marcus felt immediate relief as the oppressive weight of potentially abandoning their homeland's defense lifted from their consciences.
The prospect of leaving Australia vulnerable during the ongoing dimensional crisis had created moral conflicts that made acceptance of any offer extremely difficult.
Marcus exhaled deeply as understanding dawned. "So we would remain Australia's primary defenders while also gaining access to an international support network?" he asked with growing interest.
"That's… actually perfect. We get enhanced capabilities to better protect our people while knowing backup exists if we face threats beyond our current response parameters.
Then, when the time and conditions are right. There will be a power change. Our loyalty isn't with the government but its with the people we've always protected."
Sarah nodded with obvious enthusiasm as the organizational structure became clearer. "A global family of awakened dedicated to mutual protection and planetary defense. If any member faces overwhelming opposition, the entire network mobilizes to provide assistance. That kind of support could prevent the isolated defeats that have destroyed previous nations."
The concept appealed to their existing values while addressing practical concerns about Australia's long-term survival prospects. Rather than choosing between national loyalty and personal advancement, they could pursue both objectives simultaneously through alliance with an organization that enhanced rather than replaced their current commitments.
"The epic equipment would make us significantly more effective against superior-rank demons," Marcus continued with tactical appreciation.
Both S-rank awakened found themselves increasingly convinced that the benefits far outweighed any potential complications. The offer addressed their deepest concerns about Australia's isolation during the dimensional crisis while providing opportunities for advancement that conventional government service couldn't match.
They glanced at each other with expressions that reflected shared understanding and mutual agreement about the decision they were facing.
"How do we join?" Sarah asked with decisive certainty.
Marcus nodded his agreement. "If the organization's goals align with planetary defense and we can maintain our current commitment to Australia's protection, then I see no compelling reason to refuse such beneficial alliance."
Leroy smiled with obvious satisfaction at their positive response, but his expression grew more serious as he prepared to share the final piece of information that would complete their understanding of exactly what they were joining.
His lips moved carefully as he spoke a name that couldn't be transmitted through normal communication channels—words that carried implications so significant they required absolute discretion.
Reading his lips, both Sarah and Marcus felt their eyes widen with shock that exceeded anything they had experienced during the entire encounter.
"Arthur Fate… the Power Guild," they read from his careful lip movements.
The revelation struck them like physical blows as understanding crystallized. They weren't just joining some mysterious international organization—they were allying themselves with the individual who had been declared humanity's greatest threat by multiple world governments, someone whose supposed death had been confirmed through direct military observation.
"This… how…" Sarah whispered with obvious disbelief.
Arthur Fate is supposed to be dead. How is he operating an international organization, luring s-rankers when he shouldn't exist?
Marcus's mind was reeling as he processed the implications of what they had just learned. "If Arthur Fate is alive and building a global network of S-rank awakened, then…"
The scope of what they were being offered to join had just expanded beyond simple organizational alliance into something approaching a complete reshaping of how the dimensional crisis would be addressed on a planetary scale.
Arthur Fate's survival meant that the most powerful individual in human history was actively building forces that could potentially determine which nations survived the ongoing apocalypse—and he had just invited Australia's champions to join his inner circle.
…
Meanwhile, Arthur continued his recruitment campaign, moving toward the next targets on his carefully prioritized list of S-rank awakened whose alliance would provide maximum strategic value for his expanding organization.
Arthur naturally didn't have unlimited time to pursue each S-rank individual separately through extended negotiation processes. His information network had allowed him to identify candidates who possessed extensive connections to other S-rank awakened—individuals whose recruitment would create cascading effects throughout the global community of elite combatants.
It was a strategic plane that maximised efficiency, and demanded focusing on awakened who would actively share information about the Power Guild with their professional and personal networks, creating organic expansion opportunities that would accelerate recruitment beyond what Arthur could achieve through individual approaches alone in a short period of time.
Before Leroy had even asked about including his colleagues, Arthur had anticipated that successful recruitment would naturally lead to invitations for trusted allies and longtime partners. The psychological assessment of S-rank personalities suggested that individuals operating at such elite levels typically maintained close relationships with others of similar capability and shared values.
Arthur already had epic-rank equipment prepared and waiting in the Power Guild's dimensional storage systems specifically for such secondary recruits. Oliver would be responsible for distributing these resources according to predetermined protocols that ensured new members received appropriate welcome packages reflecting their value.
S-rankers received epic rank equipment whilst A-rankers recieved rare or very-rare depending on their talent.
The guild's administrative systems had been designed to accommodate rapid expansion through recommendation networks rather than requiring Arthur's personal involvement in every individual recruitment decision.
More importantly, if any potential recruits harbored evil intentions or hidden agendas that could compromise the organization's security, they would be identified immediately upon entering Power Guild facilities. The guild buildings possessed hidden security measures granted by Armageddon's system architecture—supernatural detection capabilities that could assess psychological intent, identify deceptive behavior, and evaluate moral alignment with extraordinary precision.
These safeguards operated beyond conventional security protocols, utilizing magical analysis that penetrated mental defenses and revealed true character regardless of how effectively individuals might conceal their actual motivations through conventional deception techniques.
Arthur's confidence in accepting secondary recruits without extensive personal vetting was based on these protections rather than naive trust in human nature or Leroy's judgment capabilities.
Even Leroy and the others he was about to recruit would also undergo the scanning. And anybody with evil intentions would reap their rewards in full.