"Guys, we are going to enter an unknown ranker's purgatory. The others have already gone ahead and are waiting for us there. The spatial entrance is a tad unstable. So make sure you stick close to each other and brace yourself for the spatial turbulence."
Lady completed her speech and retrieved loads of Extols before throwing them towards a few distinct sections of the array. She then closed her eyes, spread her mana sense, and concentrated.
The cryptic array was lit up as it got activated, tearing the spatial fabric right above its array eye. The spatial tear soon grew in size until it was around 10 meters in radius.
The entrance to the ranker's purgatory had been opened in front of Ronny and his group's eyes.
"Let's go."
Lady Zee walked toward the spatial tear and then disappeared into it. Others were left to follow her lead.
As soon as Ronny entered the spatial tear, he felt like his body was getting stretched in all directions. But that feeling only lasted a moment. In the next moment though he felt like he had found himself under the same boulder that Jules was standing beside on the surface.
Ronny soon saw a change of scenery as he found himself right in the middle of snowy land. Cold seeped into his skin as it made its way towards the bones. Ronny quickly strengthened the protective mana layer surrounding him while retrieving winter gear from his storage.
In hindsight, Ronny AKA Eren had it pretty easy travelling through the spatial tear. Because he saw Renar and the two novices lying flat on the snowy ground as soon as they made it through. Jules also didn't have it easy. She felt like puking but willed herself to stand up straight after lightly slapping herself. It took them a while to get used to their new environment.
Only Lady Zee was unaffected by anything, thanks to her D-Rank status.
Jules had already warned them about the environment. So they all retrieved the winter gear after stabilizing themselves. Eren tried to see what was in front of him. But all he could see was some spruce in the distance that had been covered by the seemingly never-ending snow.
He could also see four tower-like shadows in four directions from where he was standing. But it wasn't clear to him what those were. He tried asking Lady Zee about it but she beat him to it:
"Everything will become clear once we meet the others. Follow me."
Lady Zee chose a particular direction after confirming her position. She led the team to a gathering of rankers that had taken place at a distance.
Ronny could see a medium-sized group of people gathered around a particularly large spruce tree. A man in his 30s wearing a hunter's outfit was standing on a stone platform that allowed him to have an elevated view from the rankers gathering around him. He imbued mana in his voice and spoke up as soon as he saw Lady Zee's group joining the gathering of rankers.
"With Lady Zee's group finally joining us, our exploration team for the purgatory this time is now complete. I know most of you are ex-members of the Beast Bloods we have chosen for this exploration. There's a reason for this which you'll come to know later on.
The Illuminati doesn't mind keeping any resource you've gained in purgatory through your efforts. We only ask that you let your findings be known to us and share the resource with us if and when it is too big for one person to keep it.
I'm sure you must have read your binding contracts so this is just a fair warning. Don't try to deceive us and we won't have to take extreme measures. Simple as that. Any questions before I proceed with the plan?"
A young voice raised its question as soon as the man on the platform finished speaking:
"Can we travel solo to explore the purgatory?"
Eren in Ronny's avatar recognized that voice as he looked in its direction. He saw some familiar figures as he located the source of that voice.
The voice belonged to Ivor. He was also accompanied by Jason and Veronica. But those were not the only people Ronny could recognize. Jaime's party was also standing beside the group of students.
Ronny covered his surprise by looking down when he saw Jaime, Linda, Ronald, and Verna were among the members of the exploration team. It made one thing clear to him when he remembered the first time he had seen them in the Osan Woods:
'The man behind them is connected to the Illuminati.'
Eren quickly thought of one person who could make use of his connections with the cultists this way while staying low-key. Jason's father. Only he had the pull it needed to arrange something like this.
'But what are these guys doing here?'
Eren thought to himself as he straightened his back and assumed his stoic face once again. He heard the man on the platform responding to Ivor's query after some time:
"Being youthful sure is fun. Hehe. Brat, if you think you can travel solo in a purgatory world, be my guest. I won't stop you.
There are some encounters in the purgatory which are only beneficial for solo exploration after all. But don't come crying to us when you are frightened by the horrors of this place that await you after you begin your exploration.
This might be the first exploration of this kind in your life. So let me warn you. Don't underestimate this place. The Illuminati have lost quite a few members in this place who were considered exceptional before their death.
All your achievements are of no use to you when you are dead."
Others might think Ivor spoke out of arrogance. But the man on the raised platform thought otherwise.
He had meant it when he said he would allow him to explore purgatory alone. That was because there were tests in purgatory intended to be taken by individual rankers. They just contained more risks.
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AN: Thanks Jeffrey_Hatter for the inspiration capsule and Hirak_Barua for the massage chair.
VEH will have another privilege tier update for February. We have increased the number of chapters per tier while keeping the price range almost the same for the first four tiers. The highest tier will have another 8 chapters, justifying the increase in price. Hope more people will opt for highest tier this month to support the book.
I am still not feeling that well. My stockpile was burnt due to the unannounced sickness. So I might take a day or two to build the last tier. But it won't be like last time where readers had to wait for six days.
Thanks to all the contributors who have placed their GTs and PSs on VEH. We have achieved the milestone of 5K chapter unlocks this month in the win-win segment.. Therefore, we will have seven chapters (5 bonus + 2 regular) mass release about a week from now.