"Are they planning to keep on hunting us, Sir Ronny?"
Renar asked after finishing his stew. He wanted to know their next set of plans from Ronny. He had come to realize that the guy had a lot of trump cards. Plus, his planning was impeccable. He just hoped that he or Viper wouldn't be used as baits next.
'The devil you know is better than the devil you don't, huh!'
Ronny looked at Renar as he had that thought and smiled internally. He had to appreciate the guy for his mindset. As hopelessly straightforward he was as an ex-cultist, the guy could keep a straight head under extreme pressure.
"I don't think so. The clean up arranged by the Illuminati isn't meant to last long. They would only target weak teams like us and try to salvage any worthy rewards we may have obtained from the dungeon.
The teams that are strong enough to cause collateral damage would be left alone. With our team, they must not have expected such a brutal retaliation. We were the spoilers they couldn't see coming.
Of course, they would be pissed at us. But they won't employ all their clean-up crews to search for us over an old E-Ranker's and a bunch of Novices' deaths. That much damage to their force is taken into account in their calculation."
Renar heard this and thought about the bigger picture. He couldn't help asking:
"How would the Illuminati deal with the aftermath?"
Ronny didn't take long to respond:
"That's what they hired help for. It indicates that they wanted to deny the responsibility for their actions if and when confronted by the survivors and non-attacked anthropes. Remember, they still need the majority of the anthropes who are strong enough to win big rewards. It's just some small fishes like us that are seen as one-time gains.
I believe a few groups of powerful anthropes that were included in the exploration already knew how the Illuminati behaved. But they ignored it because they knew it wouldn't affect them.
Personal gains are more important than communal harmony for most rankers. And if you consider the rewards Purgatory churns out for every participant, the self-induced ignorance is worth it."
Viper got up from his seat and looked at the rays of fake moonlight coming from the cave's entrance. He put his hands into his pants' sleeves for some warmth and comfort before asking Ronny:
"So it's not hopeless out there as long as we get to our solo towers."
Ronny nodded at his statements before responding:
"That's right. So long as we wait for the closing of Purgatory and bide our time in solo towers, the situation is under control. We'll be out of harm's way when that happens.
Of course, we might have to deal with personal grudges from that Adept ranker. But the organization won't back him in this endeavour. Plus, he'd have to wait for the expedition to get cooled down. He can't just blatantly kill us in front of other high-ranked anthropes."
"Ptui!"
Renar spat in discontent after hearing Ronny's speech and got up from his seat. He rubbed his hands together to fight off the cold before saying in an irritated voice:
"Baah! Politics. Us low-rankers are just tools in the eyes of those who sit at the so-called high table. So many of us can die from both sides and they wouldn't bat an eye."
Ronny laughed after hearing Renar's words. He tried to put some sense into the anthrope's one-dimensional brain:
"Hahaha! I used to think the same. That politics is harmful to low-ranking people like us. But I've come to realize now that the same politics can be used by low-ranked entities like us to survive and even thrive.
We can gain all the benefits while avoiding most dangers. That is if we understand the rules and use them to our advantage."
Ronny replied and started walking towards the cave's exit. Renar knew it was about time.
The E-Rank Anthrope dug a hole and buried some stuff that belonged to Belar he had in his position and closed it up with the soil. He also kept a big rock over it– serving as a nameless tombstone.
Renar felt comfortable and a little less agitated after he did that. Viper also bowed to the tombstone. They both waited in silence for some time before leaving the cave.
The rest was over and Ronny had already gone ahead. It was about time they all parted ways and entered solo towers of their respective ranks too.
**********
A sky-high, ancient-looking building stood in front of the butcher. It made him appear incredibly small. There were various runs inscribed over its walls that would light up every so often and make their presence known.
This was the F-Rank solo tower the butcher had come to. By changing his appearance, he made himself look close to his true self, but not quite.
The entrance to the tower was massive. It was also surrounded by an air of mystery and hidden dangers that would give goosebumps to Novices that consider themselves its explorers.
"Reen, you are a C-Rank entity. So I don't know how the dungeon would react to your presence. Stay alert."
Eren said to his demon beast, who was currently hugging his chest in her slime form. She wanted to stay that way to handle any situation that is too difficult for her master to handle. She was worried about his safety after feeling the atmosphere surrounding the solo tower.
But then she thought about what Eren said and decided to merge with him and stay low while being fused to his body. It was better that the tower didn't treat her as a separate individual and kicked her out because of her C-Rank.
Eren stepped inside the tower's entrance and the arrays laid on the ground lit up in response. He soon vanished from his spot and was teleported to an unknown place that wasn't immediately made clear to him.
The butcher heard a familiar voice as soon as he stepped inside the solo tower's ground floor:
"Nice to meet you again, Eren Ilijah Idril. I hope you have settled your affairs outside.. Because it's going to be a long ride. Hehe!"