Awakened: SSS Ranked Soul king

Naturally, the fact that the fog was present did not mean the Slayers had given up on entering Ravenskeep. This was a place bound to hold ancient treasures—they wouldn't give it up for the world.

"I'm not going to force anyone. You can still find refuge with the other three clans, but we will be staying here," Victoria said.

The three clans, along with every other Slayer in the outposts, were planning to siege the fog in the near future. To do that, they needed people willing to fight and cooperate with them in terms of arming themselves and the like.

Victoria had agreed to the terms of the Aaron family because they were the only ones they could join, since the Nu and Valor had joined hands with the Blackberry and Ironback. She did so for Guilliman and Barthold, but Cyrus and his men had no such obligations.

They could go ahead and join the Nu or Valor clan.

"Hmmm, you've done quite a lot for us, princess… but you have to understand," Cyrus smiled bitterly. His hatred for Victoria had completely faded. She had not only protected his men but also allowed his dead weight to follow them for weeks.

He felt nothing but gratitude.

However, the same reason they couldn't join the other clans was why he and his friends couldn't join the Aaron clan. He had a long-standing conflict with them.

"I understand. It's not like we'll automatically become enemies—just stay away from the Blackberries and Ironbacks. We don't want to be placed in a difficult position," Victoria said, shaking her head. She was no hypocrite; using the fact that she helped them to tie them to her was not her style.

"Anyway, that's basically it. The rest of the information on the siege—or why they are so confident about it—will have to come after we've gained their trust," Victoria explained, causing everyone to nod.

Later that same day, Cyrus and his people left the group and went into the forest in the direction of the Nu clan's outpost. They had some connections over there and would be able to seamlessly blend into their ranks.

"Are you seriously not going with them?" Back at the camp, staring at the retreating figures of Cyrus and his team, Guilliman asked, a look of curiosity painted on his face.

Morgan had decided to stay back with Guilliman and the rest.

"You really like to ask stupid questions, huh?" Morgan cursed, staring at him daggeredly, then walked back to the tent.

He didn't stay back because of brotherly connection or companionship—he stayed because Victoria asked him to, and Cyrus agreed. He didn't hate the arrangement; he just found Guilliman annoying.

–flop

The tent opened up, and both Guilliman and Morgan stepped in—one frustrated by the other and the other smiling mockingly. However, as soon as they stepped in, they held firmly onto their blades and looked ahead.

In the middle of the tent, a young man with a pointed nose and oval eyes was seated on a wooden stump, armed with a bow and clad in leather armor.

"Ohh, are the shadow critters gone?" The young man raised his head at the two with curiosity on his face; his words, however, didn't sound like a question—it carried an air of command that others would find oppressive.

But Guilliman saw it as a disgusting display.

"I believe so," all of a sudden, Victoria's voice sounded as she made her way into the tent with the others.

"Hm, calm down, Guilliman… he's not an intruder; he's with the Aaron family," Victoria said rather casually. She had already explained that they would be working together, so she expected him to understand.

"Ohh, I wouldn't have guessed," Guilliman smirked and sheathed his dagger back into its holster. It wasn't hard to recognize these Aaron guys with their strange look.

"Hahaha, well don't we have a smart mouth?" The young man in the middle of the room, as if annoyed by Guilliman's sarcasm, laughed and threw a glance at Victoria. He had killed for less.

"Anyway, I'm here to assign you guys to your roles. We had to wait for those shitheads to leave so they didn't listen in… or, by the way, isn't he part of them?" The young man from the Aaron family pointed at Morgan and asked.

The Aaron family didn't want anyone from the other families learning about their growth strategies. Despite being in an alliance, they still had to hide their cards from the others.

After all, breaking through the fog was only the beginning.

"No, don't worry about him—he will be joining my cohort very soon," Victoria said, taking a seat on a makeshift bed that Hamdel had fashioned when they first came here.

"Hmmm, okay—whatever floats your boat," the young man sighed. "Anyway, my name is Mason Aaron. I am a son of the Aaron family and the sub-leader of this camp."

The Aaron family was extremely strong before entering here; you could only imagine how much stronger they had become after fighting through this harrowing forest.

This guy in front of him seemed to be at the peak of level 8, if not level 9. These were the people they expected—by the end of this whole gate fiasco, they would undoubtedly be at Red.

"Victoria told me a little about your crazy bunch, although I'm sure she's hiding a lot. I can tell you're all hardened, so I'll be assigning you to really tough squads… I think you can handle a bit of wilderness survival."

"Hold on, you're separating us?" Jemie cut off the young man, frowning.

No one here trusted the three clans one bit; trusting Victoria's safety to them was not something they would remotely agree to.

"Yes? What of it?" Mason asked, a fury starting to burn inside him. Seeing that Barthold and Victoria were powerful, he thought it fit to come here himself and assign them.

But ever since he got here, he had been mocked, held at knifepoint, and now he was being cut off. Did these guys have no fear?! He was the sub-leader, for God's sake!!

Of course, Guilliman and the rest had no reason to fear him. Among them were battles that Mason would run from with his tail tucked between his legs.

If they all attacked at once, he would be dead in a mere few seconds.