Chapter 499 - A Costly Mistake
(MC POV)
"Divine One…"
I stirred to the sound of Shiori's telepathy message.
"What is it?" I asked back telepathically, my consciousness still in the midst of waking up.
"There's a problem back at the Sanctuary… Is now a good time?"
Still groggy, I slowly opened my eyes to see a giant pair of naked bosoms in front of me, the weight I'm feeling at the back of my head suggested a similar pair of objects behind me as well.
As expected, I was used as a hug pillow by all the girls last night.
I slowly extracted myself out of Manami's and Diao Chan's bosom pillows, taking care not to wake Mother who I had slept on last night.
Lian Li and my sisters ended up hugging each other to sleep since there was unfortunately not enough space for them. They did take a few of the clothes I had been wearing last night to hug in between them though, so I guess they got that going for them.
I floated myself out of bed to avoid waking them, reverting myself back to my adult form.
Shiori and Akari were waiting for me in the living room of the suite, both of them looking rather worried.
"What's the problem?" I asked, figuring that it should be quite serious for them to make such a face.
"The Sanctuary was broken into, Divine One," Shiori explained.
Right, that's what they call their home now.
"What do you mean broken into? Isn't that place only accessible via teleportation now?"
"That is correct, Divine One. But it seems like someone managed to find a way to hijack our teleportation array and use it to gain access to the Sanctuary."
Huh, for them to do that, they must be quite the expert.
Akari whined at me and I reflexively started patting her head to assure her.
"What happened then?"
Shiori hesitated for a second, "Benjamin and Thomas managed to fight the intruder off, but just barely. The intruder was stronger than they thought, easily taking out Stephanie's undead and Theodore's elite Orcs in a single blow."
"They're fine, right?"
"Of course, Divine One, they are still bound to you after all. They reformed safely after a while so there's no need to worry about that."
I scratched my chin, "In that case… The thing we need to worry the most is the intruder coming back huh? Did they change the array at least?"
Akari climbed up onto my shoulder and nuzzled my cheek, "None of us can change it, Master, only you can. It is your formation after all."
Oh right, I forgot about that.
"Alright, just give me a moment to change and I'll go with you guys to the… Err… Sanctuary. I can also try and trace where the intruder came from while I'm there."
"That would be for best, Divine One."
I quickly changed out of my pajamas and left a note on the table telling my girls that I would be out for a bit should they wake up and find me missing.
I teleported the three of us to the hideout, a little surprised to see a whole bunch of people guarding the gate this time. I suppose that would make sense considering they were invaded not too long ago.
"Sarah, Sally, Sandra, Serena, Scarlett, Stella, Sabrina. It's been a while," I greeted the resident Hydra.
"Greetingssss Divine One. It hasss indeed been awhile."
Stephanie came up to me and bowed her head, "We apologize for our incompetence, Divine One."
I shook my head, "No, the fact that they managed to use the teleportation array I set up for you guys meant that it was my negligence that caused this. I'm just glad everyone is still alright."
"You are too kind, Divine One."
I looked down at the teleportation formation beneath my feet, waving my hands to change the inscriptions a little which should prevent that intruder from using the same teleportation signature to return here.
Shiori and Akari leapt off my shoulders and transformed themselves back to their bigger sizes, occupying much of the hall.
"What is Divine One's will?" Shiori asked.
I thought for a moment before gesturing to the platform, "You guys just watch over this place. I already replaced the array and right now I'm going to trace the intruder's location from here."
"Should one of us come with you, Divine One?" Benjamin suggested.
I shook my head, "I'm not going to fight them, I'm just going to see who they are first. Focus on guarding here."
"Understood. Please be careful Divine One."
Nodding my head at him, I spread out my senses and looked for traces of teleportation within the room.
I quickly found the small tear within the Astral Plane I was looking for, using it to trace the teleportation back to its source which I was a little surprised to find that it led to the Death Mountains.
Using the trail, I teleported myself there, fully expecting to be deposited in a new hidden base of some sort.
Instead, I found myself standing at a plateau overlooking the place I had fought Lilith.
I jumped down from the cliff and into the prison hall, the scars of my battle with that girl still marked the walls and ground. The bodies of the Dark Sect members had been cleared out long ago, but blood stains still marred the walls.
What caught my eye, however, was the remains of a campfire at the corner of the room. Someone had been staying here it seems.
What was weird is that they had even chosen to stick a broken sword in the middle of the campfire. Not sure why anyone would do that though? Were they trying to cook the sword?
I did a quick scan of the area but found no presences around, meaning the owner might have already vacated this place for some time.
Creeping towards the campfire remains, I knelt down on a knee to inspect it.
Hmmm? There's still embers smouldering within the ashes… And it's still warm?
I stood up and brought out my sword from my storage ring, turning back to face the room fully expecting someone to jump me at that point of time.
Instead of that, I was faced with an empty hall, the place completely silent except for the wind blowing through the broken roof.
I expanded my senses and stood completely still, only relaxing when nothing happened after a few minutes.
Maybe I should check out the rest of the place, see if there's any clues around here?
Turning back to the campfire, I concentrated my sense again to try and find traces of anybody being here. The moment I did find a trace of someone, a chill crept up my back.
It's her.
The crazy Practitioner was the one who broke into the Sanctuary.
Not good, she might have felt my teleportation and used it as another gateway to go back to the hideout.
Just when that thought crossed my mind, Benjamin's telepathy came to my head.
"Divine One! The intruder!"
I cursed under my breath and immediately teleported myself back, not even sure what I should do when I meet her...