The black citadel just like Paul suspected was in one of the most prominent landscapes in Greenland City, erected in a trade market area.
It was one of the tallest buildings in this part of the city, towering high into the sky and attracting a lot of attention due to its sharp black color.
It was a far distance from where the teleportation portal was erected.
Apart from the black citadel, there were multiple other story buildings in this part of Greenland City, all trade firms and supermarkets.
They were all lined up in rows of streets through this area of the city, forming the Building Materials Market of Greenland City.
At this moment, in the second floor of one of the trade firms where the restaurant of this trading firm was, one of the tables closer to the transparent glass wall of this massive building was occupied by a man in a gray suit.
This man had silky black hair and extremely pale skin. At this moment, even as he pretended to sip from the cup of coffee that was served to him, in reality, all his attention was on the gigantic black citadel that was across the street.
Ring! Ring!
Looking down sharply with his vermillion eyes that contrasted against his pale bloodless skin, he noticed his cellphone ringing.
After the emergence of demonic beasts and the herald of the Age of Gods, as most of technology was lost, little things like cellphones became a luxury only available to the truly strong, rich, and powerful.
It was just like with the situation where only the rich could afford a car ride due to the high price for a single ride.
{Incoming call from Lord…}
This man calmly picked up the cellphone and answered the call, a voice reverberated from the other end. "Update me on the situation".
"There's been complications".
There was a slight pause at the other end, then the voice from the phone became even deeper. "What happened?"
"More than 30 minutes after the boy entered the black citadel, a bare-chested man appeared and entered the citadel through the teleportation portal".
"That man, is a Super rank awakened warrior".
There was longer silence from the other end of the phone. "What is a Super rank awakened warrior doing inside the black citadel?"
The man with pale skin kept quiet since he didn't have the answer, some more silence followed, before his Lord answered himself with another question.
"Is it one of the enemies of the order?"
"Perhaps, one of its victims?"
"Harus, disengage".
"Yes, Lord Butcher, but if I must say, the bare-chested man already left the black citadel and now, my bestial senses can sense a thick smell of blood from inside. My bet is on every one of them already being killed".
The voice at the other end of the phone tsked. "What bad business, and I didn't even get the chance to properly swindle that assassin yet".
"Your work in Greenland City is done, return".
"Yes, Lord Butcher".
Still yet to end the call, this man stood up from his chair, about to leave but right at this moment was when he paused. He paused because he just noticed something. "Lord?"
"Yes, Harus".
"The boy survived".
"What?"
"One of my rats just whispered to me through the beast connection I have with them, he came out alone, injured and barely walking".
"It seems the Super awakened left him alive for some reason".
"What should I do?"
There was more silence from the other end of the phone, then a slight chuckle. "I think I know what happened now".
"To even attract a bypassing Super awakened warrior, that kid must be an even greater monster than we expected".
"We can't let him leave so easily, that boy, he's hot cake, a moving commodity," he paused again. "He's business!" He said loudly.
"Harus, don't let him escape".
"You're smart enough to deduce what I just deduced about the sudden appearance of the Super awakened warrior already. Do not take the risk to face him head-on, sneak up on him, f*ck that boy up and knock him out".
"Bring him back to my base, I shall sell him to the order of the triple six myself for a very big price".
"I'm about to get really rich". He laughed.
"Yes, my Lord". This pale man bowed slightly as the call finally came to an end, and immediately after, this man turned invisible like he was never there.
The most baffling fact was that the other customers in this floor of the trade building never noticed him disappear, almost like he never existed.
…
Paul walked out through the teleportation portal into a familiar alley.
The golden rays of the sun shone upon the world, bathing it with a golden brilliance that made the world seem more beautiful than usual.
At this moment, a lot of considerations were on his mind, nagging at him and leaving him deliberating on which decision and step to take next but Paul had no intentions of making his decision now.
At this moment, he was tired and exhausted after his adventures inside the black citadel, all he wanted now was to sleep, rest, and recover properly.
This was why his next step was finding an inn in Greenland City, or was it a hotel that they called them here?
Well, once he asked around, he would find one.
Paul walked shakily, waving slightly as he did.
At this moment, with potentially all of the assassins of the order of the triple six stationed in Greenland City already dead inside that black citadel, Paul did not feel much threat anymore, only staying alert due to habit.
Walking through the long alley, he had no thoughts on his head, only thoughts of his sister and how he needed to rest.
This was why he failed to react on time to the danger, but something else did warn him though, his foresight.
A moving image suddenly appeared in Paul's head.
In the image, he saw a humanoid black cat standing on 2 legs moving with terrible speed like a black specter.
The world in this moving image was blurry and dark, like it was displaying this information from a realm that naked human eyes were not supposed to see.
In one movement, the humanoid black cat approached him, eyes gleaming with intelligence, as it swiped across with its deadly claws.
In one move, Paul was beheaded.
'I'm in danger!'
The moment he had that thought, he moved his head sideways to dodge, and then…
Bam!
Paul felt his world turn dark.