The other leaders looked at William with an appraising gaze. They knew that Raizel wouldn't joke around about something of this magnitude, but they simply couldn't accept her explanation at the drop of the hat.
Seeing that all of them were doubting Raizel's words, William simply smiled and patted Raizel's shoulder, telling her that he would handle the rest.
"I have something important to tell everyone in this room," William said as he scanned the faces of the leaders who were looking at him with varying expressions. "There is a mastermind behind the scenes, and he's the one responsible for the Hauntings."
"What?!"
"Someone is manipulating the Haunting? So, it's not a natural phenomenon?!"
"Lad, is what you say true?"
The leaders voiced their opinions one by one. They were all shocked at this revelation because they had all accepted that the Haunting was a part of this world's cycle.
Ever since they appeared in the Deadlands, the Hauntings were already there, this was why they never considered any other explanation as to why it occurred on a regular basis.
"There you again, spouting a bunch of bullsh*t." Swiper laughed. "Proof! We need proof! You can't just randomly tell us something and expect us to believe your claims!"
Several of the Leaders nodded their heads in agreement. Although it was not hard for them to accept the possibility of someone manipulating the Haunting from the shadows, evidence would make things more credible.
"I have evidence, but can you people handle it?" William asked.
He looked at everyone inside the room with an indifferent look. After careful consideration, he still decided to take a chance and present some evidence to back up his claims.
"Sir William, please, show us your evidence."
Avril took a step forward. As the representative of the Alliance, she decided to see William's evidence first, before making her decision as to whether she would believe him or not.
William nodded his head and looked at the door at the side of the room.
"You may enter now," William said. "It's time to say hi to your old friends."
As soon as William finished his words, the door of the room opened.
A Death Lord wearing red armor, and helmet stepped in. Only its golden glowing eyes could be seen beneath its visor, and it made everyone in the room gasp in shock.
"Death Lord!" Swiper roared as he hurriedly raised his weapon. "You foul Half-Elf! You're in league with the Undead!"
The other Leaders in the room also grabbed their weapons, with the exception of Avril. Although she had the strong urge to take out her bow and attack, she endured it using her will power. She then shifted her attention to William who had the "I was expecting this" expression on his face, which made the frown on her face ease up a bit.
"Swiper, it's been a long time and you still haven't changed," the Death Lord said in a teasing tone. "I'm surprised that your Shelter managed to survive this long with you in the lead."
Swiper, who was about to attack, halted his steps. The Death Lord's voice sounded awfully familiar that it was more than enough to stop him in his tracks.
The Death Lord took off its red helmet, and showed its face to everyone in the room.
Gasps of disbelief, fear, and excitement spread across the room, as Xenovia, the former leader of the Glory Shelter, appeared in front of them once again.
Everyone looked at her pale face, that was deprived of life, and yet, they could feel the powerful life force emanating from inside her body. Xenovia gave everyone a sweeping glance before briefly nodding her head in greeting.
It was then when everyone realized that the person that was in front of them was indeed the woman who had sacrificed her life to save the members of her Shelter from the Undead Army that had claimed her life.
"X-Xenovia?" Avril asked in an uncertain tone. "Is that really you?"
"Yes, Avril," Xenovia replied. "It's me."
Xenovia then stared at the leaders and called out to those familiar to her with a casual greeting.
"Eldon, you're just like Swiper," Xenovia grinned. "Nothing has changed since I last saw you. You're still short."
"Damn woman!" Eldon huffed. "How many times should I tell you not to look down on me because I'm short!"
Xenovia chuckled before shifting her attention to another target.
"Lindir, you and your lizardfolk are still alive?" Xenovia eyed the Lizardman from head to foot. "It seems that your tail has finally grown back. Can I slice it off again? The last time I had a barbecue with your tail was more than half a year ago. I still remember how delicious it was."
"F*ck you!" Lindir shouted in anger.
"… you're not handsome enough to ask me such a thing."
"Die!"
"I'm already dead, you know?" Xenovia roared in laughter after teasing the Lizard who was holding his spear in an attacking stance.
"Okay, that's enough, Xenovia," William tapped the Death Lord's shoulder. "We still have important things to talk about."
"Tsk, and I was only getting to the good part." Xenovia sighed.
William shook his head and faced the Leaders, and their subordinates with a calm expression on his face.
"I fought against Xenovia during the battle, and managed to break the connection of the Dread Lord on her soul," William explained. "During the process, the Dread Lord and I fought inside Xenovia's Sea of Consciousness. It was there that I realized that the Haunting was not a natural phenomenon, but an orchestrated attack in order to wipe out every living being in the Deadlands."
"Wait!" Swiper interjected. "I know a bit of Dread Lords, and I know how powerful they are. If what you say is true then none of us would be alive here and now. Although the Undead Army are numerous, they are not that strong. But, if that Undead Army, the Bone Dragons, and the Dread Lord, attack all of us at the same time, none of us will survive."
William looked at the Demonic Boar as if he was an idiot, which made the latter have the strong urge to bash in the Half-Elf's handsome face until it turned to meat paste.
"I was about to get to that part, but you interrupted me," William said with mild contempt. "Seriously, someone put a leash on this pig. He's always interrupting important talks. If you don't want to listen, get out of this room. You're just a nuisance."
William crossed his arms over his chest and used his chin to point at the door. "Anyone else who doesn't want to take part in the discussion, the door is over there. I will not escort you out."
"Madness," Swiper walked towards the door without even giving William a second glance. "Only a fool will believe such nonsense. It is very obvious that you are colluding with the enemy. That is the only explanation there is as to why this shelter survived, while others didn't."
The door closed with a heavy slam, shattering it to bits. Clearly, the Demonic Boar did it on purpose in order to make a statement. His action and words moved the hearts of the other Leaders in the room, and some of them were on the verge of following in his footsteps.
However, before these Leaders could even make their opinions known, William cleared his throat and glanced at Xenovia.
"Beat that pig to a pulp and hang him somewhere where I can see him later," William ordered as he pointed at the door. "How dare he destroy private property? Does he think that he's some kind of big shot or something?
"What if we did the same to the other Shelters, and broke all of their doors because we felt like it? Will that make us cool as well? Go and teach that swine a lesson. Also, make sure to have him compensate us for our damaged door. Do the same to those who will side with him. Make sure to give them all a good beating, understood?"
"Yes, Sir," Xenovia replied with a smirk. She had long wanted to beat Swiper up since the day she arrived in the Deadlands. However, as the leader of a Shelter, she needed to hold back to ensure that no conflicts would arise.
Things were different now. Not only was she stronger than she was in the past, she also had William who was far stronger than her. With the two of them working together, she believed that the Leaders would think twice before messing with them.
A minute after Xenovia left the room, Swiper's screams echoed in the hallway. The Demonic Boar's pained screams made those who planned to leave the room change their minds completely.
They had known how strong Xenovia was when she was alive, so they were able to tell that her current form was much stronger. This gave them a sense of invisible pressure that prevented them from leaving the room.
"Now, where was I?" William scratched his head as he gave everyone a teasing smile. "Ah… about the Dread Lord, are you people now interested in hearing what I have to say?"
The Leaders exchanged glances with each other, and reluctantly nodded their heads. Now that they had seen Xenovia appear in front of them, they were more willing to listen to William's explanation.
They knew that if what he said was true then they were truly facing an uphill battle.
A battle where their chances of winning were close to none.
