"It's time to fulfill my promise." The Space Saint looked at Theo with a serious expression. He had to do the most important task, which was to bring Theo back to the base.
Of course, he needed someone to activate the portal. So, Theo immediately summoned his clone.
"This clone has the same power as I do. Even if you teleport me away, as long as the clone is here, he can activate the structure. So, there's no need to worry that you don't have anyone to help you activate the portal." Theo explained.
The Space Saint nodded. He already understood the ability of the clone. In fact, the reasons why Theo was respected even among the monsters were related to this clone.
He had a clone and could fool all of them. Yet, Theo continued fulfilling his part of the agreement unlike other humans. So, it was worth doing Theo some favor in exchange.
"I guess your clone will be the one bringing the structure away…" The Space Saint glanced at Theo's clone who was standing next to the structure.
"Yeah. After you enter the portal, I'm going to wait for one minute before deactivating the tower and bringing it back."
The Space Saint nodded in agreement.
"I have a question for you, Theodore Griffith. I hope that you can answer this question." The Space Saint's expression turned grim as if he had been plagued by this question for a long time. "Do you hate me for kidnapping you here?"
Theo smiled, realizing that the Space Saint was still under the pressure he had created upon him. He immediately gave an answer he had prepared beforehand. "Do you feel responsible for those people? Do you feel ashamed that you have asked them to follow you to the other world? If you feel responsible, then you don't have to care about others' opinions. You are the leader, so you lead them even if they hate you.
"If you feel ashamed, you should ask yourself. No one can predict the future. So, am I doing the right thing? As long as you feel this is the right thing to do, then you can continue to do it until you see the result. Whether you will be disappointed or not by the result, you just have to see it through! Don't look away!"
"…" The Space Saint looked down, contemplating. He knew that he could run away from the problems. Since the portal was designated to teleport the creatures from this world to the other world, not the other way around, it was clear that he would be freed from the responsibility as long as he remained here.
Yet, he should be ashamed for running away. As Theo said, he had to see it through. There would be regrets along the way and some would even hate him. All he had to do was to face them head-on.
"I see. It seems that I'm too foolish." The Space Saint let out a long sigh, realizing that he was too foolish to even consider that question.
"Let's go then?" Theo smiled.
The Space Saint nodded. He never expected that he would learn a lot from Theo, a human who hadn't even lived for more than thirty years.
He respected Theo more than any human on the planet, but he didn't reveal it because he was a bit too embarrassed to utter it after kidnapping him here.
Instead, he focused on the current task. He teleported them to Theo's house, which was constructed not far away from the portal.
He had gathered all the equipment and items he got from the monsters, which would be useful for the incoming battle.
After that, the Space Saint and Theo arrived at the human city.
They had been told to gather in a small stadium since they would be teleported from there.
They looked impatient, but Theo had a few trusted subordinates he had just gained when discovering all these people.
The first one was an old man who had long black hair. Despite his fierce look, there was a trace of a mellow smile on his face. It seemed that after all the ruckuses happening all around the world, the old man finally enjoyed some time of peace.
The second one was a middle-aged woman. Despite the situation, she wore only a thin white shirt that was transparent enough for others to see her bra. However, she didn't have any change of expression when others looked at her. She maintained her confident expression the whole time.
The last one was a middle-aged man. Unlike the other two, this man had short black hair and a tidy shirt coupled with jeans. It could be said that the one who looked the most ordinary was none other than him.
When Theo appeared with the Space Saint, the three immediately dropped their matter, trying to find the source of the disturbance. As soon as they found Theo, they hurriedly came to him.
"Welcome, Sir." The old man smiled, gently bowing his head.
"You don't have to be that polite to me." Theo smiled back, shaking his hand. "I'm sure that you are ready, right?"
"Yes." The old man nodded. "It's a shame that we can't really go back to the base, but looking at our numbers, we are like a small city. So, we should be fine for the time being."
He was the 30th strongest person in the world, the first Transcendent Level Expert Theo found, the King of Balloon. The monsters Theo sent had saved him, so he was the most loyal person among the three.
The other two also greeted him.
"Welcome back."
"We are ready to leave."
"Good." Theo nodded. He took a look at the people around and said, "I believe you have briefed them about the current situation, right?"
"Yes. Well, there is still a portion of them who don't want to wait, but most of them have understood their roles. Even right now, the base must have tight security, so they won't be able to reach the base easily."
Theo nodded. "I'll tell you the rest after we reach the other continent. For now, we should prepare for teleportation!"
"Got it." The three immediately dispersed, trying to inform the people about the teleportation.
Meanwhile, the Space Saint stood in the middle of the field, preparing his ability.
