Eren had also met up with the White Raven Crew members during this time.
They had become an integral part of the White Raven Guild at this point, finding their place inside his city. They too had decided to leave Anfang once they broke through into the Grandmaster Rank.
Unlike Eren, Jake, Renita, and a few others from the White Raven Crew wanted to visit Tel Quasser– the land of the Fey. they believed that the homeworld of the fey would allow better opportunities for them to forge their Ranking Path ahead.
Of course, all of this depended on how successful Eren's departure from Anfang was. The Spatial Gate that Maya and Alephee had created needed to be flawless for Rankers from Anfang to leave their homeworld without taking many risks. Only then could these Rankers travel to their required destinations effortlessly.
As for how the Rankers allied with Eren could enter the Immortal Planes? Eren had made use of the Seven-headed serpent statue that he had obtained from Eliza's Purgatory to brand the souls of his allies with the Sin Series Marks.
Of course, the Sin Series Marks were not for everyone. This was because not everyone was suited to receive such Marks on their souls.
Eren's allies could also choose to mark their souls with the Virtue Series Marks, thanks to Lensa's successful claim over Sage Minerva's Utopia. The Spatial Gate Maya and Alephee had forged were technically primed to open links with a myriad Immortal Planes of either demonic or divine inclinations.
As long as one had the Sin or Virtue Series Marks on their soul, they could use the respective Immoral Plane that suited them to leave Anfang. At least that's how things were supposed to go as per Sansara Sage's case study.
As for those who didn't want to brand their souls with Sin or Virtue Series Marks– Eren simply asked them to bid their time and wait in Anfang. He was sure that with the weakening of the divine formation each day, it wouldn't be too long before the direct teleportation gates between Anfang and the worlds closest to Anfang got opened.
While Eren was discussing stuff with Alephee and Maya, he received an urgent message from one of his underlings through the voice communication channel. He smiled before speaking to the ladies sitting on the opposite side of the table.
"See? Didn't I tell you that things keep popping up out of nowhere?" Eren's expression turned serious as he spoke in a grim voice. "Some guests have come to visit us. I better greet them before they complain about me not being a good host," said Eren before vanishing from his spot.
Alephee and Maya both looked at each other when the discussion they had with Eren came to an abrupt end. Then they looked at the chair Eren was sitting on just a few seconds ago in contemplation.
"I guess they finally arrived," Maya said and sighed.
The experiments they did inside Sansara World 2.0 were isolated from the rest of Anfang by default. However, she knew that Sages would eventually be able to tell that someone was trying to establish a connection with the Immortal Planes.
The Sages of the Anfang Alliance had been made aware that Eren had stolen Sansara Sage's legacy right from under their noses. It didn't take a genius to understand what Eren was planning to do once the fact related to the Immortal Planes was established.
They couldn't allow Eren to escape Anfang just like that. They were fine with establishing ties with Ravendale in the future after Eren was punished for his crime.
As such, Maya wasn't surprised by the arrival of Eren's guests. If anything, she was more surprised by the fact that they had waited this long. She could only attribute this phenomenon to Eren's vicious methods of dealing with his Sage opponents at the time of executing the Lazarus Project.
"Should we follow him?" she asked Alephee. The latter shook her head. "No need. He'll be able to handle them just fine," she said casually as if it was no big deal.
***
A seemingly wild island. A few nautical miles away from Ravendale's shore.
It looked like something huge had happened overnight on this particular island, transforming it completely. It had now become a base for a small army of Rankers who had come here from Arsalan and Katiyal. Some had come here using ships driven on mana as fuel. Others had been summoned here after the teleportation array formations were set up on the island.
This island was not the only one that had received such type of attention from Rankers. The natural islands around Ravendale had been turned into bases for these small armies of Rankers. It looked like the arrangement was part of a large-scale maritime siege initiated on Ravendale.
"Quick! Set up the formations," A Ranker from Arsalan shouted at his underlings. "Sage Zavir is personally going to check up on today's work at the end of the day," he warned them in a threatening tone.
"Yes, Grandmaster Remon. We will be able to finish…."
One of the Rankers who was answering Grandmaster Remon suddenly stopped in his tracks when he saw a lonesome figure approaching their makeshift camp from a distance. He could tell that the figure steadily coming towards them with deliberate steps was no ally of theirs. His presence was akin to a sheathed weapon that was ready to draw blood at any moment.
"Its… it's… Grimdawn!"
The Ranker was finally able to recognize the name of a Grandmaster who was approaching their camp. He had seen Eren up close and he had felt the latter's presence at the time of the Lazarus Project, on the battlefield. He was one of the lucky few who had managed to survive the tragedy because he had retreated on time.
As such, he couldn't mistake Eren for anyone else. Especially when Eren had no intentions to hide himself.
The sky crackled and the mana of the entire region was galvanized as soon as Eren's identity was confirmed. The array formations lit up and the Rankers present on the island screamed and prepared themselves for whatever was about to come to them.
"So you finally decided to show yourself," Sage Zavir appeared at the entrance of the makeshift camp. He looked at Eren and made an "I'm impressed" face before commenting.
"I am surprised you still have the guts to face me," said Zavie while looking at Eren with a gaze soaked in suppressed hate and anger.
Eren smiled before responding. "I'm surprised for the same reason as well. I wonder how many Sages will I have to kill in Anfang before they finally learn their lesson?" gm
