926 Preparation Before Departure

Over the next few days, Vicente would continue to work under Annie's supervision, using his moments of rest to teach her important things.

He wanted Annie to have a minimum understanding of the craftsman's trade. It was still precious to their family, and she would need to know the basics in order to make good use of the infrastructure Vicente had built.

Despite all the misfortune on the continent and the power of the Fuller family, coins were still crucial. The family's future lay not only in killing vampires, but in accumulating gold and ensuring long-term continuity.

Dead vampires could help the family grow stronger in the short term more than gold. But one day, these experts would die or ascend to the Supreme Continent. At that time, the legacy of vampire blood would disappear. Gold, on the other hand, could preserve much of the family's power in the long run.

Vicente understood and wanted his daughter to think the same way he did and eventually pass it on to the next generations of the Fuller family.

In addition to the skills of a trader, he wanted to teach her the basics of being a smart person, able to plan her steps before acting, to be calm, and to know when to back off.

He wanted to nurture Annie's talent with the Cataclysm Moon Pendant, but not just a high-level talent would take her to the top. Until she became an expert, she would go through a good period of vulnerability.

In his spare time over the past few weeks, he had focused on shaping this little girl's personality.

Already knowing he wouldn't be around for much longer, he began his journey through the altars of the Cataclysm Order at Annie's side!

...

At the secret altar of the Cataclysm Order near the capital of the Seidel Kingdom, Vicente and Annie had just arrived through a wormhole he had created.

The little girl had a big smile on her face as she looked around with a sparkle in her eyes, thinking it was great to be able to travel with her father.

Vicente continued walking down the aisle while Annie held on to one of his fingers and strolled alongside her father.

The men of this post, about a hundred individuals, the weakest of them, Earth Sovereigns, were all lined up at the entrance to the altar, in positions of respect for Vicente and Annie.

The leader of this post, one of the most important in the Cataclysm Order today, with influence over tens of thousands of magicians, a powerful Mid-level Paragon, narrowed his eyes when he saw the necklace around Annie's neck.

"Welcome back, Altar Master!" The man said, followed by all the altar people in the area.

Vicente stopped in front of the standing Paragons and corrected them. "From now on, my daughter, Annie Fuller, is the new leader of the order. I'm here to take your oaths of allegiance to her."

Annie looked at her father, not really understanding what was going on, while the powerful magicians around stared at her.

Vicente added, "In my absence, Lauren Fuller will be the General Counsel of the Cataclysm Order, Annie Fuller's guardian. Nina Fuller will be the General Protector of the order."

The men and women in the surrounding area understood the succession of power within the altar immediately after Vicente's words ended, bending their knees as they looked at Annie.

"Congratulations to the new Altar Master! Altar Master Annie, we look to you for guidance as we strive to reach the pinnacle of magic!""

The surrounding men shouted, swearing oaths to the heavens as they allowed Vicente to mark each of their souls with this promise.

Vicente looked at Annie with a smile on his face and motioned for her to step forward and say what he had told her earlier.

"P-people, I will follow in my f-father's f-footsteps and rule with w-wisdom. We will restore s-stability to the c-continent!" She said amid her hesitation, stuttering but getting her first words out to her subordinates.

With the Cataclysm Moon Pendant around her neck and Lauren and Nina at her side, Annie could lead calmly even without the oath of these men.

But Vicente wouldn't be foolish to rely on that alone. Lauren and Nina might not be able to help Annie at some point in the future, so he wanted to make sure that all the top experts of the Cataclysm Order were sworn to obey his daughter.

He moved on, heading for the forge area of this secret structure to upgrade the area's armaments and defenses.

Annie would accompany him, along with the Paragons of this post, who were obviously curious about the future and the plans of their former leader.

Even though Vicente was no longer the Altar Master, he was still the master of many of these individuals who had sworn allegiance to him or received his mark of slavery in the past.

...

For the next six weeks, Vicente would upgrade all the armor, weapons, and defenses of any city or border in the Seidel Kingdom.

With nine more Cataclysm Order ranks loyal to Annie, he intended to continue his journey through the Seidel Kingdom's neighboring states, traveling alongside Annie, Layla, Nova, and Lina.

Meanwhile, Lina had been spying on her family's future daily, looking for the pivotal moment when Vicente would be forced to leave, lest they face a high-level battle.

Fortunately, their actions of faking their escape from Metal City had worked, and rumors of their journey to the central region of the continent had even reached the north.

By now, the coalition led by Demien Bloodthorne knew about Vicente's background and the family he had in the Seidel Kingdom in the recent past.

But with several places with conditions similar to Metal City in the south and center of the continent, going to Metal City to look for him didn't seem promising. Vicente could be anywhere.

To prevent him and his family from fleeing wherever they were and becoming even more difficult to reach later, Demien and his men were searching for them carefully.

They also didn't want to reveal their position to their enemies. Little by little, they approached the cities where their targets might be, cautiously, so as not to show themselves until they were sure of the enemy's position.

While this was happening, the continent experienced a certain peace, with both sides of the disaster only preparing for the next great battle.

This would continue for months, but in less than a year since Vicente's return to his family, things would change!