After he met with the empress, Michael returned to his castle. He summoned Gaya and Adelia to the meeting room. Michael told them about the meeting and how the empress wanted him to deal with Han Torum. Initially, Gaya seemed furious at the empress for using them as her pawn, but after hearing the deal between the dwarves and the Guardian Guild, she calmed down.
"First, we need to know more about Han Torum and Dalgarum," said Michael. Dalgarum was a dwarven kingdom where Han Torum was located. However, the dwarves were extremely cautious about foreigners, especially other race members. Visiting Dalgarum as a human would only get him extremely vulgar remarks and scorns.
"We need diversity in our army and subordinates," said Michael. At that moment, most of his subordinates consist of humans. Although his army had vampires, a few demi-humans, and a couple of orcs, most of whom were humans. Michael always thought of changing that, but he didn't have the time to recruit more people, especially when their expenses exceeded their income.
"You know we can't afford to recruit more people," said Gaya.
"I am working on that. Some of the things I need to forge my swords are in the demon's grave,"
"Demon's grave?!" Adelia almost shouted. Demon's grave was the most dangerous realm in the world. No one, even Immortals, feared going to that place. Granted, it contained countless treasures and rare plants, yet they weren't worth their lives.
"Yes. whatever I find there would be worth millions or even billions. It will keep us floating until we find a permanent source of income,"
Michael had something in mind, but he needed some special herbs. The realm didn't only contain the materials to forge swords but also create something that would rain gold coins.
"If we go to the demon's grave, who's going to deal with the dwarves?" asked Gaya. To her shock, Michael shook his head.
"You are not coming with me,"
Gaya creased her brows while clenching her fist. She hated sending Michael alone to the most dangerous place in the world. If she was there, she could have his back.
"I made my decision. You are to deal with the dwarves and those weapons they are building," Michael's voice was stern. The look in his eyes left no room for Gaya to negotiate. In the end, she could only agree.
"Atleast take Nightmare or Vedora with you," said Gaya. Michael thought about her suggestion for a few moments and decided to take Vedora with him. Why? Because he wanted to spend more time with Vedora. Besides, they might help him on his journey through the demon's grave in one way or another. Atleast he would have someone to talk to.
"I will take Vedora with me," Gaya heaved a sigh of relief.
"While I am gone, deal with Han Torum. Try to snatch the weapons for us. If you can't, destroy them. I don't want those to reach the Guardian Guild," said Michael. Although Gaya was reluctant to stay here while he was in the demon's grave, she knew the importance of the task at hand. Hence, she didn't argue with him. After everything was said and done, Michael dismissed Adelia and Gaya. He wanted to be alone for some time. In a blink of an eye, he reached his room from the meeting hall. Before leaving for the demon's grave, he needed to do some things as preparations. One of them was meditation. He sat on his bed with his eyes closed. He ignored the sounds outside and random thoughts in his mind. It took him a few moments to clear his mind of everything.
Michale lost track of time. By the time he opened his eyes, the sun had woken from its slumber to paint the world with its golden rays. Of course, the dark ocean remained as dark and gloomy as ever. He put on his old dark lord armor and went to the armory. The armory was a spacious hall with hundreds or even thousands of armor stands and weapon racks. At that moment, they had more racks and stands than actual armors and weapons.
"Such a sorry state," Michael sighed. His growing army desperately needed new weapons and armors. Many in the world still didn't realize how hard it was to be the Dark Lord. They thought that he just kill people and stay in the castle. But in reality, he had to deal with all day-to-day things, even when he had subordinates. He walked toward a weapon rack, where he saw several swords lined up. He randomly picked a few and put them in his system storage. He then turned his head toward a black metal door in the corner. When he pushed the door, it opened with a creak. He saw several crates filled with colorful points and pills. Michael waved his hand as a couple of crates, and a bunch of pills disappeared from the room. He had no time to refine new pills and potions. Hence, he took them from the storage.
After taking everything he needed, Michael went to the surveillance room to meet Azazel. On his way, he greeted the dark army soldiers guarding the castle.
"My lord," Azazel immediately bowed when he saw Michael entering the room.
Michael stared at the mirrors with various sighs in them. The surveillance room in the castle was just a temporary setup. Their main setup was still in the dark forest. But Michael didn't come to monitor the mirrors.
"Azazel, bring me the map that shows the entrance to the demon's grave," said Michael.
Unlike Gaya and Adelia, Azazel was neither surprised nor shocked by Michael's words. To him, it was only natural for the Dark Lord to venture into places where normal beings could not. As far as Azazel was concerned, the demon's grave would be no challenge for the Dark Lord.
"Give me a second, my lord," Azazel disappeared from Michael's sight for a second. Then, he appeared again with a scroll.
"Here it is, my lord," Azazel handed over the scroll to Michael. Michael opened the scroll to see the map of the Ozer continent. The demon's grave was marked with the skull. The entrance was located at the edge of this world. There was nothing but an endless ocean around it. Sailing to the entrance was not an option because of the dangers along the way, such as raging storms, violent sea monsters, and lightning storms that were powerful enough to kill a Soul Refining stage cultivator instantly. One only had a slight chance of reaching the entrance by flying.
Once he had left the Ozer continent, there would be no place for him to rest or land.
"I suggest bringing arch energy crystals with you my lord. It would take seven nights and seven days to reach the entrance from here. You'll need to replenish your energy," said Azazel.
Although there were pills to replenish one's energy, the arch energy crystals were several times more powerful than them. Moreover, they could be absorbed faster.
"I was thinking the same," said Michael as Azazel handed over a space ring filled with arch energy crystals to Michael. Michael liked Azazel's initiative. He patted Azazel on the back.
"Bring Vedora to Raylene's garden," said Michael before leaving the surveillance room. Afterward, he flew straight atop his usual meditation spot. The air on top of the sword hilt mountain smelled like sweet flowers. Raylene's flowers blossomed, swaying left and right with the cool breeze. Michael could see the entire floating mountain from the spot. He noticed the castle construction works had been slowed down due to a lack of gold coins. Hopefully, his venture into the demon's grave would change the current situation. If it wasn't for Gaya's extraordinary talent for managing a treasury, he would have gone bankrupt by now. Noah put a huge dent in his plans by closing down the Majestic chains and Hades.
Because of that, Michael had to find something that could not be closed down. He had just the right thing in his mind. Unfortunately, he had to go deep into the demon's grave to get the required items. Michael waited for Azazel to bring Vedora to him while Nightmare accompanied Gaya on her journey to Dalgarum. As Michael was enjoying the gloomy yet captivating sight of the dark ocean, Azazel arrived at the place with Vedora atop his shoulder.
"Where are we heading?" asked Ayag with excitement glimmering in her eyes.
"Demon's grave," Michael calmly said. The excitement in Ayag's eyes multiplied by several times. Her eyes sparkled.
"Really? Man, I hate being cooped up in here. Finally, some worthy adventure," said Ayag. Even Cain agreed with her, which was a rare sight to see. They flapped their tiny wings and landed just right on Michael's shoulder.
"Please tell me we are leaving right now," Sarba asked, tilting his head.
Michael rubbed his chin gently with a smile.
"We are leaving right now," said Michael. Sarba and Ayag grinned ear to ear. Even Michael smiled, looking at their funny expression.
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