The three demons stared at each other in a moment of silence.
Two of them--Hogun and Adu--were especially amazed by Heshu's strategy and line of reasoning. To their further bewilderment, however, he wasn't done explaining.
"I used a special item to replicate a rare Skill. We'll use it to track Dustinel's whereabouts. That way, we'll be able to get a good idea of the location of the Elf Chief's residence."
Using his method, they had solved their most pressing problem--well, one of them.
"We'll rescue Asa and her mother as well. The only major problem is how to handle the Elf extraction plan. We'll have to make some tweaks to the master's plans."
"Tch. You've already started calling him master? Disgusting." Adu commented snidely, his face displaying his disdain.
"The sooner you accept it, the better." Hogun stated, sighing at Adu's obstinance.
Of the three, he remained the only one who stubbornly clung to his pride as a demon. He refused to accept the fact that he was a servant, much to the dismay of his colleagues.
"Never!" Adu replied, shaking his head obstinately.
Heshu sighed, watching as his colleagues fought in an exchange of words. He knew this was no time for such frivolities, so he decided to run through his strategy, ignoring the two.
Based on the information they currently had, as well as the facade they had created in order to handle the Supervisors, a lot of things would have to change about the original strategy.
"We'll need to strike tonight."
Heshu's declaration suddenly caused both demons to stop arguing. They glanced at him in both surprise and disbelief.
"You're kidding, right?"
Heshu's grin simply broadened. It dawned on Adu that Heshu was dead serious.
"Why, though? The Hero said to attack in the morning, right? Launch coordinated efforts to rescue the Elves, as well as defeat the Elf Chief." Hogun added.
"Well, that plan didn't account for the current scenario that the Supervisors would be here earlier than intended. Besides, now is the perfect time to strike since they'll be too busy to take note of us or the Elves in the slums."
Heshu succinctly explained the logic behind his reasoning, causing the other two to nod in comprehension.
"You two will go to the residents and lead them to an escape route, while I invade the Elf Chief's premises."
"WHAT?! You do realize the Supervisors are most likely gonna be there, right?"
Heshu smiled and nodded at Adu's question. Of course, he knew that was a highly possible scenario. In fact, he was counting on it.
"It's best if they're concentrated in a single location. I want to keep them distracted long enough to allow the Elves to evacuate."
In line with Heshu's rationale, it was more advantageous to have their enemies concentrated at a single point, thus granting the Elves the opportunity to escape under the shadowy cover of the night. Besides, their enemies would have their hands full with Asa and Dustinel.
"There's a chance they might send one or two of their members to patrol, as a precaution. If that's the case, I require you both to handle them. Remember, the safety of the Elves is of utmost priority.
The two nodded in conjunction.
"Good. Perfect then. Both of you should get yourselves prepared, we move in five." Heshu sighed as he walked away, looking at the devastated landscape.
"The Hero, you think he foresaw this?" Adu suddenly asked, stopping him dead in his tracks.
"What?"
"I'm asking if that dumbass Hero knew this would happen before assigning us a dumbass plan that we'd have to improvise on." Adu yelled--annoyed and frustrated.
He had thought he was going to carry out his mission the next day--get in, get out, no complications. However, all these new variables were complicating their mission. The supposedly brilliant plan had been ditched for a contingency plan. The Hero was clearly incompetent.
"I'm not sure if he was aware of them coming so early. However, he left us three behind for a reason. Besides, he did not exactly specify that we were to follow the plan strictly. I believe we can freely make choices, so long as they are for the benefit of the ultimate goal."
In essence Heshu was saying he wasn't completely sure what the Hero had meant when he stated his plan--whether he was being plain incompetent or cryptic. However, one thing was obvious to him.
"We can succeed. That's all that matters. So, rather than giving excuses and making us look incompetent, I'd advise you to get on board. Unless of course, you want to suffer the Hero's wrath."
Adu and Hogun shivered.
They knew the Hero was extremely strong. Considering how he had easily defeated them during the war back then, he was far above their league. In fact, in the eyes of Heshu, Kiko, Pierrus, and practically every single resident of Dulum, the Hero was even more amazing than they recalled.
After all, he had killed Demon Lord Valefor and was intensely OP.
A human strong enough to defeat an Upper-Class demon--a Ducal Demon Lord for that matter.
The extent to which they believed this myth, however, varied.
For Adu, he believed the Hero had used underhanded tactics against his father. Even though several eyewitnesses mentioned how the Hero had suffered no injuries, he wanted to believe his father had actually wounded the Hero before he died.
He really did his best to conjure up numerous excuses to explain the outcome of the match. Unfortunately, none of them worked.
"Let's just do our jobs well and get this over with."
Heshu's advice sounded like a good one, and Hogun agreed. Adu grudgingly accepted, and together, they decided to commence their mission that very night.
*
*
*
"So this is that guy, huh? He looks weird. Has he lost weight or something?"
Zerci Krell was staring hard at the trembling Dustinel. The old Elf was paralyzed with fear, and other than his trembling limbs and constant sobs, he was pretty much still.
"Indeed. He looks pale and has a temperature. Some form of illness, perhaps." Jessop spoke, also staring at the frail Elf keenly.
"Y-yes, there has been a sickness making the rounds among the Elves. I... I don't know what's happening. That's why we didn't meet up to our quota, and why workmanship has been plummeting these days." Dustinel explained with a trembling voice, keeping his head bowed, even though it caused him excruciating pain to do so.
"Hahahaha! Now this is what I'm talking about. A competent guy, unlike you idiot." Zerci grinned toothily at the Elf King.
Unfortunately for him, after experiencing torture at Zerci's hands due to her impatience, he had already passed out. His hair was matted with blood, and his puffy face made a strange expression that was a combination of joy and pain.
"Just look at that fat pig! So useless except for his royal genes! It could prove difficult to our course that the former queen isn't of full royal blood, so we managed to put up with his antics, but..." Zerci glanced in the direction of the completely surrendered Dustinel.
"Haa. If only you had royal blood in you, old Elf. You could have been king, instead of this waste of space." Zeci clenched her fists and sighed in disappointment before turning to the second--or rather, third--victim in the room
"And who's this other chick? Seems like an Elf. She's pretty too."
The girl in question was, of course, Asa
Asa tried her best to put up a brave front against her kidnappers, but after seeing the bloodied body of her uncle--one whom she feared so much--she knew the demons before her were far more dangerous.
Their overpowering Miasma and terrifying appearance further increased her feeling of powerlessness. As such, Asa discerned that the best possible means to guarantee her safety and her life was...
Being silent.
"She hired some mercenaries to capture Dustinel for reasons unknown to the mercs." Jessop responded.
"She did, huh? That's quite brave for an Elf. Why, though?" Zerci's narrowed gaze on Asa caused the young Elf to shiver even more.
"I don't know. You can question her and see for yourself. You're the expert in that department, right?" Jessop stated, gazing at Zerci expectantly.
"Tch. Yeah, yeah. By the way, what befell the mercenaries? Did you kill them? They did this to one of our members, after all." Zerci pointed in the direction of Red--who had been laid on the ground.
The crimson, stubby demon was covered in white light, as he was being healed by the serpent-looking member of the Supervisors.
"I didn't kill them. They seemed to be telling the truth, and--"
"Shit! Damn it, Jessop. Were you too lazy to finish the job again?" The moment Zerci said this, the lanky demon's brows twitched.
This was due to how he felt when heard that word.
"Too lazy? Too lazy? Really/" He whispered.
"HUH? What did you say, retard?" Zerci approached, shouting as she stared at him, daring him to speak.
Jessop had a lot to say concerning Zerci's personality, and even more to say about her current accusation.
'How was I lazy? I literally did everything asked of me. I brought the targets back, gathered information and even brought someone who can provide context to our current predicament.'
In his opinion, he did the right thing.
"Let me guess. You're thinking you made the right call, aren't you?"
Jessop smiled as he heard this question from the leader. She wasn't wrong about his intentions though. He truly did not want to go through more trouble than necessary.
Was that too much to ask?
"Anyway, I'll torture her until she tells me everything I need to know."
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