"I have to be honest, I expected some demons to have already appeared at this point." Alistair, the second-in-command of the Lumon region said as he stood next to Reign.
"Yeah, this is a bit weird, we have already gone a bit deeper than before, and no demons have been spotted yet, and I'm not talking about the Tier IV demons, no demon has been spotted at all." Reign said with a serious expression as the large group that consisted of 60 Tier IV combatants was resting on a hill.
After Reign had told everyone about his findings, the many Tier IVs that were present in the meeting hall were perplexed at what to do. The news was relatively good, after all, they know knew just how Liara functioned as the key, and they didn't need to worry about the demons finding the artifact before them, nor did they have to worry about the monsters doing the same.
The problem now was the fact that the demons might know that as well, or at the very least, they might know some of the things Reign had just discovered.
After all, their leader did give them a device that was able to bring them to the key, and since they now knew that Liara had fragments of Alfrea's soul in her, it might be possible that the device was actually made to locate the soul fragments.
Reign had told them the same, the Tier IV demons whose souls he had captured had no idea how the device worked, and the reason why Reign had said that the chances of the demons possessing the soul fragments were low was that they wouldn't need to look for Liara if they had them already.
The possibility that they knew about the existence of the soul fragments was not low, but it wasn't that high either.
Them not having to worry about the artifact being taken meant that there was no longer any need for them to split up in groups and scout the entire demon region since only Liara could sense the artifact if she got close, and also Reign.
He wouldn't be able to sense the artifact, but he believed that if he was close to it, the fragments he was still keeping safe in his consciousness would definitely react.
They had wanted to make two groups at first, one with Reign in it, and the other with Liara, so that they could cover more ground and find the artifact, but Reign was against it.
If the demons attacked again, and if they brought multiple groups with them, there was no saying what might happen. They were outnumbered, and splitting up when they didn't need to was simply a bad choice in his opinion.
If they all stuck together, even though that would make the search for the artifact longer, it would be much safer for them. Reign had already shown just how powerful he was, and in order for the demons to deal with him, they would need multiple peak Tier IV combatants to go against him.
Alistair and Laura, as the two most powerful demon hunters amongst them, were able to go up against two or even three peak Tier IV demons at the same time thanks to the buffs they received when going up against demons.
Liara could fight evenly against two peak Tier IV demons as well, and the other peak Tier IV combatants, although not as powerful, were still nothing to be scoffed at and could hold their own against demons who were in the same realm as they were.
All of that meant that unless the demons arrived with a group of 100 Tier IV demons, they still had a fighting chance and could win, so they could fearlessly go forward and search for the artifact.
Of course, Reign and the others knew that the longer the search took, the more danger they would be in.
The two Tier V demons would not sit idly forever, and if they found themselves deep in demon territory without their own Tier V combatants, they would almost certainly be doomed if either one of the Tier V demons attacked them.
The difference between a Tier V and a Tier IV was immense. Each evolution would pretty much double the stats of a being, so one could imagine just how powerful a Tier V could be. Their aura alone would be enough to make a large number of the Tier IV combatants who were on the team turn sluggish, and even though Reign was certain that with his transformation and the others backing him, he would be able to at the very least, fight to a draw against a Tier V.
With all of that in mind, the large group had decided that they would first start searching till the middle of the demon region and that they would also do their best to see how the demons had responded to the loss of their two groups the previous day, and the answer they had gotten was a weird one.
No demons were present anymore, none at all.
"So, do we take this as a sign of the demons being aware of the existence of the soul fragments?" Laura suddenly asked from the back as she arrived near Reign who sighed and shrugged his shoulders.
"I have no idea, that could very well be the case, but on the other hand, we have killed quite a few demons during our search, that, coupled with the fact that we eliminated two groups that had Tier IV demons, which are a lot rarer to be found compared to the other demons, could very well be the reason why the demons decided to call back the smaller and weaker groups."
"Only time will tell just what had happened and why they had done what they have done, I'm afraid that right now, all that we can do is speculate as to what the demons are up to, and what the hell they are planning on doing." Reign said with a solemn expression as he sat on a nearby rock and stared ahead.
"Do you think they will send out larger groups that have Tier IV demons, similar to what we have done?" Alistair asked Reign while looking ahead as well.
He was the second-in-command of the region and was well-liked by all thanks to the fact he never put on airs with others and was always welcoming of people giving him their own opinions and advice about certain matters.
If one was acknowledged by Alistair, all would understand that he truly had capabilities, and the young man that had become the second-in-command merely 2 months ago after the previous one had died in battle against the demons had quickly shown that he was up to the task.
This wasn't the first time he had asked Reign such a question, and it wasn't because he wanted to gauge Reign's capabilities or make things difficult for him, but merely because he was curious as to how Reign would answer his questions.
"It is certainly possible, but I don't know, you know as much as I do that demons are quite the peculiar bunch, of course, that varied from tribe to tribe, but if you placed multiple peak Tier IV demons in one group, none of them would listen to the other if one of them proposed they go right, another would propose they go left, a third forward and so on."
"That is true, I have to admit that that was one of the reasons we have been able to hold on against them, if they were more organized, I truly have no idea how we would have defended against them."
"Well, as I've said before, only time will tell, and I think that time is approaching us quite fast, can you see that?" Reign asked Alistair as he pointed in the distance, making the young man squint his eyes and try his best to look ahead.
"I can't say I do."
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm "Neither do I." Reign suddenly said, which made Alistair frown slightly as he looked at Reign with some confusion.
"I can't see anything, and yet I am able to sense some danger, I'm able to sense the stench of demon souls as well, no matter how well they might hide, their souls will never be able to escape my senses." Reign said in a serious voice as Alistair's frown deepened, but this time, it was for a different reason.
"Demons aren't good at hiding, at least not the ones in the three regions we are going up against."
"Which can only mean one of three things has happened." Reign said as he looked forward.
"The demons have either used some items that hide their presence and figures is the first possibility."
"The second is that the demons have trained and managed to gain some skills and proficiency with hiding themselves, which I highly doubt since we should have been able to at the very least see something when it came to the weaker ones if they are present."
"And the final possibility is that the demons we are going to face very soon do not belong to any of the three regions, and personally, I think this is the right one, which means things have become even more complicated now."
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