[ AN: I know that the last couple of chaps were painfully slow, starting from the next one, things will get heated again, thanks for reading. ]
As they continued searching, Reign suddenly stopped.
"Dammit, they know where we are." Reign said in an annoyed voice as the others stared at him.
"The group we came across, had a device, it's a new device that the demons created, it seems their second-in-command was the one that made both the new device, as well as the one that they used to listen in to us and locate us." Reign said with assurance.
"These guys knew a bit more than others, it seems the group we killed a couple of days ago, the Stalker Demons, were just used as sacrificial lambs so that we would get the device, we did right by destroying it." Reign said with a sigh.
"But they all have new devices, and these are very simple ones, easy to make, they act as beacons, if any demon group comes across us, they will immediately activate it to allow others to know where we are."
"All demons have the devices, so it's nearly impossible for us to stop them from using them as they only need to use a little bit of demonic energy to activate it, and it's also a locked device, meaning it is given to a demon, then their energy signature is locked to it, allowing only them to use it."
"They did that so you two wouldn't be able to use demonic energy and use the beacons in an attempt to fool them." Reign said as he glanced at Alistair and Laura.
"Tch, I didn't expect them to be so crafty," Alistair said with annoyance.
"Yes, me neither, usually demons love to use their overwhelming numbers and the fact they can't truly die to just overwhelm opponents, this guy, it seems he has only recently been given his position and is in charge of being the main strategist."
"Without him, the demons would have never used such means."
'But why has word not spread that I can attack and destroy their souls, not to mention that what these demons have heard is a bit different from what is really going on.' Reign thought to himself before telling the others about what he had managed to learn.
"Hmmm, you say that demon was in charge of listening in to us?"
"Yeah, nobody wanted to do such a boring job, and since it was his idea, and his device, he was the one that did everything." Reign told Alistair and Liara who were standing in front of him.
"Maybe it's just the lower-ranked demons that don't know the whole story," Alistair said with some doubt as Liara nodded.
"Could be, or that one is not as trustworthy as the demons believe him to be."
"You mean?"
"Yes, he might be hiding info from the rest in an attempt to weaken them, he probably heard how you said that you can become as powerful as a Tier V being for a short period of time, that might have been the main reason for that."
"Using a borrowed knife to kill, huh?" Reign asked, to which she nodded.
"Exactly, after all, demons are some of the most selfish beings in the entire universe, I wouldn't doubt for a second that he is trying to make a situation where the two Tier Vs who are in the stronghold fight against Sir Sigurd and sir Basred."
"If you were to join the battle and explode with the power of a Tier V being, there's a high chance that we might be able to kill or seriously injure the two, right?"
"Hmmm, that is right, if I wait for the right moment and only show my full power when one of them is unable to block or dodge, I might be able to deliver quite a serious blow to them, if that happened, me and one of the leaders could defeat the demon before attacking the other one together."
"Yes, and even if the leader of this region survives, he would be seriously injured, I'm certain that he wouldn't survive for long in the stronghold as his second-in-command would relish the opportunity to get rid of him and assume command before quickly trying to evolve and become a Tier V being as well," Liara said, to which everybody stared with serious expressions.
"I would rather have two dumb Tier V demons as my opponents than that one guy, to be honest." Reign said as he sat down.
"So, even if we come across the two leaders, we shouldn't kill or injure them?"
"Oh no, you should definitely do that, it's just that we would need to quickly do our best to not only get the artifact after that but get rid of that demon as well before he is able to evolve."
"We're just getting more and more things to do and think about, and we're still nowhere close to getting the artifact, or finding out just what the hell is going on with you and those soul fragments." Reign said as he stared at Liara before getting up.
"Alright, for now, we don't need to think much, we just need to continue searching, I have a feeling that things will start getting even more complicated when we find the artifact." Reign said as they all got up and resumed traveling.
They searched for the entire day and got nothing.
They searched the next day, and the next one, and one more, and still, they didn't find the artifact.
They had come across multiple groups of demons during that time, and Reign had killed them all, taking their souls in the process and getting any information they had, but that didn't help either as the demons were not ranked high enough to know anything important.
Only a handful of peak Tier IV demons knew more information, and those were their elites, none of them were sent out of the stronghold yet as the demons were waiting for them to find the artifact before attacking.
Luckily, they did manage to discover that the demons also had no idea where the artifact was, which was good news, the only good news so far actually.
As they continued searching, Liara suddenly stopped.
"I feel something," Liara said, making everybody present stare at her.
"Are you sure?" Reign asked as his eyes narrowed.
They still hadn't searched half of the demon region, and they were still on their side, which was good news. If the artifact was truly somewhere around here, they would have an easier time getting it.
"I can't explain it, but I suddenly feel as if something is calling out to me, I can sense it clearly for some reason."
"We're going the other way, we're going to search for a bit more there and then go back to the Lumon region."
"Wait, why, we can just follow Liara and finally get the artifact!" One of the Tier IVs in the group exclaimed as others also nodded their heads.
"Because it's too dangerous, we have no idea how the artifact will react, we don't know if we will need a lot of time to take control of it."
"If the demons learn that we have found the artifact, they will attack us with everything they have, and even their two leaders might appear, us going to the artifact right now is akin to suicide, we should go back, inform sir Sigurd and Basred, rest well, and then go to the artifact tomorrow." Reign's explanation made those who were previously confused by his words scratch the back of their heads.
"That … that makes perfect sense, sorry for yelling earlier." The guy who previously spoke out slightly bowed to Reign who nodded his head.
"No problem, I'm actually relieved that you guys are speaking out in such situations, the more people chime in and give their opinion with troublesome matters, the better." Reign smiled at the others before they all followed him.
Liara was telling them in what direction she felt the sensation, and they made sure to go in the opposite direction. The map they had would mark the areas they passed, so they would be able to easily find the place again tomorrow.
As they finally made it back to the Lumon region after a couple of hours, Basred and Sigurd both gulped upon hearing the news.
"Finally, we're getting close to it."
"You guys did the right thing, the two of us will go with you tomorrow, but we will wear a disguise, we don't want the demons to find out that we are there as well."
"Yes, nobody should speak about what happened today, don't tell anybody, just pretend that it was yet another boring day where you found nothing."
"Sirs, do you think that there are traitors present?" One person asked, to which they both nodded.
"We can never be too safe, the less risk we take, the easier tomorrow's mission will be."
"You all know that there is a high chance that we will be fighting against the full force of the demons tomorrow, so get ready, we will take more people with us tomorrow."
Reign and the others all nodded at Basred and Sigurd before leaving the meeting hall.
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