Upon entering the Pontiff's Hall, everyone could see a gigantic blue crystal, which floated elegantly. From this crystal, a colossal beam of yellowish light emerged, which anyone could see for miles around the Cardinal Church.
Drawing as much attention as the beam of light, a sea of books, parchments, and papers cluttered the hall floor. Amidst this ocean of pages, a path could be found that led to an ordinary wooden table.
"You never stop being disorganized, do you?" Alexis asked rhetorically to the white-haired girl sitting at the table.
Rebeca gave a closed and happy smile at seeing the half-dragon after so long. "I saw you when you went over the walls and wondered how long it would take you to come here. And I see you are still in Luke Lange's company."
She nodded to Luke and Meredith, who both responded simultaneously with a nod.
"I received a letter from you through Koven, saying you were in Oukiwa, and then nothing else. Is there a special reason for your visit after so long?" Rebecca asked.
"Actually, there is a severe reason. We have received information that perhaps the demons are manipulating the politics of the Melki Empire to their favor."
"Explain more." Rebecca said as the expression on her face changed completely.
Then, with Luke's help, Alexis told everything Yoelona told the gang. About Yoelona having worked for half of her life for Emperor of Melki and how she eventually found out about the demons. However, to the Pontiff, a report from an unknown source would be worthless if there was no concrete proof. Alexis Dmitry knew this and prepared in advance.
When Rebecca asked for proof of the account, Alexis placed a parchment on the white-haired girl's desk and opened it. This parchment was a map of the entire Skoll continent, showing the location of each of the two hundred demons in the Melki Empire's territory. This information was seared so profoundly into Yoelona's mind that she could never forget it.
To any other person, that might be just a hand-drawn map with many names written on it, but Rebecca was no ordinary person, because her job was exactly to know all the information about demons, and many of the words on the map she recognized.
"That's... surreal." Rebeca declared in ecstasy. On the map, a good portion of the names, which she had only seen in old report books, were around a region called ?rkenby, yet there were also dozens of demon names in Stahurt, New Yukiat, J?rme Village, and other major centers.
"Pontiff, if they are together, I'm afraid the same thing they might try to do as they did 500 years ago." The half-dragon spoke, placing her hands on the parchment.
Alexis told the gang that before the Arani Era began 512 years ago, while the famous event 'The Calamity' was happening, demons flocked to the Hati continent, where the Flak Kingdom is located; thanks to world hunger, the demons almost prospered over humanity. However, the four heroes separately managed to weaken the monsters by destroying their powerful cocoons.
"Yes... and back then, there weren't as many Dungeons as there are today. If they are assembled today and have managed to infiltrate one of the greatest nations in the world, I'm afraid that-"
At that point, Luke took another step forward. "Yoelona said that they already have plans to use the disturbance caused by their presence to gather monsters, not least because the chaos is so much in the Melki Empire that monsters are not rare to see on the surface. They wouldn't have to fight like they used to in the old days; the monsters would fight for them."
"Yes, that was my fear." Rebecca spoke, with her head down and her gaze strained.
"What should we do, Pontiff?" Alexis inquired, kneeling in front of the table.
After that, Luke felt obliged to pay due respect to Rebeca because he had no idea what he could do to prevent the worst harm. Next, Amelia and Meredith also knelt behind them.
"Normally, this would be a war of the Cardinal Sanctuary against the demons, as it has currently been in our small confrontations, but the Flak Kingdom, where the Cardinal Sanctuary is located, is at war with the Daiyu Dynasty. So, the Broteforge Empire will have to help us, before trouble knocks on their door."
"Will you go to the Emperor?" Amelia questioned Rebecca.
"I will try; however, we are a city-state, and he will not trust us so easily, although he already knows the evil nature of demons. First, we have to get a concrete proof that all this is true, an undeniable proof. We need the confession of a demon."
Luke was amazed at the Pontiff's request, for killing a demon is impossible without knowing its name, and getting it to confess was an even more arduous task. However, the gang was also already prepared if something like this happened.
"Our informant found a demon named Morax in the vicinity of Suzano a few months ago. If he hasn't been killed yet, he will be our target." Alexis said.
"The Seventh Emissary was sent there to seek information about a Rank A mercenary. Therefore, I would go there myself to check in a few days, but I will entrust this job to you then. For now, I will talk to the Seculars and the Class-S who show up here, leaving them on standby."
All the people present nodded to the Pontiff's request and left the hall. Rebeca's presence and words put everyone at ease, especially since she believed their hypothesis.
"So, are we traveling again?" Luke asked as he heard the blue-crystal door close behind him.
"Exactly. But first, I have a request for you, Amelia." Alexis spoke, surprising the woman with black hair and bangs. "Could you help Luke get in contact with Ayumi Yamazaki?"
"The Noble One? Of course, I can."
Luke was amazed at Amelia's positive response because it had been a while since he had seen his girlfriend, and he was missing her terribly.
They then had to accompany Amelia to a small room, where she had to concentrate to use the Epic Skill <Astral Communication> and then touched Luke's chest, asking him to think of a place Ayumi could be.
The half-wolf knew his beloved's routine well and knew that she was usually at home at that time of day. Therefore, Amelia made Luke's astral projection into Ayumi's Residence, startling her while drinking a cup of tea.
"Phha!" The Strogueher Matriarch exclaimed, pouring a few drops of tea over her breasts. "What is that!? Is that really you, Luke?" She asked, her eyes sparkling and not even caring about the pain of the tea now.
"Yes, it is me." Luke replied with a smile in a translucent form in front of the blonde Elf.
"How are you doing? How are you doing this?"
"I am in the Cardinal Church at this moment, a woman is using an ability to do this. I miss you so much!
"I've missed you so much too~ It's been a few months..." She said, placing both hands together on her chest.
"Me too, but I'm afraid it will be a while before I get home. I don't have much time to explain, but I want to know that I found my friends and Alexis. Everyone is doing very well."
"Whoaa! I'm so happy for you. I look forward to meeting them. When you can, come home and bring them if you want."
"All right, I'll do that. I don't have much time, so I have to say goodbye. See you later, my love."
"Kisses, I love you."
After the goodbye, Amelia deactivated the <Astral Communication> ability, devastated because Luke Lange was already a committed man. Although polygamy was not something uncommon in any part of the world, it was somewhat difficult for a noblewoman to want to share her beloved.
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