Ashe Iremith
The Elder-Breed Ouroboros Dragon that was the younger sister of the Ouroboros of Water and Lightning who just saved Evan's group in Duscon mere minutes ago.
That was the identity of the entity that slumbered within the Salcana Mountain and gave rise to the rumours and legends about it.
And the demonic hand had just succeeded in keeping her asleep.
Emphasis is to be placed on 'keeping'.
The Demonic Hand were not the ones who put Ashe to sleep, she had done so of her own accord.
What they had done was simply to deepen this slumber, and made it a lot, lot harder for her to wake up.
Ashe was one of the beings who fought in the war a thousand years ago along with the previous Dragon Lord, Gorm; and her siblings, and she had lived for over a thousand years before that had happened.
The over two-thousand-year Ouroboros had basically seen all there was to see on Aidos and had grown bored and tired.
So, she decided to hibernate herself so she could explore new things in her 'Dreams, and she did this using her Unique Skill.
But this slumber of hers was not permanent, and she also set a condition for in which she would be awakened.
Besides her siblings waking her up, this condition was the only other way she could be awoken.
One of the three Sovereigns who came up here two hundred years ago also discovered this condition using a unique analysis type skill, and the Demonic Hand had recently discovered this condition from them.
Ashe would remain in hibernation unless the 'World' around her faces a 'Danger', only then would she awaken to fulfil her duty as one of its defence mechanisms—at least that was what the Demonic Hand had discovered.
This is where the problem came in.
They didn't know how much range this 'Around' covered, and knowing that Sovereign Level existences could easily cover hundreds of thousands of kilometre squares with their auras, the organization didn't want to take any chances.
Especially given the fact that some of the 'Disasters' they had planned, were meant to occur in the Southern Hemisphere of the Planet, where Ashe was.
So, they used this ritual magic to create a containment barrier that maintained the surroundings in a state that it previously was, deluding her senses into thinking that everything was still fine.
Now then, why didn't the Demonic Hand just outright try and kill Ashe as she was slumbering?
Minus the fact that she was one of the most powerful entities on the planet, with power only matched by the likes of 'The Five', Hydran, the Demonic Hand's 'Strongest Entity' or the most powerful Ancient Breed Dragon on the Dark continent, it should be remembered that the Demonic Hand's goal was to "Save" Aidos.
Dealing with the Defence Mechanisms would certainly make it easier for them to "Save" Aidos using their methods, but after considering the possibility of a greater threat coming in the future, they decided that this would be detrimental in the 'long' run.
Of course, their decision was largely influenced by the fact that trying to take out just Ashe would cost them so many resources and manpower that they'd need decades to recover.
But then again, the main reason was that they wanted to "Save" Aidos.
Why would they then kill one of the Defence Mechanisms of the same planet they were trying to "Save"?
The Fourth Finger thought this as she ordered a full retreat for all the Demonic Hand members present.
As both she and Seith turned around and began walking away from the place where the Ouroboros slumbered, she spoke.
"I saw Kethryllia's report. About the new 'First Hero'."
"Yes. The First Hero is far more powerful than expected."
Seith replied with a nod, before giving Cellica a side glance as he continued.
"And what's more, she has the 'Twilight Blade' on her side. Dealing with her is going to be a pain. That's why we dispatched one of 'them'."
"One of 'Them'? You mean the Legendary Level Fake Heroes we painstakingly cultivated?"
"Yes. That one should be able to last a few minutes against Zestari Herrera. Enough time for the other inferior Epics to deal with Abigail Lowe."
Hearing Seith's reply, Cellica, someone who knew just how powerful Zestari was, had a feeling that things would not end up as planned.
"What about the other two heroes we discovered?"
"Evan Eris and Laurene Hayes…We do not know which heroes they are yet, but according to Lord First, Laurene Hayes is most likely the Fourth.
The records stated that the previous Fourth did possess the power to tell lies from truth, just like Laurene Hayes is rumoured to possess.
Anyway, with the number of forces we sent to deal with all three of them simultaneously, the attack is supposed to be a guaranteed success."
"Supposed to?"
Seith's choice of words had Cellica raising a brow in light surprise. In the decades she had known him, he wasn't one to sound so unconfident.
"It's just…that boy, Evan Eris. If he's really an 'Irregular' as the rumours state, then things might not go exactly as planned.
Besides, in the past two years, whenever he was involved in the equation, nothing ever went as planned.
I do not know if it's him, or his secret helpers, but I have a feeling that the attack on him has a higher chance of failing even more than the one on the Elven Emperor's daughter."
The man stroked his beard and sighed in exasperation as he spoke, before shaking his head to rid himself of the useless thoughts and posing a question to Cellica.
"Enough of that, what's the next main thing on our agenda?"
"We're planning to take advantage of the Barbarians on the Beta Continent. What about you?"
"Lord First ordered me to send some of my division members to aid Kethryllia and Maude in preparing the Lizard Lord.
Maude noted that something was off with the Lizard Lord and instead of increasing, its strength was reducing. Right now, it's even weaker than that Troll Emperor I fought in the 'Graveyard of the Arrogant'.
Cellica frowned upon hearing him mention Merdin's Dungeon. She had made plans with Seith and Kethryllia to coordinate the release of the Deadly Sins on the Beta Continent and amplify the resulting chaos as much as possible, but sadly for them, their plans never came to fruition.
She felt quite Indignant as her hard work in dealing with the eccentric 'Demon of Lust' had all gone down the drain.
"That Troll, you said it was around Level 520, right?"
"I didn't know its exact level but it had strength around that range."
"And now the Lizard Lord is weaker than that? This isn't good.
We picked the 'Lair of the Lizard Lord' for our plans in Lacertilia because it was one of the Dungeons that had an upper limit of S rank, a dungeon where powerful SS rankers can't go to, reducing the chances of the creature dying at the hands of some adventurer before our plans work out.
But even if our plans work out, we would not get the desired results if the monster is too weak."
"I have intentions of going over myself within a year's time. But for now, Kethryllia should be able to handle it, she did get stronger recently after all so things should be easier for her."
Seith spoke of his intentions, his words confirming Pride's conjecture that the Demonic Hand would try to speed up their plans, and Evan's guess that the relatively free Sixth Division would be aiding the Seventh and Ninth Divisions in setting up the 'Lizard Lord's Outbreak'.
"You said you're going to take advantage of the Barbarians. Meaning you'd be assisting him?"
"Yes, that Dwarf and I are going to handle finding the Tombs of Barbarian King Morass. Finding the Tombs would make the Uprising easier.
Besides, we've poured too many resources into the Alpha continent recently, it's high time we began switching things up."
Cellica replied, mentioning a certain dwarf who at that moment, was in Whaijan wondering what sort of 'monster' Zestari was.
Just then, a loud whirring sound rang out and gusts of wind blew through the area, rustling Cellica's hair and dress.
She turned her gaze towards the source, a massive Airship with a sleek metalling hull that rested firmly on the ground, its propellers humming with anticipation.
Crew members bustled around to check the engines and adjust the sails, but not forgetting to respectfully bow towards the two executives who were in front of them.
They loaded up all the necessary cargo into the hold as the grand wings on either side of the ship fluttered lightly, ready to catch the wind and lift the vessel into the sky.
The lower-ranked Demonic Hand members moved about, erasing all traces of their organization's presence here while the Senior Members focused on dealing with the energy residues and concealing the containment barrier.
Within minutes, they had packed everything up and the five Inferior Legendary Senior members came and informed the two executives of this.
Despite the fact that their power was higher than the Epic Level Seith, they maintained their respectful attitudes as his rank of 'Sixth Finger' gave him far more authority than them, something that was absolute in an organization that followed a Strict Hierarchy like the Demonic Hand.
They all boarded the airship as the propellers whirred even faster, the engines humming with magic power as the airship ascended into the skies, leaving the ground beneath it.
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