This was the first time the mysterious merchant known as Lix had spoken so suddenly beside the occasional response he made after being addressed by someone.
Everyone's expression turned to that of interest as they all shifted their gazes simultaneously to look at the man whose face was once again hidden behind the shadows of his hood.
"Why is that, Mr. Lix? Do you know something about this?"
Riokar asked that question with regard to Lix's previous statement concerning the Green-eyed devil they were discussing. Everyone's attention had already been piqued by that single statement and even the city lord and his personal guards could not help waiting for him to speak in anticipation.
"Not particularly. However, I do know its description does not match that of any of the servants of Moloc because I have encountered all of them."
"What!?"
The air shuddered.
Tyler's brain spun into overdrive as he formulated a perfect strategy with the guidance of Uriel. With that, the main event was only just about to begin.
"You mean to tell us you've come face to face with multiple Arch Devils and lived. Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous."
No of the Magicians could bring themselves to so easily believe those words and even Nullen's personal guards were finding it hard to swallow.
To begin with, none of them had ever met a devil in the first place so they understood just how rare they were in this current day. So just how could one man claim to have not only met a Devil Lord but also several Arch Devil as well?
Safe to say, anyone, not a Demigod has no chance of surviving an encounter with a Devil Lord so just how could just one demon and his partner survive such a thing?
"Indeed I have. I've also come in contact with Moloc himself, although he was heavily restricted by its weak vessel and an incomplete summoning at the time and none of its three top lieutenants serving him could operate in this plane while the summoning ritual was in process."
"Oh... Still, Mr. Lix, I must admit this is a little hard to believe. That's a Devil Lord we're talking about. Are you absolutely sure it wasn't a different devil?"
"Absolutely. That was indeed the Chaos Lord, Moloc. Even in such a weakened state, it was an extremely powerful Devil that we could not defeat alone. In truth, the reason I sort the recommendation letter of the merchant guild to join the Magic institute was to collect information about how to defeat them. Which is why I do not believe this green-eyed devil is related to those monsters at all."
With perfect control of every cell in his body, the subtle movements of Lix became flawless as they seamlessly sold the lies he was so confidently spewing out of his mouth.
As such, not even the demigod-level prince of the Zorak family had found any fault in anything he had said.
"When you said defeat, you mean to tell us you and your comrades fought and defeated a weakened Devil Lord and its servants?'"
"No, that would be ridiculous. Those servants could not operate in this plane until they had completely finished summoning their master so we only had to deal with the weakened Devil Lord."
'That, would be ridiculous??'
Those words ran through most of their minds but none of them had voiced their thoughts as they knew he was right but couldn't help but feel embarrassed by getting so caught up in his flow.
"I'm sure everyone here is aware that a Devil lord surely possess a horde of minions serving under them, besides its top lieutenants."
"Indeed that's correct."
"What I've learned is that these minions can be used as a catalyst in locating their lords as their entire being is bound to it the moment they pledge their loyalty. This is why a low-ranked devil can't defy or betray its master."
"Is that the case?"
"So what! What the hell does that have to do with the current situation!?"
Of course, the one who had so rudely interrupted was none other than Teyla who was getting increasingly more frustrated as the atmosphere seems to flow according to the pace Lix decided.
"This will be your last warning Teyla. Interrupt us again and there will be no second chance."
"Why yo— tsk."
The words were immediately stuck in her throat as she click her tongue and fell silent once again.
The City's lord smiled gently and nodded slowly, and as Ivan saw this he bit his lip and looked intently at Lix. As did everyone else including the Lord's four personal guards.
The air in the room immediately became stale as the pressure from so many powerful being combined at an intensity that could even kill a normal man.
With his current rank within the guild and his original plan to maintain a mid-rank within the guild, Tyler would've at least pretended to be bothered by this level of pressure but everything had suddenly changed.
He no longer needed to maintain a low profile within the city as he had already failed at that on his first day.
Such a thing was no longer meaningful to him as he could accomplish so much more with a higher status within the guild than with just a VIP Merchant license.
Not to mention, he now had a city he needed to support with resources from all over the demon continent. Paragon city couldn't continue relying solely on one of the resources from the Darknar region forever.
With that in mind, Lix casually brushed the insane pressure aside with a brusqueness that would brook no interference and continued:
"I believe this green-eyed devil is also a minion of the Chaos lord."
" Wait what? I thought you just said you believe that the devil had nothing to do with Moloc. Was that a lie?"
"I knew it. Fufufu..."
A smile finally appeared on Teyla's face as she said that. Seemingly delighted to see Lix embarrassingly contradict himself. If one didn't already know the ugliness that exists behind such a smile one would almost find her smile to be charming. However—
"That was not a lie and there was a reason for my particular choice of words."
The smile on Teyla's face completely disintegrated as the room seem to have returned to Lix's control.
"Bullshit!"
Ignoring Teyla's remark, everyone seriously focused on the words that came out of Lix's mouth next.
"The reason I said that the devil has no connection with Moloc is simple. I have a skill that allows me to sense the very nature of Mana essence and having met the Chaos Lord and its minions personally, I can tell you the difference between demons and devils."
Magic Perception or Magic sense was not exactly an uncommon skill and it was relatively easy to learn. However, there weren't that many people amongst the elites that could use it as precisely as he could so claiming its effect were the result of a unique skill was not hard to believe.
"Normally one would think a skill like that wasn't useful. who would've guessed it would come in handy at a time like that."
Without even questioning his words, everyone simply accepted them as fact. After all, while unique skills weren't common, they weren't exactly a rare thing as the majority of them usually turns out to be quite useless and weak.
Sensing no doubt from anyone here, Lix continued without a pause.
"Indeed. For instance, while demons are creatures of flesh and blood that absorb mana into our mana body to strengthen us. Devils are truly beings of pure energy and that energy changes completely whenever they pledge themselves to a stronger being. They tend to take on attributes from that being. However, when I sensed the presence of the Green-eyed devil in that mine, there was almost nothing there."
Mixing the truth with a few lies made his story more believable than Lix could've ever predicted. It was true that Devil was beings made up entirely of energy. However, that energy never changes simply by swearing loyalty to another being as he had observed from Azalea and Moloc.
It was true that a connection that cannot be broken is formed automatically as though bounding their souls together. But unless the stronger devil grants its minions a portion of its powers, they do not adopt any attributes from their master.
"Almost?"
Ivan's sharp ears had picked up a word from Lix's sentence that intrigued him. He then repeated the word in a questioning tone, bringing a slight smile to Lix's hidden face.
"Yes. Hence why I said this devil has nothing to do with Moloc. While it's clear there is a connection between this devil and a stronger entity, I believe this devil has been trapped in that cavern for almost as long as it had been unexplored."
Without having to complete his line of reasoning, everyone here including Teyla could easily understand what he had meant by that now.
"I see, so after being isolated from its master for what could be a few millenniums now, its connection with whomever that is must've weakened considerably by now and the likelihood of them already being forgotten is extremely high."
That was easily the most likely explanation for why a devil would be territorial in such a place. Given that the said cavern was sealed off inside of a Grade 3 Mine, there was no telling how long it would've been stuck there, giving Tyler a lot of leeways to explain the situation as it best benefits him.
"That's correct. There is a high possibility this devil is also a minion of the Chaos Lord that has been forgotten and may be trying to return to the Underworld to seek its master or worse summon it here into a new vessel. It was why I had joined the guild moments after my return to the city and only left to begin preparations for its elimination."
"So that's why you returned to the Far East so abruptly."
With one fell swoop Uriel had guided the conversation into a reasonable explanation for why he had been forced to return to the castle during Mammon's unexpected attack.
"Indeed. I understand your intentions now. So what's your plan then?"
With that, no one could depute the fact that Lix and his party were the most knowledgeable in this mission and as such, may even be the most well-equipped and well-prepared to handle the mission.
Lix was well aware of the reason four separate Magicians parties were present here today. it was clear each of them had received the same personal quest as he did. However, he had no intentions of working with any more liabilities, to say the least.
He had a separate goal from anyone else and couldn't afford to be restricted by any of them, especially by the members of Nullen's personal guards, who he had insisted on them escorting them during the mission in case they required backup.
However, Tyler knew the only reason Nullen would insist on such a thing was because he wanted to keep an eye on the Magicians. Hench, getting them to stay behind would be impossible. However, the only thing he truly needed was a head start, after all, there was no such opponent as a Green-eyed Devil, to begin with.
"Our plan is simple. My team will handle the reconnaissance into the cavern as we're already familiar with the terrain. If we find the Devil there, we will slay it on the spot and collect its essence in order to track its master as well as any more of its servants."
With an all-encompassing confidence, declared the late coming Rank 2 Magician.
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