Chapter 662 Hecate the Mystical
Of course, when Vaan thought they were fucked in passing, he meant the human countries that had yet to fall under his control. That said, the situation in the Great Ratholos Empire wasn't completely unsalvageable.
After all, he was here.
The only difference was that there would be a lot more deaths compared to his original plan.
However, there was no other way around it. Devil beliefs had taken root in the empire and propagated to a threatening size like cancer. The only way to save the empire was to remove all the cancer cells from the main body.
That said, if one wanted to do that, one had to identify all the cancer cells first, which was also the most tricky problem to tackle.
After all, a contaminated body was easy to identify, but a poisoned mind was difficult to determine.
None of the shamans and witch doctors trained by the Sacred Tirtha seemed to possess the slightest hint of demonic aura. They were neither demons in disguises nor fallen witches.
Moreover, Vaan knew fallen witches weren't necessarily on the side of the demons.
As such, unless the shamans and witch doctors were seen acting suspiciously in favor of Gehenna, it was hard to determine whether they had betrayed humanity.
'Hex magic…' Vaan recalled.
Laemana, the current Great Shaman of the Sacred Tirtha, was the youngest daughter in her family.
Although little was known about Laemana's elder siblings, as if a portion of her family history was purposely hidden, it wasn't difficult for Vaan to guess that her elder sisters were Belline Delarosa and Adeline Delarosa.
Laemana's unnaturally long lifespan was undoubtedly related to the hex magic draining Belline's life force.
However, Vaan didn't believe Laemana herself was the one who learned and invoked the vicious hex magic to leech off her elder sister's life. The biggest suspects in his mind were their parents, who had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth.
Galen and Laeticia's disappearances were too suspicious. They might even be the ones with direct ties to the demons.
'Is there a way to detect everyone who has practiced hex magic, Chaezi?' Vaan inquired.
'I'm terribly sorry for not being able to provide a satisfactory answer, Supreme Leader,' Chaezi replied apologetically, adding, 'Even if such a method exists, I do not know of it. In fact, I doubt anyone in the clan knows.'
'Is that so?' Vaan calmly responded, neither surprised nor disappointed.
'That's right, Supreme Leader. Hex magic has a very ancient and primitive application of the runic language. It's overly complicated and not very systematic, making it chaotic. It's not easy to learn and even harder to master,' Chaezi explained, expressing a slight disdain towards hex magic.
Vaan could see why Chaezi was disdainful of hex magic.
Hex magic only involved runic characters and odd materials to invoke. It didn't need a magic-capable person to cast. However, although anyone with knowledge could use it, it was demanding in terms of time and resources.
It was a very roundabout method of creating array magic, which dragons could cast directly and instantly.
Nevertheless, Vaan had to admit hex magic also had its advantages.
In a world without mana, hex magic would have been regarded as the witchcraft or black magic of that world.
Hex magic was binding and long-lasting due to the power of laws in its inscribed runes. Furthermore, since a minority of beings were willing to study it, those without the necessary knowledge had an even harder time countering it.
In truth, Vaan was ill-prepared to deal with this elusive demon-
worshipping group.
'I don't know much about hex magic, and the Red Dragon Clan also has little to teach me. Thus, a certain level of risk is involved in dealing with this elusive group,' Vaan mused.
Given his current strength, he wasn't sure if the Delarosa Household's hex magic could threaten him. However, he was certain the Great Ratholos Empire was bound to suffer during this period of chaos.
That said, there was one thing Vaan couldn't comprehend.
'This elusive group has hidden themselves in the Great Ratholos Empire for countless years. Why have they chosen to expose their tail now?' Vaan wondered.
He only threw out a small bait, and this elusive group immediately bit it.
This didn't seem like something the cult leader would have done. It seemed rather rash on their end.
Perhaps another person made the decision?
As Vaan pondered, Chaezi suddenly mentioned, 'I don't know what it was like for the senior generations of the clan living in Chaos back then, but I feel like hex magic is something rare, even there.'
'Is that right?' Vaan felt enlightened and silently agreed with Chaezi's opinion.
Although Vaan has yet to experience the countless cultures spanning the infinitely vast Chaos, he could infer that practically everyone there could wield magic. As such, beings that knew hex magic were rare; those with extensive knowledge of it were even rarer.
Only someone with magic disabilities or a peculiar hobby would study hex magic extensively.
As Vaan compiled his information on the elusive demon-
worshipping group, a Great Devil came to mind – Hecate the Mystical.
Hecate the Mystical was a female devil with a half-human, half-
black-winged fairy demon bloodline. Supposedly, Hecate the Mystical was originally a pure human, like Balmodan the Undying, at birth.
Nevertheless, that wasn't important.
What's important was that Hecate the Mystical was the number one expert in the field of magic among the seven Great Devils, having the most diverse magical abilities and knowledge.
Among Hecate's magical abilities and knowledge, Hecate was mostly known for her illusion, witchcraft, darkness, light, necromancy, and moon expertise.
Ignoring Hecate's other magical abilities and knowledge, just her list of expertise alone already seemed diverse enough. However, Vaan also noticed that most of Hecate's specialties could further support her illusion-related abilities.
As Vaan recalled this information, he realized the elusive demon-worshipping group in the Great Ratholos Empire was most likely backed by the Hecate the Mystical.
After all, it would be far too easy for the elusive demon-
worshipping group to hide itself if it had Hecate's blessings and knowledge.
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