A Demon's Journey

Laura and Sargan were sitting cross-legged in their respective training grounds.

Now that they had managed to beat their respective training grounds, a great deal of energy was injected into their bodies.

This was Pure Ardor from the elemental crystals possessed by Azaroth.

The purpose of this training array wasn't just to enhance the warriors' combat sense but to increase his Ardor.

For one whole week, the Array would continue to absorb the Ardor from nature. And some of it will be used to create the enemies within the training array and polish the challenger's senses.

While the rest of the Ardor was left as a reward.

And if someone didn't manage to beat it the first time, nearly three-fourth of the Ardor in the Training Array would remain untouched.

After gathering more Ardor for one more week, this Array would make slightly stronger enemies and give out the rest as the reward.

Currently, Laura and Sargan felt this explosive energy in their bodies. They had to forcefully suppress this energy with their Cultivation Base and then use their Cultivation Techniques to assimilate it with their energy core

Using the Nether Devil God Mantra, Sargan slowly assimilated the Ardor with his energy core. It took him nearly 5 hours to achieve this.

Now, he felt that his cultivation had actually reached the peak of 3 Star Rank.

Sargan had attained the first layer of the Nether Devil God Mantra. His body had improved, and his regeneration rate had accelerated. But, most crucially, his spirit had changed, as the Ardor had substantially reinforced it. His Ardor absorption and assimilation also received a significant boost compared to before.

Laura used his Royal Elf Cultivation Technique to assimilate it quickly as well. Compared to Sargan though, she only needed 2 hours to absorb it. She was already at the Third Stage of her cultivation technique after all.

As for the others, they also received some bit of Ardor after training but it was nothing compared to the Ardor Laura and Sargan received.

Azaroth gathered Laura and Sargan and gave them instructions, "Spar with each other until everyone passes their training array as well."

Thus, a new training pair was formed for this week.

Soon, the others arrived. Azaroth was the one who formed the pairs for this week.

He paired Noah and Ralph together. Putting Noah together with Ralph wasn't going to help Noah very greatly.

He already knew what he had to do. He had to master his element while also reducing its output. He needed to get the timing right and only use it at appropriate moments.

Ralph was the one who would benefit greatly from this training. All this time, he had been fighting against Laura, who was a novice in close combat.

And now, Ralph was going to fight the best close combat warrior among Azaroth's retainers. Even Azaroth had to be serious when fighting Noah while using equal Ardor to him.

While sparring, Ralph was going to understand the true potential of close combat.

The final pair was Yrellea and Tiana.

Yrellea hadn't mastered her pure water skill but there was no point in just working on it. Using Pure Water, she could defend herself. She also needed to learn more techniques to increase the variety of her attacks. Sparring against Tiana would definitely help that.

Azaroth had noticed in the previous week that Tiana was a defensive warrior. It would be quite a bit of trouble for Yrellea to break her ice walls.

'This won't suffice though. I will need to actively help the two so they can gain more ideas about attacking.'

Azaroth was also continuing his personal training. He was getting used to the power of the Divine Holy Devil Physique and analyzing it properly. He hadn't fought against anyone else yet.

It was a pity that none of his retainers could challenge him to a fight. Using his Divine Holy Devil Physique Transformation would be just too overwhelming for them.

At this moment, Azaroth remembered that Golden Ape.

'It should have reached be a Beast Lord right now. Maybe I can challenge it with my Divine Holy Devil Physique Transformation.'

Azaroth was truly filled with confidence because his Ardor was Triquetra Ardor. It was already 6 times greater and denser than normal Ardor. Moreover, after the transformation, its denseness was nearly 10 times denser than regular Ardor.

In fact, Azaroth believed he could overpower even a 5 Star Rank Warrior in pure power. However, after reaching the 5 Star Rank, the warrior would also unlock a few useful abilities and his bloodline skills would awaken as well.

A day later, Azaroth was training Tiana as well as Yrellea.

At a glance, Tiana didn't seem to be doing that bad against Yrellea. She was actually actively attacking and defending at the appropriate time against Yrellea.

It was just that Yrellea was more experienced and she could break her guard easily.

Azaroth also gave them proper instructions when he felt they needed it.

Soon, he sensed a bird entering his territory. It was a very normal bird as it didn't seem to possess Ardor.

Azaroth understood it was a homing bird. He left the training ground to grab that bird.

There was a letter tied on that bird's leg.

'A message from Tronte? Did something happen?' He wondered with a small frown.

On the message, Tronte had written with rough handwriting. There were no greetings and Azaroth read the message.

"A special agent has come to investigate the Rhodes House, the Merchant Union, and the Silent Death Organization. If this agent is going to investigate the entire Rhodes House, he is going to come towards you as well. Make sure to hide the jewels and those resources well."

Azaroth was surprised at this information.

He closed his eyes and concentrated strongly. He then sent a few instructions to Josephine to find out what was going on and inform him immediately.

~~

A few days ago, a man named Sam Lee arrived in the Rhodes House.

Surprisingly, Jonas Rhodes personally met the man and invited him in. After ensuring no one was listening to their conversation, the two began to talk.

"I am Sam Lee, a subordinate under Inquisitor Fox, as described in the letter, Marquis Rhodes." "This is the proof," the man said as he brought out a dull stone.

"Greetings, Marquis Rhodes," says the narrator. I hope you've been doing well since our last meeting." Jonas was relieved to hear Inquisitor Fox's voice.

He was familiar with Inquisitor Fox. Because Inquisitor Fox was dressed in black and had his entire body covered, he wasn't aware of his identity. But he could easily recognize the voice.

Even though Jonas was far stronger than Inquisitor Fox, he had only heard nice things about him. And when he met Inquisitor Fox for a mission, he was quite fond of his way of doing things.

There was no unnecessary wastage of time. And he pursued ultimate precision with his plans.

If Inquisitor Fox wasn't under the service of the King, he would have definitely recruited him. Such a man was worth more than a hundred warriors of the 5 Star Rank.

"Have you been assigned to find the Elf Princess?" Jonas straight away asked Inquisitor Fox.

"That's correct. I was also assigned to investigate the conflict between the Rhodes House, Merchant Union, and the Silent Death Organization. With the information I have, I can already guess what happened." Inquisitor Fox's calm voice resounded in the room.

Jonas let out a sigh, "Just speak. What do you want from me?"

"In reality, my primary aim is to find the Elf Princess and capture her. The King won't question too much as long as I can achieve this aim. Thus, if you assist me, I will stay silent about your actions." Inquisitor Fox laid out his condition.

Jonas smiled as he had expected this. He nodded his head and spoke, "Very well. I am willing to assist you in finding that Elf Princess."

"Surely, you have already questioned the slaves and the Silent Death Organization officials thoroughly so first, I need to hear what they said." Inquisitor Fox spoke calmly.

Jonas thought for some time and then spoke, "According to the Silent Death Organization manager named Finley, there were many individuals who wished to acquire that Elf Princess. They weren't aware of her identity though."

"There is no need to suspect them," came Inquisitor Fox's first deduction.

Jonas asked with a calm look, "What's your reasoning behind this?"

Inquisitor Fox casually explained, "Someone wouldn't prepare such a scheme just to capture an Elf. They had to know of her true identity, otherwise, the risks won't outweigh the gains. And I believe that someone who could carry out such an operation won't take actions driven by lust."

Jonas agreed with him, "I think the same. From what he told me, it was the Merchant Union's manager, Sir Ashton who suddenly knocked on his door, bringing many warriors along with him. He was searching for the treasures that had been brought to the Silent Death Organization Base using a secret skill. Because he felt such considerable pressure from the Merchant Union and the way Sir Ashton was showing his anger like he was going to attack them at any time, Finley called out for all the strong warriors and gathered them to prepare themselves defensively. This was the moment that man decided to act."

At this moment, Inquisitor Fox, "If my guess is right, then the person who carried out this operation didn't care about that Beast Emperor's Egg. It was something he recognized when he entered the Merchant Union's warehouse. He planned to ransack the place and plant some treasures in the Silent Death Organization. That person probably even knew the method with which the Merchant Union traces their treasures and planned to use it against them. But coincidentally, he recognized this Beast Emperor's Egg and took it along with him."

Jonas agreed and spoke, "Perhaps things did go this way. But how are we going to find the perpetrator now?"

"What about the slaves? What did they see?" Inquisitor Fox asked suddenly.

"These slaves mentioned they saw a figure overflowing with Dark Ardor. My guess is that it was Demonic Ardor and he was using it to hide his face. The person killed all the guards in his way before they could sound the alarm. He freed a succubus and took her along to the Elf Princess' prison." Jonas informed calmly.

"Demonic Ardor? He can't be a pure demon otherwise his identity would have already been known. He is probably a hybrid who awakened his Demonic Ardor recently. Is there anyone who comes to your mind, Marquis Rhodes?" Inquisitor Fox asked. After all, this was Rhodes House's territory. Jonas would know more about it than him.

"Nopes. I have no suspects in my mind."

"I see…"

Seeing that he wasn't going to receive any information, Inquisitor Fox turned silent.

Jonas didn't speak anything. He knew that whenever Inquisitor Fox suddenly turned silent, he was thinking deeply and it was a bad idea to interrupt him.

During this time, Shun was indeed thinking deeply.

'Someone who knew of the Elf's true identity despite the Silent Death Organization members trying to hide it at all costs. Someone who knew where the Merchant Union stores its warehouse. Someone who could create this scheme. And his identity is that of a demon.' These thoughts were revolving in Shun's head.

'It couldn't have been someone outside the city. If a warrior entered the Wrihull City for this scheme, he had to check the entire city. Atleast see the locations and prepare an escape plan.'

Shun wondered 'Was it a traitor in the Silent Death Organization?'

Shun shook his head and scrapped the possibility. The first scenario was implausible since all the members had probably been investigated by the organization itself. He wouldn't have been able to escape the eyes of the organization, Merchant House and Jonas.

'Only the Rhodes House members remain now. Only have skipped the inspection. If even an heir of the Rhodes Noble Family isn't the perpetrator then I will have to start from scratch.'

Unknown to Shun though, he was on the right track with his speculation.