Chapter 1029 - The Call Of Darkness [Part 1]
"While things are proceeding according to your prediction, the methods he has used have surpassed my expectations," Zeph said to the round mirror in front of him. "To be perfectly honest, I'm a bit scared of him. He is young, foolish, and maybe reckless as well. Are you sure we can proceed with our plans in this manner?"
"He is just bait," the man in the mirror replied. "All he needs to do is lure Luciel away from the capital. I will handle the rest."
"The question is, will he take the bait?"
"Perhaps."
The man in the mirror smiled as he looked at Zeph, who had a worried look on his face.
"You have to remember that he is still the Demon Lord," the man stated. "He is the strongest fighter, and schemer. He would not be easily swayed to leave the capital unless it was an emergency."
Zeph sighed. "So, we need William to cause more trouble along the way to rile him up? I'm sure that as long as he continues his path towards the North, he will stop at the locations of the Major Clans and make them submit to his will, using force and spells if he has to."
The man in the mirror nodded. "For him to be able to make Fergus and Renon submit so easily might be due to some kind of charm spell."
"But, that is what confuses me," Zeph replied. "The Patriarchs undergo a blessing from the Temple of the Gods after they had been assigned to their position. This blessing gives them a very strong resistance against Charm, as well as similar spells that affect the mind. How did he manage to do it?"
The man chuckled as he gave Zeph a teasing smile. "Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know?"
"I have a hunch," Zeph answered. "But, I don't know if my hunch is right."
"Alright. I know that you are just waiting for me to confirm your suspicion, so I'll tell it to you straight since we are allies," the man stated. "The blessing of the Oracle might be strong, but it is simply no match against something that contains the power of a strong Divinity."
Zeph pinched the bridge of his nose because his guess had been confirmed. Rumors had been flying around the Demon Continent, but for him, rumors were just rumors. Unless he got confirmation from a trusted source, he would not even bother to entertain such a possibility.
"So, the Sin of Lust is with him," Zeph muttered. "Are there others?"
"Yes." The man nodded. "The boy is surprisingly a very capable individual. The Sin of Greed, as well as Luciel's own daughter, Chiffon, who hold the Sin of Gluttony are his women. If they could unleash the full power of their abilities then very few individuals would be their match… especially, the lady who holds the Sin of Lust."
"I'm starting to pity the Clans that he will meet along the way."
"Don't pity them. We need him to cause as big a disturbance as possible. Then and only then will Luciel leave the capital and when that happens… I will make sure that he doesn't return alive."
—---
Five flying carriages flew in a formation with William's carriage at its center. After dealing with the affairs in the Fortaare Desert, the Half-Elf resumed his journey with the intention of making the other Demonic Clans along their route, submit to his will.
Right now, he had a hostile relationship with the Gremory Clan. He intended to let the other Clans deal with the forces that they had spread out across the continent in order to weaken the Gremory Clan's power and prestige.
As they continued their journey, William realized that the teleportation gates in the Demon Realm were very rare. In fact, even the city ruled by the Patriarchs didn't have them.
When the Half-Elf consulted Zeph about this matter, the old man told him that Demons didn't trust each other. For them, building a teleportation gate inside their city, or near their city, was a very risky thing to do.
As a race that liked to actively expand their domains, each Patriarch was afraid that these teleportation gates would be used by their rivals to invade their lands. So, as a precaution, they didn't allow any teleportation gates to be built within their cities or anywhere near their cities.
If one wanted to travel the Demonic Continent, they would have to use the normal means of transport—such as by land and flying carriages.
'I'm taking too many detours, but I need to do this if I want to ensure that the Demon Lord's plans for invasion will be foiled,' William thought as he stared outside his carriage window.
Charmaine was peacefully resting her head on his lap with a smile on her face. William had just finished drinking her blood, and he told his personal maid to take a nap for the time being. The pretty Elf was more than happy to obey William's command and slept like a baby without a care in the world.
It was at this moment when he once again felt a strong attraction coming from the North. Something was calling out to him from beyond the horizon, and it was giving William a headache.
Sometimes, the call was like that of a lover, gentle, and kind. However, there were also moments when it was domineering, as if forcing him to submit to its will. The Dark Magic inside his body would more often than not go into a chaotic state whenever these sudden outbursts happened, and William couldn't do anything aside from endure it with everything he had.
The feeling finally subsided after a quarter of an hour had passed, and by this time, William's forehead was already covered with sweat. It took a lot of willpower for him to resist that powerful call that seemed to be hellbent to make him travel towards the North.
'This is the third time that I have experienced such strong attraction,' William thought. 'Am I the only one feeling this way, or is everyone who has Dark Magic in the same boat?'
William didn't know the answer to his questions. He just hoped that as long as he resisted the powerful beckoning call from the Ancient Ruins, nothing unusual would happen to him.