Either way, I can't just let them get away with attacking my people and my ship. Although, it looks like very few of them are likely to get away from the city. However, I should probably do something and see if I can reduce those numbers.

"Lin, there are demons in the city. Bring the kids back to the castle please."

Lin says "We are already on our way. One of the people following us was a demon. He was revealed and then torn to pieces by an angry mob."

"Yeah, that's why I want you back at the castle."

Lin says "Alright. What's the plan?"

"We are going to test out the long range detection spell. You will cast it and I will enhance it."

Lin says "Okay. We'll be there in a few minutes."

I continue watching over Lin and the kids as they make their way to the castle. I also watch the rest of the city and the chaos that is going on in the streets. There have been demons that were revealed all over the city and not all of them died instantly.

Some of them manage to run off or even to fight back against those around them. Those that manage to get out of sight of their pursuers just adopt another disguise to escape. That is why I want Lin's help to cast our version of the detection spell, they won't be able to hide after that.

Besides, it would be best if none of them escape to tell others about the new spell. Although, the association should probably send people to clean out the empires as well. As promised, Lin arrives in a few minutes and sends the kids inside before joining me.

Lin says "What do you want me to do?"

"Just cast the spell as powerfully as you can. I will handle the rest."

Lin says "Got it."

Lin takes a second to focus and then begins casting the spell just as I asked. As soon as she does, I start feeding mana into the spell to enhance its effects. I mainly focus on enhancing the range until it will cover the city and then some.

When Lin completes her casting, a visible pulse of light leaves the tower and passes through the entire city. Any demon hit by the light finds themselves back in their original form and unable to disguise themselves again. It will only last a couple of hours, but I doubt any of them will be able to survive that long.

As I am looking around to see if I can spot any demons, I notice movement in the harbor. When I focus on it I notice a ship desperately trying to leave the harbor. Looking closer I realize that half of the crew are demons and they are trying to hide from sight.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Stillwater, tell Athena to destroy the ship trying to leave the harbor."

Stillwater says "Understood. Targeting it now."

Before even a minute has passed, projectiles fly from my ship towards the demon's ship. A couple of demons take to the air and start flying away, leaving the rest to die. Until now, no one had really noticed the demons on the ship, but the flying demons were instantly spotted.

Luckily, the demons on the ship are also noticed, just before the ship is destroyed. If they hadn't been spotted, it might have been awkward to explain why we sunk the ship. As for the flying demons, they don't make it very far before they are brought down by spells.

They tried to fly back over the city in order to get to the demon lands. They might have made it if they had flown out to sea, but there are too many casters in the city. Come to think of it, the number of people in the city who can cast spells is odd.

It almost seems like everyone can cast spells, but they can't all be adventurers. So, how come there are so many civilians who can cast spells? I will have to remember to ask either Almort or Zachariah about it later to satisfy my curiosity.

Lin says "Aren't you going to go demon hunting?"

"Nope. There is no point, they are mostly dead already. I doubt that I would be able to find one that is still in one piece. Besides, I expect Almort will be showing up to talk to me soon."

Lin says "Alright. Can I have the pouch? The kids and I didn't have a chance to have dinner."

I hand the food pouch to Lin and then go back to watching over the city. Lin heads downstairs to take care of the kids while I wait to see if anything else happens. The sporadic sounds of combat within the city have stopped and everything seems quiet for now.

About a half of an hour after Lin heads inside Almort shows up but he is not alone. He has a squad of adventurers with him that are escorting a prisoner. When I recognize the prisoner, I fly down to the gate to meet Almort.

Almort says "We only caught this guy, the other one killed himself. We haven't tried to interrogate him yet, just as you asked."

"Perfect. Thank you."

I walk over and reach out to touch the prisoner with a claw.

'Create Soulscape!'

To Almort and the others it looks like I just stand there for about a minute. When I end the soulscape and step back, the criminal boss drops to his knees. He starts crying and begging, then he starts confessing to everything.

He admits that the criminals were hired to attack the elves while they were in the city. They were hired by a merchant group, but I don't recognize the name of the group. The criminal boss tells us everything he knows and answers every question without hesitation.

Almort says "Do you mind if I ask him some questions as well?"

"No, go ahead. I already found out what I needed to know. Did you recognize the name of the merchant group?"

Almort says "Yes, I did. They are a large group that focuses on shipping and ocean trade. The pirates hit them hard and they are close to going out of business as far as I know. I will send people to arrest them right away. Please let us handle this."

"Alright. Considering the demons I will let you handle things for now. If you have any problems getting someone to answer your questions, bring them to me."

Almort says "Got it. By the way, the pulse of light that revealed all the demons, was that your doing?"

"Yes. It was just an enhanced version of the new detection spell. I noticed that a lot of people in the crowds were still using the old spell."

Almort says "Thank you for that. A lot of demons had been missed before you did that. It looks like they had figured out how to block the old spell. There were demons disguised as adventurers and even one in the association. The council is completely enraged."