The ashes of the Demonic Gifted stirred up and dispersed in all directions as a breeze brushed past them.

“I couldn’t hold back,” The Beast King murmured, but more to himself than the others, “That was the Devil you mentioned earlier, wasn’t it?”

Percy confirmed with a slow nod, engraving the Beast King, “I will kill that bastard.”

You can queue up for that. I want to get a piece of that bastard as well. But you can weaken him first since you are a ‘little’ bit stronger than I am. That’s no problem. Weaken him while I deal the finishing blow.

The Beast King glanced at Percy, trying hard to contain his fury, “I sure hope your plan worked out because this step failed miserably.”

Percy’s eyebrows arched.

“I wouldn’t call this a miserable failure. We know now that the Devil is not yet in the mortal realm and that he’s watching everything. That means we have to move fast because he’s probably relaying what happened to his other subjects. We may not know for sure where they’re hiding, but they will make a move soon. That means we also have to make a move.”

As the words escaped Percy’s lips, he received a bunch of images from Blue. The escapees of the night’s attack didn’t return to their final destination in a straight line. They feared someone was following them and spent the whole night on a detour. Unfortunately, they didn’t take into consideration that someone – Blue, the Glacial Roc – with an Augmentation that allows them to see mana pursued them.

The escapees used various methods to turn invisible in the night's darkness and cover their scent, footprints, and vibrations. To their misfortune, most methods required Demonic Essence, or mana, to be unleashed. Blue could see both with clarity. Pinpointing the mana sequences through the canopy of the mana-infused forest was more difficult. Still, the escapees made it easy to pursue them as traces of Demonic Essence emanated from their bodies whenever they refreshed their invisibility.

“Blue found their location,” Percy said when he reached the last few images. The Glacial Roc circled above an empty clearing where the Demonic Gifted had vanished. They were invisible when they truly disappeared from [Hawk Eyes].

“He detected some sort of magical barrier covering a small clearing. It’s invisible and barely noticeable, but Blue reassures me they disappeared inside it. I have to see it to say more, but I think…” Percy glanced at the Beast King, “We got them.”

“So…these Demonic Gifted never left the Beastlands. They were always there, but we were too stupid to find them. We…should have found them,” The Beast King winced, his expression distorting in sadness and frustration. He felt a pang of guilt and clenched his fists tightly until his claws dug deep into his palms.

Blame yourself for the death of your kin all you want, but one thing is certain. You are not at fault. The Devil and his Demons are the root of all evil!

Percy would have loved to speak his thoughts aloud, only to hold back at the last moment. He could console the Beast King later. For now, the rage sweeping through the Beast King’s body was exactly what they needed.

“We found them. That is all that matters now,” Percy said instead, earning him several glares from the people around him.

But Percy didn’t care.

It was time to team up against the Demons!

***

Their departure wasn’t postponed by a minute. The Beast King urged the Beast Legion to move, and they departed within ten minutes. Percy consumed the Demonic Gifted corpses since the Beast King didn’t want to see them anymore. He left only one of the corpses untouched, stored in his spatial storage since the royal family would want hard evidence alongside the report. As he consumed the corpses, Percy noted the names of all traitors to forward their betrayal to the crown once all problems had been resolved.

Once Percy was done, the Beast King grasped and hurled him into the air. Percy couldn’t even say anything before the Beast King followed behind in his beast shape.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Hold tightly!” The Beast King roared in Percy’s head, which he responded by reaching into the Beast King’s fur as the winged lion flew past him. Percy struggled a little, nearly falling to the ground, but his hands dug deep into the king’s fur. He found a seat on the Beast King’s back and shot to the border.

“Point out the direction,” The Beast King commanded.

“It’s near the border. Blue feels some sort of strong repelling force, but he tries to stay nearby. It’s probably part of the magical barrier,” Percy responded, unsure if the Beast King could hear him as strong gales splashed into his face. He lowered his head and pressed his body tightly against the lion’s back. His eyes closed tightly for a moment, focusing on the Glacial Roc.

The urge to turn around and forget about this place is very strong. If I hadn’t told Blue to stay nearby every minute, he would have turned around and forgotten everything. Is that what happened to the trackers? But what about the Beast King, then? Did he not sense the repelling force? Maybe he is too strong to notice it…but unable to see the magical barrier…really?

No. It made sense. The Beast King might be powerful, but that didn’t mean his mana senses were exceptional. The Beast King was more of a physical monstrosity. His only magical talent might be the flames, which are innate to his kin.

He would have sensed the subtle differences in the mana sequences if his mana sensory abilities were as exceptional as his physical prowess.

Not even 20 minutes passed before his bond to the Glacial Roc grew stronger. They were nearby.

“Slow down and descend. Control your emotions, and seal your mana. Don’t give me attitude now, Your Highness. We don’t want to warn them, do we?!” Percy didn’t know what was going on in the Beast King’s mind, but he could tell that the king of the Beastlands was angry. Very angry.

“The Legion and my envoy won’t arrive anytime soon. I will send Blue back to bring them to us. We won’t attack either. Instead, we will study the magical barrier, find out what is going on, and make sure nobody can run away.” Percy devised a plan on the spot, but the Beast King only grunted.

Get your act together, please!

“The Demonic Gifted spoke about a Master. It has to be a Demon Lord at the Ascended rank. I know you are powerful, but we don’t know how many Demon Lords there are. We saw three different types of mana sequences…you remember that, right?” Percy waited for a second, giving the Beast King enough time to digest the information he had forgotten in a fury.

“Either the Demon Lord altered them with three different types of powers, which means the Demon Lord is stronger than the norm, or there are three Demon Lords!”

It’s also possible for Greater Demons on the verge of evolving into Demon Lords to create and control Demonic Gifted, but the Beast King doesn’t have to know that.

The Beast King should already be aware of that, but Percy only revealed the pieces of information that would convince him to get his act together.

Fortunately, it worked out, and the Beast King descended. He transformed back into his humanoid form and glared at Percy.

“You are annoying,” The Beast King growled.

Percy shrugged, “But am I wrong? We don’t know how many enemies there are. Maybe you could kill the three Demon Lords, but what if there are dozens of Greater Demons, hundreds of Elite Demons, and dozens of powerful Demonic Gifted? Do you want all of them to escape while you are busy dealing with the Demon Lords, or do you think I can handle everything alone? I might be strong, but don’t think I can eliminate a dozen Greater Demons while hundreds of Elite Demons attack me.”

The Beast King was still not satisfied, but he swallowed his pride.

“Whatever,” he grunted. What can you see there? I can sense the mana in the surroundings, but it doesn’t feel any different in the clearing. Everything is the same.”

The Beast King focused on the clearing. It was empty, but that wasn’t an oddity.

“You can tell me,” Percy responded, “where all the monsters and animals are. I cannot hear anything.”

The Beast King listened and listened, and furrowed his eyebrows. He channeled mana through his ears, his hair standing up to its end, “There is no monster in the proximity. Nothing. It’s almost like the forest is dead here. Even the plants have gone silent.”

Percy nodded, his face drained of all color when he saw something with [Hawk Eyes]. The magical barrier appeared before his eyes. It was a semi-translucent barrier, and Percy could see through it with [Hawk Eyes] activated and supplied with his purest mana.

“There is a massive cave guarded by Grand Hellhounds,” Percy looked at the Beast King, “Is there a cave on your map?”

The Beast King didn’t have to retrieve Beastlands’ map to shake his head. He knew his land better than anyone.

“There shouldn’t have been.”

“That’s what I guessed,” Percy mumbled, “We found our Demon Lord’s Lair!”