The dark mages operated deep in the woods. It would be difficult for them to directly meet with someone to collect information.

Hazezel knew this.

So, if it was possible to infect someone with a parasitic spirit, and spy through it indirectly, without even the host’s awareness, that would be a perfect plan.

However, they could not just infect any random person. It had to be one of the people who were aware of the missions. And infecting someone with a parasitic spirit was not something a mage could do discreetly.

Or at least, not under normal circumstances.

But their circumstances were far from normal. Especially that of Astoria. She was kidnapped by the dark mages and used in a strange ritual!

They still did not know what the ritual was about, but now it was clear.

She must have been infected by a parasitic spirit during the ritual.

So, then Elwin risking his life to save her – was that something the mage king already predicted would happen? If so, that would explain why the commander class demon did not target Elwin and Astoria so much during their escape, even though it was supposed to be guarding Astoria.

We were playing into their hands all along…

Hazezel was speechless.

Then he remembered something. ‘What about the lone elf that survived and returned to the elven village, could it be a spy too? Should he warn Myra?’

For a moment, Hazezel became lost in thought.

“Master… Master Hazezel!” the guard cried. Hazezel snapped back to reality.

“Huh? Yes, okay, tell me about the damages.”

The guard began listening out all the damages to the fields, the approximate monetary cost, and the casualties in the troops.

Astoria listened intently and asked, “Is Elwin not among the casualties?”

“No miss, as far as I’m aware, Master Elwin did not even reach the herb fields.”

“Huh? What does that mean?” Astoria asked worried.

Did he get ambushed on his way there?

“Don’t worry about Elwin, Astoria. I assure you he’s safe,” Hazezel told her.

“How can you be so sure?” she asked.

“Because… I sent him on… a secret mission this morning. So, he didn’t go to the herb fields.”

Astoria heaved a sigh of relief.

“Okay then, so long as he’s safe.”

After a moment of digesting the information, Hazezel gave the guard instructions on how to deal with the damages. The guard listened intently, before giving a deep bow and left.

Hazezel sat back down and looked at Astoria deeply.

All of Astoria’s attention was focused on the paperwork as she went through one document after another.

She seemed to sense something and looked towards Hazezel.

“Is… everything okay?” she asked, confused at why Hazezel was looking at her so much.

“Yes,” he replied with a smile as a plan slowly started forming in his mind. “Everything is just fine.”

…

Meanwhile, in the Beast Woods, in a location much, much deeper than the cabin.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Two strange individuals stood facing each other. One of them was dressed in long, purple robes decorated with white, fractal designs. Another was dressed in a plain, white breast plate.

The curious thing about these two people were their eyes. The first man had eyes which were concentric black and purple circles, ending with a small black pupil in the centre, whilst the second man had black pupils containing white streaks that formed the shape of a spider web.

The man dressed in purple was looking upwards as if he was trying to observe something distant, while the other man watched quietly. After a few minutes, he came back to his senses and faced the second man.

“It seems that inheritance was opened,” the man in purple commented.

“Oh? The inheritance of that mage emperor?” the second man asked.

“Yes, that is the one.”

“Who got it?”

“I don’t know but we can pay a visit and find out.”

At this moment, a loud roar resounded throughout the forest, and a tremendous aura made all the surrounding animals fall into chaos.

However, the two individuals ignored this disturbance and continued their discussion nonchalantly.

Huge tremors reverberated through the ground as a monstrous beast headed directly towards the duo. Within a few seconds, a gigantic lion the size of a building appeared before the two and roared.

This was a nightmare class demon, equivalent to a mage emperor!

The man in white got annoyed and turned towards the lion. His gaze seemed to peer into the lion’s soul, and it immediately stopped. The ferocity that the lion emitted just now was replaced by a cold trepidation.

Demons who reached this level had a bit of intelligence. So this demon was sure of one thing.

This was not a man it could mess with!

The lion immediately turned tail and ran for its life.

The two men continued their discussion as if nothing happened.

…

That night, Astoria was sleeping in her bedroom. There was a king-sized bed in the centre surrounded by curtains. A small lamp placed on the bedside table dimly lit up the large room.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and a figure silently crept inside. Its face was not visible due to the darkness, but it walked closer and closer to the bed, the floorboards slightly squeaking under its footsteps.

Eventually, the figure stopped right next to the bed and was very close to the lamp so its face could be seen.

It was Hazezel.

He stood there with an expressionless face, and in his hand, there was a handkerchief.

Hazezel slowly opened the curtain and saw Astoria sleeping peacefully in the bed. She had her back against him so he couldn’t see her face, but he the steady rising and falling of her chest told him she was asleep.

Hazezel inched closer and brought the handkerchief on top Astoria’s head. Then, in one swift motion, he suffocated her with the handkerchief while bringing the other hand to back of her head.

Astoria’s awoke in a frenzy only to be greeted by a strange smelling handkerchief. Instinctually, she tried to pull the hand away from her face, but she was too weak. She could feel her consciousness fading and wanted to look at her assailant, however she couldn’t even move her head.

Just as quickly as she had woken up, Astoria became unconscious.

‘Phew’ thought Hazezel.

He waited for a few minutes, silently observing Astoria. However, nothing changed. She was just laying in bed motionless.

Hazezel kissed his teeth in annoyance.

“I know you are there. I just want to talk to you,” Hazezel said to the unconscious Astoria.

…

Meanwhile inside the cabin, in the main hall.

Damon Rogue, the two dark grand mages, and Henry were sitting around a table. In the corner, Jin Tong was staring at the group with lifeless eyes, holding his spear with his right hand.

Damon was originally furious at Henry for allowing the ritual to go to waste. It was not easy to set up that ritual at all. He wanted to kill such a useless person immediately, however he was surprised to learn that he had received the inheritance of a mage emperor.

One had to realise that mage emperors stood at the peak of the mortal realm, the value of their inheritance could not be understated!

So, Damon decided to forgive him in exchange for sharing the inheritance. Henry then detailed all the various cultivation techniques, summons, pill recipes, and other knowledge and experience he had learnt. Most were related to mages, but some were suitable for martial artists too.

There was one particular pill recipe which caught Damon’s attention.

The reason why Damon did not directly attack the villages was because he had an injury that prevented him from fighting at full strength. He could only use at most two spells at full power before he’d become unable to use mana for a long time.

He could still attack without using his full power, but then he was not confident he would be able to secure victory if all the three villages worked together to fight him.

He had been searching for a solution to this issue for a long time, and now he found that this pill could completely cure him.

The pill required a lot of rare ingredients which he did not have. However, now that he knew what to do, Damon knew that he could craft it eventually. So, he was very happy.

The group were discussing their plans going into the future when Damon’s eyes suddenly widened. A cold aura spread throughout the room.

“What’s wrong, my lord?” one of the dark grand mages asked.

Damon closed his eyes.

“It seems we’ve been found out.”

…

“I know you are there. I just want to talk to you.”

Astoria showed no reaction, and Hazezel was beginning to question whether his deduction was correct.

Just as he was becoming more and more confused, Astoria’s eyes suddenly opened, and she sat up facing Hazezel. Her eyes turned completely black, and she stared at Hazezel blankly.

‘I… don’t believe it. It’s actually true!’ thought Hazezel.

…

At the same time.

Myra Wan was staring at an unconscious elf. If you looked closely, this was the elf that went with the expedition team and returned alive.

So that’s what you are up to…