Chapter 497: Treacherous Spirit Beasts
Damian stood atop the Dragon Fang Guest House in the western province of the Cinderfall Empire, his tall figure silhouetted against the darkening sky as the sprawling city stretched beneath him. The building itself was enormous, rising high above the surrounding structures like one of the skyscrapers he had once seen on Earth, its upper levels providing an excellent vantage point over much of the western province.
From here, Damian could see the streets winding between towering demonic buildings, the movement of merchants and soldiers below, and the occasional patrol crossing between districts, but his attention was not on the city.
His gaze remained fixed on the two strange objects resting against his hands, both of which had become surprisingly important to the operation.
The first was a small creature with delicate wings covered in shifting rainbow colours. It was known throughout the Underworld as a Soul Moth, one of the stranger creatures native to the realm and one that Damian had only recently begun to appreciate.
Soul Moths possessed a bizarre biological trait that allowed them to consume a fragment of another creature’s soul and establish a spiritual connection with another Soul Moth with which they had previously copulated, regardless of the distance separating them, allowing information to travel between the paired creatures.
Even stranger was the fact that every Soul Moth was hermaphroditic, meaning any two individuals could reproduce with one another, making it possible for vast networks of the creatures to be established without the need for predetermined sexes. Yet reproduction was hardly their greatest value.
Once a Soul Moth successfully consumed a fragment of someone’s soul, it gained the ability to reproduce that person’s voice, allowing anyone connected to the moth to hear them as though they were standing directly beside them. It was an ingenious natural phenomenon that had been turned into one of the most useful communication methods in the Underworld.
"I must confess, Mirrorreach is ahead of the other realms technologically. Take it or not, but he is Envy. He is actually doing a good job creating a means of communication for the common populace." Rin admitted as she examined the colourful creature perched comfortably against Damian’s fingers.
His expression carried a reluctant respect, something that Damian immediately noticed and disliked, because Mirrorreach, the realm governed by Belial, the Prince of Envy, had apparently invested considerable effort into developing Soul Moth networks that could be distributed among ordinary demons rather than remaining restricted to the upper echelons of society.
The Soul Moths offered to the Ifrits were a perfect example of this. Instead of forcing the three hundred or so Ifrits scattered throughout the western province to constantly travel back and forth between their positions, the creatures allowed them to remain separated while still exchanging information almost instantly.
Every Ifrit could report what they had discovered, warn the others about patrols and search routes, and coordinate their movements without revealing themselves by gathering together.
Loth nodded as she looked over the city, her expression becoming one of genuine amazement when she remembered the other piece of Mirrorreach technology they had been given.
"I know right? It’s just like the Skunk... I really never thought someone would ever be able to replicate the power of the Sin of Lust to take anyone’s appearance using just a few unique materials and infusing several demonic arrays to it."
The Skunk had been particularly shocking to her because the creature was capable of reproducing appearances in a manner disturbingly similar to one of the fundamental abilities associated with Lust.
When the Skunks had been distributed among the Ifrits and the demons began using them to transform themselves into ordinary demons, Loth had initially struggled to believe what she was seeing. More than three hundred Ifrits had now dispersed throughout the western province, each one wearing a different appearance and moving through the city without attracting the attention that their true forms would have brought.
"That coupled with the black beetle necklace that completely hides a person’s presence makes it perfect for infiltration. I must confess that Prince is a genius." Abel admitted from around Damian’s neck, his small pitch black body wrapped around him like a living scarf, his burning red eyes fixed upon the Soul Moth.
The necklace was another product of Mirrorreach, and unlike ordinary concealment techniques, it did not simply disguise demonic energy. It suppressed the wearer’s presence itself, making it extremely difficult for the Father Crows patrolling the province to detect them.
Combined with the Skunk’s ability to alter appearances and the Soul Moths’ ability to maintain communication, the Ifrits had effectively been transformed into an invisible intelligence network operating directly beneath the noses of Wrath’s forces. Damian’s face twisted with irritation as he listened to the two creatures he had brought with him praise one of his enemies.
"Motherfuckers, stop complimenting my enemies!" he snapped, his voice carrying enough irritation to make Loth instinctively flinch.
Rin and Abel, however, merely rolled their eyes before looking toward one another, and for perhaps the first time since they had been forced into Damian’s company, they reached the exact same conclusion at the exact same moment.
"Jealous much?" they both said. Their eyes met afterward, and there was a brief silence as they seemed equally surprised that they had managed to agree on anything.
Unfortunately for Damian, their first moment of unity had come at his expense.
"You treacherous swine, get off me!" Damian shrugged his shoulders sharply, causing Abel to loosen his grip around his neck while Rin jumped away from where she had been perched.
The two landed with supernatural gentleness, Abel settling against Loth’s shoulder while Rin landed in her hand before immediately returning her attention to the city.
Damian ignored them and looked down at the two objects again, his irritation slowly giving way to something much more serious. The discovery of the Soul Moths and the other infiltration tools had disturbed him more than he wanted to admit.
Duke Kol had led his people into a room filled with these devices as though they were nothing more than ordinary supplies. There had been no hesitation, no careful selection, and no concern about running out.
The Ifrits simply entered, took what they needed, and left. That meant Mirrorreach had distributed these technologies on a scale far beyond what Damian had initially imagined, and there was no reason to assume Velmora had been spared.
If Belial had already established communication and infiltration networks among the lesser races and political factions of the Underworld, then Damian could not afford to assume that his own realm remained secure simply because he had never noticed anything unusual.
He had spent so much time focusing on the obvious threats surrounding him that he had neglected to consider how dangerous an enemy could become when they were capable of quietly improving their methods while everyone else remained dependent on tradition means.
Caaaaawwwww!
Damian’s thoughts were interrupted by the harsh cry of a Father Crow flying overhead. His gaze immediately followed the creature as it passed above the Dragon Fang Guest House. The bird was enormous, almost the size of an eagle, with black feathers that absorbed the fading light and a single crimson eye that constantly scanned the world below.
Father Crows were another strange creation of the Underworld, creatures uniquely capable of perceiving concealed auras and detecting beings who attempted to disguise their supernatural nature. They patrolled the streets and skies of the western province continuously, making the Ifrits’ infiltration all the more dangerous.
Damian watched the bird carefully until it disappeared behind one of the taller buildings, knowing that if not for the Abyss’s power constantly erasing his presence, even he could have been discovered.
His concealment was not merely a matter of hiding his aura. The Abyss itself was interfering with the senses of the creatures searching for him, allowing him to stand in plain sight without registering as anything worth investigating. That realization made him appreciate just how dangerous Cinderfall’s security network actually was.
Coming here had broadened Damian’s understanding of what being a Prince truly meant. Back in Velmora, it had been easy to become accustomed to being the most powerful presence in the room.
He could threaten nobles, crush armies, manipulate his court and force entire factions to kneel simply through overwhelming power. But Cinderfall had reminded him that strength alone was not enough.
"I need to settle this court politics fast and start working on my own realm." He muttered with a tired sigh as he watched the Father Crow disappear into the distance.
There was still too much he needed to accomplish. Cinderfall was merely one obstacle, and rescuing Fulgur was only necessary because his respect for the dragon.
Once he saved Twenty Shots and his allies, he would finally be able to turn his attention toward everything else without constantly wondering whether another crisis had already consumed the people he had promised to protect.
Damian lifted the Soul Moth closer to his face and studied its tiny body for a moment before speaking softly. "Connect to the others.
" The creature immediately reacted. Its colourful wings fluttered rapidly, sending tiny pulses of spiritual energy through its body as the rainbow colours gradually disappeared.
Within moments, the moth’s entire body became green, signalling that it had successfully established a connection with the other Soul Moths scattered throughout the western province. Voices immediately began pouring through the creature, overlapping one another as different Ifrits reported their positions and discoveries. Some described streets they had already searched, others reported patrol movements, while several spoke about buildings and districts that had already been ruled out.
Damian listened carefully, memorizing the information as quickly as it arrived. He eventually sat down at the edge of the massive building, one leg hanging over the side as he held the Soul Moth close to his face, patiently listening to every report that passed through it.
The day slowly passed around him, the city lights becoming more prominent below while the Father Crows continued their endless patrols overhead. It had taken them an entire night just to reach the western province, and now, Damian had spent the day waiting for even the smallest piece of useful information but nothing came.
Morning had come and gone. Then afternoon. Then the sun began sinking toward the horizon again, leaving Damian increasingly convinced that they might have to get involved in the search personally if no good news about Fulgur came through.
Then, at last, a voice suddenly erupted from the Soul Moth with such urgency that Damian immediately straightened.
"GUYS... I THINK LORD FULGUR HAS BEEN FOUND BY THE TWIN DRAGONS OF WRATH, KAI AND KOI!!!" the desperate voice boomed from the Soul Moth, and every trace of exhaustion vanished from Damian’s expression.
He immediately hopped to his fist, his head tilting slightly as he tried to remember the names Kai and Koi. It took him a moment but he quickly remembered them as the twin dragons who served as part of Kaizer’s inner circle.