Chapter 99: Shun's decision

The lack of clues in the forest and the mansion was confusing Shun to no end. He was slowly getting more doubtful about his deductions.

'Am I truly right? Or have I missed something? Or is this all the plan of that demon? Was he using Edwin to fool his pursuers and escape to some other place?'

Azaroth noticed that Shun had grown silent. He knew this was the perfect opportunity.

"Father, I had a sudden thought," Azaroth called out to Jonas.

"What is it?" Jonas asked him calmly.

"What if the demon was planning to pin the blame on me? What if he deliberately chose the timing when I am leaving Kloras Town?" Azaroth spoke out, making known another possibility.

Jonas asked him with a frown, "Why would he choose you?"

It was Shun who answered quickly, "He wasn't specifically choosing Edwin. Anyone leaving the Rhodes House for some far location would have worked. He just had to make sure to choose a different location than them and he would escape his pursuers. It worked in his favor that Edwin left on the same day you returned."

Azaroth smirked as he heard the answer from Shun. This was the reaction he had been expecting. This meant Shun was slowly getting doubtful of his own deduction and was thinking of another possibility from the scratch.

However, Azaroth was only half right about this.

Shun was still very suspicious of Azaroth. It was because he had acted too perfectly. Whether he was genuine or acting still remained to be seen but if it was an act, it was absolutely brilliant.

'It's almost as if he is trying hard to show that he is completely innocent. He has all the required responses and proofs ready as if he expected everything.'

Shun was also getting a feeling that he had missed something. Something very small but crucial.

However, he couldn't make conclusions based on his feelings. He wouldn't be able to convince Jonas about it.

Azaroth began speaking calmly, "If you are still suspicious that I have some sort of contact with the demon then stay here with me until you clear your suspicions."

Shun and Jonas both heard Azaroth.

The two looked at each other and Shun spoke, "…No. There is no point in staying any longer."

Jonas was slightly surprised by Shun's decision.

Shun didn't mind Jonas's reaction. He was lost in his thoughts about what he was missing. Just where he made a mistake.

Shun made the choice to leave since if Azaroth was inviting them to remain as long as they wanted, it indicated he was willing to see things through to the finish.

Either he was entirely innocent or he was certain of his ability to conceal any evidence. Shun was confident that Azaroth wasn't employing reverse psychology since if Jonas or Shun send someone to watch him, it would only backfire on him. Azaroth wasn't stupid enough to not understand it. Yet he proposed this idea... This meant he was confident in his ability to stay out of suspicion.

This was indeed the truth. Azaroth had no qualms about them being here. He had his own techniques for commanding Laura and others while being watched without being suspected.

In this situation, the best decision would be to leave and investigate the other leads as well.

If the demon had indeed pulled one over them then they had to react quickly and surprise him.

~~

Shun and Jonas soon left the town.

As they were flying, Jonas looked at Shun and asked him, "You didn't appear to be as forceful as you usually are. You wouldn't have left a task at such a point."

Shun spoke after a short pause, "…I did apply a lot of pressure on him. There were no flaws in his responses though. I am sure I managed to surprise him a few times but even I am not sure if he was genuinely surprised because he is innocent or he was surprised because he is the perpetrator."

"I do understand that staying with him wasn't going to allow us to solve this matter. He was planning to have us stay with him and confuse us even more. Moreover, the longer I stay here, the more chance he would have to figure out my true identity. The best decision was to leave. I need to investigate him alone. There is also the possibility of that demon pulling one over all of us." As he finished speaking, Shun sighed out.

He wasn't happy with this defeat.

'I am one step behind this demon. I lack a piece of crucial information. I need to investigate more. Maybe investigating that totem left behind by that demon will be useful.'

This was the final lead he had that connected him to the demon.

It was time to send his theories to the Royal Palace and ask the King to send some historians and archaeologists to investigate that Demonic Totem.

Meanwhile, Jonas's priority was to find Tiana's location. According to Shun's theories, Tiana had been abducted by that demon as well.

He had to actively assist Shun in searching for that demon or else he might never see Tiana again.

They had no idea that the demon they were looking for was the same one they had investigated just now.

~~

Meanwhile, Azaroth let out a relieved breath as he fell to the ground.

He was entirely emotionless in front of them but only he knew just how much pressure he felt at that time.

The one who shocked Azaroth greatly was Shun.

'Inquisitor Fox… This man is dangerous. Far too dangerous. The only reason I managed to fool him is that he still doesn't know that I took over Edwin's body. Because I had revealed Holy Ardor to Jonas, he was sure that a demon wouldn't be able to take over Edwin's body. After all, the Holy Ardor would destroy even the spirit of a demon.'

It wouldn't be wrong to say that Azaroth survived only because of the uniqueness of his Ardor that possessed three different attributes at the same time.

"The development plan of Kloras Town needs to be accelerated greatly. It's still going far too slow."

Azaroth clenched his fists as he knew that he was hanging on a thin thread. There was no telling when that Inquisitor Fox would guess he had taken over Edwin's body.

Once he guesses that, he would have the entire picture ready.

Azaroth gathered Noah, Sargan, and Ralph and took them to Training Ground 4. He then disabled a concealment array.

Once the concealment array was disabled, the ground began to open up and showed a massive cavity in it.

A platform made of ground was slowly rising and there were three beautiful women on top of it. They also held a cage in their hands with Zena in it.

The women were surprised to see a very stern look on Azaroth's face.

"Begin your training! Noah, Sargan, follow me."

Each one shouted in affirmation and they began their training while Noah and Sargan followed Azaroth.

Zena flew towards Azaroth and she pitifully caressed its body against Azaroth's face. This indicated she was hungry.

Zena was nearly 3 weeks old. And she was already a 1 Star Rank Beast.

This was mostly because Azaroth fed her plenty of his Heavenly Lightning along with plenty of 1 Star Beast corpses.

Eating the corpses of any stronger beasts than that would be too much for Zena. She was too young.

Azaroth tossed some beast corpses on the ground while facing Noah and Sargan.

"I need you to complete a task for me," Azaroth spoke seriously.

"What is it, boss?" Noah asked with a curious look.

"I will completely unseal your cultivation base, Sargan. I will give both of you one week. Go and secretly assassinate the village chief and the other decision-making authorities of the Droln village. Make sure your identities are concealed. Once you accomplish this mission, inform me using this stone," Azaroth spoke with a chilly tone. He handed them the Voice Transmission Array Stone.

The nearby village named Droln had hundreds of people living in it. However, the rank or level of the guards was too low.

Even 3 Star Warriors could be considered rare over there. Azaroth was sure that Noah and Sargan would be enough for this mission.

"Alright, boss." Both spoke collectively.

"Is there any reason why we are killing them, boss?" Noah asked after a few moments.

Azaroth wasn't surprised to hear Noah's question. He was a little kid with a pure heart that was obsessed with the sword, "You are strong. But you need to learn how to kill. This is the first reason. And the other reason is that your abilities are required for this mission. If you are successful in this mission, it will be greatly helpful to me."

Noah appeared satisfied with the response and he replied, "I won't disappoint you, master."

Azaroth knew that Noah's young age and his pure heart would prevent him from taking tough decisions on his own but he would always put Azaroth's interests before his own. He was ready to get his hands dirty as long as it would benefit Azaroth.

Sargan asked sometime later, "Wouldn't the Royal Family know that a village was destroyed? How will we deal with them?"

Azaroth looked at Sargan and asked him, "Do you think the Royal Family personally keeps an eye on all the villages. That's impossible. Only the cities or towns that are strategical points are closely viewed by the Royal Family. The rest are observed by the Noble Families presiding over that territory. And within a Noble Family, no one is willing to go and keep an eye on a lowly village. They would just send tax collectors annually. Only if the village cannot pay the tax collectors do the Noble Families send someone to investigate the village. In other words, as long as those tax collectors' pockets are filled, the Noble Families and even the Royal Family will think that the village still exists."

This was the first time Sargan heard anything like this. But when he thought about it deeply, he realized that Azaroth's words made a lot of sense.

'Convincing these villagers shouldn't be difficult. Most of them are probably farmers and merchants. These merchants will be useful when the crops are harvested. Until then, they can join the farmers in the fields. As for the individuals with the other jobs, they can join the laborers and increase the speed of the production of the lodgings.'

While Azaroth was preparing the plan for his future, the individual he had been waiting for since last week neared Kloras Town with each passing minute.

It was Sophie. She was in her personal carriage and actually coming alone from the capital.

She couldn't bring any guard along with her because then her father would know that she was going to meet Azaroth.

Sneaking out wasn't too difficult because Spencer had been assigned a series of tasks by the King. Right now, he was tasked to protect the crown prince as he went towards the battlefield.

Many Royal Guards were assigned other tasks by Spencer and the king hence Sophie found the opportunity to sneak out.

Sophie knew that she was taking a huge risk by coming out alone like this but she couldn't wait any longer. She wanted to meet Azaroth as soon as possible.