Crash!
After a moment, the puppet collapsed Its metallic body on the ground lifelessly.
It was no longer moving and was full of cracks. Moreover, there was no more demonic energy leaking from it.
Sigh!
"Is it dead, already?" old man Darwin asked seeing the lifeless puppet. He could not believe his eyes that the puppet that nearly cost their lives is dead.
During the battle, the puppet is unable to shoot beams. It needs a certain amount of time as preparation.
And, the team would take advantage of that.
Darwin, then, looked at Allen with a confused look. But Allen did not notice it because he was busy with his thoughts.
He is sure that the dark puppets were created using demonic energy but at the same time, he was confused why are those inside a shrine?
"Perhaps this shrine is a unique one." Allen thought. "Or maybe, they are the reason why this shrine is unable to create fix itself."
Unknowingly, Allen looked into the center of the shrine. He wanted to get there and see what is wrong with this shrine. He is sure that there might be a big secret involving this.
"This is a god's realm, right?" all of a sudden, a female from the Divine Judo said.
The Divine Judo did not entirely consist of men. There were few women but they rarely appear in the outside world. Most of the time they just stay in the headquarters of the Divine Judo.
In addition, the females from the Divine Judo are rather domineering.
"Yes, the War Bringer Auction House said it's Asgard," Darwin answered.
"Asgard is a realm of gods. But that puppet is a thing of a demon."
Her words enlightened everyone. Or rather, it put a cloud into their mind as they could not help but ask themselves, "what is a demon doing in a god's realm?"
As if to answer their question, Glenna, the lady, said, "maybe this is the cause of the Norse god's demise of the past era."
Meanwhile, Allen was not oblivious of the Norse Gods. He had read about it and knew that the Norse gods met their demise called Ragnarök.
In the Ragnarök, they were annihilated by a certain demon. As for the reason? Allen is not too sure. But it seems that it was rather true. I mean, what is a demonic thing doing here if it is not brought by a demon.
Is it because the Norse gods were bored and had decided to play with a demonic thing inside a shrine?
Well, it could be possible because it was as if the puppets were precisely made to have a body that could repel divine energy and demonic energy.
Then, thinking of that, another question appeared, where did the demonic energy come from since this place is filled with divine energy. Moreover, the divine energy is very dense. Even denser than Allen's.
"I think so, too."
Allen said all of a sudden as he agreed with Glenna. Then he added, "perhaps this place has a very big secret."
"Indeed," Darwin interjected. "I need your decision, everyone. Should we proceed? Or should we retreat?"
Of course, Allen wants to proceed. He wants to see the secret that lies in this shrine. Moreover, this could be a great opportunity to discover about the other gods of this world and the demons that never existed in his era.
With that in mind, Allen made a decision.
"I will continue to push forward."
Darwin, along with the others looked at him.
In the end, the whole group has decided to go together. But they will retreat whenever they met something that would put them in extreme danger.
Of course, the expedition will resume after the injured are healed.
And while waiting, Allen stayed in the corner and silently studied the divine energy in the surroundings.
He was planning to understand it and to see whether it has an owner. If it doesn't, then he could think of a way to absorb them.
Technically speaking, divine energy that did not have an owner will strengthen the order of the universe but would also suppress the elements and any other living creatures. But if they could get rid of the effect of suppression on them, they would evolve into something better. Into a divine being related to a Divine Spirit.
Furthermore, if they can absorb it, they would evolve into Divine Spirits. But unfortunately, they would be of lower quality and status. But, still, they will be divines.
…
Meanwhile, it was not only Allen and the Divine Judo who manage to defeat a puppet. The War Bringer Auction House and the military also did. The military and the auction house defeated a normal puppet that did not have a dark attribute.
Meanwhile, the dark coalition neither defeated a normal puppet nor a dark puppet.
They were instead accompanied by a dark puppet. Moreover, it was as if the dark puppet was a tour guide for them. It was unknown how they did it but if the others saw this, the dark coalition will surely be bombarded with attacks from all of the groups.
Meanwhile, Allen and the others continued moving towards the center of the shrine.
They walked sneakily and stealthily. They did not want to attract the attention of the other puppets.
If possible, they wanted to avoid a fight before they got to the center.
Though sneaky and stealthy, the group traveled leisurely. Well, at least almost all of them did. Allen is an exception. He could feel a pair of eyes staring at him.
This is the second time that he felt this. The first one is after he cleared the demonic clouds in the vicinity of Base 300.
But the difference is that the former did not contain malicious intent. Not even a shred of it. But this one, though faint, there is malicious intent.
If not for the combined sharp senses of Allen and Stripes, Allen, alone, would not be able to notice it.
The more the step forward, the more Allen grew cautious.