"Should we head back?" Jason questioned as he and May appeared outside the entrance to the temple.
The cracked walls had already been repaired and no traces of the fight that had happened with Julian remained.
This also meant that to escape the palace, both of them would either have to find an exit door or break through the walls again.
[ Break through the walls. There's no knowing what kind of traps he might have set up to capture you both. ] The system suggested.
Jason agreed with the system and immediately tuned in some of his divine energy. His right hand was still acting numb so he had to channel his thunder element to his left hand.
He immediately hit the wall with his hand, splitting it in half. May stuck close to him and kept an eye on the surroundings using her divine energy.
Once the hole in the wall allowed them to look at the sky, both of them rose in the air with the help of their respective powers.
They shot out at their maximum speed and immediately headed towards Risa's location, something Jason located with the help of the system.
'They are staying in that secret room situated under the Bloodthorn mansion.' Jason conveyed to May.
[ How are we going to reach that place? Neither of us can travel underground. ]
'Don't worry about that. Amber will most likely be waiting for us somewhere if Amon and Risa had carefully planned this. We just need to reach the mansion.' Jason reassured.
Just like he had said, Amber was waiting for both of them in some random alley near the mansion.
Numerous royal guards were situated all around the mansion and some of them managed to caught sight of the duo.
However, they were able to escape by going underground with Amber.
"How long were we gone for?" Jason asked.
"About a week. How much time did you spend inside the temple?" Amber questioned. She knew that time passed differently in special places.
There was a good chance that multiple years had passed inside the temple while only a week had passed in the real world.
"It was definitely longer than a week." Jason sighed. "I just want to lie down, curl up into a ball and sleep peacefully. Examining every inch of a garden can do something to you."
"You did that despite knowing that you could be wrong," May reminded.
"You are May, right?" Amber suddenly asked.
"I am."
"Risa did tell me that you would have grown since the last time we met so I was prepared to see you change. You look around our age now." Amber commented before pulling them into the secret room.
Risa and Amon immediately looked at the duo the moment they appeared on the surface with Amber.
Once they had checked that they weren't injured, they closed their eyes and returned to whatever they were doing.
Zeke was the only one who was surprised to see May but he got over it pretty quickly.
"I have experienced this once before when we came out of the chamber of rebirth," Zeke said. "Its shocking to see yourself in the mirror four years later and notice the many changes you have went through."
"Indeed. May, you should go look into a mirror as well." Jason suggested while pointing towards the only mirror present inside the room.
It was kept in a corner so that anyone can look at their image in peace.
"What are they doing?" he asked as May went to stare at her image in the mirror.
"Julian and his patron were beaten a bit in the fight before they escaped. Risa managed to plant a tracker on him and she is currently trying to figure out his location. Amon is communicating with the rest of the sins.
Apparently, Julian sent his strongest commanders to the demon continent to conquer small territories and search for something. He is trying to gain more followers for his patron. Amon is keeping a check on the news there." Amber informed.
Jason's expression turned grim as he thought more about Julian's plan. Getting more followers for a god, especially in mass scale, could tip the scale during a fight.
If Galirius managed to get quite strong from gaining an immense number of followers, things would turn bad for Jason and the others.
'Why is he trying to conquer the demon race so much? He hates Lucius as well. Something must have happened between them in the past.' Jason observed.
He decided to wait for Amon to wake up. So in the meantime, he went to search for some good food to eat.
***
In the demon continent, a small town situated far away from the capital city…
"My lord, are you sure that it is situated here?" Julian asked aloud despite not having anyone else near him.
Galirius directly spoke inside his mind, making Julian sigh.
He had been roaming around the entire town for three days yet hadn't been able to locate the object wanted by his patron.
Julian had searched the entire town thoroughly and had even asked the townsfolk for help. All he had managed to obtain were some myths surrounding the object.
Currently, he was going towards the center of the town where the town hall was situated. According to his patron, the town hall was giving him the same energy as the object.
'I have dug directly beneath the town hall, have searched for secret rooms and domains inside it and have even dug through its walls to find the object. Nothing is present there…' Julian sighed.
He had almost given hope that the object was even there. But due to the words of his patron, Julian was forced to search the entire place one last time.
'The sins have managed to locate us as well and are about to come here. The other commanders managed to return back home with the newly earned followers but I definitely need more of those.
If only this object could be found, I can return home and start converting the others. My plan would have already succeeded if not for this stupid thing.' Julian kicked a stone in frustration.
He didn't even know what the object was but Galirius had told him that it was extremely strong and powerful.
For all Julian cared, the object could burn in the flames of hell.
[ Just try searching it one last time and use your divinity at full power this time. This will definitely allow the sins and the demon king to instantly come after us but its our best bet. ] Galirius explained.
Julian simply nodded and entered the ruins of the town hall. Once he reached the center, he started hovering in the air in a meditative position.
That was the only way for him to utilize the full potential of his divinity without hurting himself or those around him.
Julian focused on the divine energy flowing inside his veins before chanting his patron's name thrice.
The moment he did that, the divinity inside his body overflowed with divine energy. His body was surrounded by a red suppressing aura which immediately spread in a ten kilometer radius.
Julian couldn't control it and immediately began hunting for the object. His vision shot throughout the town hall yet the result was the same.
'I wish I could sense it similar to how he can sense it.' Julian sighed.
Suddenly, he felt something clicking in the back of his mind. Something pulled his vision away from the rest of the town hall and made him focus directly above him.
He hadn't completely destroyed the ceiling and some portion of it was present above his head. A group of stars were shining brightly on the glass pane present directly above his head.
Julian slowly rose up until he could touch the glass pane with his hand. He touched one of the glowing stars with his right hand and felt a pendant drop into his hand.
The pendant had a red gemstone embedded in it which reminded him of a ruby. But when he sensed what was inside the pendant, a humorless chuckle escaped his mouth.
"My lord, was this the reason you were eager to get this pendant?"
[ Indeed. Now with this, we should be able to conquer the entirety of Duphia and make it return to the golden age before the godly war. ]
Julian nodded before summoning a red fountain pen. He touched the pendant to the pen, his eyes glowing dangerously.
"A war is coming."
***
Back in the secret room, Amon suddenly opened his eyes, chills running down his spine. He stood up from his spot and took a deep breath.
"What happened?" Risa was the first one to notice Amon acting worried.
With a grim expression on his face, Amon replied, "everything is about to be wrong."
The four teenagers gathered around him with confused expression.
"Why?" Jason asked.
"A war is coming." Amon took a deep breath. "A war that we might not be able to win…"