Three hours passed and Cyril already visited the places where he could find information.
This city is actually quite peaceful. The streets are filled with Snake people and their allied beastmen.
Just by lurking around the big establishments, Cyril learned about the current situation of the Beastmen War.
"The Artifact is actually inside an active volcano… Even if the Snake Clan managed to defeat the other competitors, it's still a question of whether they could really take it for themselves."
Cyril concluded after hearing the Snake people.
He heard them showing concerns about the aftermath of this war. They are also unaware of whether the destruction of other clans will benefit them in the long run.
Although this city doesn't appear to have many problems, they are actually troubled by the many deaths of their soldiers as well.
They indeed gained a lot of resources after defeating the other clans, however, it is with the cost of thousands of their kind dying in the process.
Cyril also learned that the remaining active Beast Clans were surrounding the Great Pram Volcano.
There's a total of six Beast Clans there and are keeping the status quo. It appears that they are waiting for something to happen on the volcano. Whatever it is, they would have the chance to take the Ancient Artifact once it happened.
"Hmm… Does it mean that this city is indeed vulnerable right now?"
Cyril mused.
If he went to the site alone, he will surely have trouble since he'll meet thousands of beastmen in the volcano. No matter how strong he was, he would be exhausted fighting against that many.
Even if he just decided to secretly steal that Ancient Artifact, it would be difficult as well. After all, the beastmen are known for their heightened senses! There's no way for him to hide from them just by using his Traceless Scarf. He would not consider doing that unless he has another Artifact capable of helping him with his stealth.
Right now, Cyril is considering whether to let Magenta take over the city so they can participate in the war.
He heard from one of the guards that the changes in the volcano would happen in the next two days, which means that he would have plenty of time to gather his forces to fight against Beast Clans.
"How is it, Master? Should I start my massive Corruption? For the next two days, although it will be difficult, it should be possible for me to convert more than half of the city's population into Corrupted Beastmen." Magenta suggested after noticing Cyril's troubles.
As a demoness, there's no such thing as a language barrier to her. It means that she clearly understood everything Cyril heard.
"I guess… That's the only thing we can do. There are too many enemies this time."
Cyril agreed to her suggestion as he couldn't find any other way. He never considered asking Xagan about it since it will just be a rip-off.
However, as Magenta was about to act, they suddenly felt a powerful presence coming from the stone tower at the center of the city.
Cyril could guess that this stone tower is similar to the human castle where the top officials reside. Since the strong energy is coming from that direction, he felt a bit nervous. Although the pressure wasn't directed at him, he can tell that the owner of this energy can easily locate his presence if he leaked a bit of his Aura right now.
Because of this, he decided to just let the power pass through him to avoid suspicion.
'I should be fine, right?' Cyril thought to himself before he suddenly felt a stronger force locking into him!
"Tsk! Get ready for battle, Magenta."
"Alright!"
Cyril immediately covered himself with his Aura before he swiftly ran at the bustling street of the city.
There is a great plain outside so running there would be futile. Instead, he decided to use the crowd and the buildings here as his cover.
"Found you!"
A rough and deep voice coming from a powerful Beastman was heard throughout the city.
"Isn't that Shard's voice?!"
"What's going on? Why is the Snake Clan's Guardian here?"
"An enemy attack?"
"Who would dare?!"
The snake people started guessing as soon as they saw the huge three-headed snake rushing out of the tower.
Though the Snake Clan's Guardian barely appears in public, everyone here knows its existence. Its appearance only signifies one thing, their city is in danger!
"Run!"
"It's coming here!"
"What? Why here?!"
"Move! Move!"
The Beastmen started panicking after seeing the approaching huge Three-Headed Snake. They even noticed that its body was about to release a poisonous gas!
Bang!
The guardian landed on the ground with its huge body. It created a small crater as if it doesn't care about the other beastmen and the city's structure.
It then released a gas aiming to kill its target.
"No hesitation, huh." Cyril smirked as he avoided the debris from the shattered ground. As for the poisonous gas, it can be easily ignored if he used his Aura. By creating a membrane made of Aura, he wouldn't have to worry about it at all as long his Aura can maintain it.
Whooshh!
A huge tail tried smashing Cyril into pieces.
"Hmph!"
The young man remained attentive and felt the incoming strike.
Boom!
The ground shook as the tail hit the ground with its full force.
Seeing this, Cyril no longer remained passive as he pulled out six of his Goblin Grenades!
The Three-Headed Snake wasn't humanoid at all. Its body is filled with scales and he knows that it's difficult to penetrate that with his swords.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of explosions occurred creating a huge mess within the city.
The Guardian cried in pain but it wasn't enough to kill him!
The normal beastmen and the guards started running away even leaving the city. The chaos happening is getting huge.
The Snake Guardian doesn't differentiate its target after all.
"Magenta… Can you Corrupt that thing?" Cyril asked curiously as he continued moving and hiding.