Chapter 348.5 – Internal Dissent.

Chapter 348.5 – Internal Dissent.

"I see so that power I sensed earlier was the Demon Lord. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to have felt it even from here." Reflia said to Gale. The two were conversing via magic, and a small screen floated in front of her with his image. "Though I'm concerned that those two idiotic children are now free."

{Elariel sealed them because of how recklessly they acted, and I'm worried that this Demon Lord and those two delinquents could team up. If that happens, then Gale's plan will be the least of this world's concerns.} (Reflia)

"It is definitely a concerning turn of events. I never expected those two to be freed, though lucky for us it appears that the Demon Lord and those two were at odds. If we're lucky their brash attitude just got them killed, and the Demon Lord eliminated a diplomatically sensitive problem for us." Gale said with a sigh. "Though I suppose we'll have to wait and see what happens on that front. I'd appreciate the win-win of for us if nothing else"

"Getting back to the main point, how is progress on the plan?" Reflia asked about the main reason she was contacted. "We're on a timer here, Gale. One that may be incredibly long or terrifyingly short." She was referring to the fact that Akagi could break into the Heavens any second to start a fight with them.

{The last thing we need is her rampaging against us. I have no idea if we can defeat her in that kind of situation either. Vikes was already a problem even when we faced him together, and this Demon Lord was clearly more powerful than him. Sure we've gotten stronger since then too, but it's not a pleasant prospect to face another one of her kind on our home turf. But more than that, I'm confused as to why she isn't causing more destruction in the material world. Perhaps that's just part of her overall plan? I can't even begin the fathom the mind of such a creature, and its probably not worth even trying.} (Reflia)

"It's proceeding." Gale replied with a bit of irritation in his voice. "My agents were failing to find some of the items I requested, so I re-tasked Rahael to assist me."

"Well, that should certainly speed things up." Reflia snorted. "The word failure isn't in her lexicon."

"Indeed. I've got her hunting down power sources to aid in the transfer, and then after that, I'll move her to phase two." Gale said. "Though if we're lucky, this Demon Lord will listen to reason and we won't need to take more aggressive action to secure our positon."

"Do you really think we can come to some kind of agreement with a creature like that?" Reflia asked with a raised eyebrow. "She's already killed one of us and proclaimed her intent to destroy the rest of us, Gale. Not to mention that I don't even know if we want to make deals with it."

{And I sincerely doubt that a Demon Lord will hold to any bargain we strike with it anyway. Though I won't say that having her pointed at Gale's throat is a bad thing. It may even be the best way to deal with him.} (Reflia)

"As much as it may be a waste of time I intend to give diplomacy a shot, though I do understand your skepticism." Gale replied with a laugh. "If possible we can use any ceasefire as a means of buying time if nothing else."

{And we shouldn't need that much if my calculations are correct.} (Gale)

"Well, you do whatever you want." Reflia shrugged not wanting to get into a debate with him. "Just keep me up to date on things. I'll be busy making other arrangements down here, so let me know if you need anything else."

"Of course." Gale nodded. "Your work down there is vital in keeping the mortals in check. We can't have them panicking over this little hiccup."

{I think its far more than a little hiccup...} (Reflia)

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<Ro & Zo POV>

"Welp, these guys were no help." Ro said as he tossed the lifeless body of a Vikes Cultist to the floor. "But I suppose if it was that easy to find the Axe, those Gods would've already had him dealt with millennia ago." The two had found a Cultist hideout in the mountains South of the Holy City shortly after Akagi had sent them on their way and had begun interrogating anyone they found for Labrys' whereabouts. However, due to the cellular nature of the Cult, they were able to learn very little to nothing about the Cult's inner workings.

"Meh, they were just small fry anyway." Zo said as she kicked one of the dead bodies away. "We need to find one of the big bosses. They'll be able to get us in the right direction."

{And we'd better move fast since we don't want Boss to get all scary on us like she probably will if we fail!} (Zo)

"Hmmmm. I'd say that our best bet will probably find areas with reported Cult activity." Ro said. "If we're lucky we can find one rat and use them to lead us to the nest."

{These guys said something about movement to the East before we wiped them out, so perhaps we should check that out next. If the Cult is increasing activity in an area that's where we need to look.} (Ro)

"So we should head South?" Zo asked. "I always heard that the Demon Cult lived somewhere in the Demon Kingdom. Should we head down there and start poking around?"

"We could..." Ro said as he put his hand to his chin. "But I have a feeling that the Boss would've smoked them out if they were so close to her home base."

"True... And I doubt they'd be able to sit under her nose without her finding them." Zo said with a slow nod. "Then where should we start looking? To the East? Those guys said something about raids."

"While we should definitely follow up on that, I'd say we actually go back to the Holy City and start talking to a few priests." Ro said with a nasty smirk.

"Oh? You think some of those stupid clergymen might be in cahoots with the Cult?" Zo asked.

"It's not like those stupid Gods' servants are incorruptible and I'd be willing to bet good money that the Demon Cult is using spies or other agents within the Church to keep one step ahead of the Gods by feeding them disinfo or suppressing rumors about their activities." Ro replied. "We saw something like this in that girl's memories."

"Oh yeah!" Zo snapped her fingers as she recalled an anime that Hitomi had seen in the past. "The was that anime where the Church was actually entirely run by the Demon King guy and was doing everything to undermine the Heroes and the Gods! And while we're there..." She grinned.

"We can have a little fun." (Ro x Zo)