CHAPTER 229: THE HUNT FOR THE DEMON LORDS

That same morning, Aiden stood in the main room of Ravens Grave, surrounded by his guild members.

There wasn’t their usual morning energy. Instead, there was this tension as everyone gathered close to hear what he had to say.

He had already explained what happened in the dimension where he found Lysandra and how Cassian had been the one orchestrating most of the chaos that had befallen Dragonhold.

Katherine standing to the side with both arms crossed then said, "I knew Something about him never sat right with me."

She didn’t seem surprised about the revelation.

Kayden stepped forward from where he’d been standing near the window. "If Cassian was working with the demon lords, then they could be hiding in any of those dimensions too."

Aiden nodded. "Maybe... but even with my variants spreading through the other dimensions, I still haven’t seen any trace of the demon lords."

He paused and raised one hand slightly.

A strange black compass materialized in his palm, with its needle spinning erratically for before stopping at Aiden.

"However," Aiden continued, "I know how I can find at least one of them."

He held up the compass for everyone to see.

"This is the dark object Cassian used to detect my presence. I can use it to track the demon lord who gave it to him."

"Then I could go and fight them, put an end to them before whatever it is they’re scheming comes to pass."

Laela’s eyes widened immediately and she stepped forward. "Wait," she said. "Are you forgetting what happened in Dellheim?"

Aiden turned toward her.

"Or was it not you who told us the Demon King possessed one of his generals and was able to kill a dragon with that?" Laela continued, her voice rising slightly. "What if he takes possession of the one you go to find?"

Arianna moved beside Laela and nodded in agreement. "Or worse still, what if all of them are somehow right there when you go to fight? It’s too risky, Aiden."

Aiden met their eyes calmly. "I’ve thought of that," he said. "I doubt the Demon King could do that again."

"If he could, he would have possessed any of his generals and used them to go fight the dragons still holding him prisoner at Dellheim. But I can still feel them from here. They’re still at the sealed gates."

Kayden spoke up again from behind him. "Even so, you’d still be walking in blind. You have no idea what these demon lords can do."

Aiden smiled. "On the contrary, I do."

He didn’t explain any further, but within his Pocket Domain at that very moment, his avatar stood before Cronyssia’s translucent form as she detailed each demon lord’s abilities one by one.

Aiden turned back toward the group and continued speaking. "The demon lords wanted to conduct their plans without me knowing or getting involved. That alone tells me they know my power would be able to stop them."

Laela and Arianna exchanged glances, both looking deeply unhappy with where this conversation was heading.

Piers cleared his throat from where he sat at another table. "What about the gods?" he asked. "Are they not seeing all these enough to interfere? Or is it just their rights over women that they know how to act on?"

Aeris, who had been standing quietly near the corner of the room, turned away slightly with embarrassment written across her face.

Aiden smiled amusingly at Piers’s comment. "They’re deceived by the fact that they stay in the City of Gods, Eden," he said. "Pretending that what happens here doesn’t concern them."

Katherine then walked forward until she stood directly before Aiden. She looked him in the eyes for a long moment before speaking.

"It looks like you’ve made your mind up about going to fight these demon ."

Aiden nodded without hesitation. "I can’t sit around and wait for them to act, especially when I have the means to kill them."

It was true. Aside from the fact that within his treasury he possessed artifacts capable of killing demon lords, he had also grown stronger recently.

The system had granted him three level-ups after rescuing Lysandra and capturing Cassian, pushing him further into his Adult Dragon rank.

"Tell us then," Laela said softly. "What can we do to help?"

They had decided to instead be supportive.

Aiden reached out and took both their hands gently. He smiled warmly at them before shaking his head.

"Simply sit pretty for me and wait," he said. "I won’t take too long."

Arianna squeezed his hand tighter. "Just come back to us."

Aiden leaned down and kissed Arianna lightly on the lips, then turned and did the same to Laela.

When he pulled back, he gave them both one last reassuring smile before releasing their hands.

He muttered under his breath, though loud enough for those closest to hear, "I haven’t been able to find any of you in any dimension so far, but I’m sure you creatures are hiding in one."

He closed his eyes and focused on the compass still resting in his palm.

Using the same divination method he’d employed to locate the possessed mages, he tried to trace a connection back to the demon lord who had given this object to Cassian.

The magic reached outward, searching through dimensional barriers, stretching across vast distances as it sought any thread that might lead him to his target.

But nothing came back.

Not even the faintest hint of a location.

Aiden’s eyes snapped open and his jaw tightened in frustration. "This makes no sense."

Katherine noticed the shift in his expression immediately. "What is it?" she asked.

Aiden lowered the compass slightly and turned toward her. "I can’t find anyone connected to this compass."

Before anyone could respond, a translucent notification screen appeared before Aiden’s eyes, visible only to him.

And as he looked at the screen, every sound around him blurred together until he could barely hear any of it.

[Host Must Understand That The Demon Lords Could Be Anywhere In The Universe And There Are Certain Ranges Your Supernatural Senses Will Not Be Able To Get A Read On]

Aiden’s frown deepened and he responded sharply in his mind. "Of course I know that. You think I haven’t thought about that?"

His frustration didn’t merely stem from the limitations of his sensory abilities.

It came from the realization that these demon lords could be out there doing any number of things, plotting, moving, acting, and he had no way to intercept them or stop them until they chose to reveal themselves.

He was being forced into a reactive position, and he hated it.

The system didn’t reply further, and the notification screen faded from view.

Sound rushed back into focus, and the blurred noise around him became clear voices and movements.

"So what now?" Kayden asked.

Aiden raised one hand toward him. "Hold on."

He closed his eyes again, but this time he wasn’t searching for the demon lords.

Instead, he reached out mentally toward every avatar stationed across the dimensions, each one standing near a time variant that had formed them.

There was only one instruction he gave to all of them at once:

"Create more time variants. Create more avatars. Spread them across every dimension until every single one has at least one version of me present within it."

And the response from them was immediate.

In dimensions scattered across existence, portals began tearing open one after another as new variants stepped through into unattended spaces.

One variant emerged onto a barren moon orbiting a dead star.

Another appeared in a forest so dense that light barely penetrated its canopy.

A third materialized on a floating island suspended above an endless ocean.

And then another portal opened within Eldergreen itself, the realm that served as home to all messenger creatures.

One by one, it kept going that way.

Aiden then opened his eyes and raised his head toward Kayden with calmness and certainty returning to his expression.

"Now we wait," he said. "Sooner or later, they have to come out."

——

At the edge of the universe, the demon lords stood in formation around the massive sphere of light that held Lilith captive.

There were nine massive magic circles in different glowing colors.

And with their arms were stretched forward, torrents of demonic magic poured from the circles before them.

The energy surged outward in thick, writhing streams that crashed against the surface of the prison sphere with tremendous force.

The sphere trembled violently under the combined attack, and they had been at this for hours now.

Then, finally, a crack appeared.

It was small but that was their first progress.

Morrigan’s eyes narrowed slightly. "It’s breaking," she said.

The demon lords intensified their assault immediately.

Then space itself warped violently nearby.

A golden tear ripped open in the void and two figures stepped through it.

They were radiant beings clad in armor. These were high gods

One of them raised his hand immediately and his voice rang out with commanding authority. "Cease this at once!"

The other god flew forward beside him, his expression was twisted with disbelief as he took in the scene before them. "Father sent us out here thinking it was only a slight disturbance we had to check for," he said. "But what are these vile creatures doing?"

Morrigan let out a sigh without turning to face them.

"None of you should stop on any account," she said calmly to the demon lords around her.

Then she stopped pouring her magic against the sphere and turned toward the two approaching high gods.

"This will be over quickly."