The tall and majestic tree that had been silent finally spoke, "Hmmm."
The tree father doesn't have any mouth so he spoke with his divine sense. What he said can also be heard without a divine sense. His branches are swayed in such a way that the air that moved through them was made to vibrate to make that sound. So Hak heard his god through both spiritual and physical means. He bowed his head lower because of it.
The tree father asked him, "What do you think of the death of an entire squad of demorgorgs? So many haven't died like that in a long time."
Hak considered the question carefully before he replied. "The leader of the squad was a four-star demorgorg. It would have required a demon noble to kill her. Demon nobles have not been seen ever since the demons were banished. They have been hunted to near extinction which will explain why the traces of one were not found at the sight."
"Instead, we found traces of a high-rank demon. The difference is clear to us. We demorgorgs are highly sensitive to traces of demons so we are sure that there was no demon noble there since we didn't sense the unified energy signatures of one."
The tree father interrupted. "I know all these. What I want is your recommended course of action. It is your men that died after all."
"In light of this anomaly, I recommend that we expand and intensify our investigations. At least, we will be able to get the true perpetrator and avenge my fallen brethren. And in the case where we find that demon nobles have managed to find a way to survive in the plane by hiding their energy signatures, then we might be able to crack their method and capture more of them to expand our ranks."
The suggestion sounded good to the tree father so he agreed. "Do that. I will support you with one of my vessels."
"May your grace and mercy abide with us forever," Hak said in worship.
The tree father is curious about their deaths. He couldn't see beyond his kingdom but he made arrangements inside each demorgorgs to sense their conditions and collect data to improve his research. So he was able to sense their deaths.
It came to him as a surprise when they all died in the span of time less than a second. It made him understand that their deaths were not simple. That's why he wants to accompany the team that goes to investigate with one of his vessels. At any other time, he wouldn't care so much about a few of his properties dying.
He asked Hak, "Is there anything else?"
Hak replied, "I am sure you know but I want to say nonetheless that a new batch of candidates are going to come soon for their initiation into the order."
"Everything has been prepared for them?"
"Yes, my god."
"Good. You may leave. We will resume our communion tomorrow."
Hack nodded and turned to leave. He is in his full Colossal form so he is 10 kilometers tall. It is a size that hasn't been achieved by giants of Order in a long time because of the terrible energy requirements.
The last giant of order to reach this height was the champion that led them to the ancient battlefield. There was a lot of Origin energy there to sustain such a height. But it was the terrible Origin energy consumption that made giants of order into outcasts that were rejected and shunned.
There is no Origin energy in the plane but Hak can still reach this height because he is a five-star demorgorg. His tattoo doesn't look any different from that of other demorgorgs. They are black chains that seem to bind him tightly. There is also a face frozen in anguish on his back.
The chains are actually binding something within him. He used to be a priest of the sun god, but now he is a priest for the son of the sun god and he has a demon lord trapped within his body. It is why he is so tall and why he can fight a titan of law despite being a transcendent. But even with his height, he still looks small compared to his god.
He had to be at his full size just so that he could approach the god-king quickly. Without the current boost to his height, he wouldn't be able to scale the roots of the god-king since he can't fly. Even now, the roots are up to his waist. That means some roots are 5 kilometers above the ground level. That is their thickness and not their length. They are practically mountains.
That's what others will think when they see them. They will see the roots that look like rolling mountains that extend for kilometers on end. They won't be able to see the Titanic tree which the roots belong to unless they are far away from the mountain range.
He on the other hand has the pleasure of seeing the full form of the godking. But he only dares to take quick peeks. He keeps his head bowed most of the time. It is partly due to his immense fanatical obsession and mostly because he is still a transcendent.
Gazing on the glorious form of a god as powerful as the god of Life, Sun, and Order is a very dangerous gambit. He has burned out his eyes before in an attempt to do so. Fortunately, he managed not to fry his mind because he gazed too long at the majesty of the god of gods.
He thought to himself ruefully, "To think I raised him from when he was a baby and here I look like a baby compared to his size."
The size difference always brings back memories of his days taking care of Helios. He always knew that Helios was made for greater things since he was a demigod, but Helios had gone far beyond his highest expectations.