A red-headed human Specter was watching a city from far away.
It looked like it was planning to make an attack.
Based on its power, it was a Late Demon, which meant its power was nothing to sneer at.
If it actually decided to attack the city, it had a chance to succeed.
Yet, after looking at the city for a couple of hours, it just turned around and left.
It was too risky.
The Specter shot through the wasteland for a couple of hours before it stopped in front of another city.
There, it waited for another couple of hours before leaving.
Also too dangerous.
After looking at nearly twenty cities over the span of several days, it suddenly stopped in the middle of the wasteland.
The next moment, it turned into a human who activated his Barrier.
The human released a sigh of relief.
'I'm finally outside its perception range,' Nick thought.
Yes, the Specter that turned into a human was Nick.
What had been Nick's plan during these couple of days?
Not dying!
That was his plan!
Shortly before Nick had reached the next city on his rampage of dealing with Specters, his ability deactivated, and a terrifying sense locked onto him.
Luckily, Nick had been prepared for such an eventuality, which was why he always moved from city to city while being disguised.
'To think that my actions have such a huge impact. I thought that there would be a chance, but I wouldn't have thought that it would actually happen,' Nick thought in relief as he further traveled to the west, disguised as a human this time.
So, who had been looking at Nick?
It wasn't a Demon.
It wasn't a Fallen.
It wasn't War's new servant.
No, it had been something much more terrifying.
Since Nick could sense where the thing was that was looking at him, he also knew what it was based on its location.
The thing that was looking at him came from the east coast of the Great Triangle, very close to Aegis' headquarters.
It was not the Champion of Light.
There was something else there that was just as powerful as the Champion of Light.
'My actions even attracted Death,' Nick thought.
Yes, Death had moved.
It moved from deep within the ocean to its coast.
That expanded the range of its senses a lot.
'I can't think of another reason why Death would move closer to the coast. Something like this probably hasn't happened before.'
It was important to remember that Death had the power to kill any Extractor who moved through the east of the Great Triangle.
It was also important to remember that it wasn't the Champion of Light keeping Death locked down but the other way around.
Death was why the Champion of Light couldn't leave.
As long as it wasn't seen, Death could move around in the vicinity of Aegis' headquarters.
Aegis' headquarters just needed to remain within striking distance.
'Over 500 powerful Specters being suppressed on just one continent within the span of just three weeks probably hasn't happened before,' Nick thought.
'All the Specters inside the cities are terrified and have become more careful.'
'This means less Zephyx is being produced. The Zephyx that is produced doesn't enter the atmosphere since the Containment Units are intercepting it, and the wild Specters don't dare to show themselves.' ŕа₦ốВĚş
'My actions probably had an impact on global Zephyx production, and the aliens ordered Death to find out what's going on in the Great Triangle.'
'Alternatively, Death just decided to do that of its own volition.'
'Either way, while this crusade was quite risky, it exposed several things.'
'First, my actions have a big impact.'
'Second, if this was ordered by the aliens, they probably don't have something that can look into the past. While the Sun can keep track of the world, it probably doesn't have a record that the aliens can just playback.'
'The Sun is a machine, and as a machine, it only has limited functionality. It can filter important information automatically, but if it isn't programmed to check something, it won't.'
'A bunch of Specters getting suppressed is nothing unusual, though not to this degree.'
'I can't be sure if this attracted the aliens or if it's just Death. To be frank, I think the aliens didn't even notice it. My actions might have an impact, but this comes nowhere close to affecting the entire recycling center that is Earth.'
'The simplest answer is most often the correct one.'
'War's new servant probably complained to War, but War is busy on another continent. War most likely just forwarded everything to Death, which moved closer to the continent to take a look.'
'It's not a big deal for Death. It just needs to move a bit to deal with a humongous issue.'
'Luckily, I was prepared for such an eventuality.'
'I have to lay low for a while.'
Nick furrowed his brows.
'But I have to be especially careful now.'
'The Champion of Light works with Death, and the Champion of Light knows what I'm doing.'
'However, the Champion of Light doesn't know that all the other Shields know the truth about the aliens, which means he doesn't know that they know that he's working for the aliens.'
'That means he can't act too openly.'
'Right now, I'm only a Specter working for Aegis in the Champion's eyes. If Death just randomly kills me, he would think that the other Shields might become suspicious of him. After all, isn't his job to deal with Death?'
'He doesn't know that they know, and that is the only safety I have.'
'Most likely, he will find a reason to stop me from doing what I'm currently doing.'
Nick took a deep breath.
'This entire situation is way too chaotic, but that can also be a good thing.'
'The more chaotic things are, the more opportunities arise.'
'It's dangerous, but the game of politics that the Champion of Light is playing also restricts him.'
'We can use that to our advantage!'
'I can only hope that he doesn't tell Death who I am.'
'Otherwise, I'm dead.'
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