Lana didn’t waste time.
"I am accelerating the schedule," she said. "The Bloodreavers will be attacked tomorrow."
Gyros stiffened. "Tomorrow? Why so soon?"
"A complication," Lana answered. "Primus Bloodreaver is alive. He has returned."
The envoy blinked once, shock flickering through his aura.
"Alive? I thought—"
"Yes," Lana cut him off. "We all did."
Gyros inhaled deeply, then leaned forward. "If Primus is alive, do you want me to eliminate him quietly? Before he causes trouble?"
Her expression turned cold.
"No," she said. "Because you cannot."
Gyros lowered his head. "If it’s about strength—"
"It’s not strength." Lana interrupted sharply. "Listen carefully, envoy. Can you kill him in a way that leaves no trace? No suspicion? No trail leading back to us, none at all?"
Gyros hesitated... then slowly shook his head.
"No. Not against someone with that kind of luck and also support from the bloodreavers."
"Exactly." Lana’s voice hardened. "If he dies unnaturally,someone will find the thread, and it will lead back to us. So we do this the clean way."
She leaned back in her chair.
"Tomorrow, the phantom will attack their capital exactly as planned. Bloodreaver forces are already stretched thin fighting abominations. When the phantom strikes, they will think it is coincidence or misfortune, not sabotage. And even if they believe it’s sabotage they can’t track it back to us."
Gyros nodded slowly. "Understood."
"And," Lana continued, "you will intervene only after sufficient damage is done. Save whoever is left. Slay the phantom using the artifacts I gave you. Dragos will shower you with credit, and our arrangement will be fulfilled."
The envoy straightened, excitement flickering under his controlled exterior.
"Thank you for the opportunity, Lady Lana. May I... ask what comes next?"
"The same as before. After Bloodreaver falls, we take their resources, seize their territories, and then move for the next family. The Ronic clan will be easy once their ancestor is gone."
She lifted a finger, as if tracing an invisible map.
"They are already weaker. They just don’t know how badly yet."
Gyros bowed his head again. "I will make sure everything proceeds smoothly."
"Good," Lana murmured. "Do not fail."
The projection dimmed, then vanished.
The envoy stayed frozen in place, breathing slowly, his mind clearly racing.
I watched him from a few meters away, still hidden inside the fold of space.
Damn, that demoness... she was beyond ambitious. She was planning to break an entire world with the calm of someone arranging her desk. And the fact she had a transcendent as a loyal servant...
Either she was extremely powerful or someone even stronger was supporting her from behind the scenes.
Which left a much heavier question hanging over everything.
Where did this leave Primus?
Was he betrayed from the very beginning? Or did she change... only after he disappeared?
I wasn’t sure. And the more I thought, the more questions came.
Only Primus could answer them. And he deserved to hear the truth from me before anyone else.
I gave the envoy one last glance and vanished from the place. A blink later, I was inside the hidden teleportation chamber again. I didn’t waste time.
I stepped onto the circle.
Light shifted and I appeared in the underground room belonging to the Del Reys.
I tested the last circle.
My suspicion was right. It led directly to the Ronic family.
The moment I arrived there, I found the same pattern, a hidden chamber, a frail ancestor barely clinging to life, much like the Bloodreaver elder. The old demon floated in a diluted blood pool, his aura flickering like a dying candle.
Three families. Three ancestors. Two weak, one powerful.
All connected. All watched. All manipulated.
I exhaled slowly.
Enough for now.
I teleported again and arrived inside the Bloodreaver ancestor’s chamber. Knight looked up the moment I appeared, still floating cross-legged in the air like a lazy guardian spirit.
"So," he said, voice dry. "How was your trip?"
"Crazy," I replied, rubbing my forehead. "You won’t believe what I found."
I exhaled once and glanced around. "Anything interesting happen here?"
He shook his head. "Not really. Just a dramatic family reunion. Lots of shouting, crying, hugging... you know, demon stuff."
I snorted.
He stretched his arms behind his head. "North and Steve were taken to some guest quarters. A fancy place. They’re probably resting."
I nodded, already sensing their calming auras in the distance. "Good."
Knight tilted his head. "So... anything else you need from me?"
"No," I said. "You can go back. I’ll handle everything from here."
He gave me a sarcastic salute. "Yes, boss."
A ripple passed through the room as he vanished back into the core.
Silence settled again.
I turned toward the unconscious ancestor floating in the diluted blood pool. His breathing was slow but steady, his life hanging by threads but still present.
"Still alive," I murmured.
I didn’t need another complication.
After one last check on the old demon, I stepped back, let space twist gently around me, and phased out of the chamber.
A heartbeat later, I appeared high above the city, hovering in the crimson sky. The air was heavy with heat, smoke, and the distant roar of demons arguing in the streets.
War was coming.
And I had just seen the real enemy hiding behind all of it.
Now... it was time to tell Primus the truth. But before that, I needed to find out where the attack would come from.
I spread my perception again, letting it wash across the entire city like a silent wave.
My senses pushed through every corner and alley, slipping into windows, sliding across rooftops, sinking into basements, brushing against every demon aura I found.
Every street. Every courtyard. Every home.
The city was huge, but not complicated. It was carved in wide rings, outer residential blocks, inner training grounds, and the central fortress where Primus’s family ruled. Grandmasters wandered with weapons out in the open.
But none of that mattered. I was searching for the gap.
The place where Lana’s attack would break through.
According to her plan, a transcendent phantom would strike the Bloodreaver capital directly. A creature like that couldn’t be smuggled inside quietly, it needed a summoning point, an anchor, or a weakness in the city’s natural defenses.
So I kept scanning.
I stretched my perception farther, past the walls, past the forests, into the surrounding mountains.
But I did not find anything that was an outlier.
That meant it wasn’t inside the territory yet.
But then... where?
I looked toward the sky.