The battle between the giant Behemoth Clan and the Crimson Crane members was not over. One group, consisting of Tilon, Elivin, and Lilly, had just exited from a dimension.
The moment they had done so, they were ambushed, surrounded by attackers on the pretense that they had entered a dimension belonging to the Behemoth Clan.
Thankfully, there was one member with them, Tilon. He was the tank of the group and a significant part of their defense. With his shield techniques, he managed to fend off attacks, preventing his two allies from getting hurt, and they were able to last for quite a while.
After all, the Crimson Crane members were small in size, but what they didn't lack was skill. They were better than most at the same stage as them, and although the attackers were initially high-ranked, they weren't a match for the Crimson Crane.
Due to this, the Crimson Crane members were able to defend themselves from getting hurt and continued fighting, taking down members time after time.
"Keep going!" The Behemoth member shouted, pointing his sword toward them.
The terrain had completely changed from what it was before, with the grounds ruined, destroyed, and craters filling the area.
Rather than attacking individually, the two attackers, Elivin and Lilly, had decided to stay close to Tilon, and they didn't appear to be in the best condition.
"I hate to say it, but I think they're onto us," Lilly commented, gripping her hand tightly around her spear. She was trying to gauge how much strength she had left, and judging by just her holding her spear, it wasn't much.
"Then we just have to bluff our way out of this thing. We still have the blue pills made by the Dark Magus, right? Let's take them," Tilon ordered.
He was feeling weak in his legs himself; he didn't know how many more hits he could take.
All three of them agreed and took the blue Qi pills, and in an instant, they could feel the energy surging through their bodies. It was a quick boost, but they knew it would only last for a minute.
Knowing this, at the same time as the Behemoth Clan charged in, all of them gathered their Qi and unleashed large attacks. Tilon slammed his shield into the ground, pushing them away.
Lilly thrust her spear several times, pushing them all back, and with Elivin's large glaive, he was able to slice several limbs off.
"These guys, they're not weak at all; do they ever tire?" The Behemoth Clan member cried out.
Everyone had witnessed them taking the pills and had heard rumors about their effects.
"Damn it, if they have the Dark Magus on their side, we don't know how many of those pills they have. This fight could end up being endless!" The leader complained.
He had information on the pills; word had gotten out about their great effects. However, what they didn't know was that the Dark Magus wasn't in regular contact with the Crimson Crane, and the blue pills that each of the members had were the only ones.
On top of that, the effect of the Cursed blue pill could only be used once within a period.
"Can we leave now, though? We haven't been able to get any information. I thought this was going to be easy since we got them right after a Dimension run!"
While contemplating what to do, looking up at the sky, a bird could be seen circling above them. It made a loud caw sound three times, then stopped for a few seconds before doing so again.
Seeing this, the leader knew what it was; it was the signal for them to retreat. "The others must have done their job; everyone retreat!" The leader shouted.
The Behemoth Clan didn't hesitate, as they didn't want to fight with the Crimson Crane for much longer, and they started to back away. The Crimson members didn't give chase; instead, they stood their ground, watching them all scurry away.
A short while after, the effect of the pill had worn off. Nearly all three of them wanted to instantly collapse on the floor right there and then, but instead, they just let out a big puff of air.
"It looked like your plan worked in the end," Elivin commented. "You know what, for getting us out of the situation, if the Dark Magus wants to make you a weapon next, then I welcome the offer."
Tilon didn't say anything because he wasn't so sure his plan did work. He was just thankful the fight didn't go on; otherwise, they would have all been killed. The message was quite clear: the Behemoth Clan really wanted the Dark Magus.
At the same time, while Alba and her teammates were fighting on the bridge, the same thing had occurred. A bird was seen above, and Wildfire Fang had no choice but to call for their entire group to retreat.
Unlike the others, they still hadn't used the blue Qi pill. It was their trump card if things got really desperate. Alba ordered the others not to chase, as they waited for all the Behemoth clan members to clear the bridge.
"They retreated just like that, without getting any information?" Cornker asked, putting his two daggers away in his back.
"Exactly, I don't like it. If they attacked us, they most likely attacked the others as well. Let's hurry to a communication center," Alba ordered.
In most cities or even small towns, there would be communication devices. One would input a code, and then talk into it; the voice was then recorded.
If another person went to another communication center in another town or city and played the code, then they would hear the message.
There were no mobile communication devices, so if they needed to get a message on the go, they would have to use other means, but in the world of Pagna, this was the best they had in terms of contacting each other.
"I've told the others to let me know if they're all okay and that the Crimson Crane will be meeting back up in Reptum," Alba explained. "I hope the others are fine for now, but for us, even we should get some rest.
"If we set off now and get attacked, there is a chance that I could lose one of you, and I'm not going to let that happen."
The others agreed, and they had decided to stay in an inn for the night. One of them stayed awake, keeping watch while the other two could get some good shut-eye. Then they would rotate this.
It was normal for them to do this being wanderers, so they were used to it, but of course, Alba was more uptight than she usually would be. They had dealt with clans in the past, but now, in short succession, they had dealt with an Algre Light Faction Clan and now a large Demonic Faction Clan.
"It was going to be this way eventually; things have just sped up a bit because we met him," Alba thought to herself.
When the sun rose with enough rest for the three of them, they took a quick visit to the message center to see if they had heard anything from the others. They had heard news from Tilon that everything was okay, and they had received the message.
However, the ones she hadn't heard from were those in Reptum themselves.
"We'll gather some
food, supplies, and water, and then we'll head off," Alba said.
As they were walking across the lion's bridges, they had entered the main market hub. It was several large buildings that were built around the side of a mountain in a large semicircle.
There was a large platform for people to walk on. While walking, they kept an eye out to see if they spotted any Behemoth members here or there, but they were unable to see anything.
Entering a shop, though, a voice caught their attention, and not just theirs but quite a few people as well.
On the large platform, there was a single person who stood on a self-made stand. By his side, he had a stack of papers, and with a loud booming voice, he was shouting out to the others.
"Read about the big occurrence in the city of Reptum! A once-in-a-lifetime event involving the Behemoth Clan!"
Immediately, it caught Alba's and the others' attention, and they quickly moved over. She pulled out a coin and flicked it over to the man, who then handed a paper out from the stack on the side.
Right at the very top, the main headline read: The Birth Of A Real Demon! A Demon Appears in Reptum!
"Hey, this is to do with the Behemoth Clan; it can't be true, can it? Is it to do with the others?" Cronker asked, sweat running down the side of his head as he started to panic.
He could see Alba reading the paper, but she hadn't said a word, and eventually, when reading it all, she could only mumble out a few things.
"Are the Behemoth Clan and Crimson Crane at war? Is the mysterious person the Dark Magus? Can an Alchemist really be this strong?" Alba mumbled to herself, reading everything that was written.
"What...on Pagna happened?" Alba said, star-struck.
The news report, due to Bubble's information network, was quickly being spread. First, it would be the Demonic Faction, and soon it would reach even further than that. The world was learning that the Demonic Faction had a real Demon rising.
