The Triad Queen was moving much faster than she seemed. In fact, within half an hour, she had already caught up to the group of Lords who were walking relaxed.
The Lords hadn't seen any army before, which made them believe they could relax.
After getting to the group of humans, the Triad Queen slowed down. Seeing the humans so close to her domain... It made her suspicious, especially since those humans seemed to be walking back.
Layim felt something off. He glanced back, feeling as if someone was keeping an eye on them.
As he turned around, he saw an empty forest. There was no one who could be seen. He shook his head lightly, feeling as if it was his misconception.
"What were you speaking? Sorry I was distracted for a bit." He engaged with the group again.
The Triad Queen stood behind a tree. After making sure that no one was looking back, she continued following the group again. She was even able to hear what they were speaking, thanks to all the trees around them. It was as if the trees were her eyes and ears.
"I was asking about Azekiel. I'm trying to understand what he's trying to do," Luna repeatedly. "All those missions he gave us... They were so random. And now a mission to see if the Triad Army was coming or not? Is he just wasting time or what? It doesn't look to be related from any angle."
"Who knows..." Layim shrugged. "Even I can't see any links in the missions he gave us, but then again, he's a very unorthodox person. I doubt he follows normal methods ever. How else could he reach the fourth floor within weeks of him becoming a King?"
"The other Kings took years to reach here, but Azekiel didn't even take months," he further explained. "He certainly has a knack for clearing floors faster than anyone else. I don't think he's the kind of person who will waste time."
"All I know is why he sent us here to check after Triads. The Triads are keeping Liam as a guest. I think he did something to make the Triads wage a war on the Orcs, just like we made the Dark Elves wage a War on the Nature Elves."
"He's probably expecting the Triad Queen to either take her hostage or to deal with her about handing Liam over," Jane agreed. "That guy... He is thinking ahead. I think we have selected the right King. In his success, there is our success."
"But there's no Triad Army that we saw? Did his calculations fail?"
"Only he can know the answer to that question. We just need to tell him what we found."
****
Hearing the conversation of the group, the Triad Queen was slightly taken aback. She finally understood everything! She finally knew why the foolish Orcs were suddenly capable enough of taking out her people! It wasn't done by them!
"It was all the doing of these humans!" She clenched her fist. "The doing of Azekiel!"
She understood the entire plot. She also understood why Leor was kept alive! She was a negotiation tool to have her give up Liam! Generally, she would've given up Liam for her sister in a heartbeat or did any Triad's life, but not when it was under threat!
If she led Azekiel to Liam now, it was going to be insulting for her! It was going to be no less than her surrender in a way which she couldn't bear!
Initially, she had thought that the Humans were extinct as well until she heard from her people about them noticing a group of humans camping. To know more about them, she had those humans invited to her realm like guests.
That's how she first met Liam and somehow ended up in bed with him. It was through him that she understood more about the humans and that they weren't from this world!
Liam told her about them being from another world. He claimed they were just travelers passing through this world. However, to show off how special he was amongst the humans, he also talked about Kings and Lords.
He talked about them as beings with supreme strength and magic. He especially emphasized how significant it was to be a King!
If these people addressed Azekiel as a King, that meant he was also one of those supreme beings. Moreover, that human was after Liam, so she felt that maybe Azekiel was actually a King, even stronger than Liam.
The people before her even talked about how Azekiel had cleared something called floors faster than other Kings. She didn't know what that meant, but if they gave so much importance to that, that also implied that he was better than the other so-called Kings.
What stunned her the most was when these people addressed Azekiel as Kingslayer and talked about how he had killed Kings before. In her mind, there was a good image of Kings amongst humans as powerful beings. But when one of them was a Kingslayer, that was just another way of saying that he was the strongest King.
After that much information, she couldn't just underestimate Azekiel. Initially, she was planning to attack from the front to take out all the enemies, but she now understood that it couldn't be the best plan.
She could go back and bring her entire army, but if Azekiel was already expecting an army, that meant he was prepared and confident enough to face them. She could also bring Liam and the other humans with her to help her, but that was no less than accepting about her weakness, which she couldn't.
As a proud Triad, she couldn't take a human's help to defeat an enemy.
She couldn't use an army. She couldn't use humans. She couldn't even use a frontal assault since she didn't understand just what kind of strength or skills that humans possessed.
For a moment, she even thought about killing the men before her and interrogating the ones she left alive to find out everything about Azekiel, but from their conversation, it was also clear that even they didn't know much about Azekiel. Those people themselves were confused about Azekiel, his plans, or his skills.
Taking them out was useless for her extended goals. Even if she took them out, she wasn't going to get any benefits in the long run since she still had to face Azekiel, who had her sister as a hostage.
"Fine! If he's being cunning, then I'll show him just how weak he really is! I'll make him lie on my feet without raising a single finger!"
