After listening to Daimon's words, the elderly couple from the church gritted their teeth but, in a hurry, wrote what they were asked to, naturally that pair of old foxes didn't hand over the information without first asking.
"What do you want in exchange for this?", said Turner, to which Daimon handed him a small piece of paper, which Oliver recognized on the spot, since the contents of it will haunt him for some time.
"W-What, are you robbing us!", Maria caught a glimpse of the things listed on the paper and she nearly vomited blood, for a good reason, Daimon demanded double of what the Adjudicators had to pay him to obtain all the information Dilan had.
"Little friend this is too much…", Turner tried to take the soft way and negotiate a lower price, especially because he noticed that even Ben was surprised by the payment requested, meaning that they didn't have to pay that much, unfortunately for him, Daimon directly interrupted him on the spot.
"They got a "friendly" discount, miss Jeanne and Reyne stood up for me when your church came to kill me, I'm already being generous considering how you treat miss Emily, take it or leave it".
"Humph, do you think you can blackmail us, at most we'll retire and see you suffering from the sides, then what will you do", said Maria, only to see chuckling.
"You can try, but with the number of traitors I saw, I will be amazed if you survive to see the next month, of course you are free to believe that I'm making everything up", he casually said.
After a moment of silence, Turner sighed in defeat before saying.
"I accept the terms, but I want one spot back at least, of course the one chose to go will be interrogated before, we'll give the Adjudicators half of our findings, take it as way to build a better relationship between our forces".
With how things were, the cool-headed Turner, realized that their useless internal strife with the Adjudicators could have brought the extinction of the human race, to begin with, both sides were founded by the first king and his lover, so they should have been working together.
"You can't take the decision by yourself, are you not seeing that they have that filthy thing on their side!", exclaimed Maria as she pointed at Emily, only the freeze on the spot at the sight of Daimon increasing the price, so that they will pay thrice what the Adjudicators had to.
"Enough Maria, she might be part flesh eating demon, but she didn't chose to be like that nor has she ever consumed human meant or even blood… in comparison our own people willingly entered that path and are enjoying it, how can we face our ancestors if we can't even clean our own home", said Turner with an angered expression, Felix was like a second father for him, back then when he was younger, he looked up to the man who was the closest to become the Pope, the shock was strong enough to change the way he saw things.
His wife ultimately conceded this time, because she couldn't argue against the cruel reality of the situation, everything that happened will be known by the public, if they wanted their organization to survive, they had to demonstrate that they fight for the sake of humankind.
"Fine, they are just material things anyway, we can get more with time, I'm also tired of the whole power struggle farce".
After signing that contract, Daimon handed the list of traitors to Turner, whose face became unsightly on the spot, there were more than what he expected, but at least not many were particularly high ranked.
Felix betrayed them to save his ass, his lifespan was about to end so he needed an extension, but the others that were following him weren't that old, but the ambitious relatively young who wished to increase their strength faster.
Daimon then nodded at the old Ben who then took over.
"Previously we were going to have a small pointer exchange between our young generation, to see who was going to wield the "key" that my Valleris family has been guarding, but now there is no need for that, it would be an honor if little friend Gabriel is the one to use it", said the old man as he smiled at Daimon.
"I have something to do inside that ruin, so I can't promise that I won't point my sword at you, depending on the situation you know", said Daimon in response, just to see the old man laughing.
"I believe you won't do anything too harsh, little Reyne will be entering with you after all", he said with a suggesting voice, which made the crazy girl who was still leaning against Daimon's shoulder glare at him.
"I will do what I have to and won't bother you as long as you don't target me, additionally I can tell you that I have a personal grudge against the flesh eating demons, so I'll kill them at sight if get the chance to", said Daimon as he endured the sharp piercing gaze of the crazy girl.
Old Ben casually nodded and then took out a black large case from his storage ring, then placed on the table in front of Daimon.
"That's enough, this was supposed to be given to you anyway… since you have the same qualities as the first king", he said as he opened the case to reveal its contents.
In front of Daimon laid a large white metal crossbow, carefully packed in the case, the design was exquisite with many decorations, it looked a bit worn out though and the mechanism was missing a few pieces that seemed to have been torn apart.
[You have found a lost relic and must return it to its rightful owner, the current designated hero]
The moment Daimon saw the crossbow, a fake notification was triggered making him grin, of course he wasn't going to give this to Adam, specially because there was a certain capricious sword in his inventory, drooling over it as if it was a delicious-looking candy.
"I know it doesn't look like much, but in the whole history of my family, not only we have never been able to repair it, we couldn't even dismount it, I have attacked it with all my might before and nothing happened to it, it's yours now so good luck", said old Ben.
Daimon nodded and then closed the case to sent it into his inventory, it's not like he was going to use the crossbow, once he accomplished his objective, it will be a snack for Disaster.
"If there is nothing else, we have to make some preparations to open the entrance of the ruin, so while the army arrives, prepare yourselves", said Antonio, and that was a hint for Daimon to take his leave, which he did.
"Okay, that's enough", casually said Daimon as he stood up, finally making the crazy girl separate from him, very much to her displease.
"Little Jeanne, please take them to a guest room, we'll be ready in an hour", said Ben to Reyne's mother, who limited to nod in response.
Daimon's group left the meeting room, and they were met by the gazes of all the others that were waiting outside, including Elliot and Dorothy.
Jeanne didn't say anything and instead walked towards the door at the left, she had an area assigned exclusively for her, Emily and Reyne, which is where she was bringing Daimon and Sarah.
"Where are you going, what happened inside the meeting room?", asked Dorothy who gritted her teeth after seeing she was being ignored.
"Wait Reyne, since we'll be entering the ruin, we should discuss our strategy and…", Elliot changed the approach and tried to appeal to Reyne, but her answer made him freeze.
"I'm sorry, but there is no need for that, I'll be moving along with Gabriel, so our objectives won't be the same", she said with her calm voice, to then turn around to leave.
"Uwaah, how cruel, I like it~", for a change the crazy girl complimented Reyne.
Elliot saw red, but before he tried to do something stupid, Dorothy restrained him to then glare at Jeanne.
"Don't you think that is too selfish, inside of the ruin there will be those monsters hunting our representatives, are you saying that you'll be dividing our forces, like it happened to the idiots of the church?", she said.
Ignoring the fact that Dorothy was obviously trying to make them look like the enemy, Jeanne limited to say.
"You'll be informed once the meeting ends, if you need to know, that is", her voice was freezing cold, making Dorothy tremble due to anger, but unlike Elliot who was easily provoked, she managed to keep her rationality.
"Like mother, like daughter", she poisonously said as she spat, unfortunately Jeanne didn't pay her any attention as she guided Daimon and the others through the door that led to her assigned area.
Before the door closed, Sarah gave Elliot who was still standing there with a shocked face, a mocking gaze.
The other people took some distance from Dorothy, who was like an about to erupt volcano right now, she wanted to barge into the meeting room to demand an explanation, but since her father prohibited from doing so, she couldn't open the door with her authority, so she just dragged Elliot along with her as she left through a door at the right, she naturally also had her exclusive area.
The hour went in the bat of an eye, and before they noticed, Oliver came to pick Daimon's group, the moment he saw Jeanne, he couldn't help but sigh.
"Did you really have to fight with her?", he said.
"Your family problems shouldn't affect me and much less my daughter, you better than anyone know that I'm already conceding by not ripping her mouth off after she called Emi "that", in front of me", answered Jeanne with an indifferent voice.
She certainly wasn't in bad terms with Oliver, but Dorothy seemed to have taken personal, that he "remarried" not too long after her sister's death, because back then she didn't know about the deal, as she didn't have a high enough authority, so she thought Jeanne just took advantage of the situation.
Then when she was informed of the true nature of their relationship, she got to know that a flesh eating demon, like the one who killed her sister was brought into the castle where her sister lived, which only worsened their relationship.
In part, Elliot's hatred towards Emily came from Dorothy's influence, Oliver couldn't argue against that, though he didn't develop feelings for Jeanne, as he never forgot about his wife, to the point that he hasn't touched a woman ever since she died, despite his high status, he hoped that she could treat Elliot as her son, just like he cared for Reyne.
Unfortunately, his son's attitude towards Emily, made that impossible, and he couldn't blame Jeanne for that, because he knew how much those two cared about the other.
Along the way, before they reached the main hall of the building, Oliver turned to see Daimon and then said.
"I have talked with Elliot and warned him, even making him sign a blood contract… I hope that if something happens, little friend Gabriel can show some mercy".
"If he tries to kill me, I will kill him, if you try to avenge him, I will kill you, I'm not naïve enough to forgive an enemy and unfortunately you are not in the infinitely small list, of people for whom I will tolerate that risk, that being said I will focus on my own things", said Daimon, which made Oliver inwardly sigh.
He did everything he could already, even Ben didn't give Elliot one of the spots he had, but Dorothy used hers, and there wasn't much they could about it, unless she was proven to be a traitor, which wasn't the case, so Elliot will be going.
Ignoring the awkward silence, the group arrived at the main hall where both the Adjudicators and the church were waiting for them.
Humans and Ghouls will each send ten members of the young generation, that was the deal they made, the ruin didn't allow anyone above the Lord rank to enter, so that was part of the restrictions too.
As for who will be allowed to fight while the members of the young generation are inside the ruin, no one past the middle stage of the Arch rank will be involved, besides that everything was allowed.
From the human side which was conformed by seven elites of the young generation, there were four knights and three mages among which Elliot was, all were peak stage Lord ranks, the one from the church was a mage, the granddaughter of Turner and Maria to be more accurate.
To hide the fact that Daimon had his own objectives, Ben and the other old monsters, divided the group in three, two teams of three and one of four, the four-man team was led by Elliot, while the other three-member team was led by the girl from the church.
"To all you, future heroes of the young generation, don't forget that this is a fight against the monsters that prey on us, it is too soon for you to die, don't throw away your lives, advance when needed and retreat when needed", said Ben, the two groups previously gave the team leaders their instructions, before Daimon arrived so with just that, all the presents were transported out of the building.
A few seconds later, the scenery changed from the comfortable and modern main hall, to the scorching landscape of the volcanic area, for starters the temperature went up like crazy.
Besides a few exceptions, even with armors and equipment made especially for this environment, everyone below the Arch rank felt the shock of the blazing atmosphere of this place.
But they had no time to adapt, as they noticed a mixed group conformed by humans and flesh eating demons, approaching them.
They were led by Felix as well as other four people, two men and two women, the men had blond hair and red eyes while the women had black hair and red hair, they were quite the lookers, and appeared to be in their middle thirties at most.
The only downside is that they were eyeing the humans on the other side, as if they were looking a filth.
"It's been a while, you four look quite worn out if you ask me", said one of the two males, who surprisingly had a certain resemblance to Dilan, making Ben smirk.
"Yo, Eniz, I heard you lost one of your descendants, hope you find it sooner or later", he said, making the Ghoul's eyes dye red, literally, there was no blank or pupil even, only red.
"Don't worry, we'll share the experience", limited to say the Ghoul, he couldn't attack Ben, due to the contract anyway.
Leaving quarrels aside, Adam who was still holding onto Paula's waist, came out of the traitor's side and then said with an arrogant voice.
"I'm the Holy Son chosen by the Blood Justice Church who wishes to finally put an end to the wat between the two races, those among you who have the guts to die by my sword, come out", he said.
It's worth mentioning that Paula turned out to be the daughter of Felix, though he never married he had a lover who died some time ago.
Naturally the first one to stand up was Elliot, his group came out of the crowd and stopped a few meters away from Adam, who snapped his fingers making three girls from the side of the traitors approach him, followed by six Ghouls of the young generation, all guys, to also come out, though they kept some distance from him.
Noticing the gaze of disgust on Elliot's eyes, Paula laughed as she pressed her body against Adam to then say with a mocking voice.
"Oh my, poor you, you don't seem to be popular with girls, right", she said that because Elliot's group was formed only by men, the only two girls were both in the team led by the granddaughter of Turner and Maria.
Speaking of them, they also came out to the initial face off, but they were soon ignored, as all the eyes fell on a group of three that walked away towards the entrance hat had appeared on the hill to be more accurate.
"I have no time for childish show offs, get your ass here at once", said Daimon as he took out the black case from his inventory to then insert the frontal part of the crossbow into the lock that had the respecting shape.
Adam who was inwardly pissed off at the nobody who was messing with his demonstration, inwardly shouted.
'Hey, Ariel, can I kill that bastard right now?', he asked.
'Only if you don't want the inheritance of the Blue Hero anymore, the other party won't let you go and you'll have to use redeem another escaping ticket, needless to say but there will be a penalty as it will be the second time during the same mission', casually said the angel girl with an uninterested voice.
Adam clicked his tongue and then walked towards Daimon, he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Daimon before he inserted it into the lock, oblivious to the fact that his previous conversation was heard by Daimon.
Though pissing off Adam was a bonus of him not wanting to lose time in useless word exchange with soon dead to be people, he also did it because when Adam lost his cool, he could basically listen to his thoughts, and it was really easy to do so.
"You are dead meat you bastard, handover that crossbow and the girl and I might let you live, once we are inside things won't be that easy", said Adam in a low voice, unfortunately for him, Daimon completely ignored him.
He was more interested on the hill which trembled as the giant stone gate opened, making it easier for him to feel Jasmine's general position, Daimon's eyes glowed behind his mask, as if previously discussed, both Sarah and Reyne held onto his arms and then the three of them jumped into the gate, only to disappear, since they were transported by the array engraved on it.
Adam felt a vein popping on his neck, he shouted at the three girls who had yet to come.
"What the hell are you waiting for, they are getting ahead of me!", the girls immediately rushed towards Adam and they also entered the ruin and were transported.
The other groups also woke up from their daze and rushed into the ruin, the scene of Reyne holding onto Daimon's arm, repeated itself inside Elliot's mind, making a cold flash appear in his eyes.
'That fucking bastard!!!', he inwardly screamed.
…
Inside of the ruin at a certain completely dark room, a mocking voice sounded.
"Did you see that, he already has other "things" in mind, poor you were put in second priority", said a black robed figure, to a girl who was trapped inside a black cage.
"I wonder if you will be able to speak with your head removed from your body?", was the only thing that could be heard coming from the girl.
'I wonder what your expression will be once he arrives here, you little stubborn bitch', thought the black robed figure.
