With a final, exhausted groan Regis pulled himself up the side of a cliff. He was not concerned about being detected due to the noise he made since his ability directly nullified every sound he made, whether he wanted to or not. Besides, he was too exhausted to care at the moment.
Even though he was from the Midnight Inn, and had his body enhanced multiple times through star level increases, he was ultimately not a body cultivator - though admittedly he was considering entering that path now. Since Luthor had assigned him his reconnaissance mission he had been running nonstop.
Finally, about an hour ago, he found traces of creatures other than Void Dwellers atop this massive cliff, and so he began climbing. He had no idea how difficult it would be. Even fighting a life and death battle was easier than climbing a vertical mountain wall with little to no footholds.
He spent a couple of minutes catching his breath, and letting his sore muscles relax before he forced himself to stand up. He was still on a mission after all, and each minute he wasted could be critical.
The minute he turned around, however, he was stunned. He was not ready for the sight he beheld. Hundreds of thousands of demons had gathered together, and all of them seemed to be building something.
The foundation of whatever structure they were erecting was well over 30 feet (9.1 meters) deep, and was easily hundreds of feet across. They were using nearby rocks and cleaving them into square blocks and using them to build the structure. In certain areas the bodies of demons were being crushed under the rocks, their blood and guts being used to add to the structure.
The scale of this construction was massive, but the more intimidating thought was that even with such a massive army, the enemy had not thought to attack the fort with them. That meant that to them, the fort was not a serious threat, and was one they were treating as an inconvenience instead.
Suppressing his trembling heart, Regis walked forward. Although he had discovered this construction site, he did not know its purpose or the enemy's plan. He could not return without gathering more information.
He climbed one of the massive piles of rocks nearby and surveyed the area carefully. He was looking for anything that looked like a command center, or perhaps a place where supervisors may be residing.
Covering such a massive area, amidst so many creatures, it was difficult to discover anything. The sounds of heaving and screaming, of dying demons crushed under massive blocks and demons screaming orders filled the area, settling in like a thick fog. It was hard to focus with so many stimuli.
Fortunately, all the suits the Innworkers got were fitted with universal translators, so Regis eventually overheard someone talking about guests, and directly moved in that direction to investigate.
There was no proper construction anywhere, but a temporary shelter had been established in the gap between two massive boulders. When he entered, he finally saw something different. Instead of demons, two elves were huddled together, discussing the demons derisively.
"I don't see the point in this. It's wasting time. With such a massive force, we should just have the demons invade and capture the heretics directly. A blood sacrifice from his enemies will go a long way in helping the almighty lord recover his strength."
The elf who spoke seemed to be filled with a fanatic obsession, fueling his every breath.
"We just have to follow orders. I don't know the plan, but I heard that they were inspired by the recent terrorist attacks. Although we don't have a Jorlam on hand to grab the planet from within the void, the higher ups must have their reasons. After all, we can't pressure them too much. What if they have a way to return to the Inn?"
"I thought they already confirmed that the keys worked. Why are they still hesitating?"
"The keys didn't work for guests, but there's no telling whether the employees have something else to escape back to the Inn. We have to act carefully. Once we pull the planet into the void, we can do as we please. Capturing the heretics will be a lot easier."
"I can't wait for the blood sacrifice," the first one said again, his gaze filled with a warped devotion.
Regis' heart trembled at what he heard, but the two religious fanatics changed the topic of conversation so he could learn nothing else for now. What he learned was already alarming enough, but he did not want to waste an opportunity. He had to get as much critical information as possible, so he delved deeper into the construction site.
His only regret was that he did not know any sabotage techniques or he could have set up a few traps to delay the construction process considerably. He should learn that when he gets back to the Inn for future missions.
Since Regis didn't need to sneak, his infiltration was quick and without any problems. From time to time he would learn new tidbits, and each would make his heart drop.
When he found out that the alliance had not even learned of what had happened yet, since the enemy was masquerading as them, he was especially alarmed. That basically meant no backup was coming any time soon. They would have to rely on themselves if they wanted to somehow escape their predicament.
But, just when he thought that there was no hope, he finally heard a piece of good news from a passing demon. Apparently, besides their fort, there was one other group who had been holding out against the demons. They were an extremely formidable race, and despite being all alone they had managed to hold on.
Regis took note of the location the demons said where that race was, and continued on further. The more he learnt, the greater their advantage would be. As for potentially getting help from the Marzu race, that was for Luthor to decide.
