Damien's current target was located in a study somewhere in the Straea Clan's manor.
There were several problems that stemmed from that fact alone.
It was a place Malevalon Straea frequented, and a place only he could go.
Damien didn't gain absolute information from the visions he saw.
He could only make guesses about most things, but he was certain he saw that man there.
It was the first time he'd seen him, but his identity immediately became clear.
After all, the study was filled with his aura. It was powerful, domineering, and filled with a cold cruelty that reflected a twisted indifference.
When an aura like that was let loose, nobody in the vicinity would be safe.
Only the owner of that aura was safe, along with those he decided to protect from it.
However, Malevalon was not a man who knew the meaning of the word "protect."
Whether it was ordinary people, his clan, or even his own wife and kids, he treated them all equally.
Like ants.
When Damien told his mother and family about the true nature of his mission, they gave him plenty of information about Malevalon himself, along with information about the Straea Clan.
The Straea Clan had always been something evil.
They never got along with the other great clans, and they were always doing their own thing, oftentimes butting heads with their peers.
Their rise was unquestionable, though. As was their power.
And more than anything, they were like a necessary evil in the Heavenly World.
The lawless zone acted as a massive prison that kept people who couldn't roam elsewhere contained.
As long as they were in the lawless zone, they'd feel like they were free.
And yet, they would no longer terrorize the places they were once terrorizing.
It had grown to the point where some people with more evil tendencies would migrate to the lawless zone before they even started committing vile deeds.
Overall, because of the Straea Clan's existence, the amount of trouble the other great clans had to deal with had lessened considerably.
They were allowed to exist.
At least, until they grew to the point where nobody could decide whether they were allowed to exist or not.
At some point, the Straea Clan became massive. Its growth genuinely couldn't be explained.
Unless one knew of their connection to the Foreign Races, that is.
Nevertheless, the Straea Clan was now massive, and though it hadn't been in any major wars throughout its existence, nobody doubted its military strength.
For Damien to have to break into their manor, where the best of their forces lived, and steal something from their clan head, a man second only to Dante Void…
Wasn't it just asking for the impossible?
When Damien had to just think about it, yes. Yes it was.
The problem was that he had to do it anyway.
There was no better alternative.
No matter how many people he brought, or how much planning he did, he was facing an enemy that could easily make all their efforts meaningless with the flick of a wrist.
In a situation like this, there was no better option than a single expert taking the risk alone.
Because, even in the case that something went wrong, it was still possible to extract relatively unharmed.
'Getting to the manor isn't the problem…'
Just like everyone else, the Straea Clan was quite grand in the architecture of their main edifice.
It was a pitch-black mansion that almost resembled Void Palace's main palace.
However, the aura around it was more eerie.
'It looks like a place people would go to learn necromancy or something.'
Damien was on the outskirts. Well, he was further than that.
He stood roughly a million kilometers away. His eyes could see the manor in perfect detail regardless of the distance.
'I need to find a way to see inside…'
'...oh wait, that's easy now.'
He'd become stronger so fast that he'd forgotten how strong he'd become.
For the current Damien, creating some type of organic life form that was connected to his own consciousness was easy.
The main problem with this approach was the fact that a place like the Straea Clan Manor didn't have any sort of animal infestation.
But if Damien went with something stranger, something more purpose-built, he could pull it off.
'I just need to create something that can traverse the manor without being noticed. It doesn't matter what the form is as long as it can do what I want it to.'
He contained himself within a barrier to prevent his mana from leaking, and using the Emperor's Crown and the mist's aid, he began the process of controlling Existence.
It couldn't be explained yet, because Damien was only borrowing the control. He didn't actually have the ability to do it for himself.
As such, the only thing he felt was the movement of his mana as his trusty helpers did the rest for him.
A "being" was created. It had no consciousness, it had no life signature, but it had life.
It looked stringy like a jellyfish, but without the bulbous head.
There was no way this organism would be taken by anyone as a living thing, let alone a spy.
As for how to get it into the manor…
Well, that was the easy part.
Perhaps it was just for show, but the Straea Manor also had a guard unit that regularly patrolled the outskirts and stood by the gates at all times.
These guards had their own accommodations within the Straea Clan's land, but the point was that it was beyond the gate.
Damien easily attached the life form to one of the guards, and when he went inside to switch shifts, he controlled it to move onto a nearby maid who was headed for the main manor.
Really, it was that simple.
The hard part came later, since the life form would have to make a far more dangerous journey starting from the moment it entered the manor.
Damien didn't know where that study was.
He needed to find it.
And after he found it, he needed to observe it for a considerable amount of time so he could figure out exactly when was the right time for him to strike.
This time, the stakes were extremely high.
The Straea Clan couldn't be allowed to gain a clue about what was happening. If they happened to mobilize their army because they sensed something wrong, the entire operation would be ruined.
In the worst-case scenario, the Celestial Prison key would be placed under even more protection, making it impossible to reach.
Malevalon Straea didn't believe anyone could enter his study.
Because of that, he displayed the key proudly.
So he could always look at it and remember the day he defeated his greatest enemy.
He spent a good amount of his time here. It was actually rarer to find an instance when Malevalon was out roaming.
But Damien was only going to find that out as he continued to observe the space.
The habits of his enemy were just too stubborn.
With Malevalon as the enemy in question…
…it really became a question if success in the operation was possible without a direct confrontation.
