The demon city of Acier was enveloped in a gloomy atmosphere ever since the raid that had taken place a few weeks back.
Although regular mortal citizens hadn't been harmed due to both the separation of city layers and the consideration of the invading forces, a large portion of the demons' combat power had been destroyed by the battle.
And with the excitement of the outside forces as they left the city, news that even an Apostle and Demon King had fallen in the battle couldn't be suppressed. The faith the demons had in their Apostles had begun to falter slightly.
In this atmosphere, the once lively first layer had lost its original charm, but the citizens continued their day-to-day lives. There was nothing else they could do.
"Sigh, how did it become like this? Since when were we ever on the losing side?"
A guard who was patrolling the entrance to the mountain sighed to himself. In recent days, his job had become much more grueling.
Not only had the number of guards patrolling the base of the mountain been increased, their strength had also been increased. Now, there were hundreds of Demon Captains and even a few generals patrolling the area.
"It's all those damn outsiders' fault! If it weren't for them, who could challenge our mighty rule? Argh, I want to tear them apart!"
Another guard muttered in frustration when he heard his comrade's words. The few guards around them also grit their teeth in shame and anger.
Everything had changed when the outsiders attacked. There wasn't a single demon among them that didn't want revenge. But at the same time, they knew they didn't have the strength to do anything.
Even the weakest outsiders could slay Captain-level demons, and the strongest ones could even kill Apostles. From the bottom of their hearts, they were extremely fearful of the position they were in now. After all, as the ones guarding the base of the mountain, they'd be the first to die if another attack took place.
"Sigh, whatever. Let's just continue our duty and pray that they don't attack again. Hopefully, the Demon God can give us his blessing and allow us to come out on top of this tribulation."
When the guards were about to return to their usual patrols, a faint rustling sound came from the nearby foliage.
"Who goes there?!"
They raised their weapons, but nothing came out to greet them. Carefully, they approached the bushes while getting into formation.
"Hah!"
Clang!
A swift spear shot forth and pierced the bush, erupting with mana and blowing it to shreds. However, there was still no response. Unexpectedly, the tip of the spear had hit the side of a thick metal case.
"What is this?" One of the guards questioned.
The guards crowded around the case and tried to pry it open, but no matter what they did, it wouldn't budge.
"It seems to be locked. Forget it, we're too low-level to deal with this bullshit. Let's take it to Sir General and let him deal with it."
With this thought in mind, the guards immediately reported back to the Demon General who was overseeing their area. Soon? The General arrived before them.
"Sir, this case seems to have appeared out of nowhere, but we have no idea what the contents are. However, there are no mana fluctuations coming from it so we have assumed that it isn't a bomb."
"Hmm, you may leave this matter to me. Continue with your patrols and report any other discrepancies you find." The General responded.
"Yes sir!"
After the guards left, the Demon General took his time to inspect the box. However to his surprise, it opened with the injection of just a small amount of his mana.
"Those wastes couldn't even figure this much out?" He muttered.
His hands quickly went towards the lid to open it. But when he saw the contents within, he almost fainted on the spot.
"T-this is…!"
He immediately closed the lid and grabbed the chest, rushing up the mountain without thinking of anything else.
'I must report this to the Lord Apostles. This isn't something I can handle!'
He ran with all his might, even infusing mana into his legs to increase his speed. He didn't even stop after reaching the fourth layer, ignoring everyone who tried to stop him as he rushed to the pantheon at the mountain peak.
"Lords! Something major has happened! This is an emergency!"
He yelled at the top of his lungs when he reached the base of the pantheon. Soon after, a burly man exited its doors and stood in front of him.
"Bastard, you better have a good reason for disturbing this King. If not, don't expect to leave here alive." The Apostle flared his aura as he spoke, exerting a heavy pressure on the General.
In normal times, he wouldn't even be bothered to deal with something like this. The Apostles would receive news from the servants stationed outside the pantheon instead of personally coming out. But times had changed.
For a Demon General to be so bold as to openly shout in front of the pantheon, the news must've been related to the outsiders who had been getting in their way at every turn.
With this in mind, the Apostle couldn't sit still. Even the old man had died because of the outsiders. Although the Demon God had intervened and dealt them a heavy blow, it didn't help to quell the rage in his heart.
The Demon General could clearly feel the irritated mood of the Apostle, so he didn't delay at all.
"Sir, when my men were patrolling the base of the mountain earlier, they came across this chest. This lowly one felt that this matter isn't something he could handle alone, so he came directly to report."
The General quickly handed the chest to the Apostle, who looked at it with a deadpan face.
"Why should I care about this? Is it some treasure? Just keep it for yourself. I doubt it can pique this King's interest anyway."
"No, sir. Please open the chest and see for yourself."
Feeling curious, the Apostle soon did as the General suggested.
Thud!
The sound of something heavy hitting the floor rang through the silent fifth layer. The Apostle's face was colored in shock, changing from red to white constantly.
"This…"
Boom!
The Apostle's aura raged. The surrounding space trembled and cracked under its pressure.
"WHO DARES?!"
His furious roar rang through all of Acier. Some mortals even fell directly unconscious when they heard it.
"What happened?!"
"Proto, why are you screaming out here?!"
"Who dares attack us?! Come out, you bastards!"
Feeling the surging aura, multiple other Apostles exited the pantheon to try and figure out the situation. At first, they assumed that another attack had been launched on their city.
But when they reached the outside of the pantheon, they all fell silent. Their gazes had been attracted to the strange smell and aura coming from the chest that was on the ground.
As Porto's aura continued wildly surging, the chest could no longer handle the pressure and cracked into pieces. From its rubble, two spherical objects and a letter fell to the floor.
When the rest of the Apostles saw the sight, they couldn't help but feel their chaotic emotions rise as well.
After all, rolling on the ground in front of them were the heads of Granheim and Kroa, two of their fellow Apostles that had been slain by the outsiders.
One of the Apostles shakily bent down and grabbed the letter that accompanied those two heads and opened it.
Along with a location, there were four simple words written on the parchment in black blood.
But these words only served to heighten the Apostles' fury even more.
"Come if you dare."
