813 Tracking the Formation's Caster
A group of people was observing a strange incident that occurred at one of the main military bases. They wear the typical costumes of the superpowers who work under the World Justice Association.
“As we thought. Something is not right with this military base. The naval battle of the Pacific Ocean itself is already so out of place, and now it is. It’s like doomsday has arrived.” The man in blue armor took off his helmet and looked up at the red sky.
“We are currently in someone’s domain. Do you feel any side effects? Our strength is being eaten away slowly.” The masked cat woman looked at her hands with some discomfort.
“Since General Marco’s self-isolation, the defense forces have behaved a bit strangely. It’s like he’s no longer someone I know. A terrible thing has happened for sure.” The man dressed as a cowboy sighed.
“Then we need to act quickly. A battle has already taken place elsewhere. We’re not the only group investigating this place.” The woman in a tight black leather suit pursed her lips at the sound of gunfire.
“Demons?” The large man in heavy armor frowned at what came into his sight.
A group of unusually pale-faced soldiers with red eyes approached, carrying weapons. Anyone with scanning or detection abilities could easily judge those soldiers were Ghouls in human skin, especially since they had ‘extra limbs’ on their backs. They were the so-called demonized humans.
“Monsters like them have been increasing lately. Could this military base be their lair? All those soldiers don’t seem to be human anymore…” The woman in a magician-like robe held her magic staff with a hint of nervousness.
“Advanced armed demons. This will be a bit of a hassle, but fear not, ladies and gentlemen. I Speedy is very reliable for this.” The man in a flashy red costume pointed at his masked face with a big, confident smile.
“…” The man in a white mecha battlesuit observed the surrounding situation in silence.
“Well then, Justice assembly.” The man in blue armor put his helmet back on and brandished his sword and shield.
The demonized soldiers sensed the threat from the presence of a group of people on the roof of a building. They immediately brandished their rifles and began shooting at the threats accurately.
*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*
“Haha, slow!” The man in a flashy red costume moved in a lightning speed and chopped the approaching demonized soldiers in their nape. They fell to the ground from the push but didn’t faint.
The fallen soldiers immediately rose to counterattack, but dozens of electric sword slashes cut the demonized soldiers into smithereens.
“They’re not human, my comrade. They won’t faint even if you hit them hard on the nape.” The man in blue armor shook his head with a sigh.
“Stay like that, and you will die because of your stupidity.” The woman in a tight black leather suit threw her lightning sword at another approaching demonized soldier.
*Rumble*
A flash of lightning struck the demonized soldier. He fell to the ground and twitched.
“Hmm… Let’s see what this demon looks like. Do they look like Ghouls with the hidden spider legs or the tentacles on their backs?” The big man in heavy armor tore off the demonized soldier’s military clothes just to be sure. After all, not all members of their group possessed scanning abilities.
Sure enough, that demonized soldier was a Ghoul disguised as a human.
“You will all meet your demise soon. This will be the graves for you, executioners. All hail the Great Demon God Arthrozan!” The demonized soldier shouted to the sky. His body suddenly swelled like a balloon.
“Throw away that thing!” Someone shouted frantically.
“Hmm!” The big man in heavy armor immediately threw the demonized soldier tens of meters into the sky.
*Boom!*
An explosion occurred in the sky and splashed a lot of disgusting purple liquid. A kind mage lady swiftly made a barrier to protect her comrades from the corrosive liquid.
“Ouch, the explosion and corrosive liquids. Aren’t they troublesome if we don’t insta kill them? However, what did he mean by the executioners and Demon God?” The man in a flashy red costume heaved a sigh of relief and wiped his sweat.
“We can’t yet assume the hidden truth in this place. These demons are troublesome even though they are weak. I assume there are the powerful ones in the base. Everyone, please act with caution and insta kill the demons within sight. We will find the mastermind behind this incident.” After saying that, the man in blue armor led his group into the demon’s base.
Somewhere inside the underground laboratory, Xero slashed at his opponent and kicked the man away. “Why did you come here!? Quickly get her out of here before it’s too late!”
At that moment, Elysia’s group had just fallen into the underground laboratory in basement five. Xero’s intense sword clash caused the several floors above to collapse.
Several large tubes filled with blue liquid lined the edge of the room, each containing a child in the curled-up position.
A human experiment laboratory. Rhea’s gaze became cold because of that.
“Hou, we have uninvited guests because my powerful attack made an entrance for them. In that case, it will be troublesome. Well then, we will meet again somewhere.” The half-robot man sheathed his light saber and leaned against the wall. He was gradually absorbed into the wall to escape.
“Who said you could escape without our permission?” Rhea made a gripping motion and pulled the half-robot man out of the wall. She strangled him in mid-air.
“Argh! Impossible… Why do you still have that much power in this domain?” The half-robot man clutched his neck in agony as an invisible hand choked him hard.
“Take his chess piece roughly. It doesn’t matter if you damage his spirit.” Rhea spoke as if she was ordering Xero. She intended to give all participants in this place a lifetime of suffering.
“…” Xero didn’t like being ordered around, but he suppressed his ego for now because he knew Rhea’s emotions were unstable. She could have taken her anger out on him.
“It was a nice short sword clash. Your ability to get into your walls is troublesome, but this is the end.” Xero immediately snatched the chess piece from that person roughly. Dozens of spirit fibers were torn from it, but no one cared about that.
“Argh!” The half-robot man screamed in agony while squeezing his chest. It was tremendous spiritual pain, and he immediately fainted from it.
“They were experimental subjects? They just died from this domain’s side effects, huh… Poor child.” Rhea once again looked at the tubes around her and sighed sadly.
“Don’t go any deeper into this basement. Just go back to your action spot. I’ll move on my own.” Xero shooed Rhea away. He then ran into a big hole in the wall and went off somewhere.
‘Rhea… Let’s go back. This will only bring sorrow and pain.’ Elysia held Rhea’s hand.
‘Mm, no, Master Elysia. Experimental labs are a nightmare. I have to see the end, or I won’t be able to calm down. I am fine because you are by my side. It’s okay. I won’t go on a rampage like then. At the very least, we must send the victims to their final resting places.’ Rhea grabbed Elysia’s hand in reply and shook her head.
She then threw the half-robot man into the corner like useless junk.
‘…’ Elysia glanced at Ai. She briefly considered her decision and ended up allowing Rhea to delve deeper into this basement. ‘Okay, but stay by my side. I will accompany you through this and punish all the masterminds.’
‘Mm, thank you. Experimental laboratories always have the most terrifying things in the deepest places. It is a graveyard for failed test subjects. This place was probably the place where the inhuman demonized soldiers were created. A place like this shouldn’t be allowed to exist.’ Rhea stared at the dead experimental subjects.
‘That must be sad and painful… Master Elysia, can you absorb the remnants of their life energy? They’re dead, but not their will. Please use their power to punish the evil. It’s their request for us.’ Rhea made her request while looking into Elysia’s eyes.
‘All right. We can only put them in the Space Bag for a while before burying them in a peaceful land.’ Elysia took a deep breath and complied.
Everyone in the tube was released, then Elysia absorbed their life energies according to Rhea’s request.
‘Please punish them…’ The subtle voice came to Elysia’s ears, and Rhea could hear it too.
“We will avenge you by punishing them. Stay there for a while. You can go to the afterlife in peace once it’s over.” Rhea put the test subjects into a Space Bag.
“…” Ai just watched everything from the side. She glanced at her pet with a clueless look.
Even so, she felt that someone would go on a rampage soon, which would be fun to watch.
After that, Elysia and her team went deeper into the basement. Unfortunately, Xero had burned the so-called grave of failed test subjects. Only ashes and debris remained.
Elysia heaved a sigh of relief because Xero’s consideration of destroying this place before they arrived was a good choice.
‘The caster was here a few hours ago. Master Elysia, can you trace him? I found the formation’s primary thread here.’ Rhea sighed and reached for a thread of golden energy in the air.
It led to a giant magic circle underground, but they might be able to track down the caster’s whereabouts with it.
A few minutes ago, Elena and Lifa announced to immediately eliminate the formation’s caster so this trap domain could be disabled, and that was what they were going to do.
‘I will try my best.’ Elysia probed underground with her sacred vision. Her sight of more than two hundred meters was blurry due to the energy disturbance, but it wouldn’t stop her.
“What are you doing?” Ai put her hand on her waist. She wondered about what Elysia would do.
“We’re tracking the caster’s whereabouts with the energy thread remnant. It might belong to a Demon God like the one I encountered yesterday.” Rhea gave a brief explanation.
“Ooh! We’re on the hunt for the big fish. All right, let’s beat them black and blue.” Ai clasped her fist. She was ready to jump into battle.
However, she remembered something important. She conveyed it right away. “They could be hiding in another realm, Ely? Let’s try destroying something with brute force again if you see a dead end with this clue. We might be able to force them out like when we fought those tricky shadow beasts.”
“Mm, all right. Let’s go there.” Elysia nodded in understanding and took everyone flying away.