NOVPUB"..."
Lanci thought for a while.
He needed to roughly estimate the overall strength of the Poseen Demon World; otherwise, facing the Curse Spreader could lead to tactical judgment errors.
He then took out the Communication Magic Card and began to contact the information supplier.
"Today just happens to be the weekend, and this information supplier should be open for business," Lanci said to Nigel.
Nigel was slightly surprised, not expecting that Lanci would know an informant in Floral City Pariel.
They were now getting closer and closer to the border of District 6.
The Sacred Silvervine Arena was only a kilometer away from the entrance to the Poseen Demon World.
Gusts of cold wind swept by, picking up sand and pebbles and causing the patrolling guards to occasionally squint their eyes, on guard against the sandstorm.
At the end of August, the evening sky of Pariel was shrouded with layers of dark clouds, and the air was somewhat moist and oppressive.
At that moment, the communication finally connected.
"Mr. Zefa, do you know the strength of a few Demon Race Lords in the Poseen Demon World right now?" Lanci immediately asked.
"..."
There was no sound from the other end of the communication.
Meanwhile, Nigel was looking at Lanci with eyes full of shock.
The informant you’re talking about is the chief of police?
The Pariel Police Headquarters, an institution with a long history responsible for maintaining public safety and order of Pariel and its surrounding areas, is directly subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Poseen Kingdom, one of the most important security agencies in the country, entirely different in scope from the work undertaken by the Senate Execution Squad, indeed could possess quite a bit of information.
However, the Communication Magic Card remained dim, with no response coming through.
The plane trees lining the streets had begun to turn yellow; a downpour was all it might take to strip them bare. Pedestrians, wrapped in their coats, hurried along the streets, seemingly eager to get home before it rained.
"Mr. Diviner, may I ask if you can divinate the power level of a few Demon Race Lords in the Poseen Demon World right now?" Lanci asked again.
"73, 72, 80, 84," was all that the other end reported back to him in numbers.
Lanci didn’t ask further, but he got Chief Zefa’s meaning.
These numbers referred to a power level system that originated from the Hutton Kingdom a year ago, making it possible to categorize strength more clearly within the same order.
The Lord of District 7, Astrophel, who they fought last time, must be level 73.
And the Lord of District 9, Aitio, was a freshly advanced Eighth-order at level 80.
According to another classification of combat power, levels 80 to 81 are considered ordinary Eighth-order, 82 to 84 as a strong Eighth-order, 85-86 as the quasi-Bishop level Eighth-order, 87-88 are known as Bishops—among the strongest people of the age, and 89 and upward, approaching 90, could be classified as beyond Bishop level.
"By the way, if you’re going to travel to the Poseen Demon World, it’s best to disguise your human scent, otherwise, you might encounter protesting Demons or extremists. Several violent clashes have occurred at the border of District 6 in Floral City just in the past two days," the Communication Magic Card flickered as Chief Zefa reminded.
"Why would that happen?" Lanci said, bringing the card closer, to ask.
"Because the Senate’s search in the Poseen Demon World has become more intensive, which has provoked discontent among many Demon residents. They believe that the Senate is staging a show. Even a theory has started circulating that [Parlony’s Grudge Record], the Magic Device, is actually in the hands of the Senate. The reason why the curse has not been broken for nearly a hundred years is precisely because the Senate is doing something unspeakable." 𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
Upon hearing the chief’s disclosure, Lanci couldn’t help but look towards Nigel.
"..."
Nigel remained silent, clenching his hand.
A hundred years ago, after the great witch Parlony was executed, the whereabouts and information of her cursed Magic Device gradually faded away, but the curse had not disappeared over these hundred years, just occurring at a very low frequency.
For Demons living on this land, it was like an incurable disease, one that meant certain death to anyone infected.
Many years ago, he had personally slain the second daughter of his teacher, exactly because she had been cursed and turned berserk.
"Right, why are only the Demons of the Poseen Kingdom cursed? I’ve never heard of such cases with the Demons of Herram." Lanci murmured to himself.
"Indeed, over these hundred years whether in the North and South Continent, I haven’t heard of any Demon suffering from this curse elsewhere. Based on my analysis, it doesn’t seem to be contagious," Talia affirmed his thoughts mentally.
Though the Northern Continent doesn’t have autonomous Demon territories like the Poseen Kingdom, it does have remnants of pure Demons and Mixed-blood Demons, such as the Protoss Empire that Lanci had visited.
This curse-induced berserk state, they unanimously believed, did not exist on the Northern Continent.
It seemed not like a contagious disease, but more like there was a source of pollution that couldn’t be cut off.
"I’m sorry there’s no payment I can offer this time," Lanci said, coming back to his senses and addressing the Communication Magic Card.
"No problem, just consider it a favor for Countess Rosalinda," Chief Zefa said before terminating the communication.
After all, he was an acquaintance of Countess Rosalinda, and a favor from a Platinum level Card Maker was something he was more than willing to exchange.
"Your mentor, Lord Perlman Quelstern, is truly powerful," Lanci remarked. He hadn’t expected there to be such a formidable Demon in Pariel.
Lord Perlman could even hold his ground against quasi-Bishop level powerhouses.
Generally speaking, the greatest advantage of the Long-lived Species is time, which allows them to cultivate slowly. If their talent is good enough, considering the benefit curve, trying to rush advancement by venturing into dangerous places like the Shadow World, where one could quickly gain strength but at the risk of their life, was a losing proposition.
Given plenty of time, compared to obtaining Natural Magic Cards from the Shadow World, studying and researching magic on their own, or developing Magic Devices, to then exchange resources for Magic Cards, seemed to be a better expectation on average.
