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Chapter 196: All to the Sazim
After dealing with the devils, he teleported to the place where he had relocated the prisoners for safety, a vast area in the west side of his domain, large enough to hold thousands of people. Upon his sudden appearance, the prisoners, initially stunned, turned their gazes toward him. However, their expressions soon changed, and they now looked at him as if he were a god.
Aldrian inspected each of them, and after ensuring there were no problems, he addressed them.
"I will send you back to the Rivas Grand Duchy. I’ll drop you off in Falanis and Ilyon Town—both towns have been liberated, so you don’t need to worry about your safety there."
"Thank you, Savior! Thank you for saving us!" an old man exclaimed, his voice filled with gratitude. "May we know the name of your great self, so we can remember your incredible feat?"
"You can call me Aldrian, that’s all. Now, those who wish to go to Falanis, please stand on my right side. Those who wish to go to Ilyon, stand on my left side," he instructed.
The crowd didn’t fully understand what Aldrian intended to do, but they still obeyed his command without hesitation.
"Sir Aldrian," the old man spoke up, his expression puzzled. "We were brought here through a portable teleportation portal, but there isn’t one here now. How do you intend to send us back?"
Aldrian smiled at the old man, and once everyone was arranged, they suddenly vanished like ghosts, leaving him alone in the fortress. Earlier, he had already cleaned up the fortress, removing the remnants of the devils during a brief ten-minute absence.
As for the disappearance of the prisoners, it was thanks to a convenient ability of his domain. He could send objects or people to his different domain. Not only could he teleport himself, but he could also transfer others to any of his domains, functioning as seamlessly as moving within a single domain. Technically, these many domains are all part of his one domain, but scattered across different places.
With the prisoners rescued, Aldrian teleported to where the incapacitated devils lay. It was time to delve into their memories!
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While Aldrian was cleaning up the Sazim Fortress, Irene continued walking carefully through the land of the devils. At times, she would run, and at other times, she would walk. She kept heading south, and fortunately, there had been little disturbance since she left the cave. Occasionally, she saw devils flying south, indicating they were at least at the king stage. Irene hid as best as she could, making sure they couldn’t find her. The dark red sky after sunset also helped conceal her, and luckily, no devils had discovered her presence so far.
She had almost covered a quarter of the distance to the border when she saw a group of five devils flying toward her direction. She immediately hid again, blending herself with the surrounding nature—no sound, no movement, no flow of energy. She remained completely still, doing nothing. The negative energy of the area tried to influence her, but she managed to resist it for the time being. As the group of devils drew near, she coincidentally overheard some of their conversation.
"We still don’t know, but we lost contact with Sazim and can’t use the teleportation portal there."
"For whatever reason, they can’t be contacted. We have to check it. It’s so strange that no one is receiving the call."
"Wait..."
Suddenly, they stopped as one of them looked down toward Irene’s direction. Irene’s heart raced, as it seemed he had sensed her, even though she was doing her best to keep her presence hidden. Had they found her somehow? In truth, she wasn’t sure if she could deceive these devils, as they were at least king stage or higher, but she did her best nonetheless.
"I think I sensed something over there," the devil said, pointing in Irene’s direction, before flying slowly toward it. Irene tried to control even her heartbeat, ensuring that no one, not even herself, could hear it. The devil seemed to be getting much closer to her position. She braced herself for a confrontation, as the devil almost seemed to see her. But just as he was about to get too close, he suddenly stopped moving. The other devils appeared stunned, before they took out their communication artifacts.
"All units in the area under the responsibility of Sazim Fortress, we have received reports that the fortress has been taken over by an unknown faction. You are to go to Sazim and retake it at all costs."
The devils were stunned and exchanged looks. Had Sazim fallen? Countless questions raced through their minds, but they still obeyed the order. Without hesitation, they flew toward the direction of Sazim Fortress at full speed.
Irene remained motionless in her position, and only when they had flown far enough did she release a sigh of relief.
"The heavens help me,"
But Irene had doubts when she heard the report.
"Sazim Fortress has fallen to an unknown faction? How is that possible? The fortress that’s been such a thorn in our side has fallen to an unknown force? Who are they?"
She knew how difficult it was to capture Sazim, given its terrain and environment. Was there a rebellion among the devils in Sazim? Irene inwardly shook her head. It was impossible for the devils to betray their lord. The power the Devil Lord wielded was far too strong, and the devils knew their fate if they ever turned against him.
However, she also considered this news a great opportunity. Whoever had taken over Sazim, she could head there for support, and she could also receive their assistance. In her mind, she believed that the faction attacking Sazim must be friendly, and she couldn’t pass up the chance to reach them.
With that thought in mind, she immediately moved toward the direction where the devils had flown, unaware that the danger was already closer to her than she could have imagined.
At the cave where Irene had teleported to, a handsome man stood, surveying his surroundings. To those who didn’t know his identity, they would be struck by how handsome he was, unaware of any danger. However, for those who knew who he was, he was one of the most feared individuals in the devil territory.
The Lust Devil glanced at the darkness of the cave, then turned his gaze to the outside. His sharp eyes were like those of a hawk that had already spotted its prey. After Irene escaped using the escape talisman, he followed the trace of the spatial movement it left behind. The thing about the escape talisman was that it could be traced, if the opponent was someone like the Lust Devil, albeit with difficulty. However, for him, being able to detect things marked by him, it became much easier.
The Lust Devil managed to leave his mark on Irene’s armor using his divine artifact, and he could sense the trace of this mark through space. He followed it carefully. The spatial movement of the escape talisman was quite complex, so he had to stop many times to ensure the direction the mark was leading him. The mark appeared and disappeared in the void of space, but he was still able to follow its general direction.
"She was here earlier. Ah, Irene, Irene, you’re really stubborn, but I like it. I’ll have to punish you for it once I get my hands on you." He then glanced to the south.
"If I were in her shoes, of course, the first thing I would do is assess my location. After that, I’d head south, toward the Rivas Grand Duchy." He thought to himself.
"My lord has already ordered me to go to the location of the Wrath Devil, but this is a great opportunity to catch her. There’s no chance like this, she’s already in my grasp. Ah, I’ll have to catch her quickly so I can move on to the Wrath Devil."
Determined, he flew in the same direction Irene had taken, resolved to catch her at any cost.
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Right now, Aldrian floated high in the sky above Sazim, watching as more and more devils approached the area—tens, hundreds, thousands. The numbers kept increasing, like a swarm of wasps and ants. Aldrian observed them with a serene expression, his gaze fixed on one direction as he thought to himself.
"The Lust Devil is moving in that direction," Aldrian thought. He could feel that he was getting closer to his mother, but he still needed to deal with the incoming devils. The entire Sazim Fortress had now become his domain. In other words, from this moment on, this place was no longer under the control of the devils; they would never be able to restore the fortress to its former state.
He then decided to create a formation to protect the fortress from the devils—an impenetrable defense and killing formation capable of eliminating even a peak Emperor-stage cultivator. After his experience on Dragon Back Mountain, Aldrian had deepened his comprehension of formations. He could now create complex formations that even an Emperor-stage cultivator would not be able to breach. Furthermore, this formation was supported by his domain, so he was confident that no one would be able to get past it.
He closed his eyes and focused fully, drawing on his domain’s energy, before creating a massive, transparent formation around the fortress. It expanded, covering the entire structure, including the sky, designed to block any devils or intruders attempting to attack. After a few moments, he completed the formation. Now, he could head toward the direction of the Lust Devil without any concern!
