Book 7, Chapter 48 - Whereabouts (1/2)

Book 7, Chapter 48 - Whereabouts

Cloudhawk’s dominance over Governor Pelagius was absolute.

No fancy tricks, no mighty displays. Those who watched didn’t even see how he’d managed it. No wonder this foreign leader was able to defeat four gods.

“Governor Pelagius let me win.”

The older man regarded Cloudhawk with a strange expression on his face, but said nothing. Unlike the others he had felt the might of his opponent. He wasn’t merely beaten by Cloudhawk, the two weren’t even on the same level.

He’d done it without relics. Or, more precisely, he was the relic. With nothing but his mind he was able to manipulate flows of energy for attack and defense. This fact was terrifying to him, even more frightening than the scope of his power alone.

Never before this moment had the Governor seen someone use these sorts of attack without a relic. Wasn’t it true even the gods needed those tools? He understood now how he was chosen as the Demon King’s successor. He saw how this man had the courage to stand against the gods.

Relics were technology gifted from the gods. Was it not a laughable concept that humans should try to use those tools against the ones who built them? Trying to raze Mount Sumeru with the dregs of its own technology was an impossible feat.

That was what made Cloudhawk so different. If there was any human with a shred of hope for overcoming the gods, it was this man.

“Does anyone else want to try their luck?”

No one spoke up. As Cloudhawk looked over the crowd their shuffled their feet and averted their eyes. They weren’t stupid. It wasn’t that they feared defeat. There was a difference between defeat and abuse.

“This is all you got and you thought you could conquer Skycloud?” Dawn couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “Let me tell you, where I’m from we have more powerful warriors than you can count. What you see here is only a fraction!”

Bruno frowned. He could attest to her claim. The Avatar wasn’t here, nor the Cloud God, or Wolfblade or any of the others. For all its pomp and sophistication Stormford’s armies were feeble.

Cloudhawk’s reason for this display was to make everyone understand this. He wanted them to recognize Skycloud’s strength. It was an effective means of establishing control, while also probing how strong Stormford was.

The realm’s very best were represented by Governor Pelagius, High Priest Gorman, Commander-General Charon and Master Demonhunter Bruno. Each were skilled and capable in their own way, and properly utilized they would be of great help in the coming war.

“If no one else is interested then I think we’re done here.” Cloudhawk stopped Dawn from any more cheerleading. “I came to Stormford for a specific reason.”

At last, to the heart of the matter.

“May we ask what that reason is?” Gorman asked.

“Belial – Demon Elder of the Tenth Seal – has been living among you for at least a century. He’s gone into hiding, I don’t know where. We’ve come here to find him.”

Astonishment was his answer. What? A demon elder, living among them for over a hundred years? Not even the realm’s leaders had been aware.

Legends claimed that there were a hundred demon Elders, the strongest of their race. Any demon was a powerful creature, but Elders were a cut above. Especially those within the top Ten Seals. They were the heart of their people, even mightier than Supremes. Where they walked the earth trembled.

Such a monster lurked among them? No wonder Cloudhawk had come personally. No ordinary human would be able to face this danger. After all, the demon Elder was likely more of a threat than the gods Cloudhawk had already faced.

He explained the situation to his new allies. “Belial concealed himself as a human and has been hiding in your cities. I have reason to believe he was here for a reason. Something in or around Stormford caught his attention, so this is the place to begin our search.”

Cloudhawk didn’t share everything he knew. Belial had scoured the realm for centuries potentially. Why? Because he was searching for the seed. The artisan chose to settle here during his search, switching identities every few decades but never leaving. The only explanation for why he would stay for so long was that the object of his search was close.

“After hundreds of years it would be foolish to think Belial didn’t muster up some support here. We can assume there are some people in power throughout the realm that were put there by the demon.” Cloudhawk paused again to look over the crowd. “Probably even here.”