As the saying goes, most stories are decided by brilliant battles of wits in the Early Stage and by trading ultimate moves in the Late Stage.
But in the battle just now, Caesar didn't even have time to use Terastalization before the fight was over.
[Rank Up! LV.41 > LV.42!]
[⊹ Detected...]
A series of System notifications rang out in his mind, sounding like the most beautiful movement after that brutal life-and-death struggle.
Caesar immediately pulled up his panel, his gaze sweeping over two new skills.
[Crunch (Dark/Physical/80 Power)]: A Dark-type physical attack that gathers dark energy in the teeth to powerfully bite the opponent; has a 20% chance (at current proficiency) to lower the opponent's defense.
[Substitute (Normal/Status/---)]: Consumes 1/4 of maximum HP to create a clone with false life. The clone will act as one's Substitute, capable of blocking some move damage and effects.
Caesar's heart stirred; finally, some decent skills had arrived.
"That beating wasn't for nothing," he muttered to himself, while unable to resist complaining, "But then again, is this guy too weak? A Legend? That's it?"
Before starting just now, he and Viola had clearly scouted carefully; the strongest ones in this stronghold were just a few Gold Rank small fry.
In the end, a LV.52 Legend Demon suddenly popped out, giving him a fright.
But when they actually fought, the opponent's movements showed a sense of stiffness and lag everywhere. Despite having terrifying stats and a Domain, it didn't even use Dark Possession Art—the precursor to the life-saving skill Substitute—before being taken down by a combo from him and Viola.
This wasn't a Legend Demon; it was clearly the author sending some New Year's warmth on the first day, right?
"Don't get careless, kid."
Viola's soul fire floated above the sharp claw, her voice carrying a hint of gravity.
"That just now was merely a projection of one of its soul fragments. Its true body is likely far away in some corner of the Ultimate Abyss, projecting its power remotely into this 'vessel' molded from magic power through special sacrifices and rituals."
"Because it's across worlds, plus the suppression of the main world's Laws, the power it can exert is less than one percent of its true body, so it naturally appeared sluggish."
Caesar silently digested the information while checking his injuries.
"I see, operating over a network cable, no wonder it was so laggy." He nodded, then asked, "Then why didn't you just follow the cable and blow up the other side too? You just let it run away?"
Viola's soul fire flickered disdainfully.
"I don't eat just anything, thank you."
Caesar: "?"
Fine, the old fossil is quite a picky eater.
With a thought from Caesar, the Sandstorm permeating the entire underground space began to subside. The grains of sand settled like a receding tide, revealing the true scene inside the stronghold. The soul and the Dragon wasted no more time and began to carefully investigate the now completely cleared stronghold.
Viola floated to the corpse of a cultist buried in sand, poking the chest with the tip of her sharp claw.
During the urgent battle earlier, Caesar only felt that these cultists were like empty shells without souls. Now that he had calmed down to look closely, he noticed the strangeness.
"Spirit-Binding Illusion Curse...?" Viola's soul fire jumped, her tone becoming more serious.
"What's that?" Caesar leaned in and asked.
"An extremely evil and sophisticated soul Spell."
Viola explained, "The caster can forcibly strip away a living being's soul, imprisoning it, and then infuse a sliver of soul fragment and demonic power back into the shell to create an illusion of being alive. These 'Puppets' retain their memories and habits from when they were alive; they even think they are still alive themselves, working, living, and praying as usual."
"Unless their physical bodies are completely destroyed like just now, they are indistinguishable from normal people under any detection."
Caesar's eyelids twitched as he listened.
This was far more insidious than simple necromancy.
What was that demon named Beelzebub trying to achieve by going to such lengths to create these 'living dead'?
Was it simply to avoid being detected by other Legend-Rank powerhouses in the Royal Capital? Or was this itself part of its cooperation with the Plasma Cult?
"This demon's soul manipulation skills are very sophisticated; it's definitely no ordinary foe." Viola poked the corpse's chest with the tip of her sharp claw. "But the question is—why would it go to such trouble to plant a group of living dead beneath a wharf warehouse?"
"Unless... this place itself isn't its ultimate goal."
Caesar's thoughts gradually became clearer.
"This is just a springboard, or... a testing ground. It's testing the stealth effect of the'Spirit-Binding Illusion Curse' in a human city, or..."
He suddenly remembered the bits and pieces he had heard from Bishop Andorn.
"...or, is it making preliminary preparations for some larger-scale 'ritual'?"
"Makes sense."
Viola's soul fire flickered, seemingly agreeing with Caesar's guess.
"Come this way, I feel a residual, unusual spatial fluctuation."
The soul and the Dragon passed through the messy corridor to the altar at the deepest part of the stronghold.
The ground here was covered with twisted and complex runes, most of which were destroyed in the earlier Sandstorm, but one magic circle in the center remained relatively intact.
The circle was paved with obsidian, and at its core and key nodes, some kind of dim purple crystals were embedded.
Caesar extended a Dragon Claw and cautiously touched the edge of the circle.
A bone-chilling residue of magic power, mixed with the scent of sulfur and decay, traveled up from the tip of his claw, making the scales all over his body feel a slight sting.
"This isn't a teleportation circle, nor is it a summoning circle."
Viola carefully observed the flow of runes on the circle, her voice revealing a hint of Confusion.
"Look at these lines... they are guiding and gathering energy, then pointing to an... uncertain coordinate. Wait, this structure..."
He paused, and his soul fire suddenly jumped violently.
"'Saronite'! These lunatics actually used this extremely unstable mineral, which can only be gathered from the Ultimate Void, as the eye of the magic circle!"
"What's it for?" Caesar immediately realized this thing was the key.
"An amplifier, and also a source of pollution."
Viola's voice was more solemn than ever.
"Saronite is a taboo mineral. It can amplify negative energies—such as death, pain, fear, and demonic power—by several orders of magnitude, and then use this amplified power to pollute the Ley Lines. This magic circle is a miniature simulator! It's simulating the pollution and tearing effects on local Ley Lines when energy accumulates to its peak!"
Caesar immediately extended his claw and carefully scraped a bit of powder off that purple crystal.
The powder flickered with an ominous dark purple light in his palm.
"In other words, they are testing how to use this 'Saronite' along with specific negative energy to 'pollute' or 'burst' a certain place?"
"Exactly. And looking at the scale and complexity of this circle, once the experiment succeeds, what they want to do... might not be as simple as just 'local'," Viola said gravely.
Caesar's gaze swept across the ground, landing on several parchment fragments that had been blown away by the battle's aftershocks but weren't completely burned.
He picked up the largest piece; it was covered in messy notes written in a mix of Abyssal and Common. After being translated by the System, it looked like a list of supplies and an action memo.
A line of notes that had been repeatedly crossed out and revised was clearly visible:
[Carrier x18 -> Negative Energy Carrier x18 -> (a scribbled demon symbol) Derivative x18]
Below that was a transportation record:
[Channel: ■■■. Method: Auction. Status: Distributed.]
Beside it were several sets of incomprehensible coordinate numbers, but each set was followed by the same note:
[(Area Code) -???]
"Viola, can you understand these coordinates?"
Viola's soul fire moved closer to look for a while, pondering for a moment.
"The format is very similar to ancient Ley Line Mapping... If I'm not mistaken, these coordinates likely point to the several nodes with the highest magic concentration within the Royal Capital."
Caesar used the tip of his claw to stir the nearby ashes again, finding a small scrap of leather with a simple map drawn on it.
The center of the map was a crude outline of the Royal Capital, with five tiny star-shaped marks dotted in ink around the edges.
Next to one of the marks, there was an even smaller drawing that looked like a stage and a little figure with raised hands.
"Eighteen marks... eighteen 'Carriers'... distributed through unknown channels via 'auction'..."
Caesar's Shadow Claw moved back and forth between the map and the list, the clues in his mind connecting rapidly.
"Are they deploying them? Disguising these things called 'Derivatives' as auction items or something similar, sowing them like seeds randomly across eighteen locations in the Royal Capital?"
"And the role of 'Saronite' is to activate these eighteen points simultaneously at a specific time, causing their negative energy to resonate and burst instantly," Viola immediately followed his train of thought. "A very clever approach. Disguising dangerous goods as 'collectibles' and letting unsuspecting buyers take them home. Even if someone discovered their plan in advance, it would be impossible to search the entire Royal Capital and find eighteen deliberately hidden items in a short time."
"And when the Tidal Festival comes..." Viola's soul fire swayed. "When the city's magic power surges to its peak because of the festival, that will be the moment the fuse is lit."
"So, this isn't a bomb we can find and dismantle in advance?"
Caesar's gaze was fixed on the drawing of the stage and the little figure on the map, his voice lowering.
This was a super bomb using the entire city as fuel, destined to detonate at a specific time. And that idiot... happened to be standing right on top of one of the detonation points.
"A super goblin bomb using a city as an altar? That's quite the lifestyle," Viola quipped, then asked, "What do you plan to do? Go warn that Silver Dragon brat now and then run away together?"
"Run?"
Caesar felt a bit hard-pressed to maintain his composure.
"Run where now? The Church and Fafnir are both watching her. If we leave the city, believe it or not, the next day's wanted posters across the continent will read 'Blue Dragon Abducts Saintess and Flees.' Besides..."
He tapped the stage mark with his claw.
"At this critical juncture where the rumor 'the Saintess is a dragon' has already spread, her sudden disappearance would only confirm the rumor. It would make everyone focus on 'finding the missing Saintess.' All our advantages would vanish."
Viola's soul fire drifted eerily, offering a sudden reminder.
"It's not a rumor, you know."
"..."
Caesar cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment.
"Anyway, taking her away now is equivalent to giving up all the advantages we've accumulated; it's a poor move."
"Then what do you want to do?" Viola asked.
"It's simple."
Caesar's claw made a light scratch on the map, leaving a shallow mark.
"We do the opposite. Aren't they trying to use the chaos to cover their cult ritual? Then we'll use the even greater chaos they create to cover our own actions."
A calculating light flashed in his eyes as a plan took shape:
"Wait. Wait until the climax of the Tidal Festival, until the cultists detonate those eighteen 'Anchors,' until the Ultimate Cave is forcibly torn open above the Royal Capital."
"At that time, the whole city will be in chaos. Everyone's attention—the Church's Paladins, the Kingdom's army, the city's nobles, and even that Red Dragon (*referring to Fafnir here)—will be drawn to the anomalies in the sky and the disaster in the Royal Capital."
"Panic, screams, rescues, battles... That will be the moment when the Royal Capital's defenses are at their weakest and most dispersed."
Caesar paused, his dragon maw splitting into a grin.
"We will strike at that very moment."