The promised 15 minutes finally passed. After making sure to clear the cavern and leave nothing behind, Adryan's group began their journey through the forest in the middle of the night.
Returning to Auchiieb would take a few hours of walking, so it was better to start now that they had the rain as cover, and that would eliminate their trail.
That way if someone came to investigate what had happened to the treacherous branch, once they reached the forest the most they would find would be the remains of the battle.
And that is if they investigated within 3 weeks; beyond that, not even a trace of the battle would remain.
Opera would make sure of that...
Depths of Auchiieb. Early morning hours.
Xio had a cup of hot chocolate in her hands, which she sipped from time to time. Several thick blankets covered her small body, which was shivering slightly.
"More?" Adryan consulted, raising the pot—his own cup in his left hand.
The short woman didn't answer directly. She drank what little was left, emptying it. She extended the empty cup to the front, and a new round was then poured.
"Thank you..." The woman mumbled without energy.
Even with the augmentations that being a Sheriff has brought. What she had done last night had proven to be beyond her limit.
Sighing a little at this curious scene, Adryan didn't even take the pot with him but left it beside the woman, but not before leaving a faint little ball of fire inside so it wouldn't get cold.
She needed it more than he did.
Taking a sip from his cup, the redhead enjoyed his enhanced taste buds.
'If this is what a small town chocolate tastes like. How would restaurant chocolate taste?' Adryan thought excitedly.
He already wanted to go back to his kitchen to test if he could improve his dishes with this enhanced palate.
"Aren't you cold?" Xio asked perturbed.
After a short shopping trip, Adryan was now wearing clothes that fit his new size. While a strappy shirt and black pants fit him well, they were not suitable for this climate.
Seeing him in those clothes made the cold she was feeling that much worse.
"Mmm? No. I'm fine." The redhead replied casually, rolling his shoulders.
While they didn't look suitable for Azshara's cold climate, his Reaper body could easily tolerate these temperatures.
To be affected, he would have to be in extremely low temperatures, and even then, he could activate his armor and be done with it. Of course, he had bought thicker clothes to put on later to hide that the cold didn't bother him.
"Do you think you'll have the strength to return to the Artelia district today?"
"I'm struggling not to turn into a popsicle. What do you think?" The sheriff growled.
They had barely arrived an hour ago. At least she wanted a night's rest before heading out again!
She could only watch with some envy as Sharron and Maric didn't seem affected by the cold. One was a Zombie, and the other a wraith, creatures that could not be considered 'alive'; such elements were no longer able to affect them.
At least she wasn't entirely alone, though.
With her fluffy white hair back, Flora had a blanket over her shoulders and a cup of hot chocolate in her hands.
Knowing she was not alone among these freaks, Xio raised her cup in companionship.
Blinking slightly, Flora raised hers as well.
Shaking his head to himself, Adryan looked at the left glove on his hand and could only sigh.
The Faceless ability in Creeping Hunger no longer worked.
Normally, a Faceless can only reduce their height by 5 centimeters compared to their normal height and body dimensions.
With his new body, he had already exceeded the limit of the ability. If he tried to change his appearance to that of Harvey Wayne, he could only go down to his previous height of 1.88, not the 1.84 of the entrepreneur. And that was without counting the body...
Well, it wasn't a real problem either. He still had his soldiers who could take his place from now on...
While he could see the answer for miles, Adryan felt he had to ask.
"Hey Flora-
"I'm not going to work with your soldier." The white-haired woman cut off with closed eyes, her hot choco in front of her lips.
Already having his answer, the redhead nodded and drank in silence.
The corners of the white-haired woman's lips lifted slightly, the chocolate in her hands suddenly tasting much better.
She knew the limits of Faceless's ability. So she knew what the princess was going to ask. This was a golden opportunity she could not miss.
Sip...
While the cold didn't bother her, Sharron wouldn't turn down a drink, much less so if it happened in her reading time. Barely blinking, she watched everything intently.
Maric didn't even comment on it. He just focused on counting to finish his game of solitaire.
They rested in their hiding place until noon. Although Xio wanted to stay one night in Auchiieb to rest, she had a promise to keep, so after a short nap that helped her exhausted body, the group decided to take the first train of the afternoon to the Artelia district...
Hours later. Elysian District. Astope Quarter, Room 145.
Out of the darkness of the room, a black-haired Adryan and hooded Flora stepped into their apartment.
"Finally..." Pulling down her hood, the white-haired woman wasted no time and hurried to her room. Her goal, a heavy shower.
Switching off Creeping Hunger's Faceless mode. His hair and stature returned to normal. Adryan glanced to the side where Harvey Wayne and Abigail Rodes looked at him with straight backs.
"Welcome back, Sir!"
"It's good to see you!"
The redhead smiled and nodded, "Good job. Did anything happen recently?"
Ignir, acting as Harvey, shook his head, "Since what happened with musician Cordis D., there has been nothing else. The young boy is integrating well and, apart from a few odd situations, is blending in well with the company."
Weis, now Abigail, nodded, "No one who saw young Ademisaul enter the building that day recognizes him, not even Mr. Eleanor. No one suspects anything."
In the time he had been away, the young Robot had already begun working at Wayne Enterprises. His introduction had been entrusted to Ignir and Weis so Adryan wasn't worried that there would be a problem with that.
Still, it was reassuring that the kid was doing well.
Smiling at his soldiers, Adryan nodded back, "Again, you did a great job. You are dismissed."
"Thank you, Sir!" Both soldiers gave a proud military salute, their eyes shining, their bodies melting into golden dust that soon coalesced on the red-haired man's left forearm.
Looking at the two tattoos, he just rolled up his sleeve again.
'I want to see what a Robot looks like in action. They're supposed to acquire great calculation skills, but how great? Ademisaul will now be able to take a college exam?' Feeling the itch of curiosity on the back of his neck, he couldn't wait for Thursday.
While he could no longer go in disguise as Harvey Wayne, that didn't stop him from paying a short visit in another disguise. As it was, he still had to tell Vivian the good news that she had passed her probationary period and could get to know the team members little by little.
Knowing that his beloved worm would take her time to shower, Adryan decided to take advantage of it and do the same.
Arriving in his room and closing the door, he took off his clothes. Leaving them in the laundry basket, he entered his bathroom naked.
Turning on the faucet and letting the tub of water fill, Adryan sank into it and closed his eyes with a satisfied sigh. In his mind, the sphere of light finished drawing...
Opening his eyes on the outskirts of the city covered in smoke, the redhead took a moment to take a good look around.
The fire soldiers were coming and going in their designated zones. Completing the jobs he had given them or in the deeper parts of the city, continuing what they had been doing since who knows when.
Closing his eyes, Adryan inhaled and exhaled slowly, feeling the power in his spirit and the Reaper's potion.
'Digestion is less than I thought, but still pretty good. A third of the potion has already been digested. Now that I'm in the city, I can feel how tiny parts are slowly digesting; I wouldn't have noticed in my body, but here I can.
'That must be because of what I did in East Borought. Though there I'm better known as a Knight, not a Reaper...'
Satisfied with this, he opened his eyes and summoned some of the city's power, calling a group of soldiers who were doing nothing to come with him.
Watching the fire humanoids in rusty armor, some taller than him, Adryan extended his hand to the first one in front, who took it.
His spirituality turned, and the soldier melted into golden dust, joining his forearm and generating another tattoo.
He repeated this with the next one, and the one that came after...
Grabbing the hand of the next soldier in line, he poured his spirituality into it, but no matter how much he poured, nothing happened.
Not disappointed, Adryan released the hand of fire and looked at the remaining group, which was considerably smaller than before.
"Thank you for your time, you may return to your posts."
With a firm and perfect military salute, the remaining soldiers departed.
Returning his attention to his forearm, the redhead nodded somewhat dazedly.
Contrary to when he became a Conspirator, the number of soldiers he could take out as a Reaper had multiplied.
'Twelve soldiers... I can take out twelve soldiers... The feeling I had with the previous soldier is not like the feeling I had when I was a Sequence 6 of trying to get water through a wall, but rather it was getting it through some cracks. I'm sure if I digest my potion fully, I'll be able to get two more out...'
If his soldiers could count towards his Sequence 4 ritual, that meant he had already completed it!
Wasting no time, Adryan summoned a mirror to his side and, cutting off the tip of his finger, began to write with his blood what he was looking for while repeating it in Ancient Hermes.
"Soldiers count for the ritual of Iron-Blooded Knight..... Soldiers count for the ritual of Iron-Blooded Knight... "
After repeating this five times and making the symbol of the Scarlet Monarch his final point, he gazed attentively at the surface of the mirror.
After about 5 seconds, the surface of the mirror trembled like water before returning to its previous calmness.
Positive!
The soldiers could be used in the ritual!
'Now all that would be left for me to do is to get the formula... Urgh.' The mere thought of that problem made him want to punch a wall.
As far as he knew, the Iron-Blooded Knight formula could be obtained from very few places.
First of all, the Sauron and Eirnhon families had the formulas up to at least Conqueror, but as the royal family in Feysac, he doubted they would give it to him willingly.
Then there was the Evil Spirit in the useless writer, who simultaneously carried the Card of Blasphemy of the Red Priest Pathway. Adryan, while he knew these two were in Lenburg, he knew it would be suicide to try to confront them.
While Adryan now had a Grade 1 artifact from the Sun Pathway. That useless writer not only had the Evil Spirit, who was himself an angel, but he also had a Grade 0 artifact!
It didn't matter if he was trying to steal the Card of Blasphemy, the best case if he faced them would be to be possessed.
That left four of the five possible places he could get the formula. That left him with one option, the one that, while it was the safest, was also the one that, if something went wrong, it would not be he who would pay the price but his entire team...
Joining the Iron and Blood Cross Order. A newly founded secret organization, established about 200 years ago.
This organization believes in the True Creator. It seeks to create a world under it where the mysterious and supernatural are out in the open for everyone to see and not veiled in secrets.
Because of his strange relationship with the God they follow and his excellence at fulfilling what they sought to achieve, Adryan felt he would be well received there.
The only problem with this option was his relationship with the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. If he wasn't careful in how he interacted with them and made them suspect he was working with the True Creator, he didn't want to imagine what they could do to him. The only thing he was sure of was that they wouldn't kill him.
Which was a fate worse than death.
'Luckily, the Iron and Blood Cross Order is only active at sea. So it's not necessary to go looking for them yet...
'I still have a long way to go to digest my Reaper potion; getting that far ahead of myself will only get me into trouble.'
Shaking his head slightly, he raised his forearm again and looked at the tattoos covering it. Like Ignir's and Weiss' tattoos, they were all pulsing in sync.
Sensing how full his tank was, Adryan poured some of his spirituality into one of the tattoos, starting with Ignir.
He started slowly, not wanting to give too much all at once, but after a while, feeling that it didn't seem to fill up, he stopped.
The pulse of Ignir's tattoo stopped. Now, it just glowed and expelled golden dust that went back into his body. The more it entered, the more of his spent spirituality was recovered. After a few moments, it stopped releasing golden dust but kept glowing.
Adryan's head tilted curiously to the side, 'For the little spirituality it ate, my soldiers' strength surpasses that of a Provoker but still falls short of a Pyromaniac, staying in the middle... Not bad.'
Pouring spirituality into the rest of the missing soldiers, and with nothing else to see here, the red-haired man closed his eyes and began to draw the sphere of light to leave.
After finishing his shower and changing clothes, Adryan stretched and exited the bathroom.
"You were already taking your time. What were you doing in there?" Lying on his bed and in her sleeping clothes, Flora looked at him with annoyance.
Huffing, she rolled her eyes and pulled up the blanket, impatiently hitting the space beside her.
"What are you waiting for? Come here, I need my heater."
Laughing a little, the redhead tied his hair into his high ponytail, "Coming, coming."