Demons.
They were a frightening race of inhumans that were largely concentrated on the Northern Continent.
No one knew where they came from and how they even arrived.
Such questions could only be left for the inhabitants of the old world, who at this point in time were mostly already dead.
Either way, knowing their history did nothing to stop the catastrophe they brought into the planet.
Those creatures were bred to destroy, to kill, and bring about the extinction of any other race with the exception of themselves.
They were cruel, they were sadistic, but more importantly, one had taken his father's life.
Baal of Void, as he liked to call himself.
That accursed demon had once stepped onto the Frontline, massacred the soldiers of the Demonic Frontline all so he could prove to his lord he was fit to be a Demon General.
To stop him, the Emperor deployed their strongest knight—his father—and unfortunately neither of them had come out of the fight alive.
His father, the strongest warrior the empire had bred in centuries, had given it his all just to kill a demon who wasn't even a general.
Humanity might have won the battle in the end, but even the most naive could tell the war wasn't in our favour.
But this wasn't about demons and the atrocities they brought, it was about their followers.
When demons first appeared, as documented by the scriptures of the Dawn Church, a few admirers of their power and craft chose to side with them and in return betrayed humanity.
Those individuals, as cruel or even crueler, dubbed themselves the Demonic Sect, a name they took after slaying the false demons of the Eastern Continent.
They were the nemesis of the Believers, another fanatic group that preached the words of the Celestial race.
This Demonic Sect, led by a global fugitive by the name of Azazel, had been a problem to the empire for years, and now their age began moving again.
"My uncle is in cahoots with them?" Abel, shocked by such words, exclaimed.
Honestly, he wasn't even mad, just hoping this was true, because if it was, he would finally have an excuse to kill that man.
"Can you confirm this is true?" he inquired of Felix again.
Felix, as lax as before, slowly leaned forward, his dark green eyes growing cold.
"One of the empire's spies in that cult informed us of your uncle contacting the sect... his exact mission is unknown, but if I had to guess, it has to do with Patriarch's position."
"To go so low just because of envy!"
He might be shaken outside, but deep down, he was throwing a parade like his life depended on it.
For days he had plotted ways to get rid of the man responsible for endangering his family, only for this opportunity to present itself.
"A few days ago, I also received word from my informant that a large group of the cult members had been mobilized around Shard City."
"You still don't know your objective?" Abel questioned, but Felix merely shook his head.
Not knowing the schemes and objectives of their enemies was definitely a cause for concern, but there was nothing he could do on his part.
He could tell his informant to dig deeper, but that risked the chance of them being caught.
He couldn't have that now, especially after the frequent demonic activities in the capital.
"For now, we're clueless what he will do...."
"Can't we just kill him and be done with it?" Abel interrupted, more impatient than usual.
He was more gifted at suppressing his bloodlust than Vanessa, but when presented with an opportunity, even he couldn't fully control himself.
"I placed that on the table, but I don't think it will be that easy."
"...."
"Your uncle is an SS rank. One of the empire's strongest soldiers, and the possibility of him being demonized isn't out of the question. That places his overall strength at the peak of SS+. I might still hold the advantage because of my specialty against demons, but a fight between the two of us wouldn't just end at one city. I doubt even the Evernight Plains would survive if we go all out."
Casualties... if there was anything he hated more than his uncle, it was just that.
Casualties and the need to avoid them meant restraint had to be placed, and when facing an opponent who didn't care about such weakness, one was on the path of sure suicide.
Abel might love his family and wanted nothing more than to take the life of the man who tried to eliminate them, but he also knew his position in life.
He was an Acting Grand Duke, the people of the Evernight Plains were his subjects, and he couldn't allow his self-desires to bring harm to them.
Family came first, that was until one weighed it against millions of lives under their wing.
Felix, seeing Abel slowly regain his composure, dropped the table knife and tapped the table.
"For now, we play it safe. Don't act oblivious, otherwise he'll know we're up to something. But rather threaten his composure. Put him in uneasiness without fully disclosing the fact that we know of his associates."
As Felix stated, Abel nodded and took notes.
In terms of cunningness he would undoubtedly lose to his uncle, but a bit of misdirection should suffice.
"Felix!"
Having laid out a roadmap of what he was going to do, Abel addressed Felix, who gestured for him to continue.
"My brother. In case conflict breaks out, I need a way to get him out."
"Leave that to Umbra. He knows what he must do."
Abel at first wondered what Felix's goal was in bringing Umbra along. It seemed the answer had always been to protect Alex.
For him to think that far was rather considerate.
So much so that Abel couldn't help but reevaluate how he saw Felix.
It was quite strange though, because years back, when he was still a child and under his care, the same man showing this much concern had dumped him in cold lakes of the Southern Mountains just to build his will.