The Author's POV

Chapter 177: Setin [1]

"Well, that was easier than I thought"

Stepping foot into Setin, Kevin glanced around as he responded.

"…Yeah, this was a bit too easy for my taste as well"

Casually looking around the insides of the city, I nodded my head and added.

"Well, it is only natural considering the layout of the city"

"I guess…"

Entering the city of Setin wasn't hard, with how massive the city was and the fact that there were no outer walls encircling the place, Kevin, Silug, and I were able to enter the city without any difficulties.

Still, although we had entered the city fairly easily, that didn't mean that we could let our guards down.

The city was filled with demons and a single wrong step could lead to our demise.

…so just because we had entered didn't mean anything. This was probably the easiest task.

The hard part would naturally come in due time.

Looking left and right of the city as he admired the buildings before him, Kevin said.

"I guess the fact that orcs aren't very good at sneaking into places also played a part as to why the city is not that heavily guarded"

Hearing's Kevin point, I couldn't help but agree more.

"Yeah, that's true"

Simultaneously glancing towards our right, both Kevin's and I's eyes paused on Silug's massive frame. After traveling with him all the way to Setin, we pretty much understood why Setin wasn't that secured.

There was no way someone as big as him could enter the city without being noticed. Especially since orcs tended to be extremely hot-blooded.

Just an insult and they would fly into a fit of rage.

If not for the fact that I kept enticing Silug with the prospect of revenge, we would've long been discovered.

Inwardly sighing and staring at the city before me, I decided to find a secluded spot to rest.

We had been traveling non-stop for the past few days and so we needed to find a place to get proper rest as things were soon going to become difficult.

…especially considering what we had to do next.

"Here, this should do for now"

After a while, arriving before a rather inconspicuous-looking house that seemed to be desolate, checking to make sure that no one was present, I urged both Kevin and Silug to enter.

This was after I was able to confirm that the place was indeed abandoned.

The interior of the house was nothing special as dust and spiderwebs covered the place. Torn and worn-out carpets appeared on the floor and aside from a large wooden table and a few chairs in the middle of the room, there was nothing else inside of the house.

…it was evident that this was an old house that an orc used to prior to when the demons invaded.

Staring at Silug and Kevin who had both sat down on the wooden chairs of the room, I made my way towards the entrance of the house.

"You guys wait here, I've got something to do…I'll see you in around an hour"

Turning around and looking at me, Kevin looked at me in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"I have to do something"

Although I wanted to rest, I sadly still had something to do.

…It was about time I started the next part of my plan.

Glancing at Silug who sat opposite to Kevin, I looked back at Kevin and said.

"Although you might not need the help, Sigul will be here to protect you…with his strength, you won't really have to worry about demons coming in here and exposing your whereabouts. So just in case a demon comes and finds you, just ask Silug to take him out. Oh, and make sure he does this quietly, don't let yourselves be exposed as that would ruin pretty much everything"

Listening to me and glancing at Silug who kept quiet the whole time, Kevin nodded his head as he once again asked

"Sure, but what are you going to do?"

Staring at Kevin, I answered vaguely.

"Mhh…you'll see soon enough"

I kept the answer vague on purpose.

With my next plan once again involving Angelica, I sure as heck couldn't let the both of them be aware of her existence.

Kevin because he had once fought her and explaining things to him would become troublesome.

…Silug

Well, he definitely couldn't be allowed to be made aware of Angelica's existence.

If he found out that a demon was with us, he might put the pieces together and realize that the whole situation arose because of what Kevin and I did.

…and simply put, that could not happen.

If that happened, everything that I had worked hard for would come crashing down in a matter of seconds.

As my thoughts paused there, staring at Kevin and Silug, I waved at them.

"Alright, I'm leaving"

Turning around, I opened the door and left the building.

It was time to start the next part of my plan.

…

"Angelica come out"

After moving far from where Kevin and Silug were, with my left-hand twitching I called out for Angelica.

Materializing before me, Angelica glanced around and looked towards the sky as she said.

"Hmmm…I've missed this familiar scent"

"Okay…"

Hearing Angelica's comment I was a bit weirded out, but I somewhat understood how she felt. With this place being filled with demonic energy, Angelica was like a fish in the water.

"Anyway, Angelica please release your aura"

Turning around and glancing at me, Angelica raised her delicate brow as she asked.

"Release my aura?"

Nodding my head I curtly replied.

"Yeah…"

This was the last task that Angelica had to complete.

Release her aura.

With Angelica having left a distinct trace of her demonic energy on Zornaraugh's body, the orc chief could naturally sense her if she released it.

The reason I wanted her to do this was because I wanted to lure out the strongest demon away from Setin.

With Omogulg directly targeting Setin due to him being able to somewhat sense Angelica's distinct demonic energy trace, he would naturally move to Setin and as a result, cause the stronger demons in Setin to move out and defend the city.

Although Omogulg hated all of the demons, he would naturally want to target his son's killer first.

This was a crucial step to my plan, and that was because…

Staring into the distance where a large eerie and intimidating black castle stood, I knew that entering that place was the key to achieving my goals.

Getting a closer look at the castle, I couldn't help but mumble to myself.

"Oh wow, talk about an eerie castle"

The castle before me was quite eerie and intimidating.

Especially due to its design as twelve narrow round towers formed a protective barrier all around the castle which were connected by high, narrow walls made of black stone. At the side of the castle were dull windows thinly scattered around the walls in fairly symmetrical patterns, along with huge banners and flags that were fluttering atop the castle.

At the front of the castle was an enormous black gate connected by thick and heavy metal chains with various intimidating-looking statues appearing next to it…further adding to the eerie feeling that shrouded the castle.

'The castle of Azeroth'

That was the name of the place, and it was also where Marquess Azeroth resided. One of the three Marquess-ranked demons residing in Immorra.

Fortunately, because Setin was the closest city to Gud Khodror, with Angelica releasing her aura here, it was only natural that the orcs would come here first.

…in fact, because of how far the two other cities, Budkod and Zrozed, were, reinforcement wouldn't come anytime soon, meaning that when the orc chief came, Marquess Azeroth would have no choice but to leave the demon castle he resided in.

And the exact moment Marquess Azeroth left his castle, was the moment that I knew I had to move.

This was an extremely crucial step as that was where the items I wanted were located.

With the demons plundering the whole of Immorra, most of their treasures and items were naturally kept somewhere.

…and one of those places was naturally in Setin, or more specifically in the castle of Azeroth, where one of the strongest existence on the planet resided.

Although the demons had no use for most of the items there, that didn't mean that they were useless as demons could entice other orcs to join them using those items.

…just like villains.

And If I didn't remember incorrectly, most of the items I was looking for were locked inside the basement of the building.

Inside of a treasury…including the cure to the mind breaker curse.

*Sigh*

Sighing to myself and staring at the castle in the distance, I've never felt so close yet so far from my goal.

…if only things weren't so complicated.

As I was busy studying the castle in the distance, recalling something, I turned towards Angelica as I asked.

"Hey, Angelica I want to ask…when demons form a pact with someone, do both parties have to be present at the same time, or can they make a pact from far away?"

Staring at me for a couple of seconds, Angelica shook her head.

"No, as long as we both sign the contract that binds our souls, we don't have to be present. You just need to sign the contract and everything would be sorted"

"I see…"

Interesting.

Finding things that I as the author didn't know was something really interesting.

As I've never brushed on the topic of demon contracts back in my novel, I had no idea that both parties didn't need to be present when signing a contract.

…this came as a pleasant surprise as an idea suddenly lit up inside of my mind.

Squinting her eyes and looking at me apprehensively, Angelica said.

"Why are you asking?"

Glancing at Angelica who was looking at me with caution, I shook my head and casually said.

"It's nothing"

Not believing my word one bit, Angelica became even warier.

"…human, you better not be playing any games with me"

"Relax…you know me, if I have to ask you for something, I'll naturally give you the appropriate rewards for it. I am not a stingy man!"

As I spoke, I tried to suppress my beating heart that came as a result of my excitement.

A really interesting idea came into my mind…

…and the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't help but find the edges of my lips curve upwards.

If the plan I came up with worked, then a very interesting situation would come as a result.

…and when I meant interesting, I meant truly interesting.