Chapter 381 - The Demon Clan’s Handiwork

Chapter 381: Chapter 136: The Demon Clan’s Handiwork"What’s the matter?"

Ultimately, Lu Hong was invited in, but the conversation among the four dukes temporarily ceased. After all, it was a matter of status; if Lu Hong had only been a Marquis of the Alliance, his entry might not have disrupted their discussion.

Nuoshan frowned and asked, presumably thinking that if Lu Hong didn’t provide a reasonable answer, he would be scolded and sent away.

"This is a serious matter," Lu Hong said solemnly. "There’s a mole within your Alliance."

"A mole?" Lei Shan raised an eyebrow. "Now, young Baron, clarify yourself. What do you mean by ’a mole’? Are you suggesting that this mole is one of your Empire’s people?" he asked with a rather unfriendly tone.

It was well known that although the Alliance had many enemies, the beastmen and the Snowy Region could not place spies within the Alliance, so if there were spies, they could only be from the Empire.

"It’s the demonic race." Lu Hong’s words struck the four like a bolt of lightning.

"What did you say?!" The most shocked was the Chen Hui family, which had delved deepest into re

"No wonder, no wonder," the clues provided by Lu Hong enlightened Nuoshan, the old fox. Although he didn’t know the specifics of the demonic race’s deployment, he had roughly grasped their objective: "Their proposals in this meeting serve only one purpose—to control the Axis of the World!"

The other dukes also came to the same realization.

Indeed, if they were from the demonic race, their intention from the start was to access control of the four main axes. The remaining agents were arranged to enter the side axes. In this way, people from their race would be present in all eight axes, making it easy to seize control of the Axis of the World when the time came.

This was also why, even after being rejected by Xinlei, there were still those among the ranks who continued to make similar proposals, increasingly vehemently, creating a coercive atmosphere that made it logical and irresistible for them to agree.

Fortunately, the dukes were all cunning and shrewd. Although they had not noticed this from the start and were initially confused by the strange proposal, they had not agreed to it immediately. If they had agreed, the Alliance would surely have been doomed.

"How did you detect these demons?" Nuoshan looked at Lu Hong. "You’ve really helped us a lot."

"It wasn’t much. The demonic race naturally carries a certain aura, but those who have never encountered them can’t detect anything odd. I had contact with a powerful demon in the Wasteland Plane, so I retained some memories. Initially, when I entered the meeting, I didn’t notice it, but now it seems I recalled just in time." Detecting the presence of the demonic race was somewhat coincidental. Lu Hong initially hadn’t paid much attention to the aura in the meeting hall since there were many people, and each titleholder exuded the typical aura of their profession. All these energy signatures intermingled, and no one would bother to painstakingly examine these.

"Good, very good. When you go out later, help me identify them carefully," Nuoshan said as he took out a communication tool and commanded the ravens to rush to the council scene immediately.

As for Xinlei, she twitched the corner of her mouth. Seeing Piao Miao off, she also went into hiding to heal, since spiritual injuries were the most difficult to cure.

Seeing the odd expression on Xinlei’s face, Duke Chen Hui thought of something, a smile forming at the corner of his mouth. How about that? Do you feel the same way I do now?

Without a top powerhouse in the family, it was indeed easy to feel uneasy.

Dealing with the demonic race could not be delayed, so the content of their discussion shifted from whether to jointly manage the eight axes to capturing and killing the demonic race.

Capture after leaving the meeting?

That was what Nuoshan proposed, because there were currently many titleholders inside the meeting place. Rash actions could likely lead to great chaos, causing a large number of titleholders to lose their lives.

"Isn’t that perfect!" Lei Shan clapped his hands. "Using the demonic race to eliminate those messy voices, centralize authority, killing two birds with one stone."

"You’re thinking too much," Xinlei looked askance at him. "If a large number of titleholders die, how will you handle their accompanying armies? Do you think they will just obey you? Suppressing them by force is also not possible. All the titleholders’ military forces combined are far more numerous than ours."

"What should we do then?" Lei Shan clapped his hands. Should we really wait for the meeting to end?

"I don’t want to wait for the meeting to end either," Duke Chen Hui shook his head. "These demons move in mysterious ways. I know the Tai’an family. The Earl Tai’an is definitely human. Why has he now become a demon? This is very strange. If the demons possess a method of taking over bodies, once they are let go in the meeting, how do we capture them among the millions of people gathered in the Seven Floating Worlds?"

Both options are difficult, so what should we do?

The four looked at each other and said in unison, "Just capture them directly."

Indeed, compared to the uncertainty of capturing them after the meeting, capturing them directly during the meeting, although it may result in a large number of titleholders dying, capturing the demons would still provide closure. Of course, they also needed to minimize losses among the titleholders as much as possible.

Lu Hong was the first to return to the meeting place, and the four dukes followed shortly after.

Tai’an pressed step by step, "Dukes, have you come to a conclusion?"

"Um..." Chen Hui ignored the other party and pointed to the corner where the seats of nobles, cleared by Lu Hong, were located, "You guys, step out for a moment."

"We should leave?" These nobles were united, including Earl Bacon among them.

Suddenly asked to leave the meeting, these nobles felt insulted and immediately stood up, "We are also members of the alliance, why should we leave?"

"Because I just received news that there’s been unrest outside the Floating World involving your people, I need you to handle it immediately. Don’t worry, if you want to return, no one will dare to stop you."

Saying this, Chen Hui then pointed to the nobles who were clearly under the wing of the four great dukes, "The same goes for you, go manage your subordinates. A bunch of soldiers dare to cause trouble in the Floating World, if you don’t manage them, I will!"

Meanwhile, under Lu Hong’s secret guidance, Nuoshan distinguished the tracks of the demon clan and continued the task of expelling people.

In less than a few minutes, more than half of the nobles had been driven out of the venue.

Tai’an and the other demon clan spies who initially stood up to propose felt something strange.

Looking at each other, Tai’an stood up and said, "Duke, with such a large-scale disturbance, I think we should also go back and supervise our subordinates to ensure their stability." He was about to leave when suddenly the Raven blocked his way.

Frowning, Tai’an asked, "Duke Nuoshan, what do you mean by this?"

Nuoshan sighed. He originally wanted to send off more important nobles, but these demons were too cunning and sensed something amiss.

"Isn’t it a bit too bold of you?"

Feeling that something was off, Tai’an asked, "May I ask what the Duke is referring to?"

"This is our Human Race’s territory, since you are here, don’t leave!"

As soon as Nuoshan’s words fell, the demons disguised as humans launched a surprise attack. Several demon experts charged directly at the dukes. Lu Hong roared furiously, and divine light flashed. The Blood Holy Sword emitted a searing red glow and slashed towards them.

Suddenly, purplish-black Demonic Qi surged wildly.

And a streak of blood flashed through it, then tore and completely shattered it.

The demon experts all spat out blood and collapsed to the ground.

Lu Hong also staggered backward, his hands uncontrollably trembling.

The demon’s physique was robust, these individuals were extraordinarily powerful, far beyond ordinary peak warriors. Fighting four at once, Lu Hong also suffered significant injuries.

The sudden battle threw the venue into great chaos; the experts deployed by the four dukes straightforwardly shattered the venue and surrounded from all directions.

"Capture them!" Lei Shan bellowed, and countless experts launched their attacks.

At that moment, Tai’an burst forth with an overwhelming might; Raven threw a punch but was forced to retreat repeatedly by the opposing Demonic Qi rushing towards him.

A super warrior?!

Raven’s face was filled with shock. Knowing the capabilities upon engagement, the opponent’s combat strength was only higher than Sina’s, not lower. This indicated that Raven was no match for him!

As Tai’an erupted, momentarily, everyone at the scene was stunned; many experts of the alliance dared not make a slight movement.

Tai’an looked towards Nuoshan and others, grinning, "I am the Commoner Demon King of the demon clan, and I’m very curious to know, how did you see through the disguise?"

"Who told you not to contain your aura?" Lu Hong retorted.

"Aura?" The Commoner Demon King was taken aback, then stared intently at Lu Hong, "Have you encountered other Demon Kings?" Demons naturally could not conceal their aura, which was perhaps a trait given by the heavens to distinguish them from the Human Race. The higher the demon’s rank, the stronger their control over their aura. The Commoner Demon King used his aura to cover for his subordinates, minimizing the flaw here, as the aura of a Demon King was very difficult to detect. Although the Chen family had encountered demons, they had never come across a Demon King and thus could not ascertain their identities. Since Lu Hong recognized the aura of a Demon King, it also meant he had met other Demon Kings.

"I guess you could say that, Tong Shuai, Demon King Yan, Water Demon King, I’ve met them all," Lu Hong openly confronted, not hiding the facts. Facing such a super warrior, if flaunting might make the opponent wary, it was not a bad thing.

"You know them?" The Commoner Demon King disbelieved, then shook his head, "Well, since they are still alive, I will kill you first, then kill them!"

With that, he charged at Lu Hong, a terrifying killing intent surged towards him, startling Lu Hong immensely. Damn, he might as well not have named anyone.