Return of the Demon Sovereign (Book 1) [MxM]

16. Red Seal Mission (2)

What Erebus was offering was dangerous. He was to venture out in the unknown alone and search for a small unit of troops. It was near impossible, and the risks were too high.

Still, Halcyon looked relieved seeing Erebus so earnest. "You are new, so you may not know that a Red Seal Mission is a dangerous reconnaissance job. The possibility of death is high. If you want to deliver this information and turn back around, I will be satisfied."

Erebus shook his head. "I did not wish to be a Hunter, so I can just run away."

Halcyon looked troubled. "Something about this doesn't feel right about this mission, though." He turned to the messenger. "Where have the people been taken from?"

The messenger bowed and moved to a large map covering an entire wall. Erebus and Halcyon suddenly appeared behind the messenger, making him jump. He pointed to ten locations, but most were clustered around the north. "These were the first ones we noticed." And then he pointed to several random places around the map. "The last few months have been more random."

"Where are the Amarok Wolves appearing?" Erebus asked. The messenger pointed to a location much further north. Erebus tapped his chin. "No one has contacted Amarok Wolves to know why they are gathering here?"

The messenger shook his head. "No one has a good relationship with them. They do not like anyone who is not of the Spirit Realm."

"They have always been a bit stubborn," he murmured to himself. "How long have the disappearances been happening?"

The messenger gave Halcyon a questioning look, wondering if it was suitable to answer Erebus' questions. When Halcyon nodded, he relaxed.

"We were able to trace back reports from 8 months ago, which is why we're convinced it's not the Amarok Wolves. The Spirit Realm portal only happened to open about three months ago. Unfortunately, that's around the time the disappearances have started to increase and finally caught the eyes of the public."

"Well, even the location is off." His fingers drew a quick pattern, linking the locations of the disappearances found in the north, marking one area in the center. "The Devil Captain's documents were vague and lacked solid waypoints. However, they mention a facility in the ice terrain up north—they said it sat below the blades. The blades could only mean the Broken Sheath Mountains."

He examined the locations the messenger pointed out for the disappearances and combined them with the mountain range. He used his shadows to mark the map like ink, finally circling an empty plain. 

"Using the areas you mentioned before and the documents I gathered from the Devils, the facility should be in this area," Erebus explained. "But they must have someone skilled with teleportation. Do we know anything about the northern Devils, their allies, and what level they are at?"

Halcyon sighed but shook his head. "We thought about teleportation too, but the Devils must rely on runes. They don't have anyone who can help them traffic people so rapidly. There isn't anyone in the Realms who is that skilled."

Erebus had a troubled look in his eyes. "What if one of the creatures the Devils took was a Phase Spider or a Crimson Sphinx?"

Some creatures could open portals, like the Kings of the Spirit Realm, the power Erebus once held. However, Kings had limitations because one side of the portal must always be connected to the Spirit Realm. He could not move from Halrland to Undandfold with one portal, nor could he open a portal to move across the same realm. 

Only two mystical creatures could create portals without limitations or restrictions: Phase Spiders and Crimson Sphinxes.  The Deities had blessed them because of their innate benevolent nature so they could move freely across the realms.