At the very top of the Bloodfiend Citadel, Allfiend sat atop his throne, staring at the person leaving the chamber. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, while a small scowl lingered on his face. His power was slowly withdrawing into himself, revealing that he had exploded in rage enough to unconsciously flare his power.
"Stubborn, but that stubbornness won't last for much longer. When this is all over, you'll thank me," Allfiend grumbled to himself as he watched the person leave.
Allfiend took out some scrolls from his spatial ring and began studying them, which depicted a detailed map of the Yuan Continent. Points of interest all over the map were marked, with many other markings depicting some sort of large scale plan for the continent.
Not long after the first person left, another person opened the chamber doors and entered. Allfiend looked up from his scroll and watched the person walk to the base of the throne.
After bowing her head in respect, the woman who had just entered, an Elder of the sect, addressed Allfiend.
"Sect Leader Allfiend, I have done as you have instructed," the woman spoke up.
"And? What is the status regarding your mission?" Allfiend asked with slight seriousness in his voice, indicating that he placed quite a bit of importance on what the Elder was mentioning.
"I have had all our spies within the Heavenly Lightning Sect look everywhere, without raising too much suspicion, and they have all come to the same conclusion...the boy is no longer in the sect," the Elder replied.
Allfiend's eyebrows raised slightly as he heard this.
"Why do you say that? Could he not be in seclusion?" Allfiend asked.
"We have considered that as a possibility, but have decided to rule that out. The boy suddenly vanished around two and a half months ago, and has not been seen or heard within the sect since," the Elder replied. "Its unlikely that someone as young as him will enter seclusion for that long, and so the most plausible explanation is that he is out of the sect at the moment."
Allfiend's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing this, clearly indicating his displeasure.
"This boy has displayed combat prowess far beyond anything we have seen before. Every day he stays alive is another day of which his power grows, and he becomes more and more of a threat to our sect, and potentially our entire Forbidden Alliance," Allfiend replied in a cold, slightly angry voice.
The Elder looked up at Allfiend with slight surprise etched on her face.
"You rate him that highly? That one day he could threaten even the entire Forbidden Alliance itself? Surely you're overestimating him," the Elder replied, although her voice remained respectful. "The Forbidden Alliance's strength is far beyond what we can imagine. For him to threaten the Alliance itself, he would have to raise himself to the peak of this world."
"I know how strong our Forbidden Alliance is," Allfiend replied with an icy voice, angered that the Elder would question his judgement.
The Elder quickly realized the error of her ways, and lowered her head in deference.
"Apologies for doubting you, Sect Leader. If you say it is so, then it must be so," the Elder replied with a slightly quivering voice, fully realizing she had angered Allfiend. Those who angered Allfiend usually did not have good endings.
Allfiend remained silent for quite some time as he thought over the whole situation. His eyes once again locked onto the Elder after some time, and his cold voice filled the room once more.
"You said he disappeared from the Heavenly Lightning Sect just over two months ago? Is there anything else you know about the boy? Any family? Or alliances within the sect itself? Anything?" Allfiend asked, looking to find any clue at all.
"Nothing on his family," the Elder replied. "We have pried into his family secrets as deep as we possibly could, but we have not been able to discover anything yet. It seems the sect values him highly, and must be keeping that information top secret. The only thing we know is his full name, John Fenix."
"Fenix?" Allfiend repeated, as if the word was familiar to him. "Fenix….Fenix….Fenix…."
Allfiend's eyes lit up slightly as he finally recalled the origin of that name.
"That small sect we have had some dealings with, the..." Allfiend paused for a moment, struggling to recall the name.
"Crimson Valley Sect, that's the name," Allfiend finally remembered.
"We have had some dealings with the Crimson Valley Sect, regarding the discovery of a potentially game-changing pocket realm. We have sent Elder Farren and Elder Borg to investigate, and they have reported that there are several other powers in the area, including a clan named the Fenix Clan," Allfiend explained.
His expression was hopeful, but it quickly soured. "However, the clan is located on the other side of the Great Desert, in some desolate, backwater part of this continent. Their names may match, but I highly doubt a clan that low in power could produce someone like that boy. Nonetheless, it is worth checking out," Allfiend continued.
"I will reach out to Elder Farren and Elder Borg to inquire further," the Elder instructed, as her current mission was to locate any news about John.
"Is there anything else of note from that boy?" Allfiend asked.
"The only other thing we can conclusively say is that he has become the disciple of the Vice-Sect Leader, and he is also part of the War Hall," the Elder replied.
"Her huh? What a pain in the ass that woman is," Allfiend replied with slight disgust. His thoughts switched to the War Hall, at which point his eyes slightly lit up once again.
"War Hall? They typically go on missions that can last for months, so if he's missing, I'm sure its related to that," Allfiend mused.
"It is very much possible," the Elder replied.
Allfiend put his hand on his chin as he fell deep into thought. Words occasionally escaped his mouth as he mumbled to himself.
"War Hall….two months ago….frequent borderland missions…"
Slowly but surely, a vague idea began to form in Allfiend's mind. After thinking about it for a while, an almost impossible idea came to his mind. Allfiend's eyes focused on the far wall of the chamber as his face became serious.
He once again focused on the Elder before him after some time.
"You are dismissed. Keep me informed if you discover any other information," Allfiend instructed.
"It will be done," the Elder replied with great respect, before she turned around and left the room.
After she left the room, Allfiend sat on his throne for some time before his body blurred, disappearing from sight.