A helicopter landed on top of the new Uprising base. A silver-haired boy stepped out of the helicopter, wearing glasses. He was followed by a dark-haired man who was accompanying him.
The boy in the lead was playing with a small stone, tossing it up and down as he walked.
The red stone in his hand was an inch wide, looking like an ordinary stone. The only odd thing about this stone was that there was a strange character carved on the stone.
That mark helped Jiang recognize that stone when Lucifer had dug it out on the tenth floor.
Even though Lucifer had found what he was looking for, the happiest person at that time was none other than Jiang since he didn't need to search ten more floors.
After taking the stone, Lucifer left the APF base with Jiang, coming back to the others.
Even though he was intrigued about the strange character which was carved on the stone, he couldn't recognize it. It wasn't a character that he had seen before.
He also had Drak search that character to find its meaning, but this character didn't match the characters from any language in the world.
Lucifer didn't know that the same character was also on his back. It was a part of the strange tattoo that had formed on his back after he started wearing that key he dug from Orion Beach.
Not only him, but no one else had seen his back without clothes since this Tattoo formed on his back.
After that, he received his battle gear which further made it impossible for anyone to see his back since Battlegear wasn't easily destroyed in a battle.
"Ah, can you not play with that like it's a toy?" Jiang asked Lucifer, sweating.
"Why? Are you scared?" Lucifer asked, glancing at Jiang.
He pressed the button to call the lift to him and started waiting outside.
Jiang brought his handkerchief out of his pocket and started wiping the sweat that was forming on his forehead.
"Who wouldn't be after knowing that these stones can bring forth the apocalypse?"
"What apocalypse? There was no such thing. These stones did nothing. They just formed a gateway to another place."
" The real apocalypse was the battle with Dungeon Dwellers, which happened before these stones were formed," Lucifer explained as he kept the red stone in his pocket.
The lift doors opened, and he stepped inside the lift. Jiang followed inside, continuing the conversation.
"But the Dungeon Dwellers caused all the slaughter to form these stones to open that portal. Of course, I'll call these stones the Stones of Doom. They're very risky," Jiang explained.
"Nope. At this point, it's just a rumor that the Dungeon Dwellers killed millions of people to create these stones. No one can prove that. It's just an assumption at this point," Lucifer replied.
"For all we know, they might have had these stones before they even started their attack. I mean, does Dungeon Dwellers really need a reason to attack humans? Even now, they keep doing it. It's not to create stones," he added as the lift went down.
"That's right. No one can prove that Dungeon Dwellers didn't have these stones before they started their attack, but no one can prove that they did have these stones either, can they?" Jiang asked.
"Now you're just talking nonsense." Lucifer rolled his eyes.
The lift stopped on the seventeenth floor. As the doors opened, Lucifer and Jiang stepped out.
A chubby Warlock was already waiting near the lift for them.
"Is everything ready?" Lucifer asked the chubby Warlock.
"Yes. They're all waiting for you," the chubby man nodded as he walked towards the other end of the corridor.
He stopped in front of a door and opened it for Lucifer.
Lucifer stepped inside with Jiang. Seeing the entire room filled with people, Jiang became nervous.
"I-i will wait outside," he let out, hastily turning back.
"Don't worry; they're all our people. You don't have to be scared. Stay here. There's a chair arranged for you too," Lucifer said, walking towards the main chair in the room.
A rectangular table was already placed inside the room. There were thirteen chairs in the room, six on each side of the rectangular table and one on the shorter side for Lucifer from where he could get a clear view of everyone.
Lucifer took the main chair. After he sat, only one seat remained empty, which was the last chair on the right side of Lucifer.
The first chair on Lucifer's right side was occupied by Salazar Lucia. The second chair was taken by Cassius.
On the third chair sat Alicia. The fourth chair was occupied by Uzuki. The fifth chair was occupied by Veracity. As for the sixth chair, it was taken by Jiang.
In essence, the right side was occupied by the people that were only affiliated with the Uprising because of Lucifer. Only Alicia was the exception.
The first chair on the left side was occupied by Kellian, the second chair by Yaliza, the third by Tristan, fourth by Dallas, who had blown up the Warlock Council Plane.
The fifth chair was taken by a red-haired lady known as Jean, who was very close to Kellian.
She was also the one that Kellian had sent to assassinate the Red Eagle Guild Leader. As for the sixth chair, it was taken by Caen.
Even though Caen wasn't a powerful Warlock, his ability was truly unique, which made him indispensable. He was also trusted by Lucifer, which made him a part of the core.
Including Lucifer, there were now thirteen people inside the room. As for the chubby Warlock, he stayed outside, closing the door.
It was only a meeting of the core people.
Jiang sat in the high-profile meeting, feeling self-conscious. He was the weakest person here, and his ability wasn't very powerful like the others. He just kept his head low, not raising it.
The room was filled with silence as everyone waited for Lucifer to speak.
The silence was soon broken by Lucifer.
He placed his hands on the table, getting serious. "It's good that you're all here. I wanted to inform you all that I'll be leaving for the Divine Empire tomorrow."
"Have you decided who will be coming with you?" Kellian asked.
Salazar already knew he was going. Lucifer had already confirmed it to him, but he was also curious. Who else was going with them on this mission?
"Yeah. I've decided. The Divine Empire is a dangerous place. I can't take a big group of people since that can be used against me. So I'll only take a few who I believe should be absolutely crucial on this mission," Lucifer declared.