I frowned after hearing this news.
They had just attacked the capital the last time, a little over a month ago. It shouldn’t have recovered fully yet. What do they get from attacking that place again?
Whatever their reason was, I need to have eyes and ears at the capital to keep me updated.
“Guren, dispatch a few 8th-level tamers from us to keep help. I’ll let you decide the exact number.”
“Alright!”
Guren, completely turning into work mode, nodded his head before running off somewhere. I then turned to the messenger and thought for a moment.
“You… tell the Luo to do the same. Send backup to the capital and keep me updated at all times.”
The messenger nodded his head before quickly vanishing into a crack in space. As expected of a messenger, he had the means to travel quickly.
I stood up from the table and quickly walked down the hallway, heading for my room. Along the way, I met the three girls, who were chatting peacefully. When they saw my expression, they immediately noticed that something was amiss.
They all stood up, leaving their tea and snacks, and wordlessly followed behind me. While walking, I passed my orders to them.
“Ember, prepare for battle. It’s code blue for now.”
We talked before about color-coding the danger levels of a situation. Code Blue meant that it was a safe battlefield with few dangers to our lives. It’s blue because I was only planning to head to the capital to observe and not to join in the fray.
“Yes, Master!”
She quickly turned around and ran to the courtyard. That should be the arranged gathering point for us after preparations are done. After Ember, I turned to Fang and Igni.
Since the two of them were basically the main muscle of the team, I don’t have anything for them to prepare for.
“Fang, Igni, prepare yourselves mentally for the battle ahead. Keep in mind that we might get attacked at any moment there.”
Even without turning around, I could tell that the two of them nodded before answering.
“Yes, Leader!” ．𝗻𝐞𝘁
“As you wish, My Lord!”
I smiled in contentment as we finally reached my room. I entered without knocking and found that the five shadows weren’t there right now. Were they resting somewhere?
Ignoring their sudden absence, I quickly unrobed and was about to switch gears to a more easy-to-move attire. However, after just removing my upper garment, a voice echoed behind me.
“So you’re that Will they were talking about?”
Hearing the deep and unknown voice in close proximity, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I quickly dashed forward and turned around, fear gripping my heart.
There, behind Fang and Igni, who were both standing stock still in fear, God Zeshion stood with a hand inside the pocket of his jeans.
No… This man isn’t God Zeshion! His hair wasn’t blue, but black! Although he looked the same as God Zeshion, he looked a good few years older upon closer inspection. As if it were something familiar to me, I quickly recalled his name.
“Noir Zeshion!”
As I raised my voice, Noir seemed surprised for a moment.
“Oh, to think you know who I am. Did that bastard Zeshion tell you about me? I heard you two were pretty close.”
I ground my teeth, hiding my fear in false bravado.
The man before me should be one of the few God-tamers in the world. And what used to be the strongest amongst them all before God Zeshion took away his system after capturing him.
He shouldn’t have a taming system anymore now, but looking at how he could use skills like presence concealment effortlessly, they must’ve found a way to restore it.
“What do you want?!”
I asked in trepidation. I can’t back away any further since that would bring me too far from the two frozen girls. I can’t cover them if Noir suddenly attacks if I’m too far from them.
Noir, hearing my question, just smiled. It was off-putting to see God Zeshion’s face show a creepy smile. It felt like I was looking at a poorly made copy of him or something.
“You are an administrator of the taming system, right? I need you for that.”
As he said this, he raised his free hand and snapped.
“…!”
From under my feet, or, to be precise, from my shadow, tentacles made of darkness rose. It quickly wrapped all over my body, immobilizing me completely. I could hear Fang and Igni’s screams, but I could no longer see them.
“I’ll be taking you with me for now.”
Noir muttered as my consciousness faded.
—
Will and Noir vanished from the room after getting swallowed by the tentacles of darkness. Fang quickly sharpened her senses, but even she couldn’t find his location through their link. Neither the rough direction nor the distance were discernible.
“Leader!”
As Fang was about to dive into the shadows, Igni quickly grabbed her arm and, with an urgent voice, stopped her.
“Wait! Ember must’ve found some way to find Milord. Let’s go to her quickly!”
Fang quickly realized that she wasn’t thinking straight. Even if she did dive into the shadows, it wasn’t like there would be footsteps or something that she could track there.
“No need to find me; I’m already here.”
Ember entered the door, which was left wide open. In her hands, a tool that looked like a mobile device with a wide screen was held tightly.
“I have a grasp of Master’s location with this tracker. We can go to him any time we want.”
Ember’s tracker isn’t GPS-based but rather based on her and her clone’s connections. Ember left a small clone of herself embedded inside Will’s body. To be precise, the clone was hiding behind his molars at the smallest size it could shrink into.
Unless the enemy knocks the molars out of Will’s mouth, he’ll always be on Ember’s radar.
“We can save Milord now…”
Igni was about to smile but quickly frowned. She remembered the name that Will had shouted before, feeling that it was familiar. Fang, who was already calm, but still restless, added.
“The enemy is one of the god tamers and the leader of the Demon Tamers, Agor. We can’t save Leader with our strength alone…”
Ember, hearing this, frowned. A glint appeared in her eyes as she looked ahead.
“Let’s call for help from other god-tamers!”