"So, that’s the Capital of the Vruxtrus Empire, Tesarth City. Wonder if they’ve got any protective barriers or anything in place?" I mused, as we peered out through a row of bushes.

A large walled-in city was a short distance ahead of us, the walls pretty tall and surrounding the entire city.

I’d flown up a few minutes earlier to get a better look, the castle is located in the center of the city, and it looks like it’s a pretty bustling place, with a lot of people milling about.

There are guards posted by the gates and atop the walls, but it shouldn’t pose too much trouble to sneak past them and get into the city undetected.

The question is, how exactly do we go about doing this? 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Do we simply sneak into the castle, find the Demon Lord and confront them? That’s the quickest option, but it could backfire on us, especially if we get caught.

But, then, what are our other options? We could approach the guards and request an audience with the Demon Lord...but that’s very unlikely to work, they could easily end up attacking us instead.

And if we kill anyone, our chances of our negotiations succeeding will be slim to none.

"Think our best option is to sneak into the castle and head straight for the Demon Lord. No matter what approach we take, things are almost certain not to go smoothly, so we might as well go with the most straightforward option," I suggested, as I glanced around at the others.

"Yeah, sounds good to me. Nice and simple," Responded Jaden with a smirk, cracking his knuckles.

"It’ll be just you heading in, right?" Ciel asked me.

"Mhm, yeah. It’ll be easier to avoid being spotted if it’s just me, I can use Spirit Fusion with Invidia to turn myself invisible. Of course, if anything goes wrong, I’ll open Pocket Dimension and have you guys join me right away," I replied with a wry smile.

"Yeah, see that you do. There’s no reason to take any unnecessary risks here," Replied Aria warily.

"Hm...hey, if you use Descent, can’t you just blend in?" Suggested Cleo thoughtfully.

"No, based on what I saw, the Demons of this world look too different to my Descent form. While I can control to transformation to only extend two horns instead of three, I can’t change the actual shape of the horns, not to mention my wings and tail. The shapes of those features are different in the Demons of this world," I shook my head in response.

"Yeah, that would’ve made this easier, too bad. Well, it’s fine, Invidia’s Stealth Skill should be enough. Of course, we can’t rule out any barriers or other protection or detection rituals in place, so keep your guard up," Chimed in Aria.

Ai, any chance that you’d be able to detect anything like that?

<No, I’m afraid not>

<I tried analyzing the barrier around Revolt’s headquarters, but Ritual Magic is difficult to properly compute and assess>

I see, that’s too bad. Oh, well, it is what it is, no point in dwelling on it.

"Alright, guys, head back into the Pocket Dimension. Time to make our move," I remarked, as I got onto my feet and opened a portal into the Pocket Dimension.

"Good luck, dude, we’re counting on you," Grinned Jaden, giving me a thumbs up as he and others headed through the portal.

"Yeah, hope it goes well," Added Ciel wryly.

"<Really don’t wanna be stuck in this world, so yeah, what they said>," Chimed in Rex with a sigh.

"We’ll be ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice," Spoke up Cleo with a nod.

"For both our sakes, I hope this succeeds," Smiled Zelmira, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"See you soon, Kai," Remarked Aria, taking my hand and giving it a soft squeeze as she met my gaze with a smile, before heading into the Pocket Dimension.

As I closed the portal, I turned my attention towards the city, taking a deep breath and letting out a slow exhale. I’ve got margin for error here, I have to make this work.

Now, then...

"<Spirit Fusion, Apostle of Envy: Invidia>."

As I fused with Invidia, my body starting to glow as blue streaks appeared across my hair, I activated Stealth, turning myself invisible and propelling myself into the air with jets of Negative Energy from my feet.

I shot up high into the air, before flying forward, zipping through the air and flying past the boundary of the city walls.

It’s pretty early, around 8 AM, and there are a lot of people out and about, it’s definitely a lot more lively than the Capital of the human nation.

I made my way towards the castle, soaring through the air, unbeknownst to everyone below. Okay, so far, so good.

I came to a halt above that castle, peering down to get a look at the situation. Hm, the castle is also surrounded by walls, with a pair of guards standing by the gates.

There were a handful of Demons walking around the courtyard inside the walls, and more guards by the castle’s entrance.

The Demons of this world really do look mostly human, besides their horns, wings and tails. Their horns and narrower and more pointy than the Demons we fought, and all the Demons here seem to have two.

Their wings look more sleek and aerodynamic, and their tails and longer and more wiry. Other than that, they look human.

Alright...I see a rooftop on one of the castle’s towers, doesn’t look like anyone’s down there. I’ll land there and then sneak into the building, and try to find the Demon Lord before my time limit with Spirit Fusion runs out.

I swooped down towards the rooftop, rapidly descending through the air, before landing with a soft thud. Okay, now to-...

Suddenly, a loud blaring rang out, a bright red light erupting around me and forcing my eyelids shut, my ears ringing from the sheer volume of the blaring, dazing me.

Crap, I need to-...!

I stiffened before quickly opening Treasury and drawing out Desecrator, as I sensed several presences rushing towards this spot...