Mixed Blessing System

Six days later...

After going after the last two groups of demons in the Petha Empire that the group could hunt without getting into trouble, Lothur and his people had finally finished their hunt for 4th-stage creatures.

Of course, this didn't mean they wouldn't eliminate any beings of that stage that got in their way. Still, after the last group they had dealt with the day before, they wouldn't go after any more beings of that stage.

With that, Lothur had made some new slaves the night before and sent the last Soul Bones he had collected to his people in Peters City.

He was aware that his company had attracted continental attention, for even in the northern region, and even as they traveled through the forests, their group had recently heard the word "car" as they traveled.

Even without communicating with his people in Peters City to find out how things were going there, Lothur and his women were aware that their company was developing and attracting attention.

So he didn't hesitate to send that last bit of help, something to help his people deal with the pressure they must have been under while the five of them were gone.

With that done the night before, they rested in the Petha Empire for the next few hours, waiting for the moment when Lothur's bloodline ability would work again.

For some reason, Lothur's bloodline ability had never improved in terms of its limitation, which bothered him a lot. But not knowing what might be behind it, he did what he could, using his gifts to his advantage and protecting himself when he was 'vulnerable.'

Aware of the dangers he and his group would face if they started hunting 5th-stage demons, he didn't want to start until he could use 100% of his powers.

But that wouldn't be long! 

That afternoon, Lothur and his seven companions would finally make their way to the first of their targets, a group of three 5th-stage demons located in Rablus, near the border of the Petha Empire.

...

Hours after his bloodline ability was 100% operational, Lothur and his companions had left the Petha Empire and entered Rablus.

Upon their arrival, Elke immediately asked. "How do we deal with this group? Since Lothur's pursuers are watching him, our previous approach won't work."

Cykad had been thinking about this for the last few weeks and nodded positively to Elke. "Yes, we have to act differently. I've given it a lot of thought, and I think we have two courses of action against these 5th-stage targets. 

The first, and less risky, is to attack the demons quickly and give Lothur room to use his ability without initiating a direct confrontation with the onlookers. They probably won't move, as our group is powerful, and they will surely try to get reinforcements. The reinforcements will take some time to reach us, so we can get the first 3 bones relatively easily.

The problem with this method is that after we carry it out, all the groups of 5th-stage demons will change their behavior, and their watchers will become more numerous and powerful. This means that our next targets will be more complicated for us to deal with and succeed."

"What about the second method?" Rebecca asked.

"In the second method, we attacked the observers of these demons simultaneously as Lothur's action," Cykad said seriously. "The problem with this method is that we will attract the same attention as in the first method, which will increase the difficulty of our future actions, but we will also have to take more risks from the first of our targets. At the same time, we will have to eliminate humans and beasts that will be missed when the Demon Emperor is resurrected." 

Lothur said then. "The Demon Emperor will not be easily brought back to the world. So until he reappears, all those against us, humans, spectres, beasts, demons, etc., are our enemies.

When he finally returns to this world, then that's the time to worry about preserving potential allies. Until then, I think it's best to use everything at our disposal to reach a level where we can prevent his resurrection."

Lothur's speech sounded like he would side with this group if the Demon Emperor reappeared. But inside, he knew that if that happened, he would probably die before the Demon Emperor's resurrection!

After all, he had absorbed two of the Seven Singularities, and for the Demon Emperor to return to this world, the demons would have to find a way to take those singularities from him.

That would mean his death!

But Lothur was confident in his plans to grow stronger and reach a level where these creatures would no longer be a problem for him. So he wouldn't tell his women or his group that there was a possibility that he wouldn't be in this world to face the Demon Emperor at their side.

He added. "Besides, there's a big advantage to taking action against them first. We can obtain the Soul Bones of the humans who are observing those demons and souls strong enough for Blood and Smoke.

Since they've turned against me, let them face the consequences of their actions!

Time to pay for their sins!"

Cykad didn't like taking Soul Bones from other living beings. To him, the best way to get bones was to kill demons, not humans.

He saw the humans as his allies in the fight against the demons, even considering the foolishness of some humans in letting the demons roam free on the continent.

He knew that if this group failed, they would one day need humans, beasts, and the Ancestral Folk to deal with the demonic and spectral threat. So, he preferred to avoid doing what Lothur had in mind.

But he wasn't a fool incapable of making a difficult decision!

Even if he preferred another way, he knew Lothur was crucial to stopping the demons. So even if he disagreed with what the young Ritter had just said, he couldn't go against an alternative that he himself had realized was one of the few they had.

"So you prefer the second method?" He asked Lothur.

"Yes, that's what we'll do. I'll deal with the demons, and the rest of you should deal with the onlookers in the area. If possible, let Blood and Smoke kill the weaker targets. The stronger ones try to force them towards me. I'll take care of them." Lothur replied, giving orders on how to proceed from now on.

With that, everyone in the group accepted his orders, and even Cykad was determined to follow these plans to the letter.

The group continued to move through the forest as they felt different, already observing from a distance where some spiritual fluctuations of their interest were.

Within minutes, this group would finally make its first high-level move!

...