Chapter 685: Chapter 709: Hard to Distinguish Between True and False

“She’s asleep,” Alamir shrugged. “She’ll need at least eight more hours to wake up, and she’ll relive this beautiful dream for the rest of her life.”

“That’s enough,” Lancelot rolled his eyes. “Have you forgotten? We still have questions for her.”

“She’s already spoken to me,” Alamir pointed to a small door beneath the arena, “Go through that door, and on the wall you’ll find two sizes of candle holders, the third large one on the left and the sixth small one on the right are the switches for the secret passage. Turn the large one counterclockwise and the small one clockwise… at least that’s what she told me.”

“Not bad…” Lancelot raised one eyebrow, “Shall we set off now, or do you need a rest too?”

“Of course not, I’m just like when I got up this morning, full of vitality,” Alamir said with a proud smile, then his expression turned serious, “But before we set off, there’s something I need to tell you about Ini…”

“Please, just call her Irina,” Lancelot struggled to restrain himself from rolling his eyes again, “What’s with her?”

“First of all, it should have been Archduke Bayer, the former Aphnas, who sent her to Visuvius’s side…”

“Hmm, she did let something slip earlier… have you found out any new information?”

“It’s just… afterward, she called out Bayer’s name several times, and there were nonsense phrases like ‘Forgive me, Archduke Bayer!’ ‘I’ve completely fallen, Archduke Bayer!’ ‘I’m sorry, Archduke Bayer!'”

“…Are you sure she wasn’t deliberately saying those words to mislead you?”

“Impossible, she must have lost the ability to think by then, only the strongest thoughts would remain in her mind, and in such a state of incoherence, she wouldn’t realize that she was voicing her own thoughts.”

“…How exactly did you do it?”

“Professional attitude,” Alamir spread his hands wide, “You have to take this seriously, and not treat it merely as some kind of capricious entertainment…”

“Stop, let’s leave this topic for now,” Lancelot sighed deeply, “If the Succubus really is a spy sent by the former Archduke Aphnas, some of her strange behaviors indeed can be explained, like why she would hide from her own kind after breaching the city wall… But it raises new questions, with what purpose did Bayer send her to Visuvius? Did she complete her mission? If not, what stopped her?”

“That’s the second thing I wanted to tell you,” the Elf Priest frowned, “She mentioned the treasury of Visuvius, which apparently contains something she’s always been unable to obtain…”

“Oh?” Lancelot’s interest was piqued by a word, “Where is that treasury?”

“It’s at the bottom of the Lava Lake where the Defensive Formation is buried. Visuvius seems to believe that no thief could approach its storage room, except for a Barlow Flame Demon like itself…”

“But that doesn’t make sense,” frowned the Human Knight. “Any Demon could walk through the fire unscathed, and as a succubus, Irina would certainly be no exception. If she couldn’t act in the past because Visuvius was watching, she should have had plenty of time after the fortress fell to take action…”

“My guess is that it’s something very difficult to take away in a short time,” shrugged Alamir. “At least she can’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m referring to a Divine Artifact from the upper planes like the Starlight Strike. Such Holy Relics are no big deal for ordinary people, but in the hands of Fiends, they’re like weighing several tons and will actively unleash power to harm the Fiend that holds them. Unless preparation is made in advance, it definitely can’t be taken away quickly…”

“Interesting,” mused Lancelot Morassa, stroking his chin. “Let’s connect the dots: Irina is a spy sent by Bayer, and at the same time, she is reluctant to engage with the Demons who breached the Volcano Fortress, fearing that her kin would decide she has truly Fallen and hence treat her brutally. But according to your latest intelligence, Irina is on a secret mission to retrieve an important item, and given a succubus’s status in Bartez society, she would surely get a chance to plead her case. Just bringing the Demons to Visuvius’ treasury should easily prove her innocence…”

“That’s the part that puzzles me too,” the Elf Priest furrowed his brows. “Maybe she really has Fallen, thinking the capricious ways of Tanari is the true essence of life?”

“Why? A Barlow Flame Demon that never satisfies her?” Lancelot shook his head. “There must be another reason… what she wants is what Bayer wants, and her reluctance to prove her innocence might just be because she doesn’t want the item to fall into the hands of other Archduke Demons. And the Demon Legion that breached the Volcano Fortress is loyal to…”

Both gazes hardened, the answer was now clear!

“The current Archduke of Aphnas, the Supreme Commander of the Demon Blood War Legion, who was once an Archangel, Zariel!” Alamir inhaled sharply. “Our speculation that the item is a Holy Relic from the Heavens suggests its former owner could have been Zariel!”

“Hmm, the full story may go something like this… Visuvius, who once led an attack on Barto Hell, accidentally obtained a powerful holy item. At the time, it didn’t understand what it was, simply taking it back to its lair in hopes of finding a way to harness the contained energy… Meanwhile, Bayer, the former Archduke who had been replaced by Zariel, had been searching for that item and deduced that it might have fallen into Visuvius’ hands. Bayer sent out the spy Irina in hopes of stealing the item, and she was even willing to help us, the Demon alliance, to recapture the Volcano Fortress, but not to let it fall into the hands of those loyal to Zariel. Clearly, this item must have some special connection to Zariel, and it could play a special role in the fight against the former Archangel, hence why Bayer is so eager to have it…”

“A flawless deduction.” Alamir clapped involuntarily. “With such little information, you managed to infer so much, and I can’t find any flaws at all…”

“There are some,” Lancelot implied with a glance at the Elf. “Think back carefully, did she really not mean for you to find out about the treasury? You yourself said it would be difficult for Fiends to take the item away, but it might not be any obstacle for us…”

“Err…” The Priest Shuni’s face turned quite embarrassed. “She did indeed mention the storage room beneath the Lava Lake very early on… but the part where she called out for Bayer must have been sincere!”

“Perhaps she just wanted to excite you more,” Lancelot shrugged. “Think about it, it is quite thrilling indeed.”