Chapter 682: The Pantry

A few hours later, the servants that Eiro had sent off into the distance to where the Devil was supposed to be hiding finally arrived at their destination. The crow-like automatons perched on tree branches close to the village, waiting for Eiro to intervene and command their next actions. And before they even had a chance to report back, the Demon already connected with one of them.

It was through a puppetry spell that Eiro had developed through Arcane magic, that he was able to delve into these metallic birds' bodies. He saw what they were seeing in his own mental eye, and started to manipulate one of the bird's bodies directly, so that he could take a closer look. Luckily, he was also able to hear and smell what the bird was sensing, though touch was something he still couldn't figure out. Of course it wasn't to the degree of Eiro's usual senses, but it was enough for him to get the gist of the situation around the birds.

The automaton flew closer to the village. From what Eiro was seeing right here, there was little that would hint at someone like the Devil hiding out here. What he expected was something like a massive fort that had been erected overnight, but instead, it was just a simple, rather boring-looking, farming village. People were working in the fields, caring for livestock, or simply doing any other job that they had to do to keep this place running. However, there was definitely an overarching sense of demonic energy floating through the air. It was subtle, incredibly so, to the extent that it was hard for Eiro to notice through the filter of the puppetry magic, but it was definitely there.

Eiro looked at the map in his office. The Devil was definitely still there. Apparently, it was just another few dozen steps south right from where the automaton Eiro controlled was perched. After flying over there, and landing on the roof of the building in question, Eiro frowned lightly. It was just a small hut, nothing important. A mother had just brought her child to bed, and the father still seemed to be out at work.

"So he's there, huh?" Eiro sighed, concentrating more directly on the position of the automaton he controlled. He could gauge their relative position to him quite accurately, and right now, as this village was at a decently high elevation, the bird was higher than Eiro was. However, the needles were tipped ever so slightly downward. The devil's current location wasn't 'in' this village, he was 'below' it.

With a click of his tongue, Eiro crossed his legs in thought, "Well, it's just a minor inconvenience, anyway."

He was never expecting to be able to look directly into the space the Devil was anyway. Since he expected a fort, the most he would have been able to do was look at the overall structure, and maybe glance into some windows. But knowing the Devil, that might have actually been a bit too risky already, despite the automatons' practically perfect disguises. But now that he knew that the Devil was below ground, he could also tell more about what this place was used for.

It wasn't a location that was vital in the midst of the war. Meaning, it wouldn't be a location where the Devil expected them to fight; that would be much too risky. Eiro could make the whole cave system collapse immediately, or flood it with water or flames, destroying everything the Devil had built up. Instead, it was either just a place the Devil settled for his own business, like a laboratory or maybe just his general dwelling, or it was a place where the Devil prepared for the war with Eiro without directly being seen. And in that case, the whole subterranean space would be filled with numerous monsters and weapons.

While Eiro wasn't able to directly sense what was below the earth through the automaton, he could still do other things to figure out which of the two it would be. If it was a space just for the Devil, then there might not be more than a few small, narrow entrances. The devil himself could teleport, albeit not without any restraints, but such teleportation would usually interfere with certain materials or spells if they were transported, so they would have to be moved manually to make sure nothing went wrong.

Now, if it were a space for the Devil's army, then he would either need a massive physical entrance nearby, or, and this was more likely, he would set up a magic array to mass-teleport the monsters above-ground whenever they were needed. Either way, there would be traces that someone like Eiro should be able to recognize without much trouble.

Of course, there was also the possibility, one that Eiro was also expecting quite fervently, that this was neither of those two. That this, instead, was just a space for another one of the Devil's experiments that didn't have anything to do with the war at all. While Eiro knew that the Devil had to be on edge because of Eiro's constant, immense growth beyond anyone's expectations, the Devil was also a vile, horrible creature that took pleasure out of tormenting others. While many people would choose to smoke, drink, or simply spend some time with their friends while they were feeling a bit stressed... this place could just be a place for the Devil to relax and enjoy himself. And if this was the case, then this village would still have other traces of that lingering around. Either awy, Eiro should be able to find something.

The automatons flew around for a while, not even just directly within the village, but around it as well. Just because the space the devil was in was right below the village didn't mean that the entrance to that space had to be within the village. It could be miles away, really. And soon, the sun had started to set. Demons, or any other being relying heavily on Unholy magics, would generally see their powers grow at night. As Eiro was a unique case, and didn't even have access to unique magic currently, he was an exception, but Eiro knew that the Devil did like to make use of the night. Not only did he use to feel the effect of the Devil's mark more intensely at night, but the small town that had become a home to the Lords of Sin that the Devil was trying to raise also changed from a regular place to a town of demons at night. And Eiro quickly saw that things weren't much different in this case.

As soon as the sun set, the few villagers that were still out started to act unusual. As though they were compelled, and their bodies manipulated, they froze, doing whatever action they were doing before. From outside the village, one of the automatons then saw a carriage approaching just a moment after an immense spike of magic from that direction. The carriage was being drawn by large hell-beasts, taking the form of horses with large, demonic horns, leaving flames behind whenever their hooves lifted off the dirt beneath them.

The carriage soon reached the village, coming to a halt. And out stepped a figure cloaked in black from head to toe. The figure was tall and skinny, towering over the people of the village. It approached one of the villagers, leaning forward as if to give them a sniff. And then, from the shadow where the figure's face was supposed to be, black, slimy tendrils shot outward, pulling themselves around the villager. Their body was pulled into the cloak and simply disappeared. Eiro could tell what this was from just a glance, since he had a similar ability. It was a spatial-storage ability, so the villager hadn't been devoured directly.

The figure returned back to the carriage and stepped inside, and the hell-beasts quickly pulled it back out of the village. Soon, a few moments after another immense spike of mana from where the carriage had disappeared, the village returned to normal, and the villagers were unfrozen, continuing as if nothing happened. Even the people that seemed to have been talking to the villager that was just taken simply moved on as if nothing happened. From how they were acting... the villager's existence was just wiped from the others' minds. So that they wouldn't panic, or worry.

Eiro grinned lightly, holding his hand in front of his mouth, "Ah, so that's what it is," the demon cackled to himself. Bavet slithered over to his side, curious, "What's going on?"

"We just hit the jackpot, my friend," Eiro replied, burying two of his hands into the armrests of his seat, "This isn't a lab, or a place to grow an army. The village is his pantry. It's his home."