Agent of Seraphim-Chapter 43: Seperate Mission

Brand checked his holographic map, trying to get a clearer picture of the other teams. A bad feeling crept in as he noticed the decreasing number of allies and the sudden appearance of new enemies.

There were two clusters of dots marking life signals on the map. It could be humans or demons. But Brand knew who they were beforehand.

Ed’s team, who were tasked separately to search for the Worm Statue, and Eddy’s team to conduct surveillance on the foreign warriors.

He examined the cluster, which should be showing Ed’s team first.

Ed’s team appeared to have come to a complete stop. They were not moving further.

’Do they encounter some kind of obstructions?’

Though Brand was not too worried about them, as their numbers remained the same.

The major concern he had was that two red dots were approaching them at high speed. There was something Brand found odd, though. The two dots were quick, as if they already knew the location of the other team.

’It couldn’t be, right?’

He then traced to the location where the two dots came from. They were from Eddy’s team, and the team had suffered significant casualties.

’They were not weak, that they would be done in by some demon worms.’

Brand started to suspect that there was betrayal in the group, and the two people who were stranded from the team must be the traitors.

Coincidentally, there were two foreign warriors in the group who had been acting suspiciously since the raid began.

’Were they traitors from the start?’ 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The map should have been able to identify a person’s affiliation, yet it hadn’t worked here. To be fair, those two had appeared as neutral grey dots at the beginning.

’Did the map only update affiliation after someone acted with malicious intent?’

Either way, he had to move quickly. The green dots were dim, a sign that they were in grave danger.

"Karl, we need to support the searching teams." Brand said as he approached the expedition lead.

"They might be in trouble..." He paused, unsure how to explain without revealing his map ability.

However, Karl stopped him with a raised hand. The man closed his eyes and drew in a long breath through his nose.

"There’s betrayal from Eddy’s side," Karl said, eyes sharpening.

His voice dropped. "They’re in a bad situation..."

Brand could hear the worry. The warriors mattered to Karl in a way that felt personal. He saw how Karl trained with them every day, sharing sweat and pain.

"It’s probably the two outsiders," Brand said. "They’re heading toward Ed’s team. But... how did you know?"

"I have a great sense of smell," Karl said. "I can smell suspicious people."

Normally, Karl would have smirked while saying that, but now his expression stayed grave.

"You seemed to have a great sense as well," Karl added. "I won’t ask you about it, because I know that you are trustworthy."

He said it bluntly, without the playful banter he usually carried.

"Please help to intercept the two outsiders." Karl requested. "I will check on Eddy’s team first before regrouping with all of you. Ed’s team should be fine if they stay put."

"I’ll be quick." Shortly after saying that, Karl pulled the metal rod from the ground and sprinted toward Eddy’s direction, lightning flickering under his feet.

"That guy’s incredible..." Brand heard Seraphine mutter behind him. The way Karl handled the situation left a deep impression on Seraphine.

"Meanwhile, our agent here..." Seraphine narrowed her eyes at Brand.

’But we just finished the raid?’

Brand didn’t try to justify himself. Karl had pushed just as hard as he had.

If anything, he felt an odd spark of rivalry forming in his chest.

’I have to focus on the situation first, though.’

Brand glanced at Ruby, who was sleeping behind his back, exhausted after unleashing her spell earlier.

"A typical glass canon?" Brand muttered.

"She pushed herself to the limit," Seraphine said.

"Anyway, let’s go."

He made a final glance in the direction Karl had just gone off, and slowly pulled his line of sight to the ground, while twitching his finger.

’He’ll be alright.’

Brand calculated the interception point and began heading towards the two outsiders.

***

"Would the return gate show up in a different color on the map?" Brand asked Seraphine as she floated beside him.

Even while running, he kept checking the map for updates

That’s when he noticed. The map didn’t show any neutral dots around Ed’s area. There were only green dots.

"For portals, rift gates, etc. They will appear in blue." Seraphine replied.

"Does this mean that, even after killing Raml-d’ah, there is still no portal?

Back in the village, during the briefing near the Ritual Stone, Elder Camila had warned them that a return gate would appear only after the rift was fully cleared.

It would manifest near the Worm Statue. Which meant, no matter what, the Worm Statue was the priority target of any raid.

In fact, they could have rushed straight there the moment the rift opened.

However, doing so would risk being swallowed by the first monstrous wave.

Worse, the demons could have pushed past them, slipped out into the outer world, and invaded the tribe’s village.

Under normal circumstances, once the first wave was eliminated, the expedition team would immediately pursue the Worm Statue.

But this time, the second wave had appeared without pause. It was far earlier and with far greater force than expected.

The overwhelming power gap forced the team to scatter, stalling for time in every direction.

None of them expected to actually manage to bring down the second-wave boss.

Brand couldn’t help but think.

’What came after the death of the second-wave alpha?’

"With their leader slain," Seraphine started her explanation. "The demon worms in the demon realm would inevitably grow restless."

Brand remembered the thousands of demon worms he sensed through his beetle, way earlier, before Raml-d’ah appeared.

If that many demon worms got agitated and rushed to the surface, they would be dead.

"Such is the demon’s instinct, and the nature of a demon rift," Seraphine said in a low voice.

"Third wave." Searphine continued. "That only happens when the boss of the demon rift is dead."

"The lower demons will try to break free from the rift."

Brand, who was listening, raised an eyebrow and thought deeply. "But the map didn’t show any new red dots?"

Seraphine grinned and gave Brand’s head a quick pat, as if telling him he’d done well.

"So, why do you think no new enemies are being detected by the system?" Seraphine asked.

"No way..." He soon came to a realisation. "Raml-d’ah is not the boss of the rift?"

’Is that the reason the third wave has not occurred yet?’

He felt more worried than before, thinking there was a more dangerous being lurking in this demon realm.