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Cedric could’ve ignored it, and everything would be just fine...
He could’ve just gone along his day, minded his own business, and not looked deeper into it. It’s none of his concerns, and it’s also not even remotely close to his territory. Whatever he glimpsed out there couldn’t pass through the thick and very reliable wall of space marines stationed on the dinsional gap.
Alas, curiosity won in the end...
Kudos to him though; he resisted looking into it for a month before giving in.
And whether the curiosity of soone such as him bodes well or unwell for the source of whatever it was that left that trail remains to be seen.
But yes, Cedric’s curiosity got the better of him this ti. To be fair, he had a long and distinct history with ’Demons,’ so he really couldn’t help it.
However, he didn’t personally go out. Not his main body, at least. He sent a clone instead, which should be more than enough to handle whatever it was that left that trail.
And so, the clone was sent out to investigate.
Once again, he completely bypassed the dinsional gap like it didn’t exist. He slashed a spatial tear that led to the void outside and stepped in.
Cedric rembered where he sensed that trail and ended up exactly at that location. Upon arriving there, he unleashed his sensory field, which covered large swathes of distances to help him locate the thing he briefly felt about a month ago.
Truthfully, he wasn’t expecting much. It has been a month since, so the tracks might’ve gone cold already. However, much to his surprise, they were still there.
The traces of demonic activity didn’t fade at all. It lingered there, attempting to corrupt everything they touched but failing miserably because of the properties of the void.
Cedric flew close to the track. He didn’t need to, of course, since everything his sensory field covered was practically touching him. But he nevertheless went there to see it with his bare eyes.
"Yeah, this is Infernal Energy alright," he muttered to himself upon closer inspection of the track.
It was faint, yet it lingered still, clearly displaying the stubborn and corruptive effects of infernal energy.
And as far as he’s aware, only demons could wield infernal energy like this. More specifically, infernal energy corrupts any sentient life it touches, turning them into demons who could freely wield it regardless of their intact or broken sanity.
Cedric didn’t imdiately guess what the Human Sovereigns discovered. He had no reason to believe that the demons are running rampant again, after all. These puny tracks wouldn’t prove that at all.
Moreover, even though they’re leashed, Cedric himself had demon servants. Ones that have gone completely loyal to him and couldn’t and wouldn’t wield infernal energy anymore. They’re just extra muscle; they and their children will forever be deed as laborers for the Rising Sun Sector Domain, and they’d forever be happy to be one.
As their lord, Cedric was aware of their locations at every mont, and he could confidently say that whoever left this track wasn’t one of the demons he’s housing. This ca from another demon on the loose.
Just then, Cedric’s eyes glimred. And in his vision, the tracks suddenly sprang to life. Now, he’s seeing them as if they were just left here, fresh and clear.
He could now see which way their source left, and he planned on following it.
And that’s what he did. He followed the trail with glimring eyes. It led him further away from ho, but he didn’t mind; he was following it using a clone anyway.
He kept his movent quiet and his presence muted. He didn’t want to disturb or provoke anything that bars his way unless he’s forced to. And this was effective; since nobody could sense his presence, he was free to follow the trail for as far as it would take him.
With his sensory field scouting the way ahead, he was free to warp large distances away without being confused or losing the trail.
It led him further and further away from ho and to the point that he’s about to intrude on another one.
"This is...near the Black Pegasus Chaos Realm? The trail’s leading here, so this is where the source went?" Cedric wondered to himself.
Cedric was vaguely aware of their ’neighbors,’ per se. He knew enough about them to declare them a ss. Unification hadn’t occurred to this realm as far as he’s aware. Its council—the Black Pegasus Union—was like ’The Six’ back when all he knew was the Prival Scarlet Dust Realm, only worse if he rembered it correctly.
Cedric continued to follow the trail until he was forced to stop in surprise when he saw that it was truly leading him into the Black Pegasus Chaos Realm. That is not why he stopped, though.
He paused because he was surprised by what he saw and sensed the first ti he laid eyes on the dinsional gap of the Black Pegasus Chaos Realm.
With his eyes still glimring, his divine eyes saw the horrible phenona of the infernal energy manifestations roaring out of that place.
What he feels right now is the sa horrific shock Urek went through upon seeing this place for the first ti; only, Cedric sees more due to his divine eyes.
At most, all Urek saw were the faces and the terrible consequences of how infernal energy corrupts everything it touches.
Cedric, on the other hand, saw more.
He could see, and almost hear, the entirety of the Black Pegasus Chaos Realm crying out for help. It writhed in pain and resistance as Infernal chewed and digested it as best as it could.
Cedric could see it whining and doing its best to expel the foul presence invading its body. He could hear it wailing helplessly, reaching out to anybody who might be able to hear it.
If Cedric were to describe what he’s seeing to anybody, they might call him crazy. And that might not be untrue; after all, the Supre Will should be the only consciousness that matters. A chaos realm developing sentience was unheard of.
However, Cedric’s eyes never lied to him. His senses never betrayed him.
He couldn’t deny what he’s seeing. This wasn’t so elaborate illusion woven by soone. Cedric was too good to be caught by sothing like that, especially now that he has the power of origin laws.
It might be because of the infernal energy’s foulness that this chaos realm developed consciousness. However, that doesn’t an that it has beco a separate entity from the Supre Will.
Cedric himself couldn’t explain it. He just accepted it as is, for now.
’No, this can’t go on for long,’ he declared to himself. ’Infernal Energy feasting like this is bound to turn this entire chaos realm into a tumor that must be purged later on.’
’If this was left alone, this place would beco cancerous to everything around it. Infernal energy will start leaking out and evolve into sothing even worse the more power it holds.’
’By the end, demons will beco as troubleso as, if not more than, the Horde. And heaven knows we already have our hands full dealing with the Horde.’ Cedric sighed to himself.
’This can’t be rushed. I need to study this carefully.’
Diving headfirst into danger wasn’t a habit that Cedric developed. He’s much wiser and more experienced than that.
He decided to investigate first. And the first step in doing that was infiltration, of course.
And so, just like Urek did earlier, he infiltrated the Black Pegasus Chaos Realm.
But instead of doing it inside a ship veiled with hundreds of layers of illusions and mirages, Cedric went in with his clone.
Of course, the clone had protections, the main one being the Origin Sword Laws themselves.
Infernal energy couldn’t ever hope to erode sobody acknowledged by an origin law no matter how advanced it gets. Only when it becos the Origin Demon Law could it ever possibly hope to do that, but as is, it has no chance at all.
And Cedric himself doesn’t need a ship to hide himself. He’s got enough tricks in his bag that could completely render him non-existent in everyone’s senses even if he were breathing down their neck.
Of course, Cedric will exercise caution. But he really didn’t think too much of the demons or this place; he had complete faith that nobody would sense him.
And so, the infiltration began.
Cedric’s investigation was faster and more thorough than Urek’s. With his divine eyes, he didn’t need to carefully probe everyone. He could see who held useful information, he didn’t need proximity or even eye contact to sift through mories to find out what he needed, and he didn’t need to take days or weeks to complete this process.
Cedric’s operation was fast, and he’s even faster when it cos to building the whole story.
In the end, what took Urek years to do, Cedric did in re months and perhaps even more thoroughly than he ever did.
Now, he stood right beside Irma without the fool knowing it, looking contemplative of his next steps.
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