About half an hour later, Lunevy and Adam finally arrived at Long Street.
The construction site was easy to spot. It was a busy afternoon, and the workers were bustling with energy, the sounds of machinery echoing loudly in the air. A car—undoubtedly Irisdina's—was parked conspicuously in front of the site, leaving no room for doubt.
Sure enough, they found Irisdina standing nearby, deep in conversation with the site's chief engineer. The man seed to be explaining so details about the ongoing project when the distinct rumble of Adam's bike drew their attention.
As they approached, Julius greeted them, though his words stumbled as his gaze fell on Adam's arm, firmly wrapped around Lunevy's waist.
Your next chapter awaits on empire
"Well, Stephen, looks like you didn't have to worry about your bike…" Julius began, but his voice faltered as realization struck.
Others quickly caught on, their reactions ranging from surprise to disbelief.
"No way… it's true? They're actually dating?" Agatha's voice was filled with shock.
"I can't believe it…" Luke muttered a bit enviously.
Ophelia, anwhile, observed the scene with an amused smile, as if happy to see her little brother along her girlfriend.
Completely oblivious to the stares and whispers around them, Adam and Lunevy continued as though nothing was unusual.
"We're here," Lunevy finally said, her tone calm now as she had grown accustod to the proximity eventually.
"Yes, this is the place," Adam replied, finally releasing her waist as he dismounted the bike.
With a composed air, Adam slipped his hands into the pockets of his lab coat and approached Irisdina. Now off the too powerful bike, he was now back to be calm and collected.
"Of course Milady. You're welco to observe the work as long as you'd like, along with your friends," the chief engineer said politely, addressing Irisdina with a respectful nod.
"Can we go inside?" Adam interrupted their conversation.
The man hesitated for a mont, his polite smile faltering slightly. However, seeing Adam with Irisdina, he relented.
"Of course, but you'll need to wear these helts. It's for your safety—we can never be too cautious."
Adam accepted the helt with a nod. The thought of dying from sothing as mundane as a falling stone seed absurdly undignified.
"Great, get back my helt first?" Stephen groaned.
Adam noticed that he was still wearing the bike's helt, the straps tightened almost to the point of suffocation. Without hesitation, Adam reached out, tugging at the straps with firm hands. But despite his efforts, the helt refused to budge—it had been secured with nearly obsessive precision by himself.
As Adam struggled, a soft touch grazed the back of his neck.
It was Lunevy. Without a word, she reached behind the helt and expertly loosened the last overly tightened strap. In one smooth motion, she removed the helt.
Adam turned to her and gave a short nod. "Thanks."
Lunevy nodded back.
"Are they seriously flirting in front of us?" Agatha whispered excited sohow. "I didn't know Miss Luna-Evelyn could be so bold."
"I wish I had soone like that…" Luke comnted again enviously.
"Let's go," Adam said, taking the lead and walking past Irisdina without hesitation.
Irisdina blinked, montarily dumbfounded at how shalessly he assud command. Still, she held her tongue. Adam was from Horizon, and this seed to be a classified mission involving the World Order. It wasn't her place to interfere.
"How the hell are we supposed to find any clues about that bastard here?" Stephen grumbled.
Adam ca to a halt, turning to face the trio who, truthfully, had no business being involved.
"This is a confidential matter," he said firmly, though his gaze lingered.
"Please…" Agatha's eyes widened, her expression pleading like a puppy begging for scraps.
Despite the subtle tug at their emotions, the World Order mbers were in the sa wavelength as Adam in this matter.
"Unfortunately, this isn't sothing we can involve students in," Ophelia said with a wry smile. "Please stay here."
Irisdina sighed in frustration but reluctantly nodded. Agatha looked disappointed but didn't press further.
Adam and his team moved ahead, but the faint presence of three shadows trailing behind them made it clear that the trio hadn't exactly obeyed.
"Ignore them. They won't hear a thing," Julius muttered under his breath.
Adam gave a brief nod and continued. "Krainel Salvador has been planning his betrayal of the World Order for a long ti. But to accomplish what he couldn't as a mber, he needed allies from outside."
The group fell silent at Adam's words. Lunevy's lips pressed into a thin line, her fists clenching involuntarily as she processed his words.
If he planned this betrayal for a long ti then all his words toward her were fake as well? Since the beginning?
"Allies? Allies for what?" Ophelia asked.
"To resurrect Asmodeus," Adam replied.
Ophelia gasped audibly, her face draining of color.
"How? Asmodeus was killed—"
"By Eleanor Asterion, two hundred years ago," Adam finished for her. "But devils aren't so easily destroyed."
Ophelia's hands tightened into fists. "How is he planning to bring Asmodeus back?"
Adam's expression darkened. "Through Asmodeus' Books. Devils, and even demons, often leave fragnts of their souls embedded in artifacts. While their physical bodies may die, their souls linger. In this state, they're weakened but not gone. As long as their soul exists, they can rely on these corrupted artifacts to influence humans—or demons—into aiding their resurrection."
Lunevy's fists trembled as she absorbed his words. "So, those books… they're essentially pieces of his soul?"
"Exactly," Adam confird. "And if Krainel has secured even one of those artifacts, it's enough to start the resurrection process."
"The book he stole from us… it was one of Asmodeus' soul fragnts, wasn't it?" Julius said, nodding thoughtfully as realization dawned.
"Asmodeus divided his soul into three books," Adam nodded "He's already secured one and is actively searching for the other two. Fortunately, even if he possesses the book, an astronomical amount of bloodshed would be required to awaken each fragnt and bring about his resurrection."
"Fortunately?" Stephen snapped, narrowing his eyes at Adam.
"Yes, fortunately," Adam replied, eting Stephen's glare without flinching. "That delay gives us precious ti. I don't need to remind the World Order what Asmodeus' return would an. Right now, in Ocryphia no one cos close to Eleanor Asterion's power when she defeated him all those years ago."
"You seem remarkably well-inford," Julius said, his voice tinged with genuine admiration for Adam's depth of knowledge.
"Almost too inford even," Stephen added with a derisive snort.
"Stephen…" Ophelia sighed in exasperation.
"Fine, fine," Stephen muttered, waving her off. "Just tell us why we're standing around here. What's the plan?"
Adam turned his gaze forward. "One of Krainel's allies is hiding in the underground caves beneath what used to be an estate. The house was razed to the ground a month ago by the Vermillion House."
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Julius asked quite surprised.
"One hundred percent," Adam confird without hesitation.
"How the heck Horizon is always ahead of us when it cos to information? Are our guys just lazing around or what?" Stephen growled.
Adam, of course, knew exactly why he was so well-inford. Having read the novel, he had imrsed himself in its contents to understand the antagonist and the book as Zenon, the author had requested him
But the others had naturally assud Horizon was the source of his knowledge—a convenient misconception that Adam saw no reason to correct. It suited his purposes perfectly: unquestioning trust born from his affiliation with Horizon.
"Then where is it?" Julius asked.
"I don't know," Adam replied.
"What?" Stephen looked at him, utterly dumbfounded.
"I only know the hideout is sowhere beneath this ground," Adam said with a pointed look. "The entire area was leveled when the houses were razed. How am I supposed to know the exact spot?"
The truth, of course, was far less convincing. In the novel, the location had been frustratingly vague—a fleeting ntion of 'sowhere in the construction site' with no precise details.
"This is going to take forever. Have you even looked at the size of this place?" Stephen clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"We don't have a choice," Julius said with a weary sigh. "This involves Krainel Salvador. Of course, we have to see it through."
"How about asking for their help?" Ophelia whispered, her gaze shifting subtly toward the three shadows lurking nearby. Their attempts at concealnt were far from convincing.
"It could be dangerous…" Lunevy said cautiously.
"We wouldn't be bringing them in completely," Julius countered, mulling it over. "We could just have them search alongside us. If they find sothing, they only need to report back. The more eyes we have, the faster we'll find it."
Lunevy hesitated, her expression conflicted. For so reason, her gaze turned to Adam, as if seeking his approval.
Adam, aware of the weight of her stare, glanced at her briefly before shifting his eyes to Irisdina. In the novel, she had played a role in locating the hideout. It seed history was about to repeat itself.
"They can help us."
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