Demon Leveling

Apostles

Silence wafted in the air as all the Apostles kept their eyes fixed on Virgo.

She sighed a little, refusing to cave in under the pressure.

‘As always, Leo is spot-on…’

Virgo’s business before arriving here was trying to use her Gift [Eye Of God] to see through the world and find the Harbinger Of Hell.

Her Gift was essentially clairvoyance of the highest degree.

She could see anything occurring within the world if she focused on one aspect of it.

If she wanted to see the color red, she would be able to detect every single location that the color existed, and she could then focus on the one she wanted to see.

In the same vein, if she wanted something a little more specific—like a cluster of Miasma—she could detect every single location where it existed.

‘The only areas where Miasma is clustered around are the Black Towers.’

Anything else, and it had to be the Harbinger of Hell.

That was her line of reasoning when she spent her time thoroughly searching for signs of their mortal enemy.

However, after trying her best, she could not detect him.

‘But should I tell them the truth? Or…’

As Virgo considered this, Leo’s voice echoed in the conference room.

“I know we’re all competitors, but if we allow the Harbinger to go scot-free, we might all lose the grand prize.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“I don’t think it would be too much to ask for your cooperation just this once.

Again, Virgo didn’t allow herself to be pressured by the constant stares that she received.

She took her time to make up her own mind.

“Haa…” She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh.

‘I’ll just be honest with them. There’s no use trying to hide it…’

Once Virgo decided that, she spoke.

“I couldn’t locate him. Whoever this Harbinger is, I suspect they’re good at hiding their presence.”

“And you’re certain of this…?”

“Yes. I have no reason to lie.” Virgo said, shrugging slightly in response to Leo.

Their golden champion had always been extremely cautious, and it was very telling.

Virgo was also the cautious type, but not to the extent of paranoia.

‘If I didn’t want to cooperate, I would have just kept shut. It’s not like they can do anything about it…’

Regardless, now that the truth was out, what would the Apostles say about her theory?

“It’s possible that he could be hiding very close to a Black Tower. If that’s the case, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish him from the regular folks around.” The jester-looking fellow iterated with a chuckle.

Virgo had also considered this possibility.

Given enough time, though, everyone would be successfully evacuated from the Black Tower’s surroundings.

Once that happened, she would try to find the Harbinger again.

‘Let’s just hope it’s not too late by then…’

The reason Virgo was in such a hurry was because of the nature of Towers and their conquest.

‘The government will soon begin their raid. If they’re successful in clearing the first floor, they’ll definitely harvest a lot of items from the venture.’

That would mean that more Miasma targets would be scattered all over the world.

‘It’ll become very troublesome after that…’

At that point, even if she detected someone with Miasma oozing from them, it could just be a ‘Wielder’

“I got a plan!” The jester grinned widely.

All his white teeth were clearly displayed as he chuckled.

“What is it, Cancer?”

Cancer, the gentleman in the white suit, began to explain.

“Why don’t we just tell everyone that items gotten from the Black Tower are cursed or something? That’ll make them too skeptical to wield it straight away.”

“So you mean… lie to them?” A blonde from the group asked with a frown.

She clearly didn’t want to take that route.

“Hey! Hey! It’s not really lying! Miasma is dangerous to people who haven’t been exposed to it for very long, you know? Unless someone develops a resistance to it, or maybe has powers like we do, they’ll be consumed by it.”

Overexposure to Miasma could lead to all sorts of negative effects as well—like insanity, illnesses, rapid aging, and all manner of things.

It also, almost always, led to the most gruesome kinds of deaths.

“But we all know they can be purified. If the Miasma is contained within the Item and it’s not allowed to leak out, then the Wielders should be safe.”

The blonde who kept firing back was none other than Libra, and her righteous attitude was not new among the group of people.

“Okay, I get your point. But we’re the only ones who know about the purification method, right?”

“By we, you mean the Harbingers… right??”

Every Harbinger knew certain things—like how to naturally control their Mana.

Anyone could figure out how to contain Miasma if they thought hard about it and were skilled enough to do it.

“Don’t overestimate those Harbingers. I know a lot of them who don’t even know what they’re doing.”

That was why a lot of Harbingers had given up on the grand prize and simply settled for working under Guilds.

Some worked freelance, while others worked under the Government—though this type was very few.

Finally, there were still crazy ones who decided to continue operating as a Guild despite not being among the Twelve.

“I see. So you’re saying we should make it so that people can’t use Magic Items that ooze out Miasma…” Leo mumbled, bringing the arguing Apostles back to topic.”

“Yep! With our influence, it should be possible. Besides, it's only a temporary measure. You’ll try your Gift again once they’re done evacuating everyone from the area, right?”

Virgo narrowed her eyes as Cancer asked her the question. Of all her colleagues, he was the one she was most wary of.

“Yes.” She answered calmly.

“See? Consider it damage control. The people will believe us if we tell them the items are cursed, and we’ll be able to stall their use for a while. Once we nab our guy, then the farce can end.”

Despite Cancer saying this, Virgo was still not completely convinced that was where his true motivations lay.

‘He also wants to ensure the Government can’t harness more power. If they use the Miasma Items, we’ll get less support and patronage from them.’

The other Apostles must have realized this, so none of them were questioning the ethics of Cancer’s plan.

Even Libra was now quiet.

‘No one wants to lose the influence they have. They want the government to keep relying on them…’

Virgo had to admit… she also felt the same.

‘Having freedom and influence like this is something anyone would wish for. But at what cost…?’

How far would they be able to go with their unchecked authority?

“Fair enough. Cancer has raised a good point.” Leo was pretty much in agreement.

“As always, we’re going to vote on whether to implement this strategy or not. Whatever decision that is made will be binding on all of us.”

Leo made it sound so warm and grand, but he was essentially saying that they would all bear responsibility for whatever decision the group took.

He didn’t want to bear the brunt alone.

‘Well, whatever…’

Virgo realized this meant that she would have to tell them about the Harbinger once she found him.

‘At this point, it’s probably for the best…’

“All in favor?”

Everyone, except Libra and the youngest of the group, raised their hands.

It was settled then.

‘This is for the greater good. For the sake of the world…’ Virgo told herself.

Capturing the Harbinger of Hell would guarantee their success.

After that was complete, the only opponents they would have was one another.

Of course, all of this was contingent on the fact that they could capture the Harbinger.

‘[Eye Of God] has never failed me. It won’t start now…’

No one and nothing could escape its power.

Though, Virgo began to wonder if the first possibility that she mentioned could actually be true.

What if… just what if their enemy’s ability to avoid detection was higher than her ability to detect him?

Wouldn’t that render all of this planning useless?

‘But that is impossible.’ Virgo assured herself as she sighed.

‘Nothing is stronger than the power of the Supreme God.’