The Shining Star Above The Heaven
Chapter 291: Something Wrong With the Plan

Chapter 291: Something Wrong With the Plan

The surviving devils ran as fast as they could. They neither looked back nor stopped for a moment, fearing that the young man might change his mind and give himself a chance to catch them.

After running for about 15 minutes, they finally stopped, looked behind them, and saw that no one was following. They also couldn’t sense anything within a kilometer, so they thought they were safe. The low Marquess-stage cultivator turned to his comrade.

"Who is he? How was our identity exposed?! We were sure we concealed our traces and identity perfectly. Even the Flamecrest family doesn’t know about our presence in Flamecrest City, yet he knows?!"

"I don’t know," the other devil replied, "but I think it has something to do with that bitch’s announcement going off-script. There must be something we don’t know—something that made her change her mind and disobey the plan."

"Did... did she know that Lord Lust is dead?"

The other devil remained silent for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, there’s no way she knows. The death of the Lust Devil is known only to the devils. In fact, some devils scattered across the continent haven’t even received the news yet. I can’t imagine any way for that princess to know about it."

They thought for a moment before sighing.

"Let’s go. We must report this to the higher-ups. We’ve already been compromised, and we can’t predict what will happen in the future anymore."

They planned to continue moving north, toward the devils’ territory. Their first priority was to leave the empire’s borders. However, not long after they started running, they sensed that something was wrong—they felt as though they had returned to the place they had just passed. They stopped for a moment to confirm they weren’t mistaken before starting to run again.

After a few moments, they realized they had indeed returned to the place they had just passed! They stopped again to assess the situation, certain that they had been moving in the right direction. Before they could consider what might have caused this strange phenomenon, their surroundings began to wobble and then shattered like broken glass.

After that, they saw Aldrian standing in front of them, gripping their heads with his usual smile—a smile that appeared devilish from their perspective. Upon seeing him, the devils finally realized what had happened to them.

"Illusion!"

The realization shocked them inwardly; they had no idea when they had fallen under the illusion. In addition to holding their foreheads, Aldrian had also sealed all their movements.

"Why... you—" the devil began to ask, but he could only see Aldrian looking at them with his ever-present smile.

"I already gave you time to survive," Aldrian said. "But I never told you how long you would survive, did I? I’ve stayed true to my word."

"You fucki—" The devil’s curse was cut short as Aldrian crushed their soul, killing them instantly.

Sylphia, standing behind him, looked at Aldrian in awe. Her lover was someone who always kept his word, but his verbal gymnastics were deadly for anyone who failed to pay attention to the fine details.

Earlier, when the devils fled, Sylphia had thought Aldrian was truly keeping his word about letting them survive. However, when Aldrian brought her to observe them standing motionless like statues, she realized he had done something to them. To her surprise, it was an illusion technique.

She had no idea when Aldrian had cast his technique, but the fact that he made them remain frozen within their illusion while he read their memories amazed her. Once again, she felt fortunate to have him as her man.

After Aldrian was done with the devils, he turned to Sylphia.

"My dear, would you like to see how I do some cleaning?"

Sylphia tilted her head in confusion. What did he mean? She then saw Aldrian take out an artifact that she instantly recognized. He retrieved the devil teleportation artifact from his storage ring and placed it on the ground. Aldrian then touched the artifact, and moments later, it suddenly emitted an ominous red light. Although it was simply the artifact’s activation effect, Sylphia still felt an unsettling presence from the red glow.

Suddenly, Sylphia felt her body enveloped by golden energy as Aldrian grabbed her hand, pulling her to stand in front of him. Before long, they disappeared, leaving only the artifact behind.

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A few minutes earlier, in an unknown place, a huge hall was filled with devils, most of whom appeared to be preparing for war. Hundreds of them stood in formation, their armor resembling that of an army ready for battle. In front of them lay 12 identical teleportation artifacts, their destination set to the Flamecrest Grand Duchy.

Two devils stood at the forefront, their cultivation levels the highest among the group—one at the low Emperor stage and the other at the middle Emperor stage.

"Is there any report from the other side?" the middle emperor stage devil asked.

"No. However, this is also good. It means the plan is still moving according to plan. We just need a few more moments," the other replied.

"I hope so. The atmosphere in the Castle of Darkness is really unpleasant. With us already losing three of the Seven Deadly Sins, all the devils seem to have become restless. This mission is crucial, at the very least, to weaken the power of the Vindas Empire after the plan in the Doria Empire fell apart."

Right now, they seemed to be waiting for something from the teleportation artifacts. The atmosphere was tense, but not particularly gloomy. Instead, the devils appeared to be anticipating what they were about to do. In just a few minutes, they would move toward the Flamecrest family, sow chaos, and then retreat without much suffering.

That is the plan from the Devil Lord: they will act as torchbearers, adding fuel to the fall of the Flamecrest family. If they emerge from the Flamecrest family’s mansion and create chaos within the territory, it will be the nail in the coffin for the Flamecrest family. They won’t be able to deny anything if the devils suddenly appear from their mansion. The Vindas Empire will be engulfed in civil war, and all they’ll need to do is watch as it burns to ashes.

They waited for the signal from the other side to activate the teleportation artifact, marking the start of the operation. According to their plan, around this time, the princess should already have announced that the Flamecrest family had connections to the devils. The Flamecrest family would attempt to deny even the princess’s investigation, and amidst this chaos, they would enter the mansion through the teleportation artifact.

Although this plan was rushed due to the events in the Doria Empire, it seemed to be progressing according to plan. However, after waiting for a few minutes with no movement from the teleportation artifacts, they began to wonder what was delaying the other side.

Then, suddenly, one of the artifacts activated.

Seeing this, the devils grinned, knowing that the operation had finally begun. However, they soon sensed something was wrong when only one teleportation artifact activated. The plan had called for all of the teleportation artifacts to activate in order to accommodate hundreds of devils. They needed a fast insertion and retreat, which required that many artifacts.

Their doubts were answered when suddenly two figures appeared on the teleportation artifact. The two emperor-stage devils were stunned by the appearance of these outsiders. They saw a young man and an elf for a moment before the two disappeared. All the devils present also saw them and wondered if they were part of the plan. It was at this moment that the emperor-stage devils realized something was wrong on the other side!

With their quick wit, they scanned their surroundings and expanded their senses to the maximum. However, they couldn’t detect anything. Using another tactic, they turned to the formations—this place was under their control and filled with formations. They could use the formations to track any presence. After a few seconds, they finally sensed something outside the hall!

They instantly dashed outside and looked at the sky, where they finally saw the young man and the elf floating in the air. They could sense that the young man was at the low Marquess stage, and the elf was at the peak Viscount stage—so how the hell were they floating in the air?

At that moment, all the devils in the area turned their gaze to the sky, startled by the sudden appearance of the outsiders. There were thousands of devils present, and when Aldrian swept his gaze across the area that resembled a fortress, much like Sazim.

Sylphia, enveloped in Aldrian’s golden energy, was stunned by the place, as she had never seen anything like it. Although she was protected by Aldrian’s golden energy, she could still feel the ominous atmosphere. The red sky and the air, stretching to the horizon, filled her with an ominous feeling. Given the gloomy and foreboding nature of the place, she couldn’t help but think of one place that fit the description: the devils territory!

On the ground, the two emperor-stage devils still stared at the sky, their gazes fixed on Aldrian, who met their eyes with a smile. As they looked at that smile, an overwhelming sense of foreboding gripped their hearts.