Heretics

Hearing the words of Mage Clor, Immortal Yan nodded.

"I'll go there next. Hopefully, I'll have enough demons to hunt." Immortal Yan stated, without caring for the fact that the more demons there were, the greater the loss of lives.

The mages watching him felt a faint chill going down their spines as the look on Immortal Yan's face was rather cold and ferocious. 

Even though he wasn't pressuring them directly, just his mere presence was quite overwhelming for them.

'So this is what an immortal is like…' The mages thought.

This was the first time they were ever seeing immortals in their life. As mages of a Mage Tower, they knew a lot more than commoners and knew of the descent of Immortals from time to time. But it was a rare event that barely happened once in a century or two.

For most humans, they would live out their entire lives without ever catching a glimpse of an Immortal. Even for influential people like Royalty, Mages and Warriors, seeing Immortals was once in a lifetime opportunity. And all those that witnessed these immortals with their own two eyes found themselves to be blessed.

"It would be the most gracious of you to do this, Lord Immortal." The Mages praised.

~thud~thud~thud~

But just as they said this, the sound of something banging came from the steel carriage at the back. It was the carriage that stood out the most and had small slits as the only openings. 

"Hmm?" The Immortal looked at the source of the sound with a sour look on his face. "What's that?" he asked.

"Just some heretics my Lord." Mage Clor replied.

"Heretics?" Immortal Yan raised his brows. "There are still present? I thought they were erased in the last purge." He questioned.

His words exuded a faint pressure on the mages, making them feel nervous. It was the duty of all Mages and Warriors to get rid of heretics and being questioned by a Sacred Immortal was a bit too much for them.

Still, they tried to muster their courage and replied.

"There are a few new ones that have started appearing in the last hundred years or so. Plus, the demons keep on corrupting humans from time to time, who then hide. This allows them to breed and increase their numbers." Mage Clor answered. "In recent times, it has also gotten harder to recognize them since there are second and even third generation heretics now." He added.

~ptui!~

"Second and Third generation heretics? What a disgrace!" Immortal Yan spat out. "Why have they not been eliminated already?" he questioned, looking towards the steel carriage.

"Its… to find out the location and identities of other heretics that might be hiding, my Lord." Mage Clor hurriedly answered. "They have gotten sneaky and cleaver at hiding their presence, even making their way up our ranks. But don't worry, every heretic we capture pays for his crimes. They will suffer plenty while we obtain answers from them." He said with a hint of pride.

There were often competitions among people about who could find more heretics. Those who performed well were rewarded and honored. As such, it was a matter of pride for them.

Still, Immortal Yan and the two others with him couldn't help but scowl, learning that the Heretics would get to live for now.

"How do you find these heretics?" Immortal Wu Lei suddenly asked. "We can tell if there are heretics from their foul aura, but I do not sense any here." He added.

"Ah, that's the issue, Lord Immortal. Unless they are first generation Heretics or others who have directly come in contact with demonic powers, they won't have the familial foul aura on their bodies." Mage Clor responded. "This was actually why they went under our radar and we were unable to check their growth. After the last purge carried out by the Sacred Immortals One hundred and ninety years ago, the heretics became clever and hid outside the settlements.

It wasn't until they had bred enough to grow their numbers and make plenty of second generation heretics that they infiltrated society. As such, it took us a lot of research and study to identify second generation heretics.

The third generation heretics are even harder to find, especially if only one of their parents was a second generation heretic. Their blood is too thin and the foul aura hides well. 

We used to think that these third generation heretics weren't heretics in the past and some were even given a chance to return to society without any stigma. But time and time again, they've proven us wrong.

They can always return to their old ways as soon as they come in contact with demonic powers. They will always be the slaves of demons and do their bidding." He explained in detail.

The female Immortal at the back couldn't help but feel quite surprised by all this.

"So much has happened in just a hundred and ninety years?" She uttered in disbelief. "Should we have done something?" 

"I'm afraid so, my Lady." Mage Clor replied. "Sacred Immortals have their divine duties and cannot be bothered to interfere in our matters. We are already happy that they aid us when we absolutely need it. 

Thus, you do not have to be worried. It is actually our fault that we let it progress this far. If we were smarter and faster at detecting them, the problem would not have reached this far." The mage quickly said in an apologetic tone.

They knew better than to put any blame on the Immortals, and it was best to direct it inwards.

Asher, along with Tess and a few others that were listening to everything, couldn't help but feel quite surprised by it. After all, this was information that was mostly unknown to commoners, especially to those that lived in the Crude Lands.

As such, they couldn't help but pay attention to it. 

Asher tried to memorize it as much as he could too, since he knew heretics had links with the very same demons who had caused the massacre today.