The air in the throne room was thick with a new kind of tension.
It wasn't the frantic energy of an impending battle, but the quiet, simmering excitement of a conspiracy.
We had found a secret. A breadcrumb trail left in the digital wilderness, leading to... what? An alliance? A trap? A support group for Demon Kings with bad backs and existential dread?
I had to know.
"Pixia," I commanded, my voice low and serious.
"We are responding to this message.
But we will do so with an abundance of caution and a healthy dose of paranoia.
I want plausible deniability. I want a digital ghost."
"Understood, my Lord," she squeaked, already buzzing with a flurry of activity.
"I shall procure a disposable, untraceable communication device from the human world.
And I will establish a secure, encrypted connection through a series of offshore proxy servers routed through a defunct pizza delivery app's network.