William wanted to keep his demonic lineage and powers a secret—at least for now. Lucas and Thompson seemed to be on his side completely, but he couldn’t deny that his abilities were somewhat... strange.

Lucas had already commented on the mysterious man who killed some summoned heroes and drove the others away. His abilities shared certain elements to William’s...

"We both have demonic powers. If they find out, I could become an enemy overnight," William thought.

The best move was to keep that secret buried a little longer.

Zanyi walked back to them.

"Told you to leave it to me. Unlocked that barrier easily, hehe."

William had to act fast.

"Maybe the smart move is finding the suspect first," William suggested. "We should let Thompson know, too. Would be good to interrogate him, find out what’s inside before we just barge in." He paused. "If even Master Zanyi hadn’t noticed this place, that means these people aren’t exactly amateurs."

The logic was sound. It bought him time.

Lucas still had some demonic energy lingering within him, and he trusted William at this point. He didn’t argue with the logic.

"Sure, why not?" He nodded. "You’ve got a point. This place isn’t simple. Rushing in would be a bad move. I think we should find Thompson and get him to help us track down Derick—then you can interrogate him, William."

William noticed Zanyi didn’t fully buy his excuse, but the old man kept his thoughts to himself. He simply went along with it.

"Alright, let’s move then. We can’t waste any more time," Zanyi said, walking away from the barrier. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"You’re leaving the barrier as is? What if someone finds out?" William asked.

"Worry not. They won’t. Whoever uses this farm certainly has an amulet that lets them enter without deactivating it."

"Oh. Makes sense."

The three of them left the house behind, returning to the more common areas around the city where most patrolmen operated.

William wanted to go back there directly, but he couldn’t. He’d have to use something that might be looked down upon—if discovered.

All those soldiers he’d interrogated before still had his demonic energy inside them. It would take roughly three days to fade away.

So even though William couldn’t just abandon Zanyi and Lucas to investigate that farm directly, he had the means to send one of the soldiers to check it out for him.

"That might be my best chance to hide the clues about my class... and maybe the demonic artifact too," he thought.

As they walked back, William activated the demonic energy in one of the soldiers he’d interrogated.

He chose one who seemed most skilled in stealth missions—raw power alone wouldn’t cut it for this.

William needed the soldier to slip away and head to that location without drawing attention, especially from Zanyi, Lucas, and Thompson.

The moment the energy activated, the soldier’s eyes turned black for a split second—less than a heartbeat—then returned to normal. No one noticed. The man was off-duty, knocking back a beer inside the city’s tavern.

Now, everything the soldier saw, heard, and did was mentally controlled by William. An incredibly useful ability.

The soldier finished his drink, paid the bartender, and left. He slipped out through one of the side gates—lesser used, less guarded than the main entrance.

Those secondary exits weren’t common knowledge among the residents. Only people engaged in "extralegal" activities knew about them.

So how did this soldier know about them?

Well... he was one of the ones having affairs with married women in the area. To avoid getting caught, he’d been using these alternative routes to sneak out of the city at night.

He wasn’t exactly a noble guy, but William needed his help. He chose to ignore the man’s extracurricular activities.

Besides, considering all the atrocities people committed these days, having an affair with a married woman didn’t seem like the end of the world.

Either way, that wasn’t William’s concern right now.

He guided the soldier directly toward the abandoned farm.

Nighttime would’ve been ideal for this kind of mission, but William didn’t have all day to wait.

They were actively hunting Derick at that very moment. If they found him quickly, Zanyi and Lucas would want to return to the farm immediately to investigate.

Meaning William had to act fast.

Along the way, the soldier chose the optimal route, avoiding other people as much as possible.

Since he was just a regular guy—no armor, off-duty—anyone who spotted him paid no attention.

He was invisible in plain sight.

As he got closer to the farm, things only improved. Not a single living soul in the vicinity.

The real danger lay in defensive formations inside the farm itself. That was William’s biggest fear in that moment.

What if there were traps? What if his controlled soldier got killed inside?

That would be disastrous.

But unfortunately, William had to push forward with the plan. Even if it went sideways, he could always come up with some excuse for why the soldier had shown up there.

Better than them discovering too much about his powers.

The soldier crept toward the farm’s entrance, scanning the surroundings to ensure no one was watching.

The barrier had a gap—exactly where Zanyi had disabled it. Getting inside and reaching the main door was effortless.

The soldier paused with his hand on the doorknob.

William was hesitating.

In the end, he pushed through. The door swung open, unlocked.

What lay inside was the complete opposite of what he expected.

While the exterior looked like a typical wooden farm, the interior resembled a castle. A dungeon. A tomb.

Stone walls illuminated by candelabras, antique furniture strangely pristine—no dust whatsoever.

This wasn’t some simple construction. Perhaps that explained why Zanyi, a master of formations, hadn’t detected it before.

Whoever created this place had employed powerful magic.

William—or rather, the soldier he controlled—took a breath and pressed on.

He needed answers about his class.

And that demonic artifact somewhere inside this castle.