"He’s a Supreme Archfiend."

’A Supreme Archfiend huh.’

’I’ve already defeated a Supreme Archfiend before, so Caesar’s plan is not to use this prodigy to kill me.’

’Unless the prodigy has powerful defensive and offensive artifacts, and it would not be surprising if the boy has a lot of artifacts because of how much House Mercer values him.’

’Hmm... This mission might be a lot more difficult than I expect.’

He looked at Vexa, then he decided to ask another question.

"Is the prodigy related to anyone in particular?"

Vexa glanced at him, then she looked back and nodded.

"Yes. He is."

"Who?" He asked.

Vexa remained silent for a while, then she released a sigh and finally replied.

"His father is the house head."

Simon didn’t know how to react for some time, but after a few seconds, a chuckle could not help but escape his lips.

’Really Caesar? First of all, you made me kill Blackblade, and if not Ormon, the First Blade would have taken me months ago.’

’Now, you want me to kill a boy whose father is the head of the House of Mercer? Is that how you are? Instead of doing the killing yourself or with your direct underlings, you make others do the killing for you?’

’Is your main goal for me to die at the hands of the prodigy or his father? Or is it something else entirely.’

Simon shook his head while releasing another chuckle.

Vera, Noctis, Silith, Morrow, and Gorr heard his chuckle, but none of them said anything.

They were all focused on crossing the desert and reaching their destination.

The wind continued to howl around them as they crossed the desert.

The sand beneath Simon’s feet shifted slightly with every step, and sometimes, the strong winds would erase their footprints almost immediately after they were made.

The visibility around them was poor because of the sand moving about in the air, and occasionally, Simon would see blurry shapes in the distance only for him to realize that they were merely illusions caused by the heat.

The heat in the desert was intense.

Even though demons possessed powerful physiques, Simon could still feel the heat beating against his skin and clothes.

Fortunately, his weak fire affinity gave him the ability to ignore the heat.

As they walked, Simon occasionally noticed traces of bones buried beneath the sand.

Some were demon bones.

Some were from beasts.

Some were so massive that Simon was not even certain what kind of creature they originally belonged to, even with his knowledge and experience.

Though he had a few guesses, they were just guesses at the end of the day.

At one point, he even saw the upper half of a ruined stone structure buried beneath a dune.

Only a few broken pillars remained visible.

The rest had already been devoured by the desert long ago.

The place felt isolated.

Empty.

Like a forgotten corner of the world abandoned by both demons and beasts.

And strangely enough...

Simon could not sense a single living creature around them aside from his teammates.

’No beasts... no insects... nothing. Where in the world is this desert? I should read more on the geography of the demon realm... but it’s just too big.’

The absence of life alone made the desert feel even more dangerous.

After walking silently for several minutes, Simon finally spoke again.

"What is the prodigy’s name?"

Vexa answered without looking back.

"Lucien Mercer."

Simon narrowed his eyes slightly.

"What race is he?"

"Frostborn."

’Hmm?’

A slight look of surprise appeared in Simon’s eyes.

The Frostborn race was not weak.

Quite the opposite.

They were one of the strongest races that possessed natural ice affinity.

Their bodies possessed high resistance to cold, and many Frostborn demons specialized in large-scale destructive abilities and defensive techniques.

"Does he only possess ice affinity?"

"No. He has a dual affinity... Ice and water affinity."

Simon nodded slightly.

That combination was expected.

"What weapon does he use?"

"A spear."

This time, Simon’s eyes flickered slightly.

Spear users were troublesome.

Especially powerful spear users.

Compared to swords, spears possessed superior range, greater piercing power, and terrifying lethality.

If the user was skilled enough, approaching them carelessly was practically suicide.

"Lucien is not weak." Vexa suddenly said.

"There are rumors that he can already fight weak Minor Greater Demons despite still being a Supreme Archfiend."

Simon remained calm after hearing this.

Rumors were merely rumors.

Until he saw Lucien fight personally, he would not fully trust the information. And even if it was true, he would know how to deal with the situation.

Silith suddenly laughed softly.

"Though honestly, the main reason you’re here is because of Blackblade."

Simon glanced at her.

She shrugged lazily.

"You killed a Supreme Archfiend as a Fiend. The clan doesn’t really have many monsters like that."

Noctis chuckled softly.

"Especially not first years."

Simon remained silent.

The atmosphere became quiet once more afterward as they continued crossing the desert.

Nearly thirty minutes later, Vexa finally stopped walking.

Simon looked ahead and frowned slightly.

There was nothing there.

Only sand.

Vexa crouched slightly and placed her hand on the ground.

A few seconds later, demonic energy flowed out of her palm and into the sand.

Rumble!

The ground suddenly trembled violently.

Simon immediately became alert, but he quickly realized that the others were calm.

The sand before them began sinking inward before revealing a massive hole beneath the desert.

Cold air drifted upward from the darkness below.

’A hidden underground cave?’

Simon looked at Vexa with a strange expression.

The level of secrecy the Shadowgrave Clan used for their teleportation routes was absurd.

No wonder enemies could not easily infiltrate the clan.

"Let’s go."

Vexa jumped downward first.

The others followed behind her without hesitation.

Simon looked into the darkness below for a moment before jumping down as well.

The underground cave was enormous.

The walls were rough and ancient, and there were countless glowing chaos runes carved into the stone walls.

At the very center of the cave was another teleportation circle.

Compared to the previous one, this teleportation circle was much larger and more complex.

Simon could already tell from a single glance that the chaos runes used here were far superior.

He instinctively tried memorizing some of them again.

Unfortunately for him, many of the runes were too complicated for his current understanding.

The team entered the teleportation circle once more.

Several seconds later, the circle glowed with crimson light.

And then...

The world around Simon changed again.

The heat disappeared instantly.

A chilling cold assaulted his body immediately after the teleportation ended.

Simon blinked once.

White.

Everywhere was white.

Snow covered the ground, the rooftops, the streets, and even the distant mountains surrounding the city.

Cold wind blew across his face while snow slowly descended from the sky.

Simon looked ahead, and for the first time since leaving the clan, a faint look of surprise appeared in his eyes.

A gigantic city stood before him.

Towering walls of black stone surrounded the city, and countless glowing blue crystals were embedded into the walls like stars in the night sky.

Massive buildings stretched high into the sky while streams of demons moved through the streets like rivers.

Some demons rode enormous beasts through the snowy roads while others flew above the city on winged creatures.

At the very center of the city...

A gigantic palace-like structure could be seen in the distance.

The palace radiated a terrifying icy aura that even Simon could faintly feel from this far away.

"Welcome to Gondor." Vexa said calmly beside him.

"The capital city of House Mercer."