Chapter 390: A Caravan?
"I believe that should be plausible," Azmodeus said as his feet left the ground and burst forth into the vast verdant plains beyond.
For some reason, he was right outside the Omega Dome's periphery, which was definitely quite odd. After all, he had no prior reasons as to why he would be out in the middle of an empty field with a missing area of space that looked almost as if a large tree used to be there.
"Maybe amnesia?" Azmodeus asked himself with a raised brow. "But as an Immortal… Is that even possible…?"
He didn't know the answer to that question, but there were many unexplainable things in the world. It wouldn't be all that odd to have a rare one-off occurrence of an Immortal Venerable suddenly tracking a case of amnesia.
After using this train of thought as a form of coping, Azmodeus flashed into the Omega Dome's outer barrier. He then passed through the 3rd Generation section and 2nd Generation section before finally arriving in the area for 1st Generation Knight Apprentices.
Azmodeus entered through a set of wide, translucent blue doors that looked like clouds. Yet, after he passed through them, they closed as if they were solid objects.
The doors themselves lay in the center of an empty black basin, but as soon as one walked through them, an entirely new world would be opened up. One filled with low-hanging old buildings and unusually-shaped establishments. Some in the form of boots, and some that looked like teapots or kettles.
Strolling in and around these buildings were 3rd Generation Knight Apprentices, all of whom were in the Immortal Venerable Realm. Some even neared the Immortal King Realm, and were likely only half a step away from making a breakthrough.
As Azmodeus made his way through this unique landscape, he did his utmost to ignore all the hustle and bustle. Thankfully, his cultivation and technique prowess were sufficient enough to allow him to slip past all the passersby and make his way up a large hill. At the top of the hill was a spacious building in the shape of a sandwich.
The sandwich building clearly had people living in it as the lights were on, enabling the residents to see better under the year-round dimly lit skies of the 3rd Generation Knight Apprentice Grounds.
As Azmodeus entered this oddly-shaped building and spoke with the ones who gave out missions, something even more unusual was occurring within the Silver Dragon Palace of the Silver Catastrophe.
"...Huh…? Why does my head hurt so much??"
The Silver Catastrophe rubbed his temples while sitting atop his throne. By his side was his wife, Miss Moon, and she, too, was rubbing her head as if trying to alleviate a migraine.
"My husband, I have the same sensation," Miss Moon said as she leaned up against him, trying to recall the most recent period of time.
However, no matter how much she thought about it, nothing came back to her. It was as if large, important chunks of her memories had been removed, but rather than find this unusual, her mind convinced her that it was completely normal.
The same thing was happening for the Silver Catastrophe, and within mere seconds, they shook their heads to clear their confusion. Then, as if what they just experienced was all a part of their imagination, they went back to signing papers.
They had no recollection of ever conceiving a daughter known as Sylvia. It was as if she never existed to begin with.
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Meanwhile, a few tens of thousands of miles outside the Omega Dome, Azmodeus skipped his feet across the ground and darted above the vast grassy plains and fields of the River Serpent Empire.
His new mission was to go to the neighboring Azureflask Empire and join their highest ranks as a Chief Royal Advisor. He would then live out the next indefinite period of time as the Chief Royal Advisor. Only upon breaking through to the Immortal King Realm would he be able to complete the mission and return to the Omega Dome to apply as an official Omega Knight.
Azmodeus would then be asked if he would like to serve within the Omega Dome Headquarters, head back to the Azureflask Empire, or take up an entirely different mission and continue enforcing the law.
While still on the fence about what he planned to do in the future, Azmodeus glided across the grassy plains. Then, with a slight ear twitch, he heard some commotion from further ahead on the naturally carved path.
"A caravan…?"
A few hundred meters in front of him was a caravan of six carts. Three of the carts were leaning off to the side as they were missing a couple of their wooden wheels. Or, rather, their wheels were being taken away by some unsavory characters wearing baggy black and white clothing. They also had masks over their faces, all with the same scorpion sigil printed on them.
"First a caravan and now some thieves, great," Azmodeus said sarcastically. "Well, they are in my way. And as such, they deserve to be borrowed from themselves."
As Azmodeus decisively made the choice to approach the caravan and 'assist' the poor common folk of the caravan, they too noticed his presence.
"Look, father! Help has arrived!" A young man yelled while tied up next to his father. His complexion immediately improved as he started to shout out to the approaching silhouette.
"Shut up, you idiot!" The man's father berated his son as he slapped him across the head without using his hands.
After making sure that the robbers weren't focused on them, the father breathed a sigh of relief. He then carefully watched with his son as the robbers confronted the mysterious red-haired man.
'These are no normal thieves,' the man thought in a grievous tone. 'All of them can match up to 3rd Generation Knight Apprentices, and they are part of the far larger Sand Scorpion Syndicate.'
...