Ashtel thought about all the SS-rankers registered in the world alliance one by one, but none of them seemed like the type of person who would have enough power or motivation to help Neo and Alverto in their dark plans.
"All clues seem to point the fingers towards the âDemon Kingâ... but... that fellow, his power shouldnât be related to âprojectionsâ and âconcealment.â ..."
"The last time I fought him... his power was more direct and combat-related, like me..."
Ashtel actually knew the âDemon Kingâs World Authorityâ pretty well, as he had fought the other party just a few decades ago.
Back then, Ashtelâs own World Authority was barely around level 3, and yet he was still able to go toe to toe with the Demon King.
Which meant that currently the demon king wasnât as much of a threat to him anymore with his increased strength.
"Unless the demon king has been secretly replaced by some new fellow who has a completely different world authority than him..."
"Thereâs no way that there would be such a big change in power..."
"The chances of this third-party being someone I donât know about is much higher..."
Usually, if an SS-ranker were born, the entire world would sense it and would immediately find out about such a matter.
Last time when Jin had ascended to rank SS, the entire world immediately noticed the change in the entire worldâs flow of mana; even the demons had become more restless soon after that.
Thus, itâs almost impossible for a person to hide the fact that they have ascended to rank SS from the rest of the world and stay in hiding the entire time.
Sooner or later, they are bound to be noticed.
"Unless someone found an SS-rank dungeon, went inside, and then ascended to rank SS while inside such a powerful dungeon, can they hide the fact of their ascension from the rest of the world!"
"But doing something like that is as good as committing su*cide willingly! Even if a person is just on the verge of reaching rank SS, they are still not strong enough to survive inside the SS-rank dungeons without a world authority..."
"This begs the question... where did this mysterious SS-ranker even come from?..."
Suddenly Ashtel turned to his left and spoke,
"What do you think about my analogy?"
The moment Ashtel spoke those words, the space-time fabric split apart and a small portal opened.
A blurry greyish-black shadowy figure walked out of the small portal; the shadowy figure seemed like it was just a fragile shadow of something that could be destroyed at a mere touch.
It had no presence or soul fluctuation of its own, but it was definitely something extraordinary.
"Your deduction ability is just as flawless as your raw strength is... no wonder they call you the strongest man on this planet..."
The voice of that blurry shadowy figure was very uncomfortable to hear, and just the mere presence of that being was enough to cause the density of miasma and corruption to rise in the area.
"Itâs been a while, Ashtel Rex..."
At the other partyâs words, Ashtel smirked as he replied with a look of arrogance on his face.
"Indeed, itâs been a while, Demon King Nebo Dahaka... What brings you here today, I wonder?"
While saying that, Ashtel activated his world authority at low power, distorted the space-time fabric, and hid Raji, Liam, and the entire underground lab inside a simple barrier made of his power.
"Unless you are provoking me and want me to go rushing straight into the territory of the demon race... I canât understand why someone like you would dare to enter the territory of HUMANITY?"
"Give me your best REASON, or I WOULD NOT HESITATE TO LAY WASTE to your precious palace..."
As if Ashtel were standing like an unbreakable shield between the demon king and the rest of humanity, he flew forward and confronted the demon king himself without showing the slightest bit of hesitation and fear on his face.
Looking at Ashtel, who was standing like an unavoidable obstacle in his way, the blurry shadow went silent for a moment before speaking.
"You know that I am not here to cause trouble for you... after all, I am here just in the form of a mere vessel of mine..."
"If I wanted to create trouble, I would have come with my real body, as even I know that I canât force someone as strong as you out of my way without putting some effort in first..."
Ashtel crossed his arms around his chest at those words as he spoke.
"Hmph, You are wrong; even if you put your best efforts in scheming against me, I would still not let you do whatever you want..."
"As long as I am protecting âhumanity,â I would not let the likes of you damage even a single blade of grass here!"
At Ashtelâs words, the blurry shadow showed a distorted smile on its face.
"You are the second most interesting person I have ever met in my entire life Ashtel Rex... if only you were a little bit more trustable.... No... thereâs no need for that..."
"I have a much better option..."
Ashtel frowned at the Demon Kingâs words and spoke,
"Donât beat around the bush... speak what you want to speak and piss off!! I do not have time to waste on someone like you!"
As if ignoring Ashtelâs rude words, the Demon King didnât bother replying to them; instead, he created a small shadowy hand that pointed a finger straight towards the underground lab.
"I must speak with Rio Flash... âAloneâ... So, you must let him come with me to the demon continent..."
"What I want is for you to stop being an obstacle in my way... and let me pass through..."
Hearing the Demon Kingâs words, Ashtel opened his arms wide open as he spoke with a grin on his face.
"Iâm not going to stop being the obstacle any time soon..."
"And if you have the guts... THEN make me MOVE if you CAN!"