The faces of the bodies are not real, the memories are in bits and pieces. Sam could understand why their battle prowess is so weak and unreal. After all, with their positions as young masters and, it is impossible for them to be so weak in front of his friends.
Even though he is sure that they would lose, the difference wouldn"t be overwhelming like it is now.
Compared to the subst.i.tutes placed in the Black Ghosts these guys are more in number and worst in terms of quality. Their memories were not implemented in them properly to the point that the basic battle instincts and the reflexes are absent.
"How do you know about these guys?"
Demon soul asked as he noticed Sam"s deeply thoughtful expression.
Sam came out of his daze and started explaining the situation with the Black Ghosts.
"So, you are saying that Divine healer Vardar is behind all this."
"I don"t know if he is involved in this and he is responsible for this himself, from what I learned Vardar is only focusing on the information gathering organization, and in this area, Black Ghosts are the ones handling the intelligence trade.
So, I cannot confirm whether it is the work of Vardar or not. But with my minimum knowledge of the surrounding realms, only he is capable of doing it."
"That Old b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He never changes does he."
Demon Soul muttered involuntarily.
All four of them looked at him in surprise.
"You know Vardar?"
"Well, we have crossed paths before and it is not exactly a pleasant experience for both of us. I have known him before he became this so-called Divine Healer. He used to do a different kind of work and it seems like he never really stopped that kind of work from the looks of it."
"What kind of work exactly?"
Sam asked curiously. It seems like he has been crossing paths with the Vardar too often. It started with his disciple at Five Elemental King"s place and then with Markan and Black Ghost"s incident and now the Five Great sects.
At least the first two incidents have a specific gap between them, but now he came across his name back to back.
Demon Soul thought for a moment and said.
"He is actually a Mercenary to put it nicely. He might not be that powerful when it comes to direct confrontation, but with enough preparation time and resources, he would be unstoppable."
Jack looked at Sam and said.
"Sounds like someone I know."
Sam just gave him a side-eyed glance as he listened to what Demon Soul had to say.
"Vardar, is not really good at anything else. Even his organization is actually a small one. The Palace of Divine only consists of his close disciples, the attendants and servants, and in some rare cases the disciples of the disciples.
The realms and territories in the surrounding area, just give him protection fees.
He knows his limitations well. The ruling is not his forte and he doesn"t want to take that responsibility. He doesn"t even have any resource points under his control except for the ones he has in his estate.
But there is another main source of his income. It is doing the dirty work for some bigshots."
Sam was surprised a bit and he looked into the wrist screen to check.
The Palace of Divine is third on the list. It is part of the final three. One of the strongest organizations they have to face. Even for Sam, it is going to take months if not years. He is even planning to wait for the other players and prepare with them again.
But this guy is just a person who does dirty work for others?
That is kind of unbelievable.
"Why are you so surprised?" Demon Soul asked as he watched Sam"s reaction.
"I doubt there are any organizations, that can really make the Vardar do their dirty work. He is way too strong for that isn"t he?"
"Yes, he is. But it is voluntary. He makes his living like that and he does the bidding of the organizations on par with him.
He heals, cures poisons, and even solves genetic conditions. But that is just a farce. He does a lot of dirty work and this infiltration with clones is something along the lines of his choice.
He must have not known I am the one who is guarding this place. So, he tried something like this."
"Maybe, he knew it was you and that is why he is so discreet?"
"No, that doesn"t sound like him. There are very few people who were still alive after knowing his past and those few people are someone that he couldn"t mess with. I am part of that group. It is just that I maintained a low profile for such a long time, that he might have missed my presence here.
And every time he is this discreet something big is going to happen."
Demon Soul who is always playful and rowdy turned extremely serious. Even Jack who is a disciple hasn"t seen him like this before.
After a few minutes of silence, he stood up and said seriously.
"I need to leave. You guys should be careful."
"What? Where are you going?" Jack was shocked and he almost yelled out loud.
"Jack, stay with your friend for a while. I need to go and settle some things. I don"t know if the situation is really as bad as I think, but if it is things wouldn"t be peaceful for a while. The nearby realms would be burning in war.
If things really come down to it, the four of you guys just leave this place and stay there for a decade or so."
With that, he paused and took out some potions.
"These are for you." He gave more to Jack and then Sam. Jack has many vials of the same potion, but Sam has different elemental potions.
"These things are brought from a different place and they are not ordinary ingredients. So, be careful when you use it.
Philip and Watt, you guys just used it recently, so make sure that you wait for a few more months.
Jack, you know how to use yours."
He then turned to Sam and said.
"You are a lot smarter than I ever expected. At first, I thought your friends are boasting and now I know that they are not giving you enough credit.
One thing I observed from your story is that you are on a winning streak. It is almost like losing is impossible for you. You have never even faced a possibility of losing until now. Maybe it is thanks to your preparations and I highly doubt that it has nothing to do with it, but you must also be extremely fortunate.
But be careful that luck always runs out.
I really like you. I am really looking forward to seeing your future. And the bond you have with your friends is something that most people wouldn"t have even in a few lifetimes, so don"t lose it."
He then turned around and didn"t turn back again as he slowly walked into the woods.
Sam suddenly thought of something and turned to Jack.
"Give me your tracking token."
Jack took it out and gave it to Sam.
Sam took off on harbinger as he went to meet Demon Soul in the woods.
"Demon Soul."
He yelled as soon as he was in sight.
Demon soul turned to him in confusion.
"What is it?"
Sam gave the token to him and said.
"This is something I gave to Jack so that he would be able to contact me in case of extreme emergencies.
Since we got back together, I would like you to have it. Contact me if something is up, whether you are in danger or something you need to warn us about…"
"Danger? What can a brat like you do to me, if even I am in danger? You would die just from the aftershocks of the battle."
"I know, but it doesn"t hurt to contact me does it. Just keep it for my sake."
"Okay. Don"t bother me."
With that, the old man picked up his pace and went towards the city.
Sam went back to the cave residence and sighed.
"Well, that is that. I thought he would be helpful in dealing with the Five Great sects, but maybe we cannot expect that much."
"I thought so too," Jack said with a hint of melancholy in his voice.
"Okay guys, let us continue with the initial plan. All the dirty laundry of the sects will be aired while we split and finish the a.s.sa.s.sinations.
Since we don"t know how many duplicates are there in the organization, we can also wait and see and might even be able to identify them with the way they react.
They would be the easier target and we will also get a true estimate of the actual power we are going against.