Shortly after the two men left, Sofia and the others returned one after another.
After hearing about their deal, Sofia looked at Alka and asked with some confusion, "Why are you offering this option later?"
After all, Alka hadn't mentioned this matter before, and it seemed he hadn't even considered it.
It was probably a spur-of-the-moment decision.
At the crowd's gaze, Alka nodded and explained, "I simply wanted to use them to spread the word about my ability."
"Those who would know I have this ability are powerful figures. This will help enhance our reputation and establish good relationships with them.
If they need any help later, I'm sure they'll be more than happy to oblige."
"Besides, this ability is unique to us, isn't it?
The main reason is that so much divine essence and treasures can pass through my hands. I can study this divine essence this way."
This latter point was actually Alka's main reason for wanting it. He possesses the ability to see treasures, allowing him to gain a profound understanding of treasures and divine essences.
This method, by contrast, makes it easier for Alka to understand more treasures he handles.
The more treasures he handles, the more he understands them, and the more he can achieve his own goals through research.
In general, their previous reluctance to spread this information was primarily due to their lack of strength.
But now, their strength is more than sufficient.
So, naturally, spreading this information would only benefit them, not harm them.
After listening to Alka's explanation, everyone nodded.
…
With Alka's deliberate display, Keparo and the others spread the news of Alka's ability through word of mouth.
Of course, the scope of dissemination was kept above the level of strength.
This led to many people learning about this, but most were skeptical, with few directly believing it.
Including the existence of the Holy Mother Church.
They were all waiting.
Waiting for Alka to produce two finished artifacts, proving he truly possessed such abilities.
After all, Keparo and Anka had both spent considerable time in the Magic-Proof Fortress.
They were all familiar with each other, and after such intense battles, they clearly knew the appearance of each man's artifacts.
The sudden appearance of a new artifact with the same abilities meant it was a remarkably certain artifact with a modified carrier and appearance.
At that point, they would have to rethink their relationship with Alka and the status of Alka and his group.
Before, they might have considered him a genius.
Now, they would have to call him Master.
This rise in status wasn't just a simple one, but a leap across several levels.
Of course, everything had to be finalized.
Sofia sat on the sofa and said, "Ever since you spread this ability, more people have been bothering us."
Hearing this, Jason and the others couldn't help but nod. It was indeed true.
The number of people trying to get close to them had indeed increased.
Everyone, consciously or unconsciously, wanted to maintain a certain level of rapport with them.
Alka simply smiled at this.
Soon, there was a knock on the door, and Keparo and Anka walked in. Their treasures had already been placed in the smelting tower, where the divine essence was being extracted.
Alka's smelting tower already had mist-like creatures, skilled in their operation, providing assistance.
Therefore, separation could be done quickly, and handling multiple treasures together wouldn't be a problem.
The two had come mainly to discuss the plan.
After finalizing the plan, they quietly waited.
But that was all there was to it. Simple and straightforward, it mainly involves patient waiting.
Keparo's treasures, when linked together, possess an extremely powerful confinement ability.
So, sometimes, when they team up to take on powerful enemies, Keparo is the one who controls them.
This control isn't about space, but rather some unique ability that even Alka can't quite describe. It can forcibly pin enemies to their spot, but there's a price to pay.
Once pinned, the enemy can no longer be harmed, and conversely, the enemy won't resist and cause harm to others.
This is perfectly suited for Alka's sealing.
Anka's ability is simpler: he possesses a scepter-level treasure.
This treasure, combined with his other treasures, can achieve a form of invisibility similar to the rules of the game.
As long as they don't attack or deliberately reveal themselves, they'll remain invisible.
Even the Devouring Mouth can't detect it.
The plan was simple: one of them would engage in a brief confrontation with Kalande, stalling him for a moment. Then, using their invisibility, they would sneak past.
Working together, the three of them could quickly subdue Kalande and then seal him.
At this point, the others would have to defend against any enemies who might attack them.
However, with the current intensity of the attack, few would truly pose a threat to them and disrupt their seal.
Just keeping an eye on Kalande during routine defenses would be enough.
A month passed quickly.
Keparo and Anka were visiting the stone house where they were resting, and this time, many people were watching.
Not only the others, but even the two involved, felt a surge of nervousness.
"In all these years, how long has it been since I've felt this nervous?" Keparo said, looking at the stone house before him, unable to resist a smile. "It's very important, that's why," Anka said briefly, and then they both knocked on the door.
Jason opened the door, smiled at the two, and ushered them in.
On the living room table sat a treasure chest.
Both men saw the chest and were immediately captivated.
Alka sat at the table, smiled at the two, and then, without further delay, opened the chest, revealing two brand-new treasures.
One was exactly what Keparo needed: an arm guard to be worn on the right wrist.
Alka had carved some relief patterns into the arm guard, following the tribal customs of the Keparo people.
He had also engraved a canine tooth pattern, unique to their race, around the arm guard.
It looked incredibly ancient and wild.
Keparo walked over quickly, took the treasure out of the chest, and examined it carefully, his expression growing increasingly satisfied.
From the patterned structure, it was clear Alka had truly put a lot of thought into it.
He couldn't help but smile and nod at Alka. "Thank you, I'm so pleased with the design."
"Try it out and see if there are any problems."
Copalo nodded and, in front of everyone, strapped the treasure to his right forearm.
It was then that Alka noticed he also had an arm guard on his left sleeve, and his eyes glowed orange.
With the arm guard, Copalo pointed his right hand toward him, clawed, as if preparing to make a fist.
Alka could keenly sense a very solid membrane forming around Copalo, insulating him from something.
This was the power of this treasure.
Next, there was another item in the box.
This treasure was made of cloth, like folded clothing. The fabric was pure black, so black that it felt as if the surrounding light was being absorbed by it.
The sheer blackness of the fabric made it impossible to tell it was made of cloth without first looking closely.
It was too black.
Anka reached out and lifted the cloak, unfolding it.
The cloak was unusually large and had a hood.
He donned it directly, then pulled the hood over it. His entire garment fitted perfectly, instantly concealing him within the black cloak.
He channeled his magic power into it, and vanished before everyone's eyes.
It wasn't complete invisibility, though.
But at least visually, he had truly vanished, right in front of everyone's eyes.
This was, after all, a Holy Grail-level artifact; its invisibility wasn't fully effective yet; it needed to be coordinated with other artifacts.
The artifact's previous appearance had been far from appealing.
Because it looked like a prisoner's shackles.
It had been changed into a black cloak, perfectly suiting the treasure's power.
The expressions on the two men's faces showed their immense satisfaction.
Acknowledging their gratitude, Alka smiled and said, "As long as you're satisfied, I'll be counting on your help in the future operations."
The two nodded, chatted for a few minutes, and then parted ways.
The two had barely walked far when someone approached them.
"How's it going, Keparo?"
Seeing the curious expression on the man's face, Keparo smiled.
"Very good, or rather, very good. It completely exceeded my expectations."
He unabashedly extended his right hand, revealing an arm guard.
The man next to him was clearly very familiar with Keparo; looking at the arm guard, he could tell he hadn't possessed this treasure before.
Then he thought for a moment: "The bracelet from before?"
"Yes."
Seeing this, he was almost certain, then looked at Anka.
He was clearly familiar with Anka.
Anka simply slipped his cloak and disappeared before him.
But this scene also gave those who noticed the situation the answer they were looking for.
You should know that Anka didn't have such an easily identifiable treasure before, and treasures that could produce the same effect didn't look like this.
At this time, atop a watchtower not far away.
An old man, holding a scepter in his hand, also watched the scene below.
"Damn, why does the Mother Church always pick up these... gifted children?" His tone was filled with bitter envy.
Hearing this, a young man nearby couldn't help but say curiously: "It's said that this Alka might be the Mother's..."
Such rumors circulated only within the Four Gods Church.
Upon hearing this, the old man waved his hand, leaning on his cane.
"Only young people like you would believe such rumors. How could such a thing…" He wanted to say, "How could it be possible?"
He'd thought so before. After all, how could the Holy Mother have a child, born at this time, and raised from an ordinary mortal?
He was certain that the Alka he had seen didn't display any of the characteristics of a Son of God.
If there was, he would have walked the earth long ago.
But now, seeing this incredible power appear, he couldn't help but wonder, could such a situation really be possible?
After all, that was a powerful god. Who knew what these gods would think?
…
Things quickly escalated, but few actually bothered Alka and sought their help, hoping to reconstruct the treasure's carrier.
The main reason was that many people weren't familiar with Alka, and rashly asking for help was likely to be rejected.
More importantly, they didn't know what Alka and the others needed, their preferences, and without knowing what they wanted, they couldn't offer the desired compensation.
This made it difficult to gain Alka's help.
They weren't going to run away immediately; they'd better build a good relationship with them first, and then consider these issues after they became familiar with them.
So, in reality, Alka had only recently helped Kans, reshaping one of his Holy Grail-level artifacts.
Its former appearance was transformed into a sword capable of wide-area damage.
More often, it was people trying to get close to them, people they knew.
After the initial enthusiasm faded, the matter quickly died down.
Alka and the others gradually began to patiently wait for an opportunity.
Waiting for Kalande to get carried away.
This is a demonic weakness, and it's bound to happen.
…
Five or six months have passed since the contract was signed seeking assistance.
The entire Demon-Defense Fortress can confirm that the demonic offensive has essentially completely weakened.
Weakened across the board.
During this period, several exploration teams also began to scout the demon-occupied areas.
They discovered that the overall demon population was decreasing, and it seemed that reinforcements were scarce, unlike before when demons were everywhere.
Now, a large portion of the demon-occupied area has opened up.
The demons' mutual attrition has also decreased, and some powerful demons are monitoring to prevent excessive attrition.
However, the demons continue their offensive, showing no sign of retreat.
And the Demon-Defense Fortress gradually began to voice concerns about whether to launch a counterattack, whether to reduce the size of its walls, expand the territory behind them, and reduce the demons' living space.
After all, this is a rare opportunity.
The problem was that this might be some demonic conspiracy, after all, the situation had been deadlocked for hundreds of years.
Both sides had been searching for an opportunity, and had succeeded several times.
This time, it might be part of another conspiracy.
As things continued, the overall atmosphere grew strange.
But regardless, for the ordinary soldiers and those on defense, this was somewhat of a blessing; after all, they could finally relax their frayed nerves for a while.
This problem had caused Kalande's attacks to become less frequent.
But this time, Alka and his men finally found a chance.
On the city wall.
Pororo stood at the edge of the wall, defending a large area.
Any demon that tried to scale the wall from this point was torn to pieces by him.
Another roar followed.
Gray lightning struck recklessly, reducing a demon, clearly a melee fighter wielding a massive axe, to ash before Pororo's lightning bolt.
With a backhanded grab, he wrenched the head off a fifth-stage demon attempting a sneak attack.
Pororo's metal armor was once again covered in a thick layer of blood.
Pororo's battles most often attracted demons with exceptional bloodthirstiness and aggression.
So, in Pororo's defense zone, demons charging towards him were essentially of this type.
They were almost all reckless.
This time, Kalande watched Pororo with his massive axe, his hands itching.
He had observed Pororo for a long time and felt he was a formidable opponent.
Observing for so long, his desire to fight Pororo grew stronger.
If Pororo wasn't a companion of Alka and the others, and Alka clearly harbored some ill intentions towards him, he would have rushed down and engaged Pororo in a frenzy.
He wouldn't have observed for so long, pondering the situation like he did now.
This time, Pororo's fight was exceptionally bloody, even more ferocious than before.
This only intensified Kalande's already frantic desire for battle.
Finally unable to resist, he charged directly at Pororo.
He cleaved the two demons blocking his path in half and kicked their bodies from the sky.
Then, he descended from the air, raising his axe and striking down hard.
Faced with the sudden attack, Pororo crossed his arms, the metal armor on his hands instantly transforming into a metal shield to block the blow.
Sparks flew at the point of collision, generating a powerful shockwave that sent soldiers flying nearby.
A clearing suddenly appeared around them.
Watching the two men engage, Alka, who had been keeping an eye on Kalande, immediately realized this was an opportunity.
He moved in a trance, leaving behind a dreamlike clone to continue the attack while he himself entered the intervening space.
He quickly rushed to the other side.
Soon, Keparo and Anka also noticed this opportunity, and the three of them gathered far away.
A strange cloth of light descended, covering the three of them, and the figures instantly vanished. Even when they passed by the demons, they showed no reaction, their forms completely concealed.
He began to slowly approach the battlefield between Pororo and Kalande.
At this moment, the two behemoths were engaged in an incredibly fierce battle.
The metal armor on their claws clashed furiously with their great axes, gray lightning and molten lava crashing into each other.
The two beasts were practically glued together in a frenzied melee.
The battle was incredibly exaggerated and ferocious.
But Pororo was clearly losing ground as the battle progressed.
There was nothing he could do about it; after all, Kalande was a formidable figure among the seventh-stage demons.
Even if Pororo's artifacts were compatible, it would be difficult to overcome such a huge gap.
But he clearly knew this was an opportunity and began to adopt an even more furious fighting stance, trying to draw the bloodthirsty Kalande into a deadly battle.