Hearing those words visibly calmed the demigod, who nodded deeply as he stood up.
"Of course, Lord Kenway. We thank you very much." Always maintaining respect, Dabrio gave thanks first.
Once that was done, he let out a soft sigh and began.
"Long ago, our branch was not the only one left; there were many of us divided into small groups that, although we were separated, we kept in touch, and we kept each other informed of our status over time.
"During that time, our total number easily exceeded 120.
"But something started to happen 2 years ago; we were losing contact with branches, we didn't know what was happening, and many of them began to fall quickly.
"Initially, we thought that the Churches had redoubled their efforts to annihilate us or that the rest of the Tamara Family who had turned to the Primordial Demoness were hunting us down. They had finally returned to finish the job, but we discovered this was not the case too late.
"One of the last remaining extensions revealed the problem before they fell. Another of our branches had turned to an Unknown Evil God, and now their first job to do was to exterminate us…"
Although the man was hiding it, Adryan could still see the great pain in his eyes, but he did not interrupt him and continued to listen.
"We found out too late. More than half of us fell at their hands. Because they also knew our methods of contact, we no longer communicated.
"The last time I spoke to them, our number was around 50..." Dabrio clenched his fists a little more, managing to contain his fury.
The red-haired man paused for a few seconds of respect and then asked, "Who are these traitorous branches?"
"We divided ourselves according to strength and numbers. We were in groups of 50, 40, and 30, respectively. Each group had a demigod as their leader, controlling a quantity of our family's resources according to the numbers they protected.
"Although we knew exactly what the others had, we didn't know where they hid it, just as we couldn't touch each other's resources. We did this in case one of us fell so that the others could survive and not be left helpless with nothing.
"You may have guessed by now, the traitorous group is the one of 30," Dabrio explained, annoyance shining in his eyes.
The redhead was silent for a few seconds, a doubt born in his mind that he quickly expressed.
"You are the leader of the group of 50, obviously. The last to survive. I doubt they are only after your characteristics.
"You have something they want, don't you?" Adryan finished, already getting an idea of what it could be.
"As the largest group, it's natural that we have control over the most important artifacts and resources.
"And as their leader, I'm the only one who knows where those artifacts are. I'm sure they're after our only two Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts."
'Not just one but two... I know one is an artifact made with the characteristics of an Angel of Concealment, but what is the other one...' Somewhat surprised by this, he let it slip a little in his expression but did not question it.
'"What about the other two?"
"The group of 40 had three Grade 1 artifacts and six Grade 2s, while the traitorous group had one Grade 1 and about ten artifacts ranging from Grades 2 to 3."
Knowing that this information could be counterproductive, Dabrio quickly added.
"Not all the members of the group were Beyonders. Only a small number, no more than 10, and an even lower number of half sequences."
'Clever, I was about to tell you to fuck off...' Tapping on his cheek without changing his expression, Adryan continued his questioning.
"How many Beyonders should be chasing you? What kind of artifacts could they bring? Their abilities, their sequences?
"You're giving me too little information. If you want this to amount to something, I need more."
Dabrio bowed deeply, "Forgive me, Lord. I will begin now.
"If I'm not mistaken, there should only be four, including the Demigod, who would be a Sequence 4 Imperative Mage.
"I will start by explaining the Grade 1 artifacts, which they will most likely bring.
"The one they took care of was the Journal of Secrets. Depending on the level of information one writes on its pages, and how secret it is, it will return information of equal or slightly lesser value...
"This is the one I think is the least likely to be brought. It has no other abilities apart from that one and its negative effect is nothing to worry about, it cannot be used in public only in private.
"The artifacts of group 40 are the most worrying.
"The first is the Festival of Endless Madness. It is a party mask of an exaggerated dragon that, once put on, can release a wave of madness in all directions over a large area, making no difference between ally and enemy. Anyone below a demigod would instantly lose control, and even I would be on the verge of madness and suffer severe mental damage.
"The second is the Doll of Sickness. As its name suggests, it is a high-quality porcelain doll that can release a cloud of diseases ranging from tuberculosis and gastroenteritis to one that devours and freezes the flesh. This one is capable of differentiating between friend and foe but only attacks men, ignoring women with the sole exception of two women related by blood. The artifact will prioritize them over anything else."
"The third is the most dangerous but also the strongest of the Grade 1 artifacts we possess. The Sword of Dawn." Dabrio sighed a little at this point.
"The Sword of Dawn is also the strangest artifact we possess. It was formed after a notable Archbishop of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun fell in the War of the Four Emperors, so its abilities are those of an Unshadowed of the Sun Pathway.
"Its abilities as well as negative effects change from carrier to carrier, this is due to its specialty. It possesses living qualities that make the main problem of this artifact difficult to control.
"To use it, you must first make a contract with it. In this contract, one has to clarify precisely which abilities they will use and the restrictions they will follow from there. If the restrictions are not correlative to the abilities one wishes to use or are not restrictive enough, the sword will reject this and make the contract on its own.
"This, without exception, makes the negative effects so strong and difficult to control that they are impossible to use and almost always kill the contractor.
"But, if the contract is accepted. This is notarized; those will be the abilities and the negative effect it will possess. If one tries to use an ability not in the contract, they will be severely punished by having their soul burned to nothingness by the sword."
Adryan blinked a little, surprised at this information. 'It's the first time I've heard of such an artifact... Because of this negative effect, it is possible that the one who caused the death of this Archbishop was a High Sequence of the Justiciar Pathway, perhaps even the Night Emperor himself...'
Scratching his cheek slightly, the redhead sighed and nodded, "From what we can gather, the Grade 1 artifact they will have in their possession will be the Sword of Dawn. The other two are very dangerous to use in large groups and cause great destruction, something they want to avoid as it would attract the attention of the Wise Owls…"
Tap Tap Tap…
His eyes focused on the man, "How are you sure they didn't use the characteristics of the leader of Group 40 to advance one of them to Sequence 4? And what about the Grade 0 artifacts? Why didn't you use those?"
This bothered him as soon as Dabrio mentioned that the leaders of each group were demigods and the state of the sealed artifacts.
Dabrio sighed tiredly, "That's of the way they are sealed. Only by bringing two Demigods of either the Arbiter Pathway of the Lawyer Pathway or a mix of the two will the seal open; this is not only for safety reasons but because of the negative effects of the artifacts only two demigods of those two pathways can safely enter to extract them..."
Laughing a little at the end, the Tamara sighed sadly, "They don't know this. If they did, they wouldn't have killed the other one and hunted me down.
"And for them to birth another demigod during this time. Without the help of the family, it's impossible to do it alone.
"The ritual consists of a minimum group of 2000 people or more, who can be Beyonder or not, following the order you established in your control area for a whole week. By area of control, I mean the area where you protect the order.
"If you are settled, this can be your house with about two extra buildings, and if you are part of an organization, it can, at the minimum, include your entire street. And therein lies the problem.
"This family branch is not part of any organization as they have constantly moved. They have not given their domain time to grow, even with the help of another Imperative Mage; without time to settle down and being part of an organization that controls the area, the ritual is impossible to complete.
"In the same way that outside their control area, the Beyonders of the Arbiter Pathway are weaker. Outside our order, our abilities cannot show their full power."
Adryan felt he had reached enlightenment with this information.
'That's why Xio asked for the hunt for Botis to be in her area of control! If it had been outside this area, her abilities as a Judge would have been weakened, and she wouldn't have been much help! Of course, it's not that she was much help, being that she was Sequence 6 in a battle of Sequence 4, but even so, that was indeed her intention...
'With this information, it is not wrong to say and affirm that an Imperative Mage enforces the Law. Outside their area of control, how can they enforce the law correctly?'
It's as if an ordinary policeman from Argentina wanted to arrest a Paraguayan citizen in Paraguay. His power to enforce the law would be practically nil!
Knowing this was a theory for now, he put it to the most appropriate person to confirm it.
"So this Imperative Mage hunting you is not in an area that he controls the order, does that mean his abilities are weaker?"
"To a certain extent, yes. The difference is considerable compared to when he would be in a place he controls and protects." Dabrio nodded gently.
"It's the same with all Imperative Mages, which is why they don't leave the areas designated by the organizations they work for," he added.
"Is there any way to avoid this? Any exceptions to the rule where you have to stay in one area?"
Dabrio paused for a moment before answering, and after 15 seconds, he nodded.
"There is only one. Suppose the organization of which an Imperative Mage is part is globally recognized. In that case, the highest head of the organization can give special permission that would allow them to use their abilities 100 percent wherever they go.
"Of course, they would lose the advantages of having a control zone, but in return, their abilities would not be diminished."
'A globally recognized organization... That's the Orthodox Churches, so only they can give such permission... The Justiciar Pathway is much more curious than I thought...' Adryan admitted to himself before sighing and nodding.
"Well, at least we can rule out this enemy's ability to use their abilities to the full. Of course, he will make up for that with the artifacts and equipment he will bring…" Murmuring a little, a smile began to form on his face.
"I always had a question. Tell me, Mr. Dabrio, what would happen if an Imperative Mage lost his voice? Would he be able to issue an order without it?"
The question immediately made Flora tense slightly, who finally understood what the man was saying before.
Dabrio nodded, "One of the cores of the Imperative Mages is the Voice of Law. If we lose it, we cannot give a new law, but we can still use other abilities to defend the established order."
At his words, Jacob's pupils shrank for a moment.
'You really have a crazy vision...' Flora thought, somewhat dazed, as she looked at the redhead's back.
Adryan's smile quickly sharpened into a predatory one.
The plan in his mind had already been decided.
"Mr. Dabrio, you know the price, don't you?"
Tamara nodded calmly, "I've already accepted that; all the profits from this will be yours."
"Good boy, so before we start, I need four more things from you," Adryan said, holding up four fingers.
"As you say, Lord Kenway." Dabrio bowed deeply.
"First, I need you to explain to us from scratch all the skills on your path from Sequence 9 to 4; don't skip a single detail.
"Second, I need you to show each of them to us and help the lady next to me to practice them."
"Third, that you explain all the grade 2 artifacts they might have; you still need to do that..." With each request, one finger went down until only one was left.
"And fourth..."
When only his index finger was left, the smile on Adryan's face turned extremely sweet.
"I need your blood, hair, and nails. The more you can give me, the better~"