"If I'm not wrong, this base right here was the one that attacked your plane. It belongs to the official Dalia Military, and it's just fifty kilometers away from the accident site! It can only be them," Heath told Lucifer.
" And if it's not them, then it could be some other enemy of yours that wanted to take advantage of the chaos and leave scot-free after failing," he further added, finishing the explanation.
The new discovery made Lucifer run his temple in frustration. Just when he thought he had dealt with everything, it turned out that he was wrong, and the Jet from Elisium, which was coming to get him, was still at the risk of being blown up since he basically wasted his time.
However, it also raised some serious questions. Was it really the doing of Dalia? Or was it some enemy?
"It can't be my enemy, though. All my enemies know that I can't die in an explosion," he muttered, frowning.
"Well, maybe you weren't the target then? You did mention that your friends had almost died. Since they're your friends, they must be important too. Maybe they were the targets? It's either that of Dalia. That's for sure," Heath let out, throwing a possibility at Lucifer.
"Or maybe, it's your enemy that forced Dalia to blow up the place? I mean, that's also a real possibility. Your enemy would have been successful in taking out your friends, and with all this fake news, the blame would've been shifted to us."
"In a rage, you would've destroyed us, helping Dalia unintentionally? That's a big incentive for Dalia to help your enemy by blowing up the place? Isn't it?" he further added, feeling like he was pretty close to the truth.
All of this couldn't have been a coincidence.
"I didn't even think about this. There was also this possibility. Did someone want to take those two out? I don't think anyone would want to take Caen out," Lucifer muttered, frowning.
"He doesn't have that much significance. So if what you're saying is true, then I wasn't the target, but it was Salazar? Someone wanted Salazar to die?"
"Well, I don't know who this Salazar is, but possibly," Heath agreed. "Is there someone who would have wanted Salazar dead and could have resources to influence Dalia?"
"Someone who wanted Salazar dead?" Lucifer muttered, confused. "The only people who knew about Salazar coming with me were my team members. As for wanting him dead..."
He remembered that Kellian was upset a little when Lucifer had decided to let Salazar work with them. He was also suspicious of Salazar, thinking that he was going to betray them in this important mission.
He couldn't help but wonder if this was actually done by Kellian? Is that why he asked if others were safe? Is that why all the fake reports about this organization appeared soon after he had requested Kellian to investigate who was behind this?
He could see the timing of the articles that talked about the threat of this organization. And the timing matched out with what he knew. These appeared precisely one minute after he had asked Kellian to investigate.
"If this is true, then Vega is also involved. He could be the only one who could pull it off so fast. As for Drak, I don't believe that guy would do something like this without informing me. He's more loyal to me than others."
"This possibility... There's a good chance indeed. But if it's true, that would mean Kellian really went behind my back, putting not only Salazar but even Caen at risk. He even places this whole mission in danger because of his anger?"
Seeing Lucifer think deeply, Heath finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had successfully managed to put his point across.
"I think only Dalia can answer your question. Only they'll know if they did it on their own or if someone else commanded them," he told Lucifer. "So, will you go to them now?"
"Not only me, but you're also coming with me. If it turns out that you're lying, I'll kill you right then. And if it turns out that you're telling the truth, I'll make you the Ruler of Dalia as compensation since I destroyed your organization. Do you accept?" Lucifer asked Heath.
He realized that he had acted hastily before seeing the bigger picture. The situation wasn't just black and white. Moreover, now that there was a chance that Kellian was guilty, he needed to investigate it.
He didn't know what he was going to do if it turned out that Kellian was really guilty, but he knew that he was going to be really angry in that case.
The tornadoes that were ravaging the city stopped, disappearing entirely. It was too late though. Most of the city was already destroyed by now.
"Come with me," he told Heath.
...
"I'm starting to get hungry. Let's go and hunt something. We don't know how long he's going to take. We shouldn't stay hungry."
Back in the forest, Salazar had already stood up, getting tired of all the waiting. The sun had already started rising in the distant horizon, signaling the morning. The last they had eaten was right after the crash.
"I'll prepare the wood and fire. You can bring a beast," Caen agreed, standing up.
As the work was decided, the two of them walked in separate directions, deciding to meet back here as soon as they finished.
Caen got the easy task of finding wood for cooking. As for Salazar, he searched all around, trying to find a beast only to fail. There was no beast at sight.
"Finally!" Salazar exclaimed, finding some rabbits in the distance. He casually used his Domain, covering a huge area under it. His Domain also engulfed the rabbits, making them extremely slow.
Salazar casually walked towards the rabbits, who extremely slowly ran away from him. Unfortunately, in this Domain, they couldn't get away from Salazar as their running was slower than the walking of Salazar.
Salazar brought a knife out, thrusting at the closest rabbit.
...
Caen was also affected in this domain, but he didn't realize it since he couldn't compare it to anything else.
If he had seen Salazar move before him, he would have realized that time for him was moving slowly, but without any reference, he didn't find anything odd. For him, everything was normal.
Caen collected the wood and brought them back, only to find Salazar already sitting calmly. Three rabbits were placed before him.
"So fast? I was only gone for ten minutes?" Caen exclaimed in surprise.
"You feel you were gone for ten minutes, but an hour has passed in the real world," Salazar answered.