"Yeah. It's in perfect condition to fly now. Just give me thirty minutes more. I'm covered in sweat. I'll fill the fuel and take a short shower," Shuri explained as he hastily left.
Lucifer and Caen waited in silence for Shuri to return. None of them talked, not sure if there were any surveillance systems here.
Shuri soon returned, dressed in different clothes. His hair was still wet, as if he had just finished his shower.
He started filling up the helicopter, which didn't take much time. "I'm done. We can get going right now if you want?"
"Finally." Lucifer stood up. He stepped towards the helicopter, following Caen.
The three of them entered the helicopter. As for Shuri, he sat on the pilot's seat.
There remained a number pad before him. He pressed some buttons, turning on the engine.
This was one of the main reasons why Lucifer needed to fool Shuri. They couldn't just steal the helicopters, which required a passcode to turn on. They needed Shuri precisely for that passcode.
Now that they had seen what the code was, they could relax even more. There was also another reason why they wanted Shuri alive. None of them knew how to fly a helicopter. Thus they also needed this man to escort them.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly as the helicopter started rising in the air. It left the Warlock Council branch and flew out of the city, soon leaving the airspace.
"Ah, Sir. If you don't mind me asking, I wanted to know about how things are going with the Warlock Council and the Divine Empire. Last time's trip seemed like a failure. For you to come here again, there must be a good reason, right?"
"Are you here to extend the offer again? Or are you here to declare war? Because I didn't expect the Warlock Council to have so much patience when it came to such things."
The helicopter had just left the city when Shuri started asking questions that he was curious about.
"Yeah. I want to talk to that woman once again. This will be the last time though. I don't think another trip would be needed after this," Caen replied.
"So this matter will be over soon? Would I be allowed to go back to the Main Branch after that?" Shuri asked.
"Possibly," Caen answered.
He was sitting in the middle while Lucifer and Salazar sat on each side of him, near the window. They looked outside, watching the terrain change.
So far, there were forests as far as they could see, but that soon changed as they reached the mountain region. No greenery could be seen there. Not even a single tree was visible outside.
It was just as Kellian had explained. It was utterly barren land, scorching under the heat of the Sun outside. But the inside of the helicopter was fully air-conditioned, protecting everyone from intense heat outside.
The journey didn't take long either. Within three hours, the white helicopter reached close to the Divine Empire.
Since it was a Warlock Council helicopter that had entered the Divine Empire a few times already, no one stopped the helicopter, letting it pass through.
The Divine Empire was really relaxed in terms of security. They had already given Warlock Council an access to come meet them, but the permit only allowed one helicopter. It was so that the Warlock Council couldn't bring their army inside like that.
Moreover, even if they happened, the Nobles and the Queen were confident in their strength. Basically no one considered the Warlock Council as equal to them.
There was also a change in the plan for Lucifer. Previously the plan was that they would infiltrate the Divine Empire after making the helicopter land outside and move in stealth to observe the situation inside first.
The plan was different now. Sitting in the plane, Lucifer had changed the plan a little. Now, he wanted to meet the Queen first.
He wanted to ask them nicely if he could have their stone while also saving the important people in the Divine Empire that were present in the Royal Court.
The plan to live stealthily was to be followed after meeting the queen. If the plan was to go accordingly, they would have then left the Divine Empire just like they came, only to land outside the Empire from where they were to infiltrate again.
It was all a theoretical plan only. Everything was dependent on how things went, but one thing Lucifer was sure about. It was about to be a make-or-break meeting.
It was going to be him meeting the strongest woman in the Divine Empire that even the Warlock Council was slightly concerned about. Not only her but her subordinates were said to be powerful, especially the Nobles that possessed their old powers.
The Divine Empire was surrounded by mountains from all sides, but it was in a plain area in the middle, which was no different than the Terrain of Elisium.
The mountains made it impossible for any army to infiltrate this place, especially in large numbers. At least no one could do so without any proper mode of transport.
If one were to ignore the mountainous terrain surrounding the Divine Empire, they would have noticed the plain terrain under the Divine Empire. Despite all that, the Divine Empire didn't take advantage of that terrain.
There weren't any high-rise buildings inside the Divine Empire. People lived in ordinary houses that weren't taller than two stories. In fact, this old place seemed to have a hint of old times, a place that was stuck in the past.
It was really like how Empires were in the old times.
Similarly, there were many cities inside the Divine Empire. There were no Kingdoms though. No one knew why this place was called the Divine Empire and not the Divine Kingdom.
After some more time, the helicopter reached the Royal Palace, which was being heavily guarded.
Even though Nobles had a pretty high position in the Divine Empire, the responsibility of Guardian the Palace was given to them. The newborns were told to guard the ordinary places and other cities.
"Hmm? These guys? They came one again. I think Her Majesty is really going to be upset this time. After the second rejection, they came again."
"She won't have mercy this time. These people are dead toast," one of the nobles said, noticing the Warlock Council helicopter coming in the distance.
The man was wearing a white robe with the symbol of Divine Empire on his chest as he watched the Warlock Council plane land before him.
His deep red eyes observed the helicopter, which started coming down slowly.
"I agree. But then again, I doubt she would truly destroy them.. They'll just be brought back as the Nobles."