Chapter 87: The Looming Threat
After the arrival of the Bloody Moon, the effects soon became clear. Both Starfall City and Arrieta and their surroundings were blanketed by Red Mist. The Birth Towers had been constructed and Red Mist was pouring out.
It was expected that the demons would launch their attacks out of one of those two cities, or maybe both. That was where their supply of Red Mist was most abundant and either of those two locations could support a large attacking army.
Information was key in warfare and thus the air force did constant surveillance on the demon held cities. Their planes had been greatly improved since the last time and now they were faster and could fly at higher altitudes.
Today, Merem was flying his plane near Starfall City, hoping to gain information about the size of the demon force. He was one of the most senior members of the air force and the mostly highly decorated as well. Despite having enough money to retire, he had continued to stay in the air force because he loved flying and also because he wanted to do his duty for the country.
He could see the city in the distance, the red haze marking the location. As he flew by, the demons didn't even bother to send anyone to repel him. Clearly, the demons knew that it was futile to even try to stop him. He flew a few circles around the city while George took notes of the demon positions and recorded their numbers.
The entire flight was rather routine and after the scouting was done Merem turned around and flew back to the airfield. He returned without incident.
Meanwhile, the reports of the demon movements were sent back and reviewed. What was found was disquieting.
"This doesn't seem right", Roland muttered. "The reports indicate far fewer demons than expected. There is no way that this could be the invasion force."
"Have these results been confirmed?", Zero asked.
"Yes, numerous scouting missions have reported the same thing", Roland replied. "There simply does not seem to be a large demon force assembled."
"That is absurd", Zero noted. "Why would they not attack us?"
"They could be hiding underground", Steven said. "Maybe they just don't want us to see their numbers. They know we have planes and thus they are aware that we have a massive information advantage. This could be how they are trying to mitigate it."
"That could be it…" Roland was deep in thought. "But I can't shake the feeling that they are up to something. There is something not right about this situation, something we overlooked."
"The demons are a cunning enemy", Zero said. "They have used tricks in the past. We must always be vigilant not to fall into one of their traps."
"The demons might not even be in those cities. They might be hiding somewhere else", Roland commented. "They could be stationed outside the city so we don't see them."
"But that doesn't make sense", rebutted Steven. "They need to be there for the Red Mist. Where else could they be?"
"I think that we need better information. We should send out planes everywhere to scout for demons", Roland suggested. "There isn't much point in focusing solely on those two locations. Maybe if we searched elsewhere we might realize what is going on."
"Hmmm…. Maybe that would work." Steven was thinking. "We don't know what they are doing so it would definitely be a good idea to check everything. It wouldn't be good if they managed to go around our defense again would it?"
"Going around?" Zero was confused. "But there are the mountains."
"It wouldn't hurt to check", Roland said. "Lets send out the planes again."
After the plan of action was decided, the search range for the planes was extended and the pilots began flying everywhere to try to spot any hint of the demons.
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Merem had been flying for several days already. Every morning he would get up and get into the plane and go on his assigned course. Then, he would return to be refueled and then he would set off again. This process repeated over and over. So far he had seen nothing at all except empty land. It was honestly starting to get monotonous.
Currently, he was flying close to the mountain range. He had scouted around the edge and was returning. He was going to cross through the mountain range over an area where the mountains were lower. The other parts of the mountain range were truly impassable, even for his plane.
As he flew through the area, he noticed something strange below. As he looked closer, there seemed to be a patch of red ahead.
"George, tell me I'm not hallucinating", Merem said. "There seems to be something on the ground up ahead."
George took a closer look. "Oh damn, I think that is a demon base."
Merem was very alarmed. He took his plane a little closer and dived down a bit. The base soon came into view. There was a massive tower surrounded by a cloud of Red Mist. As he looked closer, he saw a massive assembly of demons. The numbers were truly shocking. There were more demons than he had ever seen before.
"We have to get back and report this", Merem said. Then, Devilbeasts rose up from the base to intercept his plane.
"This is bad", Merem said. "We don't have much fuel left and the only airbase in range is through these mountains. We are going to have to fly past the demons."
The aircraft flew quickly and began approaching the base. However, ahead was a large group of Devilbeasts. They were determined not to let the plane get through.
As Merem approached, he took the plane on a turn to avoid the Devilbeasts in front of him. Maneuver was difficult in the mountain range and there were more Devilbeasts ahead.
He fired the machine gun on the plane, killing a few Devilbeasts. Then he swerved and flew away from the demons as they started to close in.
As Merem turned the plane back around, he made the plane rise higher. There were still some Devilbeasts in his path though. He shot the Devilbeasts in front of him and quickly zoomed past. He saw a few spears fly somewhat close to the aircraft as the Devilbeasts to the side attacked.
Once he got past the screen, he pushed the plane to its maximum speed as he zoomed away from the demons as fast as he could. Soon, the demon base was left behind and Merem let out a sigh of relief. Finally, the landing zone came into view and he was able to land.
Immediately after landing, he reported his shocking discovery. The information about the location of the demons was quickly passed up to the highest levels of government where it was met with shock.
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