The clones entered Pescara but it was nothing more than a smoldering ruin by now. Sending clones to search for them is good and all but where exactly am I supposed to search? Even orienting myself will be hard, there are no more points of reference, what Regalis mansion and palace!? They are all but rubble now. Edward sighed. I have to do it anyway, complaining won’t help.

Edward had only sent five clones, and he was able to give each of them the required amount of attention so that they could react to events in real-time. Those clones had more aura than the one that had carried the bombs, and they could fight for some time. Naturally, the more aura they used, the shorter their lifespan would be. However, even if they could fight for a bit, they couldn’t use Edward’s powers. Their aim wasn’t to hunt monsters but to search for Adotinus and Ignis. Getting destroyed in a brawl wouldn’t help. Even if they did manage to kill monsters the aura they absorbed wouldn’t be able to reach Edward unless the clones came back to him. All it could do was to prolong the clone’s lifespan and that was supposing that said clone gained more essence from the slain monster than he had used to kill it in the first place.

Controlling five clones at once wasn’t an easy task, and when he could, Edward hid a clone to decrease his mental toll. Once the other clones had progressed, it was their turn to hide, and the clone lagging behind could progress again. However, given the state of the city, hideouts were not a common thing and it wasn’t a strategy that Edward could use as often as he would have liked.

The runes in the sky were still inert which meant Nephelin was still waiting for him to come back or had changed his focus to hunt Ignis and Adotinus. Edward would much prefer the former, he could escape Nephelin if he wanted, but Adotinus and Ignis weren’t that lucky.

Even if Edward had killed a few monsters, it was far from enough to notice a significant decrease in the number of monsters roaming inside what had once been the capital of the empire. Centipedes were bad enough due to their numbers but what really worried him was the number of flying eyes scouring the sky. With so many monsters around he had no choice but to use the shadow spell to make his clones less noticeable or even invisible when standing still inside a shadow. He could have slaughtered the flying eyes easily but his presence would be revealed by doing so, and without teleportation it was a certain death for the clone involved.

Edward’s attention spiked to a certain clone’s field of vision when the latter saw a giant flying eye in the sky surrounded by a cloud of smaller ones. Until now he had seen a few eyes that were bigger than the others but none where the change was this drastic. When a flying eye was usually the size of a fist, this one was as big as a moose. Even a whale’s eye wouldn’t be that big. It seems to be their main body or king or queen, I’m not sure exactly how they work together. My clone is condemned if it reveals its position but if killing that thing disrupts their network it’s worth it.

Even as he was considering whether to take down the creature, the giant eye turned in his direction. The clone was currently hidden inside a shadow but the eye looked straight at him. Shit, did it detect my clone? A ray of energy left the giant eye’s pupil and before he had the time to react the connection with his clone was lost.

Edward bit his lips. I wasn’t expecting to lose a clone so quickly. But it’s not like it was worthless either. At least I managed to learn what the flying eyes’ main body looks like. When I find Adotinus and Ignis, hunting that monster down should be my priority. Once the network of flying eyes is disrupted it will be a lot easier for me to hunt the rest of the monsters and it will be one less thing to worry about while fighting Nephelin.

Edward continued to push his clones forward, further searching for traces of his allies within the ruins of the city. However, he noticed that monster activities increased, not that there were more monsters, their number didn’t change now that they couldn’t turn into mist or be summoned by it, but they grew more agitated, increasing their roaming area and sometimes abruptly turning around.

That’s annoying. That giant eye must have conveyed its discovery. And somehow it knows that it was only a clone and that I’m still alive. They know I’m active in the area.

The pressure continued to grow and Edward was almost glad that he had lost a clone, reducing his vision from five fields to four.

I won’t be able to go on like that for long. There are just too many monsters and too few hideouts. I need to think about how to proceed. Where would I hide if I was stuck within the capital while all those monsters are roaming around?

The Regalis mansion had a secret basement. The best bet would be to search this place or other emplacements like those, hidden under the ground. There are far too few places to hide on the surface. However, given the state of the city, it’s hard to locate where buildings used to be.

I could use my aura to search underground. But I’m worried about attracting Nephelin’s attention, if I find Ignis and Adotinus only to bring this monster upon them I would only have done his dirty work.

My second bet would be the walls. Ironically, they are the part of the capital that is the most preserved. They were built to last and were the farthest away from the explosions. They are damaged but parts of them are still standing, which is already more than the rest of the capital.

Edward could feel the monsters closing on his clones, one was stuck, hidden within a shadow but with too many monsters around to make any movement. Another one had to fall back to avoid the same fate. The other two were only able to make slow progress. The absence of his teleportation power severely limited his mobility and he realized how much he was relying on it.

What had to happen, happened. One centipede stumbled on Edward’s hidden clone, the clone was invisible but not intangible. Edward didn’t wait any longer, if his clone had to go down, it was better to do it in a blaze of glory. The clone beheaded the centipede that had discovered him in one smooth movement. As the rest of the monsters erupted in a frenzy he dived into the air and blasted two clouds of aura needles at the small flying eyes in the sky, killing most of them.

However, without Edward’s acceleration power, he was just too slow, one tentacle from a snail slapped him to the ground, and the next instant he got trampled by a stampede of monsters.

Three clones left, better make it count.

One of his remaining clones noticed an emblem on a broken mural, a sword above a red background that looked like a field of blood was depicted on it. That’s the emblem of the Vega family! If the Regalis mansion had a hidden basement, they must have hidden rooms as well!

Edward regained some hope after having two of his clones destroyed without making much progress. What appeared to have been the Vega family mansion was in very bad shape, and if not for the emblem Edward would have never connected those ruins to them. There was no roof anymore, the walls were either broken or collapsed, and the highest standing wall only reached up to what must have been a second floor. The ground was covered with rubble.

It will take me forever to search through all that. And since I’m searching for hidden rooms, even clearing the rubble wouldn’t necessarily help me. I have no choice but to use my aura. This is a bit risky but as long as I constrict it in a tight area this should be fine.

Edward’s clone unfolded his aura in a ten-meter bubble. It was ridiculous compared to his usual one-kilometer range but it was enough to pierce through the rubble and even the ground. Edward carefully walked around the site, searching for any empty area or any place where his aura turned sluggish. The Regalis’ hidden vault had been concealed from aura thanks to some runes, and Edward was expecting the same level of protection here.

After roaming all over the place, even hiding from time to time to let monsters pass by, he finally found what he was searching for. In a corner of the ruins, under a good three meters of rubbles and four additional meters of stones, his aura took time to respond, taking a lot more time than usual to return feedback. By pushing a little further, there was indeed an empty space at this location.

Found it! But now how do I go inside? It would be simple if I was there directly but my clone can’t teleport. I found a hidden subterranean room but not its entrance. And if I dig a hole, it would only reveal the hideout location.

After thinking about it, Edward contented himself with letting the clone over there. He would have to investigate the place by himself. However, his clone search hadn’t been useless. Keeping the clone over there would help him to reach the place, the clone acting like a beacon. Moreover, his teleportation range was five hundred meters, normally he would have to deploy his aura to perceive the location he wanted to teleport to. But since his clone was already there it meant he could teleport there directly even with his aura hidden, as long as he was within five hundred meters.

He ordered the clone to hide, even going so far as to use the shadow cloak spell. With its objective accomplished, Edward put this clone to the back of his mind and focused on the other two. Having to focus on only two fields of vision helped him progress. This much input was something that he was used to managing, and he could follow both of their movements in real-time without difficulties.

Despite the monsters’ agitation, he was able to reach the palace with one of his clones. He had seen the building before the capital was destroyed and the contrast was striking, but there was no doubt about it, he was at the right place.

The clone looked up at the sky, the rune system was still inert, and Nephelin was still chasing after him even though a few hours had passed. The discovery of Edward’s clones may have made him think that the latter was still in the city, renewing his desire to hunt him down.