I had ensured that all Arcanas in my possession were used at least once in the battle against the Demons.

This was because I wanted to bait the enemy by showing the cards I had up my sleeve.

Of course, they couldn’t be so sure that the four I displayed were all I had in hand, so that meant they would be coming for me sooner or later.

It was now certain to me that the enemy had a certain Magic Ability that allowed them to observe our actions to an extent. Perhaps that too was the work of an Arcana.

‘No. I can’t restrict myself to think that. It could be Original Magic, or maybe a Magic Item.’

Either way, they must have seen the Arcanas in action.

If they were done finding the others, we would be next for sure.

‘If they also reach a deadlock, or are almost done with their pieces, they’ll probably think we have the rest…’

At this point, I knew I was playing with fire–considering how they had managed to pull one over from under me the last time.

But, I wasn’t going to back down.

‘I’ll just be smarter and stronger next time.’ Clenching my fist, an image of Legris appeared in my head.

We would meet one day.

‘When that time comes, Legris…’ My eyebrows furrowed in determination.

‘… I won’t lose!’

“Subtracting the four in our possession, there are eighteen Arcanas left.”

Legris had told me that they gathered seven already, back when we had a showdown at Ainzlark.

I didn’t think he was trying to misdirect me then, but there was no way to be absolutely sure.

Counting The Devil Arcana, as well as a few others that they could have probably picked while we were distracted, it was most likely that they had already gotten at least ten.

‘Ten Arcanas… that’s scary!’

I wondered why such a group chose to hide in the shadows despite how powerful they were.

No one would be able to stand a chance against 10 Arcanas.

I wasn’t sure about Neron, but everyone else would lose badly.

‘Or are they avoiding something? Is that why they’ve been in the background for so long?’ I was in a dilemma.

It would be in my best interest to find out more, but we were pressed for time in the other departments.

“That means there are about 8 Arcanas left to discover. If we hurry and gather those before the Organization can, then we can gain the upper hand and thwart their plans.”

Since they weren’t going to reveal themselves, all we had to do was smoke them out.

As for their members….if I used Legris Damien as a standard for all twelve seats, then we were in quite a pickle.

‘But, since Damien Lawcroft was a member, probably at least a lower seat member–after all, he was in charge of the Royal Capital–that meant all their members weren’t as scary as Legris.’

I just wished I had more information.

“The enemy holds most of the cards now–both literally and figuratively. We can’t afford to be sloppy, but we must also tread with caution.”

This time, Aurora raised her hand for a question.

Was it expected?

‘Well, of course!’

“How do you plan on going about finding the Arcanas?”

I smiled, nodding in a cool manner.

“The truth is that I’ve been doing some background work before now. During the war, I made contact with two members–Legris and Damien Lawcroft…”

I successfully placed trackers on both sides, allowing me to get a good idea of their locations and any conversation going on around them.

“Legris found my trackers right away and destroyed them… but that was simply a misdirection. I knew he was smart and powerful enough to prepare for that too, so I simply used that as an extra.”

The true tracker was embedded in the Arcana he had with him.

‘If there’s an Arcana I’m most familiar with, it’s definitely The Devil. In my past life, I had done extensive research on the thing so I could successfully develop the Miasma Generator.’

Plus, thanks to my special constitution, I was the only one who could get very close to the thing and study it for very long.

Thanks to that, I understood the structure and pattern well. It was one of the reasons I was able to get the hang of making my Miasma Cores self-sustaining.

“I embedded a monitoring code in the Arcana. So, it’ll lead us directly to the Organization, give us enough information to kickstart our new objective, and we’ll be able to finally have a headstart for once.”

As for Damien Lawcroft, it seemed he was finally making his first move after a week had gone by.

‘He’s heading East. Is there anything there? Maybe their headquarters… or maybe the hideout of another member of the Organization that he’s acquainted with?’ Either way, I was going to wait it out until I was ready to harvest my rewards.

“Once again, we need to team up to combat this new shadow that is descending upon us. I ask for everyone’s help and their unconditional cooperation.”

An Organization that was malevolent enough to intentionally sacrifice an entire race for their objectives… that was gathering Arcanas so steadily…

‘… They’re going to be tough. Tougher than anything I’ve faced until now.’

Fortunately, I had many capable allies now.

‘Currently, I’ve told Neron, Aurora, and Jane my true identity. Serah doesn’t need to know for her to complete her tasks effectively, and in due time, I’ll reveal it to more people as I see fit.’

It was also time to consider evolving the current concept of Magic that everyone was practicing.

This wasn’t a time to be hoarding knowledge, but I had to ensure that the enemy didn’t get their hands on the techniques and information I had, else they would become even more dangerous.

‘Even Neron kept his technique secret for a similar reason.’

Still…

Since I had shared my Arcanas and secret identity with my trusted allies, I was supposed to have more faith in them and entrust more into their hands.