"Avril got lucky," Raizel said after hearing the news from one of the Dwarves that they had met along the way.
William nodded. He had no problems with Avril finding the mirror first because even if his group found one, they would never hand it over to the Dread Lord who was planning to take the Black Tower for himself.
"Any news?" William asked Lilith who still had her eyes closed.
Lilith shook her head, but she didn't open her eyes.
Right now, she served as a treasure hunting radar. However, since her Divinity was suppressed inside the Deadlands, she needed to fully concentrate in order to get a general direction as to where the treasures could be found.
After driving for five hours, Lilith finally opened her eyes and asked Raizel to stop the truck.
The Amazon Princess then tried to pinpoint the location where the strong presence was coming from. After five-full-minutes of total concentration, Lilith pointed towards a coffee shop, whose windows had all been broken.
"It's over there," Lilith declared with confidence.
Raizel nodded and drove the truck in front of the coffee shop.
'Star Box,' William mused as he read the name of the shop with a nostalgic smile. 'This name sure takes me way back.'
When he was still relatively healthy, he would pass by a coffee shop, bearing the same name, on his way to school. Although he wasn't able to enter one, because he didn't have much money, he could still remember that it was a popular place back on earth.
"Lilith, lead the way," Raizel said.
Lilith nodded as she disembarked from the truck.
William and Raizel walked behind her and gave the Amazon Princess ample space to maneuver.
A few minutes later, they arrived in the staff room where the mirror was located.
Raizel had a photographic memory, so she was able to remember the images of the mirrors that were recorded in the golden crystal.
"This is it," Raizel said as she took the mirror from the wall and showed it to William and Lilith.
William tried to extend his senses towards the mirror, but felt nothing. If not for the fact that Lilith's Divinity and Raizel's memory worked hand in hand, the Half-Elf would not think that the plain looking mirror in the young beauty's hands was the mirror that the Dread Lord was looking for.
"Fortunately, the mirror is only a foot long," William commented. "We can easily carry this. But, if we return to the shelter with the mirror, several people will definitely discover it."
Raizel nodded her head in agreement. "If we were to carry this back then it would certainly be discovered. However, Lilith can hide this without problems. Isn't that right, Lilith?"
"Yes," Lilith answered. "Although my power is greatly suppressed in this place, taking this mirror is not a big deal."
Raizel passed the mirror to Lillith and the latter pressed it over her chest. Soon, the mirror turned into particles of light and disappeared without a trace.
Just as the group was about to leave the coffee shop, William raised his hand to tell them to stop.
"What's wrong?" Lilith asked.
"Something is coming," William replied. "It sounds like four trucks."
Raizel frowned. The main reason she had chosen to search this area was due to the fact that it was away from the Shelters.
They wouldn't be antagonizing anyone if they searched here, so Raizel thought that their group wouldn't be seeing anyone for the next few days.
Since their truck was outside the coffee shop, it was bound to be discovered. Fortunately, the conflicts between Shelters had more or less been resolved, so she didn't have to worry about their truck being stolen by anyone.
Even so, she still decided to play it safe and made a gesture to William and Lilith to follow her outside.
As soon as the three left the Coffee Shop, they came face to face with the last person they wanted to see in the Deadlands.
"What are you doing here, Pig?" William asked as he looked at Swiper who was sitting on top of their truck. "Also, get off our truck before I give your face a good smacking."
"You again?" Swiper snorted. "Why are you here? This isn't the territory of the Glory Shelter."
"And this is not the Demonic Shelter's territory either. What are you doing here?": William asked back.
"I asked first."
"No one cares about your question. Now answer me, or I'll smack you for real!"
William and Swiper glared at each other for half a minute before the Demonic Boar reluctantly jumped off the truck.
"Talk about dog-sh*t luck. Of all the bastards I have to meet in the Deadlands, why does it have to be this filthy Half Breed." Swiper spat on the ground as if the mere sight of William was enough to give him an aneurysm.
William rolled his eyes at the Demonic Boar's underhanded taunt to provoke him.
"So, what are you guys doing here?" Swiper asked as he shifted his gaze to Raizel. "Don't tell me you came here to drink coffee?"
"Yes." Raizel smiled sweetly. "We came here to drink some coffee, but since the coffee machine is damaged, we just took the coffee beans."
Raizel showed him the two bags of coffee beans that she had picked up before leaving the store.
Swiper nodded. "Did you know that Avril has already found a mirror?"
"Yes," Raizel answered honestly. "We met some Dwarves on our way here, and they told us about the news. Avril got really lucky."
"That she is. Now, she can ask Lord Morax for a request. I wonder what she will ask for."
"Knowing Avril, it will not be something simple."
Swiper agreed with Raizel's reply. Among all of them, Avril had never shown any greed towards material things. She also refrained from resorting to violence when her group had conflicts with another Shelter in regards to acquisition of resources.
The beautiful Elf liked to resolve things in a civil manner. This was also why all the Leaders voted unanimously that she become their temporary Leader in the Alliance.
Swiper sighed internally because he was afraid that his position was in danger. If Avril made it into Morax's good graces then his advantage of being the Dread Lord's first lackey would no longer hold any value.
This was why the Demonic Boar was desperate to find a mirror for himself. This way, his usefulness would not be questioned ever again.
"How about you? What are you doing here?" Raizel asked in a teasing tone. "Don't tell me you also came here to get some coffee?"
"Of course not," Swiper replied. "I'm here to look for one of the mirrors like everyone else."
Raizel nodded. "Well then, goodluck to you. We will also be searching in the vicinity, so how about we come to an agreement?"
"What agreement?"
"You search on the left side of this area, while we go to the right. Finders keepers."
Swiper smirked. "Little girl, my group and I planned to explore this place by ourselves. We don't have any intention of letting anyone get in our way. So, why don't you take those coffee bags of yours and go back to your Shelter. There's no need for us to have conflicts, right?"
The Demons laughed as they took out their weapons.
This time, Swiper had brought forty of his men to look for the mirror in this area that was far from their Shelter.
His plan was to explore the outer areas, while the rest of his men back at the Demonic Shetler would search their territory for the mirrors.
This was Swiper's divide and conquer plan, to get an edge over the others when it came to searching for the mirrors.
"You really think you can scare us with this small mob?" William commented from the side. "We fought off hordes of undead, Death knights, Dullahans, a Death Lord, and a Bone Dragon with only the three of us. If you're in a hurry to become a dead Pig, feel free to test my patience."
Swiper's body stiffened when he heard William's reply to his threat. He had completely forgotten about the Haunting and tried to intimidate Raizel, who always did her best to compromise because she was protecting Cathy and the other members of the Glory Shelter from the harassment of the Demons.
Now that William and Lilith had become the young beauty's helpers, they could no longer use their bullying tactics on her.
"Still here?" William took a step forward. The ground under his foot shattered, sending rocks, and debris flying everywhere.
"Stop!" Swiper roared. "The Alliance forbade fighting against its members!"
William sneered at the Boarkin whose intimidating aura had long disappeared.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt any of you," William replied as he took another step forward with a casual smile on his face. "I will just destroy your trucks. That way, you can walk back to your Demonic Shelter while contemplating the meaning of life."
"Bastard! I'll remember this!" Swiper jumped on one of the trucks and made a gesture. "Let's go!"
The trucks sped away leaving a trail of dust behind. Swiper had a feeling that even if he and his goons worked together, they would not be able to beat William even if they fought with their lives on the line.
William waved his hand to blow the dust away, preventing it from touching Lilith and Raizel.
"Spoken like a real third rate villain," Raizel said giggling as she looked at the trucks that were speeding away. "Let's go back to the Shelter for now. We're done for the day."
William and Lilith agreed to Raizel's proposal. They had already secured one of the mirrors, so their objective had been achieved.. As for the other mirrors, they would just let the other Leaders have them, in order to make the Dread Lord feel complacent that everything was moving according to his will.
