The expedition of the portal was not bearing any fruits. And Henry was losing soldiers left to right. That is why he was getting very angry. But he was ordered by the Viscount that he had to stay there and secure the golden pit that is in the temple. From what he had heard this was a very important matter for the Viscount. That is why he was under so much pressure. But he didn’t know what else to do?

  The black fennec fox that came back told gave the information that the portal was supposed to be the gate to El Dorado. But as that fox came out he was very badly wounded. The people of the Doja city tried to cure him but they were not able to save him. Henry make sure that he squeezed every bit of information that he could get from the caretakers of that fox. After all, he was bound to give more information about the portal. But his labor was fruitless. 

When that fox came out he was badly wounded. He had lost a lot of blood. So after he told the people that this was the portal to El Dorado he fainted. And during his treatment, he stayed unconscious. So he didn’t have any time to give any more information about the portal and the sacred temple. So Henry didn’t have information about the portal.

Henry was literally sending his soldiers out towards their death without even telling them the cause of their death. Soldiers have started noticing this and a form of distrust was forming between them. Henry didn’t like that a little bit. But what he could do? He had to do as he was ordered…

…

It was the usual day for Henry. The portal opened once again. Soon the night came when they have to choose their representative to go inside the portal. That night Henry thought that he would do something different that day. Until then he was choosing his representatives with the help of chits that he had prepared. But that day he thought that he should do something else. So he decided that he would choose the person based on their faces.

So Henry went up in the air and choose his three champions. Every one of his soldiers got relaxed he didn’t choose them but the trio of his representatives all had their faces down. They were all depressed. Then the time finally came when all the representatives had to head in. But a member of his battalion who was also his representative stayed behind and wanted to say some words.

Henry allowed it as he felt sympathetic for that man. He started by saying that he would Bahamut Empire proud. And then he started talking about Racism all of a sudden. Henry started getting annoyed at this. He shouted at him to get inside already…

But it was then that man brought a mask from his spatial ring. Henry felt that he had seen that mask before. And he was right. Soon that man’s pupil changed to that of a golden-eyed snake. Seeing those eyes and masks together Henry recognized that man in an instant. He was none other than Bakemono, the very famous criminal of the Bahamut Empire. 

Before Henry could take any action that man jumped inside the portal. As the portal closed, every present there at the moment had their jaws opened as they couldn’t believe what they just saw…

Till he killed Zurama and took control over the stone city, the whole Bahamut Empire thought that this man was called the merchant. But then officials of the stone city confirmed that this man was not the merchant but his henchman and goes by the name of Bakemono. From there he also got information that he possess two of the jade stones needed to open the gateway for the temple. 

While the other two pieces were with the daughters of Zurama who goes by the name of Velma and Tamaria. Henry was searching for these sisters as they were an easier target. But as he heard that portal opened here, he understood that Bakemono got to the girls before he could. He knew that Bakemono would come to the city to explore the portal. That is why he made his men set up a transparent dome around the city.

He thought whenever this man would come he would be informed immediately as the portal was made in such a way that it notifies him whenever a level-4 Acolyte or above comes through the portal. And according to the information he got, Bakemono was suspected to be a Rank-1 Magus like him. So he would confront him whenever he would come here. But he never got the notification that he came here.

What does suppose to mean? Did it mean that Bakemono was weaker than a level-4 Acolyte? Or does it mean that he knows how to bypass the dome completely? 

Henry had heard of some cases where people who are well versed in runes, find mistakes in the runic circuit. And then they can either bypass the circuit altogether or they could easily disrupt the circuit. But these kinds of men are very famous magus. And they are extremely powerful. But the main point is that if Bakemono could do that, then that would mean that he is well versed in the runes. Then that would make him a quite powerful opponent. This got Henry thinking about how strong will The Merchant himself be?

…

While everyone was shocked by Bakemono’s sudden appearance, the leader of the fennec fox was deep in contemplation. It was true that the knowledge about the portal and the sacred temple was lost in time. But there was one thing that was not lost. There was one piece of information that was not lost through time. That is why he gave orders to his most trusted subordinate.

And thus that night the trusted subordinate left the Doja city for the stone city.