<If they knew I was alive and didn’t come to help, then our relationship isn’t what I thought it was.>

The Aegis Phalanx had been allies of convenience, not friends. They had used Reidar as a weapon against the church, and when he disappeared, they had moved on without him. That was the reality of the situation. They were there to see if humanity was worth saving, and they likely didn’t care about a single person. The race as a collective came first.

Plus, the Ignis world wouldn’t have been an easy world even for them, regardless if they knew where he was.

Fighting the monsters the church spawned was challenging because the portals they opened meant constant reinforcements, with new threats pouring through every day, which forced the Aegis Phalanx to adapt.

The alien organization was already elite, as months ago, the average fighter sat at level 350, but now the average had jumped to 400, with some pushing even further to reach level 420 or 430. Of course, there were anomalies at higher levels.

But despite everything, the jump in levels wouldn’t have been enough for the Aegis Phalanx to go on the Ignis world and rescue him.

Though, since Reidar estimated that the Allied Worlds were not allies as he thought, the idea that they took advantage of Earth to get stronger didn’t sit well with him.

<Damn church… If It wasn’t for them, things would have been simpler. >

The church had turned the conflict between them and the Aegis into a global war, and one of attrition at that, where every portal was a new front and every monster wave forced the Phalanx to burn resources just to hold ground, yet through it all, they’d been leveling up at a terrifying pace.

Plus, Reidar had been gone for months, and in that time, the Church had closed the power gap with the Aegis Phalanx.

Reidar wanted revenge on both organizations, but he couldn’t afford to make them enemies. Not now.

His family was under their protection. His wife and son in Kingsgate and his parents back in Creamont—all of them depended on the Aegis Phalanx for safety. If Reidar openly opposed the alien organization, they might use his family as leverage. He needed to avoid spooking them and appearing aggressive. Of course, that really depended on the situation.

<I have to play this carefully. Pretend I’m still on their side until I can get everyone to safety.>

As soon as he found them, he would head back to Creamont and take control of the city. There, he would help everyone level up as much as possible. The goal was simple: prepare them to work on the Ignis solution before things spiraled out of control.

The plan was straightforward, but it had layers. First, he needed to locate Jake and Lena. That was the priority. Without them, the rest fell apart. Once they were safe, he could turn his attention to Kingsgate.

Leveling up the population wasn’t just about raw levels. Based on what the vendor said, it was about skills, proficiencies, and professions.

<I bet they are better than me in this regard though, so I might take the opportunity to fix my foundations a little.>

Once he found Jake and Lena and secured his family, he could reassess the situation. Until then, he would maintain the appearance of cooperation.

The other information from his scouts was less concerning, but equally important.

The church had been quiet in Sweetwater. Their members patrolled the walls and maintained the defensive systems as nothing was happening. There was no sign of the aggressive expansion Reidar had seen before he was pulled through the portal. If anything, they seemed to be consolidating their position rather than pushing forward.

And based on what Kara said, that was just the prelude to something big. They were preparing, really, not consolidating their position.

Besides, the church had lost most of its combat-capable forces thanks to him, and they were still recovering from that blow.

But something didn’t add up.

Reidar had been fighting the church for months before the portal incident. He had killed Silas, destroyed their magic circles, and disrupted their operations across multiple settlements. Yet somehow, the church was still functioning as if nothing had happened.

They were still controlling Sweetwater, still running patrols, and still stockpiling supplies for some kind of operation.

<Someone is still giving orders. Someone replaced the leaders I killed, and I bet it is Jorik.>

The most likely candidate was the Progenitor, but Reidar didn’t know what level the man had reached or whether he was even still sane, so Jorik made more sense.

<If the Progenitor has gone feral, then Jorik must be running the show. >

He expanded his search area, sending more Sky-Hunters to cover the roads leading into Sweetwater. The convoy was supposed to arrive within the next few days, and Reidar wanted to track it from the moment it entered the region.

At the same time, he deployed thousands of additional summons to tail every church member in the town. If anyone discussed the convoy’s destination or the location of the church hub, his Sky-Hunters would hear it. The problem was that they were too secretive.

<Those fuckers.>

Reidar had noticed this pattern over the past four days. Church members in Sweetwater communicated in short, clipped phrases, and they didn’t say much anyway.

They avoided discussing operational details even in private. It was as if they knew someone was watching.

<This is my fault, most likely. >

Reidar had used this tactic against the church before. First on Silas, and then on Mara, who found out and capitalized on it to send him to the Ignis world. The church had learned about his ability to spy on them through his summons, and Mara must have warned the other members that there were people able to do so in general.

Now the entire organization was operating under the assumption that its conversations could be monitored.

The secrecy was frustrating, but it also told Reidar something important: the church was scared. They knew that someone could be listening, and they were adjusting their behavior accordingly.

And that was the point. They didn’t know Reidar was back, but they still had plenty of enemies, including the Aegis Phalanx, though, thanks to the portals, they bridged the gap between them and were now of equal power.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep