Damien, Su Ren, and Pandora were all geniuses with force surpassing what was common in the mystic realm, and the rest of the Prismatic Sun Holy Land geniuses weren't weaklings either.
The first thing they did upon entering battle was separate the enemy into smaller groups.
Damien took six Nox Worshippers for himself, Su Ren took another six, Pandora took three, and the remaining geniuses handled the rest together.
Damien fought zealously. As Mirage sliced through the hardened bodies of the Nox Worshippers, he realized that the defensive strength of the enemy was far higher than expected.
Bang!
A bullet shot out of Freya's barrel, slamming into a Nox Worshipper's body, however, the mana actually splashed off like water instead of penetrating.
Damien couldn't stop himself from grinning.
'How interesting! The Nox had something like this?'
The Nox Worshippers he'd fought until this point had extremely unstable power and their bodies were more similar to Lesser Nox.
These guys, on the other hand, retained their intelligence and had the signature ashen grey skin of the Higher Nox!
It was quite curious.
'Is this what those guys on the Cloud Plane were chasing back then?' He wondered as he dodged a furious claw.
His body flipped backward and Mirage slashed in tandem with his movements.
The blade couldn't pierce the enemy's defense on its own, but since when was Mirage meant to be used like that?
An arc of transparent mana traced its blade and cut outward, phasing into the diamond-like exterior of the nearest Nox Worshipper.
'Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break, Unrestrained'
A modification of the original Horizon Break that allowed its concept to act fluidly, turning any move into a defense-piercing attack.
Spurt!
Blood spurted from the thick gash that formed in the Nox Worshipper's chest.
Before he could react, Damien dug his arm into that gash and directly grabbed the man's heart.
Bang!
He clenched his fist and crushed it before teleporting away, avoiding the attacks of the other five enemies that surrounded him.
'Nice! Good fight!' He exclaimed inwardly, but now wasn't the time to have fun.
Since there was a method, who was he to not exploit it?
He teleported between the five Nox Worshippers like a fly who always managed to avoid being caught. His sword slashed out furiously, each move infused with the concept of Distance within Horizon Break.
Black blood painted the air, and the Nox dissolved one by one into puddles of ink that wriggled across the ground.
Damien didn't stop them. Once all five were dead and their inky remains combined in normal Nox fashion, though…
'Devour.'
Thin black smoke wisps entered the muck and secretly consumed it and banished it to nothingness.
Damien glanced at the others. Su Ren was almost done with his group, and Pandora was the same. The only ones struggling were her junior disciples.
Damien shrugged helplessly and sent a few arcs of sword light into the Nox they faced, injuring them and creating openings for the geniuses to take advantage of.
Once he was done, he turned his attention to the horizon once again with a slight smile.
"Oh? Are we perhaps targets?" He muttered.
There was another group approaching, but this one only had two members.
The problem was…
'Where the hell did they find these powerful Nox Worshippers, and why the hell were they allowed into the assembly?'
The auras of the approaching enemies were far too domineering. Damien would expect Nox like these in a place like Eien, but never in a gathering of geniuses!
'Looks like it's not just young geniuses who entered the realm. Have the Nox found a way to subvert the realm laws?'
There was only one way to know…
Devouring them and reading their memories.
"Su Ren, how's it looking?" He asked without turning his head.
"I have finished," Su Ren responded from not far away.
Damien glanced back and saw the puddle of ink left by him and nodded.
'A blade that can prevent me from regenerating naturally has the capability to thoroughly kill a Nox being.'
"We're fighting them?" Su Ren asked, arriving beside Damien.
Damien nodded. "Yeah, they'll give us a good fight."
"Oh? You're certain?"
"I am."
"That is concerning…"
Damien nodded and stepped forward.
"Kill first ask questions later. If anyone knows what's going on, it's those Angels outside."
"Right, there has never been another answer."
Damien checked one more time to make sure the Prismatic Sun geniuses were fine, and without hesitation, he flashed forward.
He met the approaching enemies in a second, and immediately used Horizon Break to cut through their defenses.
"Haha, human, you think you can kill us?" One of them shouted boisterously.
"I don't know, let's find out!" Damien responded with gritted teeth.
His sword blade scraped against the Nox Worshipper's chest, and the transparent blade of mana clashed against his body as well.
However, it didn't pierce him.
Damien's eyes sharpened as he teleported away.
BANG!
The air exploded fiercely at the force of the Nox Worshipper's terrifying claw.
In the same moment, the second Nox Worshipper shot forward, his claws aimed at where Damien had reappeared.
Shing!
A blade swept through the air, countering the claw and pushing it down.
Su Ren turned his body, placed his feet on the Nox Worshipper's chest, and kicked out, using the force to push both him and the enemy backward.
"Hmm, strong," he muttered.
Just as Damien said, these two beings would give them a good fight.
They weren't like the rest of the regular Nox Worshippers.
"State your names," Su Ren said, pointing his blade the two.
And unexpectedly, the Nox Worshippers grinned.
"I am called Huo Xuan…"
"…and I am called Huo Dong!"
They spoke together as one, and though Damien had no reaction to their names, Su Ren was different.
The Huo Twins…he'd heard of these people before.
"Damien, this is more complicated than expected," he said.
Damien looked at him casually and shrugged. "Does that change the plan?"
Su Ren shook his head with a smile. "I guess not."
"Then, what's the use of talking about it? Let's fight!"
Damien and Su Ren moved as one.
Damien took Huo Xuan, while Su Ren set his sights on his brother.
And as if they had known each other for years and years, they attacked in sync.
BOOOOOOOOM!
Four forces collided, and a massive explosion swept the realm.
Countless eyes turned in that direction, but only for a few moments.
There were over ten thousand Nox Worshippers polluting Holy Light Star at the moment, and barely anyone had the time to pay attention to other things.
If they wanted to do that, they first needed to survive!
As if the situation wasn't already bad enough…
Blood pooled in the earth, sending rivers of corrupted vitality into the world's surface.
And the world which had been slowly savoring the taste of vitality as it regenerated itself suddenly tasted the joys of blood.
Its desire grew, and subsequently, the suction force it emitted grew as well.
VOOM!
An air of suppression filled the entire realm.
At the worst possible time, the Third Calamity erupted in full force.
