Essentially, what Iris did was fill in the blanks for Damien.
He had sufficient information about the Ancient Battlefield itself, but he was lacking in knowledge about the situation between the two forces.
In short, it went something like this:
The number of Nox Demigods versus universal Demigods started off at roughly 10,000 on each side.
When traitors were counted, it changed into a battle of 13,000 against 7,000 or so.
The two bases were stationed at the extreme poles of the battlefield, and thus it was almost impossible to come across the enemy base unless one was intentionally making their way there.
On the universal side, at least a thousand Demigods needed to stay stationed at the base to guard it, and many of those thousand took back-line roles to support those who were battling on the field.
It was still a war.
Intelligence gathering and other such tasks still held incredible importance, as the locations of those elusive enemy Demigods and the Nox Emperors couldn't remain unknown if they wanted to win.
Because the universe already had a numbers difference and the strength difference was also somewhat skewed against them, they needed to move with some coordination if they wanted to stand a proper chance.
Though, not everyone was part of this.
The Demigods who worked as part of this systematic army were the majority, but some, like Iris herself, decided to move on their own instead, only staying in contact to receive information from the intelligence side.
There were many reasons for this, but the main one was distrust.
Iris and several of her allies already had a force of their own, and instead of submitting themselves to those in the base camp or creating problems with infighting because they refused to bow down, they decided to form their own camp that would act separately yet still in tandem with the main base.
In this group were those like Iris, Alucard, Commander Huo, and a majority of the Demigods Damien had friendly relations with.
It was a bit surprising seeing how they were all so connected, but at the same time, it made sense.
After all, Damien had a type.
He didn't like to associate himself with those who only sought benefits despite the seriousness of the situation.
Nevertheless, the situation of the universal side was a bit torn, but for the most part, much more stable than it was in the lower universe.
As for the Nox…
Well, they were much more individualistic, and not just by nature.
It seemed the Nox Emperors stopped exerting extreme control over their Lords when they came to the Ancient Battlefield.
According to the reports Iris received, the Emperors had completely abandoned the main war and were having some sort of battle amongst themselves.
The Saint and Soul Emperors became more separated than ever, and surprisingly, the Saint Emperor's behavior had shifted in the past year.
His subtlety and mysteriousness had disappeared to an extent, and his mood seemed to change far too often, like he was snapping.
Funnily enough, it was completely Damien's fault.
The Saint Emperor risked everything to kill him and get the so-called Dark God's Seed that was in his body, but obviously, he'd failed.
The three "seeds" the Nox were obsessed with were not seeds at all, but more similar to body constitutions.
The Empyrean God Seed that Yong An possessed was what gave him control over the Abyss, the Yin-Yang Heaven Seed was within Zara and Alea, and only manifested when they combined after the Beast Emperor Star War, and Damien's Dark God Seed…
Well, it was the Nox's mistake from the beginning.
It didn't even exist.
It was just the Void that they didn't even realize they were worshiping.
It was quite funny when one thought about it.
Especially when that person was Damien, he felt great pleasure thinking of the Saint Emperor's expression when he realized he did all that for nothing.
Aside from the situation with Zara and Alea that he had no way of knowing, Damien was able to understand the rest after listening to Iris' explanations.
He found a clue towards the final mystery remaining about the Nox, the influence of the Void in their evolution.
Nevertheless, that was a minor fact at this point. Damien could focus on it once he was able to live safely in the Ancient Battlefield.
It wasn't just those two Nox Emperors acting strangely.
Through the deceased Envoy and Damien's actions, a rift appeared between the Karmic and Inhuman Emperors, who were already on bad terms due to the differences in their natures.
However, since they were forced into the Ancient Battlefield, none of them were able to address their internal conflicts.
If they did, they would give the enemy an opening to pierce through.
The Ancient Battlefield wasn't a kind place. Only one side could leave this place. Regardless of how the Nox felt about each other, if they wanted to survive and take revenge on those they despised, they needed to work together to fight the universe first.
So, the situation became like this.
Most Nox Lords were acting on their own, while the ones who formed groups did so of their own volition.
The Nox Emperors were currently just overseeing the situation since neither side was able to take the lead thus far, but it was certain they'd start acting soon.
To see how the universe's side either came together or broke apart, time was needed, but overall, both sides were holding onto a flimsy balance until they found the chance to turn on each other.
"So for now, the only goal is to kill as much as possible before that happens."
Iris ended her explanation and looked at Damien, who was deep in thought, waiting for his response.
She wanted to see his tactical ability, because, with his current power, he needed to move like a snake, relying on trickery and schemes to get by.
This would be a great help to her, who wasn't a great planner.
And more than anything else…
'The God Slayer operation basically fell apart because of the suddenness of our transportation, but if I can raise him into a proper Demigod during this time…we might be able to bring it back to life.'
The original Operation God Slayer was simple in essence.
It was a plan to slowly cull the Nox Demigod population through a variety of means, including a few biological weapons that had been secretly developed by their forces.
However, now that those hidden weapons were left in the lower universe and inaccessible, they needed a new plan to keep the momentum on their side.
The current balance was too fragile to rely on.
And though Damien didn't know anything about Operation God Slayer, he also understood the fragility of the situation.
It would boil over the second one side gained an advantage.
'But…'
Damien smiled to himself.
'This is a lot simpler than it used to be.'
He was quite happy.
His thoughts were completely different from Iris'
In his opinion, they were overcomplicating things needlessly.
'Plans and schemes, they've gotten so used to using means like this without the ability to act on their own that they forgot who or where they are.'
This was the Ancient Battlefield.
Plans, schemes, trickery, perhaps Damien needed these elements to keep himself alive, but wasn't that just because he was weak?
The purpose of this plane was simple.
It wasn't war, but slaughter.
The only thing they needed to do was kill.
'So what we should do now…is kill until they realize that.'
