2 days passed in a flash for the outside forces staying in Dalia City and the sun slowly rose once more to signify the day of the raid.
Currently, Damien and Long Chen stood in the midst of a crowd of cultivators as they waited at the South Gate of the city.
Their wait didn't last long, however, as a massive flying beast landed at the front of their ranks. On its back stood the valiant figure of Shen Li draped in his usual beast hide cloak.
"The time of our raid starts now. When we reach the destination, question nothing and leave none alive. This is our only mission."
He had already given his extended speech two days ago, so there was nothing left to say. With these final words, his flying beast took off into the distance, followed by the crowd of cultivators.
The journey wasn't long at all, taking only a day to carry out, and throughout the whole thing, no nervousness could be felt. It was almost like they weren't going into a battle where many of them would die.
Instead, the atmosphere was filled with greed. The extinction of a sect didn't simply end there, instead, it was a gateway to more wealth. Usually, this wealth would be claimed by the ruling power in the area, but since they were directly participating, they might have a chance to squander some of it.
When Shen Li's beast came to a stop, it hovered over a large canyon in the midst of the snow-covered land. The direct contrast of abyssal black and pure white was truly a sight to see.
Within that canyon stood a small city that was painted in a red aura. It was similar to any other city in the Northern Continent when it came to architecture. Well, that was only if one didn't factor in the massive bloody mansion in its center.
Usually, the aura around the city would contain a clear and visceral scent of blood, as it was created by refining the blood of many beings, however, such a smell was faded.
The air still reeked, but of something much more putrid. As Damien descended into the canyon with the rest of the cultivators on the raid, he was immediately able to identify this smell.
'It's them again.'
Before even leaving earth with the elders of the Burning Sun Sect, he was aware that the threat of the Nox was also looming over the Cloud Plane. And though he wasn't surprised seeing something related to them, he was still taken back by how obvious it was.
It was as if they were making no attempts to hide their desire for conquest, blatantly provoking the people on the planet who knew of them. Still, Damien found it strange that in such a situation, talk about war wasn't more prominent.
And it wasn't even just that. The Beguiled Devil Sect itself was acting strange, as even with their obvious and unbidden descent into their territory, they didn't make a move.
'Something's not right.'
His intuition was screaming at him about the discontinuity between the currently calm atmosphere and the situation that should be taking place.
And he wasn't one to ignore his intuition.
Zara also understood his intentions, quickly pulling forward and staying at the front of the crowd, and Long Chen also followed.
Although he wasn't aware of Damien's reasoning, he had learned through their various spars that Damien wasn't someone to make stupid moves for no reason.
And quickly, his choice was proven right. Assorted yells started ringing out from the back of the crowd, and a loud shout shifted the entire mood of the group.
"Charge as fast as you can! Those who stay in the air will die!"
Shen Li sped up, leaving the group behind and bypassing the red aura that surrounded the sect. Damien and Long Chen followed without thought as behind them, the screams became more jarring.
The red aura that covered the sect speedily approached the crowd of cultivators and entrapped them within. The red aura turned into a fog before entering the bodies of those it entrapped.
Any aura emitting from them was removed as their cultivation was seemingly sealed. But even with this, they remained suspended in the air.
Slowly, the fog that entered their bodies ate away at them from the inside, acting as a black hole that consumed all of their blood.
Those cultivators quickly became lifeless and mummified husks, dropping to the ground and crumbling into dust.
They had all died.
But Damien didn't have time to focus on that at the moment. As one of the few that made it through before the aura began its attack, he was able to witness the scene within the sect.
Bloodstains painted the walls of the many buildings in the small city and assorted body parts littered the ground. However, even these weren't intact. The body parts had clearly been corroded, and traces of a black ink-like substance could be seen on many of them.
Hundreds of cultivators slowly showed up, seemingly having passed through without being harmed by the aura, but their original number in the thousands had been drastically cut down.
"What the hell happened here?" One of them wondered out loud.
In the midst of the chilling silence that had come over the group, the man's voice was particularly loud, but nobody answered his question.
In fact, they were all wondering the same thing.
Their goal today was to exterminate a wicked sect, but it had already been done before they arrived.
But that didn't mean they could rejoice. From the pungent smell in the air, it was clear that the massacre that took place was extremely recent. Perhaps the one who committed it was still within the sect.
As Damien observed the surroundings, his eyes slightly flashed and a black mana entered his vision. If he had to describe it in one word, it would be death.
But it wasn't an aura or threat of death, it was mana that emanated the feeling of death itself. As he traced its source, Damien found himself staring directly at the center of the city.
The sound of low footsteps began ringing through the air before one pair became many, sounding more like a march of troops.
And slowly revealing themselves from within the blood-red mansion in the middle of the city was a group of humanoid beings.
They weren't necessarily Nox, as compared to the one Damien met in the temple their stature simply didn't match up, but they definitely weren't human.
Their skin was the color of midnight, and a slimy black substance dripped off of them with every movement.
The whites of their eyes were blue while their pupils were the same black as their skin. Many of them had mutations as well, ranging from extra limbs to demonic horns protruding from their bodies.
Hundreds of these strange beings soon emerged from the mansion.
At the forefront, there was a large man whose stature didn't lose out to Shen Li's in the slightest. He had cracked glasses on his face and long firey red hair that reached his waist.
Looking up at the crowd of cultivators in the sky, a large grin formed on his face.
"Well, well. It seems that the heavens have graced us with even more sustenance."
