Perhaps it was the words he spoke or perhaps the woman had seen the look in his eyes, but her facade immediately crumpled. The barely concealed killing intent from before suddenly bloomed to the point where even the elephantine mount she was riding was shivering in fear.
Fierce winds rushed from within the other three palanquins as their riders felt the woman's killing intent. Three equally handsome men with the exact same facial features were suddenly standing around her in a triangular formation.
"Do you understand who exactly you're messing with?" The woman's eery voice rang out. The killing intent around her had multiplied even further with the addition of the other three Generals, causing an intimidating air to permeate further into the atmosphere.
Feeling the pressure coming from the four Generals, the 25 geniuses who had been diligently fighting back the remains of the abomination army suddenly froze in fear.
Their bodies shuddered to the point where they couldn't even lift their heads. Any fighting spirit they had broke. If it wasn't for that mysterious girl's timely help, there was no doubt they would've been killed off without worry.
Even the elephantine beasts collapsed to the ground helplessly, signs of foam coming from their mouths.
"And is there any reason I shouldn't know?" Damien replied with a cocky grin. "Why should I give a shit about scum who sold themselves for a meager amount of power?"
"You…!" An enraged shout came from the woman. She no longer maintained her sitting posture, standing at her full height which was almost as tall as Damien and glaring at him heavily.
The thundering clouds above seemed to rage. Swirling winds and thick black lightning danced through the air. It was clear that a fight was on the cusp of breaking out.
Feng Qing'er watched the whole interaction from start to finish without even properly having the chance to speak. Whether it was the man who had just arrived or the ones within the palanquins, they all ignored the presence of all others.
But regardless of how much she paid attention to the conversation, she was still confused about its contents. She really couldn't figure out what was going on, but she understood that it was something greater than what she originally thought.
She couldn't be blamed though. Knowledge of the Nox wasn't a common thing in the first place, with only the stronger experts in the world knowing about it. Even at Damien's level, he wouldn't have been qualified to know this information if he was born and raised in the Cloud Plane.
But through a series of coincidences and fortuitous encounters, he had become deeply entrenched in the Nox conflict far before he had the qualifications to even utter their names.
Even then, he basically knew nothing. He knew of their existence, he had seen some of the activities of their followers, but he had only come into contact with the race itself one time.
And even that one time was in a controlled environment where the Nox was severely weakened.
Even disregarding the taboo-ish nature of the subject, with the 3000 Beast Mountain Range being a sealed area without contact with the outside world, how could they have any information at all?
The only ones Damien suspected had this kind of knowledge were the elves who resided under the World Tree, and perhaps the White Dragon King who was once a traveler from the outside world. But evidently, they had followed the same procedures in not sharing this information with those too weak to know it.
Feng Qing'er, who was clueless to all of this, probably wouldn't have cared either way. Her pride flared at the way she was being treated.
"Hey! Who do you think you are to ignore me?!" She yelled in fury. Her flaming gaze landed on Damien, who she still hadn't settled her score with.
A soft giggle rang out as another figure flashed into the air, appearing next to her. "Now, now. A fun thing is happening in front of you, why don't you just sit back and enjoy it?"
Looking at the two women, one known and the other a mystery, Damien smiled lightly. "Well, the short version is that they are scum. If you really want to know, think of them as a stronger variation of those abominations you fought earlier."
"Eh?" The unexpected answer took them by surprise. Feng Qing'er's gaze became strange when she looked towards the woman and three men standing on the enemy side.
But she didn't let any thoughts linger for too long. "Hmph! I'll accept it for now, but when this is over you have to tell me everything! If you don't, watch how I tear you to shreds!"
The mysterious girl simply giggled once more, but from the way her aura flared, her position was obvious.
Three on one side and four on the other. Seeing how no more talk was necessary, Damien cracked his neck.
"I'll take on that woman. The other three shouldn't be too hard for the two of you, right?"
"Are you looking down on me?!" Feng Qing'er fumed.
Damien smiled, but his eyes were still as cold as ever. Looking at the woman once more, he spoke one final time.
"Joining hands with those scum and becoming one of their dogs is simply…COURTING DEATH!"
Giving himself a hearty laugh, he shot forward with intense speed, immediately crossing the distance between him and the Demon Generals.
Without hesitation, he shot his fist forward at the female demon general's face.
Boom!
The demon general raised her arm to block, but the force of the punch still managed to push her back. Still, she remained uninjured.
"You…you actually attacked me…" she muttered in disbelief. Suddenly, her arms shot up once again as another punch shot towards her face. But it was soon followed by a low uppercut to her stomach.
Bang!
The woman shot into the air, still dazed by the fact that she was being attacked. When was the last time she had been disrespected like this? When was the last time she had been hit?
Despite the fact that she was only a Demon General at the moment, even the Commanders didn't dare disrespect her too much. Her position within their ranks was already guaranteed as long as she had the chance to grow.
But now…now, some random guy wanted to abuse her like this? She suddenly broke out into a fit of laughter. It was a maniacal laughter that truly didn't fit her fairy-like appearance.
"Good! Good good good! Hahahaha!"
Raging black mana exploded forth from her body and transformed into thick tendrils of what looked like black flame.
"Let me show you the consequences of daring to attack me!"
Her body flashed forward like a black comet towards Damien's location. Her empty hand was now holding an inky black sickle made of the same mana that emanated from her body.
Damien raised his fist that crackling with black lightning and slightly distorting the surrounding space and punched out, meeting the sickle head-on. A ring-like shockwave rippled through the air and caused the winds to rip around.
Their clash seemed to signal the start of a massive battle of even greater proportion than when thousands had charged forth.
Feng Qing'er and the mysterious girl arrived before their targets as well. And even though they had been largely ignored so far, the other geniuses also acted.
Their combat power might not have been enough to participate in the battle in the sky, but there were still 20 odd demon captains on the ground with them. Not wanting to be dead weight, and wishing to make up for their humiliating cowering from before, they fervently attacked those captains.
The sky which had already started to dim with the setting sun was once again lit up by a series of explosions and colorful mana.
