In the city of Astoria, not far from the demon city Acier, a large congregation of people had been arriving over the past few days.
Even the ordinary mortals living within the city walls could clearly feel the storm brewing on the horizon, only, they had no idea why such a storm suddenly arrived.
But they didn't question it. Firstly, the individuals in question were far too powerful for these mortals to dare speak up, but it was more due to a second reason.
After all, at the head of the congregation of individuals was a woman who they had complete faith in. It was due to her efforts that the city had survived the siege of abominations it faced close to a month ago.
"We haven't made much progress in the past month, but at least we now know the location of the demons' base. Dammit! It was so close! How did we miss it for so long?!"
A fiery red beauty complained as she gazed into the horizon with an annoyed look. Her eyes were focused on a mountain a few tens of kilometers away.
"Hmm~ it's not like the residents of the Trial World have any information. They are too weak! Those idiot demons also didn't seem to be able to speak, that's why it took so much effort for us to finally learn something. This month has been so boring~!"
A second beauty driveled exaggeratedly. Qing tan was genuinely frustrated, though. She had only met and traveled with Damien for a few days, but the amount of fun she was able to have in those few days trumped the entire rest of her time in the Trial World.
"I'll find that bastard and beat him up! Beat him! Let's see how he excludes me next time!"
"What next time? After the Trial World ends, I doubt you'll get to see him very often." Feng Qing'er scoffed.
"Who cares~? If he hides from me, I'll just have to find him! That's easy!"
"If it was so easy, then why haven't you found him yet? Don't try to pretend like you haven't been searching for him since we separated."
"Hmph!"
Feng Qing'er rolled her eyes, not wanting to deal with Qing Tan's antics anymore. They had now been traveling together for enough time that Feng Qing'er had a general grasp on how to deal with her.
"We should finally be able to move soon. It looks like almost everyone has shown up."
Feng Qing'er's gaze shifted to a square within Astoria. Within it, there were around 40 geniuses gathered together.
It was all of the geniuses Feng Qing'er had contact with from their group. Around twenty from Astoria and 20 from Darknorth. The rest had either died or were in unknown places.
For the past month, Feng Qing'er had been tirelessly moving for the sake of finding Acier and bringing these geniuses together. And now, it was finally time.
"But still~ a full frontal assault is a bit much, no? Do you really think they can hold up?" Qing Tan asked curiously,
Even more than Feng Qing'er, she was well aware of the standard of these geniuses. They could deal with Captains just fine, but they had to group up to fight Generals, let alone Commanders who could easily wipe them out if they used their dark material.
"It's fine. I never expected much from them anyway. But, we need more people if we're going to take out a bulk of the demons' numbers."
"Hmm. I guess it works? I didn't know Miss Queen was fond of using others as meat shields!"
"Isn't that a bit harsh? They should be honored to take part in a raid like this one. Besides, meat shield isn't the proper word. The enemies we'll be facing are far worse than the ones they will after all."
"I guess so~."
Feng Qing'er sighed. She didn't know what Damien was planning to do, but she figured that he also had some business in Acier, especially since he had decided to separate from them after meeting with the Demon King.
For some reason, thinking about him facing dangers alone made her feel stifled. She knew Damien wasn't a righteous person, but he was still doing so much. Meanwhile, all she could do was carry her righteous sentiments without being able to act on them.
It was this sense of falling behind that drove her to act so brazenly. Well, that was a part of it. There was another reason as well.
After she achieved Nirvana and was reborn with Reincarnation Flames, something within her had been triggered. She felt a strange sense of repulsion and disgust whenever she saw those demons.
It was like her bloodline was rejecting their existence. It seethed with hatred and vengeance. But she didn't know how demons who had been trapped in this Primordial Undying Realm for thousands of years could stimulate the blood of her ancestors.
Feng Qing'er wanted to get to the bottom of why she was feeling such things. And the only way to do so was to go to Acier.
'Actually, he might know something about it.'
Her thoughts landed on Damien again. He didn't even try to deny the fact that he was still hiding some of his knowledge about the demons' situation from them. She felt that whatever the information he was hiding was, it was also the key to why her ancestors bore such hatred for the demons.
'Next time I see him, I'll milk that information out of him no matter what.'
Feng Qing'er had a confident grin on her face as she thought of it. That fellow had taken advantage of her so many times when they first met, yet he barely paid her any mind once they entered the Trial World. She would let him see how she'd deal with him when all of this was over.
A woman's mind was a strange thing. Although Feng Qing'er wanted to ignore him and just blast him to shreds like she would do with any other man who dared to act presumptuous around her, she couldn't bring herself to do so.
His shamelessness and annoying personality aside, his strength was indeed the real deal. And when he got serious, she had personally seen how he discarded his previous attitude.
In the end, her interactions with her had made her more curious about him than she was angry at his prior actions, and this fact only served to make her even angrier.
'Damn! Focus on the task ahead, Qing'er! Hmph! I'll tell Luna about everything that's happened here once we meet again. Even if he can take me, let's see how he takes us sisters when we work together!'
Smiling lightly, she once again focused on the mountain in the distance.
Feng Qing'er's eyes sharpened. Turning to Qing Tan, she gave her orders. "It looks like everyone's here. Gather them and tell them to get ready. We'll leave as soon as they are."
Feng Qing'er stood up from her position and moved to the city walls.
Later today, she would lead this group to siege the demon city Acier and let the blood of demons flow through the land.
