Dawn arrived to usher in a new day, but the sunlight was unable to find its way through the dense cloud layer and shine upon the earth below.
Unexpectedly, it was raining heavily in the area around the Celestial Star Palace. Although the sect was covered in a protective formation that could easily block the rain, it wasn't used for such a purpose.
After all, rain wasn't a bad thing. Considering how the weather in the Central Continent was usually steady, experiencing rain was something welcomed rather than shunned.
Currently, Damien sat on the roof of Rose's residence and looked up into the clouds above, not minding the fact that he was getting soaked in the process.
It'd been years since he last experienced rain. Through some miracle, he'd avoided anything other than normal sunny weather ever since he fell into the dungeon. But he was always an enjoyer of rainy days.
The naturally gloomy atmosphere brought about by rain, the quiet pitter-patter of water impacting the ground, and the chill of raindrops hitting his skin, it all created an ambiance that truly allowed him to sort out his thoughts more peacefully.
Rumble!
Damien closed his eyes as thunder rang out above. With his entire body relaxed, he lay down on the roof and focused his senses on the rain falling on his skin.
'I can't tell whether Rose is a vixen or a shy maiden…but whatever it is, her split personality in bed sure is interesting.' Damien thought with a smirk.
Last night was indeed a wild ride he wasn't expecting. From the second Rose took control of the situation, their pace rapidly changed.
Gone was the copious amount of time spent on foreplay, the only thing remaining being hot passion as their bodies intertwined. Rose was far more active in this regard than Elena was.
But at the same time, her shy look couldn't be faked. Even though her desires were bold and ambitious, she didn't have the confidence to carry them out so brazenly. It was only after Damien helped her along that her talent in the art of seduction truly showed itself.
Damien smiled wryly. 'But I didn't expect her to suck me dry in a single night. Even after so many days with Elena, I didn't feel this tired.'
After all, his first time with Elena was as vanilla as it could be. They switched positions many times, but they weren't overly ambitious since they were well aware of their own inexperience.
But Rose had no such reservation. In fact, her mana was in full use the entire night. Damien was able to personally witness the wonders of illusions.
'This time, she only stimulated my sense of touch…but with her capabilities wouldn't it be possible to have multiple Roses at the same time doing…'
He shook his head as if that would shake off his stray thoughts. Having bedded two of his wives within a week of each other, his suppressed libido seemed to be acting up.
He was even of the mind to go find Ruyue and do her too, but as Rose had learned last night, Damien was oddly a stickler for old rules. He wanted his first time with every wife to be a special moment for the two of them. He didn't want sex to become meaningless.
It wasn't a bad thing, but it did mean that he was usually more passive than he would like to be. But that was something to be improved at a later date. For now…
'After so much thinking, I've finally realized how rough the next six months will be.'
If it was just the Cloud Plane, he wouldn't complain. But realizing that he needed to purge both Apeiron and Earth as well in the same span of time made him feel like his hair was actively graying by the second.
'Haa…logically speaking, I should have enough forces to purge Earth and Apeiron without worry. If I team up with Malcolm and the Adelaire Emperor, it'll be much easier. The problem is, those two worlds are low in strength.'
If the enemies in those worlds were at the same level as the ones in the Cloud Plane, taking care of them with just the forces available in those worlds would be problematic.
Of course, he could easily use the strength of the 4th classes under him to wipe out all the enemies, but he didn't want to do that. Just like the old saying went, teaching a man how to fish was far better than simply giving him a fish.
Both Apeiron and Earth were problems bigger than the Cloud Plane for different reasons.
For one, Earth's World Core hadn't lived long enough to gain sentience. As such, easily getting a list of traitors to execute like he did from Yun wasn't an applicable solution.
He'd have to personally scour the planet to root out the traitors.
Apeiron's problem was different. Even if the number was incredibly low, they at least had a few 4th class existences. And considering how there might be hidden experts that Damien wasn't aware of, the number could be larger than he expected it to be.
The problem with Apeiron was something Damien only hypothesized about. And that was, its World Core.
The history of Apeiron was far more brutal than that of the Cloud Plane, even though the latter was a more brutal place. The population of Apeiron was almost driven to extinction during the previous war.
And due to that, Damien began to have a suspicion. What if Apeiron's World Core was in a situation similar to Yun's? What if it had also been corroded by Nox mana over a long period of time?
Considering the damage Apeiron took in the previous Great War, it was best to assume that the degree of corruption was far worse than Yun's. In the worst case, the World Core was already fully corrupted.
'I'm itching to go as soon as possible, but I at least have to stay here until the purge officially starts. Only after that can I take my mind off the Cloud Plane for a bit.'
According to the plan, the purge would begin with the other four continents, since the largest congregation of Devil Worshippers was actually in the Central Continent.
Damien just needed to return by the time the purge reached its final month so he could personally pay a visit to the Eclipsing Shadow Sect.
'Hmm, although the immediate problems seem to be somewhat solved, I feel like I haven't sorted everything out yet…was I overwhelmed by my previous conversation with Tian Yang and the rest?'
It was a plausible explanation. After all, he finally learned about the grand scale of the universe and acquired a calling to the Abyss. It was natural for the sheer level of information to overwhelm him.
But Damien shook his head. He wasn't one to obsess about things like that. When the time came for him to step into a bigger stage, he'd do so naturally. Besides, his strength was already enough for him to claim himself the peak of the younger generation, or at least, close to it.
Therefore, his worries must've come from somewhere else. And that place could only be Niflheim.
