As the final month of the voyage to Niflheim passed, a meeting between a certain Demon Emperor and High Angel came to a conclusion as well.
Parsiel left the main palace with a relieved sigh. 'It is good that the demons are still holding strong. Lucifer has been ruling them properly.'
It had to be known that the Demon Race and Angel Race were diametrically opposed upon birth. When the universe wasn't experiencing extraneous circumstances, it wasn't strange to find them at each other's necks.
But an inborn hatred couldn't always determine one's fate. The peak experts of the two races were actually on relatively good terms, being the leaders of the two strongest forces in the universe.
The meetings that took place on and off for the past month were held on these good terms. When Parsiel left, he didn't have anything negative to say about the Demon Race at all.
The overall situation, however, was a different story.
'It seems a punitive force has begun working in Sector 8. Considering the passive nature of most Plant Race experts, they won't be able to hold on for long…is Luciel still bent on waiting for the opportune moment?'
He left the Land of Heaven, what Angels termed their sector, without warning Luciel at all. The reason was exactly the Angel Race Leader's inaction in the face of catastrophe.
'How many more people have to die before you decide to move? …or are these deaths what you desire? Regardless, I cannot follow your ideology.'
His thoughts hadn't reached the point of insubordination quite yet, but he was questioning his leader easily. Although Angels had a habit of not questioning their authorities, Parsiel was always different.
It was the reason why he never rose to the true highest circle of class. His viewpoint just didn't align with theirs.
Parsiel almost felt ashamed by how well he got along with the Demons instead. Even if they were brutal and cunning, they at least had their priorities straight.
'Despite everything I say, neither the Angel nor Demon race is who my gut is telling me to rely on. It truly makes me curious…what kind of trump card have the humans come up with in the past 10,000 years? Why does my intuition favor them so heavily?'
The only way for him to find out was to head to the Human Domain himself. It would take another 6 months at least for his travel to come to a close, but Parsiel didn't mind.
To an old monster like him who had lived tens of thousands of years, what did a mere 6 months matter?
With this thought in mind, he continued his trek. Although he was delayed occasionally due to various matters along the way, he always faithfully returned to the mission he assigned himself.
And as that happened, a month went by. The various machinations of those throughout the Human Domain began to converge.
***
"Listen well. Although we, the Cloud Plane forces, are at the head of this operation, we are not the only ones participating."
Bai Xieren's indifferent voice traveled through the starship as she gave a few final words before they arrived at their destination.
"Within the Human Domain, there were nine worlds that stood united at the forefront of battle. Bloodland, Hatia, Asgard, Apeiron, the Cloud Plane, Mirrorbloom, Rihevan, Phiroah, and Ataraxia.
"Of these, Rihevan and Hatia fell in the last war, the remnants of Asgard have become a mere rebellion within Niflheim, and Apeiron has vanished without contact."
Bai Xieren's indifference faded slightly as a hint of fury colored her face.
"We, the Human Domain, have always been at the forefront of any war, protecting our universe without fail. Yet, we have now been weakened so, and the other races don't pay us as much attention, nor do they offer aid in our trying times.
"We only have each other to rely on, so infighting between forces of the Human Domain is forbidden. Anyone caught breaking this law will be punished with death.
"As I was saying before, forces from Mirrorbloom, Phiroah, and Ataraxia will be aiding us in this mission. Although you most likely will not encounter them, I am giving you fair warning just in case.
"Cooperate without conflict if they are with us, and kill without mercy if they are against. As for which side they fall into, such a thing can be left to personal judgement. Everyone here has been hand-picked by our experts, so there is no need to worry about trust."
It wasn't just that all the gathered forces were hand-picked by experts, they were also screened by Damien using his Star Master powers, and again screened by Tang Lingxi who offered him this small bit of help when he asked for it.
In essence, the Cloud Plane forces were clean. Nothing like what happened with the Wang and Xue clans would happen during this expedition.
"We will arrive in Niflheim within the day. When we do, we will land the ship peacefully. With our numbers, it is impossible for our presence to be hidden, but we can at least keep our intentions a secret.
"After all, to the rest of the universe, Asgard is simply a separate country within this world. Information on the true struggles taking place here has been largely blocked."
"How can we be sure that Niflheim won't question our entry?" An old man questioned. His eyes shone with a light of wisdom and curiosity unbefitting his age. But, they didn't look out of place on his person at all.
Bai Xieren nodded in acknowledgment. "Good question. Actually, Asgard's forces were once forced to take a Mana Oath to never reveal their situation to outsiders. Naturally, it was an Oath made after all loopholes were extinguished."
"Then…"
Bai Xieren smiled for the first time. Even if it was a cold smile that reeked of killing intent, it still looked immensely beautiful on her face.
"The Oath even covered whether or not information was leaked after death, forbidding this action. But…what if information never leaked? What if the information was found by a third party without Asgard's knowledge?
"What if the person who found the information was a Niflheim native since birth, but wasn't a part of Asgard?"
"What you're saying is…there is an insider that is helping us?"
Bai Xieren's smile became mysterious. "Whether it is an insider or someone from our own ranks doesn't matter. What matters is that we are guaranteed safety at least until we have landed on the surface. After that, it is up to us to survive."
Bai Xieren continued her speech, going over the ins and outs of the operation and the various ways the web of information would interconnect, but Damien had already withdrawn his awareness by this point.
He was only "technically" a member of the operation while he was actually using it as a front to move alone. Due to this, he didn't need to know details that exceeded his station.
His gaze moved to the horizon, or whatever the equivalent term was when one was floating through space, and locked onto a certain planet drifting in the distance.
'Mm, I believe now would be the best time to separate.'
He held to the plan he created over a month ago. Because of Eve, the AI chip in his head, he was able to understand the general position of where his role was supposed to be.
After arriving there, things would progress naturally.
And according to the main plan, he was only supposed to arrive at this place after leaving Asgard secretly.
But Damien didn't want to associate too much with those inside the starship. His existence, to this day, was only known to the Hidden Dragon Group and Bai Xieren. How could the others notice him when he was merged into the folds of outer space for the majority of the trip?
Since his identity was covered well and the opportune moment was upon him, the only thing left to do was act.
His figure flashed away, appearing within the cabin of a certain swordmaster. Without warning, he grabbed the latter's shoulder and flashed away again.
"No time to explain. This is going to be a bumpy ride, so make sure to enjoy it!"
Those were the last words Long Chen heard before his vision became blurred with a flurry of colors.
