The week passed rapidly and was, for the most part, uneventful.
The current battle wasn't like any others Damien had participated in. Rather than actually fighting to the death, more time was spent on information gathering and scouting.
If it wasn't for the threat of total warfare on the horizon, it truly would've been a bland week.
Damien spent this time devouring without limit. Void Mana strengthened itself through the devoured essence and produced Damien a slight bit of Void comprehension when it did while Damien took those elders' memories and put all the valuable information down in one place.
Within the jade slip he populated with information, there wasn't just a relatively detailed map of the Tephit Clan's headquarters, there was also a rough overview of their forces, their positions, and their overall strength level.
Even with all this knowledge, there was a need to plan for the unexpected. As Damien's devoured memories became deeper and deeper, he began connecting a few points that weren't as obvious in individual parts.
One elder might've seen a single strange event, but when three elders saw similar events that somehow carried a cohesive flow to them, was it still coincidence?
'What is he planning?'
From what Damien could gather, Tephit was an extremely secluded man. He rarely left his training room, spending his time immersed in the Emperor Bone Sea for unknown reasons.
Yet, to Damien, these reasons were especially clear. He'd recognized the Prominence War's flawed reasoning instantly upon hearing its structure. If a being who held its power for countless years couldn't do the same, was he even worthy of inheriting the throne?
Mysterious disappearances polluted Aquazyl in recent times, but because of the Prominence War, most people just assumed these disappearances as deaths.
After all, destruction was everywhere. It wasn't strange for an entire city to vanish off the face of the realm without warning.
'Don't tell me this is another sacrificial ritual…seriously, what's with people and their obsession with sacrificing others for…ah, right…'
Damien had seen too many sacrificial rituals in his time. He wanted to question the reasoning these people shared, but he realized he couldn't.
Sacrificing people for power was the basis of the universe's growth system. Even his own Devour functioned on the same basis.
The difference was between practitioners and innocents, but even then, the title of "innocent" was used liberally.
In Aquazyl, everyone was a practitioner. There wasn't such thing as an innocent present.
Personal grudges and selfish power struggles drove Aquazyl's society.
Nevertheless, none of this really mattered. As Damien became more and more well-traveled and discovered the different cultures of the world, he realized that everyone was essentially the same.
'What are you trying to tell me?' He asked no one in particular. The mana in the atmosphere remained just as still as it was before.
His body flashed away. Regardless of the questions in his heart, he had a job to do.
And he would make sure not to disappoint.
***
"This…this…this…!"
"Amazing! Hahaha, I knew it was the right decision to join you!"
Maximus and Ria stood with Damien's information jade slip in hand. After reading through it, their shock was more than just immense.
They'd spent countless years attempting to breach the Tephit Clan's security, but were always unsuccessful. The clan members would kill themselves through unknown methods before they could be questioned and the fortress-like defense of the headquarters itself made it nigh-impossible to breach.
Yet, Damien was able to make such a comprehensive report in less than a week?
Unbelievable!
"The raids on Tephit periphery branches and subdivisions are going as planned, but the Tephit Clan Head isn't moving as expected. In fact, he's just sitting back and allowing us to kill his people. Isn't it strange?" Maximus said.
"Ha? That guy is arrogant to the core. He views his clan as a tool to achieve his goals. Why would he care about their safety?" Ria questioned. She didn't understand why this point was relevant.
Damien shook his head in rebuttal. "Even if his personality is like that, it's different this time. Tephit isn't just allowing us to continue killing his troops…he's almost feeding them to us."
The number of elders exiting the Tephit headquarters to fortify the subdivisions hadn't decreased after repeated failures. Stronger forces were dispatched so rarely that they didn't even make a difference in the bigger picture.
The only thing this led to was continuous slaughter of Tephit forces.
"What if…that's what he wants?" Zara suggested. All eyes turned to her for explanation.
Zara felt her breath catch in her throat. She didn't want to be involved in such an important discussion with her lack of ability and eloquence, but she ended up blurting her thoughts out anyway. Now that she was given center stage, she couldn't help but fumble.
Damien grabbed hold of her hand, reassuringly squeezing it and bringing Zara back to reality.
She took a few deep breaths, stabilizing herself and building up courage before saying, "I've been watching the Tephit Clan's movements from the beginning, and they've always been strange. Why fuel rebellion instead of crushing it? Why send weaker forces even after understanding our power level? Why drag out this war instead of ending it before the two uninvolved clans decide to join?"
"As I ask myself, I realize that…maybe Tephit wants the chaos to reach its peak? There are more than just a few methods to use chaos and bloodshed to one's own benefit. And if Tephit is the type of person Ria makes him out to be, wouldn't sacrificing his clan for personal gain perfectly embody his character?"
Ria's eyes widened. "You don't mean…!"
"What other gain could he be wishing for aside from freedom?" Maximus said coldly.
The eyes of the two Clan Heads were terrifyingly chilled. With Zara's line of reasoning helping them see clearer, they couldn't deny this truth.
The Clan Heads of the five Sea God Clans…they'd always known about the shackles of their existence. They were chained to this world and chained to the Prominence War, unable to escape the consistent cycle of death it wrought.
Since they had to suffer, they did their best to ease the burden on the clan members below them. This was the same for every Clan Head that came before them.
The separated battlefields, the loose structure of the clans, these were all for that exact motive.
If Tephit was trying to escape by himself, he was essentially betraying the other Clan Heads and betraying Aquazyl.
They couldn't accept it.
Previously, Maximus and Ria only decided to enter this war and destroy the Tephit Clan for personal gain. Tephit was suppressing them too much, leading their clans into decline. They wanted the power they'd receive from killing him.
However, the situation was different now. If Tephit wanted to escape Aquazyl alone, it wasn't about power or selfishness anymore.
They couldn't allow that to happen.
"Throw away any thought of further preparation. We, the Ruvia Clan, will attack the Tephit tomorrow!" Maximus fiercely declared.
"We, the Oga Clan, will join you with honor!" Ria declared as well.
The two looked at Damien and Zara, waiting for their responses.
Damien smiled. Well, the matters of Aquazyl should be left to the people of Aquazyl. He didn't need to worry about the Tephit Clan's schemes.
All that mattered to him was…
"Attack tomorrow? That's great. I was getting tired of waiting."
