The receptionist rambled off a spiel of common information that every guild member should know as she handed over the duo's guild identification plaques.
According to her, while Eien was a warzone, it wasn't a completely militarized region in the sense that not all battles that took place were ordered and properly befitting of the term "war."
While these battles happened often as well, it wasn't strange to see small scuffles everywhere and even areas where the environment resembled a lawless zone more than a battlefield.
For newbies who've just arrived at the Edge of Existence, it was recommended to slowly acclimate by taking on smaller extermination missions with a full squad before moving onto large-scale operations with more people.
Of course, Damien paid no mind to this advice.
'I can kill as I please, but if I follow the receptionist's advice, I'll be stuck as a common soldier who can't participate in anything extraordinary. If I want the experience I came here for, I need to be forward in my approach.'
Damien grinned as he looked at the mission list. The lowest level missions were essentially training missions, merely consisting of tasks on the level of defeating a group of 10 Lesser Nox. Moving up from there, the number and strength of the Nox to be killed increased slowly, until at the very extreme, there were even missions to assassinate Nox Avatars.
'Blade Lord, Poison Lord, Insect Lord…there are over fifteen Nox Avatars on this list. Do the Nox truly possess such a terrifying number of Demigods?'
Damien frowned as he scrolled to a more suitable portion of the list.
His frown soon turned back into a grin.
'Nice! It looks like they've scouted out a couple of strongholds but haven't been able to take them down yet. This is the perfect opportunity for me.'
Nox Strongholds were present in droves on Eien. Their level varied and some even had Nox Avatars residing within, but it seemed like the strongholds in the Blood-Drenched Wilderness weren't this developed quite yet.'
'The strongest beings in all of these strongholds are late-stage 4th class Nox, but the surrounding guilds haven't been able to conquer them for multiple reasons.'
Logistically, the only valid reason for their hesitation was the number of late-stage 4th class beings, but this problem could be solved with just a bit of planning.
The true reason for their lack of action was just as always.
Politics and sophistry.
Nox Strongholds were extremely useful strategic points that every guild wanted for themselves. These strongholds usually had a large number of resources stored within, and their positioning allowed Heaven's Army to use them to claim more land on Eien.
This momentum was incredibly important for the war effort, so not only would the majority benefit, the conquerors of the stronghold would gain control over the resources found there.
Everybody won, that is, if they could agree on who conquered the stronghold.
Every guild wanted to hoard the resources, which led to a stalemate where nobody touched the strongholds for fear of forming enmity with the other forces in the vicinity.
'In this situation, it only takes a single misplaced brick to topple the whole structure…or I guess in this situation, it's two.'
Damien smiled mischievously. He didn't accept the mission, but as he already saw the coordinates of the strongholds, he had no need to.
He didn't come to Eien for Sanctuary or Heaven's Army's rewards.
He came for blood.
His body flashed several hundred thousand kilometers away from the guild branch with Ximen Wuhen in tow. Within a few hours, they arrived at the first stronghold.
Damien spread his awareness and activated his All-Seeing Eyes.
'The numbers are mostly as expected. The number of early and mid-stage 4th class beings is more than what was estimated, but it should be doable. As for the late-stage 4th classes…'
Damien glanced at Ximen Wuhen. If it came down to it, he could use this as an opportunity to test her power.
"Stay here and observe for now. If you see a moment where it looks like I need support, provide it at your discretion." Damien told her.
Ximen Wuhen nodded with a slight bow, backing away and standing in the air on her own.
Damien turned his attention back to the stronghold.
It was big.
Really big.
'There are at least a few million Lesser Nox in there, not to mention the thousands of Higher Nox…'
It was like the battle on Calypto all over again.
But this time…
'I'm not so weak anymore.'
Damien flicked his hand into the air and pointed his finger at the stronghold.
Celestial Mana gathered in the air.
'Starfall: Cosmic Manifestation.'
VOOm!
A wave of power spread from Damien's body.
The sky went black.
The weather didn't change, a sun remained in the sky, but the sky went dark regardless.
Something gargantuan appeared there, casting a shadow over the Heavens.
Several tens of thousands of kilometers in diameter was the celestial body that manifested in the air.
It hovered there for a moment.
The Nox below began to notice it.
As their gazes turned upward…
Ximen Wuhen's eyes widened.
'Fall.'
The planetary body fell through the sky with speed not matching its side. An extreme gravity acted upon its surface, causing it to burn as it resisted the repelling force preventing it from slamming into Eien.
But no repelling force could match the weight of a planet.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The fortress collapsed, the Earth collapsed, the sky collapsed. The rumbling impact of the massive construct resounded for several tens of thousands of miles. The shockwaves that spread incinerated countless Lesser Nox, and injured a large number of Higher Nox as well.
It was a beautiful scene of destruction that deserved further description, but Damien didn't wait long enough to admire the blooming chaotic aftermath of his attack.
He charged.
His body disappeared and reappeared among the chaos. Pure white mana coated his body, and murky black mana swirled around his arms and legs.
'Let's feast.'
Damien bared his fangs.
Bang!
The air exploded under the weight of his acceleration. With pure speed alone, he arrived in front of the nearest Higher Nox and directly sliced him in half.
The Nox's body dissolved into ink, but before it could slink away to rejoin with its peers, a deathly spike pierced its body and melted it into nothingness.
Damien's eyes turned. His gaze was followed by proverbial lightning as he scouted a group of ten targets not too far away from each other.
A panther? A cheetah? No, the speed at which he moved had already entered the realm of legends, mirroring the mythical Kun Peng!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The impact of his fists was silent. The claws and sickles of death wordlessly encroached upon these unfortunate Nox and reaped their lives. However, each step he took caused space to tremble and shatter.
The sound preceded his movements, yet the Nox couldn't avoid him.
It was a terrifying prospect.
A fury of blood overtook the crumbling fortress. As the Cosmic Manifestation faded out of existence, the total number of survivors finally became countable.
Millions of Lesser Nox? It didn't matter their number, anyone under 4th class was instantly incinerated by the impact and following shockwaves.
Of the Higher Nox, most of the early-stage beings were heavily injured, the mid-stage beings weren't as injured, but they didn't have nearly enough power to compete with Damien, and the high-stage beings…
Damien tore through the remaining early and mid-stage Nox as fast as he could. The tide of death that he spread continued to grow, and as it did, the residue of his murky black mana layered together and formed a mist that followed Damien's movements.
The second the mist covered the entirety of the stronghold's area…
'Reap their lives.'
Damien dictated his enemy's fate.
