“Alright, listen here! Since I’ve told you the reason I gathered you before asking you to come here, I don’t think I need to reiterate myself.”
Feng Qing’er stood on a platform and looked down on the gathered geniuses. They would soon set out for Acier.
“We have one goal and one goal only: Kill! I know many of you have your own reasons for joining this mission, but that hardly matters to me. As long as you properly do what you’ve been told to do, everything else is up to you!
“Let me set some ground rules. I won’t give you many orders and I won’t force you to act against your will, but greater benefits will go to those who contribute more! You can stay at the lowest levels if you so please, all I need is for you to kill until you can’t kill anymore!
“It should be common sense, but no mortals should be harmed during the siege. Even if you kill them, you won’t get any benefits or contribution points anyway, so there’s no point even if you don’t have the basic decency to allow mortals to live.
“That’s it! Now, let’s march!”
“”March!””
The geniuses’ cries reverberated through the outskirts of Astoria. Although Feng Qing’er’s speech wasn’t morale-boosting or encouraging at all, it was enough to get their blood boiling.
Kill!
It was a simple order, but one that awakened the most primal instincts of these geniuses. They had been raised in proper environments and they had been fostered well, sure, but in the end, there was no denying the core truth behind their existence.
They were beasts!
Until they developed intelligence, their instincts were as such.
Kill! Eat! Evolve!
Hearing Feng Qing’er’s speech made them recall those days before they could even properly learn the Beast Transformation Art. When they were ruled by their instincts and relied on wanton slaughter to grow.
The march to Acier wasn’t long since they were already in Astoria, and a few hours wasn’t enough to quench their fighting spirit. Once they arrived, Feng Qing’er led them to a familiar path that Damien had walked only a few hours prior.
Night had fallen, and the mountainside was quiet. The citizens in the first layer of Acier had mostly gone to sleep already.
“Keuk…!”
A muffled scream rang out before it was immediately quelled. Concentrated fire needles shot from Feng Qing’er’s fingers and silenced every guard they came across.
“I’ve scanned with my awareness just now. It seems like everyone residing here is without cultivation. For our battle, we must climb higher.”
The geniuses nodded in unison while secretly marveling at Feng Qing’er’s expert flame control. From what they had heard in the outside world, this woman was brazen and bold, never making moves silently. Every time she acted, she would set the world ablaze.
But seeing her now, it was like she was a completely different person from the one whose reputation they’d heard. She was quiet and concise, leaving no room for error.
It seemed she had grown immensely over the past few months.
The group slowly made their way past the first layer and continued climbing the mountain. Not long after, they reached the next layer.
“This place seems to be structured like a barracks. Although it isn’t strong, there is definitely the aura of mana seeping through the area. For those who want to pick off Captains, this is where you stop.”
Feng Qing’er accurately understood the distinction between layers as she felt the mana in the atmosphere and gave her orders. Soon, a group of twenty geniuses split off from the main group.
These were the geniuses who had stayed in Astoria while Feng Qing’er and Qing Tan continued forward with Damien. Having seen the Generals fight, they had no confidence in going against them. They were scared.
As for the rest, they came mainly from Darknorth. Although Darknorth had suffered plenty of losses due to the Generals and Captains who attacked, these geniuses had already fought them before, and didn’t hold the same fear in their hearts as the others.
They had confidence that this time, they’d be able to perform even better than they did back then.
Qing Tan snickered on the side. Were they stupid? Even until now, they didn’t acknowledge that the reason they didn’t suffer a total and crushing defeat was because of outside help.
She was ninety-nine percent certain that all of these geniuses would die here today due to their overconfidence, but it was whatever. If they chose to submerge themselves in ignorance, that had nothing to do with her.
“You can stay here, but don’t make any moves until we’ve reached our destinations. We don’t need our positions being exposed so early. Plus, if you act before the higher forces are occupied, they’re certain to come down here and kill you.”
The geniuses staying behind hurriedly nodded their heads.
Feng Qing’er paid them no attention as she once again continued up the mountain. She wasn’t stupid enough to think those geniuses would listen to her just because she was speaking facts.
There were plenty who would be offered a path to heaven, but willingly chose to go to hell instead. Since that was the case, she didn’t mind using their fear to keep them in check.
Even if some of them decided to ignore that fear, their peers would do the job in its place. If one went down, they all did. That was the mentality she instilled in them.
Without suspense, Feng Qing’er and her group reached the third layer. Those other 20 geniuses split up from Feng Qing’er and Qing Tan.
But unlike when they visited the second layer, their presence was immediately discovered.
“Who goes there?!”
“Is that the scent of humans? No, it’s a bit different.”
“Haha, who cares! It still smells tasty all the same!”
“Hahaha! I can’t disagree with you there!”
Many voices overlapped as many powerful auras converged on the location of the geniuses. Perhaps in that moment, they had been forced to realize the mistake they had made in coming here.
But by the time they realized it, Feng Qing’er and Qing Tan had already disappeared further up the mountain, and the owners of those auras had already reached their location.
Now, their only option was to fight or die.
The sounds of screams and explosions filled the atmosphere of the third layer. And soon after, the second layer followed as well. The geniuses’ fight against the demons had begun.
Meanwhile, Feng Qing’er and Qing Tan reached the fourth layer, but when they did, they were shocked by what they saw.
“Hahahaha! Is this what they call the elite forces of the demons?! Come come! You can’t even catch me, so how are you supposed to kill me? Hahahahaha!”
Rambunctious laughter and jeering shouts rang through the fourth layer as countless demons furiously chased a single man. He expertly weaved through their ranks, disappearing every time the demons thought they had finally caught him.
“Little bastard! You dare play games with this Queen?!”
“And what if I do?! For a mighty Demon King, you sure are weak as to not be able to kill a pitiful 3rd class like myself! Hahaha!”
A proud woman with an extremely seductive figure stood at the forefront of those demons. Her face held an extremely enraged expression, as if killing the man who was taunting her was the only thing that mattered in the world.
“Bastard! Taking advantage of this Queen and trying to flee?! You are courting death!”
“Why the hell would I want to take advantage of an old hag like you?! It’s you who was trying to sully a young and innocent soul like me!”
Feng Qing’er and Qing Tan looked at each other awkwardly. Although they couldn’t clearly see the figure of the man who was attracting the ire of every demon present, it wasn’t hard for them to figure out his identity.
With this kind of shameless taunting in the middle of battle, as well as the ability to easily enrage his opponents to this extent, only a single person came to their minds.
However, taking advantage? Sullying his pure body? They had thought he would be embroiled in some serious life-threatening circumstances, but what the hell had he actually been up to during this time?!