32 Dangerous

Unfortunately, Azen wasn't the only one who had come through the portals. Led by Azen and Shadow, a tenth of Azen's division of the Demon Association appeared above the city.

Even though it was only a tenth of his division, that didn't mean that there wasn't a lot. In total, over three thousand fiends had come, clad entirely in pitch black armor, where not even their faces were shown. Only the faint red glow from their eyes could be seen through their mask.

In Azen's division, these fiends were among the weakest. The ones that either had little talent on either side, the demons or the gods, or had recently joined the Demon Association. However, even so, there weren't any more coming.

There might've been a gathering of hunters from the top guilds inside the City of Narc, but that wasn't significant. The hunters sent by the top guilds weren't the strongest powerhouses the top guilds had. As for the Demon Association, they had sent their weakest for the purpose of testing them as well as training them.

Although these fiends were called the weakest, considering the strength of the stronger fiends in the demon association, they weren't actually weak! In comparison to the hunters here, some had similar strengths, with the weakest of them being D-rank.

Azen glanced at the thousands of citizens, each looking at them with some shock and others in despair, fearful of their sudden arrival and what was to come. The powerhouses had stopped their battle, looking up at the sky with determined expressions.

They were undoubtedly scared; it was just that they knew how to hide their emotions. Even so, it was their role as the top guilds to protect the citizens, even if they hated each other. The fiends were an existence similar to demons, an enemy they would willingly form an alliance to erase.

Feeling the tens of thousands of auras of the hunters, Azen didn't react. Instead, he finally gave his command for the fiends to begin their hunt!

"Kill them all! Don't let anyone escape!"

The three thousand fiends immediately followed Azen's command, spreading out in all directions throughout the city and beginning the slaughter of the citizens. Meanwhile, Azen and Shadow remained floating in the air, observing the battle below.

Neither of them had the intention to intervene unless things got out of hand. For now, they would remain as spectators, letting the newly recruited fiends hunt their prey throughout the city.

"How many recruits do you think will survive this time?" Azen inquired, as he didn't move his eyes away from the war. "Is there anything that catches your attention?"

"It doesn't matter if any of the fiends survive or not. If they're incapable of destroying a mere city such as this, that just means they're incompetent and are no use to the association." Shadow voiced her thoughts and experiences. "The ones that survive will grow stronger, while those that can't will die. It's simply the rules of the world, and if they're unable to understand these simple rules, they deserve their deaths."

"As for any of them catching my attention, there aren't any. They can only prove their strength and usefulness to the association, just like I and everyone else have in the past." Shadow proudly declared, without hesitation in her voice.

In response, a faint smile appeared on his face. "It seems I've trained you well. That's right, only the strong deserve to live according to their own desires, while the weak either will be crushed underfoot or will become slaves of the strong. They don't need mercy; mercy isn't something the weak should be given."

'Hmm?' Azen's eyes were attracted to a young woman standing far in the distance. The woman donned a black robe with a hood, which covered the upper half of her face.

There was something strange about her; her aura was weak and at the level of D-rank, but his piercing eyes couldn't see through the simple black robe she wore. However, what really caught his interest were the aura she gave off and the words his contracted demon, who hardly ever spoke to him, said.

[Her aura isn't human. It belongs to a low-rank demon. To think that a low-ranking demon is able to take on the form of a human and not lose their minds in a feral state. However… Her aura is very familiar…] Azen wasn't aware, but as the Demon God of Sloth spoke, his body trembled in fear, as if a deep fear had just reawakened. [For now, keep your eyes on her.]

****

"What can I do now?" Ivan muttered, feeling a strong sense of dread begin to overwhelm him. "The demon association is here. This city will fall along with the millions of lives still inhabiting it. Escape; that's almost impossible."

He was in a trance, trying to make sense of all of it. Why did this happen to this city? Why did the fiends come? Wasn't this city already in chaos and destruction? What bad luck must this city have had for it to end this way? What's the best escape route possible? Can anyone survive this?

His hands were trembling, and his heart raced. His chest heaved rapidly as he was unable to calm his breathing. Ivan's fear and dread, he felt, were reasonable. It was as if there was an innate fear buried in his heart that he had forgotten long ago.

"Sir Ivan. Please calm down and think rationally. We still have an opportunity to escape while the fiends slaughter the citizens. Your reputation might be ruined for failing to save anyone, but you can restore it through the accomplishments you'll make afterwards. We still have a chance!" Ivan's advisor suggested breaking him out of his trance.

"Escape? What's the point? Once this city falls, I'll lose everything I've gained over these past few decades." Ivan stubbornly answered. "By the time I regain the things I've lost, I'll have one foot in the grave."

"You may have one foot in the grave, but you'll still be alive. You'll have an opportunity as long as you remain alive, even if it takes a few years, maybe decades. What matters is that you survived. You're being stubborn." He tried to persuade him for the last time.

Since he wanted to be stubborn, he wouldn't follow through and die with him. He wanted to escape and live another day. If Ivan didn't accept his kindness, he would escape himself.

"I'm staying; it's better to die here in luxury than lose everything and live." Ivan maintained his stubbornness, forcing his advisor to leave him behind.

"Though I'll lose my life today, I'll bring down as many fiends as possible."

****

None of the powerhouses of the top guilds were standing idle while the fiends attacked the city. They spread out and started killing off the fiends. Even Damon joined, using his wind and flame elements.

It was a war between the gods and the demons, with both sides using their own contractees to battle.

At the same time, Lilith felt the piercing eyes of Azen watching her. Her instincts told her he was dangerous—incredibly dangerous. He gave her the feeling that if they truly fought, she would be defeated instantly. She wouldn't be able to defend herself against him.

'Just his gaze gives me this feeling. How strong must he be to give me this feeling?' Lilith tried to guess, but to no avail. He was the strongest person she had ever seen. There was simply no one she could compare his strength to.

[My suggestion is to stay as far away from him as possible. He's not someone you want to be around or mess with, especially the Demon God he's contracted with.] Ayin voiced her thoughts.

'I figured.' Lilith agreed without thinking too much about it. He was a threat, no matter if he was on the side of the demons. Demons were a race that would rather have wars filled with blood and chaos than peace. They valued strength over everything.

At that moment, Lilith's expression suddenly changed into a frown, noticing movement. She kicked off the ground, leaping into the air as a spear erupted from the ground where she once stood.

Boom~

The spear exploded, sending small fragments in every direction.

Using her daggers, she deflected the fragments and softly landed a few meters away without much of a scratch. Her senses had warned her of the danger beforehand, allowing her to react swiftly.

"Heh, to think that you were able to evade that attack. I didn't know my prey would be this hard to catch."