Tower of Heaven

It had to be said that every single person participating in this war had already completed the trial. Of course, the description said they also had to win the war, but it really wasn't mandatory.

As their races managed to complete both of the conditions for the first part of the trial, it was enough to say that none of them would fail this floor.

That was to say, Drya did not underperform. She did just as well as everyone else. If one had to choose who did the absolute worst out of these six, then it was without a doubt Horgen.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Though her status was not as high as the rest from birth, she was quite a talented genius. Her knack for leadership got her promoted several times, and ever since the Secret Realm of Moonlit Flesh expedition ended, she'd encountered her own lucky chances and grew.

To say that she had great knowledge about the physiques of demons was a lie, but she knew exactly how her race was meant to grow while rebelling against the Heavens and she knew how to lead them with their untameable personalities.

In the end, she created a demon race that was absolutely faithful to her orders. Their power didn't need to be mentioned in most cases, but it was important to note here.

If Drya was placed against Horus or even Artemia, she had a good chance of winning.

The only problem was that she went against Atlas.

Demons, similarly to Giants, were known for their powerful physical bodies. In exchange for being much less powerful than Giants, though, they also gained the ability to control qi more freely.

In short to mid-range combat, Demons were powerful forces that other races had to be wary of. Even Atlas had previously noted that he had to be careful of demons that were at the same level as him.

In short to mid-range battles, Drya could have found a way to win. Facing dragons, the only thing she needed to do was pull them out of the sky before the battlefield evened.

Dragons, at the end of the day, were living entities with weaknesses. As long as they were struck hard enough for long enough, they were fated to fall.

This was not the case with the Khanii Neurics.

The artifacts they built were of the highest quality. They naturally had the impermanence of any object under Heaven, but even compared to the scales of an Elder Dragon…

The strongest artifacts they made could outlast an Elder Dragon easily.

Their past 10,000 years of war had been glossed over because it was simply too much information, but this battle was a good enough representation of what they'd learned.

Three days after the Shinnim declared war on the continent that had appeared across the ocean, the first party of troops was deployed.

They flew over the ocean in massive Spirit Boats that could not even be called as such anymore. The Neurics had titled them Spirit Destroyers, as their entire purpose was to raze anything and everything to dust.

These siege ships were only really useful in areas where innocents had been completely evacuated, so their true power was almost never used, but they made quite a statement when they appeared.

They crossed the ocean and arrived above Drya's continent, casting great shadows along the shoreline. The demons, who had also been notified of war, quickly reacted and mobilized troops to meet them.

It had to be known that Atlas did not control his troops. He chose a benefit for himself in case he ever needed it, but out of courtesy, he took a step back and allowed the Neurics to fight the war on their own.

The force that Drya mobilized was given orders to attack on sight, but the Neurics acted a bit differently. Rather than staying in the air, they landed their ships on the beach. On the side of the largest of the fleet of six, a door opened and a walkway unraveled. A man exited the ship with three people walking behind him on each side.

They looked like a delegation party and acted like one too. The demons who chose to follow the orders they were given attacked, but their qi landed on a translucent blue barrier that wasn't even scratched by their efforts.

"We are the Khanii Neurics of the Ignis Empire! I understand that we have been placed against each other at war, but our leader has chosen to be benevolent! If you surrender now, nobody will be harmed. Please view this warning with sincerity."

Those words were spoken to a random crowd of demons that had nothing to do with their highest authorities, but the news still made its way there.

To the dark palace at the peak of the highest mountain, where the Demon Lord lived.

"They want us to surrender? Laughable. We are fighting for the Demon God, never forget that."

It was his only response. What kind of fools would they be to surrender?

It was the natural path that anyone in his situation would have taken, but it was one that led only to demise.

When his refusal to surrender made its way back to the envoys, the lead envoy nodded his head as if he had been expecting this.

"We will return in 1 week. At that time, we will kill anyone or anything that attacks us, so you may use it to prepare. We sincerely hope that you will evacuate anyone who is not related to this war, as we would like to avoid collateral damage as much as possible."

It was a cold statement that regarded innocents as nothing more than collateral, but it was also a benevolent statement that showed the merciful nature of the Neurics.

The demons only took it as provocation.

In terms of the Demon Race specifically, the only non-combatants were the sick, the pregnant, and the children. Anyone else was more than ready to jump into war at any given notice.

Inherently, demons loved war. It was an atmosphere where they could grow in ways that other races could never replicate. Instead of calm cultivation, a bloody battlefield was the best medium for a demon's growth.

Still, the continent was not only populated by demons. Just like Atlas' Neurics, the other Ascenders had their races subjugate many others.

They were not able to participate in this war in any way unless they were working in forges to produce weapons and armor, so they were all evacuated to the largest city on the continent, where they sought refuge until the end of the war.

That city became an untouchable zone. Perhaps the Legend of the Neurics would remain a relatively positive one on this continent because they never touched that city even once.

However, that same Legend would always be one spoken in fear and reverence. The continent could never remain the same as it was before their onslaught.

Because when the Khanii Neurics returned to the continent one week later, they did exactly as promised.

With war machines far outstripping anything the demons had in their arsenal, the Khanii Neurics sieged the continent.

It was a scene of absolute domination.

Nothing more, nothing less.