...…
Nearly two weeks had passed since the Annual Auction of Yellowcreek, and since then, Azmodeus had obtained all of the 'gifts' from the Young Master's of the auction.
After acquiring the gifts, he sold them almost right away through the assistance of Fu Pang.
Following the acquisition of a substantial amount of gold numbering in the thousands, he once again spent all of his money down to the last dime.
It was because of this insane spending and the various passive benefits of his cultivation talent stat that he was able to breakthrough to the peak of the Half-Step Foundation Establishment Realm without much of an issue.
Furthermore, his strength had already surpassed the Qi Condensation Realm with the help of all his upgraded H-Rank Traits!
On a side note, he had obtained a number of Traits over the last couple weeks through the assistance of not only the various Twilight Assassins who were still hunting him, but also because of the Monster Wave after Monster Wave that came every day.
There were thousands upon thousands of monsters and beasts, varying from the Strength Training Stage all the way up to the Early Foundation Establishment Realm. All of which rushed the city of Yellowcreek on a daily basis.
And today, after nearly a month and a half since the Yellowcreek Auction, marked a particularly special day.
It was the day in which a Middle Foundation Establishment Realm Behemoth made its way down the Great Seperado Forest...
-----
The Great Seperado Forest.
It's a forest that lies somewhere around the northwest side of the Fire Nation and stretches on for tens of thousands of miles. Hence, it makes for the perfect barrier to separate the Fire Nation from the Water Nation to the west.
In the case of the Yellow Mellow Sect and various other Rank 1 and Rank 2 Sects that lay on the edge of the Great Seperado Forest, this expansive forest meant death for those who weren't strong enough to resist the occasional Monster Hordes.
The Monster Hordes in question accumulated inside the forest over a period of time before suddenly deciding to come out of the forest and kill anything that entered their sight.
"..."
A young boy with long black hair and a fierce gaze was seen standing atop a wide and robust wall that extended in two different directions for dozens of miles.
This boy looked to be around twelve years old and possessed thin, sword-like eyebrows and eyes like a mysterious maelstrom capable of sucking anything into its grasp.
His nose was thin, and his features showed signs of becoming a little chiseled with his growing age.
Overall, it was his entire appearance that further accentuated the domineering demeanor that he carried around with him like an inseparable scar.
*Clang!*
Azmodeus's dark red and black armor clanged a little as he looked toward a few approaching men in soldier's attire.
"Report," he commanded when they found themselves less than a few meters away from him.
"Yes Sir!" They both responded with deferential dispositions before hitting the ground with their fists.
"We have discovered that not only one Middle-Foundation Establishment Realm Arachnid Monster, but another four more in the same stage and twenty-seven monsters in the Early Foundation Establishment Realm Stage have come out of seclusion," the leading soldier responded with a slightly shaky voice.
"Is that so…?" Azmodeus asked with an unconcerned tone, his gaze focused on all the trees being toppled in great numbers a few dozen miles out.
"And Sir, deep within the Great Seperado Forest, we have also discovered signs of something beyond what our energy readers could detect… Something that could even be nearing the Core Formation Realm…"
The nervous voice of the same soldier leaked out once more, as one could almost feel the trepidation oozing out of his voice.
Azmodeus turned his piercing gaze down at the kneeling soldiers, seemingly thinking about something important.
After figuring out what he had to do, he said, "You may take your leave. I will deal with the big ones myself, but the assistance of the masses will be necessary in a battle at such a large scale."
"This will be the toughest battle yet, and loss of life is almost inevitable, so go home and spend time with your families in what little time we may or may not have left," he added with a solemn expression.
"W-We understand, Sir…" All of the soldiers responded before rushing away from the scene.
However, before they fully disappeared from view, the leading soldier stammered while asking, "S-Sir, do you think you could lose…?"
Azmodeus turned his head in the soldier's direction. He said, "Nah, I'd win."
After hearing this confident response from his general, the soldier's complexion appeared to lighten up a bit before he followed in the footsteps of the rest of the soldiers.
They were preparing to get everything out of the way before planning to put their lives on the line for the sake of the general and their home!
Azmodeus was left as the only person on the top of a high-standing wall, overlooking the war-torn battlefield below.
There were corpses with all the blood in their bodies dried up, scattered around the barren ground for dozens of miles.
"If only I had obtained a higher military position right from the beginning, then none of these deaths would have been meaningless," he muttered, his indifferent gaze scanning over all the monster corpses as well.
"After all, if I were allowed to do as I wished from the very beginning, then all of these potential Evolution Essence bags would've been mine… But because of stupid rules, I am left with a mere Nine Hundred Million odd Evolution Essence after nearly two months of fighting on the front lines…"
Azmodeus would've already started crying tears of blood if not for all the approaching soldiers coming up the brick-layered stairs of the Yellowcreek City wall's interior side.
And with the nearing of tens of thousands of soldiers—some from the various sects of Yellowcreek City and some who became soldiers from their original commoner statuses—a few rather conspicuous figures tagged along with them…
...…