[Ding. You have entered the nether realm]
Liam inhaled the thick air of the land and gazed at the grim sky and the barren sands. He was definitely back in the nether realm.
And as soon as he stepped inside, he also immediately received his set of buffs.
[Ding. You have been empowered by the nether]
[Ding. All your stats are increased by 10%]
[Ding. Experience Points gained are increased by 10%]
[Ding. Your pet Luna is inflicted by the nether]
[Ding. Your pet's stats are decreased by 10%]
Luna uncomfortably shook her tail feeling a prickling sensation spread across her body.
"Mmm. Don't worry. You will get used to it in a bit. Let's first see where we are."
Liam opened the system interface map and saw that they had once again been teleported to the outskirts of the same Thol city.
"Phew. This is good. At least, we don't have to find our way all over again."
He then started walking towards the city along with the fox, but on the way, they stopped and hunted a few of the roaming rabid hounds.
[Awaken] Liam activated the skill, raised 5 undead hounds, and then finally headed to the city with the big group.
These undeads were his ticket to the demon city and he didn't want to be caught without them.
Though he was not particularly sure of the consequences yet, one could guess that it wouldn't be anything pleasant.
When Liam reached the gates, this time the guards treated him with much more respect.
They did not even ask him for the entry fees and directly stepped aside for him to enter.
"Greetings, Squad Leader."
"Greetings, Squad Leader."
'Must be because of my new rank.' Liam inwardly pondered and nodded to the two big demon guards who were letting him in.
The last time he was in the nether realm, he had collected contribution points by participating in various invasion missions as a soldier, and using those he had upgraded his rank from soldier to senior soldier and finally to a squad leader.
Now his position within the city was definitely better than an ordinary demon, perhaps equivalent to that of a Knight or a Lord when compared to the hierarchy and class system in the human kingdoms.
"I wonder if those guys are still around…" Liam thought about the demon soldiers he had recruited to his team last time around.
"Ha… probably not. They must have joined some other squad by now for sure." He shook his head with a sigh.
Originally, he had a few plans for those guys but unfortunately, it took him longer than expected to take care of his personal business.
Now he could only start from scratch and groom another bunch of soldiers.
Liam pondered over different strategies that he could potentially use to command his soldiers and make them loyal to him.
Engrossed in his thoughts, he walked over to the city center where the various squads were usually gathered.
As he crossed the different streets of the city, he couldn't help but notice that there were a lot more demons around than usual and the place was very crowded.
There were more soldiers walking around, more people selling their wares, and fully occupied bars and eateries.
Everywhere he looked, the place was crawling to the brim with various shapely demons.
"Wow. The city is much more lively compared to before. Is this because the event is going to be triggered soon?"
Liam did not stop anywhere else to check out the local news and directly headed for the city center. He had already lost a lot of time and did not want to get sidetracked.
After all, the person he was competing with, Kouske, had fate on his side.
If he did not hurry, then the other person was going to succeed and grab this inheritance just like he did the last time around.
Liam soon reached the square and instantly he was pushed back by a wave of demons coming out of an invasion portal.
If other places were crowded, then this place was jammed full with demons!
There wasn't even much space to move.
"Heh." Liam chuckled and side-stepped, weaving through the crowd to enter the place. The vibrant atmosphere all around him affected his mood as well.
This was war! These were the preparations for war!
Liam couldn't care less about which side he was fighting for, but just participating in this made his blood boil and excitement rise.
The air had that kind of strange energy about it.
It took a few seconds, but soon he was inside and there were already several groups assembled. Moreover, a group of vendors also swarmed the place.
"Recruiting for invasion!"
"Food supply for invasion!"
Liam's gaze wandered and in this messy place, he finally located the spot where the other squad leaders were present.
He quickly walked over there and started shouting as well, using the same tactic he used previously.
"Recruiting for invasion quest! Need 5 soldiers! Paying 10 silver each!"
His voice rang loudly, only slightly audible in the sea of noise but since the other demons were paying more attention to the different squad leaders, at least his message got through.
And of course, just like before, within seconds the response came through as well.
A bunch of demons instantly scrambled to him, all willing to join his team.
Liam's gaze dragged over them, proceeding to select a few when he noticed a familiar gruff voice.
"Leader! Leader!" From his right, another group of five demons came running towards him.
Surprisingly, these were the same demon beast hybrids whom he had recruited last time around.
"Leader, leader, we are here. Please select us. We have been waiting for you all this time!" The five bowed and hurriedly muttered.
For some reason, they looked so relieved and happy to see him again as if he was their long last relative.
"Alright. Come and join." Liam chuckled. He was also happy that his previous efforts were not wasted. It was a win-win situation.
Immediately, all the other demons standing in the queue started murmuring and complaining but they couldn't exactly go against the squad leader's words.
So in the end, they could only leave with disappointment.
They did not have to wait for long as another squad leader popped up next to Liam and started recruiting and once again the group of demons queued up.
"A lot more squads are heading out this time! I wonder where we will end up." Liam smiled and looked at the five demons standing excitedly in front of him.
He rubbed his hands and took out the invasion portal scroll from his inventory.
But as soon as he did, the squad leader standing next to him shouted loudly. "Eh? Did you just get promoted? These scrolls will not work now.. Go switch out for the new scrolls."