At that moment, two humans in heavy armor emerged from the narrowndscape.


    "Did the distress signale from here?" one of them asked, uncertainty in his voice.


    "I''m not sure. This ce feels way too quiet," the other replied, his eyes scanning the eerie surroundings.


    "Wait... What the hell?!"


    One of them cursed loudly as his gaze locked onto the massive army of demons, with two imposing, humanoid figures standing at the forefront. The weight of the situation hit them immediately.


    "Bill, we need to go, now!" Gill shouted, already bolting in the opposite direction.


    Gill quickly nced where Bill had been looking, his heart hammering in his chest. Panic surged through him as his face went pale, and without a second thought, he sprinted after Bill.


    "Oh, what''s the rush, humans?"


    Sen grinned, effortlessly catching up to them. In an instant, Sienna appeared beside the other one.


    Bill and Gill''s faces fell, terror sinking in as they desperately fought back with everything they had.


    "Pathetic," Sen chuckled, easily subduing them both.


    They dragged the two struggling humans in front of Aengus and his subordinates, who appeared to be waiting for their arrival.


    Aengus nced at the battered duo, their armor dented and their faces bruised. He stepped forward, his eyes cold. "Where are you from? If you value your lives, lead us there," hemanded, his voiceced with menace as he activated his Darkness Haki, enveloping them in an oppressive aura.


    Bill and Gill exchanged horrified nces as they felt the darkness seep into their very souls, suffocating them.


    "W-Wait... Don''t kill us!" Bill stammered, trembling. "We''ll take you there. We have families—wives and kids! We were forced toe here. Please, your excellency, let us live!"


    Their resistance crumbled instantly, and they begged for their lives, recognizing Aengus as the one in charge. Behind him, Be watched the scene unfold with interest.


    "Just shut up and lead us there," Aengus ordered with indifference, though a deeper part of him recoiled at the senseless violence. If they surrendered, they would be spared. He knew these men had families waiting for them, just like anyone else.


    "Y-Yes..." Bill and Gill sighed in relief, hastily leading the way.


    "Let''s go, darling." Be smiled, leaning in closer. She took his hand and gently pulled him toward the sky, her carefree spirit contrasting with the weight of the situation.


    "Tsk... what a show-off," Sienna muttered, a tinge of jealousy in her voice.


    Sen chuckled at his sister''s reaction and picked up his pace, matching the speed of the others.


    Behind them, Butler Yu, the Hellfire Wolf King and Queen, Gourmond, the Orcs, and the rest of Aengus''s subordinates followed in an orderly formation. Nearly a thousand in total, with 300 or so Greater Demons and the rest Lesser Ones, they marched through thend, unchallenged.


    After some time, they arrived at another vige.


    "This is an Ogre vige," Be said, hovering in the air. "This ce falls under Marquis Reynard''s domain."


    Aengus narrowed his eyes, surveying the devastation below. The vigey in ruins, its ogre inhabitants being ughtered one by one, their demon cores harvested like mere trophies.


    "Abominable... these humans have grown bolder," Be muttered in disgust. "But where is that damned Marquis Reynard? Hasn''t he heard the news yet?"


    Her frustration was palpable as she scanned the skies, expecting resistance but finding none.


    Aengus, hovering with his Hell-reborne wings, began his descent, the powerful pping of his wings sending gusts of wind across the ruined vige below.


    "Master, I have synthesized all the new skills obtained as per your instructions. You can review them now," Manas informed him telepathically.


    Aengus nodded in acknowledgment, already feeling the presence of the new skills etched into his soul. He took a brief nce at his status screen, his eyes quickly scanning through the list of freshly acquired abilities.


    [ Name: Aengus Degaro ]


    [ Age: 18 ]


    [ Title: Naga King yer ]


    [ Race: Half-Human Half-Demon ]


    [ Level: 32 ]


    [ upation: Baron of Dark Valley ]


    [ ss: None ]


    [ Bloodline Lineage: Beelzebub (Partial-Royal), Viperscale Naga (Half-Noble) ]


    [ Special Trait: Energy Converter (Artificial) ]


    Physical Stats:


    [ Strength: 510 ]


    [ Agility: 500 ]


    [ Defense: 521 ]


    [ Mana: 30,000 /60,500 ]


    [ Nether Energy: 30,500 /60,500 ]


    [ Attribute points: 5 ]


    Skills:


    - Active:


    ? Doomscale Dragonification (B) ← Dragon Wings + Dragon ws + Dragon Enhancement + Doombringer Fortification)


    ? Spectral de Storm (B) ← ( de Tempest + Azure Ghost de)


    ? Venomous sh Strike (B) ← (Quick Step + Power strike + Quick Draw + Venomous Ripper)


    ? Hellfire Dive - 11 (C)


    ? Earth Maniption -22 (D)


    - [ Passive: Quick Reflexes (C), Melee Combat (C),  zing Purge -10 (D), Predator''s Instinct -37 (E), Health Regeneration -2 (D)]


    [ Special skills: Monster Breeding (Level- 3) ]


    [ Demonic Abilities:


    - Peak: Heart of Darkness


    - Intermediate: Gluttony of Darkness


    - Basic: Darkness Pulse, Darkness Veil, Darkness Haki, Blood Regeneration, Hellfire Control, Poisonous Miasma Control, Body Duplication, Armoured ck Scales, Naganian Transformation, Spectral Death Strings, Pain Resistance, Hell-reborne Wings.


    [ Unique Skills: Appraisal (Basic), Nullified Mental Attacks (Rare), Skill Absorption (Mythic), Universal Synthesis (Ultimate) ]


    [ Equipment: Space Bracelet (D), Holy Mythril de (C) ]


    Aengus felt pleased as he reviewed his new synthesized skills, each one bringing him closer to his ultimate goal.


    However, a lingering pain throbbed in his soul, a reminder of the injury he''d sustained. He knew he needed to find a way to heal, or perhaps even strengthen his soul. But the real question was where to find the necessary treasures or medicine.


    He considered asking Be, but for now, there were more pressing matters to handle.


    Down below, the human soldiers wore cruel smiles, their expressions dripping with sadistic anticipation as they continued their ughter. But that quickly changed when one of them caught sight of Aengus, Be, and the approaching demon army.


    The soldier, his armor emzoned with the symbol of a dragon, quickly rushed to arge tent where several high-ranking officials were gathered.


    "Commander, we have unwanted guests outside. Hundreds of demons are marching toward us," he reported with a solemn expression.


    Themander, a hardened man in his forties with a face marked by scars and a thick beard, furrowed his brows. The other high-ranking officers exchanged uneasy nces.


    One of them scoffed. "Only a few hundred demons? What''s there to worry about? We have 2,000 soldiers at our disposal. We can crush them easily."


    "But, Your Excellency," the soldier stammered, lowering his head, "those demons looked powerful, especially the two leading them. I''m afraid we don''t have the strength to confront them head-on."


    Themander, sensing the gravity of the situation, stood up and silenced the room with a stern look. "Enough with the pointless chatter. Let''s go see who these neers are."


    With that, the officers picked their weapons and prepared to face the threat, marching toward the battlefield with grim determination.


    ---


    "Whoa! Two half-breeds leading a thousand demons? That''s rare," one of the human leadersmented, his expression arrogant as he flexed his muscles.


    "Tsk, so what? Just a subus—and what is this male one, again? Some Hybrid maybe?" another said with disdain. "He looks pretty humanlike, except for the horns," he added, somewhat intrigued.


    "Silence! Be serious!" themander snapped, berating them. He could feel the threat emanating from the pair, especially the subus in front.


    "Everyone, at mymand!" themander roared, standing at the front. Behind him were nearly two thousand human soldiers d in armor bearing the dragon insignia. They were from the Dragon Empire, and their disciplined formation exuded an intimidating presence.


    Aengus and Be grew serious; this was no battle to be taken lightly.


    "Darling, I''ll handle themander. Can you take care of the rest?" Be asked, her confidence unwavering as she looked to Aengus.


    "Yes," Aengus nodded before turning to his army, the Army of Liberation.


    "Soldiers, tonight you are the darkness that snuffs out lives. The humans before you are our target, but they will not be thest. Emerge victorious, and I shall grant you new power!" Aengus''s voice boomed across the battlefield.


    The demon soldiers'' morale surged as they chanted in unison:


    "Long live Lord Aengus!"


    "Long live the Lord of Liberation!"


    The human soldiers and the Liberation forces stood across from each other, the humans with focused eyes, weapons ready, and their skills prepared, while the demons radiated a sinister, dark energy.


    Some of the human soldiers, who were well versed in demonnguage, understood what they were saying.


    "Lord of Liberation, my ass!" one sneered.


    "They''re so full of themselves, aren''t they?" another battalion leader scoffed. "We''ve got three thousand soldiers, ten C-Ranks, and five hundred D-Ranks. Not to mention, Commander Tyrel is a B-Rank powerhouse. They don''t stand a chance."


    Suddenly, a shout of rm came from one of the soldiers, "Hey, guys, look at this!"


    "What is it now?" The C-Rank battalion leaders turned, only to be left speechless.


    Out of nowhere, hundreds of additional demons materialized on Aengus'' side.


    "What the hell? Where did this Demon summonere from? I thought only humans had summoners!" one soldier muttered in disbelief..


    "Commander, looks we have found another anamoly like those Otherworlders," one of them said with grave expression.