Yasenia quickly gathered a relatively small but elite army and used her flying ship to go to Astral Dragon City. Yasenia's group was seen leaving the sect, and not long after, a message was sent from a corner of the mountainous range surrounding the Astral Sky Sect to a faraway palace.
The palace was the main structure the Demons built for their sect, and in the topmost gathering room, many leaders from several powers allied with the Continental Shadows were gathered.
"She has taken the bait?"
Dyrathos spun a talisman around his fingers and looked at Kyril. "Is this what you were so afraid of?"
Kyril frowned and answered. "What if she knows?"
Dyrathos looked at the message again and asked. "What if she knows? Can she even deal with a Transcendence Realm formation of this level in such a short time? The Divines are not here to bother us after they somehow fell to Yasenia's schemes."
Kyril asked coldly. "And do you think that someone who could capture the people we thought as main rivals as easily as she did won't have any countermeasures against this plan?"
Dyrathos sighed. "Then, what? Do I not take this opportunity? Kyril, during the last year, I've realized, okay? Yasenia is not an easy opponent at all. However, what can we do if we are always scared to act by just her mere presence?"
This time, Kyril opened her mouth and couldn't really say much. "But reckless actions are not what we should do."
Dyrathos asked, frustrated. "And what are reckless actions!? Her knowing about this plan is also not consequential! What can she do when we lock her in that city with the rest of the high-level people while we clean up the rest of her allies?"
Dyrathos remarked, "We've planned something, that something worked, and now we have the ability to proceed with that something, but you are scared! If you are so much against following through, why accept the plan in the first place? Why don't you go and surrender to Yasenia?"
Kyril looked at Dyrathos's angered face and didn't speak. She knew that Yasenia was in her head. She had suffered so many losses at her hands that she had started becoming paranoid. 'I don't really want to admit it, but the thought of surrender did cross my mind when I heard about the Silent Fang Sect's annihilation.'
Dyrathos saw Kyril stay silent, so he ignored her and said. "We'll proceed. Tell our army that it's time to…'
Kyril looked at Dyrathos and asked herself. 'Nothing is wrong. Everything is going to plan. And yet… that makes it so ominous.' Kyril left the room, and nobody stopped her. 'Why did she have to be here? Is she the one who created that thing we've come to search for in the first place?'
The reason they got sent to this remote place was because an incredibly profound energy signal was captured by the sensors situated in Kyril's main world.
Her word was named [Hellura World]; it was around 125 star systems away from here.
To move through space or between worlds, you need a lot of strength. The outside-of-world environment was highly hostile to cultivators, even more so than it was to mortals. Beings that had evolved to adapt to such an environment were called [Star Beasts], but compared to the vastness and emptiness of space, encountering one or a swarm of them was very rare.
Even then, more often than not, if you encountered a Star Beast of the same realm or above, it meant certain death. Star Beasts were hungry for energy because they needed to adapt to the lack of it; they had bodies that constantly absorbed Energy without a need to think about it actively.
So, when these Star Beasts, who were constantly starving for energy, saw a bunch of healthy cultivators filled with energy, they became quite eager to have a taste of that snack. Thanks to the lack of restrictions, their sizes were also large enough to make people despair when the thought of fighting them crossed their minds.
Star Beasts avoided worlds not because they were not attracted but because Worlds with energy were usually protected by the Heavens. Moreover, if they were in places with highly concentrated energy, over-feeding themselves and dying would be a possibility.
I digress.
Kyril crossed the dangerous space with a powerful treasure from her race to find what caused such a powerful energy wave that reached them from far away. Yet, after reaching the backward world, instead of finding easy prey, they had to find a mighty dragon that wanted to swallow this place.
Moreover, the dragon was not an arrogant and stupid type. Instead, they found a literal heavenly genius that was outsmarting them at less than 100 years of age. 'Why did we have such bad luck?'
Kyril leaned against the window, looking outside. 'Yasenia Dravory…We had our chances in the past. If, as soon as we discovered her, we managed to rile up everyone to go against her, then we would have had a chance.'
Kyril pondered. 'Yasenia Dravory didn't seem to have much interest in the rest of the world until… Until when? Ah! Right, until they were attacked by a large army. After that, as if a switch had been flipped, her shadow spread across the entire continent with unstoppable momentum. Probably some of the people in that room with Dyrathos are her spies.'
Kyril considered fleeing. 'If I stay, getting killed is a possibility. What if I become Yasenia's subordinate? Would she even accept me? Similar to that wolf woman. She bagged one of Yasenia's close people and a few years later, the entire Wolf Race is following her words with the support of Yasenia Dravory.'
Kyril took in a deep breath and exhaled a sigh. 'I really don't want to die. I was about to become a Demon Monarch and live a free life back in my world.'
Then, the Death-attributed demon pondered. 'Who has a chance to beat Yasenia Dravory? A combination of all powers surrounding her outside a city? Yasenia Dravory probably has life-saving skills or items. Well, let's hope this plan succeeds. If it does, Yasenia Dravory will lose the ocean, and we can mount a resistance there.'
In the Astral Dragon City, the dragoness arrived at the main hall and looked for the governor of this city.
Naturally, the governor quickly threw everything he was doing aside and came to welcome Yasenia.
"Sect Master, welcome to Astral Dragon City! I hope everything was in order and to your liking."
The dragoness looked up at the tall dragonkin, and she asked with a pondering expression. "What do you know about recent attacks on this city?"
The dragonkin was puzzled. "Attacks? Who would dare attack one of Sect Master's main cities?"
The dragoness smiled. "No need for flattery. We both know there are plenty of such people."
The appointed governor laughed and crossed his arms. "Sect Master, we have no information on any attacks or planned attacks. Do you have any information about it?"
Yasenia nodded and asked again. "Anyone that has been suspicious recently?"
The dragonkin frowned. "I've received nothing, Sect Master. Is it that serious?"
Tatyana poked at Yasenia's side and was about to say something when someone entered the hall and shouted. "GOVERNOR LONG! BAD NEWS! THERE IS A GIANT FORMATION SURROUNDING OUR CITY!"
Governor Long shouted. "What!? How could that happen? Have you tried attacking it?"
The woman that entered shook her head. "I've come here just as I discovered it, which was a few seconds ago!"
Yasenia interrupted. "Let's go see." Then, she took Tatyana's hand and asked. "Was this what you were going to warn me about?"
Tatyana nodded. "Yes~. I sensed the fluctuations, and I was going to tell you that the enemy formation was deployed."
Yasenia hummed. "You couldn't stop it?"
Tatyana shrugged. "It was instantly deployed by a powerful treasure."
The dragoness exhaled. "Ho? Transcendence Rank?"
Tatyana nodded and said. "Mid-level, at least."
Once outside, everyone followed Yasenia and mounted on the flying ship, approaching the gigantic dome surrounding the city in an instant. Tatyana looked at it and muttered. "[Hell City Sealing Spatial Wall]. Quite a tricky one."
Yasenia asked. "How much time until you unravel it?"
Tatyana blinked. "Hm? A Transcendence Realm formation is not much of a problem. How long do you want me to take?"
The dragoness laughed. "Right, you are probably two or three realms ahead of Transcendence in formation expertise."
Tatyana smiled. "So?"
The dragoness asked. "Can I communicate with the outside while it is up?"
Tatyana shook her head and smirked. "But I can make it so only you can send and receive messages."
The dragoness kissed Tatyana's lips and smiled. "Then, do that. Let's see what they have in store for us."
Yasenia saw that people were discussing what to do, and she spoke aloud, her voice reaching all corners of the city with clarity and depth. "Don't get alarmed. I've already started cracking the formation with the help of my strongest formation master. Nothing will happen to anyone in the city as long as all of you stay in the protective formation of the city."
As soon as she stopped speaking, red rain began falling from the enemy formation, hitting the city's defensive formation. Yasenia activated the ship's shield while expanding her spiritual sense to see if there was anyone outside. 'Hm. No one outside the protective formation limits.'
"What is this rain, Tatyana?"
Tatyana commented. "Well, this is a Demonic formation, so the 'Hell' name is not there just because. The rain is acidic and can melt the skin, muscles, and bones of anyone below the Unification Realm. Unification Realm experts can only be under this rain for a while, and those above can somewhat resist the effects. It is considered demonic because its objective is clearly not fighting strong people but to kill large amounts of weak ones."
Yasenia muttered. "Quite insidious. Do you know how to do it?"
Tatyana blinked twice. "Why? Do you want me to use it?"
Yasenia shook her head. "Not now."
Tatyana laughed. "So, in the future, you want to?"
The dragoness snorted. "If some people don't like what's good for them, using this thing is not that different from using a plague like I did."
The enemy formation went over the formation Yasenia set up to protect this city in the past, making it look quite fantastical. A dome covered by another dome that rains down deathly acid liquid.
"Yasenia~!"
The dragoness touched her ear and smiled. "What's wrong, baby?"
"Well, the attack was against the Astral Sky Abyss Sect! The army Cecile spoke about is actually there, and it is stronger because it has 100 peak-level Epoch Cores! I can see the demons in the report as well! All of them except Kyril."
Yasenia laughed. "That's quite a lot. Baby, can you ask Evelyn to contact our allies and inform them of this?"
Angel said. "Of course! They will come help you quickly!"
Yasenia blinked. "Help?"
Angel asked, confused. "Don't you want Evelyn to tell them to send help?"
Yasenia smiled and explained. "Not at all, baby. We can defend against something like that. What I want you to tell our allied powers is that the enemy's 'House' is unprotected. Increase the attack!"
Angel tilted her head, and Mirrory explained. "They've sent so many people to take down the Astral Sky Abyss Sect. How many do you think they have left to protect their own powers?"
Angel's eyes widened. "Ohhh!"