"By evening stroll, you meant raiding a Demon Cult's branch?"
Amon touched his forehead and rubbed his temples with a deep sigh. Seconds after Yue proposed her desire to go on a date with Amon, she teleported him straight into a secluded rocky valley. In great contrast to the bright and sunny atmosphere that the Soflea boasted, the sky was overcast, and ashen amber was seen in the far distance. The temperature was biting cold and a few degrees shy of snow.
The location was remote, void of any sign of civilization or humanity. The land was barren, and there were hardly any trees or grass. All that existed were high rocky crevices and broken boulders for miles. However, the remoteness of this area made it the perfect breeding ground for actors with malicious intentions.
And in this case, it was painfully evident that the Demon Cult had displaced a branch here.
On the outside, it looked like nothing more than a regular ravine found anywhere on the planet. However, if one looked closely, they would notice many irregularities. Firstly, there was an astral mist that didn't seem to fit the natural order of Hyades. Most of the Demon Cult's branches were protected by said mist, and it was almost a trademarked cliche.
The mana flow in the air was also highly unusual. There was stillness in the air, and natural phenomena seemed to have avoided this dark and obscure valley. It was as if the natural world was denying whatever existed within it and avoiding the secretive base at all costs.
And most importantly… as Amon walked closer towards the valley, he could feel an odd, sinister mana.
One that he'd felt a few times before after joining forces with Yue.
Demonic magic.
"Hehe, how do you like it? Think of it as an early birthday present!" Yue giggled delightedly as she pointed to the secret passageway that led deep into the recesses of the branch. "Now that you've condensed your Sixth Sun and Moon, I'm sure you are dying to try out your abilities!"
"Not really…"
Amon sighed and blatantly lied. It was almost scary how well Yue knew his feelings, and the young teen didn't want to admit it. Still, he didn't have the heart to completely deny Yue's words and continued by analysing the Demon Cult's branch beneath him:
"Judging from how there's still some flora and fauna around, the corruption has either been contained, or the branch is rather small. From the amount of mana I'm feeling, I'm guessing this is a small satellite branch used for reconnaissance?"
"Wow! How astute!"
Yue wasn't just praising Amon; she was genuinely amazed by his deduction abilities. Not only that, but his senses in detecting the mana within the hidden branch were astonishing, to say the least. Even as a magician, she could barely sense what Amon did.
"It took Echelon a full week to investigate the inner workings of the branch, and you did it in a few seconds! I should have asked you to investigate them instead! It would have saved me a lot of gold!"
"I'm unable to map the full layout of the place. I'll still need your intelligence."
Amon merely used his senses to guess the raid's difficulty. His gut feeling was sorely lacking compared to a comprehensive report from an intelligence agency like Echelon.
"Haha, no need to be so modest! Your guess is mostly correct!"
Rather than advise Amon to the contrary, Yue affirmed his conjecture: "The branch before us is just a satellite one. The Demon Cult is expanding its influence and creating bases all over the planet in preparation for the Calamities. While they are weak now, you know better than anyone the havoc they will cause in the future."
"..."
Amon nodded grimly.
Over the past eight years, Amon and Yue have been sharing knowledge about the future. Amon would recite the contents of [Bright] word-for-word while Yue would show him pieces of her memory. When the Calamities fully take over, these small branches, seemingly harmless for now, would turn into massive headaches.
Thousands of Demons would be summoned from them, while they served as nurturing and breeding grounds for the invading army. Destroying one base was easy, but when there were hundreds, if not thousands of them?
It would be an impossible task.
Hence, they needed to eradicate these branches while they still could.
"If we take such a direct action, won't we alert the Demon Cult?"
"Not to worry, this is a small branch, one of many they are newly establishing. Most of the time, it's used as an outpost between major locations. Even if it's destroyed, they'll just suspect that the Imperial Knights of Hyades found out about it or a wandering mage just happened to stumble across it. And besides…"
Yue's crimson eyes began to gleam dimly, seemingly reflecting the ascent of the gibbous Moon.
"If you don't leave any witnesses… how would they find out?"
"... I'm guessing there are no innocents inside?"
"Nope, I made sure to check!" Yue replied with a suspicious amount of glee. It seemed odd to see a young girl so callously allow her fiancé to go on a massacre, but Yue hardly cared about the visuals. "There shouldn't be many cultists inside, probably twenty to thirty. But all of them are guilty as charged."
"I see… Then I won't have to hold back."
Amon was still concerned about being used as a weapon to kill innocent lives as he did during his past life. However, members of the Demon Cult were either fanatics who yearned for chaos and destruction in the world or convicts who ran from the law and sought shelter in the arms of the bloodthirsty organisation.
There was no need to grant mercy to any of them.
"Then, I'll begin."
Amon took the map off Yue's hands and memorised it after three full minutes of studying. Once done, he unsheathed his sword and dropped into the misty valley, disappearing from Yue's visual acuity. But the magician was fully aware of Amon's presence and location. He was casually strolling towards the entrance of the enemy base without a single care in the world.
Watching his smooth movements as if he were going on a true evening stroll, Yue felt her knees weaken.
"Hehe, fortunately, I've brought a recording crystal! I finally get to see one of the many legendary achievements Amon the Great made with my own eyes!!!"
Yue was an Amon fangirl deep to her very bones. Amon had numerous legendary tales in her past timeline that could only be found in fairy tales. Those 'events' were usually compared to other great past heroes, such as the Solaris Founder and the Solaris Saint. One of Yue's great regrets during her past timeline was how she could not witness all of those legendary tales with her own eyes.
Which was why she wasn't going to waste this golden opportunity.
"This should be an A-ranked legendary tale!!! Amon the Great single-handedly destroys a Demon Cult's base!!! I have to record this!!!"
While Yue was busy setting up her magical video camera, Amon was long ahead of her, waltzing into the entrance of the Demon Cult's base.
Perhaps due to its remoteness, none of the cultists would even suspect that someone would raid their branch. They ignored the security system entirely and were busy handling their own tasks. Most of them were fast asleep or gambling to pass the time.
They were at most sentries and grunts stationed here until further instruction. But that's not to say they weren't strong.
A few were physically enhanced with Demonic powers, while some were former Knights who found trouble with the law. There was even a magician amongst them, probably a heretic who experimented with forbidden magic.
It was a decently equipped base with a fine balance capable of repelling an attack by a legion of Knights.
However…
BOOOOOMMMMM!!!
A thundering explosion ripped through the underground base, causing aftershocks and rocks to fall from the ceiling. The commotion instantly awakened the cultists, many pausing as they looked towards the exit of their base. However, none of them even suspected an invasion.
Their first thought was that an earthquake had occurred.
But their suspicions were quickly shattered as yet another explosion resonated around their base; this time, the sound was getting closer. Those stationed near the door had a mixture of reactions. The astute ones figured something was amiss and armed themselves immediately, while the lazy ones stood back and waited for their companions to deal with the disturbance. Unfortunately, their sloth would prove to be their demise.
One final explosion shattered the mist barrier that protected the branch, unveiling the young teen who wielded a mundane steel sword. The teenager's ebony black hair fluttered with the wind generated by his sword slash as his golden eyes stared emotionlessly at the guards before him.
Was it fear? Anger? Confusion? Or did they feel insulted by Amon's complete lack of regard?
It was likely a mixture of those emotions. The first guard brandished his sword and rushed straight at Amon frantically. His attack had numerous openings, and he used a technique that Amon could describe as inelegant. But it didn't matter.
Amon disappeared from the guard's field of view and reappeared behind him in just a fraction of a second. The sword in the guard's hands shattered, and his body was cleaved cleanly in half from the shoulder down to the waist.
In less than half a second, Amon had claimed the life of one cultist.
And he wasn't done.
Before anyone else could react, he disappeared from the guards' field of view again and beheaded the other one with a spear in his hand. It was so fast that the remaining lazy guards only blinked once, and they saw their two compatriots with their bodies severed.
Realising their peril, they attempted to pick up their weapons to fight back, but alas… it was far too late.
Amon pointed his finger at them once, and they both combusted into a pillar of flame. Utilising the Six Suns within him, the young Solaris didn't need to cast magic to create fire. Just sending out his Solar mana was enough to make most living creatures with no mana protection burn at ten thousand degrees.
There was nothing that the cultists could have done to stop Amon's siege.
All four of the guards were disposed of in two seconds flat.
"..."
And yet, Amon wasn't impressed by his achievement. No, to be exact, Amon felt nothing about killing four cultists. No emotions flowed in his head as he was programmed from his past not to care about such things.
At this moment… Amon Solaris was replaced with Number 23.