''Tian Yun.''
''Yes?''
''Explain briefly what a demon is.''
While flying with the subjugation squad from Lightning Tiger, Kierra asked Tian Yun.
''Um... usually, it is a cultivator corrupted by a certain source, or sometimes their own negative emotions.''
''I see.''
Tian Yun turned forward again, but her eyes stayed on Kierra.
'What a wonder...'
The white lotus had heard about Kierra from Yu Chen a while ago, but even Yu Chen didn't know much about the archwizard's past. Really, she couldn't imagine where Kierra must have come from. Another reality?
Silly idea.
Tian Yun shook her head and concentrated on flying again.
Meanwhile, Kierra was deep in her thoughts. If what Tian Yun said was true, then the concept of demons here differed entirely from that in her world. Demons back there typically referred to mostly mindless creatures born from pure dark mana or it mixed with other entities. They were unconditionally hostile to anything other than their own kin and universal enemies of the world.
This was indeed curious for Kierra. Did the demons here also use dark mana or dark qi? Was that even a thing?
Well, she would find out soon enough.
As the squad entered the Yunluo mountain range, a wave of uncomfortable energy hit them. The air felt like it was contaminated, but the squad kept flying ahead. Demons were extremely dangerous creatures in the Central Divine Realm—not only did the cultivator who got turned into a demon have to have a solid cultivation base to withstand the process, but after transforming, they were typically multiple times stronger than the original.
Eventually, they reached a large cave located at the foot of a mountain. The air had gotten so bad that many were frowning. Kierra was different, though. For one, she had gotten used to this kind of thing after the Great War with demons back in her world, and more than that, she was curious since this was the first time she encountered this energy.
After Kang Jiang spoke to the guards outside, they headed in. Looking at the back of Kang Shuren, who participated in this instead of her brother because he was forced to stay with Yu Chen and Bai Qing at the sect, Kierra felt this was an excellent opportunity.
Watching someone fight and use their energy was usually the go-to way of gauging their talent in magic, aside from intelligence.
''?!''
Suddenly, there was an eerie squeak coming from inside. The squad immediately stopped.
''Brother, can you scan the area ahead of us?'' Kang Jiang asked one of the elders.
''Of course.''
A little while later, the elder burst out in a cold sweat.
''There are so many spawns of the demon!'' He shouted. ''Hundreds, no, thousands of them!''
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Everyone was startled.
''We might be dealing with a disaster-level demon here.'' Kang Jiang frowned. ''I hope the aid request won't be turned down...''
''Let me take care of them,'' Kierra said as she walked past the group. ''Close your eyes and ears.''
As the squad had known of Kierra's might, they obediently did as she said, albeit still skeptical. Even if Kierra was stronger than Kang Jiang, a demon of this caliber—
BOOM—!!!
In the blink of an eye, Kierra constructed a simple explosive spell and shot it ahead. As it flew forward, its form gradually changed from an ordinary ball of fire to a fierce dragon, rapidly devouring its prey on the way. For a brief moment, the cave was lit up before it went silent again.
''That should take care of the little ones,'' Kierra said.
'''' ... ''''
She could have collapsed this whole cave and buried everything in one go, but she was curious, so there was no other way!
So, with Kierra leading the way, they continued moving forward.
Wait, Kierra was leading the way...?
(・∀・)?
Kang Jiang, the official leader of the squad, wanted to protest, but in a surge of sagaciousness, he concluded that he didn't want to be beaten again.
On the way, the squad encountered numerous burnt corpses of what seemed to be giant bats scattered all over the ground. Judging from their size and other bodily features, some of the more well-informed elders expressed their concerns over this particular demon.
''No ordinary demon would be able to create this many monsters of this size...''
Hearing that, everybody got nervous, including Kierra, but for a different reason.
'I hope that guy isn't dead yet...'
Well, she could still feel the ominous energy coming, so probably no. And right after a turn, they saw something.
Sitting inside a dome-like barrier was an almost rotten corpse with white hair and greyish skin. It looked like it should be dead, but the distinct red eyes inside the deep sockets of the 'corpse' were still moving all right.
Said eyes immediately fixed on Kierra as she calmly entered the large chamber containing the barrier. The archwizard looked around, and there was nothing other than an old table with a pot of plants on it. The plant appeared dead, with its leaves all withered.
Ignoring the corpse, Kierra went straight to the table. She could feel the red eyes following her, but that didn't bother her in the slightest. Rather, she noticed the ominous energy was the most dense around this withered plant.
''Hm.''
As she was about to lift it using telekinesis—
''Kierra!''
Together with Tian Yun's urgent shout, Kierra found the corpse now standing blankly beside her. It stared at her intently, not moving an inch.
''What?'' She asked.
''...''
Not hearing an answer, Kierra let out a sigh and raised her arm to the side. With a simple gesture, a slim mana sword manifested in her hand. It had an ocean blue color, slightly see-through, and left behind vivid traces of mana when swinging as well.
Aside from being beautiful, though, this sword could even split a mountain squarely if Kierra used the correct technique.
When Tian Yun and the others surrounded the thing with their weapons out, Kierra raised her hand and pointed her finger at its head.
''Boom.''
⌈WIND BULLET—4★⌋
A gentle whisper from Kierra resulted in a strong and concentrated gust of wind shooting at the corpse's head. In normal cases, it should have exploded its head altogether or at least sent it to the wall, but this time was different.
With its hand covering the head, the corpse was still standing strong even after blocking Kierra's spell whole.
'Interesting.'
While the squad was freaking out over how strong the demon was, Kierra was intrigued by its attitude. It seemed this thing was here just to protect the plant and nothing else.
''Shuren.'' Kierra called. ''Can you fight this thing alone?''
''I'm afraid not.''
Kang Shuren's face was utterly unchanging, as usual, but Kierra could sense the nervousness behind it.
So Kierra replied. ''Just do it. This will serve as a test as well, so do your best.''
''...Ah?''
Deep inside, Kang Shuren was scared to death. She could feel ominous death energy escaping this strange demon! Couldn't they just leave it alone if it wasn't attacking them like this for whatever reason...?
''Um...''
''I will assist.'' Kierra pushed Kang Shuren forward. ''You won't die. And you all stay out.''
Kang Shuren had no other option besides fighting. With all her courage, she pulled out her sword and took a battle stance. Seeing Kierra also pointing her sword at the demon, Kang Shuren was suddenly motivated.
This was an opportunity to fight together with the legendary Kierra!
She was determined to prove her worth and fight a cool battle with the archwizard, but only when the fight began did she realize one crucial problem—Kierra's swordplay was utter garbage.