Aliquin and His Cat

Inside the metal lifeform, Luo Ya and his two companions were looking outside through the transparent window.

They, along with the others participating in the Fiend assessment, had been traveling in this metal lifeform for two days already; the destination of this metal lifeform would be the location of their Fiend assessment mission.

"The people from the Fiend Castle are here!" Someone in the rear cabin immediately called out.

The others also perked up, raising their heads to look at the three people standing at the very front of the rear cabin. Those three were the organizers sent by the Fiend Castle for this trip, and the leader was a handsome youth with scales on his forehead.

"Everyone!" The handsome youth said loudly with a smile, "There are a total of one thousand people participating in this Fiend assessment! I presume you all know that the process of this Fiend assessment is extremely dangerous, and the probability of death is incredibly high! Yet, you all still came... at the very least, in terms of courage, you are qualified to become Fiends."

The handsome youth's expression turned serious: "However, having enough courage is not enough; you also need strength!"

"The location for this assessment is a place over twenty million li away from House City, called the Shadow Swamp! According to the speed of this metal lifeform, it is estimated that it will take about twenty days to reach the destination," the handsome youth continued loudly.

At this moment, the rear cabin of the metal lifeform was silent.

The one thousand Midgods participating in the Fiend assessment were all listening carefully.

"Anyone who is relatively familiar with Fiends should know that Fiends can accept various missions at the Fiend Castle! These missions are also divided by rank!"

"As for your assessment mission, it is a one-star mission we have selected from a large number of tasks that is suitable for you!"

The handsome youth scanned the crowd and said, "As long as you complete this mission, you will naturally become a one-star Fiend!"

"As for the detailed explanation of the mission, Terci, you explain it." The handsome youth stepped aside, and a young girl resembling a mermaid stepped forward from behind him.

The girl named Terci had a very soft voice: "The mission location is the Shadow Swamp. Residing within this Shadow Swamp is an ancient powerhouse. This ancient powerhouse's strength is terrifying, and under his command, there are also hundreds of Shadow Guards and thirteen Blood Shadow Guards!"

"Your mission is to kill one Shadow Guard. Remember... after killing a Shadow Guard, bring the Shadow Guard's identity token back to the Fiend Castle. As long as you have this Shadow Guard token, it will prove that you have completed the mission!" As she spoke, Terci even used a 'Floating Image Technique' to display the appearance of the Shadow Guard token.

The Shadow Guard token was engraved with the pattern of a black, Evil spider.

The Blood Shadow Guard token was engraved with an even more sinister and terrifying blood-colored spider.

"Alright," the young mermaid lady said in a soothing voice, "I have finished."

Suddenly, the entire rear cabin became noisy, and everyone began to buzz with discussion.

Terci spoke again: "If anyone has any questions, you may speak up, and I will answer them."

"It is like this, Lady Terci," a Midgod stood up and asked: "May I ask, does every Shadow Guard have an identity token on them?"

Assuming they happened to run into one without a token, wouldn't it be a wasted effort?

"According to the intelligence of our Fiend Castle, the rules of this ancient powerhouse are very strict. Every one of his subordinates will certainly wear their own token. Of course, special circumstances are not excluded."

"If you kill a Shadow Guard but find that there is no identity token on them, then you can only blame your own bad luck..." the mermaid lady replied very patiently.

At this time, the Dragon-kin youth Trey, who was sitting not far from Luo Ya, stood up: "My Lady, since that ancient powerhouse is so powerful, and there are many extremely formidable Blood Shadow Guards, what about these people?"

Trey's question instantly drew the high attention of the other Midgod examinees.

Of course, these Midgods were not fools; when they discovered that veteran Fiends were traveling with them in the rear cabin, they had vaguely guessed the answer.

"I presume you have all seen that it is not just you people heading to the Shadow Swamp this time. There are also some three-star and four-star Fiends, as well as a five-star Fiend with extremely strong power," the mermaid lady glanced at Trey and revealed the answer.

"Extremely strong power?" Hearing Terci's evaluation of that five-star Fiend, Luo Ya also looked over with a bit of interest.

Clearly, in the eyes of the people from the Fiend Castle, this five-star Fiend had a high probability of passing this promotion assessment.

Terci continued: "Those thirteen Blood Shadow Guards, as well as that ancient powerhouse with formidable strength, are the mission targets of other Fiends; you do not need to worry about them."

Based on the information Terci had provided earlier, everyone guessed that the Shadow Guards should all be at the Midgod level. As for the Blood Shadow Guards, they were definitely all Highgods, and as for that ancient powerhouse, he was likely a hegemon among the Highgods.

Staying in the metal lifeform for a full twenty days, they finally arrived at their destination.

"After you go out, as long as you head east for a few li, you will be able to see the Shadow Swamp."

The handsome youth said loudly in the rear cabin, "This Shadow Swamp has a unique geographical environment, and those Shadow Guards have the advantage of fighting on their home turf, so do not be careless. We will wait here quietly for you. If anyone successfully obtains a Shadow Guard token, they may return to the metal lifeform."

"A swamp?" Milia had encountered swamp terrain in the Material Plane before, but since the person in charge from the Fiend Castle had specifically warned them, it was likely that this 'Shadow Swamp' definitely had some extremely special aspects.

"Let's go." Luo Ya, Milia, and Morti followed the crowd through the corridor and gradually walked outside, the group bustling as they slowly disembarked from the metal lifeform.

At this moment, on the vast land outside the metal lifeform, twenty or thirty Fiends were gathered, but everyone was surrounding a mysterious figure in a black robe like stars surrounding the moon.

Because this black-robed person was standing sideways to them, his face could not be seen clearly. The only point worth noting was that he was actually carrying a small pet cat with golden fur in his arms.

Through the respectful attitude of the other Highgod Fiends, the Midgod examinees vaguely guessed that this mysterious black-robed person should be the five-star Fiend powerhouse that Lady Terci had mentioned earlier.

This time, it was the other party's assessment mission to advance to a six-star Fiend!

"Mr. Aliquin, with you here this time, we feel much more at ease..."

"With Mr. Aliquin taking action, the master behind the scenes of that Shadow Swamp will surely meet his end this time..." Everyone gathered around the black-robed person, and from time to time, some Highgod Fiends would loudly flatter him there.

This seemed like a loss of dignity, but these Highgod Fiends also knew Aliquin's strength and personality.

Once they coaxed this Aliquin well, perhaps the mission for the rest of them on this trip would be much easier.

"Easy to say, easy to say..." Aliquin had a smile like a court noble on his face, stroking the golden kitten with sleek fur in his arms, his eyes slightly narrowed, clearly enjoying the feeling of being the center of attention in the crowd.

"Aliquin?" When Luo Ya heard this slightly familiar name, he was momentarily stunned. After his gaze noticed the 'golden kitten' in the other party's arms that looked quite extraordinary, he quickly remembered who this person was.

"So it was him..." Recalling the tragic encounter of a certain burly man, he couldn't help but mourn for a second.