Jason and Delisha sat together on the Metallic Airship heading to their mission objective.
"White Stone Mountain Castle was established by the 'Bogdan' family, who originally lived in Bone Dragon Prefecture but recently moved to our Northbone Prefecture. The Bogdan Clan is tyrannical; they destroyed all four tribes that originally settled around White Stone Mountain, leaving only a few survivors. This mission involves the surviving members of those four tribes filing an appeal, which, after being adjudicated by the city lord, will be handed over to the Fiend Castle as a promotion mission."
The Fiend leading the group explained the details of the mission.
"It seems the Bogdan Clan is quite out of touch with reality, actually provoking Lord Lloyd to personally make a ruling," Jason said to Delisha using his divine sense.
Fiend promotion missions and Fiend assessment missions are different from ordinary missions, mainly in terms of success rate. Regardless of how many Fiend are killed or injured in the missions, the success rate of the first two types of missions is much higher than that of ordinary missions.
After all, this involves their own interests, so the Fiend involved will definitely go all out, unlike ordinary missions where they feel the effort is greater than the reward and simply give up halfway through.
"This newly relocated family is already so arrogant, and they haven't even bothered to cultivate a good relationship with the local city lord. I wonder if the Bogdan Clan is truly overconfident in their strength, or Lloyd, as the city lord, is simply too weak." Delisha thought of the information she had previously gathered about City Lord Lloyd.
Lloyd was considered one of the weaker members of the Seven Star Fiend, but because he was proficient in crafting Deathgod Golem, he gained the support of the Lord of the Northbone Prefecture and other city lords within the prefecture, which allowed him to become the city lord of Falling Rain City.
Of course, while cultivating good relationships with one group of people based on mutual interests can also offend another group, and there are quite a few people in the Northbone Prefecture who dislike Lloyd.
This is also why Lloyd's family, which he painstakingly built, was destroyed just as it was getting started.
The Bogdan Clan may have dared to be so arrogant because they were supported by one of Lloyd's enemies; many of the Fiend on this mission were probably acting on Lloyd's orders.
"I feel like the task I chose is a bit too difficult." Delisha then began to regret her choice.
Delisha was not a reckless person, and she naturally felt uneasy when she realized that she had been caught in a power struggle between important figures.
Most importantly, the Rhine Clan didn't receive any benefits from Lloyd this time; they essentially worked for free!
"We're already considered Lloyd's peripheral allies, so let's not dwell on these things. Just don't overexert yourselves when the fighting starts."
Delisha nodded. "We're already on this mess, it's too late to say anything now."
The team leader continued speaking.
Jason and his companions, as One-Star Fiend, were tasked with killing a Midgod member of the Bogdan Clan and obtaining the "blood-red feather" from their heads. It is said that the ancestor of the Bogdan Clan was a divine beast, and every Bogdan member with this bloodline would have such a feather on their head.
Of course, it also appears above the heads of Highgod; as long as you can obtain it, you've completed the task.
As for the Four Star Fiend's mission, it was to kill a Highgod member of the Bogdan Clan. The blood-red feathers on his head were different from those of Midgod, making him distinguishable.
The two Five-Star Fiend ' mission was to kill the opposing clan leader.
The team leader has finished explaining the mission requirements. The rest is free time, since we'll be fighting together later, it's good for everyone to get to know each other beforehand.
"Gentlemen, are you One-Star Fiend sitting here?" A Highgod Fiend sat down opposite Jason and Delisha.
Delisha nodded. "I'm still One-Star Fiend."
Without further explanation, this situation is quite common in the Netherworld, and the other party was not surprised.
"Let me introduce myself, my name is Simoni." Simoni is a handsome blond man.
Delisha smiled and said, "My name is Delisha, and this is Jason."
"It seems you two are of the same clan?"
Jason and Delisha both brought death and Lightning Clone, and with the bloodline of the Thunderwing Angel, they are very similar in aura alone.
Delisha nodded. "Yes, we are mother and son!"
Jason's expression remained unchanged as he used his divine sense to ask, "Clan Chief, please be careful!"
"What, are you dissatisfied!?"
"No, I am deeply honored."
Simoni, sitting opposite them, sized up the two of them. "Is it a simple mother-son relationship, or the kind of matriarchal clan relationship between a mistress and her loyal servant?"
In the end, Simoni did not pursue the matter further; such a situation is quite common in the Netherworld, where there are many races and diverse cultures.
Simoni cleared his throat. "Ahem, it's like this. I'd like to invite Miss Delisha to team up with us for a battle. Of course, we'll offer you ample compensation."
"Sorry, I have to take care of my son!" Delisha refused decisively.
"Uh--" Jason and Simoni both uttered a helpless sound at the same time.
However, Simoni was clearly more sociable. "It's alright. You two are One-Star Fiend, so you probably haven't experienced many Fiend quests. I'll give you some tips that I hope will be helpful."
Jason and Delisha both showed expressions of eagerness to hear more.
"In fact, more experienced Fiend can analyze some hidden information about the mission from the number and strength of the participants. For example, the members participating in this mission are all Fiend, mainly mid-level gods who have been promoted from one star to two stars, Highgod Midgod have been promoted from three stars to four stars, and two Highgod Fiend have been promoted from five stars to Six-Star."
The fact that the participants among the Midgod are relatively weak and few in number indicates that the number and strength of the Midgod within the White Stone Mountain Castle, the target of this mission, are not large, and the large-scale casualties among Midgod will not occur as in the Fiend assessment mission.
There were thirteen near- Four Star Fiend, but two of them were Five-Star Fiend, and both were about to be promoted. You should know that among the Fiend in Falling Rain City, the ratio of four-star to Five-Star Fiend is about one to fifty. One of the Five-Star Fiend this time, Lord Belding, whom I know, already has the strength of a near- Six-Star Fiend; the other one comes from the capital of Northbone Prefecture, and is said to be exceptionally powerful.
Based on this, we can infer that the Highgod within White Stone Mountain Castle are individually powerful but few in number. If the few of us want to advance to Four Star Fiend, we'll probably have to put in some effort to compete for their positions.
Jason and Delisha exchanged a glance, realizing that what the other said made a lot of sense.
"Thank you for your explanation," Jason said respectfully.
"You're welcome. I'm just here to make friends. Actually, I was dragged here by a few other friends to help me. I only recently became Highgod, and compared to Four Star Fiend, my strength is average. It would be very dangerous to advance rashly. Miss Delisha, uh, I should say Mrs. Delisha, is probably much stronger than me." Simoni waved his hand.
After Simoni left, Jason and Delisha communicated telepathically.
"Son, it seems like we're under less pressure this time. We should be able to get through this easily," Delisha said cheerfully.
"Don't let the people in the clan find out about this, or they'll laugh me to death!" Jason said, rubbing his forehead with a helpless expression.
There's no way Jason can beat Delisha.
Delisha said nonchalantly, "Should we take advantage of the chaos and rob them of some money?"
Jason perked up as he discussed this. "Since the Bogdan Clan dared to provoke Lord Lloyd, it means they have a strong family background, and who knows, they might have some very profitable methods."
Instead of stealing a basket of eggs, why not just steal their hen! When we encounter those Midgod, don't kill them immediately; capture them and interrogate them first."
Delisha's eyes lit up instantly. "You're the smartest one here!"