A Demon's Journey

Azaroth gave them the same order as before. He ordered the two groups to fight against each other.

He told them that they could fight however they wanted. He wasn't going to place any restrictions on them.

They could use traps, cheap tricks, and almost any other clever way to fight if they wanted. They just had to make their opponent admit defeat.

He allowed Noah and Laura to have a word with their groups, respectively.

Noah was quite clear as he ordered his subordinates, "Bring victory or else…."

He left the threat hanging. Those words were quite effective. Not a single one of his men dared to fight half-heartedly. They knew that hell awaited them if they lost.

Meanwhile, Laura told her men, "Maintain your distance and do your best to target them. As long as you don't hit their face, it will be alright."

Her men cheered up as they heard her. They promised her they would definitely defeat Noah's group.

Half an hour later, the two groups faced each other.

Laura's subordinates immediately pointed their arrows at Noah's group. Once Azaroth ordered them to start, Laura's subordinates launched those arrows.

Noah's subordinates were forced to roll to the side as they dodged a rain of arrows towards them.

Azaroth observed this entire fight while using his Mystic Eyes of Perception. He was going to deal with any arrow that was about to strike the head of the opponent.

He couldn't really count on these novices to have perfect aim. Unintentionally, they might target their opponent's head.

Laura's subordinates backed away once they saw Noah's group dodge their arrows. Only a couple of arrows had struck their targets, but they couldn't halt the movements of those warriors.

Backing away and maintain some distance between them was a blunder by Laura's subordinates. This gave Noah's subordinates enough time to close the distance between them.

In terms of running speed, Noah's subordinates were much faster.

Thus, some of them even reached Laura's subordinates and engaged them in a close-combat fight.

Once this fight turned into a close-combat fight, it was over far too quickly.

Noah's subordinates absolutely thrashed Laura's subordinates. They weren't gentle even to the women who were in Laura's group.

Only when they all admitted defeat did they stop.

Azaroth had many reasons to make these two groups fight against each other. Firstly, he wanted Noah's subordinates to know that they were strong. They could win a battle.

Because of their defeats at Noah's hands, they were getting a little too used to being defeated, and their aura was getting dull.

This win against Laura's subordinates should have raised their morale.

The second reason Azaroth wanted this battle to happen was to understand the abilities of these warriors.

After observing this battle, Azaroth had a clear understanding of these warriors' abilities.

Laura was slightly sad as she saw that her subordinates had lost. She looked at Azaroth's brooding look and thought he was actually disappointed in her subordinates.

"Master, this is the first time they are fighting someone, so they were a bit too nervous. They are actually really talented." Laura spoke.

Azaroth replied, "I can imagine. However, it remains an issue that they can't maintain their focus during a battle. You trained them to aim at the enemy. Thus, they were quite quick during the starting phase of this battle. But once that phase ended, and they had to rely on their wits to fight, they appeared too nervous to put up a good fight."

"Are you intending to nurture them for eternity?" Azaroth asked while glaring at Laura through the corner of his eye.

Laura lowered her head in defeat.

"When you were training under me, all of you only did that gravity training exercise for a week. After that, I made you fight against numerous opponents where you would have to constantly think to beat your opponents within a limited time."

"The subordinates under Noah don't appear to have some great talent in cultivation, but I can say with surety that in terms of willpower, they have your subordinates beat," Azaroth spoke.

"You are the one who is responsible for your group's loss." Azaroth harshly said to Laura.

As he saw Laura flinch, he decided to stop. He knew he was too harsh on her. It was the first time she had trained a bunch of warriors.

She couldn't very well become a perfect trainer on her first try. However, he had to be harsh on her, or she wouldn't learn from this mistake.

"From now on, teach them how they should fight against close-ranged warriors. If they can't win, they should atleast possess the ability to put up a fight and hold back the enemy until the reinforcements arrive."

"Also, from now on, you two will take your groups and attack the nearby branch of the Origin Sect once a week. Loot everything from that branch. Both of you are forbidden to attack only against strong warriors or leaders," Azaroth ordered them.

Noah and Laura were surprised to hear those words. They wondered why he was targeting the Origin Sect.

They had no conflicts with the Origin Sect yet. Moreover, the Origin Sect was one of the top 3 sects of the Glerian Kingdom.

They didn't ask Azaroth for a reason, though. Noah was adamant about not knowing why, while Laura had been reprimanded so severely that she didn't dare to inquire.

She felt that she would be scolded even more heavily.

Meanwhile, before they were asked to leave, Azaroth said to Noah, "Give 10 Spirit Coins to each one of your subordinates for winning this battle. Also, take them to a bar and let them drink to their heart's content. Training all day wouldn't necessarily be effective. You need to give them time to enjoy, so their mentality remains in peak condition."

Noah said to Azaroth, "I will follow your orders, Boss. You can rest assured that the next time, they will be even stronger."

Azaroth sweatdropped upon hearing Noah's words. He felt that Noah's subordinates were going to witness another deeper level of Hell.

"I will observe both of your training and give you instructions based on what I feel is right. Alright. You two can leave now."

Azaroth drove them away while he laid on the grassy fields.

He was connecting his mind to his clone's body and understanding the situation over there.

As his clone possessed 40% of Azaroth's spirit, Azaroth could take over his clone's body and find out what he had been doing.

He didn't keep a shared vision with his clone because his mind would constantly be working if he did that. He would get tired quickly, and it wouldn't be a good idea to remain in that state within the Glerian Kingdom.

According to his estimates, the king had most probably used the resources provided by Azaroth. He must have also hired some array masters to quicken the recovery rate of the resources in the mine.

'Let's see how long it will take for a stable supply chain of resources to be formed.'

This was something even Azaroth couldn't guess correctly. He had no idea how many mines or ruins were under the Glerian Kingdom's control.

If he did know that, perhaps he could make a guess accurately.

Right now, he had to wait for Sargan to expand his information network and found out about everything.