Defiance of the Fall

Everyone knew that that The Ruthless Heavens mainly opened up the passageways to introduce a challenge to the indigenous inhabitants of the planets . The Ruthless Heavens wanted to test if the original inhabitants were worthy to stay alive , and whether any powerhouses would emerge among them . That was why it let invaders through , but imposed limits on how strong they could be . The challenge needed to be hard , but possible to overcome .

Of course , most powers in the multi-verse was more than happy to be treated as a test by the System . The potential gain of both rare treasures and new domains to own far outweighed the potential sacrifice of some of their young and their untalented . It worked as a great training ground for their young elite , providing both an opportunity to lead , battle and gain precious resources .

The elders of the clan were even more ecstatic then they learned that the world had been given a D-rank classification . It was no secret that when the system integrated new worlds the huge influx of energy could create all sorts of rare and invaluable treasures all over the fresh worlds . The higher grade the new world was , the more treasures would appear . A fresh D-class planet wasn’t top tier , but at least it was above average .

It usually wouldn’t be the turn of some middling clan to get access to this type of smorgasbord . Normally some arch-daemon would have nudged the heavens and snatched it from them , but luckily the Great War was reaching a white-hot intensity . All the real powerhouses had their hands full , and couldn’t focus on this matter even though the potential gain was great .

Azzun had grown up hearing stories of how even lowly imps and thralls had managed to turn into arch daemons after entering a fresh world . They had found some treasure or natural oddity that had helped them shed their lowly heritage and emerge as a powerhouse in their galaxy .

Of course , Azzun knew that even if some treasure was discovered , it wasn’t his turn to enjoy it . They would all enter the greedy hands of their general . Even though the general couldn’t be considered a top talent of their clan , he had managed to snag this great opportunity . He guessed it helped to have a Great Daemon as a great grandfather , who spoiled him rotten .

The old daemon had forcefully elected his only great grandson , Ogras Arh’Rezak to lead the incursion . Azzun and the rest had discovered his incompetence even before entering the new world .

Afraid that there would be a strong resistance on this world , and that losses of their forces would reflect badly on him , he had simply unleashed beast hordes to kill everything around the incursion for the first month . He had chosen four evolved beasts to lead their packs , and simply let them run loose without any supervision from a Beast Master or Tamer .

Even many of the elders had disapproved of such cowardice , but the great daemon quashed any dissention .

He only dared to enter when the first limiter was loosened . Everyone had been shocked to discover that both Ur’Khaz and Vul were dead when they finally arrived .

While neither were particularly strong , both were elites who had been chosen among the thousands of beasts to be leaders of the beast packs they sent through to clear the area . They were almost at the limit of what The Ruthless Heavens would allow to pass through the incursion , and it had cost the clan a fortune to send them through . They had been heavily nurtured and given many supplements to increase their physiques . After the restrictions lifted they would be like kings in a newly initiated world .

Ogras immediately further cemented his erratic leadership upon noticing this fact . He had simply called the Heralds trash for dying so easily , and was more focused on the construction of his palace than finding out the reason for their demise .

He had simply sent out a few scout parties , Azzun’s group included , in order to gain information about the surroundings . Getting the order felt almost like a death sentence the unlucky scouts . If something in this forest could kill their alpha-beasts , how would they survive? They were only level 30 to 35 with common classes , the weakest of the army that had arrived .

However , they had no choice but to comply with the order . The hierarchy and rules were extremely strict . Both they and their families would have a miserable ending if that happened . They could only bitterly nod their heads and try to stay alive . He could only hope to garner some type of merit during their invasion , which would allow him and his family to live a bit more comfortably in the clan .

The blast of different colors around him felt stressful and disorienting , and even though they had been briefed on this type of terrain it was hard to adapt . They were in a constant state of un-ease , as they had no idea what might jump out from the bushes at any moment .