The group of island guards moved toward Frost Island while chatting and laughing without a care in the world.
"This Frost Demon Clan definitely won't finish the task again. We've got nothing to do this year anyway, so we might as well kill a few to stretch our muscles."
"Hahaha, I'm thinking the same thing. My favorite part is picking out who to slaughter, watching them get all nervous. This time, don't rush like last time, we'll enjoy it slowly."
"It's fine. The Dàrén probably got some treasure and has been in seclusion for years. We can play as long as we want, no one will know."
"Play all you want, but remember to keep every Frost Demon soul. The higher ups need them." The squad captain reminded them.
The others nodded.
"Don't worry, Captain, we know what we're doing."
"We'd never forget something this important."
Yun Jin hid in the shadows, quietly listening to everything these demons said. She raised her brows slightly. When she analyzed the mission in the Vast Azure World, she already noticed something odd.
These island guards had been given a required quota of slaughter. They'd purposely sabotage the missions of some demons so they could have an excuse to massacre them. After killing them, they secretly collected their souls to hand off to higher ranking demons.
What those souls were used for was still unknown.
From all the missions she'd seen, Yun Jin could only conclude one thing. This soul collection task was extremely urgent. Not just in the Nine Heavens Dark Demon Territory. Other demon territories were suffering the same problem.
Some regional guard squads had even been heavily punished for failing to deliver enough souls.
In the Mission Hall, countless demons were agonizing over how to justify their slaughter.
A task this urgent was suspicious from the start. Combine that with the demons' most pressing objective right now, the acceleration plan.
Yun Jin had every reason to believe that they were gathering souls for this very plan.
After all, a formation capable of accelerating an entire world couldn't be arranged so easily.
Even if the formation was set up.
Then what fuel would power it?
Normally, magic stones were used as the energy source. But for a formation this big, even the highest grade magic stones were basically worthless. So the Polar Night Demon World clearly needed a higher tier of energy.
With their recent actions, it wasn't hard for Yun Jin to guess the truth. The core that powered the acceleration formation of the Polar Night Demon World was very likely living souls.
A plan of this scale needed an overwhelming amount of soul power. In the next thousand years, these lower and middle level demons would suffer a darkness they'd never experienced before.
For Yun Jin, though, this was a good thing. Once those demons were pushed to the brink, they'd naturally start rebelling.
Before this, they never had the strength to fight back.
But now she would give them that strength.
These lower and mid level demons used to be scattered, acting on their own. Naturally, they never formed any real fighting force. But if their power was gathered together, it'd be far from insignificant.
Right now, this squad of island guards was about to reach Frost Island. It was the perfect chance to see the result of her experiment.
Yun Jin silently followed them.
Soon, the ten island guards stepped onto Frost Island. Excitement was already written all over their faces. They could practically see the despair on the faces of the Frost Demons. They could practically smell the fresh blood.
All thirty two thousand Frost Demons were already gathered in advance.
An old man trembled as he stepped forward. "Dàrén, this task was far too difficult. We weren't able to finish everything. We beg you to show mercy."
Several crates were opened.
Inside lay the Frost Ore they'd mined through relentless labor.
The captain swept through the contents with his spiritual sense, his eyes flashing with savagery. "You're missing quite a lot this time. With so little ore, tell me, how many lives do you think this can save?"
The old man trembled. "Please, Dàrén, we really tried our best."
"Mercy?"
The island guards all burst into laughter.
The captain's eyes shone with bloodlust. "Originally, if you weren't missing much, we only needed to kill one tenth of your clan. But you kept slacking off and only brought this, so this time we'll kill one fifth instead."
The old man's expression changed. "Dàrén! If we lose that many, we won't be able to finish next year's task at all!"
The captain laughed. "Not my problem. We'll just come kill more next year."
The island guards burst into loud laughter.
All the Frost Demons lowered their heads. The guards didn't see that in every one of their eyes, flames of hatred were burning fiercely. They just wanted to survive. If there'd been even a single chance at life, they wouldn't have made up their minds like this.
But the island guards never planned to let them live. So they had only one choice… fight to the death.
The captain happily gathered the Frost Ore.
The others spoke up. "Captain, you pick first."
The captain glanced at the submissive Frost Demons and grinned. "I'm feeling a little hungry. Go pick out a batch of tender little kids for me, we'll roast them together."
"Yes, Captain."
The guards obeyed, then swept their sharp gazes through the crowd like hungry wolves.
Very soon.
They locked onto their targets, charged into the demon crowd, and dragged out over a hundred Frost Demon children.
"Dàrén, they're just children, please, spare them. If someone must die, take us old folks instead." The old man walked forward trembling.
"No, Chief, what're you doing! Kill us instead!" The other Frost Demons rushed out as well.
The captain licked his lips, his grin twisted. "Such a touching scene. Don't worry, we'll send you all off together soon."
He stepped forward and grabbed a child, about to speak.
The next instant, the old man who'd been begging just moments before suddenly revealed a vicious glare. His cane transformed into a sharp sword and he stabbed at the captain with all his strength.
The moment he moved, the rest of the Frost Demons roared and surged forward like a tidal wave.
The captain reacted instantly, retreating in a flash to escape the encirclement.
But the other guards weren't so lucky. None of them expected the Frost Demons to dare rebel. Worse, their strength seemed far beyond what the guards had anticipated.
In just one exchange.
One island guard was torn apart on the spot.
Another was knocked down by the demon tide, screaming in agony under countless stomps.
The remaining guards managed to escape, but all of them were wounded.