"I didn't even say anything about that," Leon said to Aria with a wry smile.
However, Aria gave him the cold shoulder as she threw her cute tantrum. She probably knew that even if he rejected Nyfarella's advances, he still gave it some thought.
"Ahem, anyway," Leon coughed before changing the topic, "We'll head to the Dark Fae Clan first and then visit the ruin after."
If he wanted to subjugate the Dark Fae Clan, he would naturally not settle for only 250 of their strongest members; it had to be the entire clan.
"Yes, my Lord!" Nyfarella answered with excitement.
At the same time, the eyes of Saresha and the other dark faes all lit up after learning about their destination.
They could finally see the day of the Dark Fae Clan's liberation.
Given the strength of all the present dark faes, a mid-rank demon clan like the Red Ghoul Clan was no longer their opponents.
If the Lord permits it, they would even want to destroy the Red Ghoul Clan and end the days of oppression with their own hands.
After leaving the abyss, the group quickly made their way to the Dark Fae Clan under Nyfarella's guide.
"Hey, don't you think Duna has been a bit too indifferent after exiting her seclusion? She's almost like a completely different person to the past," Aria mentioned the matter to Leon in a whispering voice.
It had been bothering her for some time.
Nevertheless, it was also something that Leon had been well aware of, considering he shared a much deeper relationship with Duna than Aria did.
After all, those two were ice and fire.
"I am aware of her indifference. It should have something to do with her significant leap in soul cultivation. Maybe her devil soul awakened substantially," Leon replied quietly back to Aria.
"That being said, I'm not quite sure of her exact situation until she opens up about it. Still, I pray that she'll gradually revert back to the way she was prior to entering her secluded cultivation… Let us give her time."
"Mm," Aria nodded.
Strangely, she was not used to indifferent Duna; she preferred the version of Duna that picks fights and bickers with her.
Although Leon and Aria were very quietly with their voices, Duna overheard everything. She was only several paces behind them.
She remained indifferent to everything on the surface, but their words had her thinking about her changes.
Nevertheless, it didn't take long before she stopped thinking about it.
Sometime later, the group crossed sixty-five miles of barren land filled with cracked and dry soils before they entered the even more rough and rocky mountain region.
At the top of one particular steep rocky mountain was where the Dark Fae Clan was situated.
"Our Dark Fae Clan is just at the top of this rocky mountain, my Lord," Nyfarella informed Leon as they arrived at the foot of the steep rocky mountain.
Even without Nyfarella's introduction, everyone could see something was different about the steep rocky mountain before them compared to the other rocky mountains in the region.
The rocky wall was filled with the scars of battle and extremely harsh weather.
Still, they did not hide all the traces of chiseling on the rocky wall, which made the entire steep rocky mountain look like one enormous sculpture.
More importantly, everyone could see the spiral staircase leading all the way up to the top of it with a single glance.
Anyone with half a brain would at least know that there was something on the top of the rocky mountain.
No one would be bored enough to sculpt an entire staircase on a rocky mountain for nothing; it was definitely done with a clear purpose—to grant easy access to the top.
"The dark faes are all born with a pair of beautiful black feathered wings to fly, so this staircase shouldn't have been made for the dark faes to use, right?" Leon inquired.
"Yes, my Lord," Nyfarella nodded.
"The Red Ghoul Clan, Blue Ogre Clan, and Green Goblin Clan demanded all the males in the clan to sculpt this staircase for them. Reluctant as we were, we had no choice but to comply at the time because they threatened to destroy us otherwise."
"So it wasn't just one but three mid-rank demon clans that oppressed the Dark Fae Clan, huh?" Leon muttered.
Shortly after glancing at the foot of the staircase, Leon turned to face Shadowtail.
"It seems like your Black Dragon Clan won't be able to follow us up the mountain, given your big sizes. Nevertheless, I didn't bring all of you out of the secret realm just to leave you idling down here either."
"No, I have a task for all of you," Leon stated.
"Understood," Shadowtail nodded before expressing his willingness to accept any task given, "Please give us your order, my Lord."
Nevertheless, Leon didn't give his order immediately.
"I'm sure you are all excited to explore the world, so let's start with the Starfall Dominion. Given the current strength of the Black Dragon Clan, you shouldn't have any opponent in this region," Leon mentioned.
"As such, for your first task, I want you to grab a handful of dark faes to take with you as your guides and go subjugate all the demon clans in this rocky mountain region."
After Leon issued his order, Shadowtail's eyes flickered.
"Understood, my Lord! I hear and obey!" Shadowtail accepted the task with honor.
Shortly after, the Shadowtail shifted its gaze to the dark faes.
"You should have all overheard the Lord's words, so I will only ask of you once. Who is willing to follow our Black Dragon Clan to subjugate the other demon clans in this region?" Shadowtail asked.
After Nyfarella heard that, she immediately bit her lips.
Every dark fae present was eager to join the Black Dragon Clan in their subjugation quest. But, unfortunately, she could not join them.
She had to escort the Lord up the mountain and introduce him to their clan.
"I'll leave this matter in your hands. Take everyone with you and destroy the other demon clans in my stead," Nyfarella said to Saresha.
"Understood, Clan Leader," Saresha complied solemnly.