The citadel was still dark when they left.

Ning Xiaoyu navigated the citadel with the ease of someone who already knew the layout. A simple walk through its corridors was enough for the girl to memorise all the paths she had seen, which told Damon she was a lot more detail-oriented than he first thought.

Nyla followed them all the way to the teleportation device before coming to a halt. As much as she didn’t want him to go alone, she had no choice. This was a matter of their survival, and the decision was already made.

Ivy was still busy with room disputes, so she was nowhere to be seen. Damon asked Nyla to tell her he had left before he and Ning Xiaoyu stepped onto the teleportation device and disappeared from the citadel.

Ning Xiaoyu remained completely silent as she led him north.

It took them until the sun began to rise to reach a teleportation device located between three half-collapsed buildings.

It looked exactly the same as the one leading to their citadel, and as they stepped onto it, the girl quickly activated it.

The sensation of moving between the two locations felt a moment longer this time, most probably because of how much higher this citadel was.

Damon immediately felt how much thinner the air was. Unlike in their citadel, there was no forest around them, simply plain fields of grass before a massive castle made of white bricks rose from the ground.

It was smaller than theirs, roughly half its size, but the structure didn’t look any worse. Its pristine white bricks gave it an ethereal look. It had four towers, which were connected by a series of bridges which hung with unnatural strength.

"Stay close," Ning Xiaoyu said as they moved toward it.

Everyone’s gaze quickly locked onto Damon, most looking with frowns and even disgust, but some had a completely puzzled expression on their faces.

It took Damon a little too long to realise one, maybe very important thing about this citadel.

’There are only women here...’

Now it made sense. The way Victor described the attacker was giving his female group member a swift death before killing the rest in gruesome ways. And the way Ning Xiaoyu attacked him on sight. It must’ve been by design, but the question was why?

Ning Xiaoyu walked slightly ahead, stopping only for half a step before the entrance to what Damon assumed to be a grand hall, though significantly smaller.

The hall looked even smaller on the inside. Damon was surprised to see the hall completely empty, with a sole exception for the person sitting on a small throne-like chair at the end of the chamber.

She looked to be in her late twenties. Her green eyes immediately locked onto Damon, and her lips curved into a curious smile. Her skin-tight minidress left not much room for imagination, and her crossed legs shifted slightly, the tip of her high heel circling in a slow, deliberate motion as she awaited them to approach.

"Lady Aria, this man is from—"

Before Ning Xiaoyu could finish her announcement, Aria quickly cut her off.

"You brought a man into my castle."

Her eyes didn’t move away from Damon as she spoke. She took a moment adjusting her glasses before she stood up and walked down from the small podium of her throne with the soft clicking of her heels.

"I hope it’s for a good reason?"

Damon watched as she approached, noting the heavy presence of a debuff gnawing at his body, his body lurched from the sudden loss of that many stats. It was rough but not impossible to deal with.

"It is," he finally said. "The citadel in the city’s outskirts tried to ambush my people. I’m here to propose a truce."

"Truce?"

"You stay out of our way, and we’ll kill the other leader and end the quest by ourselves."

"Mmm, you sound confident. Is your leader that strong?" Aria asked, circling around him and taking a good measure of him.

"We’ll get it done," Damon said flatly.

"What do you think, my sweet Ning Xiaoyu?" Aria asked, "Don’t you think it’s a little too good to be true?"

"I don’t know about the others... But he’s capable," she said, taking a small glance at Damon.

Her heels clicked a couple more times until she stopped right in front of Damon while she spoke. "We’ll give it a couple of days to think it through. While we’re at it, why don’t Ning Xiaoyu find you a suitable chamber to stay at?"

"That won’t be necessary," Damon said. "I can just return in a few days for your answer."

"This won’t work," Aria murmured, letting out an overexaggerated sigh and shaking her head. "How can we accept a truce if you won’t even accept our hospitality?"

A moment of silence settled in the room.

It wasn’t ideal, but if staying here could guarantee the truce, he had no choice but to accept.

"Very well," he nodded. "I’ll stay here until I get your answer."

The smile on Aria’s face widened as she nodded to Ning Xiaoyu, who was quick to move.

"Enjoy your stay," Aria said as Ning Xiaoyu led Damon toward one of the residential towers.

The walk was quick, filled with countless mixed glances from every member of the citadel they passed. Judging how shocking his presence there was, he must’ve been the first man to ever step on the citadel grounds.

The room was roughly halfway up the tower, and Damon was slightly surprised by how large it was.

"I’m just next door, so if you need anything, just knock."

The girl didn’t even wait for his reply as she turned around and simply left, shutting the door behind her with a loud click.

Damon stood in the quiet of the room for a moment as an unsettling premonition washed over him. He had a feeling that the next few days wouldn’t be as simple as Aria had made them seem.