Damien somewhat scoffed at the grand goal the commander stated as the mission objective during the final briefing before they touched ground.

Providing a distraction so that Calypto's forces couldn't support the main army on Throh?

Sure it was a viable plan, and a smart one when considering how massive the Nox force on Throh already was, but was it really a good idea to choose students who'd never experienced live combat as the ones to carry out this mission?

It was highly irrational.

Damien didn't doubt that the mission objective was being accomplished, he simply believed that there were other, more dependable measures being put in place to accomplish that goal.

'The point of telling the mission objective to students is to raise their morale by giving them a cause.'

If the Calypto mission was regarded as mere training, it was impossible to elicit such raw passion and determination from the rising soldiers. Instead, the commander chose to instill them with pride in their universe and pride in their mission.

'Looking at the results, his strategy was pretty smart.'

Every group the Stargazer Squad met until this point was highly focused on their mission. Even when they came into conflict with other groups over kill stealing and point stealing, they never allowed the problem to develop since there was a greater enemy to face.

'But still, how can they compare to my kids?'

Damien smiled like a proud dad as he watched the scene of annihilation take place below him.

Ash was in full berserker mode, her towering figure bulldozing through a horde of Lesser Nox. Meanwhile, Tyler's beast form was that of a reptilian dragon as he attacked the Higher Nox in control of that group. Synth flew in the air and provided support for both of her squad members, using an array of drones to control the skies and rain down hell.

While the three of them moved in perfect synchronicity, Zara dashed around the battlefield and provided help wherever help was needed. It was the perfect battle formation.

'It's to the point where I can't even find space to interfere. Really, am I raising a group of monsters or something?'

Despite his thoughts, Damien couldn't hide the pride on his face. From the undeveloped talents they were when they first entered Calypto, the three had blossomed into true geniuses who knew how to adapt and grow by the circumstances.

'It's been a fun trip.'

With that thought, Damien descended to the ground and met up with his squad.

There were three more large bases for them to deal with on the Blue River Continent.

As for the rest?

They decided to be benevolent and leave the scraps for those other groups who faded into the background due to their accomplishments.

***

The two-month mark that was supposed to signal the end of the mission was accompanied by an announcement that the mission deadline would be extended another 4 months.

The performance the students showcased far exceeded the commander's expectations, and although saying that the students were a major help in a mission they were supposed to be insignificant in was a stretch, they weren't far from reaching that point.

Of the eight continents of Calypto, 4 had been completely cleared. The main force of Calypto which consisted of millions, if not billions, of Nox beings, was located on the main Willow Continent. Still, there were countless millions of Nox living within the other seven continents, and destroying over half of them in 2 months was an immense achievement for a group of students.

Though, this achievement could mainly be accredited to a single group.

The Stargazer Squad.

Through the records of their academy emblems, it was assured that they weren't cheating in any way to attain their results. They bulldozed their way through Calypto with pure battle prowess and tactical brilliance.

Soon enough, they became an example for all groups to follow.

The commander even reached out to Damien at one point, gaining his permission to turn the Stargazer Squad's battle recordings into examples for the students.

And while others were raving over their achievers, the squad itself showed no care for the attention.

Currently, they stood on the 6th, colloquially termed the Vineyard. Aside from the Willow Continent, this one was by far the most dangerous.

This was because the Vineyard was genuinely a place where nature was the enemy.

Unlike the other continents where most sentient plant life died out, leaving only those in infested areas like forests alive, it wasn't the same on the Vineyard.

Here, the plant life was thriving. It was impossible to walk a single step without finding a sentient plant ready to kill at a moment's notice.

But the most terrifying parta large majority of these plants had been corrupted by the ambient Nox Mana.

Not only were they a scourge, they were mindless and deadly, like slaves to the Nox residing on the continent.

The Stargazer Squad was able to fight this environment purely due to Damien's Space-Time Domain. With the domain present, nothing was able to intrude on their hunting grounds without permission.

Like this, a majority of the Nox bases on the continent had already been destroyed.

'It's been 3 months since we first arrived here. We spent two months traveling, which leaves me with only a single month before the progress examination at the academy beginswill I really be okay?'

He still hadn't made significant progress on the mission the Director gave him, and even putting that aside, he wouldn't be able to reach the academy in time for the progress examination if things continued like this.

'If the Director doesn't pull some strings to get me back to the academy on time, I'll have to do it myself. Though, it'd be tiring to deal with the problems that come along with that, so I'd rather not.'

Damien cut down with Mirage and split the dimension in half, turning a group of researchers into minced meat.

Was the count already in the hundreds? Damien didn't even know how many laboratories he'd destroyed at this point,

What he did know, however, was that with the sheer number of these facilities he'd seen in the past few months, the number of successfully bred Parasites existing in the universe was already uncountable.

'Well, I can at least be happy that I'm taking care of the ones within my reach. We also haven't met any interference from the main forces of the Nox on Calypto. We should continue moving at this pace and do as much as we can before they notice us.'

Damien regrouped with the others after slaughtering everyone within the lab facility. As a group, they walked out of the facility's secluded entrance and arrived back on the surface.

Their senses immediately became alert.

'Fuck. Did I jinx it?' Damien thought wryly as he spread his awareness.

They were surrounded in all directions.

It was like a sea of black.

Millions of Lesser Nox accompanied by thousands of Higher Nox covered every inch of land and air in the surroundings to make escaping a comedic thought.

A man walked out from the crowd, landing on the ground only a few meters from Damien and the rest.

His dark-grey skin signified his status as a Higher Nox. He dressed like a butler with a large top hat on his head and a monocle covering one eye.

Scanning the group, his eyes soon landed on Damien.

"Ah, yes you must be the one." He said smilingly as he cleared his throat.

"We have come bearing a gift for "the brave boy who dared to fight" from our dear Master."

The Higher Nox butler bowed until his upper body was parallel to the ground and raised his head, smiling eerily.

"Sir Saint Emperor sends his regards."