"I heard that the seven Heroes held intense rivalry against each other, but even so I never expected Hero Harold to dislike Hero Herman this much."
Stella was shaking her head in disbelief. Harold and his party had left, and so we relaxed in the park for another couple of hours. Once they were gone, Stella turned to me and expressed her views candidly.
"Dislike is a massive understatement," I replied. More like hate, actually. "Given Herman's personality, he tended to make more enemies than friends. His arrogance and self-centeredness didn't help matters."
Not to mention, he and his party literally ditched Harold and the other Heroes, along with their parties, when they confronted Tiamattra. Thanks to that, the five Hero parties sustained heavy casualties and three of the parties were annihilated. And while the survivors were recuperating from their severe injuries, the bastard led his party to assassinate Demonic Emperor all for his own personal glory. True to form, he sacrificed the last remaining Hero and his party to achieve that feat.
After what he and his party did to me, I had no problems believing that they wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice other people for their own gains.
Needless to say, Harold and his party, as well as the other surviving Hero and his party, weren't very fond of Herman and his comrades after they pulled that particular stunt.
"Well, that's all in the past now." I adjusted my glasses and rose to my feet. "Now we'll have to focus on the present. I think Lindley should be done with his shopping. Don't you think?"
*
After a week of constant travel, we were finally able to return to the Demonic Empire. We had taken the route through Bravia, where I stopped to sell the horses we had procured, and retrieved Wolfe. The dire wolf was pretty snappy because he hadn't seen us for ages, and he almost knocked me over when he saw me.
With a howl, he pounced on me, licking my face.
"Ha ha, sorry, Wolfe. It's been a while. I'll be relying on you again."
Wolfe growled happily and then dropped back onto his feet. We then tethered the carriage to him and had him move through the underground tunnel that the dwarves had constructed under the mountain. There was still some work here and there, but by now the underground highway was nearly completed.
Then we emerged in Silvia's territory. I took the route through the forest that traditionally belonged to the elves, and reached the main base that Silvia usually presided in when not launching military campaigns.
"You're back."
Kelvin was the first to greet us, his Grey Hunters serving as an honor guard. I grinned and snapped off a rough salute.
"Yeah. Another of the strongest Hero party has been slain."
"Really?" Kelvin glanced at the coffin that I had placed on the carriage. "And I bet that coffin has something to do with it?"
"I wonder."
Kelvin was too disciplined to pester me and he gestured for my party to head into the base. Silvia was waiting in the main hall, speaking to a few of her aides. Here, the staff was mainly elves such as herself (though Silvia herself was a half-elf), and they moved with grace and dignity rarely seen in the other races.
"You have finally returned." Silvia dismissed her aides and turned to us. I nodded and bowed. Silvia returned the bow by executing a deeper one, bending her body almost ninety degrees. Damn, I forgot that my subordinates were compelled to bow deeper than me because I was supposedly the new emperor or something.
"Yeah. Thanks for holding the fort. I heard that the human kingdom has finally decided to stop harassing Bravia province."
"That's right. They suffered unsustainable losses and were forced to pull back. One of the Heroes even tried to force a breakthrough, but I held them off. He and his party will not be trying that same attack for a while."
"Great work," I said. And I meant it. The Divine Generals were supposed to be the demons' equivalent of Heroes, but for Silvia to defeat one on her own was still no mean feat. "I've also subdued another member of the strongest Hero party."
"Excellent." Silvia nodded. She turned to Lindley. "And I suppose the lich lord has also pledged his services to your cause?"
"You assume correctly," Lindley replied. "His majesty has held up his end of the deal, and I am compelled to swear fealty to him."
He put on that rictus grin again and rubbed his hands gleefully.
"Now that he has proven himself to me, I foresee plenty of benefits if I follow him. It was not a hard decision to make."
"Speaking of proving yourself," Silvia said and looked at me seriously. "The dragon legion has finally appointed a new divine general. Ragios has taken on the mantle of dragon king and effectively replaced Tia as their ruler. He wishes to challenge you for the throne of Demonic Emperor."
"Honestly, he can have it," I muttered before Stella smacked me.
"If the dragons take over, with one of their kind ruling as the new Demonic Emperor, then there will never be peaceful coexistence between Havan Kingdom and the Demonic Empire."
"Stella is right," Silvia agreed. "The dragons are an arrogant and warlike race who believes in their superiority over all other species. They will unleash unprecedented destruction. Never mind the humans, I fear that the other demons will also have to beware."
"Arrogance? Self-perceived superiority? Aren't the vampires guilty of the same thing?" Lindley scoffed. He then glanced at me and Stella before shrugging. "With these two being a major exception, of course."
"…I'm not even sure if they count as proper vampires." Silvia looked as if she had a headache. "They have only very recently turned. They count more as humans than vampires, to be honest. At least mentally, anyway."
I still thought of myself as a human…most of the times, anyway. I was aware that I was deluding myself, but I couldn't bear to let go of my humanity.
"On that topic, it seems like you will have problems of your own when you return to Tyranvania." Silvia had a somber expression. "You have the support of the low-ranking vampire nobles such as Count Claude Lyon and Baron Valencia, which is good. Unfortunately, the higher ranked vampire nobles aren't as receptive to your prospective rule. The five Warlords, in particular…"
"Have they started to move on Count Lyon's territory?" Stella asked.
"Not yet. Right now they are still warring against each other, but I don't believe the situation will last for long."
"If they learn that I have pledged my legion of the undead to his majesty," Lindley said. "Then they will put aside their differences and attack you."
"Essentially, yes, but the situation is a bit more complex than that." Silvia absently rubbed at her pretty face with a finger. "I suspect a few of them will stand back and watch rather than dive right into an assault."
"When two tigers fight, the hunter will wait so as to finish the both of them off when they are wounded." I sighed. Silvia nodded.
"Exactly."
"It's a sound strategy," Stella conceded. "But it does put us at a disadvantage."
"Depending on how we tackle this, we might even be able to use this to our advantage." I was pondering, running through several scenarios in my head.
"How so?" Lindley asked.
"By welcoming the first few forces in, eliminating their leader, and then folding the bulk of his or her army into our own. That would bolster our military might."
I still remembered how I was able to easily recruit the leaderless vampire knights who were left directionless after I had eliminated the vampires at the anti-Demonic Emperor conclave. From what I had learned so far, the vampires served these nobles out of pragmatic reasons rather than any true loyalty. With their long lives at risk, they wouldn't so easily throw them away out of some intangible fidelity to their deceased lords.
The longer you lived, the more you feared death. That was true for most vampires.
"That might work," Silvia agreed. "A swift decapitation strike to deprive them of any form of leadership and to disrupt their chain of command."
"Exactly." I was glad that Silvia was on the same wavelength.
"I'll be honored to handle that role," Stella said as she gripped her sword tightly. I nodded in her direction.
"When the time comes, I'll be relying on you. But before that, you should resume your training under Lady Valerie first."
Stella nodded solemnly and stared at her hands. Unlike me, she still had trouble casting blood spells. She could muster the most rudimentary forms of blood magic, such as physical reinforcement and augmenting her speed and strength, but she had yet to learn how to cast the more complex blood spells such as conjuring blood stakes from nowhere.
In contrast, I had already learned how to cast blood barriers and stuff. Then again, I had spent several months learning and practicing blood magic in the dungeon whereas Stella had a single week at most for a crash course. Not to mention, I excelled in magic whereas Stella's forte lay in her swordsmanship. So I had no complaints regarding her lack of proficiency in magic.
We all had certain skills we excelled in and other skills we weren't compatible with.
"So what is the plan now?" Lindley asked, cocking his head to the side. His expression was still as blank as ever. "If I'm not mistaken, it sounds like you intend to return to Tyranvania and wait for the enemy to come? Then defend your territory against his forces before assassinating him so that you can capture his army for your own?"
"It depends, but yeah, that's the gist of it. For now, though…" I turned to look at him. "I want you to return to Ixia and bring your legion to Count Lyon's province."
Then I turned to Silvia.
"Silvia, I request that you accompany me to Tyranvania as well, along with a sizeable force from your legion. Leave enough here so that they can continue mounting a defense at the borders, but as you know, the vampires are no pushovers. Whatever you can spare, please…"
"I'll send half of my legion," Silvia said without any hesitation. "It'll be enough, especially with Lindley's legion of the undead to back us, as well as your own vampire forces."
"Thank you." I bowed my head slightly, this time conscious of the fact that the Witch of Winter was obliged to return it more deeply. "I appreciate it."
"Hmm, sounds like a…sound strategy." Lindley nodded. "I will carry out your orders immediately, my liege."
"Thanks. I'll be counting on you. Make sure you don't��uh, die."
Stella gave the both of us a dry glare. "I can't believe the both of you are making jokes under such a situation."
"It's precisely because it's quite the grave situation," I explained.
"I think gallows humor is appropriate here," Lindley said at the same time.
"Ugh…" Stella rolled her eyes and sighed. She turned on her heel sharply, her long red hair flying behind her. "I'll go get things ready for our departure."
"Thanks. I'll leave that to you then."
"Hmm…" Silvia was musing to herself. "This is the first time since the fall of his majesty that two demonic legions are fighting side by side."
"Is it really?" Lindley asked, tilting his head and maintaining that blank stare. Silvia nodded.
"Yes, I believe so. The others have…withdrawn to their territories. Cassandra is leading raids into human territory, abducting men for her own pleasure. And that of her succubus. Sheldon Umbra seems to have disappeared completely, his shadow knights with him. And Flynn is building a new hive somewhere instead of helping out. Then you have Ragios, who refuses to recognize our lord as the new Demonic Emperor."
Silvia paused for a moment and turned to me.
"You will have to deal with him sooner or later."
"I'm so not looking forward to that," I grumbled, aware of how dangerous the dragon legion was. Just one of them was capable of laying waste to a single human regiment. An entire legion of them? The thought alone terrified me.
But one thing at a time. First, I had to bring the vampires under my control.
Then perhaps…I could confront Ragios and his dragon legion with three demonic legions of my own.