The Battle of Lyon, as it was known (because it took place in the Lyon province), became the turning point in vampire – and Demonic Empire – history.
"This is Count Claude. He serves as my chancellor. And this is his wife, Valerie."
Claude and Valerie bowed when I introduced them to the three warlords. Stryker, Mallory and Eleanor returned the greeting, aware that Claude had won my trust over theirs. After all, while they had attacked me, Claude and his wife had been the first to stand by me. It was little wonder why he was appointed chancellor.
For Claude's part, he was shrewd enough to pick the right side from the start and now he was reaping the benefits. There was some envy, but no regret. The three of them hadn't become the strongest vampire warlords by second-guessing themselves and regretting every mistaken decision they made. They had ambitions and did their best to achieve those dreams of conquest. Even though Mallory and Eleanor had chosen to temporarily give up on them because they knew how difficult it was for them to win, they probably still harbored grand ambitions. Unlike Stryker or Larson, they hadn't been defeated in combat and retained their full military strength. I was lucky they chose to submit to me rather than take advantage of the situation to fight us.
Then again, I had Stryker's Golden Legion, over half of the late Gregory's elite Dark Night regiment that was now led by his second-in-command, Larson, and two Demonic Legions under me. Not to mention, Baron Valencia and his top swordsmen and Claude's coalition. As fresh as they would, even Mallory and Eleanor would find it difficult to win. And there was a high chance that they would be almost annihilated, just like Virginia's Crimson Tide.
Even so, I wasn't naïve enough to believe that they offered their fealty out of any good faith. No doubt they were just going with the flow for now, but with concealed blades in the shadows.
I had best keep an eye on them, like I was doing with Lindley.
"And you already know Silvia Winters and Lindley. They are the Divine Generals who chose to serve alongside me."
They nodded at each other silently. I noted that they displayed no signs of hostility toward each other. Good. We could most likely work together without any problems. There was still some signs of distrust and caution, but that was inevitable given the circumstances.
"We will consolidate the survivors of the Dark Night regiment under Larson's command. Since they are most familiar with him, I will not disrupt their chain of command or break them up. That would decrease their combat efficiency."
I nodded to Larson, who was standing a few meters away and backed up in a corner. He looked as if he felt out of place since he wasn't technically a warlord. I wondered if he held some resentment over the death of his lord, Gregory. Even though the duke had ordered that his elite regiment submit to my command if he fell in battle, the fact remained that he was killed by the Blood Demon Swordsman, Valencia, under my command. It wouldn't be strange if he held a grudge.
For now, he didn't seem too hostile or resentful, just nervous and uncertain. Most likely it was because he didn't know what the future held for him. At my words, he bowed his head gratefully and did a salute.
"The Dark Night regiment will serve you loyally, my liege. I will guarantee it."
"Even though your lord was slain by Baron Valencia?" Eleanor asked cynically. To his credit, Larson didn't stiffen. Instead, he nodded.
"Because Duke Gregory has fallen in combat. His last orders was to serve the victor and pledge loyalty to the new Demonic Emperor. This is his will."
"That is surprising," Mallory mused. "I didn't think Gregory would be so magnanimous."
"Father-in-law says he is a man of honor," Claude said. "He will vouch for the duke."
Inwardly, I didn't know how honorable a person who decided to sneak through a hidden subterranean tunnel and infiltrate our castle from the inside could be, but at the very least he seemed like someone who would uphold his oaths. Honor in keeping one's word was not mutually exclusive with carrying out pragmatic and effective strategies.
Besides, if the experienced Valencia said so, then I had no reason to doubt him. He was one of the few people I could trust, even more so than Claude himself.
"On that topic, I will promise that you will retain your autonomy. I will not break up your respective regiments or attempt to take away your power. You will work the same way as you did before, commanding your forces and maintaining your own territories. All I ask is that you support me militarily and politically."
"My legion is at your disposal," Stryker replied. "You have bested me in combat, and so it is the least you deserve. My soldiers and I will be at your command."
Mallory and Eleanor, on the other hand, weren't as obliging. They nodded, appreciating my offer.
"We thank you, my liege."
"This works best for us. It will cause a lot less disruption and allow for us to operate more smoothly." Eleanor smiled. "Seems like you have thought this through, my lord."
"Not at all." I shook my head. "As you said, this is the best and most efficient way going forward."
As a student of history (mages had to learn history because our aim was to progress magic by building upon the foundation developed by our predecessors – like Miranda, though she was an extreme example), I had learned of an archipelago empire in the far east. A few centuries ago, there was an empire-spanning war between feudal warlords, each of them carving out their own domains with their own private armies and waging war against each other.
Eventually, a single warlord was able to unite the whole of the empire after a certain battle where he led a coalition of eastern armies against those under the banner of the west. After just barely winning, he assumed the title of Supreme General and ruled on behalf of the emperor – who merely served as a figurehead at this point – but he couldn't break apart the armies of both his allies and defeated enemies. He didn't possess the strength to do so and he was aware that if he tried, he would face another civil war on his hands.
So he compromised by allowing them some form of autonomy. He did try to curb their power by imposing alternate attendance and reshuffling the domains and territories, placing his enemies in the outskirts of the empire, but he was too canny to try and destroy them…simply because he couldn't.
I was in a similar situation. I did not possess the military strength to crush my enemies and I was aware of how fragile this alliance was. Taking one wrong step and offending them would backfire. I couldn't afford to be fighting yet another civil war in Tyranvania, not when I still hadn't consolidated my armies and everything.
Even if I had three demonic legions now under my command, there were about nine other legions I had yet to subjugate. And furthermore, the most powerful legion I had at my disposal was fractured by these powerful warlords. Even if I could trust Stryker, I couldn't say the same for Mallory and Eleanor. And I was aware that I couldn't just eliminate them or take their armies away from them. That would be political suicide.
And politics were just as important as military strength. Perhaps there were idiots who thought I could solve everything though brute force, but unfortunately, reality was not so simple. Obviously I didn't possess godlike power that allowed me to trample upon entire armies. If I tried to claim Mallory and Eleanor's armies for myself, I would find my allies dragged into a brutal civil war that would result in massive casualties on both sides. Even if we prevailed, we wouldn't be in good shape if the other nine legions decided to attack us.
Which they would, if they were competent and ambitious.
No. whether I could trust them or not, the fact remained that I needed them more than they needed me. And they knew it.
That said, they were aware of the benefits of allying with me. And just like any adults, they were aware that they wouldn't always get what they wanted. As I grew older, I realized that life was full of compromise and adjusting expectations. I never wanted this responsibility of inheriting the throne from the previous Demonic Emperor, but now that I was saddled with it, I was determined to do my best.
"We should take a month or so to consolidate our forces, recover from our injuries, and then we'll proceed with the next step." Silvia took the initiative to speak up.
"The next step?" Larson asked.
The Witch of Winter nodded. "To unifying the Demonic Empire. Currently, we only have a quarter of the demonic legions under us. The rest have yet to agree to our liege's rule."
"And understandably so." I glanced at the three warlords. "As you know, I am still young and inexperienced. They will find it difficult to recognize my authority."
"You have proven yourself to me," Stryker said. "You bested me in combat. Regardless of your youth or inexperience, you have demonstrated your superiority to me. I have no complains serving under you."
"Thank you." I nodded gratefully. "I'll be relying on you in the days to come."
"Hmm, so this is the famous 'men talk by their fists' scenario?" Eleanor asked, amused. "I did hear about how men can only make friends and communicate by beating each other up, but I didn't think it was actually real."
"I, for one, am actually glad that we didn't have to fight," Mallory admitted. "I will confess that I had my doubts before the battle, but to bear witness to you defeating three warlords and their armies simultaneously…that is remarkable, by any standard."
He shuddered.
"If you're already capable of such impressive feats at your age and current experience, I wonder just how far you'll go in the years to come."
"You overestimate me." I held up a hand. "First of all, I couldn't have done this without everybody. Count Claude and his wife, Baron Valencia, General Silvia Winters and Lord Lindley, as well as all the brave and valiant soldiers who fought alongside me today – and that includes the undead too, who gave their, uh, un-lives – deserve just as much credit, if not more so than I do."
I glanced at Stella, who was also standing by a corner, on the opposite end of Larson. Like him, she felt out of place and was trying to keep a low profile, but she still felt obliged to stay close to me as my aide.
"Stella Nightsworth too. I heard you worked well with Silvia to defeat the Blood Queen."
At my praise, she inclined her head toward me, her long, red hair falling over her black and crimson armor, but she remained silent.
"The two-headed zombie that you and I worked on also did a great job, but it…suffered quite a lot of damage." Lindley grimaced. "Honestly, I don't think it's worth the resources to patch it up. It's far more efficient and cheaper to summon new undead."
"Oh. Yeah, well, just leave them in their coffin."
Like hell I was going to allow Miranda and Mikhail to die so easily. Well, technically they were already dead, but I wanted to prolong their suffering for a bit more. They could continue to think on the repercussions of their horrific research and reflect on the suffering they caused to the poor villagers they used as their laboratory specimens. I wasn't going to let them off lightly after all the atrocities they committed in the name of research.
They could carry out their hypotheses and theories with each other within the dark confines of their coffin. As a zombie, they didn't have much regenerative ability, so it was unlikely they would heal from their wounds. That was why Lindley said it was inefficient and expensive to patch them up.
"You are really humble, aren't you?" Eleanor leaned back in her seat, folding her arms. She nodded at Silvia. "But building upon Lady Silvia's point, what exactly is the next step? Which legion or province do you intend to reclaim next?"
"Oh. I've actually already decided on that." I smiled and glanced out of the window. "In a few days, the Dragon Legion will be arriving. I intend to welcome them with the appropriate amount of hospitality."