As all preparations came to a close. The sun slowly rose on the demon capital as the demon army-meet started.
The first phase involved where warriors would challenge each other from different mercenary camps, while the soldiers fought between the military legions.
This helped develop a hierarchy within the camps and between the 4 legions.
The second phase would involve exchanges between the mercenaries and military but that is after the first phase ends.
In the arena the infamous Bloodthirsty Blade -Fredrick Scarlet and the Killing Chaos- Roger Black stood opposite to each other, glaring, as they measured up their opponents.
They, of course, weren't going to personally fight each other, like entertainers in a ring.
Instead, they would be sending their trusted soldiers.
It would be a best of 5.
The two generals looked at each other as silent sparks flew between them.
"I must say you seem extremely confident General Black."
"Of course, The demons that I have personally trained have the purest of bloodlines and strongest of the batch. They will crush all opposition."
"Is that so, General Black? That makes me so much more excited to see my warriors bathe their blades in their blood as it spills onto the ground." General Scarlet replied with a maniacal grin on his face.
The First warrior of the black legion rose up the stage. He hefted a huge greatsword over his shoulders and looked condescendingly at his opponent.
"Gregor Trem, Darkness, 7 years of experience."
The Warrior of the Scarlet legion also stepped up the stage dragging an oversized scythe behind him.
"Call me Ferom, Magma user. prepare to have your blood evaporated right from your body!"
The two instantly launched themselves at each other as the stage became a blur of red and black.
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On the other side of the event grounds, various mercenary troops were duking it out with each other.
Mercs full of bravado kept on challenging each other as their camps tried to show dominance.
Unlike the organized duels at the Military side, it was a huge mess here. Only by the end of the event will one know which camps dominated the rest.
"The Scarlet and Black generals are currently duking it out. So it is the best time to check out the Crimson Cult and Annihilation Order to determine whether they have any ties with the generals." Marcus stated as he looked at the young member of the snake clan next to him.
Vincent turned and nodded in assent "Yep, also the mercs from those camps are a bit too war-hungry and bloodthirsty. It is time to crash their party and neat some sense into them."
"So.....are we going to blow up their camps?" Marcus asked with a hint of anticipation in his eyes. It seemed that Vincent's influence had rubbed off on him a bit.
"You bet we are!" Vincent smiled happily "But first, we should shake things up a little."
Marcus nodded, a mischievous glint flashing across his eyes.
He suddenly twisted around and punched Vincent in the gut, hollering in outrage.
"What do you mean that the mercs from Crimson Cult are actually the undercover dogs of the Scarlet General"
Vincent slowly stood up slowly wiping off a sliver of blood from the edge of his mouth.
"Bastard! You think I am joking!
Those scums are always mad fellows. They are too alike. We should crush them anyways. Otherwise they would take away our chances. They are too cruel to their fellow beastmen"
"Yeah! They have already killed over 34 people since the start of the matches. I reckon they are sabotaging us for the second phase."
Soon, a bunch of other voices joined them and they all went en masse to storm the base of the Crimson Cult. It was time to deal with each camp. One at a time.
The crowd slowly encroached on the crimson cult and started challenging them. Using the distraction, Vincent and Marcus snuck into the living quarters.
"You check the boss, I'll go plant the bombs." Vincent whispered at Marcus and slithered into the darkness.
-------------------
Meanwhile in an abandoned mine outside the city, Kate and Freya were investigating the suspected hideout of The Winged Order.
"Uggh!" Kate commented scrunching up her nose. "What do you even expect to find in this stinking dump. Those freaks just have left long ago."
Freya replied chastising "Clues of course! They should have left behind some traces right?"
Kate bent down and picked up some fallen black feathers- "Look, I think they had a hobby of keeping crows or something. I should also try something like that. Showup in majesty with a bird perched on my shoulder. Crows are too ugly, a hawk or eagle maybe, no falcon sounds better......."
"Its most likely messenger birds. Thankfully they are just bird feathers."
"What did you think you would find, Dog fur?"
"..." Kate
"Well, I totally understand if that was what you thought. I am quite an understanding individual. It could also be snake sheddings. Dang! There was this one time I saw Vincent shed off an entire layer of skin. Well, I didn't SEE him do that, but I saw the end product and shit was it-"
Freya glared irritatedly "It could have been the feathers of some fallen- never mind...."
"You Anarchists all come from the same mold- loud and annoying!"
Freya continued to mutter under her breath
"At least Martin is better...."
"Oooh, do you like him?" Kate asked conspiratorially.
"No!"
"Now, now don't be so quick to deny-" Kate looked up to check her expression then changed what she was going to say
"I understand, Sorry!"
"Good girl" Freya nodded happily. It seems that the girl wasn't that annoying after all.
"It must be hard for you."
"Wait...What exactly did you understand?" Freya suddenly started to feel a chill for some reason.
"It must be Marcus in that case."
"He's my cousin."
"..." Kate
"Well, whaddya know, Incest is wincest?"
"..." Freya
Freya shook her head to calm down her anger.
She's just a little girl. Just a little girl. Only with a mouth big that kept on spewing shit, that just made you want to gut her. She's just a little kid.
Freya decided to use her wind magic to re-arrange the scene and reconstruct the previous events in hopes of clues.
Objects went flying left and right as if they were being thrown about in reverse and invisible ghosts were moving about the room.
"There have been three people here, two of them are members of the winged order and they seem to have left for a new location."
"A third person had come to visit them and judging by the physique and height and, body language."
"No way......"
"It is one of the male demon generals."
"No shit! How the hell did you figure that out from these vague clues?" Kate asked dumbfoundedly.
"Magic!" Freya said. It was only one word but seemed to hold immeasurable depth and meaning.
"That made no bloody sense! Magic what? You can't just say magic and expect me to roll over and accept that!"
"It's magic." Freya nodded solemnly and expressionlessly again.
"..." Kate
"Hey, you are n-"
" -It's the will of the world" God, was it fun to give the brat a taste of his own medicine.
"At least stick to the same excuse you-"
"Let's go back and report the information. We have more hideouts to check later to see if we can find their trail."
(AN: If any of you guys were wondering how she found out, it was part deduction because the physiology of demons(two extra horns) and their height and body language gave the clues and part cause THE PLOT demands it.)
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Meanwhile at the arena. The first match was over with greatsword wielder practically burying his opponent into the ground.
General Black smirked arrogantly at Fredrick Scarlet
"It seems that you are going to lose."
General Scarlet nodded his head seriously and looked his rival in the eye.
"Roger Black, even if you do win this match, do you think you will gain anything?"
"Of course I would! I get to crush you and your heretic ideas!"
"No, What I mean is do you think you will get away with what you are doing just because of your services to the nation"
"What are you talking about?" Roger Black asked back, his tone several degrees colder.
"Why? You are asking ME that Roger" Fedrick slurred along slowly, enjoying himself as he dragged on the sentence. "You should know yourself how you are plotting the downfall of this nation." Fredrick laughed haughtily as he pointed an accusatory finger at the other general.