Alexander, a master of the art of soul-snatching, had honed his skills to perfection. His tactics were cunning and deceptive, executed with finesse. In the midst of a battlefield teeming with souls, he operated with the grace of a shadow, selecting just the right moments to strike. As he dueled a pegasus knight, his bellowing battle cries concealed his true intentions, a discreet siphoning of nearby souls.
By the time the battle neared its conclusion, Alexander had quietly amassed a formidable bounty of nearly forty souls. It was then that he decided to halt his charade, for the entire pegasus knight force had been utterly obliterated. Demons, showing no mercy, had left over two hundred pegasus knights and their winged companions lifeless on the battlefield.
While the pegasus knights had met their fate in combat, they had exacted a toll on Xeron's demon forces. Among the elves, pegasus knights were revered as formidable warriors, and their assault had cost Xeron's troops dearly. Over a hundred lesser demons had fallen, along with more than ten hellhounds.
The most significant losses, however, were among the siege equipment. The pegasus knights had laid waste to half of the ten catapults Xeron had brought, along with three ballistae. Xeron seethed with frustration as he surveyed the damaged machinery, acutely aware that his march had been delayed.
When the lesser demons gathered the souls that lingered on the battlefield and presented them to Xeron, he had an inkling that some were missing. He brushed it aside, overconfident in his status as a high-ranking demon. It seemed inconceivable that anyone would dare to steal and consume souls meant for him.
Little did Xeron know that not only had someone dared, but they had snatched around forty souls right from under his nose. In a battle that had seen over two hundred pegasus knights and pegasi fall, Xeron was left with just a bit more than 160 souls. Sixteen of them were grudgingly handed over to Alexander, who had managed to gather more than fifty souls in a single battle. This was just the beginning; Alexander believed he could amass even more in larger-scale conflicts.
Alexander accepted the souls with feigned greed, ostentatiously devouring them while discreetly utilizing his system's storage function to retain them. He then turned to Xeron, offering thanks laced with flattery, "Thank you for your generosity, Your Excellency Xeron! Your valor and courage are a shining example for us demons." Such words, rarely heard from low-ranking demons, brought a smile to Xeron's face and lightened his mood.
With newfound favor, Xeron assigned Alexander a mission, tasking him with a critical objective. "Now, I have a mission for you. You witnessed how those wretched AvLee elven scouts damaged our catapults. We need to repair them. I will temporarily halt our advance here. Assemble a group and search for an elven sawmill. Retrieve wood to repair these catapults."
Alexander acknowledged the order with a respectful bow, his words filled with unwavering loyalty, "Understood, Your Excellency Xeron!" He then retreated a short distance, walking backward, before turning around and departing to gather the troops. The stage was set for his next endeavor, and he would execute it with the same cunning and skill that had served him so well on the battlefield.
Xeron's impatience with trivial matters, such as repairing siege equipment, had become evident. In the past, he would personally handle these tasks, but now, with his smart demon helper, Alexander, by his side, Xeron had grown quite lazy.
One day, Alexander, accompanied by a formidable entourage consisting of a Leo, ten hellhounds, and twenty little demons, departed from the camp in search of a sawmill. This expedition offered a perfect opportunity for Alexander to escape, given Xeron's newfound carelessness. However, he had no intentions of doing so.
With the demons breaching the borders of Erathia, a state of war had begun, drawing humans and their elven allies into the conflict. Escaping into their territory was not a viable option, as a lone demon would face dire consequences in the midst of so many enemies.
Furthermore, Alexander had a more pressing task at hand: accumulating a significant amount of magic energy to reverse-activate the summoning formation. To achieve this, he needed to remain within the demon army and gather the souls necessary to bolster his magical prowess.
Though escape wasn't on his agenda, leading a group of demons outside presented Alexander with an enticing opportunity—a chance to play a clever trick.
As he set out with his demon entourage, a sly grin danced on Alexander's lips. He was about to embark on a mission that would not only serve the demon army but also involve a bit of devilish mischief, adding an element of fun and excitement to his strategic goals.
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