In the morning, while Craydon was taking care of preparations for lunch that day with his two helpers and the two Sub-Demons, Meryda was on her farm together with her friends, with some Bone Boars planting new seeds and others irrigating the plants by spitting water over them.
The two Gigantic Spiders were walking all over the place, carefully taking out any weed they could find.
As for the Guild Master, he was having a meeting in the main room of the Guild of Adventurers and Explorers with his two friends, the blacksmith and the carpenter, regarding Craydon's crossbow.
They were both examining the crossbow and trying to figure out how many parts they could do in a day and how much they would charge so that the Guild Master could set the final price to sell the new weapon at the Guild.
Meanwhile, in the Kamawaran Kingdom, King Valdur Aavik was in his war room, leaning over the world map over the long table with a few of his generals around, waiting for his questions.
The meeting that morning was about the state of the fights in the mountain range, and there was no good news because the platoons of soldiers and Mages couldn't go any further since a few months ago, when a big horde of massive Monsters appeared at the middle height of the nearest mountains, and they stood there, stopping the soldiers and Mages from going any further.
King Valdur Aavik rubbed his face with both hands, exasperated, and asked, "Are you telling me that nothing happened for all these months? Not a single metre gained? Not a single Magic Crystal collected from those dreadful mountains?"
One of his generals answered after a glance at the others to check if someone wanted to make up an excuse. Since no one seemed willing to take the blame or the King's anger, he said, "That is unfortunately correct, my King. Every time that even one soldier approached a mountain, a few Monsters would jump down and stand in front of him, as if they were warning him to back off. A few days ago, ten Mages tried to go ahead with a platoon of soldiers, but they were all killed and then eaten. Forty-five souls joined the Goddess' embrace sooner than they were supposed to."
The King clenched his fists over the map and asked with an angry voice, "And now what? How are our Magical Crystal resources?"
One of his advisors approached the table and nervously said, "We… We are running low, my King. We stopped selling the crystals we have so that we could use them in case of an emergency. If we don't get a new vein of Magical Crystals that we can mine in the next few months, we will be in trouble. As you are well aware, because of the speed with which we are losing Mages on the front lines, we need new blood to fill our ranks. And for that, we require crystals. From most of the Mages who died, the Monsters took the staffs with the crystals. We still have no idea why they always do that, though. It is a behaviour that has been happening for centuries, and no one has yet found out why they do that."
"We must send a message to the Demis countries. We need more Mages or Magic Crystals to give to our alliance's younger Mages," the King said while looking around at his generals and advisors, but since no one said anything, he asked, "Do I have to repeat myself? Why is no one moving and taking care of my orders?"
One general gulped and answered, "My King… We already did that last week, like the other countries in the alliance. The Demis' countries sent what they could spare because if they sent all the Mages they had, they would be defenceless against a horde of Monsters. We got the strongest Mages, though, and as my King for sure knows, even just one strong Mage is more powerful than ten weak Mages. I believe we should consider drafting more soldiers and weaker Mages into our ranks on the front lines. By force, if necessary."
The King nodded and exchanged an accomplice look with his general while saying, "Perhaps starting with Mages and common people from the Demis countries, no? I see no point in losing our people when we are fighting for all the Demis in the world."
"It will be done, my king," answered the general with a grin.
The noise of fingernails scratching rock caught the general's attention, and he frowned at the sight of two Sub-Demons who were slowly cleaning the intersections of the stones infused in the wall next to them as part of their daily cleaning routine at the castle.
The King left for another meeting in his throne room, leaving behind his generals and advisors to discuss the follow-up of his plan, paying no attention whatsoever to the two Sub-Demons and the two servants who were supervising their cleaning work.
While the generals were discussing their King's last orders, a cheerful being approached the table and said, "My, my, how the pretty Oomans are occupied this morning! You still didn't give up, it seems, even after so many losses! What will it take for you guys to stop trying to mine the mountains of the Demons? Do you all have to die for that useless war to stop?"
One general grabbed the hilt of his sword and said, "Fae… you are not allowed here. How did you manage to enter?"
Noticing the green being shrugging, he slowly took his sword out, but stopped midway when he heard, "Are you really going to try to fight us? Kind of pointless, you know? As for your question, Fae can appear and be in whatever place we desire, but we suppose no one ever told you that."
The green Fae stared at the map and the figurines over it, representing the alliance troops near the mountain range, and sighed, "You should also reconsider drafting by force more Demis to become soldiers or Mages of the alliance. This never-ending war is all yours; there is no point in involving Demis."
The same general sheathed his sword and asked, almost spitting in anger, "What do you know? If it weren't for the Oomans, the Demons would have conquered all the land and killed every living being in the world! Demis joining our ranks is their duty, and it is also a great honour!"
"That is Oomans' propaganda, and you should know by now that we Fae are not even the slightest impressed by your supposed noble excuses. Demons never tried to conquer anything. They live exclusively in their country, never messing with other countries or beings. For millennia, it has been this way, but Oomans tend to erase that simple fact from world history. Unfortunately for you guys, we Fae know better, and we never forget. It is up to you, really, but if you insist on trying to invade the Demon country, you will become extinct sooner or later. Well, we suppose another sentient species will appear after you are long gone. One that probably will not be so eager to kill themselves."
With those enigmatic last words, the green Fae dissolved on the floor, leaving a bunch of generals and advisors fuming in anger.
While that was happening, in the Demon country, another meeting was ongoing.
In the highest room of the dark castle that was planted in the major city near the sea, seated around a rocky table were four High Demon generals, who were looking at the map laid on the extremely large table.
They were all part of the Dark Eight, a coven of High Demon generals in charge of ruling the Demon country, and they also plotted and strategized the movements of the Demon's armies. The other four were not there, because some were on the front lines overseeing the status of their defenders, and others were travelling along the Demon country, gathering intel about their country's status.
It had been a millennial tradition to have the eight generals divide their efforts between the weekly meeting, visiting troops, and watching in person how their country was. It was a task unheard of and never done by the rulers of any Ooman or Demi country, but that was how the Demon country was ruled.
From his place at the table, Demon Azazel, a High Demon male in charge of ruling the Demon country along with Demon members of the Dark Eight, gritted his teeth.
He was mostly pacifistic, preferring to talk his way out of troubles rather than resorting to violence, but extremely mentally and physically powerful and capable of overpowering other Demons.
With his total of three pairs of tattered, flaming black-feathered wings growing from his back, despite looking like a Demi-Centaur but with three times more their height and size, he was truly a living nightmare.
While scratching his left cheek with one sharp claw, he asked, "How are things going with our most recent visitors, Lamashtu?"
From his right, Demon Lamashtu, a High Demon female, made a deep frown.
She was a hybrid creature containing both human and animal features and had a body covered in black, coarse hair and the head of a lioness with round, short ears. Her feet were like a bird's with sharp and long crooked nails, and she looked as if she were heavily pregnant, despite having only a weirdly fat belly, and two skulls covered her breasts. Her two famous swords, which she held in each hand, were named Redlust and Chillheart. She always thought all Oomans and Demis were a nuisance that should be killed on sight, and still, there she was, in charge of dealing with Oomans and Demis almost daily.
Noticing the seriousness in Azazel's eyes, she answered, her eyes glimmering with despise, "You mean the Oomans and Demis we captured last month, for they are no visitors! The other members of this coven were going to check on them today, but from the latest reports, all the Demis and Oomans are attending our Inserting Classes to learn how to live in our society. Like all the previous Oomans and Demis that were captured during this never-ending war. There have been no major problems with them so far, like there were none with the previous ones. Except for a few skirmishes because they seem to think we owe them something. As if allowing them to live in our country was not rewarding enough, considering they were the ones to attack our troops!"
On the other side of the table, another male Demon smirked. He was Demon Pazuzu, a High Demon male, a mixture of human and animal parts with the head of a lion and the body of a man. He also had an eagle's talons, a pair of wings, and a scorpion's tail. Despite being destructive and dangerous, he was also a repellant to other Demons, often going against their killing intentions towards Oomans and Demis.
Demon Lamashtu noticed Pazuzu smirking, and she gulped when he said, "You seem to be annoyed with your job in the coven. Perhaps I should remove your head and feed it to one of Mambabarang's swarms." He then leaned forward and punched the table so hard that it made a dent in it, and his voice resonated in the walls of that large room, making Lamashtu roll her body in fear over her chair. "You should know your place, Lamashtu! Your only job is to oversee the Oomans and the Demis we capture, along with all the others spread all over this world! If you can't do that without complaining, perhaps we should choose another High Demon to take your place, and we should just get rid of you!"
On his left, a female Demon tapped Pazuzu's shoulder and spoke in a calm voice, "There is no need for you to be so angry. I believe Lamashtu is only tired, and you must remember that she has never failed at her job since she joined this coven."