Chapter 163: The Advantage Lies with the Humans; Let's Do This
Exuding a domineering aura, Ariel swept her gaze over everyone.
Shirazawa and his companions naturally remained silent and tight-lipped, while only the original Demon Army Commanders manifested expressions of resistance.
Agner, the Commander of the First Army—the one-eyed veteran who had spent years fighting the human race on the demon borders—initially still harbored a sense of gratitude toward the elf race. However, the sheer pressure emanating from Ariel forced him to accept his fate; the veteran commander was well aware of the Demon Lord's true strength.
Among the Commanders of the Second, Third, Fifth, and Sixth Armies who had never made an appearance before this, only Darad of the Fifth Army was a die-hard loyalist of the Demon Lord. He looked very much like a samurai, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a burly physique. The samurai's family had faithfully served successive generations of Demon Lords since the dawn of the demon era; it did not matter who the Demon Lord was, for swearing fealty to the Demon Lord was their ultimate mandate.
As for the remaining three.
The Commander of the Second Army, the well-endowed succubus mature beauty Sanatoria, and the Commander of the Sixth Army, the blue-haired, lethargic young boy Huey. The two of them had previously participated in the rebellion of the former Seventh Army, covertly supplying provisions to them. It was only because Ariel had chosen not to investigate deeply, leaving the two of them alone after executing the Seventh Army Commander.
At this moment, both could clearly sense the faint, lingering bloodlust permeating the room. Their families had inherently occupied a weak position within the demon race, belonging to the opportunistic faction that luckily survived to the very end after countless commanders perished in the great human-demon war. Consequently, they shirked tasks whenever they could shirk them, and slacked off whenever they could slack off. A single misstep back then had caused them to act with even greater caution now. Under such circumstances, they naturally would not jump out to voice any opposition.
The last one remaining was Kogou of the Third Army, a bald, scarred giant of a man. Kogou swept his gaze across the people around him, his mind slightly bewildered.
*Strange, why is today's meeting so quiet? Bloe should at least jump out and say a couple of words.*
His line of sight ultimately rested on the blonde, punk-ish young man Bloe, who had taken over as the Commander of the Seventh Army.
As if sensing something, the young punk's eyes locked with Kogou's.
"What are you looking at!"
The young punk mouthed back to Kogou, giving him a fierce glare.
Kogou began twitching his brows and winking, meaning to say, *Didn't you used to jump around the most enthusiastically? Constantly blabbering about how the Demon Lord was just a wild country girl who had no right to inherit the throne and so on and so forth. Why is there absolutely no reaction from you today?*
Miraculously, Bloe actually grasped the other party's meaning, rolling his eyes in an annoyed manner.
"None of your damn business, tsk!"
The young punk might have harbored a defiant mindset in the past, right up until the day he returned to his estate, intending to continue pursuing the white moonlight of his heart. Ultimately, he was caught red-handed by a group of subordinates from the Tenth Army, experiencing firsthand what was meant by a living hell.
However, Bloe possessed a relatively resilient psyche. After being thoroughly broken down, he had actually beamed a jovial smile toward Shirazawa, stating, "Big brother, ridding the people of an evil is a textbook example for our generation. A true pioneer, this little brother is filled with admiration."
He simply could not comprehend how his white moonlight actually commanded a pack of monsters comparable to humanoid dinosaurs. Tell me, what kind of big shot could possibly suppress such a ferocious band of subordinates? That had to be a legendary tycoon of a generation. He never expected this woman to hide herself so deeply; he had nearly kicked the bucket.
From then on, the image of his white moonlight vanished, transforming instead into a female demon who trifled with human hearts, possessed an unfathomably deep mind, and devoured people down to the bone. And Shirazawa, who could become her partner, was revered by Bloe as an absolute alpha male.
Well, truth be told, after witnessing the terror of the Tenth Army, the young punk had simply turned obedient all of a sudden.
The atmosphere at the scene fell into a bizarre, dead silence. The more it remained like this, the more the individuals seated felt as though they were sitting on a bed of needles.
In the end, Balto, the Grand Duke who had labored for the demon race for the better part of his life, let out a long sigh, opening his mouth to break the ice.
"Lord Ariel, let us speak about the strategic deployment for this campaign instead."
"Mm, Balto, what are your thoughts on this war?"
Seeing that everyone was behaving tactfully, Ariel reined in her defiant posture slightly, steering the topic toward the war.
"In my view, only by crushing the elf race as quickly as possible can we guarantee the minimum casualties on our side," Balto said, pausing briefly before continuing. "After all, the human race is still watching hungrily from the sidelines."
Upon hearing these words, Ariel's beautiful eyes creased slightly.
The minimum casualties? How could that be allowed! If too few people died, wouldn't the energy required to rescue Lord Sariel fall short, rendering all their previous efforts entirely futile? No, a substantial number had to die, just to be completely safe. It would be best to directly involve the human race as well, turning it into a massive free-for-all... Mm, that was an excellent idea.
"Cough cough. Alright, I have already reached a decision regarding this matter. All of you go re-equip your armies and simply await my orders three days from now."
An originally crucial assembly was brought to a hasty conclusion by Ariel, leaving her subordinates even more incapable of deciphering the thoughts of this Lord Demon Lord. For a time, everyone exchanged glances, finding themselves somewhat at a loss. But under the absolute tyranny of the Demon Lord, it wasn't their place to say anything either; they just needed to perform their own duties well.
Once the extraneous personnel departed, only a few high-ranking individuals who knew the truth of the matter—such as Gulie and Shirazawa—remained inside the hall. Even Mera, the current Commander of the Fourth Army, had exited the chambers.
"Shiro, how is the analysis on the System's end progressing?" Ariel cared most about Sariel, who was sealed inside the System. With the operation right around the corner, she couldn't help but confirm once more.
"Mm, we are still missing two keys, which will definitely trigger the System's self-defense mechanism. But there's no need to worry; with our current strength, it won't be a problem." Shiraori gave her an assuring look.
"Then I can rest easy." Thinking that she would soon be able to personally slay her archenemy and rescue Sariel, her mood turned exceptionally beautiful.
The few of them refined the subsequent plans within the hall until late into the night.
The following day, Dustin, the Pontiff of the Word of God Religion, issued a divine oracle, mobilizing the grand human armies to begin marching their troops toward the demon territories.
The sudden outbreak of the great human-demon war caught both races somewhat unprepared. Regarding this, Dustin offered no excessive explanations, directly pushing the divine oracle forward to serve as a shield. The oracle proclaimed that after this war, peace would reign across the land, and both the demon race and the human race would recuperate for all eternity.
Dustin's actions instantly aroused suspicion in many people. However, the royal families of the Empire and the Kingdoms personally came forward, telling the masses that the divine oracle was absolutely accurate. Since several human leaders had spoken thus, what could the grass-roots populace possibly say? Although this matter defied all convention, and the expressions of the royal family members who came forward were all somewhat bizarre.
Consequently, the sounds of war horns echoed across various human territories, followed by one unit after another marching toward the demon lands.
On the demon side, it was as if they possessed precognition; Ariel had completed her deployments ahead of schedule. Aside from the Ninth and Tenth Armies invading the Elf Village, the remaining Demon Lord forces went all out to resist the human race.
The demon race was actually going to trigger a war among three factions. This left the human side feeling even more secure. If two sides fighting one still couldn't win, then humanity would truly be a total failure.
The advantage lies with the human race. Let's do this, brothers!
Yet in reality, welcoming the grand human armies—aside from the Demon Army—were sixteen Myth-tier monsters: the Queen Taratects. Along with an endless, massive army of white spiders that had been starving for many days.
This wave belonged to an absolute carnival for the gluttons.
The highest combat power dispatched by the human race consisted of the Head Palace Mage, Old Man Ronandt, and the young Hero Julius. The two of them looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar monster army, nearly ready to just throw in the towel on the spot.
"Is this the absolute 'advantage' you bastards were talking about?!" Old Man Ronandt pointed at the monster army outside the city walls, exasperated as he violently slammed his staff onto the ground, looking exactly like a child throwing a tantrum.
"Thank goodness this old man observed the celestial bodies last night and wore white underwear today; otherwise, this old codger wouldn't even know how to surrender gracefully..."
---
[100 Ps = 1 Bonus Chapter.]
[25 total review = 1 Bonus Chapter.]
[] Patreon:
➔ Unlock advanced chapters & exclusive supporter roles in discord!
➔ For 50 adv chapters. [email protected]/Prince_of_LanLi