Free Web NovelChapter 419: Chapter 38: Talk of a Political Marriage (Part 2)
"This is the gateway to Serralis, a border fortress of the Land of Rhythm..."
Most of the spoils from the campaign against the Master of Blazing Flames should have come from this very fortress, yet now the fruits of victory have been despicably stolen!
"Duke Qinghui! Our next target must be this audacious Demon! Let’s raze her realm and take her head!"
The Elf Military Officers, filled with righteous indignation, all made this proposal to Westheid.
But Westheid merely glanced at the flag and said slowly,
"The Master of Greedy Banquet..."
"You aren’t very familiar with the relationships between Demons, and you’ve studied little of the Celestial God’s Shadows. This Master of Greedy Banquet is a genuine, pure-blooded Enchanter. To be more direct, she is a relative of Emperor Qianlu!"
!!!
"Duke Qinghui, what did you say?"
’The Divine Ancestor’s bloodline... A Succubus...?’
Most in the Royal Court were indeed unaware of Anise’s identity. The Realm of Order had always considered research into Demons a deep taboo, to say nothing of the shadow of their own Divine Ancestor. After the outbreak of the Demon’s Frenzy Banquet, they were lucky just to get a grasp of the various Demons’ titles and general locations.
Thus, Westheid’s words carried authority. He nodded and said,
"When it comes to mastering and corrupting the Thousand Laws Ceremony, this Demon is a level above the other Celestial God’s Shadows. Even I am not confident I could defeat her. It’s truly possible she could use the Thousand Laws Ceremony to her advantage. Tsk... This is problematic."
Yolanda interjected at the opportune moment, "The Master of Greedy Banquet controls the province of Serralis. I’ve heard she has never taken the initiative to attack the Royal Court. We can lower her priority and focus on clearing out the lesser Demon Realms in the surrounding areas first."
Doused by the cold water of the siblings’ back-and-forth, Amithren and the other Elves began to think calmly. No matter how reluctant they were, they had to admit that starting a war with Anise’s Demon Realm now would be unwise.
"I suppose that’s our only option..."
Westheid made the final decision:
"Then it’s settled. We will spare the Master of Greedy Banquet for now and attack the other Demon Realms to reclaim the nodes."
The subsequent campaigns followed this pattern. They would call in Tuners to correct and stabilize the nodes while continuously launching expeditions against the Demon Realms.
For every sortie, Westheid picked a weak and isolated Celestial God’s Shadow. And whenever he attacked, Anise would advance at the same time, ruthlessly pincer-attacking their opponent. With two Great Demons like Anise and Wan Qi assisting him, Westheid was incredibly fortunate.
He grew increasingly adept at fighting Demons. Although he still couldn’t touch a Great Demon on the level of the Master of Greedy Banquet, he was now able to slay the fringe characters among the Thousand Laws Royal Court’s many Demons after a grueling battle.
However, after each Demon was slain, the territory the Royal Court could recover was limited. Anise’s Demon Realm would annex a large number of the Cities in the Lake, no matter how hard they raced against time. The timing of Anise’s legions was terrifyingly precise, as if someone were telling her exactly when each Demon would fall. This infuriated the Royal Court Elves, making them jump up and down in rage.
No one suspected that Westheid was coordinating with the Demons. They only thought that Anise was despicable, obsessively monitoring the Royal Court Legion’s movements just to reap the fisherman’s profit. How utterly detestable!
This was the deal Westheid had struck with Anise. They would join forces to eliminate the Demon Realms around Serralis, and the ownership of the Cities in the Lake would be split fifty-fifty.
It wasn’t that Westheid cared about the territory. Compared to the Cities in the Lake, he was far more interested in the Divinity gained from slaying Demons. After Wan Qi refined this precious Divinity into its purest form, it could be given to Westheid for research and use.
The secret to ascending to the Demigod Realm could not be taught or imparted in any way. Even Wan Qi was willing but unable to help. The Master of Extinction explained that she had simply reached that state naturally by swinging her sword and killing her enemies.
Greatness needs no explanation.
But Westheid did not possess such unparalleled talent. He could only rely on lavishly throwing resources at the problem. After all, he didn’t currently possess a single Talent that would help him comprehend the Demigod Realm.
If he could share in the Ten Thousand Wind Melodies, that would be a shortcut. After all, copying Emperor Qianlu’s homework was Westheid’s established goal.
Originality was out of the question; his innate talent and comprehension were simply lacking. In any case, after so much freeloading and patching things together, Westheid no longer cared.
Besides seizing Divinity, the key was to squeeze the living space of the other Celestial God’s Shadows. Under the pincer attack from the Great Demon and Duke Qinghui, even Demons who despised each other would be forced to band together.
And once the Demons banded together, whether they threw in their lot with Anise or invaded the Central Royal Court, it would be a heavyweight blow that the current Thousand Laws Royal Court could not withstand.
At that point, Westheid could just throw up his hands, claim he was powerless, and tell the Thousand Laws Royal Court to find someone more capable. Wouldn’t that naturally shift all the pressure onto Eilvette?
Before Westheid’s arrival, the Thousand Laws Royal Court would never have faced a united front of Demons and could have barely maintained the status quo. But after a series of maneuvers by Duke Qinghui, even though they had reclaimed a good deal of territory, the situation had become incomparably perilous.
Just as Westheid finished sweeping through the Demon Realms around the Central Royal Court—or rather, around Serralis—through a series of fierce battles, the Celestial God’s Shadows, finally fed up with the Royal Court Legion’s repeated slaying of Demons, united for the first time. They launched a massive assault on the Royal Court’s various defensive lines.
This was something that would never have happened before. Generally, the Demons would not attack the Cities in the Lake controlled by the Central Royal Court, because the Tuner Group would resonate with the Thousand Laws Ceremony and severely punish the Demons’ followers.
Attacking the Tuners on their home turf was a purely thankless task. In any case, once the Grand Ensemble completely collapsed, these Elves would naturally kneel at their feet.
For them to invade even at a loss showed the extent of their shared hatred. Westheid didn’t just slay the Demons; he beat them to their knees every time, thoroughly humiliating them!
For the sensitive Thousand Law Demons, dignity and honor were more important than life itself.
With every battlefront sending urgent reports, Westheid had to halt his campaign against the Demons and return to defend the Cities in the Lake that the Thousand Laws Royal Court had just reclaimed.
During a routine meeting with Eilvette, Westheid stated bluntly,
"Your Excellency, the Grand Law Officer, I may not be able to continue the campaign. Just last time, I was ambushed by three Demons. The moment I step outside our nodes, I could be hit by such an attack anywhere."
"It’s the same old story: I can handle them one-on-one for now, or at least stall for time. But when faced with multiple Demons, I am simply outmatched."
Eilvette’s brow furrowed. He had originally planned a ’boil the frog in warm water’ strategy, waiting for the Demons to fight amongst themselves. But this move had turned the Central Royal Court, previously scorned by the Demons, into a common enemy.
’Blaming his ally was out of the question. Westheid had acted with the best intentions, fighting day and night on the front lines. What kind of lowlife would blame such a dedicated Warrior?’
Westheid brought up the same old issue. "Perhaps it’s time to seriously consider it, Your Excellency, the Grand Law Officer. We need more power."
This time, the Grand Law Officer was no longer ambiguous. His stern face fell into deep thought before he finally relented.
"But there is one condition. We need a deeper alliance."
Westheid’s eyes lit up. "What kind of alliance?"
’As long as I can get Mivana and Reiya in here, I’ll give him whatever he wants!’
Eilvette replied, "A political marriage."
