<h4>Volume 4 Chapter 156: Clouds of War Cover the Gabriel Empire’s Souther Border</h4>


    Trantor: The Light


    Edits by Kenny


    The South Region of Human Race’s Coristel Continent – the “Swordsman Nation” – Gabriel Empire’s southern border, the Sarnia Duchy.


    The Sarnia Duchy was connected to the Beastmen territories via the Priestly Continent, which served as an ovend passage for the Beastmen to invade and harass the Gabriel Empire’s southern region. The southern border, besides the Sarnia Duchy, which possessed thergest territory, there was also the Grande Duchy under Duke Brandon’s rule.


    In the middle of Darkness Sacred Region’s central square of the “real” capital of Sarnia, arge crowd of demon lords was weing the return of the ruler of Sarnia Duchy, Duchess Bellina. The demon lords were ordered based on their strength; the strongest demon lords stood at the forefront of the weingmittee.


    The leading position was upied by Sky Demon King Dolores, who was wearing a dark purple dress as well as Blood Demon King Eleanor, who was wearing a dark red dress. Dolores’ temperament remained unchanged; she was initially a demon princess and was used to staying in settings simr to this Darkness Sacred Region.


    In contrast, Eleanor experienced a drastic change in her demeanor. Although her personality hadn’t changed very much, staying for such a long time in the Darkness Sacred Region had matured her quite a bit; she could be considered a true Demon King now.


    Standing behind the two demon kings was Liz, who was responsible for the religious affairs of the Sacred Regin. As the Holy Maiden of the Origin Darkness Church, she pulled all of her sisters over to the Dark Holy Maiden, thus severing all contact with the Darkness Church and safely joining the Darkness Sacred Region.


    The Darkness Church had yet to respond to the defection of their holy maidens. They had neither dered Liz as a traitor nor had they admitted backing Liz’s actions.


    Standing beside Liz, was a long, dark blue-haired demon princess, Cornice. She wore a dark blue dress in a simr style to the Demon King Dolores’ dress. It onlycked the crown of a true demon king’s attire. At the moment, Cornice served as Dolores’ aid; she was pretty much a secretary.`


    There was a podium in the middle of the square. A golden-haired beauty was directing the various demons to their ces from the podium. She didn’t wear her demon king crown, likely due to her rushing for time. She was still wearing Olsylvia Academy’s uniform as she ordered around the various demons, lending a slightly humorous air to the atmosphere.


    Although Be felt that her appearance was rather “middle schooler,” but there wasn’t enough time for her to change. However, to the various demon lords, her presence was to be worshipped. To them, the aesthetics of the Demon King were unquestionable.


    Sky Demon King Dolores and Blood Demon King Eleanor’s real thoughts were exposed by their facial expressions. The two beauties were barely holding in theirughter; to them, Olsylvia Academy’s uniform was too ugly.


    Presently, the Sarnia Duchy had a total of two capitals. One was Sarni City, which was built near the border. This was the “fake” capital, responsible for receiving human messengers. The other capital was here, the “real” capital, the Darkness Sacred Region. This was the real core of the Sarnia Duchy, and humans were prohibited from entering.


    The girls that returned with Be were split into two groups. Those who did not know Be’s identity as the Demon King, such as President Ivy and President Britney, were left in Sarni City. Those who knew Be’s true identity, such as Princess Lisha, followed her to the Darkness Sacred Region.


    Atop the viewing tform, the Radiant Church’s Four Holy Maidens and the Radiant Pope’s sessor, President Maria, were present. They each wore aplicated expression; this was the first time in history that representatives and clergymen from the Radiant Church would attend a Demon King’s meeting. Maria was even the Pope’s sessor; this juxtaposition gave people a slightly extraordinary feeling.


    Holy Maiden Hayley had the mostplicated expression as she looked at her old friends. Originally a “Rose Knight,” Eleanor had matured into the Blood Demon King; Hayley didn’t know whether she should offer congrattions or should she intervene. Hayley herself was already half a step from bing a Dark Holy Maiden even if she refused to admit it to herself. Now, she and Blood Demon King Eleanor were on the same side.


    The Darkness Sacred Region was a melting pot city. Back when Be had first left, the Mother of Creation had fulfilled their promise. Five Mothers of Creation had each constructed a support area within the Darkness Sacred Region.


    These areas were: Creation God of Light, Vianne’s “City of Dawn,” Creation God of Darkness, Mistica’s “Dark Abyss,” Creation God of Dimensions (Space), Alfreia’s “Dream of the Other Side,” Creation God of Magic, Bethia’s “Sky Library,” and Creation God of Mechanics, Andrea’s “War Fortress.”


    Thergest region belonged to the Creation God of Mechanics, Andrea’s “War Fortress.” This area looked like a futuristic capital. There were barracks, manufacturing nts, aircraft hangars, as well as runways. Seeing the various robots and mechs walking along the streets, it gave people a sense of time discement.


    The support offered by each Creation God was different. The Dark Abyss was the demon production center. The City of Dawn provided Mysterious Power support. The War Fortress supplied various high-tech equipment as well as cutting edge demons. Andrea herself was within the War Fortress conducting research.


    The current city was still in the nning and development phase, but Be did not interfere. She trusted that the Mothers of Creation did not harbor any ill intentions. Furthermore, she had her trump card, Lolita; with her, Be had nothing to worry about.


    “How is it, my city isn’t bad right! You girls might be interested in the City of Dawn over there.”


    “Be, Do you really... not mind our status as...”


    “President Maria, the fact that I brought you all here shows how much I trust you. There aren’t any secrets between us, right.”


    Be and President Maria’s group met on top of the viewing tform. Maria and her fellows felt somewhat conflicted after seeing that a demon-filled capital contained such a dense source of light energy in the City of Dawn. It’s presence defied theirmon sense.


    In the reception area, Be spotted Holy Swordsman Cynthia, who had reverted to her true form. She was currently sitting at a table piled high with snacks and delicacies. These products of the Darkness Sacred Region were made out of special ingredients.


    Since demons never usually ate these types of food, the spread today was explicitly made to wee Be’s guests. In terms of taste and texture, they were superior to an Emperor’s meals. Aftering to the Darkness Sacred Region, Cynthia could finally let loose and directly reverted to her true form.


    “Cough cough, Cynthia, you’re still a Holy Swordsman of the Radiant Church, shouldn’t you at least keep up your appearance?”


    “Be... Lord Demon King, President Maria, and the others are already following you, why would I care about that? Also, didn’t you say you would take care of me? Are you trying to throw me away?!”


    “Hou, in that case, eat slowly and don’t choke. Don’t worry. I’ll cover your room, your food, and all your other needs for the rest of your life.”


    Be gently patted Cynthia’s head while promising. The cross that used to hang from Cynthia’s neck had been reced with an inverted cross. It was the same as Maria’s group too. Aftering to the Darkness Sacred Region, their holy crosses had transformed into inverted crosses, symbolizing their betrayal.


    The subus waitress next to Cynthia had a face full of curiosity. It was her first time seeing the upper echelon of the Radiant Church in the Darkness Sacred Region, and one with the status of “Demon King’s Concubine” to boot.


    After saying goodbye to Cynthia, Be, and two other demon kings went to the meeting room to discuss some issues. Annie, Mia, Noesha, and Betty did not participate in this strategy meeting. They were all demon gods with extraordinary strength and did not like to plot or strategize, preferring to deal with everything head-on.


    ————PART 2————


    Sarnia Duch hearnd, Darkness Sacred Region, the “real” capital, the core region’s Demon King Chamber of Deliberations.


    Be, Dolores, and Eleanor sat in their ces around a white table Atop the table, a very realistic map of the Gabriel Empire’s southern region disyed the current location of the Human Race’s army.


    ording to the scouting reports of flying demons, there wererge numbers of the beastmen army currently invading through the Priestly Continent’snd passage. The exact numbers of the Beastmen were unknown since this army uncharacteristically did not disy any gs.


    The Gabriel Empire’s response was not slow either. Not far from Sarnia Duchy, on the Vaughan ins, around 80,000 imperial soldiers were gathered under themand of one of the Three Great Marshals of the Gabriel Empire, Krisman. Besides the imperial forces, the other duchies had also sent reinforcements totaling over 70,000 troops.


    The Human Race’s 150,000 troops were now assembled on the Vaughan ins. However, the Gabriel Empire did not care about its border duchies. There were another 250,000 troops gathered behind its borders; the 150,000 troops on the Vaughan ins were meant to be cannon fodder.


    Of course, all of the participating duchies also left troops in reserve. It was simr to when Duke Brandon had attacked the Sarnia Duchy in the past, but his Grande Duchy had only contributed 30,000 troops to the attacking army.


    Duke Brandon had barely brought 10,000 troops this time. Be didn’t think for a second that he only had this many troops. ording to her spies, Grande Duchy’s revenue could support at least 50,000 soldiers, and if he were willing to spend some money to hire mercenaries, Duke Brandon could easily bring 70,000 to 80,000 troops.


    The other participating duchies were in a simr situation to the Grande Duchy. They had all only sent a fraction of their military forces.


    The allied army’s messenger had arrived at the “fake” capital, Sarni City, with an invitation for Duchess Belina to lead a force and participate in the Gabriel Empire’s defense operation. Be had 10,000 mercenaries stationed inside Sarni City that she nned to send to keep up with her appearances.


    “Be, the Beastmen are invading very aggressively this time. We estimate that they have over 500,000 soldiers. I feel like the Empire’s intelligence must be wed! How could they have missed the presence of so many Beastmen?!”


    “Eleanor, you’re mistaken. You humans always believed that the Beastmen’s supplies couldn’t sustain more than 200,000 troops. They aren’t wrong this time either; we don’t know how the Beastmen have supplies.”


    Sky Demon King Dolores, as the former Demon Race’s princess, understood the thought process behind the human’s decisions. In the first ce, the Beastmen’s reason for invading the Humans was to raid the Human Race’s “Great Granary,” the grain-producing region of the Gabriel Empire.


    “This is the Gabriel Empire’s problem; it doesn’t concern the Sarnia Duchy. If those barbaric Beastmen want to attack the Gabriel Empire, then that’s their problem.”


    “Right, how many troops do we have in our army, have you done a tally?”


    “Lord Demon King, I have a census ready. In the entire Darkness Sacred Region, we have 9.8 million demon troops equipped and ready for battle. By the time the battle starts, we can have over 10 million troops.”


    Inside the Chamber of Deliberations, besides the three demon kings, there was also the one of the Origin Demon Princesses, Cornice. This dark blue-haired demon princess was extremely familiar with army logistics and management. When Be had rescued her, she had picked up a treasure from the ground.


    “Princess Cornice, you’re very knowledgeable! Come, sit down with us and talk us through your thoughts.”


    “Lord Demon King, this position...”


    Princess Cornice hesitated a bit. Be had pointed her to sit in a seat that only Demon Kings were allowed to sit. Be knew what this gesture would mean. To the side, Dolores and Eleanor both gave her encouraging looks.


    “Princess Cornice, this seat is one that many can’t even dream of sitting on. Why are you hesitating?”


    “Okay, then... Lord Demon King, I understand.”


    “You don’t have to call me Demon King in the future. We’re all equals.”


    It was currently midnight in Sarnia Duchy’s “Fake” Capital, Sarni City. As always, lights burned brightly within the city. The residents of this city were all refugees of the border wars.


    The city lord of Sarn, as appointed by Duchess Bellina, was Countess Eleanor, also known as the Blood Demon King. Eleanor was originally a respectable Lady of the Human Race; impersonating a Countess was a simple matter.


    Sarni City, under the leadership of Eleanor, had developed from a broken down town of less than a thousand people to a bustling border city of over 80,000, all in little over a month.


    The reason for this swift expansion was the fact that food andbor were not an issue for a demon king. The people living here had alle to ept the presence of demons.


    Humans traveled the opulent streets during the day, while demonse out to walk the nights. These human form demons did not attack humans. These demons wereborers, transporting various goods to the city. After they finished dropping off their goods, they would hurry out back into the night to continue farming; these hard workers didn’t have any time to waste attacking humans!


    The residents of Sarnia Duchy all wore a peculiar ck cross. As long as someone wore one of these crosses, demons would not attack them. In the streets, there were quite a few clever merchants busy helping tally and sort the fruits of the demons’bor.


    In the entire Sarnia Duchy, agricultural production was entirely taken care of by demonicbor. Humans mostly worked as servicemen and merchants.


    In the opulent City Hall, Be rested her hand on a railing while she enjoyed the nightlife of Sarni City. Behind her, with a face full of admiration, was Blood Demon King Eleanor. Be looked delighted with her hard work.


    “Eleanor, you’ve worked hard. You’ve managed this city very well. Even though it’s a fake city, but still... Oh right, have you told them yet? The battle will start here soon!”


    “Be, I’ve already issued an announcement in your name. The citizens expressed great willingness to fight for your lordship. No one wanted to escape; if you provided some equipment, then we could have 60,000 battle-ready troops.”


    Although demons controlled Sarnia Duchy, the basic welfare and living conditions were superior to other human cities. There were no taxes, and the avability of various goods was plentiful. Anyone who lived here for some time would be a citizen of the Sarnia Duchy.


    On top of the city walls, a blue warning re erupted. In the next instant,rge groups of ck-armored guards had already gathered up next to walls. The people in the streets hurried back into their homes only toe back armed with weapons and headed for the walls as well. No one retreated in fear.


    By the time Be and Eleanor arrived at the walls, the battle was already over. Several tens of ck-clothed corpses were strewn across the wall tops. Each corpse was riddled with spears; the defense force’s ambush had killed them.


    Outside Sarni City roamed countless invisible Departed Spirits. They served as the best sentries at night. If someone wanted tounch a surprise night assault on Sarni City, they would have to sneak past these countless invisible eyes first.


    “Duchess and City Lord, these people were trying to infiltrate the city, but we have already taken care of them.”


    “Eh! Good job! Every participating soldier will receive a reward.”


    “Many thanks, City Lord.”


    Upon lifting the mask of one of the corpses, Be nked. Underneath the mask was the ugly visage of a Beastman! If the Beastmen vanguard had already reached this city, then what happened to the 150,000 troops on the frontline? Were they wiped out?