After a somewhat enjoyable experience with the two Elves, we finally returned to the Elf Capital.

As expected, the landscape didn’t seem to take too well to our little experiments. Fortunately, I was able to somehow reverse the effects with my Original Magic—though it cost an ample sum of Mana.

When I was done, I returned Hugo to my storage space and teleported myself and the girls to the Palace.

Once I dropped them off, I also had to fetch the other group. They were also done with their end by the time I arrived.

According to the murmurs all around me, it seemed only Serah was enough to decimate all of them.

However, as I instructed, everyone at least participated in the battle and they achieved an overwhelming victory.

I was pleased to hear that.

“Now, then… shall we return?”

**************************

Once again, the important leaders gathered in a conference hall and discuss matters pertaining to the just concluded strike.

My eyes observed everyone around, and I smiled slightly when it reached a particular someone.

‘So, he went and did it, eh?’

I was glad that certain people were predictable in their actions.

Usually, when a person discovers an enemy among allies, the most logical course is to flush them out.

But, I would rather manipulate said mole to perform certain actions that would prove beneficial to me.

‘Damien Lawcroft is performing his role well.’ I smiled, turning my gaze to others as we began our conference.

The main topic was what we were going to do from henceforth.

“Do not worry. There’s going to be quite a bit of time before the Demons are able to invade us. I estimate another week or more.”

Even though it was plenty of time for me, the Elves seemed shocked by the short span they had to work with.

For a Race that wasn’t geared toward violence and wars, it was a hard pill to swallow.

“Do not worry, though. Within this short while, I also intend to be hard at work.”

It was finally time to publicly announce to the Elves—as well as seek their aid—about my plans going forward.

“I wish to bring the other Races into this Alliance—just as in the past.”

Aurora was silent for a while, lowering her head a bit, as though considering the matter.

“Hmm. I see what you’re getting at. It would indeed be easier if we have more Allies.”

I was glad Aurora was on the same page as I was.

“We should start with the Fairies, and then make our way to the Therianthropes.” I also further explained that Dwarves would be last.

After laying out my rationale, the Elf Queen nodded in agreement.

At this point, we needed all the help we could get. Besides, Aurora must have found out that it was useless to argue against anything I said.

It was my efforts that brought us this far, and almost everyone in the room trusted me enough already.

“Well, then, we should begin preparations to travel to the Fairy Kingdom.”

After all, time was of the essence.

But, even as I spoke to my allies, the image of our enemies entered my mind—especially the one whom I just bested in a game of wits.

‘It would be nice for me to see your facial reaction right now… Zenkiel.’

*********************

“DAMMMNIIIT!!!” The Demon Lord growled as he cursed.

As Commander-In-Chief, he was meant to show composure at all times, but the seething emotions within him couldn’t allow him to contain his dissatisfaction.

‘I observed all the battles, and… what the hell is this??!’ Zenkiel was fraught with inexplicable feelings.

Anger. Frustration. Confusion. Worry. And most especially… FEAR!

“Shit. I just expended four thousand Demon Beasts… and what did I gain?”

The truth was that Zenkiel wasn’t exactly interested in the survival of the troops he sent.

By observing them with Magic, he would be able to obtain whatever information he desired from their advancement. His goal was simple—measuring the capabilities of the other Races.

But, after seeing the way they had all perished, Zenkiel had a single thought.

‘They’re too strong!’

For the Eastern Kingdom, merely a few individuals could handle his Demon Generals and Demon Beasts.

He had to work with the assumption that they weren’t the only ones capable of such feats.

The Elf Kingdom incidents were even worse.

‘Just what was that Golem?’ Zenkiel murmured, worried by how much firepower it packed.

He was a Demon Lord, so that level of destruction wouldn’t kill him. Still, he wasn’t sure about coming out unscathed.

Those who were controlling the Golem didn’t even seem to take the probes as threats.

Even after the Demon Beasts and his General were killed, the Golem kept practicing various things.

It was as though his army had only served as fodder for them.

Things weren’t better at their Northern Border too.

Sure, he expected more resistance since it was the most fortified stronghold of the Elves. However, Zenkiel never expected the resistance to be so great.

With only a few individuals spamming Spells of Mass Destruction, the entire area was flattened in no time.

It was inconceivable, but reality made the Demon Lord realize just how formidable his enemies were.

The worst part of everything was that his army was only able to advance a small distance from their starting point. They were destroyed before going any further.

‘Damnit!’ At this point, he could call his probe venture a failure.

He couldn’t estimate the strength of the enemies—which was the whole point of the four-pronged assault.

Not only did he not catch them off-guard, but not even a single casualty came from the enemy side.

“What do I tell His Majesty, the Demon King?”

The loss of some fodder was inconsequential, but Zenkiel had used up 4,000 of them. Even if there were plenty more Demon Beasts in stock—even more powerful than the ones he utilized, it was still a fact that he had just wasted a good number of pawns.

‘And yet, I failed miserably…’

Zenkiel did learn a thing or two from the whole incident, though.

“The Humans have allied with the Elves, after all.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t all.