121 Black Flames 1

Dyon was immediately immersed in his planning. And even planning his planning. He wanted to know everything there was to know about the army he had just gained, and how to make the best use of their abilities.

What he ended up finding out was surprising. Even the weakest among the generals were of the essence gathering level, including Arios. At first, Dyon wondered why a sage would need such relatively weak generals, but then he realized his thought was stupid. Since some Gates cap at the essence gathering level, you obviously needed talented young generals to lead campaigns at those Gates.

There was a total of 3000 generals. A thousand at the lower essence gathering level, another thousand at the higher essence gathering level, and the last thousand at the lower saint level. This realization made Dyon widen his eyes in shock.

'A thousand saint level experts?... ridiculous.'

However, Dyon was also aware that this was but a drop in the ocean compared to the experts even in this universe. Not only did even the small the Elvin Kingdom itself have peak level saints who could wipe out Dyon's entire army with just a bit of effort, if one took the entire planet into consideration, a thousand lower saints, even without taking into account those of higher levels of cultivation, would lose out by sheer lack of numbers. What was a thousand to millions?

Thus, Dyon made a decision. He wouldn't use the demon generals in his first campaign unless he uncovered the mystery of the Elvin Kingdom and the Celestial Deer Sect. Only by knowing who and where his enemies were would he feel comfortable revealing some of his hand. The second decision he made was to cap the amount of demon generals he would use.

Because of the talent of the demon generals, their combat prowess far surpassed those of the same level. As such, Dyon decided that he would only take out 100 lower essence gathering demon generals if he uncovered the mysteries of the Elvin Kingdom.

Dyon smiled to himself, 'sure, leading a massive army is great… although I guess 2000 isn't that large,' he thought. Remembering that the Gate his first campaign would take place in had a cap of peak essence gathering, Dyon knew the saint level experts weren't a possibility, 'but, what could be cooler than having a small army and still dominating?'

Although Dyon thought this like a joke, there were real reasons why he preferred a smaller army. For one, with his lack of experience, smaller numbers would be easier for him to command. Then, with the unpredictability of the Gates, it was also easier to protect everyone should their numbers be kept in check. And finally, him suddenly appearing with an army of a hundred was still acceptable… two thousand though? That was pushing it.

'plus… with only a hundred, considering how many transcendent weapons the Celestial Deer Sect left to me, I should be able to equip them all.'

With that thought, Dyon quickly memorized the names of each and every one of his demon generals. Over the next few months, he would take his time to learn about all of their abilities and more about the Gates. With that knowledge, he'd form a well-balanced team of a hundred. Dyon already had no doubt in his mind that settling the matter of the Elvin Kingdom… was only a matter of time.

"Arios," Dyon called out to the handsome young man.

"Yes, Successor?"

Dyon waved his hand, "don't call me that, it'll only make me feel bad. Just call me Dyon," Dyon smiled bitterly.

Arios smiled in acknowledgement.

"Since you were part of the Elvin Kingdom for a while… what do you know about its troubles?"

Arios was surprised by Dyon's question, but quickly continued to answer, "as an outsider… not much. But, over the course of the few months I stayed there, I did come to know of some things.

For one, their king has been missing for a long while, and with him, his daughter, the princess."

Dyon nodded. He remembered Ri mentioning her cousin. But, considering that was the one and only time, Dyon didn't doubt that this princess was gone.

"The other is that the Elvin Kingdom adheres to very strict traditions in choosing their rulers. Oddly enough, said rulers aren't picked from their most prestigious families, instead, anyone can become king or queen as long as they are a True Empath."

Dyon's face furrowed in thought, 'True Empath?'

Dyon suddenly thought of Jade. Jade could see right through him and could clearly tell when he lied and when he didn't. Even to the point that it was almost as though she could read his mind. But, he shook his head at this point. Being a True Empath definitely meant more than just being able to tell whether someone was lying or not.

'when I mentioned Madeleine to everyone, they reacted as though Jade's reaction was law. But, it wasn't that it was because it was Jade, but because she was part of the Eostre family. If a whole major family has the ability to see through people like that, and yet they aren't the set rulers despite this, that can only mean that True Empaths aren't as simple as that…'

Arios seemed to realize exactly what Dyon was thinking, "if you're thinking of the Eostre family, I used to have thoughts on them too. Their abilities are so close to what anyone would intuitively think a True Empath would be, so why weren't they the ruling family if Elvin Kings and Queens were always said True Empaths?"

Arios sighed, "but, I don't have an answer to give you regarding that. The True Empath seems to be a very important being for the Elves, but, at the same time, from what I've pieced together, it has also brought them untold tragedy….

I don't know why, but from what I've deduced, the Elvin Kingdom can't afford to have a True Empath on the throne without the help of the Celestial Deer Sect… but, the problem is that that sect was destroyed long ago.

The reason they needed the sect isn't common knowledge. And what they stand to lose without them is also unknown….

The last thing is that the hate for the Acacia family is deeper than just the fact the king disappeared. I read an ancient book once, not here, but when I was campaigning with the demon sage, that spoke about the 3 ancient families of the Elvin Race. One was the Florence family. The other was the Mathilde family… and the last, as you've probably guessed, was the Acacia family… The fact the Acacia family is known as an ancient one, and yet isn't given their due respect here, must have a deeper story behind it… That's all I know."

Dyon nodded, 'for one, it wouldn't make sense for a kingdom to let their citizens know how reliant they were on an ally, so it's clear why no one knows the true reason behind the alliance except for a select few. Aside from this, the hate of the Acacia family sounds interesting... it may very well be the reason behind some of these odd occurrences.

But, Arios' information did give Dyon a new train of thought. Why would a kingdom who knew they needed an ally like the Celestial Deer Sect not help in stopping their destruction? Did that mean that even with the help of the Elvin Kingdom, the fate of the Celestial Deer Sect was set? Or did that mean that they simply decided not to help for some unknown reason? And maybe, that unknown reason was exactly the reason the major families hated the Acacia ancient family.

Dyon sighed, there was no use pondering on this now with no real information. It was best that he went out for now. Ri and Little Lyla were probably worrying.