Chapter 431: The War Plan.

Chapter 431: The War Plan.

Youre a demonkin? Fleindia stared at Vifi in bewilderment, seeing as she looked just like a normal human right now. She then turned to Ellaine. That voice. I heard a voice in my head.

Equally. King Elutis nodded. A veryhow-should-I-say-itsultry voice? But at the same time, the tone is quite condescending. As if she is looking at children.

King Fugnarus clapped his hands, letting out a loud Ha! before stroking his beard. If what the young lady is saying is correct, then that statement of yours, my friend, is quite possibly correct. You used that same tone on me when we first met, and I presume you did the same for my aunt.

King Elutis didnt respond, causing the dwarven king to burst out in laughter once again. I personally hadnt felt this condescension from the former, but I sure as hell agreed that Klea was annoying.

VifiYok? Reajaen and Renee both reacted to the demonkin, staring at her with interest and curiosity. It was natural, considering they all had heard me speak of them before.

You remembered, Renee? Neill said. Yeah, its that demonkin commander I told you about. The Warbringer, remember?

Y-youre the one OBloom was working for! His contact! Reajaen jerked back, her one working eye widening in shock.

Renee, on the other hand, scowled, looking like she was about to attack VifiYok, although unlike her guards, she hadnt brought her sword into the room. That fiend, huh? The commander who invited grimgarians into my homeland. Who besieged my homelands capital! And one of the conspirators who freed Karhalentheel!

Easy, King Drangleic held his hand up, prompting his knights to block Renees view to us. Champion Rhea, I would like to remind you that you were made the representative of Yeos just a moment ago, with our blessing. Do not misuse it by conflict when we have barely begun.

Maelexus nodded. You were personally invited here by Princess Hestia. You have a duty to be still and listen first! You as well, Saintess.

IYes. Fleindia nodded before looking at me.

Please, trust me. Everything I do is to assure my divine Quest to our Goddess is fulfilled. I might not be as pious as you are, since I am an otherworlder, but I have too many reasons to not undermine Goddess Aurena and you Also, I presume Goddess Erithia is watching through you, right now, so I dont want to make her more hostile to me.

T-that is true, yes I have been told by Goddess Erithia to be extra watchful of you and make sure you did your duty correctly, before she suddenly became silent, she stated, reminding me I hadnt told her anything I had learned from Crustacia.

Neither have I had the chance to speak to Renee, and that really showed when she mentioned Yeostar hadnt spoken to her either. She had been training within Yeostars dungeon, as was the privilege of a Champion of Yeostar, but with an angel, a former mortal turned aide, instead of the god himself. It was like training at a gym or dojo, but instead of sparring with the grand master as you were promised, you were fostered off onto another teacher who was there to take their place.

Meaning, I had a way to diffuse the situation by telling them about Yeostars punishment. Honestly, I probably should have mentioned this earlier since it has been eight days since I met Crustacia, or at least sent a missive to Renee. Well, better late than never.

Unprecedented. King Elutiss eyes twitched for a moment after I was done explaining.

Agreed, Fugnaruss wife, Queen Tragaya, stated. There are rules. The gods arent supposed to mingle this much, or alter our paths with such drastic changes.

Seeing as King Elutis was the king of Saelariel, which was essentially a theocracy with how much they worship the six Origin Gods, and how Queen Tragaya was a wisewoman of the church of Crustacia, it was obvious why these two religious people would react like they did. Going by their reactions, this probably was the first time a subordinate god had caused such drama.

Meanwhile, the two people I thought this would affect the most had pretty mild reactions.

Fleindia simply nodded and sat back down, content with what she heard. I understand. This is why Goddess Erithia spoke as if I had to guide you. She wouldnt be like this otherwise.

For a Saintess of the Goddess of Nobility and Wealth, she certainly had that noble part of herself down, but lacked the ego Erithia had when I met her. Although, maybe mentioning the fact she had to guide me showed a hint of Fleindias real personality? Meh, it didnt matter.

On the other hand, Renee sat back down, saying, I had a feeling that would be the case. Her tense face softened, but she still remained stoic. With a slightly deeper voice than usualnot as deep as when she was still impersonating as a male knightshe apologized for her behavior, prompting the rest of the table to speak their mind.

I too am curious, King Fugnarus stated, as he had seen Vifi and Ellaine fight with their demonic powers. I appreciated him for not interrogating us up until now. Youve heard my declaration of war, lass, he continued, looking towards Vifi. I hardly believe you would be thrilled.

King Fugnaruss bodyguards had moved silently in front of their king and queen after the reveal of my demonic companions, only the rattling of their samurai armor could be heard. Among his three guards, I recognized Ungi, one of the rank A warriors who accompanied the king on his rescue mission for me. He had almost been killed by Galg, so I was glad to see he had recovered. Asaka deserved all the credit.

Vifi, however, didnt take the threat seriously and laughed. Nah, of course not, but you wont hear me complaining, Dwarf King. You heard me, I was a Warbringer, one of the three candidates for the next position of the Prince of Wrathmeaning I worked with Lord Wrath in the art of war. I understand war both in theory and in the practical sense, ya know? BoleTarias involvement got found out, its obvious you need to act on the casus belli, or you would lose a ton of respect.

King Fugnarus frowned, massaging his temple in exasperation. You sound like everybody else I heard.

The girl is right, My King, his wife commented. Tell me, VifiYok, were you responsible for any of that? I expect Princess Hestia not to be involved, but I have little trust for a BoleTarian, right now.

As I said, I am an Ex-Warbringer. Didnt ya hear? Vifis irritated side slipped out, dropping the formality to speak in her abrasive, street urchin style. The last time she spoke like that was when I ran into her again in the rank B dungeon. I got my ass handed to me by the dragon sisters here, and recoil weakened me ta the point that I decided to use that loss as my chance to get out of the army. Im a deserter So, whatcha three looking at, huh?

Oh come, chill!

I jerked my head slightly to the side as I saw Vifi point at King Fugnaruss guards, cracking her one hand, willing to fight all three dwarven guards. Ellaine grabbed her shoulder, pushing her behind my chair. Vifi shrugged at the manhandling, holding her head up with no shame. King Fugnarus did the same with his guards, telling them to drop their hostility.

I sighed internally, but decided to speak up about it, I understand Ankor-Naztas feelings towards the demonkins after what happened, but Vifi is currently a mercenary working for me. Also, seeing as it isnt exactly known outside of BoleTaria, VifiYok is her full name. Either address her by Vifi or Miss Vifi, please, for courtesys sake.

Until Crustacia told me, practically nobodyoutside of Ellaineknew how the demonkins naming scheme worked. I mean, I knew Master Kushlekzar and even Krim-Slak, and those were their first names. It was how the saurians named themselves, but we also had Grazlahta and Akasht for normal names.

Then, Miss Vifi, Reajaen started. I know you worked with this HeeRlak, right? You worked on trying to take over Estralia with the help of OBloom, in addition to everything that happened in Yeos. As such, why are you here? What is your reason to work with Princess Hestia as a mercenary?

Donuts.

What?

I nodded. If you must start a war, then direct it actually at the demonkins, not use them as a roundabout way to attack the Empire to weaken them! Besides, what about the logistical challenges? Do you have a plan for that?

We actually do, King Fugnarus stated to my shock. The answer is clear, no? Carmaniate. The enemy of my trading partner is my enemy. All these years, Ankor-Nazta has been trading with both the Beastmen Alliance and the Folschreck Empire through Hadjuk-Orn. Although we havent met each other yet, I have exchanged messages with the alliances leader.

King Drangleic nodded. Estralia to keep ourselves stocked up in the west, Carmaniate to give us a forward base in the east in addition to supplying us with their troops if we can ally with them. With the dwarvess trains, we have a fast way to take care of logistics, while we will have a strong air force through Artorias and Loatryx.

Saelariels mages and archers were the ones to decide the War for the Faefolk. We can do it again. If we can persuade Caedhul to help, then we would have a marine force. If we can rebuild Yeos, we can also use them as another base to attack Folschrecks harborstheir economical and transportational crutch.

W-we can be useful? Prince Markval suddenly blurted out in shock.

Elutis smiled, nodding to him. Of course, Prince Markval. Joining hands with more than one human country is needed for my race to finally heal and mend the wound. Our countries did not fight during the war, so I believe my people will react well to yours. Besides, I have heard the heroics of your previous Champion, Royce, so I await to see what your current one can do.

Renee hadnt told him who Royce really was, huh? No wait, that isnt important. They left me so much in the dark that they actually managed to form an entire plan?

The issue is the diplomacy between us and Carmaniate, of course, Maelexus brought up before I could complain. Carmaniate is huge, probably the second largest nation if you excluded Caedhuls many spread out tribes and Kargryx. If I was in their place, I would see our alliance as weak if the first move we made was to ask Carmaniate for help. That can cause issues, even after the alliance is sealed. The best method would be to send a champion to challenge theirs.

Queen Tragaya sighed. That isnt good, then, since Carmaniate is the nation with the person currently assigned the Weapon Saint.

I raised a brow and asked her who this person was.

The Weapon Saint is essentially the Pantheon of Fires version of the Champion of Yeostar. Blessed by the God of Weapons, Silfosus, the Saint usually is a master of a certain weapon type, to the point people calling you sword saint or spear saint is a compliment on your skills. Candidates to become weapon saints are usually extremely capable people.

Ahhh, so that is where I heard about it! Neill snapped her fingers before she looked over at me. Hey, you remember Larent? He was a sword saint candidate, right? At least, thats what people called him during the tournament.

I nodded.

King Fugnarus continued the explanation, Similar to the Champion of Yeostar having a restriction for receiving a powerful blessing, the Saint of Silfosus has a heavy penalty on the blessed. Essentially, there can only be one Weapon Saint around at a time, and anybody could become it by challenging the current one and killing them in a duel. Meaning, anybody, even those opposed to the Pantheon of Fire, may become the champion.

Silfosus sounds like a terrible person and god, I stated, causing quite a few people to nod in agreement. My impression of the Church of Fire had hit a all-time low.

Regardless, the fact remains that Carmaniate currently claims this Saint as one of their own. Similar to the Supreme Commander of the Hands of Heaven, both of these individuals are rank S. Actual rank S, and not like that Galg, Queen Tragaya stated. Our challenger needs to be strong enough to contest on that level, and sadly, Ankor-Nazta does not possess somebody above level 200. My cousin, Rudigan, at level 140 is currently our strongest warrior.

Saelariel does not have such a warrior either; however, our ancient home in KelThunsouth of Kargryx, Princess Hestiadoes. Or, if he is willing, we may ask the archerudite of Aleistunum for aide, as he is, without doubt, one of the strongest, non-monster mages in the world, King Elutis stated.

Maelexus groaned. We too have rank S fighters, but most of them are old and currently retired on Miononbolaxs Loatryx to be within Kargryxs borders..

I thought your nations would have more rank S? I asked, a bit baffled.

Getting over level 200 is difficult if you arent a blessed or have a method to increase experience gain like your blessings, King Elutis answered. As you might know, the higher your level or monster rank, the more difficult it is to gain levels from low leveled opponents. Unless one goes out of their way to challenge enemies around their level, becoming rank S is difficult. Even then, you must defeat many.

Wars and dungeons help, but even in BoleTaria, people around my level are pretty rare, VifiYok added. You can guess who is stronger than me, of course. Ive been level 150 ever since I left that hellhole of a place, and I havent found any random enemies as strong as the ones I found in that polluted lake ever since. There is a reason its called rank S and not rank A, but stronger.

Or Rank A, but even rarer.

King Fugnarus then sighed. The rank S Ankor-Nazta had who fought in the War for the Faefolk have already passed from old age. Our lands might be vast, but we dwarves prioritize craftsmanship and technological advancements. Every warrior is also an artisan of some kind, so if they arent fighting or training, they are providing for our community. That doesnt leave much time for leveling.

Peace has weakened us. King Drangleics statement earned more than a few nods from the others around the table.

Wars arent better, Renee stated, which made sense as she lost her mother cause of the Empires wars.

Suffice to say, Artorias, Estralia, nor Yeos had a rank S. I had initially thought Tehmrayn, that Champion of Plesia naga, as a rank S but was corrected later on when he was below 200. He was strong, but was he rank S strong despite the level difference?

However, there is one edge we do have, King Drangleic stated. The unique Jobs we gained.

Correct, King Fugnarus nodded. Rudigan is already training it up and I presume your side is too, Princess Hestia. King Elutis?

We both nodded. I personally hadnt been training much since I had background stuff to do, but I knew Ellaine, Neill, Tasianna, and all the other members of the Event Quest party were training like crazy whenever they had the spare time. They would dungeon dive to level everything up; which reminded me I, too, had an upgrade awaiting memy unique Job evolution.

Yet, it was then that I suddenly realized we completely derailed the discussion due to this surprise. We lost our advantage against these shrewd politicians, so I had to bring these talks back in order.

But somebody else stole my limelight.

Please, stop!

It was Fleindia.

I understand there has been much to discuss, especially about the demonkin, but allow me to state my opinion on this subject. As a Saintess of Erithia, and a Folschreckian, I have a duty to speak!

The final stretch for this Summit discussion was upon us. I needed fuel to argue back, so I was betting it on Fleindia now.