Heavy rain showered the place, and the sky was filled with ominous dark clouds.
Under the wet rain, the greenery shone vibrantly as the grasses and soil were soaked in rainwater. The peaceful scene seemed as if it would sing the praises of vitality and life forever.
However, it only took a moment for the peace to shatter into pieces.
Beyond the greenery was a dense grassland filled with heavy dark mist with countless dangers lurking inside.
Dense miasma hovered around the surface making visibility poor for the onlookers.
The defence lines of the Western Front along with the vast terrain have long been occupied by the demons.
The miasma was making it hard to infiltrate and scout the place. Unless one had clergy and priests in the party, it was a sure shot death if entered inside.
It was, for this reason, the attack was delayed.
Combatants from all over the Kingdoms were called to contribute to the national army.
Now, it was a war of prestige and a chance to shine in the history of Kinley.
Wooden fences had been lined up and barriers had been set up. The Personnel from the Churches had already been working to get rid of miasma.
Along with Ophelia, the current Saintess of Kinley, Athena and Lina who was trying hard to become Saintess tried were engaged in supporting Kinley's troops.
Meanwhile, inside the huge tent, the representative of all the Kingdoms from Tier to Tier 3 was present.
Along with them, there were also some Higher nobles of Kinley.
The Emperor had moved almost two-fifths of the forces of Kinley which shows how much importance he placed on this war and might be observing this war through the shadows while inspecting each and everyone's performance.
For the lower nobles and people of lower Tier Kingdoms it was an suffocating atmosphere as now matter how much they are respected in their Kingdom, here they were nothing.
The meetings were presided over by the Four princes who observed everyone with stern looks.
First Prince Sean, Mid Mythic rank and age 31.
Second Prince Hex, Early Mythic rank and age 30.
Third Prince William, Peak Legendary Rank and age 28.
Fourth Prince Shion, Early Legendary at age 27.
Each of them was a monster in their one league.
The blood flowing in the Royal Family of Stan carried the blood of Gods which is said to boast tremendous potential.
The primary reason why Alex was considered the shame of the royal family and disowned was that he didn't have the blood of God flowing through him when tested in the Bloodline ceremony done to awaken the bloodline.
But his recent development had shocked everyone and many believed that it was due to the sudden awakening of the Stan bloodline in his veins causing him to undergo tremendous changes.
But sadly, such a rising star was cut off before it could shine brilliantly in the sky along with his wife Riya.
After Alex, the other Prince who was most famous for his notoriety and bad reputation was Fourth Shion.
Though he is quite talented, he was known as treacherous and a playboy who wastes time pursuing and trampling beauty.
No one knew just how many young maidens had been thrown away and disappeared after falling into traps of his looks.
And on top of that, unlike others, he never tried to maintain his image because, in his eyes, everyone is nothing but ants who could be trampled like ants.
The only reason he was able to hold his head high was that his mother's family had the Second strongest influence in noble society boasting great support for him.
All the Princes had been dispatched and even the Three Princesses except Alice were assigned to take over the resources.
The sudden move made everyone ponder if the one who shines brightly might become one step closer in the war of Succession.
The atmosphere was quite tense and chilly.
Sean as the First Prince took the lead and rested his hands on the map and gave everyone a look.
"We have close to one million warriors gathered with us who will partake in a brutal war to reclaim our lands tomorrow."
"I, The First Prince of Kinley, as commanded by the Emperor, would take charge of the warrior troop and Josh would be in charge of the Mage squad."
"First and foremost, we will form an array and defence lines. We don't know what is lurking in there so we need to come up with a strong defensive line and preventive measures."
Hex came forward and raised his chin.
"I will allocate some mages to maintain the barrier during the war."
"And I will oversee the defence, Line."Third Prince William spoke and stepped forward.
Shion heard everything with a carefree look and seemed to be quite bored. He doesn't think the demons pause any troops and could be wiped out easily if Kinley became serious.
Rather than that his eyes scanned all the beauties present out there seeing which he licked his lips wondering about whom to pick next.
"Now here is the plan," Sean shouted.
"Lady Athena along with the Saintess and others would take the lead and cleanse the miasma. The Paladins from the Churches and all the Priests are in charge of supporting us."
"Unless they are attacked, they wouldn't draw their weapon. Keep that in mind."
Sean discusses the strategy with others and asks everyone to pay proper attention.
Statements one after another were exchanged by everyone as they looked for any flaws in strategies.
Under Sean, Three Generals would command the troops and the representatives of the Kingdoms would lead the troops under them.
"Any doubt?"Sean asked.
Seeing no one raising their hands, Sean nodded and spoke.
"Tomorrow, we have to get rid of those filthy demons who are invading our motherland. There will be a lot of sacrifices and many would leave us by the time the wars end."
"But we must not be disheartened and more than that we shouldn't forget about those who sacrificed their lives for the nobles."
"Now, does anyone have any doubt?"
"Then, let's end it here," Sean spoke and everyone started to disperse.
The representatives of the Kingdoms along with other personnel started to move out to calm themselves before the war.
While everyone was left, Shen who stood behind Hex walked towards Christina who was thinking about something.
"Hello, Lady Christina."
Christina's expression hardened seeing Shen.
Gritting her teeth, she gave a brief nod and asked"What do you want, General?"
"Lady, aren't you being too rude to your father's college?"
"Instead of calling me General, you can just call me uncle."
Christina felt as if she had been stabbed with a dagger on which salt was being poured.
People who were leaving the place suddenly halted their steps and stopped to watch the drama that was unfolding.
A subtle killing intent radiated from her.
Shen chuckled and whispered, "Lady Christina, aren't you too brazen?"
"Isn't it because of your traitor husband, we are in this type of situation?"
"If he had reported all of this before instead of jumping into the pit by himself? The imperial army could have resisted the invasion if notified before."
Shen spoke faintly but his word was picked up by everyone and caused everyone to whisper among themselves wondering whether it was true or not.
Everyone's gaze fell onto Christina whose eyes were burning with hatred.
She clenched her sword tightly, wanting to stab the man before him. She chewed her lips to the point drops of blood could be seen.
Christina knew she was never good at words and always spoke with her sword. And now Shen was taking this opportunity to humiliate her and sow discord among others.
Still, she calmed herself and tried to fight back.
"General Shen, isn't this your responsibility? As general, you should have reported this to Capital but you didn't?"
"Huh! What do you mean?"Shen feigned ignorance.
"I wasn't informed about it by any means? As you know the mana signals are cut.'
"This just shows how incompetent you are."Christina spat back at Shen whose expression was distorted a bit.
Calming down, he was about to say something but he was stopped by Sean.
"Are you all challenging my authority? Do you think you have the right to declare whether Alex is a traitor or not? Investigations are still on the way so stop spouting bullshit."
Shion, who was looking at the scene with an amusing expression, frowned seeing Sean taking Alex's side but he let it slide after all that bastard was dead.
"Sir, it's only a matter of time before."
"Shen!"
Sean roared in anger and locked his aura onto Shen.
"We don't have time to hear your baseless acquisition and banter. If you want to do this kind of shit here then please get out of this place and use your free time in organising your troops."
Shen wanted to refute but stopped as got a sharp gaze from Hex.
"Disperse!"Sean shouted and everyone started to run away not wanting to offend Sean who was first in line for the throne.
As everyone left Christina sighed and tried to calm down her burning anger swelling in her chest and walked out with a blank expression and was snapped out of thoughts by a faint whisper beside her.
"Lady Christina, I heard you are a widow now so why don't we think about marrying someone else? Your previous marriage was forced but this time, you can find eternal happiness."
Christina's heart froze and he looked at the source of the voice to see Shion staring at her with a lustful gaze. Not only that, the person wasn't trying to cover his intention.
All of Alex's wives were heaven-defying beauties and since the marriage was bestowed by the Emperor, the persuasion of people stopped and they were left alone since many think Alex is dead now, nothing is stopping them now from pursuing them.
Christina felt her heart swell. Just because Alex wasn't present these people were trying to humiliate her.
"I will think about it after the war. I have some other thing to attend to."Christina tries to leave but Shion smiled and spoke
"There was also a girl like you who was quite stubborn and didn't agree with my words but now you see where she is? Not even her corpse survived."Shion spoke with a saddened expression.
"Shion, do you also have too much free time?"
Shion was stopped by Sean who left, giving Christina a mischievous smile.
"Don't worry about them."
Christina looked at the sight to see Sean walking towards her with a sharp gaze.
"That man isn't going to live long," Sean muttered faintly as he passed by her leaving her a message.
"Ask him to hurry, we might need him here more than ever."