Book 4: Chapter 173: The Journey Begins for the Darkness Sacred Region’s Expeditionary Army
Book 4: Chapter 173: The Journey Begins for the Darkness Sacred Region’s Expeditionary Army
In the core region of the Darkness Sacred Region, the demonic beings present there were all fully mobilized and prepared for activation. Along the busy streets, various demonic beings were moving around, carrying all sorts of siege machinery out from storage. Other than the three million vanguard troops that had left to support the Sarnia Duchy in battle, there were still at least six million other demonic being troops on the standby here.
No matter where you were, whether it’s the real world or the other world, mobilizing millions of soldiers was an exhausting event. Fortunately, the demonic beings did not require any form of food supply and were much easier to manage when traveling than armies of other races.
By the time Bella had returned to the Darkness Sacred Region, the mobilization of the demonic beings was complete, and they were awaiting orders from Bella, their commander. Large groups of demonic beings knelt on both sides of the street, paying their respects to the returning Demon King and her entourage.
This time, Bella decided to take a carriage and share it with Princess Khalifa, whom she had just captured. The princess’ hands were tied behind her back with intricate chains and was wrapped up in Bella’s embrace like a doll. Khalifa’s clothes were all gone along with the black blindfold, which Bella had decided to remove.
“Grand Duchess Bellina, how could you… this place is…”
“Stop asking questions, Princess Khalifa. Take your pick, will you be mine, or will you be mine?”
Khalifa had never heard such a shameless question. It was no different from not asking at all! Bella held her tightly in her embrace, her hands rubbing all over her body. Khalifa was flushed with embarrassment at the fact that she was feeling aroused from being touched by a girl.
“Answer me now! Otherwise, I will treat you like any prisoner-of-war and sell you off to the slave traders. I’m sure you know how much you’re worth. Just this chest alone is worth…”
“Grand Duchess Bellina, don’t talk about such cruel things! I… I will follow all of your arrangements. Don’t sell me to anyone else. Could you bear to…”
Khalifa let go of her dignity and completely disregarded the fact that she was a princess. At the moment, she was only a lowly prisoner. If she went along with Bella’s whims and fancies, she might be able to suffer a little less. The main reason why she decided to give in was that her older sister, Kriss, was somehow part of Bella’s group. In an instant, any feelings of reassurance in her heart disappeared.
When Bella was taking advantage of her earlier, Kriss stood aside and observed and had just left the carriage. Seeing her own older sister standing by and watching and doing nothing, Khalifa was speechless. In the end, she decided to give in and submit to Bella. Even though Bella was not a good person, but it could not be denied that her methods of violating girls somehow gave Khalifa a strange sense of comfort.
Bella had buried her face into Khalifa’s ample bosom and was nuzzling it. She had always enjoyed the feeling of having her face between a girl’s breasts. The soft velvety touch, as well as the shy expressions on the girls’ face, gave her the most satisfaction.
The battle situation at the border of the Gabriel Empire did not look promising. Based on the information that Khalifa had provided, the southern border had already been attacked by the Beastmen. The other million or so Beastmen troops had taken a detour and avoided the Sarnia Duchy. Instead, they decided to attack the Gabriel Empire’s defenses from a location much further away.
All sorts of chaos have ensued along the border. Humans had destroyed many city gates, and now, the Beastmen army had already invaded dozens of towns along the southern border.
In the face of such a critical situation, Emperor Alfred the Third had mobilized more than five hundred thousand imperial troops. These troops would be led by one of the Imperial Marshals, Ignatius, to provide emergency support for Marshal Krisman army that was struggling in combat at the southern border. Marshal Krisman’s two hundred and fifty thousand troops were stuck in a situation where they could only passively retreat as they went up against the Beastmen army that was four times their size.
The Octavia Empire, the knight’s nation in the north, was busy resisting the invasion of the demon race on their shores. Emperor Augustus the Sixth was already personally leading his troops into battle and had no other military power to spare to help the Gabriel Empire. The Arcana Nation in the east, the Aldridge Empire, was occupied as well. The bloodthirsty oceanic race was invading them, and they couldn’t send any form of support.
The remaining nations in the western and central regions, the Kristoff Empire and the Manasvir Empire, had already sent their troops to aid the battle against the demon race in the north. It seemed like the Gabriel Empire was on their own. Emperor Alfred the Third had probably gone bankrupt and had dipped into the nation’s financial reserves. He had used large quantities of gold coins to engage nearly four hundred thousand mercenaries from the Mercenary Union as the backup for the battles in the southern region.
Princess Khalifa had taken the opportunity to escape. She knew what her father, that old fool, would do. Once the battle situation seemed uncertain, he would arrange for a marriage-in-alliance. However, the Renald Family, who controlled eighty percent of the empire’s food supply, had taken this opportunity to raise their prices as a gesture to the Emperor. If the royal family were unable to fulfill their end of the marriage agreement, food prices would get steeper.
As the Renald family had close ties with the royal family of the Manasvir Empire, it would not do Alfred the Third any good to offend them. Otherwise, things could get ugly between the Gabriel Empire and the Emperor of the Manasvir Empire – Nicholas the Fourth. Under such circumstances, Kriss and Khalifa were both in danger in being selected by Alfred the Third to marry Leonard, the heir of the Renald family.
Even though Khalifa had many things to say about Kriss, but she was much smarter than her older sister when it came to running away from a marriage. If not for Vice-General Tommy, the traitor within her guards who had turned to the dark humans in secret and killed General Gino to create trouble, she would have arrived at Sarnia Duchy a long time ago.
After knowing that Bella was, in fact, the Grand Duchess Bellina, Khalifa’s mind began to swirl. This grand duchess of the border had a ridiculous amount of demonic beings under her command, and some so many beautiful girls were following her. Unknowingly, Khalifa had already conformed to the majority. Since the other girls were doing exceptionally well being with Bella, there was no reason why she should allow herself to be subjected to so much suffering by resisting her.
The first thing Bella did was to visit the “Darkness Abyss” alone, which was created by the Darkness Creator Mistica. On the Creator’s throne, she saw her teacher and friend, Mistica, who immediately stood up from the throne and walked right up to Bella.
“Honorable Demon King, do you intend to make a scene this time? My eyes have shown me the flames of war!”
“Oh, Mistica, I am someone who loves peace as much as the next person! It is just a battle in retaliation. Serves them right for polluting Cole Lake, my source of water!”
A slight grin appeared on Mistica’s face. She did not comment on Bella’s lame excuse for war. Honestly, this was war, and it did not matter what the reason was for declaring war as long as it happened. As a Darkness Creator, she had unusual feelings about the war.
“By coming here to me, what kind of help are you looking for? By the way, it would be good for you to pay the Mechanical Creator Andrea a visit later on. She would be able to provide much assistance!”
“Well, Mistica, actually, I wish to obtain stronger demon king powers. Somehow, I feel like my current powers are not enough. That’s why I’m here…”
“Oh, not a problem. Come with me! I’ll take you to the Creator of Light Vianne. She will have a way to help you. However, I’m not used to her territory.”
Just as Bella was about to leave for the “City of Twilight” where the Creator of Light Vianne resided, the outer regions of the Darkness Sacred Region encountered another bout of attack. A group of demonic beings of unknown origins was currently engaged in close-quarters combat with the demonic beings that belonged to the Darkness Sacred Region. Some of the enemy demonic beings had already invaded this particular area.
“Who is your leader? I am the subordinate of the Terror Demon King, Griffin…”
A demon with a bloated figure was about to announce its declaration before being killed by a few beams of light that pierced right through it. The Sky Demon King Dolores descended from above with several demon guards behind her.
“Aren’t you a princess of the demon race? You… strange, your power…”
A red-figure emerged from the dead demon’s corpse, which looked like a Blood Spirit. It was non-corporeal, and its facial features were blurry, almost non-existent. The Blood Spirit looked a little surprised as the Sky Demon King Dolores descended from the skies. The power at emanated from this gorgeous purple-haired demon maiden felt almost similar to a demon king.
“It doesn’t matter who I am. The important thing is, this is not somewhere you should be.”
“Do you know who you’re talking to? It seems like the younger generation has surpassed the older. You’re barely even a demon king…”
Dolores could not be bothered with the Blood Spirit’s nonsense. Just a year ago, she would not have dared to act in such an arrogant manner in front of the original Twelve Demon Kings. However, with her change in status, she no longer feared any of them.
Dolores unsheathed the “Legendary Light,” which was the personal sword of the Sky Demon King, and sliced this Blood Spirit cleanly in half. Before it died, the Blood Spirit had summoned a circle of red protective energy around it and had a brief clash of energy with the purple demon king. However, the Blood Spirit was eventually subdued by Dolores’ energy.
“The times are different now. Come as the deity before you try to fight me again. At this point in time, you’re not my match!”
“You lass… You’re declaring war! You…”
Before the Blood Spirit could finish its words, it was blown away by a rush of red dragon-shaped waves. As soon as the Blood Demon King Eleanor arrived at the scene, she immediately destroyed the arrogant body ambassador that was sent by one of the Twelve Demon Kings.
“Eleanor, you’re finally here. How is everything over there?”
“I have gotten rid of all the enemy demonic beings over there. Honestly, these demonic beings knew exactly when to attack. They took advantage of the one day that the military within the sacred region would gather to collect information. I think I have to let Bella know immediately.”
The day after Bella returned to the Darkness Sacred Region, she assembled all her girlfriends and the demon lords under her command at the Demon Square. As for the secret agreements that she had made with the other matriarch creators the night before, Bella decided not to mention it at all. The five main matriarchs – Creator of Light Vianne, Creator of Darkness Mistica, Extradimensional Creator Alfreia, Magic Creator Bethia, and Mechanical Creator Andrea had all been invited to this mobilization meeting as special guests.
At the meeting, Bella presented her battle strategy where the sacred region’s demon army would be split into six battalions of million-odd soldiers to attack the Beastmen continent. However, she did not mention anything about the appearance of the Twelve Demon Kings as many human beauties were participating in this battle. It would not be wise to reveal anything related to the demon kings at the moment.
Based on the plan, the first battalion of demonic beings, code name “Darkest Knights,” would be led by Bella and Lisha. Also, President Maria would be the main priestess for this team. Bella had reorganized her troops at the last minute and decided to place all the human beauties whom she thought were likely to make a run for it into her team. Other than incriminating them further, Bella did not rule out the possibility that they could have some fun along the way.
The one who had no choice in the matter was President Maria, who was part of the “Darkest Knights.” There was nothing wrong with having a priest or priestess as part of the battalion. However, like the Radiant Pope’s heiress, she was the main priestess in a demon king’s army. It had caused a massive blow to the already devastated faith.
The second battalion was nicknamed “Blood Rose” and would be led by the Blood Demon King Eleanor. Her second in command would be the Dark Knight Roland and Princess Pamela. The main priestess for this battalion would be Eleanor’s former good friend and one of the Church’s holy maidens, Hayley. The Abyss Demonic King that would be attached to the battalion was the Scourge of the Skies, Grisbane.
The third demonic being battalion was nicknamed “Phantom’s Sword.” Kriss was assigned as the commander in chief, and her vice-commanders were the Holy Swordsman Cynthia and Young Mistress Elena Ivy. Another holy maiden, Susan, would be the main priestess for the battalion. Gresham, the Emperor Scorpion, and the Demon God Angel would preside as the supervisor.
The fourth battalion, nicknamed “Nights of Magic,” would be led by Ariel, with President Britney as her second in command. Sophia, the holy maiden, was assigned as their main priestess. They would be supervised by Slime the Apocalyptic Goo, as well as the Interdimensional Demon, Noesha.
The fifth demonic being battalion, the “Death’s Thorn,” would be led by Noreya, and her second in command would be President Ivy and the Demon King Assassin Lola. Daisy, the last of the four holy maidens, would take up the role of the main priestess. The Eye of Petrification, Medusyr, as well as the Evil God Mia, would supervise the battalion.
The sixth and final battalion, the “Thousand Broken Souls,” would be headed by Elaine and the Demon World Princess Diaz, who was her second in command. The main priestess for this battalion would be one of the holy maidens from the Darkness Church, Liz. This battalion would be supervised by the Black Widow Empress Ulysses and Betty, the Poison Refining Loli.
Bella’s battalion did not have any Abyss Demonic Kings attached to it as Krakent, the Disaster of the Seas, was unable to come on land. Instead, Bella had sent it to the New Moon Island to support the overseas reinforcements that were about to leave. Amy Beth, the Sea Demonic Dragon, and Dorothea, the New Moon Demonic Dragon, would be responsible for leading the demonic navy. They had decided to go ashore on the Beastmen continent from a different direction and provide support for Bella’s main battle contingent from the side.
Other than the battalion that was led by the Blood Demon King, Bella had arranged for a demon god supervisor for the remaining four battalions. It was not because Bella did not trust Kriss and the others. The main reason was that these few Dark Saviors had the potential to go dark anytime. Bella was afraid that once they had a taste of bloodshed, they would turn dark and thus had purposely arranged for a loli that was of a demon god level to prevent any accidents from occurring. As for Lisha, Bella would personally keep an eye on her.
Bella had other plans for the Sky Demon King Dolores and the Quasi-Devil Cornice. These two ladies would take charge of leading the three million demonic soldiers that had been camping outside Sarni City, the capital of Sarni Duchy. After the official start of the battle, these demonic soldiers would then act as further reinforcement. The Mechanical Creator Andrea would be attached to these troops to provide any necessary form of support to Bella’s army on the frontlines.
Mistica, the Creator of Darkness, agreed to remain behind to guard the Darkness Sacred Region. Four matriarchal creator gods oversaw the entire region, preventing any accidents from happening. The commanders-in-chief of the Darkness Sacred Region were Lillian the “Devil’s Wisdom” and Lillith the “Demon’s Heart.” The demon lords had all stayed behind in the region as Bella’s harem should be more than capable in war.
“Older Sister Bella, what a pity that Older Sisters Irene and Luce are not around. I wonder how they’re doing over at the northern war front!”
“Lisha, you don’t have to worry about anything. Up north, there are at least two… I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
Bella and Lisha rode at the front of the group on their warhorses. It was important for the soldiers to cooperate with them, especially when moving millions of soldiers at the same time. It was practically impossible for the humans or the Beastmen to organize troops in such large quantities. Just the reinforcement troops alone would be an astronomical figure for them to achieve.
The war front in the north had two saviors holding down the fort, the God Chosen Knight Scott and the God Chosen Swordsman Akmans. Also, the Holy Priest Norris seemed to be there, as well. If they were unable to defeat the demon race with their combined efforts, they might as well kill themselves in atonement for their failures. The God Chosen Mage Adelaide was there at the eastern war front, which meant that there was absolutely nothing to worry about.
Bella felt that the crucial point would be the southern war front. The fact that the Beastmen were able to invade in such large numbers could mean that there might be a mighty Demon King orchestrating the entire operation. This time, Bella had unintentionally provided support to the war at the southern border of the Gabriel Empire. She planned to attack the Beastmen continent directly and capture the two kemonomimis together in one fell swoop.
“By the way, Older Sister Bella, did you obtain some incredible power? I can feel that you…”
“No wonder you’re my younger sister. Kriss and the others hadn’t realized anything yet! Look, this is the proof of my demon god powers.”
Lisha was shocked as Bella’s right hand immediately transformed into an alien demonic claw. The powerful unknown power that emanated from the demonic claw was palpable, even from a distance.
This was one form of the demon god powers that Bella had activated with the help of the Creator of Darkness Mistica and the Mechanical Creator Andrea. She had planned to test her new power out during this battle.
“We’re almost at Sarni City. Everyone, double-time, let’s move!”
In the distant horizon, the skyline of Sarni City began to emerge. Bella ignored Lisha’s stunned gaze and used her alien demonic claw and directed her army to move forward. Since everyone here belonged to her, Bella did not bother to revert to her original form and freely used her new demonic form instead.