Return to Mistwood Keep

To culminate the end of the interracial war conference, the humans, dragons, and demi-humans signed a peace treaty.

For which the humans requested the dragon's help once again, with unblocking the army of demons from their route northward.

A task Dracul was more than happy to agree to, as long as the Allied Army paid his race a million gold, plus the unpaid amount Will still owed. The amount totaled just under 1.2 million gold.

"You dare exhort money after we signed the peace treaty?" yelled the Kingdom of Sabast's angry ambassador.

"We signed a peace treaty, not a labor agreement!" Dracul said casually blowing smoke from his nostrils.

"It's been our experiences that humans are short-sighted, selfish, and see other races as inferior. We charge a paltry fee for our services, so you understand the value of our services," Priestess Xing explained.

"I swear on my mother's name, I shall reimburse Mother Tiamat for her children's aid," Will swore.

Will did not have much liquid capital left. He invested heavily in rebuilding the Kingdom of Icer, the Principality of Seyuet, and the Rhaziesian Empire.

Moreover, managing his economic empire cost millions. He had to have enough capital to pay wages, and purchase goods, as well as enough capital reserves for his banks, auction houses, and casinos.

Of course, this didn't count the massive mountain of coins he kept secretly locked away in his vault. Will refused to spend his life savings no matter the cause.

"Your oath has been excepted. Please schedule your payment arrangements with Mother Tiamat," smiled Priestess Xing politely.

Then the dragons transformed back into their hulking bodies. The black and white dragons soared into the air and were at once joined by a thunder of dragons that lit up the landscape.

"This is better than your fireworks," a Fermion noble told Will.

Will looked at the ruthless destruction impartially. The dragons' breath spread among the demon camps like a raging quenching wildfire. Nothing survived a thunder of dragons.

With the demon army decimated by the aerial assault, the Allied Army began its march northward into the heart of the Rhaziesian Empire.

After three months of marching through tropical, humid heat, and rainy winter winds the Allied Army captured Mistwood.

Captured might be misleading since the keep was empty and dragon fire had turned some of the walls to glass.

But the Allied Army didn't care, after three months of endless battles and ambushes. The Allied Army welcomed the fort's secure wall and gladly buried the demons' charred corpses.

While the Allied Army was set to the task, Emperor Jacques-Louis was moved to tears after returning to Mistwood Keep. He gently touched the granite block with his former soldiers' names carved in stone.

"Jacques, take 500 of your countrymen and go to the port city. Set another 100 to clean up Mistwood City," Will advised.

"Do you think myself and our men too emotional to fight?" Emperor Jacques asked to be hurt by Will's suggestion.

"No, I'm telling you what to do as your benefactor! Unless you want to break our contract, I need you to redevelop your empire as soon as possible.

Think. Why do you suppose you're the only sovereign left? They left to manage their sovereignties' reconstruction.

In a week, a construction team and your refugees from Fermion and the Great Eastern Empire shall begin returning.

Afterward, you can expect to receive weekly trade ships.

I've already shared our redevelopment plan with the construction team, but I need you to supervise the construction!" Will explained to the young emperor.

"My apologies. Yes, I'll do as you say," Emperor Jacques said calling for Mathéo to bring his horse and wagon.

Watching the young emperor set off, Will set off to explore Mistwood Keep. If he was lucky, the keep's library would be intact.

The first night in the Mistwood Keep was peaceful. A much-needed respite from the brutality of war.

All the soldiers and horses were wounded. Cuts, bruises, and bandages were clear on every soldier. Each horse had scrapes and scars.

By this point, all soldiers were battle-hardened veterans.

The next morning a troop of demons was spotted marching down the speed to Mistwood Keep.

Will guessed, these demons were reinforcement and were sent to help the former inhabitants fight the dragons.

Crown Prince Lukas sent the command to man the battlements.

The tired demons looked surprised to see the Allied Army flag flying over the keep.

The demon commander led his army to siege the city with haste. Unfortunately, their forces were not large enough to surround the entire city.

However, unlike the prior human inhabitants, the Allied Army was large enough to garrison the city and keep walls.

The poor siege compounded by the tired enemies led Prince Rolland to call the army to battle.

Despite the intense and chaotic battle, the rested and fed Allied Army easily won.

In the following days, waves of small remnant armies tried to retake control of Mistwood Keep.

Will wasn't sure what the dragons had done, but it was effective.

Cheers and excited voices reverberated each time a wave was crushed.

If a battle became difficult, wounded soldiers rose and grabbed weapons to fight.

Only one did a demon manage to climb the western wall's parapet. But the demons were swarmed by soldiers seconds later and killed.

As the soldiers fought safely from atop tall, think, stone walls; the nobles relaxed, and Will recovered inside the keeps taller, thicker walls.

Thanks to the medicine Priestess Xing gave him, his wound was finally closing. The ozone pus was long gone.

Will also felt his mind become clearer. With a clear head, he realized the sword wound left behind a fragment of Limos' power.

That was why the wound didn't close, Limos' power was the antithesis to his and that evil power inhibited his body's natural recovery.

Furthermore, he felt Limos' power affected his decision-making. Had he not been under the wound's effect, he would have never considered even briefly participating in Mammon's counterfeit scheme.

Outside Will's recovery room, Will watched Lukas pull out his sword as he ran a demon through the heart.

He then charged towards a squad of demons, flames erupting from his blade as he swung and decapitated a demon.

Flames erupted along the blade as he swung and cut at his enemies. He tore through shields and armor like they were paper.

He had adjusted well to his elevation in rank, and thanks to Sage Ming's abusive training he learned the introductory body strengthener spell [Flame Aura].

The demons caught on fire everywhere the sword hit. Bad images of a dragon breathing fire and using a similar spell, sent shivers down the demon's back.

This wave of demonic forces seemed more coordinated and larger in number.

"Banshees incoming!" a soldier in the watch tower yelled.

The banshees screamed when they were in proximity to Mistwood Keep. The soldiers fell, landing head first, covering their ears. So died in the attack, blood pouring out from their ears.

From his seat, Will watched Elder Thaddeus cast spell after spell bringing down banshees with ease, while Archimedes tore off a demon's arm with one snap of his massive jaws.

Demons fell back, tripping on each other, trying to get away from Archimedes.

Elder Thaddeus wore a malevolent smile, as he raised his sword over his head and brought down a powerful flame sword aura a kilometer long killing every soldier in his path.

Will heard a thud to his left and outside his window saw the top of a ladder falling into place.

Will called out, but there were no guards nearby. Only Micheal stood patiently next to Will's bed helping him routinely dress his wound.

Not seeing anyone Will cast [Arrowhead] at the demons trying to scale the way.

Like a machine gun, Will fired arrowheads like bullets killing the demons as soon as their hands peaked over the wall.

Yet, more demon soldiers were coming up to the battlements. Will stood up, his bandages peeling off his body, as he cast [Rock Golem] and [Iron Lance].

Rocky formed from wall stone, and he grasped his fingers tightly around his lance. He began fighting demons along the battlements and pushing the ladders back away from the keep.

Will heard demons scream as they fell back to the ground.

Then he heard footsteps to his right as reinforcements came to support the battle.

The soldiers marveled at the rock golem fighting against 20 demons and winning.

"Some of you men stay here and push back any ladder that hits this wall. We can't allow them to get a foothold on the battlements again," Will commanded the troops from his bed.

Suddenly an explosion rocked the walls and a fiery blast of air knocked Will out of his bed and slammed Micheal against the bedroom wall.

Will jumped up quickly and saw Micheal laying down, doubled over, unconscious against the wall.

Will looked outside and saw a demon pyromancer attack Rocky, was responsible for the attack that injured Micheal.

Will's eyes glowed a bright gold as he as [Rock Spike] sending a sharp stalagmite through the demon's groin up into his head.

Will had literary ripped the man a new hole, however his anger was still not satisfied.

But instead of fighting, Will walked towards his aging butler. Micheal had served him since was 14 years old. During those twenty years, Will had grown quite dependent on Micheal for many things and liked his company immensely.

Soon the fighting outside began to die down. As the demons fell the Allied Army's onslaught.

Will heard the Allied Army cheer, congratulating themselves are a hard-fought victory.

That evening, Will joined the rest of the Allied Commanders around Mistwood Keep's enormous table that dominated the room.

The table held a map of the keep and the surrounding lands.

The map went from Wolf Fang Fort to the northern mountains and the port cities to the capital.

Markers decorated the map, showing troop movements and supply lines for the Allied Army and demi-humans.

Crown Prince Lukas walked to his chair, on a raised dais, overlooking the table. He sat down and motioned for the other commanders to join him.

"Once the next shipment of recruits arrives, we move westward. We'll follow the dragon's path. The goal is to meet our demi-human allies in the Rhaziesian capital," the prince explained.