THE PLAN AGAINST THE THREE KINGS
THE PLAN AGAINST THE THREE KINGS
"Well, you can ask Sara for advice on this", I told her.
"The solution is simple, let the enemy come. We attack the three regions at the same time at the borders and conquer their bloody pools one after another", Sara advised.
"I don't understand your plan? Shall we declare war on all three Kings at the same time? Can we afford to with our strength?" Aluva asked.
"Unlike the other Demon Kings, our purpose is not to capture territory just the magic from the Pools of Sufferings. We slowly make our way out from our territory and capture every pool that we encounter before destroying them. The other three Kings would suffer heavy losses with the destruction of those pools and come attack us eventually", Sara explained her plan.
"I thought the Pools of Sufferings are independent. How can a loss of those pools affect the Demon King's power?" I asked.
"Each of the Demon Kings possess a Great Pool of Suffering in their capital. All the Pools of Sufferings in their realm would contribute part of their magic to the Great Pool. That is why the Kings would not be concerned if pools of the warlords and clans changed hands because no matter who owns the pools, their magic still flow to the Great Pool", Lord Brathnok explained.
"But when we drained the Pools of Sufferings that we captured, the King's Great Pools suffered. We were not stopped early in our conquests because the King of the South already left Hell. There was no one around to hold us accountable for draining the Great Pool of the South. When we venture to the other territories, that would be a different story", Aluva added.
"According to your plan, wouldn't the three kings join together to invade us, wouldn't they? It won't be as simple as capturing pools from the kingless south, are we prepared to face all of them at the same time?" Eirot asked Sara.
"The Kings of Hell's situation is unique. They must situate most of their army in their capital city to protect their Great Pool of Suffering, so there won't be a large garrison to guard the borders and neither was there a need to do so before we came here", Sara explained.
"But once their borders are invaded, they will send out their army to stop the incursion, won't they? Especially if we destroy their pools," Lord Brathnock asked.
"The three kings of Hell do not trust each other. They will not send their forces south to invade us in case the other kings would betray their pact and attack them once their armies left their capital. That is the reason none of the three kings took advantage of the King of the South's absence from Hell to attack them even when the southern capital was virtually defenseless", Sara added.
"No wonder we managed to capture the South Capital so easily and unopposed", Eirot commented.
"So, the three kings will not attack us together because they are afraid of being betrayed by each other, is that what you are saying?" Aluva asked.
"So much for honor among thieves", Eirot added.
"Will the three Hell kings attack Salvation Fortress in the end?" Rinna asked Sara.
"They will when they have no choice", Sara replied.
"When will they have no choice but to attack us together?" Lord Brathnok asked.
"When we have taken more than one third of the pools of sufferings of each of the three kings", Sara explained.
"But why one third of their territory?" Aluva asked.
"Because by that time, our strength would be almost the equal of the three kingdoms combined. Eirot's magic grows by every pool of suffering she drains. If the kings didn't do anything by that time, they would soon be engulfed by our growing forces one after another", Sara told us.
"Either way we win", I told them.
"That is what I call a sure win strategy", Ratatouille added.
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[In the halls of the Great Demon of the North]
"My Great King, Sirroron the Great, the insurgents in the south have reached our borders and ravaging our land and our sacred pools, destroying it and draining its magic", a demon woman prostrated before the great king and warned.
The King issued a swift command to his guardian, who darted toward the woman.
The guardian, a monstrous fiend—a demon of twisted shape and grotesque proportions with a thunderous leap, lunged at the woman standing before the King, its enormous maw gaping wide.
Strangely, the mouth was not where one would expect—its gory jaws stretched open from the beast's belly.
The grotesque maw widened further, and with ruthless precision, it engulfed the woman's head, severing it without a trace of mercy. The demon's hunger knew no bounds. In moments, it had swallowed her entire body, consuming her completely.
As the last trace of the woman disappeared into the fiend's maw, the creature began to change.
Its swollen limbs shrank and thinned, its monstrous figure giving way to something even more unsettling—a curvaceous woman of haunting beauty, her appearance now the very antithesis of the nightmare she had been mere moments before, carrying three beautiful amber colored horns on her forehead.
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"I hate bad news, my dearest Concubine Swaye", the Great King Sirroron told the beastly woman.
"My beloved King, why have you given me a reward before I managed to serve you", Concubine Swaye replied to the Great King as she moved toward him and lowered her dress to reveal her breasts to him, pieces of the flesh of the devoured servant still dangling on her clothes.
"I am not in the mood for this right now. Go clean yourself first", the King said in his mind before he shoved her away.
The thought and image of the beautiful woman's former grotesque appearance was still fresh in his mind.
"If I didn't let you eat her, you won't turn back to your beautiful self", King Sirroron replied to his concubine.
"It is all the witch's fault. She shouldn't have given me the curse of advancement. I am becoming a gluttony", Concubine Swaye complained to the king as she swayed around him.
Suddenly, a woman walked into the great hall, wearing a golden mask with an enchanting figure accentuated by tight leather. She is worthy to be described as sexy. More than sexy.
The alluring figure walked toward the king and his concubine and spoke.