Chapter 149: A Change Of Plans!

Dark Lord's POV:

It has been over half a year since I left the 1st continent to deal with those cretins, and I am now on my way back to finish my conquest of the 1st martial continent. I had to delay it, due to a lack of manpower brought on by some issues that arose on the 2nd continent, but thanks to the dowry my precious Noxy gifted me in our last encounter, I had no problems putting those fools in their place.

I can't wait to see her again. The moment I finish my conquest, my first order of business will be to scour the land for my beloved. If I am lucky, we might be able to hold our wedding as soon as her birthday. Just thinking about it makes me giddy with excitement.

"My lord! We will soon arrive on the 1st continent!" One of my men spoke.

"Good! As soon as we arrive! We will begin our attack!" I declared.

"Yes, your lordship!"

I had thoroughly planned our conquest, before even setting out to the 1st continent.

We would first target the two largest sects on the continent, the Hollow sect on the western edge of our border, and the Qi sect on the eastern edge. Since these two sects don't make much contact with nearby nations, it will take the other countries longer to realize their downfall. In that time, I will quickly move my army of nascent souls through the Equestrian Mountain range to launch a sneak attack on the Ryu Empire.

As the Mountain is infested with Unique-grade beasts, no normal army would be able to cross it, but that is only by the standards of this continent. An army consisting of nascent souls could easily cross such a dangerous area with only a few casualties. By then, the news of the two sects' downfall would likely have come to light and the Ryu Empire would follow not long after, which is why I would need to quickly launch an attack on the Chou Empire from the Ryu empire.

If they have realized the Qi sect has fallen, the Chou Empire might assume they are my next target, meaning they might focus more of their forces to protect their southeastern borders, possibly even transferring some manpower from other areas, such as the northeastern border with Ryu. Though, even if the border patrol is not weakened, it will hardly make any difference as my forces can easily trample a force scaled to defend against the forces of the Ryu Empire. Of course, this only applies if we strike before they have time to strengthen their defenses in the northeast.

Though their army is no match for my own, with the manpower needed to maintain control of our new territory, along with the exhaustion from the journey so far, it would be problematic if we had to face the full force of the Chou Empire all at once. Hence, in order to not give them time to prepare, I would need to rush my assault on their border before the news of the Ryu Empires downfall spreads too far. Then, only three countries remain, and the one I will conquer next would be the Hi Empire.

Out of all the countries we share a border with, it is the only one we have an official peace agreement with. Hence, they will likely be the ones who are most hesitant to engage us in battle. However, it is only a matter of time before they form an alliance with the other countries and turn their blades against me. As I would have no way of knowing when they might turn on me, it would be best to conquer them before they get the chance to strike. Once that has happened, I will just surround the Lin Empire on all fronts before cornering the Kingdom of Kai.

Once that is done, the only things left will be the remaining vassal states and sects who would be too weak to resist my command anyway and would have no choice but to bend the knee. There might be some small resistance or insurgents who will try to cause trouble, but it shouldn't pose much of an issue as my subordinates have had plenty of experience in dealing with such matters over the years. The only concern would be if they have the required manpower to suppress an uprising, but as long as we take out most of the strongest enemies in our conquest, it should not matter.

Once that is all done, I can just place a continental-wide command to capture my beloved. Even though she can change her appearance, I doubt she could keep herself out of trouble for long. When that happens, it will be only a matter of time before I catch her.

"We will arrive on the border of the Qi sect shortly, and we have received word of our other forces arriving at the border of the Hollow sect!"

"Good we will begin whe-!"

"My Lord?"

"There has been a change of plans! Have all our forces reconvene around the southwestern region of our territory!"

"What? But my lord! Was it not your intent to begin our unification of the continent as soon as possible?"

"That is of little importance now!"

"My Lord?"

"Hehehe! It is the first time my Noxy has gone out of her way to ask me on a date like this! I dare not keep her waiting a moment longer, for fear of her getting cold feet and hide herself away once more!" I spoke, as I could feel the location of her engagement ring.

"To think, you would miss me so much, you would reveal yourself to me of your own volition! I can never quite figure out what goes through that head of yours! Hehe!" I mused to myself.