Somewhere deep underground.
Honestly, why does our meeting have to be so deep underground? It's so annoying to have to climb hundreds of steps every single time. A random guy says, climbing stairs which seemingly have no end, geared with silver coloured armour and an mostly average sword in his scabbard by his side, with the most noticeable thing about his sword and armor being a mana stone in the hilt of his sword and center of his armour, both filled up fully with a larger amount of mana.
It's to prevent anyone from listening in, your majesty.
Yea yea I got it, doesn't mean I like it.
…
A couple minutes later, the guy reaches a big round circle, with 3 seats in total, 2 being occupied by other people with crowns and an assistant standing next to each of them as the guy sits down on his designated seat with his assistant beside him.
You're late. A woman clad in white coloured armour along with a sword shown in his scabbard by her side, decorated with many valuable gems along the edge of the scabbard and hilt, along with a slight barely noticeable golden aura around her and her sword.
Aren't you used to it by now? A guy says, grumpily despite not complaining, with looks in contrast with the properly dressed and geared woman says, with himself being dressed in a simple shirt and pants, made to withstand high heat, being decorated with dust and burnt spots on them, with a simple hammer by his side instead of a magnificent sword such as the one owned by the woman.
Shall we start? The man in the silver armour asks, stopping their complaints shamelessly despite being the cause of it.
Very well. The woman answers with her golden aura vanishing as she relaxes.
Whatever. The man with the hammer answers, clearly not satisfied by the lack of the man's care for his annoyance
Very well, I shall lead the meeting. The woman says.
The main topic of this meeting is about the demon lords' revival and if I may assume, I believe you have all suffered at her hands?
Yes, that bastard killed all of the guards at my camp and stole all my prisoners.
Maybe it was for the better, you were torturing them all. The woman answers, clearly not happy with how the man with the hammer was keeping prisoners who were tortured before with the man not caring to refute.
She destroyed one of the mountains I had to train my army!
Indeed, evidence of her immense strength.
She had even spread dark mana poisoned air all around, making the cursed swamp’s range bigger along with the absence of a huge piece of land, leaving behind an immense amount of dark mana poisoned land, worse than even the cursed swamps, destroying some of our further lands.
But luckily, we the rulers of the three kingdoms are all here to discuss how to get rid of her. The man in silver armour says.
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What information do you have on her? The man with the hammer asks.
Patience, Cranzer, we will get to that soon.
Lucinder, you're the ruler of the holy kingdom, is she not your kingdom's worst enemy?
Supposingly so, but it seems she saved the dwarves from you, so my current opinion of her isn't as bad as you.
Ever since the old ruler was replaced, your kingdom has been a lot friendlier to non-human species haven't you?
So what?
Everybody, could we get back to her main topic? The man in the silver armour says.
Kisar, how about you offer your information first? You have the most mages related to scouting and wars afterall, you should have the most information.
Kisar, the man in the silver armour sighs, before nodding.
The identity of the demon lord is a succubus.
A succubus? Aren't demon lords typically their own race, basically an improved and much stronger demon.
Indeed, the reason for why the demon lord is the first woman and a succubus is unknown, but we have found her name to be…
Anise.
Anise? Do you have more information?
Indeed, she has 4 main subordinates, one Naga, one giant, one death knight and lastly a random humanoid demon with an ominous looking scythe, also the one we have the least information on.
Anything else?
Most of the demons are weak, untrained and lack proper weapons, so those 4 along with the demon lord are the demon ones we need to care about.
Very well.
Cranzer, do you have anything to add? You have been awfully quiet.
Not at all. Cranzer, the king of Cranze, the production kingdom replies.
Alright.
Where is the demon lord's current castle? Lucinder, the queen of Lucival, the holy kingdom asks.
The middle of the now much deadlier cursed swamps. Kisar, the king of Kislat, the military kingdom says.
What a pain, but I should be able to purify most of it on the way in. I've been meaning to do so for quite a while anyway since I need that piece of land for expansion, if you two have no objections about it. Lucinder looks at the two of them, both of which do not care, due to not being able to restore the poisoned land there without extremely strong holy magic, something mainly found in the kingdom of Lucival.
Very well, shall we conclude this meeting and meet again in a couple of weeks to discuss how and when to attack? Kisar suggests, either them both accepting quickly and heading off, back to the ridiculously long stairs on each side of their seats, which leads to a teleportation circle, rigged to blow if someone unauthorised passes through.
Back in the holy kingdom, Lucival.
Lucindar sighs, seated at her table with paperwork piling up due to needing to acquire funds for the upcoming war, food and to keep this all hidden from the citizens so as to not cause panic before they get ready and confident enough to win.
Lucinder starts writing a short letter, informing that the demon lord is back to the now retired hero for less than a year due to needing to keep fighting even after the previous demon lord died.
I wonder how the other heroes of the other kingdoms are doing and how many would be willing to return to war, but the hero of Kislat would definitely be willing due to craving fights against strong opponents.
What an actual pain…
The production kingdom, Cranze.
Damn it! Cranzer slams his table, letting all his paperwork about needing to increase their food production for his own citizens along with Lucival and Kislat, and needing more materials for weapon production all fly away, landing on the floor as the maids help to pick them up, placing them back on the table hastily so a to avoid angering him further.
That bitch made use of the dwarves to produce a weapon! I'll make sure that the demon lord dies!
The military kingdom, Kislat.
Kisar stands at his balcony, watching his hundreds of thousands of tropes passing back, training harder for war, each with enough strength to fight 20 civilians minimally at once and win, even if it's just barely.
I wonder if I can defeat the holy kingdom after the war. He thinks before shaking his head to himself.
No, even if they get weaker, they are no pushovers and all the weaker kingdoms will take advantage of our weakness, leaving me with less gains than losses.
He walks back into his room, increasing himself, going to finish the rest of his paperwork, with there being nearly none due to how he does not need to hide the demon lord return to his army or civilians, deciding to just lock the kingdom out, letting nobody in or out for the time being.