"Five?! We only needed one! This is good!"

The Pope was ecstatic. Only one was the true Hero, but the others had elevated qualities as well. The main Hero had impenetrable defense and overwhelming offense. He could even use the fabled Lightning Magic.

The Priestess had high affinity to white magic in general and the Sniper had perfect aim. The Witch was proficient in black magic in general, while the Tinkerer crafted machines that helped in a pinch situation.

Several more months had passed, and Lord Beltos was already aware of the current events. The frontlines were experiencing a strange occurrence as the Kingdom's soldiers were fidgety. Some had heard rumors of a Demon Lord in their country so they couldn't help but worry.

But yet the Pope said nothing was wrong.

***

Lord Beltos had acquired a sizable amount of income. Even though it was slow, the merchants of the Empire brought a lot of money. The things Rotenburg produced were essential in war, after all.

He even decided to spend his money on more forces! Everyone was shocked but understood. The times were getting harder and he needed the support to protect his moneymakers.

He ended up purchasing some manuals on Golem making as well as Necromancy. It scared most of the citizens, but Lord Beltos only raised dead animals. Plus, they were creepier somehow than human shaped skeletons.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Maybe it was the difference in understanding? If it was human, then most martial masters would aim for the joints or weak points. Fighting animals is different.

Several citizens were in charge of maintaining the Golems. He even bought a person to produce more Golems over time. This way, the Demon Lord didn't have to buy more soldiers!

No, one could say that this purchase had that exact notion in mind. If Lord Beltos could raise corpses to fight for him, then he didn't need to pay for their food or clean up.

The same for the Golems.

The main group who spent the most time with Lord Beltos was surprised he didn't start off with them.

Esthervale was right next door to Rotenburg, so the overall size of Lord Beltos' domain had increased and wasn't so difficult to maintain or protect.

The best part was how close it was to the border of the Empire.

They even received some daring adventures that wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

When they saw the War Games for the first time, the visitors had no idea what to make of it. Once they sat down and listened to the rules, they watched again. Surprised with how focused they were, when the tourists returned to the Empire, they spread the word. Many travelers came to see and became fans.

"Go, Scale Guard!"

"Get ‘em, Mean Greens!"

The various teams all had different nicknames as they mock battled for the attention. If anything actually happened on the battlefield, powerful medicine and magic were at the ready.

This was by far the most profitable scheme yet. When someone in the group suggested team uniforms, merchandise was also mentioned. Everyone's eyes glowed as they imagined all the money.

Normally, the citizens would want money themselves so they could get things from other places, but these guys were different.

"We can just keep what we need, why be stupid like those other people and waste money?"

They were corrupted. It had been nearly nine months since Lord Beltos had arrived and he had already made a big splash in a little pond.

For money!