A large barren field sat somewhere near the border of Aberis and the Ost Republic. Two large armies were sitting on either side of a wide no man’s land. They were lined up and ready to charge, but were holding off for just a bit longer. If the two armies collided, it was hard to say which side would win. Prince Edward had done his best to gather as many people as he could here. However, the armies that should have made up the difference in this battle, the former armies gathered by Deek, were nowhere in sight.

The primary group here were those who were close allies with the throne, the border patrols, and the armies maintained by General Tibult. It was a decent army, but the enemies were made of Osterians. There was a saying that it took three humans to match one Osterian on the battlefield. This was perhaps an exaggeration, but there was no denying their battle prowess. When it came to a full on battle, major losses were inevitable.

Thus, Prince Edward was unwilling to give the order to invade. He was unwilling to push that last line. He had been waiting for several hours for something, anything, to end this standstill. In fact, at this point, if Eliana had married into the Ost Republic and appeared on the border, Prince Edward likely would have folded, and the king of the Ost Republic would have succeeded in ending this conflict for now.

After all, his plans for world domination had been delayed thanks to that foolish princess and that dumb lord. He had lost the soul he had wanted, and new plans had to be made. It was too early to start a conflict now that he didn’t have that god soul. Thus, he had planned to end this confrontation through manipulation. He was good at biding his time. Of course, the humans didn’t know he was the reincarnated demon lord, and even among the Osterians, only the higher generals even suspected his true form.

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“How much longer until this wedding is over?” Demon Lord Aberis demanded in an irritating voice.

“Patience, my son. You will have everything you want soon.” Xin stoically responded.

Deek had once accused Xin of being turned into a mindless puppet controlled by King Xerin, but that was only partially true. A complete puppet would need to be controlled at all times. This was far closer to brainwashing. The original Xin was still somewhere deep down inside, but that part of her was inaccessible. When Xin had to face the worst things that Xerin made her do, her face grew slack and her mind grew dim. This was likely some instinctual mechanism that she did to cope with the horrors of her current reality. It was the only part of her original personality that remained. Of course, the demon lord didn’t see any reason to fix the misconceptions about such a thing.

Aberis shook his head. In a few more hours, he’d be able to return home. Then, he’d begin work on Eliana’s child, turning it into the incubator he needed to harvest a new god soul. He couldn’t wait to see the surprised look on General Draven Nova’s face when he sticks it into his pregnant wife, only to have his soul sucked out into her baby! Then, it would just be a matter of allowing the baby to be born and consuming its soul. He might not even wait. Consuming mother and child alike suited him just as much.

He wouldn’t have to wait another sixteen years as he had feared. He could have the soul he wanted as soon as next spring! Everything he desired would become his!

At that moment, directly in the middle of the battlefield, a portal opened. Out stepped a man and the end to all of Demon Lord Aberis’s scheming.