The following days passed slowly, but days soon turned into a full week.
Percy’s relationship with Louis improved again – he hadn’t even known that it was strained until the Demi told him about his struggles. Louis had been increasingly curious about the Beastmen’s freedom. At first, Percy didn’t know what that was all about, but he quickly realized that the Demi didn’t consider his current situation as freedom.
In the back of his head, a small voice told him that he was still imprisoned and that his new prison had a fancy name. He would never be free, and Percy was taking advantage of his weakness.
Louis didn’t want to believe the voice in his head, but as Percy spent weeks in the Beastlands, Louis realized that he had no idea about freedom. He was not enslaved anymore, but he had been forced to stay in the capital to earn coins via guild missions. He was treated a little better after slavery had been abolished, yet the situation was not entirely good. Louis was still struggling, his mind's voice reminding him of the worst possible cases and that they would come true at some point.
Louis didn’t want to believe the voice in his head, but the voice belonged to him. The tiny part in the back of his mind told him to be careful, to stay vigilant, and to never fully submit to someone else…not even the young man who had rescued him and his sister when they needed help the most.
After talking to Percy the whole day and occasionally in the following days, the voice in his mind dispersed. Louis learned all about freedom and that he could leave whenever he wanted. Yet, the young Demi also understood to take responsibility. He comprehended what it would mean to leave the capital, maybe even the Kainesh Kingdom, in times like these. The freedom he sought wouldn’t last long. The Devil and his forces were ever-present, ready to conquer the mortal realm.
Louis would lose his freedom again if the demonic forces emerged victorious. He had to fight for his freedom. To enjoy it properly. To ensure his sister was safe and sound. To repay Percy for everyone he’d done to help.
Percy was glad he could help Louis get back on track. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to enjoy it.
Two weeks full of reports from the frontline hinted at various good and bad changes. The good news was that the Moonlight Wolf Cards worked much better than the Imperial Head had hoped. Lunar mana was highly effective against Demons. It clashed with the Demons’ Essences and tore them apart slowly. It was especially useful when used through [Lunar Manifestation].
This was great news, especially when his father decided to tap into his savings and fund The Anti-Demon-Card-Creation project. Percy consumed the corpses collected and stored by the Kingsguard and Imperials before devouring his father’s funds. The latter was far more valuable, but both sources of Prosperity and growth were important.
Percy Invested all Prosperity, spending more than 300,000,000 Prosperity on Ego-enhancing and evolving Moonlight Wolf Cards. In fact, Percy went as far as to evolve a Silverheart Hound twice, transforming it into a Moonlight Wolf first, before upgrading its’ Potential to [Evolved⭐⭐⭐] to evolve it into the Prince of the Moon, a massive, silver wolf that ruled its pack with bravery, and the power of good.
One of the Augmentations Percy unlocked in the Prince of the Moon Card was called [Moon’s Champion]. It was expensive to upgrade but worth the price. The Augmentation elevated all lunar abilities and Augmentations of all allies in the Cardist’s range.
Since the Imperial Head was given the Prince of the Moon, the Imperial’s power skyrocketed.
Percy ranked up only once as he focused on his businesses, trying to earn a fortune while Ego-enhancing Moonlight Wolf Cards on the side for his father, but his rank up wasn’t what was the most important.
The crucial point, the greatest advantage of the last few days, was that the Imperials attained low mastery of their new Augmentations, which were the perfect means to fight the Devil’s demonic forces efficiently.
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It worked so much better than expected and would have changed the tides on the battlefield if the bad news hadn’t been announced.
The Imperials eliminated more Demons than ever but had more enemies to fight.
News reached the Kainesh Kingdom that flying Demons, mostly Archyeas, crossed the Milhorn Mountains every day. They numbered in the hundreds and returned with residents of the neighboring kingdom. The aerial monsters summoned by dozens of Cardists to scout the area discovered the Archyeas less than two weeks ago. They could have been crossing the Milhorn Mountains for much longer already, kidnapping the citizens of the adjacent kingdom, but nobody was certain about it.
All they knew was that hundreds of Archyeas visited the neighboring kingdom daily to kidnap as many humans as possible. The humans disappeared in the Moonlight Forest and were never seen again. However, the Kainesh Kingdom’s forces discovered a steady increase in the demonic forces’ numbers. Even the Demons’ power increased slowly.
More Archyeas, and even Byals, larger winged Elite Demons, emerged from the Moonlight Forest to cross the borders and kidnap defenseless humans.
It took eons until the news reached Percy, but after hearing King Phillip’s rage-filled roar one evening, he learned a lot about it.
The neighboring kingdoms finally acknowledged the Devil’s danger. At last, the threat in the Moonlight Forest was ever-present to the surrounding kingdoms.
However, the situation wasn’t as pleasant as Percy had been hoping for. Under normal circumstances, one would think that the neighboring kingdoms would offer support and reinforcement to aid in the all-out war against the Devil and his forces. But that was not the case.
The surrounding kingdoms demanded to know what was happening—which they should have already known given the dozens of letters and countless tries at communication via magical devices—and blamed the Kainesh Kingdom for their actions even though it was apparent that the Kainesh Kingdom was not at fault. Yet, the kingdoms blamed them, saying they were in cahoots with the Devil.
It was no surprise to find King Phillip overflowing with rage the day he found out that the surrounding kingdoms wouldn’t deploy reinforcement and that they blamed the Kainesh Kingdom instead.
“The only ‘reinforcement’ we receive from our neighbors is the protection of the lands behind the Milhorn Mountains. These idiots from Braeston finally stopped ignoring their subjects’ pleas for protection. The Archyeas and Byals crossing the Milhorn Mountains haven’t returned for two days now,” Percy heard the Minister of Defenses saying when he joined the war meeting in the Hall of War.
The Hall of War wasn’t anything special. It was a large room in the royal palace, with shelves filled with the Kainesh Kingdom’s history of war, detailed maps of the mortal realm, and so forth. Important to note was that the Hall of War was only used in desperate times and the state of war.
The Kainesh Kingdom was both desperate and at war.
“While that might seem good, Braeston’s lackluster attitude already caused more than enough damage. The Demons’ surge in numbers and power started after the Archyeas and Byals returned from their hunts in Braeston. The Devil is clearly using the humans to nourish Infernal Lairs, and it worked. Too well,” The Minister of Finances muttered. She sighed deeply, “Everything would have been perfect if Braeston had listened to us. The Imperials' increase in strength would have changed our odds, giving us the edge.”
The King nodded slowly, his face worn, dark eyebags highlighting his pale complexion, “Now we have to deal with the neighboring kingdoms’ wrath. Our greatest advantage is that we gave the letters to their ambassadors in the capital. We warned them more than enough, and we have the ambassador’s seals to prove everything.”
“But it is not like they cared about something like that. I think they’re looking for a reason to attack,” The Queen said in an icy tone.
“The only good thing is that we’re not at war with the Beastlands this time. The greatest threat to the neighboring lands is on our side at this time.”
Percy listened intently, a faint smile blossoming on his lips as he heard the final piece of news.
“The Beast Legions arrived at the border. They’re on their way to the frontlines,” Someone Percy had never seen notified the war council, “The Beast King is leading them…and…reports say that he is out for blood.”
The King laughed. It was a hoarse laugh, the first after many exhausting weeks.
“It’s a good thing that he’s not after our blood then.”