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In another few weeks, the Demon Horde had managed to conquer about 75% of the Southern Kingdom Alliance. The only major player left was only the Southern King of Ends with a few other smaller fiefs that were in the neighbouring areas.

Since the news had been kept from all the military armies that were present in Ends, most of them were restless but equally relieved that Ress did not attack them as stated in the provocation in their letters.

However, that did not mean the news of the Demon Horde surfacing from the south had been fully suppressed. Most if not all of the guest military battalions needed to send their report to their respective kings but Ends’ military did not allow them to do so. They insisted that they should be the ones doing so. This eventually sprouted the seed of suspicions in most of the guest generals that were in the Ends.

It was not as if the relationship within the Southern Kingdom Alliance was rock solid. Its just that they put this alliance up in order to stop decades old of infighting among the kingdoms. The younger kings believed they should team up as a whole and grow as one which eventually led to this alliance. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

However, this did not mean that everyone followed the philosophy of this alliance. In fact, some of the Kings in the Southern Alliance might take the chance to plot something scheming behind everyone’s back. The only difference is that this time around, everyone was united enough to see Ress as a threat and send the bulk of their military out to Ends.

They figured that this defensive operation against Ress would foster a better relationship between the kingdoms as well since everyone was sharing the load to defend the southern regions. Not to mention, they honestly hope to grab Ress mainly because if they do so, the other few kingdoms at its right and left would instantly bow down to the Southern Kingdom Alliance.

This could potentially change the name of the alliance to Central Kingdom Union which would allow the existing alliance members to be higher in the hierarchy of alliance rather than be members of equal status.

Thus, while the greed for Ress had blinded most of the kings, that does not mean they should show their cards right now. That is why when there had been no correspondence for a week or so, most of the Generals had the gut feeling that Ends was keeping quiet on something or they were controlling some information. So to be courteous in someone’s land, most of the generals had decided to send their swiftest and quietest soldiers to send the message to their respective kingdoms.

…Only to find that they never return.

Not only that, the generals noticed that there were streams of people coming to Ends, begging for entrance. Merchants and travellers should not amount to such long lines at the southern gates of Ends and this had prompted the generals to laterally demand for an answer. Continue reading stories on empire

The King of Ends could only say one word.

"Demons."

That was when the realisation came into all of the guest generals’ heads. "So, Ress was telling the truth?" One of the Generals asked and the King of Ends reluctantly nodded his head. He knew that he could not keep the generals here any longer. They had been eating into his coffers and resources just by standing by in Ends’ land but the news that had been brought back by his scout messengers was dire. Out of the 20 scouts, only 2 returned heavily wounded, bringing him the necessary information that explained the situation.

"The Demon Horde is coming from all ends and had annihilated most of the kingdoms. They are coming here next. My scouts had estimated their arrival to be about a week. Best case scenario, 2 weeks." The King of Ends said and the guest generals finally understood why he was keeping all the military right here.

It was not to show Ress that they had overwhelming numbers and deter Ress from attacking, its was because the King of Ends needed their military might to prevent the downfall of Ends. As despicable as it sounded, the King had made the right move to protect this sovereignty but at the expense of the rest of the kingdoms.

Should he successfully defend his kingdom, all those ruined kingdoms would be his for the taking. It might take some time but they would definitely be his without working on any political backstabbing. Not to mention, the soldiers and generals are now forced to be in this mess with him. They had nowhere to go, no king to report to.

And by saving Ends’ ass, they are saving themselves too which is something the King of Ends had taken into account the moment he executed the servants to derive the plan for survival. Initially, he was not worried that the Demon Horde attack could not be repelled but things changed when his scout messengers reported the situation at nearly the cost of his life, it proved that the Demon Horde had decided to let these two messengers go to send despair to the King of Ends.

He did not expect the destruction to be that great and now decided that bunkering down would be the wiser choice of action. As much as the guest generals wanted to take his head off his neck, all of them were rational enough to understand the gravity of the situation. Yet, most of them were still in denial or disbelief that such a thing was happening until the King of Ends showed them the evidence.

"It’s a warning." The King of Ends said but the generals who saw the evidence did not think that way. In fact, they were even more furious and resolute in defending Ends.

"It is a deliberate declaration to our kingdom alliance." One of the guest generals said as he picked up the evidence on his hand and started to shed his tears quietly. For what he is holding onto is the blood stained crown of his former king.