Since the end of the war, Adrian Empire’s imperial family had lost their power and been limited to the imperial capital. The areas outside it were controlled by a few big aristocrats. The three big tycoon clans each supported one of those big aristocrats. Clyde’s main opponent was the Douglas Clan, which had monopolized Adrian Empire’s trade and supported Prince Rockefeller.
At present, Prince Rockefeller was the aristocrat with the largest force in the Adrian Empire. He himself had over 200,000 troops under him, and Grand Duke Clodia, his blood-related kin, had over 100,000 troops. Their 300,000 troop alliance could pose a threat to the Adrian Empire’s imperial family at any time. Grand Duke Clodia was one of the rare female grand dukes in the Victor Alliance. Famous in the human nations of Ximengsi Continent, she was also a close girlfriend of Earl Winissa.
The Stuart Clan monopolized the empire’s iron ores and weapon forging places. The big aristocrats they supported were Grand Duke Hilton and Grand Duke Melville, who were maternal male cousins. The former had over 150,000 troops, and the latter had roughly 120,000 troops, making their alliance the second-largest force in the Adrian Empire. They appeared united but were divided at heart, so they couldn’t challenge Prince Rockefeller’s dominant position.
The Moreston Clan to which Clyde belonged in name monopolized the empire’s grain trade. The big aristocrat they supported was Grand Duke Alvah. This grand duke had roughly 130,000 troops. Because of his old age, he was quite conservative and generally didn’t take the initiative to attack, simply conserving his strength as much as possible. Compared to the other grand dukes, he seemed much weaker, which indirectly caused the Moreston Clan to be bullied by the other two tycoon clans.
The big aristocrat who had dispatched over 50,000 troops to assist Marquis Charles was likely Prince Rockefeller. After all, both he and Marquis Charles were supported by the Douglas Clan. However, since the reinforcement troops hadn’t raised any flags, Clyde’s side could not draw a conclusion. Perhaps, he had hired mercenary groups. As long as one had enough gold, recruiting tens of thousands of mercenaries was not impossible.
In the commander tent at Seig Pier, Clyde browsed through the information about Adrian Empire’s big aristocrats while bullying the white lambs around him. Princess Saras luckily escaped in time and avoided being dragged into this wicked wild party. Earl Winissa and her close girlfriend Housekeeper Norma weren’t so lucky since they had woken up rather late. Thus, the devil had caught them and directly tore their thin shirts into shreds.
Winissa and Norma snuggled on Clyde’s left and right e, letting this devil hold onto their slender waists. The unicorn Zhenni in humanoid form bore the attack of this devil’s ominous beast. Her physique was much better than a human’s, so she could persist longer. Zhenni’s gaze blurred, and the white marks at the corners of her mouth were obvious. It was difficult to associate her with her true unicorn form that symbolized purity.
Miss Kanna and the other womenfolk prostrated themselves side by side in front of Clyde. They had lowered their heads, licking the water from red plates. They seemed to be accustomed to this kind of shameful play according to the strange water stains on the carpet. The devil slightly waved his hand, and Kanna and another white lamb crawled over with red faces. They then lowered their heads and kissed this devil’s feet that casually stepped on their elastic bosoms. The war trophies didn’t dare to complain.
“Winissa, aren’t you and Grand Duke Clodia close girlfriends? Tell me everything about her!”
“Mas… Master, I… I’m not too familiar with her… Wu! Don’t… Don’t pinch! I’ll speak… spare me!”
“Winissa, you will be punished if you are dishonest. You should know what I mean!”
“Mas… Master, I understand; please forgive me! Next time, no, no! There’ll be no next time.”
Winissa’s face became redder. In the beginning, she had tried to avoid this sensitive topic as she hadn’t wanted to betray a close girlfriend a second time. Last time, she had secretly assisted Clyde, making her close girlfriend, Housekeeper Norma, fall. She had still not overcome this guilt, so this time, she truly didn’t want to dig a pit for Grand Duke Clodia. However, her struggles were useless in front of Clyde. On the contrary, it stimulated this devil even more. He lightly pinched Winissa’s bright red alluring buds, and she had no choice but to confess everything to this devilish master. Norma and Zhenni blushed at one side; they wanted to help but were unable to do so. At this moment, they couldn’t even protect themselves.
After stabilizing Olm Fortress’s defenses, Steinbeck Fief’s army set out the next day from the western Ord Castle towards the center of the Needham Plains. Regardless of which big aristocrat had sent over 50,000 soldiers as reinforcements, Clyde intended to destroy them as enemy troops. In any case, the other party hadn’t made their true identities known. If they were killed, they could only treat it as having bad luck.
At dusk with the setting sun, the sky looked blood-red. When Steinbeck Fief’s army finally arrived at the Summy Plains near the center of the Needham Plains, they encountered Marquis Charles’s troops at combat readiness. These were the over 50,000 reinforcement troops sent by that mysterious big aristocrat. The other party had already finished pitching camp, so the best time to launch a surprise attack had long passed. They could only directly attack.
Princess Natalie, the highest commander of Steinbeck Fief’s troops, wore silver knight armor with a blood-red cross hanging on her chest. Contrary to the golden cross of normal paladins, she wore a blood-red cross, representing fallen paladins. Now, Princess Natalie didn’t avoid the truth, admitting that she was a fallen paladin.
Princess Natalie leaned forward slightly, sticking her knight sword into the ground with her hands on the hilt. As the leaves scattered around her emitted a white radiance under the setting sun, a beautiful scene formed. Afterward, Princess Natalie turned her head and looked behind her at the true ruler of Steinbeck Fief’s army, her master Clyde.
His attire was quite casual. He wore a grey cloak that covered half of his face. According to him, he was dressing like this to conceal his identity and increase the pressure on their enemies. Like this, he had an air of mystery, and the black feather around his collar indicated his camp. Clyde had disguised himself as an Undead Shaman, holding a skull magic staff used especially by Undead mages in his left hand. Mist swirled around the magic staff, and from the skull’s four fangs, it clearly didn’t belong to a human.
This magic staff was absolutely genuine. Clyde had specifically borrowed it from Princess Annie before setting out. It was an Undead magic staff that belonged to a top-notch Undead Shaman, a Shaman Demon. As for that skull, it belonged to a Shaman Demon. After he had sacrificed himself, his skull had been added to this undead magic staff. Bringing it was equivalent to bringing along an Undead Shaman Demon. After Princess Annie had surrendered to Clyde, she had lent him this precious treasure to show her sincerity. With Clyde’s level, he could use this weapon without any problems. As for whether it was useful and whether he could bring out the weapon’s greatest effect, that was hard to say. In any case, as long as it could make him look handsome, it would be enough. Its utility didn’t matter.
“Master Clyde, you… do you plan to do the job yourself this time? It’s fine to leave it to us.”
“Natalie, continue to command the army. There’s no need to care about me. Just treat me as the army’s magician!”
“Understood, Master.”
Natalie looked at Clyde for a minute. After determining no obvious fluctuations in his tone, she gave up on guessing her master’s true intentions. Instead, she focused on commanding the troops to prepare for battle. This time, Steinbeck Fief had over 20,000 troops but had to face Marquis Charles’s over 40,000 troops and his 50,000 reinforcement troops. The difference in their number was more than four times. From the very beginning, Clyde’s party had been in quite a passive state.
As for Clyde’s monster army, to be vigilant against surprise attacks by the underground ratmen or the ratmen assisting Marquis Charles, they couldn’t be dispatched for the time being. Princess Natalie observed the overall arrangement of the other party’s basecamp and prepared to issue her orders.
“Natalie, wait a moment! There’s no need to be so hasty! Wait until the sunset before attacking.”
“Master Clyde, the enemy has already finished deploying their defensive fortifications. After sunset, there might be a problem! You…”
“No problem. Let them stay in their basecamp for the rest of their lifetimes! I want to test a few magic spells I learned from Annie. It’s only suitable to use them in the dark. Do you have any suggestions?”
“No… no, you have the final say on when to attack! I… I’ll just standby here.”
