Located at the lower reaches of the Claudine River near Gabriels City of the Gabriel Empire was the Marcus River’s defense zone. At this very point, two main forces were engaging in a civil war. Princess Regnant Bella who commands her troops in alliance with the Sarnia Duchy was here to face the iron defense of Prince Angus. The result of this initial battle between them will determine the fate of the entire Marz Plain.
Prior to this, the Northern Alliance had already suffered a setback when they were attacked on both sides. Due to the retreat of the Ignaz family before the war started, Prince Fauer and Prince Glenard both were attacked back-to-back. The Southern Alliance that was under the command of the Blood Demon King Eleanor took advantage of their strategic location, which was at the highlands of Theodore, to launch a forceful attack using their air troops to suppress the Northern Alliance that was located at the valley below them. Under the heavy attack of their artillery, Prince Frauer who was afraid of increasing his casualties, quickly retreated.
Even though there were no betrayers from the inside of the Northern Alliance when they were battling at the Hansen Village, but the troop that was led by the Sky Demon King Doris and the Underworld Demon King Cornice proved to be very efficient in warfare. Moreover, the New Beastmen Sovereign have also personally sent over a team of Beastmen to the Hansen Village whereby every individual of the Beastmen were highly equipped in combat proficiency.
As the two alliances engaged fiercely on the outskirts of the Hansen Village, neither Prince Brad nor Prince Burdis was able to break into the Hansen Village as they were caught in the middle of a tug of war. It was also rather shocking for the Northern Alliance when they found out that the position of their trebuchet that was located at the rear of their formation was easily discovered by the Southern Alliance. Before they could even have the chance to use it, they were already heavily attacked and defeated by the heavy artillery of their opponent. Little did they know that the entire sky of the Gabriel Empire was covered by Demonic Eyes that were prying at all times.
From the very beginning of this war, the Southern Alliance had always been outwitting the Northern Alliance. The only way for the Northern Alliance to have an upper hand was if they were to attack the Southern Alliance before they were ready to engage in a battle or else, they could never defeat a well-prepared Southern Alliance.
Standing at the forefront of the battle at the Marcus River defense zone, Prince Angus and Crown Prince Daniel were closely observing the battle. Prince Daniel’s expression was one that was pouring with victorious joy because as far as he was concerned, as long as their firearms were rendered useless, the Southern Alliance would no longer have any means to fight back. On the other hand, Prince Angus who was much calmer thinks that Prince Daniel is still very naïve when it comes to his ability in warfare and that he couldn’t even match up to Grand Duchess Bellina of the opposing alliance.
“Prince Angus, the defense of those rebels in the Southern Alliance seems to have collapsed. Looks like the victory belongs to us. Let’s march into the Imperial City and make Kriss surrender the throne.”
“Please be patient, Prince Daniel. The army under the Sarnia Dutch was able to resist the millions of Beastmen until those Beastmen retreated on their own. It is highly unlikely for them to retreat so easily.”
“That’s simply because they have a high wall. At their current state, not only their highwalls, but even their firearms are useless. If we don’t send in our troops now, those two bastards, Burdis and Gleanard might beat us to the Imperial City and when they do, I might really lose my throne.”
Prince Daniel was so excited that he wasn’t able to contain himself. Under his command, part of the Northern Alliance began to cross the river. After watching for a while, Prince Angus thought that he might be making a mountain out of an anthill. While some of the Northern Army was crossing the Marcus River, a sudden change occurred. Bella, who was supposed to be escaping for her life suddenly stopped running and stood on her spot.
A loud sound thundered from the upper reaches of the Marcus River before a huge wave poured in from the sky, turning the stream into a heavy river. Apparently, the troop from the Southern Alliance that was stationed on the upstream of Claudine River have opened the water dam as planned. Since Bella and her army of the Southern Alliance had long retreated from the trench area, they did not suffer any significant loss even though the water had caused several of the trenches under the Southern Alliance to be flooded.
As opposed to the Southern Alliance, the sudden flood seems to leave a heavy impact on the Northern Army. As the soldiers that were marching under Prince Angus were all wearing heavy iron armors, their movement was slowed down and as the water rose to form a heavy river, many of his men were swept away by the strong current, leaving the front line in chaos. Although the use of the dam may be considered as an immoral act, Bella was a Demon King, and she has no care for the moral values of the human race.
Raising her knight’s sword, Bella commanded her army to charge forward. The soldiers of the Southern Alliance who were previously fleeing in all directions suddenly reversed their direction and took up their weapons again as they charged towards their enemy. Aside from being proficient in firearms, all of the Southern Alliance’s soldiers were also heavily trained to perform in face-to-face combat. Although many other empires would rather depend on their firearms, the Duchy of Sarnia under the guidance of Bella have a different approach for their soldiers. All the soldiers of this dutchy were trained with skeletons that were provided by the Darkness Sacred Region. Every one of their soldiers would have to defeat more than a hundred skeletons before they were allowed to join the field.
The knight’s sword that Bella was using belongs to the family of a heavy two-handed sword which would require the wielder to use both his hands to wield the sword. Since Bella was no ordinary human, she could easily swing the sword using only one of her hands. With her extraordinary strength, Bella took down the army from the opposition that was blocking in front of her with her terrifying weapons as if she were merely cutting some vegetables.
Even the heavy armor that the soldiers of the Northern Alliance were wearing could not defend them against Bella’s heavy two-handed sword. Within a short frame of time, many of the Northern Alliance’s soldiers were already slaughtered by Bella. Even the lost Demon King Hailey Layman decided to join in the fun. Hailey Layman had decided to use a whip as her weapon which Bella had never seen before and Bella did not expect for this loli Demon King to have such a sadistic way of fighting.
Hailey Layman’s whip moved as if it was alive and instinctively made its way into the gap in between the enemy’s armor. As soon as it was inserted into the gap, the whip suddenly took on the strength of a sword and instantly severed the limbs in between. The soldiers of the Northern Alliance that went against this loli Demon King would lose their heads before they even know how they lost them.
Under the command of their leaders, the morale of the Southern Alliance was high. The soldiers raised their spears and charged boldly towards their opposition which were the heavily armored troops of the Northern Alliance. Before the already chaotic Northern Alliance could organize an effective defense, the long-speared phalanx of the Southern Alliance had already charged in, disrupting the formation of the Northern Alliance. Many the armored soldiers were already stabbed to death by the long spears before they were able to raise their shield.
The swelling of the Marcus River did not last long before it returned to its original state as the water would not continuously flow heavily from the opened water dam. In between all the chaos, Bella was able to easily spot the Crown Prince Daniel who had donned golden armor. He stuck out like a sore thumb in his crowd of soldiers. To be wearing such a conspicuously elaborated item, one would be tempted to set him on fire.
When they sense that Prince Daniel was in danger, a few of the powerful Sword Sage come out to stop Bella from advancing. These Sword Sage belongs to the guardian of the original empire and a member of the Hilikas family; hence, their fighting skills were much more advanced than those soldiers that were in their iron armor. At this point of time, the morale and formation of the Northern Alliance have been disrupted as the Southern Alliance regain their higher ground. As they chased after and killed the soldiers of the northern Alliance with their long spears, the heavy artillery unit was also preparing their cannon to be used in the battle.
“Move away if you don’t wish to die. I have something to discuss with Prince Daniel.”
“Duchess Bellina, we won’t let you pass.”
“Your courage is admirable but unfortunately, you need skills to back up that courage of yours.”
Several sword forces intertwined together as the Sword Sages decided to join forces and launch an attack towards Bella. Before Bella could take any action against them, the Moon Demon King Gonias who was wandering around at a close distance made her move first. After she saw the lost Demon King Hailey Layman who was also part of the Twelve Ancient Demon King show off her skills, Gonias didn’t want to be regarded as a free loader. As such, she decided to also help out.
A white-moon-like entity appeared behind the Moon Demon King Gonias. This peculiar entity which looked like a crooked moon in the night sky was known as the “Moon wheel”, a treasured item of the Moon Demon King. The particular “Moon Wheel” starts to rotate in no fixed formation and before the Sword Sages that were rushing towards Bella could realize it, their bodies were already penetrated by a dozen ray guns that were shot out of the “Moon Wheel” behind Gonias.
The way Gonias were able to take down the Sword sage with just a few random shots stunned the entire Northern Alliance. For someone to easily kill a few Sword Sages in mere seconds should at least have the ability of a Magical God. Aside from the Sword Sages, the soldiers of the Northern Alliance that were standing in that direction were also killed by the powerful force from the “Moon Wheel”. None were able to defend against it and all that were hit, instantly fell to the ground.
“The Magical Gods, they have the support of Magical Gods, quickly withdraw!”
“Retreat, retreat! The enemy has the power of Magical Gods!”
The Moon Demon King Goonias’s attack was the last straw to the already overwhelmed morale of the army of the Northern Alliance. No longer willing to advance any further, the soldiers of the Northern Alliance began to retreat. Without the Sword Sage of the Hilikas Family that was previously killed by the Demon King, the Northern Alliance no longer have any means to stop the Southern Alliance’s Magical God’s attacks.
Prince Daniel took advantage of the chaos to cross the Marcus River and retreated to the Northern Alliance’s base camp. There were dead bodies of soldiers from the Northern Army that died during the battle lying on both sides of the Marcus River. While the Southern Alliance only suffered minimal casualties, the Northern Alliance that had lost more than ten thousand of its soldiers and was considered to be defeated. What was left of the Northern Alliance’s soldiers moved farther away under the command of Prince Angus so that they would not be within the range of the canons from the Southern Alliance.
When the Southern Alliance have finally finished setting up their artillery, the Northern Alliance have already retreated far away. The Southern Alliance may have been able to defend the Marcus River Defense Zone for this round while the Northern Alliance faced their defeat, however, the civil war was far from over since the Northern Alliance still had the strength of more than five million more soldiers with them.
If they were to solely rely on the strength of the human race without relying on the Demon Kings, the Southern Alliance would not have been able to cause so many casualties to the Northern Alliance in that short time frame. After winning that battle, Bella quickly began planning her strategy for the next phase even before the troops had time to celebrate. As for the Northern Alliance, after their devastating defeat at the Marcus River, they had found sanctuary at the Nicholas Fortress. There, they plan to regroup and fight again.
“Bella, it wasn’t intentional! I hope I didn’t steal your limelight away.”
“It’s fine Gonias, you have taken it all away from me. But it’s good too. By doing so, we avoided many more deaths at the battlefield.”
When the Moon Demon King saw the troubled expression on Bella’s face, she quickly apologized to Bella because even though they are both Demon Kings, subconsciously, Gonias were a little afraid of Bella and had since regarded Bella as the strongest Demon King. The Southern Alliance did not go after the Northern Alliance to solidify their victory, instead, they seized the time to dig more trenches to strengthen their defense system.
Actually, Bella did not blame Gonias for helping her because she knew that Gonias had already been holding back her strength. If she was to let out her full strength, Bella knows that Gonias was capable of easily wiping out tens of thousands of troops with a single ray gun. The fact that she only took out a few dozens at a time was already considered as a personal achievement for Gonias at controlling herself. In front of the Demon Kings, the millions of human beings that were not protected by magic were no different then a bunch of low-level skeleton soldiers and they could easily be wiped out with any move from the Demon Kings.
After the battle, at around noon, Kriss who was dressed in a princess outfit brought some of her people with her to inspect the front line. After seeing the mountains of the Northern Alliance’s soldier’s dead body on both sides of the Marcus River, she could no longer conceal her sadness because every single one of the Northern Alliance’s soldiers was also a part of the army that belonged to the Gabriel Empire. Instead of dying in a battlefield that was defending the country, they died meaninglessly in a civil war.
As there were more than five million soldiers that made up the Northern Alliance’s army, if they were to be completely wiped out, it would also mean a huge loss to the Gabriel Empire. Furthermore, the territories of the princes were passed through many generations before this, and these territories would only recognize their own prince as the sole heir. Even if Kriss and Bella were able to emerge victorious in these battles, they would still face some severe challenges when it comes to managing the prince’s territories.
“Don’t worry, Kriss. I will arrange for their funeral. Regardless of if they were from the Southern or the Northern Alliance, the casualties of this war will be compensated. I will arrange someone to bury them later.”
“Bella, I know that you are not bothered by the count of the dead bodies, but isn’t there too many casualties this time? Is there no other way for us to win?”
“I do have another way, but it will require those princes to retire earlier. Is it possible for you to write me a few edicts in the name of the princess?”
Kriss couldn’t bear to see the number of soldiers of the empire that were sacrificed during this civil war and she hoped to minimize the casualties from both the alliance. The best way that Bella could think of was to change all the princes that were commanding the Northern Alliance. The measure to remove the direct commanding officer of the Northern Alliance was similar to a “total annihilation operation” by capturing the leader before smoking out the rats.
Aside from this method, the only other way to disarm the army of more than five million Northern Alliance was to borrow the power of the Demon Kings to wipe out a large number of them in a flash. After Bella had spoken her opinion, Kriss slightly nods her head, acquiescing with Bella’s suggestion. After all, Kriss was technically the current nominally guardian of the empire which means that she wields almost the same power as a queen and has with her, the commanding power that an emperor should have.
There were some things that were not convenient for Kriss to speak out in public so she could only adopt this acquiescence method to express her understanding of Bella’s suggestion. Regardless of their actions, the princes were still part of the Gabriel Empire. Furthermore, if they were to look at seniority, these princes were considered as Kriss’s elders so she could not publicly execute them. Those cold-blooded princes may be able to do much worse but Kriss who was brought up as a princess was more demure and less vicious.
“By the way, Kriss, I had been giving it some thought. Our wedding ceremony should be held in the North. Since your father, my father-in-law may not be in the mood to preside over it, let’s just hand it over to the old man in my family to preside over it.”
“Hmm…. Hold on… Bella, didn’t you say that we were just having an engagement ceremony? How did it turn into a wedding ceremony? You… you are pulling weird tricks again. I… I am not ready yet! Isn’t it weird? Or, how about if we wait a while more?”
“Kriss, just trust me! I won’t sell you off. I just want to bring home the daughter-in-law for my father’s approval. If you refuse, I’ll just have to think of another way.”
Bella has already decided that after she had successfully resolved the war, she would take Kriss back to the Octavia Empire in the North, and discuss it with the father of Princess Felia, the emperor of the Octavia Empire to preside over the wedding. It would be great if he were to agree to it and it would also be interesting to see the expression of the emperor because when all the other princesses were bringing him back a son-in-law, Bella, the apparent princess would be bringing home a daughter-in-law for the emperor.
Kriss wanted to protest but upon seeing Bella’s serious gaze, she silently gave up. Her subconscious, the darkness personality kept advising her that it was the best chance for her to sneak away and if she missed this chance, she may have to face the Magic Dragon Knight Lisha as well as the other traitors. Under the coaxing of her darkness personality, the Myriad Sword Demon Krysan , Kriss no longer protests and acquiescence to her identity as the “daughter-in-law” of Bella’s family.
After receiving Kriss’s acquiescence, Bella returned to her palace in the center of the Belizegra Fortress in the base camp of the Southern Alliance that was located at the lower reaches of the Claudine River. She was going to have a discussion with the other princesses and the eldest daughters of the families. After all, the people that she was going to deal with were the elders of these maidens and it would not be proper to not give them a heads up. If they were to secretly find out in the future without her informing them first, they may hold a grudge against her.
The Northern Alliance army that was recently defeated by the Southern Alliance army has yet to be able to pick themselves up to organize another attack at the moment. As such, Bella’s absence from the front line has no impact on her troops but just in case, she had placed two special persons in command of her army before her return. The lost Demon King Hailey Layman and the Moon Demon King Gonias of the Ancient Twelve Demon King were placed to help her guard the Marcus River Defense Zone while she was away.
If the Northern Alliance were to engage in a night attack during Bella’s absence, she had allowed Hailey Layman and Gonias to deal with them using their Demon Kings force to which none of them objected to Bella’s arrangement. Even the lost Demon King Hailey Layman had somewhat subjected herself to Bella’s command.
The atmosphere at the Northern Alliance’s barracks was the opposite of those in the Southern Alliance’s camp. While Bella was in a relaxed mode, the ambiance here in the Northern Alliance camp was very depressing. After they were defeated in the first round of attack, they have actually lost their advantage to win the civil war. They would no longer get a second chance to attack and wipe out the Southern Alliance before the Southern Alliance could find a way around their defense. Now that the Southern Alliance has strengthened their own defense, the Northern Alliance was actually at the losing end of this “Civil War.”
The Northern alliance who had tasted the bitterness of defeat has finally understood what it means to be united. The three-divided army regrouped at the edge of Marz Plain in the Gabriels City. They plan to use this place to readjust the morale of their army and while they prepare for another attack, they were also waiting to see if the Southern alliance would want to negotiate with them.
Faced with the question of whether they should continue with the war, the three princes, yet again, had different views in regard to the matter. Even though they have regrouped under the Northern Alliance, the military spirit of this alliance was far from united. However, since the princes have all gathered together in one place, this will make it more convenient for Bella to make her next move.
