Anger was welling up from the pit of my stomach, almost making me lose sight of the matter at hand.
“Rein in your anger, Will. Right now, our priority should be to take back the borders from the demons.”
Guren suggested, crossing his arms before his chest while deep in thought. 𝓵𝙞𝒃𝓻𝙖𝓭.𝙘𝓸𝓶
“However, we aren’t in any shape to begin restoring order to the robbed lands.”
As we are now, the best we could do was simply maintain the status quo, not getting pushed back but forging ahead to take back the encroached grounds.
“So, Will, do you have any ideas on how we can retake the borders?”
“…”
Guren, who was angry earlier, was now looking at me with a pleading expression. The two heads were already grasping at straws to find a way to resolve the matter of the demon invasion; however, they were all lacking in power.
“…”
But the problem was that the situation could get worse. Back in the Otherside, there are dozens of god-level monsters around. I have no idea where Noir got the god-level demons he used to delay Zeshion and the others, but if he has some way other than the “gate” to pull the demons out of that place, then we’re basically checkmate already.
“… Fortunately, the one behind this hubris, Noir, doesn’t look like he’s aiming to destroy the kingdom immediately.”
Lady Luo muttered, hiding half of her face behind her red folding fan.
“It’s like he’s waiting for something to happen or someone to appear.”
That… It looks like he was really waiting for me. By the look of things, he must’ve already got the Royal Castle in his hands, so my secret had a high probability of reaching his ears.
Not only about me being the one holding the highest administrator privilege in the system, but probably even about the fact that I’m the current System’s Crowned Successor.
“…!”
As I recalled the term, I suddenly had an idea that we could use.
“Lady Luo, Guren, how about we…”
I explained my plans to them slowly. Although they were worried at first, noticing that it was the only way we could overcome this tragedy, they finally gave their seal of approval.
After that, the two moved fast. Writing letters, copying them hundreds to thousands of times, and sending them to various parts of the kingdom. Less than an hour later, the preparations were already done.
—
In a secluded room, in the middle of a shallow “pond”, I was sitting cross-legged. The water was rising to near my chest level, so it was relatively deep when I was sitting down.
The location was none other than the place where I was once restored and the place where I performed the Servant Contract with the Wan Sisters and Ying Yue. It was the Ceremonial Hall in the middle of the Seimei territory.
Although my upper body was exposed and wet, it wasn’t cold at all. I wonder why?
“…”
The only thing I want to mention is the number of eyes looking at me worriedly. Not only were Ember and the others present, but even Ying Yue, along with Wan Li and Wan Er, were watching.
Even Priestess Haruna was there, leading the other priests and priestesses as they busily moved around. It’s a little unsettling to be watched by everyone like this.
After a while of silence, Lady Luo and Guren finally entered the hall, walking straight to the edge of the pool with grim expressions.
“Will, all preparations are done. You can start at any time.”
Guren muttered with a guilty look on his face. To his side, even Lady Luo was sporting the same expression, her luscious lips puckered in a frown.
“Are you sure about this? I can only imagine the pain you’d feel from pulling this stunt.”
Well, if pain’s all that I would be feeling, then I don’t have any problems with it. After all, I was used to it from my training with the five regressors.
“Don’t mind me, Lady Luo; I’m already used to pain, after all.”
As if seeing the firm will behind my smile, she sighed before taking two steps back. Guren did the same and distanced himself from the edge of the pool, but he was still watching over me with worry.
“As soon as we deem your state dangerous, we’ll immediately step in.”
Guren warned.
“You don’t have an heir yet, so losing you here would impact both families greatly!”
Wait, so that’s what you’re worried about?! D*mn, and here I thought this b*stard was worried about me for a change.
Anyway, now that everyone’s ready, I slowly let myself sink into the pool, up until the water was right at my mouth’s level. Ah, I forgot to mention, but below me is an inclined bed, so I can just lie down peacefully while underwater, keeping my nose right above the water’s level.
Well, I’m saying water, but the liquid inside the pool wasn’t really water. Anyway, I let myself relax and took a small gulp. The liquid entered my body, circulated inside my stomach, and released a powerful wave of energy.
“Ugh!”
It feels slightly uncomfortable, but there’s no pain yet. I guess that’ll come later. As soon as I felt the energy from the liquid, the Energy Recovery Potion spread all over my body as I focused and used one of the system’s few new features.
“Status Augmentation!”
As soon as I used it, I could feel the energy that was overflowing a little earlier start draining away like water from a broken faucet. To fight it, I quickly took a few more gulps of the pool’s liquid, trying to balance out the recovery and expenditure of energy.
Of course, the target of the augmentation wasn’t the girls or anyone else in the room, but the roughly 10,000 succubus tamers who were all under a Servant Contract with me. That includes the 1,500 members who volunteered to stay by my side, remaining in the Debauchery Hall.
All of them, with the help of Guren and Lady Luo, were scattered equally across all battlefronts. As soon as I activated the skill, it was as if the air started vibrating. Even though we’re so far away, the effect of 10,000 7th to 8th stage tamers upgrading by one or two steps in power level was astounding.
In an instant, everyone went from 9th-stage to about half-step god-level in terms of power alone.
I moved my eyes along, watching the display above our heads. There are only four holographic monitors watching the most important points, the four cardinal directions. The feed was from a special crystal, the same that was used in the black card that I once possessed, but instead of recording, it was directly sent to a receiver and is being watched by everyone in the hall.
Of course, I can’t let my guard down. If I lose focus and forget to drink the appropriate amount of Energy Recovery Potion, then I’ll probably run dry in seconds.
‘This System Function is extremely useful, but the fuel usage for thousands of Servants is a little too big!’
Although I want to curse at my past self for saying that I can handle it, I guess seeing the girls literally sweep the demons on the battlefield was more than enough.
Still, it wasn’t as overwhelming as I thought. Apparently, the number of high-level tamers among them was a little too low. I’d say only about a thousand of them were at the 9th-stage, more or less 2,500 at the 8th-stage, while the rest are filled with 7th-stage down to 4th-stage tamers.
After the boost from Status Augmentation, everyone was feeling elated. It was like having a runner’s high, as they were getting excited as they ran around the field of demons, killing anything they got their hands on.
Furthermore, with the tamers gaining some boost, their tamed beasts and monsters also indirectly become more powerful. Especially those under tamers with some sort of buffing skill, their teams were literally sweeping straight across the battlefield.
“UOOOOOH!”
Excited cheers were raised from the observing priests and priestesses, rejoicing as they could see the demons near the pushed-back borders being cleared one after another.
Of course, I too feel proud that we are gaining some footing, but there’s one problem. The augmentation can only be used for roughly five minutes. Any further than that is already life-threatening.
In short, within that time, we should wrap up the battle and reconvene at the old defense lines, retaking all the areas that were lost.
In just the first thirty seconds, the girls were already able to push the tides of the battle, initiating a one-sided slaughter. The ones who were near half-step god-level, or demigod level for short, were the leading force, forging ahead with absolutely no fear visible in their movements.
Although the vision from the crystals was limited, we were still able to observe the general flow of the battle. In under one minute, they were already halfway through the encroached areas, approaching the borders. Everyone was performing beyond my expectations!