"On the way to the eastern borders, there are four significant territories that we want to keep an eye on. A large mine, a mountain fortress that provides good defences, another farmland and the small city of Ophet. If we can take this city, itāll open quite a few trade routes between the mines and farms. While there isnāt a teleport shrine in this city, it actually works in our favour since itāll be more concerning if the enemy could teleport into our doorsteps." Isilia explained while pointing it on the map.
"Since we can make our own, it doesnāt matter if a place has teleport shrines or not. If anything, we should aim for ones without teleport shrines." Shiro added on while sitting down on a chair.
"Seems like youāve finished talking to her." Isilia smiled.
"Mn, sheās agreed to act as a defender of the cities rather than join us on the front lines since itās safer back here. Plus, I can give her a few weapons to help defend the city." Shiro chuckled.
"What about her alliance with the other queen candidate?" Madison asked.
"Seems like itās more of a verbal agreement with some hostages probably. Weāll sort out the details with her in a bit. The main thing is that since itās probably a verbal agreement, we can work around a few things without telling Casia, the queen candidate." Shiro chuckled.
"Mn, thatās a relief. If she had a contract like the one you have with Nimue, it would be quite concerning." Lyrica furrowed her brows since she knows that Nimueās contract has it so that if she goes against the terms, she would essentially be killed forever.
"Indeed. But donāt drop your guard since we never know what could happen." Shiro reminded as Lyrica nodded her head.
"Anyways, since Shiro is here, I can finish the conquer plan for now. Since weāre going to be making our way to the eastern border, weāre going to first split our teams into four since everything on the southern border can be handled with ease. Weāll split the teams so that we are even in terms of offense and defence with Shiro handling Air Support. Iām sure you can probably snipe across the border no?" Isilia smirked as she glanced at Shiro.
"Itāll need some careful calculations but it shouldnāt be too hard." Shiro laughed.
"Perfect. Weāll have you running air support then and you can also act as our eyes in case anything goes wrong. The first team will be the one that conquers the mine. Since itās a mine, weāll need things to be on the careful side. Therefore, the first team will be Silvia and Chen yu. Both of them work well together and Chen Yu is single target while Silvia can buff him. The next is the mountain fortress, Aarim and Yin will be responsible for this one since they are both large scale aoe fighters. Aarim, Iāll need you to control the spells, including Yinās, so that you donāt completely obliterate the fortress. We know that their defences are strong so you two are probably the best choice for this.
"For Farm land, I want Lisandra to take it by herself since sheās a good all rounder type fighter. You can self heal so conquering it by yourself shouldnāt be a problem right?" Isilia asked as her understanding of everyone is what Shiro had told her along with what she had seen.
"Mn, I can take it. It might take a bit longer since Iām alone but it shouldnāt take too long." Lisandra nodded her head.
"Good. The final one is the city. Since itās a city, itāll naturally need more people to conquer it hence why the fourth team will have the most people. Madison, Lyrica, Helion and me. Weāll conquer the city. Once we conquer the city, weāve essentially made a bridge to the eastern borders so we need to keep things intact. Well, as much as possible since Iām sure Shiro will be able to repair the city if we damage it." Isilia chuckled as Shiro didnāt say anything other than nod her head since she had to repair plenty of cities back in Aria.
"Good. Letās get moving now then since itās still early in the morning." Isilia concluded.
"Akog, you can head back for now and inform Trisil and Balrog about what weāre going. Once we finish conquering the lands, you can probably go there and help us solidify our hold on it." Madison said as Akog bowed.
"As you wish. How should I contact you?" Akog asked.
"You can use this." Shiro smiled and threw the two of them earpieces.
Informing Akog on a few other small things, the party stepped out of the fortress as Balire followed them.
"Am I just protecting this place like usual then?" She asked.
"Mn, just look after this place and if you need help, contact me and Iāll teleport here." Shiro chuckled.
Nodding her head Balire watched as the party left in a car.
Letting Isilia drive, Shiro flew into the air and readied her sniper. Unlike the previous sniper, this one was a little different in that the range was much bigger and the power allowed the bullets to travel incredibly fast. Even over a long distance, the bullet would arrive almost instantly.
"Right then, shall we begin conquering the entire southern border?" Shiro grinned as Nimue only shook her head lightly.
{I pity those that have no idea whatās about to happen.} She muttered as Iziuel agreed.
###
Imari Nau, the rank 67th Demon Queen Candidate was the most influential demon in the southern border.
She had short black hair and wore black and silver armour. Her silver eyes would cause her subordinates to kneel in fear.
While she may be called the most influential, it was only because the higher ranks didnāt care about the southern border. It was near the human territories and it was sandwiched between the western border, the centre and the eastern border. Being the strongest here wasnāt much of a good thing since if the east or west decide to invade, she wonāt be able to do anything about it.
After all, the east is home to ranks 24 to 6, the centre is home to ranks 49 to 25 and the west is 66 to 50. Just a single candidate from those places would be able to come down to the south and conquer it in an instant.
The only reason as to why they havenāt is because of the fine balance of power they have. If that balance was broken, she would be eliminated.
Right now, she was currently pacing around with a frown since she had heard about rank 49 and 70 making an alliance which was potentially bad for her. Sure she was in a position where anyone higher than her could take over but itās not as though she was just going to let them.
āIf rank 70 is getting support from 49, I should probably nip this bud before it can bloom properly. If I let this be, they could knock on my door in a weekās time and take everything from me. Even if I will lose to rank 49, I wonāt let myself go down without a fight." Imari thought with a frown and looked out of her window.
Narrowing her eyes, she called for her assistant.
ļæ½ļæ½You called princess?" A young woman kneeled in front of her as Imari looked down at her.
"Gather the army, weāre going to fight rank 70 Balire. We canāt let her alliance continue for longer." Imari said as the young woman furrowed her brows.
"But if we do, itās akin to declaring war against rank 49."
"Even if we donāt move, itās only a matter of time before they come knocking on my door. Iām not letting myself get eliminated without a fight." Imari frowned as the young woman nodded her head.
"As you wish."
But before they could leave, a winged demon charged into the room.
"Report! The Galard Mines, Biac Mountain Fortress, Rels Farmland and Ophet city are being attacked!" The demon shouted out.
"What?! By who!?" Imari widened her eyes.
"We donāt know! All we know is that two people are at the mines, two at the fortress, one at the farmland and four at the city! Weāre not able to harm them much less stop them!" The demon reported.
"The hell!" Gritting her teeth, Imari didnāt know which higher ranked queen decided to claim the southern border but with only two demons going to one land, itās clear that theyāre more powerful than average.
"Gather everyone! Weāre going to fight them!" She commanded before storming out of the room.