Chapter 208 War Preparations

"That bastard Nox. I want you to wring his neck if you manage to get the chance to do so." Ashtar grunted in response, but did not look at Vander.

"...What?" Vander paused in surprise. He had not expected that.

"That shitface, Nox. If I see him myself, I will put a curse mark on his heart. And I will make sure he suffers in the worst possible way!" Ashtar continued to speak.

Of course, he did not mean all of this, but was only ranting to contain his anger. Vander quickly realized this and simply kept quiet to wait until his father got over his momentary outburst.

After a few more spiteful words, Ashtar finally calmed down for the moment. He sighed and turned around to look at Vander and his other children that nearly reached twenty in number. A small part of him still felt that it was not enough.

"The invasion of the Central Continent will be brought forward by a month." He announced to all of them. There were a few of them that were still rather weak, but he did not care. They just reminded him of Lance, and then Nasir.

"What? Why?" Vander was surprised. He was supposed to lead a battalion of soldiers, along with a thousand Demonic Beasts, to raid certain areas of the continent when the invasion began. Hearing that the invasion was brought forward was something surprising.

"We had a leak of information, so we need to adjust our plans. We will strike before the defenders have the time to set up a proper defense. Prepare your men." Ashtar told Vander with a serious tone.

'',

"How did we have a leak?" Vander's face contorted.

"Nasir. That bastard threw away his life to warn the people of the Central Continent." Ashtar folded his arms.

"I knew we should have killed him back then. What about Lance and his friends?" Vander looked up at his father.

"I don't know." Ashtar shook his head.

"Well, that is quite sad. But there is nothing we can do about it." Vander joined his father to shake his head, but he did not get hung up over his half brother's death. "I will rally my men as quickly as I can, then fetch the Demonic Beasts from the Dark Plains." Vander bowed his head slightly and turned to walk away.

As he had done what he had come to do, Ashtar turned around to return to his castle, leaving his other children on their own. He did not care for most of them, as Vander was already guaranteed to succeed him.

As Ashtar went his way, Vander also did the same. He quickly left the large and expansive compound that held the castle of Demon General Ashtar, and made his way elsewhere. He would have needed to travel back to the Demon Continent in order to get a thousand Demonic Beasts, but thankfully, ever since they had settled here, they had been raising the strength of the Demonic Beasts that survived the Great Shift. Naturally, there were thousands of them left, but Vander only needed a thousand.

Right now, though, he was not going to fetch those thousands. Instead, he was going to organize the Demons that would be part of his force, and the slaves that would tend to their needs during their time on the Central Continent. This was a very important thing, and he could not be careless with his choice!

Soon, Vander arrived at a large house not too far from his father's castle. This house belonged to a rather popular Demon who he had fought alongside during the war that had been named the Great Shift. His name was Viktor, and he was a rather mental individual.

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Viktor had a penchant for torture, so his enemies most likely than not, usually died in pain. Viktor took pleasure in hearing the screams of his victims, which earned him the moniker, Screaming Scythe, during the war.

"Where is your master?" Vander asked one of the butlers that hurried out to meet him upon his arrival.

"I will take you to him at once, he is training at the back." The slave, a male Elf, bowed his head and said meekly. He then led Vander to the back of the large manor where a massive training field was made. The training field did not compare to Vander's, of course, but it was still rather impressive.

In the distance, Vander could see two dark shadows flashing across the field, and he immediately knew what was happening.

Viktor had a brother, Raiko, who was known as the Floating Shadow. The brothers were both known for their use of Shadow magic, but Viktor never emphasized on it, while Raiko did. The man was near untouchable by those weaker or on the same level as him. He could even make it hell for someone a stage higher than him to touch him, which was what gave him that moniker.

Vander watched the fight for a few more minutes before the two brothers eventually put an end to the fight. Both Viktor and Raiko were A rank fighters, albeit they were still rather weak, as they had only advanced after Divinity's Bout had ended. They had slowly been coming to terms with their new powers, and Vander was impressed to say the least.

"Are you two done?" The man asked when he saw that they had separated from each other and were no longer launching any attacks.

"Look what the cat dragged in..." When the dust cleared out, the figure of a well built man holding a scythe was revealed. Of course, it was easy to tell that this was Viktor, the Screaming Scythe. The other person remained silent, and his long dark hair fell over his eyes. He simply turned and made a small bow to Vander. That was Raiko, the Floating Shadow.

On first glance, Vander did not see Raiko holding any weapons, but he soon remembered what he had heard during the war. Raiko did not use weapons in the conventional manner. Vander's eyes trailed down a bit, and he soon saw several daggers laid out around Raiko's feet. With a flick of his wrist, the daggers all floated into his wide sleeve.

A smile found its way onto Vander's face. 'Oh, this is gonna be fun.'