The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Besides these letters, there were also letters from many other small countries, most of which Linde had never even heard of. He could only write back while listening to Lucanus's explanations.

Besides the two kingdoms, there are many small countries, and even city-states, mostly scattered around the borders of the two kingdoms and in some remote and obscure areas.

Although the capital was still deceiving itself, most countries roughly knew what was going on and treated Lind as the king of the North. The content of their letters was similar to that of the nobles; a greeting was considered the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Linde replied to each letter as long as their attitude wasn't too bad.

As for the last letter, Lind didn't want to deal with it, but he had no choice but to open the envelope.

This is actually a letter from the state, but it was sent from the demon realm.

It's clear that the demons have forgotten what humility is. Even though they lost, they acted like victors, saying they didn't want to fight anymore. They even threatened Linde to transport all the flesh and blood back to the demon territory as soon as possible. Their words were full of arrogance, and they even called themselves God's chosen people.

However, these demons still expressed their intention to temporarily cease hostilities. They agreed to divide the territory as it was and live their own lives from now on. They even demanded that Linde disclose his technology and cooperate with the demons for the sake of peace. Their arrogant attitude made people wonder which side had actually won.

Then look at the surrender letter written by the demons when they lost to the Lars family. They even promised they would never leave the Eternal Frozen Land. These demons' words are like farts.

Moreover, according to the current territorial divisions? Linde is also preparing for a northern expedition to reclaim the Surd region and some surrounding areas illegally occupied by the demons. The so-called truce is just that neither side has the ability to launch another large-scale battle for the time being. Once either side has recovered, they will immediately resume the war.

So Lind simply wrote: "If you want it, come and get it yourself."

It refers both to the black chunks of meat and to the technology that Linde possesses.

Meanwhile, in the eternal frozen wasteland, surrounded by a blizzard, the Demon King's palace stood silently amidst the snowstorm. Its towering spires seemed to pierce the sky, their tips covered in glistening snow, resembling snow sculptures. The marble walls, adorned with frost, appeared even more austere, their smooth surfaces draped with long icicles.

However, the palace was very warm inside, as the entire hall was filled with special charcoal transported from the East and burned continuously throughout the day.

No one likes extreme weather, not even the hard-working demons who claim to live in the permafrost.

The warm hall was deathly silent, save for the roars of the demon king Antipas and the sound of his frantic footsteps.

The demon lord, kneeling on the ground, held the statistics of the losses from this battle, not daring to utter a sound.

The demon race has its own aristocratic system, and in the past two years it has been learning from and integrating human systems. Although the demon race claims to be the chosen people of God, even the concept of the chosen people of God is stolen from others, let alone the system. It is basically a hodgepodge of feudal aristocracy and tribal system, and most of them are just different names for the chiefs at various levels.

The title of "lord" refers to the peerage bestowed by Antipas upon his subjects and staff, and can also refer to most nobles.

"Gone, all gone! So many demon warriors! And the first mainframe we painstakingly nurtured that could be used in actual combat, and even many of the chosen demon gods, all gone!"

Antipa casually picked up a bloodstained shield decorated in the hall, bearing the North Wind Bear emblem, and smashed it straight onto the head of the demon lord. This was Antipa's favorite trophy, symbolizing that the demons had once again trampled the Lars under their feet.

But now the shield is so glaring, hanging on the wall of the hall as if it is constantly mocking Antipas's defeat.

Faced with Antipas's roar, the demon lord said softly, "Your Majesty, at least the experimental data is still there. With the support of the Demon God's holy remains, we can quickly rebuild an army, perhaps even stronger than the previous one."

The demon lord said cautiously, "God is on our side."

Hearing this answer, Antipas' anger subsided considerably. Indeed, the gods were on his side. Reason returned to Antipas's mind, and he continued to ask, "How long would it take to raise another demon god's offspring and mastermind?"

The demon lord immediately replied, "Your Majesty, there will be no chance next year at least. Both the experimental conversion and the training of warriors require time, but in just one year, we can have a much stronger army."

After all, we already have a successful case study; all that's left is to continuously optimize and experiment based on that successful case.

Although the successful cases are gone, the experimental data still exists.

Upon hearing this, Antipas's expression did not improve much, because the strategic objective had not been achieved; they had failed to capture the northern valleys and had even lost many warriors.

Adding to the strange potion from humans, the demon scholars haven't yet figured out a way to deal with it.

The demon scholars had already guessed that the so-called ancestral potion was holy water, but this guess was quickly rejected by the demon scholars themselves. Holy water is not something that can be found everywhere. If the only survivor of this war is telling the truth, wouldn't that mean that the human side has mastered the method of mass-producing holy water?

So what is the meaning of the existence of gods?

The demons now believe in the existence of gods more than any other race, because they have actually unearthed the corpse of a god.

In this respect, the demons are more devout to the goddess than humans are, at least more devout than a certain governor of the North.

Getting angry now won't help. The arrogant letter sent to Lind was Antipas' last act of defiance. Although they lost this time, they couldn't lose in terms of propaganda. The demons still managed to crush the human army, but because of the Demon King's mercy, they didn't continue their advance, giving humanity a chance to survive. This letter is the best proof of that.

Regardless of how the battle goes, winning is all that matters. If you lose on the main battlefield, you can look for opportunities elsewhere and always find a way to win.

The human army pursued in panic, and the demon army was annihilated in victory.

Antipas sat back on his throne and asked, "Has the sole survivor regained consciousness?"

"Your Majesty, we are working hard to help him recover, but the shock he experienced this time seems to be greater than the last time. We are still trying."

The only survivor was Daniel, who fled the battlefield immediately after being driven mad by fear.

Although running away was shameful, it was actually effective. Daniel once again demonstrated his traditional skill of escaping and successfully escaped back to the area controlled by the demons.

If the war had continued smoothly, Daniel's actions would have been those of a deserter, deserving of punishment. But now, Daniel has become a hero who brought back real battlefield intelligence, and the only survivor of the battlefield amidst humanity's frenzied slaughter.

Not only that, Antipa also planned to portray Daniel as a hero, since he was the only demon to return alive from the front lines. So what was actually happening on the battlefield? It was all up to Daniel to talk. With a little more packaging, Antipa could stabilize public opinion within the organization.

Antipas was indeed a great ruler for the demons. Even if he was lacking in other aspects, he was a master at manipulating public opinion.