The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Claire has disappeared.

When Lilith recalled Nora and ordered her to have people monitor and control Claire, Claire had already disappeared.

The position of palace guard is very important, but that doesn't mean it's mostly a sinecure.

If Claire wanted to be lazy, nothing would happen even if she drank tea and danced every day.

Besides, Claire couldn't possibly lead a patrol of the palace herself. Assigning tasks every day and arranging the duty personnel and the weapons and equipment of the palace guards was already doing her job well.

So even though Claire had been missing for some time, the palace guards continued to carry out their missions according to the plan she had left behind, completely unaware that their superior had disappeared.

Anyway, the guards, who were composed of nobles and Augustine, were already used to being lax and thought that Claire had just gone out to socialize again. No one noticed this fact.

Claire's disappearance threw even Augustine into chaos, as she controlled a large portion of Augustine's power.

Lilith met with several representatives of the Augustinian family, including Cliff, while Nora carefully observed the expressions of these Augustins beside Lilith.

After the meeting ended, Nora shook her head and sighed, "I couldn't tell."

This is actually a kind of answer for Lilith. Some people in the Augustinian family may know that Claire is missing, but can Lilith use this reason to directly investigate the royal family?

Not to mention that Lilith cannot explain how she obtained the information that Claire was the traitor who killed Augustine III, Lilith is also currently unable to directly take action against the source of her own legitimacy to the throne.

"Could she have been kidnapped by some force?" Lilith still harbored a sliver of unrealistic hope that her best friend might have simply been forced into some conspiracy and found herself in danger.

Nora shook her head.

Lilith's feelings were complicated. Since she transmigrated to this world, Claire had always been her solid helper and ally. Although Lilith had maintained a certain distance and suspicion from Claire after becoming queen, she never imagined that the person who killed Augustine III and caused the chaos was Claire.

Of course, Lilith couldn't reveal these truths openly; she had to wait for news from the North to arrive through normal channels.

It's impossible that Claire ran away after hearing rumors, unless Claire had some kind of information channel that Lilith didn't know about, faster than a communication machine, that she knew in advance that Lantern Dream had completely sided with the North, and that the Governor of the North would specifically inquire about this matter, and had also informed Lilith about it through communication.

Moreover, judging from various clues, Claire has actually been missing for a long time, and even arranged many methods before her disappearance to maintain the illusion that she is still in the palace.

There is no doubt that Claire left on her own, for reasons unknown.

Lilith quickly brought the somewhat chaotic situation under control. She began to manage public opinion externally, while internally she directly claimed that Claire had disappeared and hoped that the nobles would actively provide clues. Lilith decided to pretend that she knew nothing for the time being.

We need to find Claire first.

At this time, Claire was hiding in the shadows of the capital. It was impossible to completely surrender to the demons without paying a price. In the future, Claire's communication with the demons would become more and more frequent. In order to completely eliminate the possibility of being discovered, Claire chose to leave the palace.

This was the result of Claire's repeated deliberations after receiving information from the Demon Clan.

Staying in the palace would restrict their actions and increase the risk of exposure.

Lantern Dreamland hadn't contacted Claire for a long time. Their previous contact indicated they were fully aligned with the Northern Territory. Although it was unclear to what extent Lantern Dreamland and the Northern Territory had cooperated, Claire instinctively sensed danger and decided to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Demon Clan to operate entirely in the shadows.

After receiving information that Her Majesty the Queen had performed a miracle at the event today, Claire snorted coldly. She hadn't expected that her best friend had been playing dumb all along; she had really underestimated her.

But it doesn't matter, as long as the demons launch an attack, everything will be alright.

So what are the demons doing at this time?

The Demon King Antipas is holding a banquet in his palace in the eternal tundra with guests from another continent.

"We have to thank our guests from Avar for making the research progress so smoothly."

Meanwhile, the guest, Altaïr from the Kingdom of Avar, sat uncomfortably, responding to the demons' praises while constantly entertaining them.

To everyone's surprise, it was the demons who were the first to gather all the materials for casting super-tier magic. However, when the demons finally gathered all the materials, Altaïr felt inexplicably worried.

The demons not only gathered all the materials and hired Oris, a high-ranking professional from the Kingdom of Avar, but they also agreed to Altaïr's request to give the Kingdom of Avar a piece of land after the war began, and even promised a landing site, as long as they could capture it.

However, the demons also have conditions; the materials used to cast super-level magic have been increased to include those strange flesh and blood.

Even Altaïr and Oris, the high-ranking professional responsible for casting super-level magic, had to admit that this Demon King Antipa was an absolute genius, a rare talent even among humans. Not only did he touch the threshold of super-level magic in a short period of time and achieve a breakthrough, but he also incorporated those demonic specialties, namely strange flesh and blood, into his super-level magic.

Altaïr originally wanted to refuse. Super-level magic was so intricate and complex that adding even a single material could cause the entire casting process to collapse. However, the demons offered too much, and they were the first breakthrough point on this continent. The message from the Kingdom of Avar was that they would satisfy all of the demon king's needs.

Moreover, experiments have shown that those strange flesh and blood not only do not have a fatal effect on super-level magic, but also increase the range and power of super-level magic.

However, all of this is still in the experimental stage and has not been put into practice yet. No one knows what will happen when this flesh and blood are integrated into super-level magic.

At least neither Altaïr nor Oris knew.

Compared to Altaïr's awkwardness, Oris was much more relaxed. Oris was very interested in those twisted flesh and blood, but unfortunately, the Demon King was very strict in this regard, and Oris tried some methods but failed to get his hands on those flesh and blood.

After all, Oris himself is a scholar-type professional, and quite specialized in one area, belonging to the high-level professionals who specialize in casting super-level magic.

"Your Majesty, we are about to begin casting the transcendental magic, but before that, I have a question that I'm not sure if I should ask."

Antipa listened to Oris's question with a smile and said, "Since we are already half allies, there's no need for formalities. Lord Oris, please feel free to ask any questions you may have."

Oris nodded and asked, "I've heard that the North is supposed to be His Majesty the Demon King's greatest enemy. Why wasn't this transcendental magic cast directly on the North, but instead went to the eastern border of Capet?"

Antipa smiled wryly after hearing this and asked, "You are human, so you may not know how badly the Northern Territory has treated our demon race. We demons are not even allowed to set foot in the Northern Territory to do normal business. Under such strict defense, even if we use super-level magic, we can only attack their borders."

"The North is sparsely populated, but the governor has steel behemoths that can travel a thousand miles a day. If we unleash a super-level spell, it won't kill many people. Instead, it will cause the enemy to quickly regroup and launch a counterattack."

Antipa had considered using super-level magic to fight the North to the death, but super-level magic was not very flexible, consumed a lot of energy, and its effects were uncertain. Putting aside the question of how effective it would be against the North, Antipa did not want to fight a life-or-death battle with the somewhat terrifying North again, and he believed that the North did not want that either.

Therefore, the suggestion from the princess in the Cape capital is worth considering. All tactics can be changed. As long as the demons' tactics succeed, then the three factions—the North and Anjou—can join forces to divide up Cape.

War is a continuation of politics, and politics allows for the exchange of interests. In the end, the demons will gain the rich territories of the East, the lost lands outside the Broken Snow Territory in the North, and Anru will gain the southwestern border. As for that mad princess? She can be kept as a puppet to help the demons better control the human regions.

After all, the princess only wanted to sit in that position; being a puppet was fine with her. As she herself said, she was a very useful banner, the banner of the Augustinian orthodoxy.