The maid squad is too strong, what use is there for me, the Demon King?

Strike force.

The Chamber of Commerce has set up camps in various locations along the streets, with a large number of mercenaries stationed in the camps or patrolling the surrounding areas.

The start of the war was naturally set for the night, for many reasons.

The Shadow Court's activities almost always take place at night. This is because some of the Shadow Court's attendants work as informants in other industries during the day, such as shop counter clerks, adventurer guild receptionists, and so on, all in order to better gather intelligence.

As an organization spread all over the world, the Shadow Court now has about 700 servants, which is still not enough manpower.

While the requirements for recruiting servants at the Shadow Court are not particularly stringent, it's not a job that just anyone can take.

First, they must be female. Gray didn't even know why; it was a rule that Alpha set on its own.

By the time Gray discovered the stark gender imbalance in the Shadow Court, it was too late to take effective measures for reform.

As for why it was discovered so late...

In fact, apart from the Ten Shadow Attendants and a small number of other attendants, most of the attendants in the Shadow Court have no relation to Gray at all. Without the contract of the Demon Lord's Familia, he doesn't even recognize everyone.

After all, Gray only saved the Ten Shadow Servants and established the Shadow Court. The growth of the Shadow Court depended on the Ten Shadow Servants, among whom the leader, Alpha, made the greatest contribution.

A few years after the establishment of the Ten Shadow Servants, Alpha led the other Ten Shadow Servants to develop outside of the Azure Peak Territory (only Aiota remained). This was with Gray's permission, as he naturally wanted to see the Shadow Power Enthusiasts organization grow stronger.

I just don't quite understand Gray's thought process. Why does he still think that the Shadow Court is an organization of people with the strength of shadows rather than a cult with a strong personality cult?

Is this considered a cult?

Hmm—thinking about it that way, it does seem a bit like that, but the Shadow Court's motto is "Hidden in the darkness, hunting shadows, serving the supreme being" (Grey only agrees with the first two sentences), which is essentially doing good deeds, so it's not a cult!

Alpha led the Ten Shadow Attendants to various parts of the Olmec Kingdom, and now they are distributed in the neighboring human kingdom, elven kingdom, demi-human kingdom, and orc kingdom. Gray, who was the adopted son of the Brant family at the time, could not go to other places with them.

While he was in Bifeng Territory, the Ten Shadow Attendants were scattered in various places, so he couldn't really control them. By the time he realized that there were no other men in the Demon Shadow Court besides himself, it was already too late.

Alpha: With Alpha out there, Shadow's fate is not always secure!

The second condition is to ensure sufficient loyalty.

Gray's contract with the Ten Shadow Attendants' Demon Lord Familia is quite powerful, subtly instilling loyalty in them. However, this effect is not actually realized; the Ten Shadow Attendants' loyalty is not a result of the contract.

However, the "Demon King's Familia" contract between the Ten Shadow Attendants and ordinary attendants is not as powerful, at most suppressing their thoughts of rebellion.

Therefore, forcibly buying or selling people and arbitrarily taking them back as members of the family is not feasible, and even if it were feasible, it would not be done.

To ensure the loyalty of the recruited waiters, Alpha resorted to favors.

Gray had done favors for all ten Shadow Attendants, and Alpha felt that this relationship was more reliable. In addition, an additional evaluation system was set up, which became the basis for recruiting Shadow Court Attendants.

Because of these conditions, the Shadow Court's servants are not well-staffed. Fortunately, the servants are highly efficient, and the buffs given to their subordinates by the Demon King's Familia are also quite powerful.

Finally, there are the vampires like Delta, who can only operate at night!

The total number of cult members in the Demon Order’s money-grubbing and greedy faction is currently unknown, but it is likely no less than the number of servants. They have also spent money to hire mercenaries to oversee things, so in terms of numbers, they are at a complete disadvantage.

However, the victory or defeat in a fantasy world war does not depend on the number of people; cultists, mercenaries, and waiters are all considered low-end combat forces.

Even with a large number of low-end combatants, it's difficult to overwhelm a high-end combatant. However, this doesn't mean that the low-end combatants, the servants, should slack off and leave everything to Gray and the Ten Shadow Servants.

Those at the same combat power level should be matched up, otherwise it would be too hard for the Ten Shadow Attendants, who are high-end combatants, to not only face the opponent's high-end combatants, but also to clear out the miscellaneous soldiers.

Moreover, there are also differences among these so-called low-end combat forces.

Cultists are considered somewhat powerful, after all, they have special abilities granted by demonic power.

Most mercenaries aren't even professionals, and those who are aren't high-ranking.

Mercenaries are just cannon fodder, and they probably can't even be counted in the category of low-end combat power.

The waiters, however, are different. They are genuine members of the Demon King's kin, and each of them is a professional, with some being high-ranking professionals.

Cultists are the servants of the devil, so why are they so different from the servants of the Demon King's clan?

I don't know, because nobody is researching these things right now.

Are the Demon King's Familia always greater than the Demon's Familia?

The Shadow Court servants need to break through the mercenaries' defenses, enter the local Golden Weasel Merchant Guild branch building, and kill the cultists.

Mercenaries were watching everywhere, so infiltration was not feasible; the only option was to break through head-on.

"Just like the discussions at the war council, the cultists with the ability to summon monsters are indeed being well protected," Alpha muttered to himself.

We'll leave the direct confrontation to them.

Alpha was confident that the waiters wouldn't be deterred by such a small difficulty.

What the Ten Shadow Attendants had to do was conserve their physical strength and magical power so that they could kill the opposing bishops and deacons in their duels.

……

"I'm afraid this is a trap..." Number 0101 hid in the shadows, watching the strange scene before him.

This obese fat man was undoubtedly a cultist from the faction of greed and avarice. His physique perfectly matched the faction's characteristics. She believed that mercenaries and other cultists from other factions of the Demon Order could never grow to this extent of fat.

As summoners, the greedy and avaricious cultists who should have been strictly protected were sitting outside the tents completely unguarded, their defenses exposed.

In a mere instant, she could separate the fat pig's head from its body.

But things seemed to be going too smoothly, which made No. 0101 a little worried.

Could someone be lying in ambush, and this is just a trap?

Despite her worries, she wasn't going to let the scene before her frighten her and stop her from moving forward.

Having decided on her strategy, she turned to her team and said, "I'll find an opportunity to assassinate this cultist. You guys provide cover; this could be a trap, so be prepared!"

"Yes, Big Sister!" Although Number 0212 is usually quite mischievous, she becomes serious when it comes to taking action and strictly follows the instructions of Captain Number 0101.

Number 0101 gripped his short sword tightly, waiting for his chance.

Not long after, she saw her "prey" rubbing his eyes.

In an instant, a cold glint appeared!