After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

"According to this logic, the real sender of this letter is definitely not that unreliable Succubus Queen. She is also doing something for someone else."

"For whom?"

"Succubus Queen Precia, one of the Thirteen Leaders, how many people in the world can get her to do things for them? Who among them is motivated to persuade me to surrender? Who else could it be?"

Miss Witch fell silent because the answer was obvious.

Devil.

Only the Demon King himself meets this condition.

Coming to this answer made the whole incident even more confusing in Villian's mind.

Before she could figure out the situation, Aize had already raised his head and asked:

"What kind of person is this generation's Demon King? Charlotte said he rarely appears in public, and apart from occasional orders, he hardly cares about the affairs of the people below. Is that true?"

Villian nodded:

"Yes, that's true. The only time I met him was during the coronation ceremony. All other information was conveyed by his subordinates in the form of orders. As for what kind of person he was, his personality, and so on... Sorry, I don't really know much about him. I don't even have a clear impression of his appearance."

"What's there to apologize for? That's just the way he is. It's normal that he can't be caught."

Aize's intelligence system is powerful, but even so, the information about this theoretical leader of the demon clan is still pitifully small.

All we know is that he is a male, a rising star among the extremely long-lived, almost truly eternal demon race, and that he took the throne by defeating the old demon king in a face-to-face duel. Apart from that, we know nothing else.

There is no way to find out about his birth, experience, name, ability, personality, etc.

Even his appearance was hidden by some magical means, so that no one could describe what he looked like.

Such a situation even made Aize doubt the authenticity of his so-called experience of rising to a higher position through dueling - could it be that it was just fabricated to forcibly explain the rationality of the existence of such a demon king.

This doesn't make sense.

The Demon King's legitimacy to rule over other demons comes from fear and violence, both of which must be proven by asserting their presence.

Logically speaking, he should not hide himself, but should actively make his presence felt like his predecessor, for fear that no one would recognize him.

Hiding himself to this extent can only mean that he has a reason to do so, and this reason is even more important than the unity and solidarity of the entire demon race.

It's really hard to imagine.

Aize had thought about this question more than once, but just like the other questions surrounding his time travel and identity as a hero, he had no clue.

But through this map, or rather the small movements in this letter, Aize finally got some clues.

"anyway."

He smiled and knocked on the table:

"From this letter and the layout of this incident book, it can be seen that the Demon King must be a very twisted and troublesome guy."

Villian was so overwhelmed by the overwhelming amount of information that she couldn't even think straight. She simply gave up on thinking about any options and asked honestly:

"You keep saying things halfway and waiting for people to ask questions, which is actually quite twisted and troublesome... So how did you figure it out?"

Aize curled his lips:

"As for trying to persuade me to surrender, he could have explained it clearly, but he chose to use this kind of cryptic method to test me, as if I were a fool and unworthy of his surrender. And looking back, he and I could even be considered partners in this incident, and he still tried to persuade me to surrender at this time, tsk tsk."

"…partner?"

Villian rubbed her temples.

"Sorry, just the blueprints and the succubus are giving me a headache. Can you explain it more clearly? How did that Demon King, who never even showed his face, cooperate with you?"

"This incident has given me a strong sense of disharmony from the very beginning. The actions of the undead are traceable, and their motives are reasonable. However, for such a large-scale operation, the coordination of other demons is extremely inefficient. This is not normal."

The divisions within the demon race are far more serious than those within humans.

After all, no matter whether it is the Kingdom, the Northern Empire or the Church, no matter how different their beliefs are or what conflicts of interest there are, they are at least human beings in essence.

On the other hand, the demons were not the same thing from the very beginning.

Being able to get so many demons to cooperate with the undead is in itself a testament to one's ability and skill.

However, despite having such abilities and skills, he showed extreme disconnection and inefficiency in actual decision-making, leaving a huge loophole, so that Aze destroyed the entire layout with just one home switch, which was not reasonable.

After reading this "letter", Aize's question was finally answered.

"This is all intentional, to put the Eternal Dynasty on the spot. Look at the configuration on this map. The reinforcements from other tribes are stationed behind the Undead. Are they here to reinforce? They're definitely here to supervise the battle."

The Eternal Dynasty has an extreme hatred for the Empire.

At the same time, due to his identity, he was also disliked by many people within the demon clan. He was regarded as a freak and a traitor from the opposite side and was hardly recognized.

So they also want to prove themselves through a decisive victory.

The combination of these two factors means that the plan proposed by this group of zombies must be extremely radical and reckless - just like now.

The Demon King, knowing this, still acquiesced to the other party's proposal.

In this way, if things don't go well, all the responsibility can be put on the undead, forcing them to fight a decisive battle with Aize here.

Now that things have developed to this point, no matter what the outcome, the Demon King will definitely make a profit.

If the Undead wins, then Aize, the biggest threat to the entire demon race, will die, and the Immortal Dynasty will inevitably suffer tragic losses, with both sides suffering losses.

If Aize wins, the Immortal Dynasty will suffer a heavy blow and will never recover. Not only will they be killed and chopped at will, but the armies of other races that arrive later can continue to attack the city, and it will be difficult for Aize to defend Lilbas.

Won Ma.

Villian nodded, then immediately frowned.

"But why? What reason does the Demon King have for specifically targeting the Immortal Dynasty? Let me just say, those guys' servility towards the Demon King and the demons is the most exaggerated among all the thirteen major clans."

"Their identities and births destined the demons to never truly accept them, so of course they have to kowtow to them. The less accepted they are, the more they kowtow. My hometown calls this convert fanaticism; it's a psychological phenomenon."

"The thing is, what's the harm in licking their boots? We've all seen what these guys are capable of. Their potential is terrifyingly high, and it's difficult to intervene from the outside. If I were the Demon King, I'd get rid of them too."

Any race, no matter how advanced and bizarre their abilities are, is still a living being. They must be born, grow up, eat, drink, defecate and urinate, and there is an objective population limit.

The undead are completely different.

Relying on the corpses left over from the war two years ago, they could easily create an astonishing number of troops in an area close to the empire in a short period of time without anyone noticing.

These troops do not need food or drink and are absolutely loyal.

If they were allowed to unleash this ability, it would be entirely possible for them to develop into a force more powerful than the entire demon race combined, and even directly subvert the existing system.

It is a threat to humans, and even more of a threat to demons.

Therefore, no matter how loyal they are, how they show goodwill, or how much they hate humans, this huge thing that can be called a nuclear mine must be dismantled.

That's why we played this trick.

This plan may even cover more than just the undead.

The Faceless Men who were sent to participate in the initial operation, as well as the orcs who stayed in Lilbas, are probably targets for elimination.

The Faceless Men's whereabouts are secretive, their abilities are too buggy to guard against, and they obviously have some unknown little secrets. Like the undead, they are an unstable factor.

As for the orcs, after being abused by Azer several times, many of them have lost their minds and started to worship Azer. Even if their army can be rebuilt, there may be problems later.

The Empire's plan for this expedition to the Demon Clan was, from the outset, to use humans and Aize to eliminate those who were detrimental to the unity of the Demon Clan.

Even the orcs' morale collapse and surrender was probably within his expectations.

"Hmph, one of the undead and I will die anyway—even together. And for that demon king, the worst-case scenario is that I defend Lilbas and the empire falls before it can reclaim its territory. No, if that were to happen, it wouldn't be a bad thing for him either."

The human territories occupied by the demons today were all seized during the reign of the previous demon king.

As we all know, the achievements of the predecessor can sometimes be a pressure for the current one.

If it is done properly, by taking advantage of the loss of territory, one can make a big fuss about celebrating a funeral and strike at the faction within the demon clan that supports the former demon king.

No loss whatsoever.

Win, win, win, I’m so excited.

The demon king who has never appeared before was able to plan to this extent. He is definitely not someone to be dealt with easily.

And it's twisted - that's for sure.

Villian shook her head, her expression very serious:

"If that's the case, then aren't we completely trapped now? What should we do?"

"Calling it a trap isn't accurate. For us, we have to fight the Undead no matter what, and Lilbas has to defend no matter what. There's nothing we can do about it. The other side tricked the Undead, which objectively made it easier for us to defend the city. That's why I call this cooperation, a kind of perverse mutual benefit."

As he spoke, he stood up and stretched himself lazily.

"Let's put this aside for now. Based on my observations, the undead will probably begin their siege tonight. This is what we need to prioritize and deal with. The puppets and updated defense plans must be in place as soon as possible. As for the Demon King..."

Aize sneered, and his fists hanging at his sides gradually clenched, veins popping out as if he was going to crush something.

"You're trying to play a trick on me, using me as a gambler, and you're still expecting a guaranteed win? It's ridiculous! How could it be that simple? Once things here are over, we have to settle this matter properly, Demon Lord."

----------

Christina Karlsade led the rear guard back to Jarlsburg and met up with the group of people who had escorted the prince away first outside the city.

These armies belonging to the Karseid family experienced a thrilling night, fighting directly with the undead, were forced to act separately and were once surrounded.

In the end, they retreated to a safe area without suffering any major losses.

With just a little repair and some reinforcements, they can immediately get back into battle.

Under the circumstances of last night, it is a miracle that they were able to achieve such a level.

But Chris couldn't be happy.

This feat was achieved by Aize's quick reaction, recognition of the situation and rapid deployment, and then taking risks on his own initiative, at the cost of being surrounded.

It has nothing to do with what she did.

She even made a mistake at the most critical moment.

Not only did he almost lose his subordinates' lives, he also almost went against Aize's arrangements, wasting his efforts and putting the entire battle situation in danger.

As for what he said before the war, such as the awareness of being able to stand on his own feet and standing proudly beside Aize after proving his abilities like his parents, he completely abandoned it.

It's not just an ordinary failure.

Being in this state, I actually have to coordinate the overall situation in the next action, turn the situation on the entire front around, and save Aize from danger?

Do you have this ability?

Do I have the qualifications?

The answer is obvious - no.

Amidst unprecedented self-doubt, Chris gave orders almost in a daze, asking the army to remain on guard and prepare.

She took a few core subordinates with her, passed through the city gate, and returned to Jarlsburg.

At this time, Jarlsburg was under martial law due to the full-scale outbreak of the battle. Therefore, there were no other people on the streets except for the patrol teams that stayed behind.

But even so, the suspicious and scrutinizing glances from the buildings on both sides still made Chris feel uneasy. She could even hear all kinds of whispers of disappointment, ridicule, or blame.

Or maybe it wasn't an illusion.

After all, after such a grand expedition, he returned in less than a day, looking so dispirited. Everyone knew that he could not have won the battle.

It is normal to have the negative public opinions mentioned above.

Just like the time when Chris was defeated more than two years ago... but there are some differences.

At that time, some people even threw vegetable leaves and eggs at her, but that didn't happen this time, which is considered a bit of progress.

The blue-haired girl said this to herself in a self-deprecating manner, which made her feel a little better.

As he walked forward like a sleepwalker, the castle finally appeared before his eyes, and also came into view was a familiar yet unfamiliar figure standing in front of the castle.

Before she could see what was going on, the other party had already rushed over and directly embraced her:

"Chris!? Are you okay? The people who came back earlier said you were surrounded. Your father and I were worried!"

"Mom? What... do you want to do?"

The Marquise of Karsed, who had not yet fully recovered from the attack by the Faceless King, was still resting in bed until the moment the battle began a day ago.

At this moment, he not only stood up, but also put on armor and carried weapons. He was fully armed and seemed ready to step into the battlefield at any time.

The Marquise rubbed her daughter's hair vigorously:

"What? Of course I'm bringing people to pick you up! Your father, as the lord, can't leave in this situation, so who else can do this except me?"