Chapter 997 - Just What Is That Old Lizard Thinking?
"What did you say? Caspian retreated?" an old man, with long white hair, and two small horns protruding on his head, asked the Demon whose image appeared on the surface of a round mirror.
"Yes, My Lord," the Demon replied. "We saw everything from a good vantage point. Although I didn't know why he retreated, it is certain that he had ordered his men to retreat."
"Tell me everything that you saw."
"Yes, My Lord."
The Demon who had watched the battle from a great distance using a telescope explained in detail how the war turned out.
The Patriarch of the Gremory Clan, Alvah, listened to his subordinates' report. As the Patriarch of the biggest Demon Clan in the continent, he had placed several of his people in each Clan that had sworn subservience to them.
When Dozedar, the Patriarch of the Greenskin Clan, returned to his Domain with a missing left arm, he immediately reported everything that had happened to Alvah's men, who were stationed in his city.
They in turn reported this back to their Lord, who then ordered them to pay extra attention to William's movements.
For Alvah, the Greenskin Clan was just a minor clan. Even so, it was still a Clan that belonged under its influence. Having other people take his pawns away from him made him feel slightly irritated, so he immediately ordered a full investigation about William's identity.
Sadly, they couldn't find anything about the black-haired young man except for the fact that he was being accompanied by Vesta, the daughter of a Demigod, and two other demons whose identities were unknown.
Their identities were currently being dug up by his agents that were scattered across the lands, but it would take some time before this information arrived in his hands.
For the time being, Alvah didn't order his men to do anything except to monitor William's movements and report any significant changes that were happening in the Southeastern Region of the Continent.
"Interesting," Alvah muttered after hearing his subordinate's full report. "It seems that a new powerhouse has appeared in the Demon Realm, and is actively growing his faction by absorbing minor Clans into his fold."
Alvah assumed that the black-haired young man was one of those Demons that had recently gained an incredible power, and wished to become an Overlord of a territory. These events were quite common in the Demonic Continent. The Gremory Clan had started in the same manner over a thousand years ago.
"Still, I underestimated Caspian's military strength," Alvah mused. "Three Myriad Beasts… the waters of the Rajah Clan sure run deep."
As the Patriarch of a Major Clan, the Gremory Clan also had Myriad Beasts under their command. Just like the Rajah Clan, his clan had three of these peak monsters. However, Alvah wasn't happy with the news he received.
All of the Demon Clans were competitors, and knowing that one of them had a similar number of beasts under their command made him frown. But, what made him more disturbed was that Caspian, who had that much fighting force under his command, was forced to retreat.
What did this mean?
It meant that the young patriarch had determined that his opponent was stronger than him. Since that was the case, he chose to retreat and save his men. Usually, the heads of each Demon Clan wouldn't wage war unless they were sure that they were going to win.
If they lost, the chances of their territory being taken over by their neighbors was very high. This was why only minor up to medium-sized Clans waged war against each other.
For Major Clans, they simply use their numerical advantage to make their opponents surrender. This would prevent unnecessary bloodshed, and allow them to capture new territories with their original residents intact.
The Gremory Clan's Main Territory was in the Northern Regions of the Demon Realm. However, they had initiated a "Divide and Conquer" strategy in order to occupy most of the continent, and unify it under their rule.
With one of their members sitting on the throne of the Demon Lord, the local Overlords tolerated their ambitious expansions. They allowed the Gremory Clan to take control of the Nomadic Clans, who wandered around the continent. As long as their own interest wasn't compromised, they were willing to turn a blind eye to these shameless expansions.
"Where is the young man now?" Alvah asked.
"He headed towards the west, My Lord,' the demon reported. "I assume that he is going to rescue the other Clans that have submitted to his rule."
Alvah tapped the armrest of his chair as he pondered on what to do next. Their main force was quite far from the Southeastern Regions, and it would take them at least a month in order to reach the Greenskin Clan's location.
By then, it would be too late.
"Did Dozedar tell you anything else aside from his grievances?" Alvah asked.
The Demon shook his head. "Aside from warning us about the vampire's existence, and his plea to teach the young man a lesson, he didn't say anything else."
The Demon paused because he was hesitating to ask his patriarch a question. Seeing the expression on his face, Alvah managed to guess what he was thinking.
"When that young man arrives at the city of the Greenskin Clan, tell him that I want to exchange some words with him," Alvah stated. "I will convince him to leave the Greenskin Clan alone. I don't believe that he will openly defy the family of the Demon Lord who is currently ruling over these lands."
"I hear and obey, My Lord." The Demon bowed respectfully before cutting off the connection.
The surface of the mirror turned black, leaving Alvah to ponder this interesting person that was being accompanied by the daughter of their Southern Commander, Joash.
"Just what is that old lizard thinking?" Alvah muttered as he rubbed his chin. "Is he planning to marry his daughter off if that young man offered her a good-sized dowry?"
The old man sighed before activating the mirror once again. There were a few people he had to talk to.
People that the Half-Elf was causing trouble with, just like him.
—--
William stared at the Demons who were lining up to enter the portals that he had opened for all of them.
After the battle with the Rajah Clan, the other Clans that were watching the battle immediately reported back to their Patriarchs. The Lords were just as surprised as Alvah when they heard the news. They thought that they were just dealing with an upstart demon that was trying to make his name known and gain fame.
After the Half-Elf had made the Rajah Clan retreat, the Patriarchs decided to call back the men that they had ordered to keep the Minor Clans under house arrest. Now that a Major Clan had been defeated, they knew that they didn't stand a chance against the enemy because they were only medium-sized Clans.
In the end, they immediately abandoned their plans to enter a head-to-head confrontation with William to keep the Minor Clans under their command. It was better to cut off a tail in order to survive, than to fight a battle that they had no chances of winning.
Because of this, the Half-Elf was able to migrate all the Clans who swore their loyalty to him under his wing, with the exception of the Greenskin Clan, whom William didn't trust.
"Let's go back to the One-horned Clan," William patted Maximus' head as they flew back towards the south.
Flying beside him were the grateful Patriarchs of the different clans that he had saved. Now that there were only two Clans remaining, the Half-Elf decided to call it a day and return to the city of Wimborne to rest.
He still hadn't decided on what he would do with the Greenskin Clan that was under the Gremory Family's control. Although he was confident that he could make them submit to his will, he was still reluctant to take them inside his Domain.
What he needed were Demons that he could trust, and he didn't trust the Greenskin Clan one bit. Also, he wasn't sure if he had the leisure to provoke the Gremory Clan at this point in time. Although he wasn't afraid of them, or the Demon Lord, his priority was to find Celine and bring her back to Hestia Academy.
'I think I'll consult Sidonie about this,' William thought. 'She may have a better solution to this problem.'