Supreme Monarch

Chapter 223: Priorities

On the fourth floor of the Demon King’s castle, inside a large luxurious hall that was exquisitely designed with magic runes, the air of the room — which now held a temporary throne — was filled with a quiet ardor as only Tyler’s voice echoed in the massive hall.

At his request, Z stood up from his knees and turned around to address everyone in the hall in a clear tone that reverberated in the quiet hall. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen, pardon my directness but I’ll just get to the point so as not to waste any more of Lord Ty’s time. I’m sure you are all aware of the fact that there is an army of more than 20,000 undead marching in our direction with malicious intent. Based on the extensive information Lord Ty’s shadows has collected so far, their estimated time of arrival is less than 72 hours. In order words, they would be upon us in less than 3 days from now.”

No one in all had reacted to that short time frame contrary to Tyler’s expectations. It appears Albert and Erin were doing a much better job managing the castle than he had expected. 

“After analyzing all the information collected so far, we’ve concluded that the Behemoth of Greed, Mammon, had a hand in this. From the information we’ve gained from one of the generals of greed, Mammon had been lurking around in the Western parts of the Darknar forest for a while before his assault on the castle and it’s safe to say he was responsible for supplying the Undead king the materials needed for his current army.”

Interrogating the female general of greed had been a very fruitful endeavor and the only Tyler hadn’t allowed the Dark Garuda to eat her was because Z had foreseen this development. An impressive feat that had provided them with a great advantage.

“Judging by his personality with reference to the same information. His ultimate goal was to become the new demon king giving as he was unaware of Lord Ty’s existence. My analysis shows his aim was to use the undead army in taking over the untamed Darknar region and he would use the Darknar Region as a springboard for taking over the entire continent. There’s even a chance he had also aimed for world domination.”

‘World Divination Huh, what a bold move.’

Tyler echoed Z’s words in his mind as he mused about the idea. He had never thought there would be someone other than the Great Five that would even consider this idea giving what happened in the past.

Turning his head to look at everyone present. They seem to be mulling the phrase as well and Tyler could understand that but for some reason, he could sense their emotions raising as though they were getting angry for some reason but remained quiet, not daring to interrupt Z’s briefing.

‘I suddenly have a bad feeling about this.’

Tyler’s stomach immediately began to turn as he suddenly had a bad premonition even though FutureSight hadn’t activated. 

“However, it was clear to me that although Mammon was aware of our presence in the castle. He had been unaware of Lord Ty’s absence and strength. This shows he did not gain that informed by his own means but was led astray by a third party as a way to gauge the limits of our Master.”

The faces of everyone in the hall changed as they heard that. It was abundantly clear that whoever this third party was. They were largely to blame for the death of their comrades and loved ones. More importantly, they were clearly treating their master like a pawn in their plans and that was unacceptable.

Tyler who could feel the pressure from their rage on his behalf, felt his seat getting hotter as he could swear he was actually sweating from the sudden change in the temperature of the room. But that didn’t seem possible, after all, he had really high resistances.

He was getting uncomfortable with their intense emotions and was even beginning to regret why he had allowed Z to brief them on this.

As though ignoring his troubled feeling, Z continued his explanation without a care in the world.

“The proof of this is provided by the fact that Ms. Liz and Ms. Rain were both ambushed in the Darkin mountain range by members of the Brimstone Family even when their movements were supposed to be secret. This confirms their involvement and after Lord Ty destroyed their base, they should be more cautious in the future but I highly doubt they would simply give up and retreat.”

Indeed, this was the one thing Tyler had miscalculated. He expected them to retreat for a while and reorganize their forces but they most definitely possess an artifact that has the ability to hide them even from the likes of Erin’s divination so why would they retreat so easily when gaining more information was the most important thing in the reorganization of their forces.

The reason why he had failed to consider this was because he had underestimated the strength of Magic Artifacts based on the few he has seen up to that point. It was only until he realized how broken God Tier artifacts were, did he understand this point.

“The possibility that the other families are also involved is high. As a former scout for the Zorak family, my main goal was not to monitor to castle but to secure a share of the Darknar forest resources while keeping an eye on the other families’ scouts. When it came to pure observation and gathering information. The family has various ways that even surpasses my innate ability so I have no doubt the other families are the same.”

“That is correct. As far as I know, the Alcar family had always operated similarly.”

Rain added to Z’s point as she was the only one that had any functioning experience on how the Alcar family works. Of course, Tyler still thought there was something off about her giving her a lack of enthusiasm but he chose to ignore it for now. 

“Indeed. With the confirmation from Ms. Rain, it is now certain that the other Greats are simply keeping their distance because they suspect one of them is supporting Lord Ty and are trying to identify that family. They have most likely hidden dangerous cards amongst the large undead army.”

At that revelation, the silence in the hall was broken by gasps of surprise and disgust as Tyler’s vassals’ hatred for the Great Five had grown by a notch.

“There is no need to be surprised, this situation had already been predicted by Lord Ty as he was the one who spurred their decisions in this manner. These so-called Greats are only playing in the palm of our Master.”

‘Huh, what the hell is he talking about now.’

Perplexed by the bombs Z was suddenly dropping on him. Tyler was about to say something but hesitated and Z continued his briefing. 

“However, this addition also makes the upcoming battle quite troublesome as even aiming for the head of the leader may not be enough to quickly end the battle. But that’s why this method holds the greatest rewards for us.”

Z paused for a moment then continued.

“With that said, we are currently in a predicament. Even if this was his plan, what kind of vassals would be if we let our Master’s status be insulated by these Greats. That is why we have to handle the bulk of this battle ourselves without revealing any opening that can be exploited.”

“That said, we also can’t just rush into our deaths either as that will sully our Master’s image. We have to display Lord Ty’s absolute superiority in this battle, sending a message to the Great Five that the Demon Kind has awakened.”

“Huh?”, ‘The what has what?’

Tyler’s mind was suddenly jolted by Z’s words as he silently voiced his confusion on the matter. He was trying to stay low-key and not gain any more attention than he already has but before Tyler could even voice his apprehension to that last part he was just hearing for the first time by the shrewd Z.

He suddenly felt a weight crash on him as he forcibly closed his mouth as Z looked back, staring at him from behind his mask that perfectly hides his expression from Tyler who was now finding said mask annoying. While giving thanks that his body hadn’t made an unnecessary motion and he could still maintain a poker face, he asked:

“What’s wrong, Z? Is something the matter?”

“No, I simply thought I heard you say something, Lord Ty.”

“Oh, my apologies. I was simply indicating my agreement. It would seem you misunderstood me. Alright, carry on, then. Tell everyone the significance of demonstrating my strength to the Great Five.”

“Yes. Then, ladies and gentlemen. Using this event as a showcase for Lord Ty’s prowess allows us to formally declare the Darknar region as Lord Ty’s domain and even if the rest of the continent doesn’t accept Lord Ty as the Demon king. They would still hesitate in attacking or provoking us recklessly and would try to form an alliance against us. However, that would take some time as they still have no idea which Great Five is pulling out supposed strings thanks to Lord Ty’s genius plan of letting one of the scouts go with altered memories.”

“Truly, our master’s wisdom is beyond our understanding. To be able to think this far ahead with limited information and still grasp the entire situation is truly divine. “

Everyone nodded in agreement at Z’s honest praise to Tyler. The reason he was so passionate about serving him was simply this. After analyzing all the information that he had and connecting everything Tyler had done so far. His mind had connected the dots and he was left in awe.

For the first time in his life, he had met a man whose intellect far exceeds his. That was something he had never thought possible. This was truly the only Master he could ever hope for as he could spend an entire lifetime absorbing his knowledge and still wouldn’t gain 10% of it.

“Our Master is truly amazing.”

Tyler who was seated on the throne felt like a death reaper was gripping his heart as cold sweat paired down his back and it seems something must’ve lit his seat on fire.

‘What the hell is he suddenly talking about.’

Tyler glanced at everyone’s face. They all looked like they understood, without exception. Their faces were brimming with awe and adoration that made him want to retreat. 

“Im-Impressive Z, you’ve certainly surpassed my expectations.”

“I am deeply honored for the high praise and opportunity my lord. But truly, I am still far from your level.”

‘My level?’

Tyler remained silent. He didn’t want to say anything that would end up contradicting his actions so far as it seems they were all misled into thinking he had planned this whole thing. His only aim had been to buy time while gaining strength yet it had led to this.

‘What do you think Uriel?’

{Answer: Based on the information I’ve divined, the proposed plan for Master to take his rightful place upon the global stage, as part of your overall direction for the future is the right choice. Since the ones that betrayed the demon king are acting clandestinely, it would be difficult to remain hidden and will only serve to give Master’s enemies an Advantage to act as they pleased.}

‘You too Huh… I guess you’re both right though.’

“Umm… err… pardon my interruption Lord Ty, I um…”

Raising his head, Tyler turned his gaze on Erin who spoke as it seems she wanted to share something but the large crowd was making her squirmish. Understanding what she had wanted to say, Liz then spoke up for her.

“We concur with the proposal, Lord Ty. If we make ourselves known to the world in a dominant fashion as the demon king’s subordinates. Not only would we be able to handle problems from the Great Five more easily, but our faction would steadily grow from the demon king’s true following that is spread out across the continent.

“Won’t that increase the chances of gaining spies in our midst?”

“It will, but we can always use that to our advantage. As long as we keep the spies out of the castle their presence would only serve to our advantage.”

“I see.”

“So Z, seeing as you’ve managed to deduce my intentions so flawlessly, what is your recommended plan of action?”

“I’m honored you asked Sire.”