Dragon Clan

"Serlun, well done! I didn't expect you to ignite the volcano and establish a city so quickly!"

As one of the Upper Demons entered the hall, he said to Serlun, "King Kriegan is very satisfied with your performance and has asked me to bring you his commendation!"

"No commendation is more pleasing to me than the upcoming war!" Serlun replied, "Has His Majesty the King said when we can march?"

"Yes, we can prepare to depart!" the Upper Demon said. "However, a problem has arisen. We may not be able to attack the capital of Erathia with our allies, the lords of the Dungeons, as planned. According to the terrain reports from our spies, someone is blocking our path to Steadwick, the capital of Erathia!"

"Who is it?" Serlun asked with great displeasure.

"Aveli Elves!" the Upper Demon replied with equal dissatisfaction. "They have always been allies of Erathia. Not long ago, a lord of the Aveli Elves led his army to reinforce Erathia. Now, they are not only blocking our path but also seem to have discovered our presence. According to the spies' reports, they have already set up camp on the main route and built defenses, preparing to intercept our army on the border of Erathia..."

"Then kill them!" Serlun slammed the table. "Those weak elves cannot stop our advance. Before the iron hooves of the hellish army, all obstacles will turn to scorched earth!"

Another Upper Demon, who had remained silent, spoke with a covetous tone, "I agree with Serlun. The souls of those elves are quite delicious..."

"Unfortunately, it may not be that easy! Because we discovered that the Gold Dragon Queen is present among this Aveli Elf army. She is leading a considerable number of Gold Dragons to assist the elven army. Riska, Serlun, those Gold Dragons are very difficult to deal with!"

Silence fell in the hall for a moment, then Serlun spoke, "You are right, Ignatius. We need a stronger army lineup!"

The Upper Demon named Ignatius nodded. "Summon some Upper Demons. Only these high-ranking Greater Demons can help us fight the Gold Dragons!"

Another Upper Demon, Riska, said with annoyance, "But if we summon Upper Demons to help, we'll have to share some of the souls we harvest with them..."

Serlun said, "So be it. With the dragon race involved, it will be difficult for us to achieve victory with an army composed of low-ranking demons. Our primary task now is to complete the encirclement of Steadwick, the capital of Erathia, with our allies. Erathia has never fallen into enemy hands in its history, and now we will change that record!"

"Very well, we have reached a consensus!" Ignatius said. "Then, who will stay here to summon those Greater Demons?"

"I will not stay here!" Riska immediately said upon hearing the question. "Staying in Demon City means I can't go out to fight or harvest souls. This is absolutely intolerable to me!"

Ignatius said to Serlun, "Then Serlun, you stay here?"

"Why should I?" Serlun retorted indignantly. "I've already stayed here long enough this past month, just to build this damn city! And now you want me to stay here!? I want blood, I want slaughter, I want souls! Who can give me that by staying here!?"

"Alright!" Ignatius sighed. "Then I'll have to stay. You two lead the troops and depart first. Clear out any small scouting parties along the way. Once I've summoned enough troops, I'll catch up from behind."

"Hahaha! Ignatius, you're truly a good fellow!" Riska laughed heartily upon hearing Ignatius volunteer to stay. "Don't worry, I'll leave some of those beautiful elf women for you!"

"Stop talking, or I'm afraid I'll regret it!" Ignatius said. "Damn it, when we came, we should have brought a Heretic Lord. That way, he could have stayed behind, and I could have gone out..."

Within the hellish faction, besides pure demons like Serlun, Riska, and Ignatius, there were also lords who believed in demons and could lead armies. These lords were originally humans but were ostracized by human kingdoms due to their faith in demons. They were often called heretics. Ignatius was referring to this type of lord.

Roy, standing guard outside the door, overheard the conversation of the three Upper Demons and fell into deep thought.

He knew this was the world of Heroes of Might and Magic, but because it was a real world, the situation was very different from the original game.

Here, the heroes leading the hellish faction were actually Upper Demons. Their armies were not recruited with gold but were conscripts directly summoned from the Abyss World through summoning rituals. After all, what could demons do with gold? They didn't buy things and had no concept of currency. The armies of other factions might have been recruited, or perhaps trained.

The leading heroes were Upper Demons, and the high-tier troops, Greater Demons, also belonged to the Upper Demon race. It was merely a difference between the bottom and the top. This led to a problem: when Serlun and the others wanted to deal with powerful enemies, they had to modify the contract. Upper Demons could not enslave other Upper Demons, so they could only engage in trade.

Lower Demons are enslaved, Middle Demons are used as mounts, and only Upper Demons can trade as equals. This clearly shows how distinct the hierarchy among demons is. Strength, bloodline, and rank are the only keys determining a demon's status.

In fact, from another perspective, Roy staying in this world does have its benefits. In the Abyss World, he couldn't encounter High Demons, so he had no idea what the differences between demon ranks were. But now, in this Heroes of Might and Magic world, he has met both Middle and Upper Demons. Perhaps by paying close attention and observing, he can understand the distinctions between ranks, which will serve as a valuable reference for his future promotion.

And Roy has discovered another huge difference.

In the game, heroes lead armies, using various spells and their own attributes to provide support and buffs to the troops. Enemies can't even attack the hero... But that's a game. In this real world, if a hero leads an army, they must surely participate in combat during war. This is a very significant difference!

Since they participate in combat, it means heroes are also likely to die. Especially for a warlike race like demons, Roy doesn't believe Serlun and the others would just hide behind the army casting spells. You only need to listen to their fanatical discussions about fighting and killing to understand.

Since heroes can also die on the battlefield, Roy has room to maneuver...

The Heroes of Might and Magic world is a world dominated by war. Roy staying here is actually quite good, as he can collect a large number of souls to strengthen himself. But even if he wants to collect souls, he doesn't want to be forced into it. If possible, Roy would naturally want to wait until his strength is great enough to lead an army and fight in this world as a hero. That way, he wouldn't be picking up scraps from others; all the harvest would be his.

If it were Roy himself, he would also prefer to enslave other demons to fight for him and harvest souls for him.

Although Roy has been acting obediently during this time, making Serlun relax his surveillance quite a bit, Roy has never wavered in his thought of breaking free from the Demon Contract.

Since Serlun treats him like a demon, he can also treat Serlun like a demon. And the best way to break free from the restraint of a contract in a demonic manner is to kill the contractor!

If the scale of the war wasn't large enough, it might be quite troublesome for Roy to achieve this. But now, Roy has heard the best news for him.

The enemy these demons want to deal with is actually the Dragon Clan, and reportedly, it's the Queen of the Gold Dragon Clan!

Roy had already prepared himself mentally for a long period of working under Serlun, but he didn't expect the opportunity to come so quickly. Roy himself might not be able to kill Serlun, but the Dragon Clan certainly can! When Serlun dies in the war against the Gold Dragon Queen, Roy will be freed...

Therefore, it's time to plan carefully...