Harbingers of Change

Chapter 1

One of the capital's central marketplaces was as bustling as ever like the half-dozen others scattered across the city. All sorts of beings, from the greediest of pure-bred humans to the most monstrous of creatures, sold their varied wares and haggled for desired prices, a cacophonous order to the chaos in every nook and cranny. From tiny one-man stalls run by entrepreneurial teenagers on their weekends to massive multiple-floor shopping centers owned by fat cats, it had it all, bustling as the city that never slept.

Thousands of gold coins flowed within the capital city and its neighboring villages, and more would flow, especially since Tempest became the bridge between human nations hungry for monster- and demihuman-sourced materials and Demon Lord-ruled inhabitants happily taking their coin. Trade among all nearby nations had experienced explosive growth thanks to the new trade route, especially Tempest as a whole, thanks to the surplus of Tempestian goods ever-ready to flood the market, and flood they did.

For the first time in recent history - as in, the past few hundred years - humans, dwarves, elves, and a myriad of other species found themselves easy access to exotic foods, rare products, and wondrous entertainment that could only be found in previously inaccessible lands. Elves could be seen negotiating with dwarves, merchant humans could be spectated gambling alongside newfound kobold friends, and majins could be viewed hawking their goods to orcs.

Monsters and demihumans of Tempest, meanwhile, took advantage of buying processed goods that weren't available in their more primitive or less developed monster-ruled regions, spurred on to make their pockets as heavy as they could by reverse-engineering outsider products. Innovation stood in nobody's way, and it wasn't like learning was illegal, if anything it was subtly encouraged.

A flock of harpy merchants was raiding a small stall selling beauty products, enthusiastically discussing the potentially massive profits such goods would fetch in their homelands. A dwarven merchant was haggling for prices with a lycanthrope about fruit that could be fermented into a new type of alcohol. A human merchant was shaking hands with a hobgoblin regarding their newest deal, transacting gold coins for knight spider flesh. Demihuman and monster racism was a barrier, but capitalism and mutual benefits were a way to overcome it.

Every corner was bustling in action, thousands of gold coins changing hands every day. Yet not everything was peaceful in this land of luck, wealth, and labor.

"The church is coming, the church is coming, the church is coming! They'll kill us all! No matter whether human or a monster! My cousin saw their armies while traveling here, and they had hundreds of thousands armed to the hair!" A human stood on a makeshift crate for a podium, shouting at the top of his lungs on the street corner. He hollered into a roughly-made cone

Most didn't pay any attention to him. And why should they? The citizens of Tempest believed their all-powerful masters would protect them, as they had before. Even threats from legends fell before their might, so mere humans could only obediently die to the glory of the Supreme Beings. They had been protected in the past, they would be protected again.

But enough people did, however small, especially those from Dwargon or Sarion who have only just arrived. The existence of the dwarven nation was a sore spot on the church's back for a long while, and the elves were an obvious next target. If Tempest, with its true dragon guardian, were marked for extermination then, they could be next, and likely would be. Luminism was not tolerant of spirit worship, having killed particularly fervent believers of spirits in the past, and worship of elves' leaders often appeared the same to crusaders due to refusal to worship the 'proper' figure.

While the man shouted his end-of-day prophecies to the semi-disturbed crowds of the monster nation, a squad of goblin riders broke through the crowd and quickly tied up the man, dragging him away for disturbing the peace.

"Disperse. There is no cause for panic. Lord Momonga has the situation under control, and no harm will come to you," the unit's leader declared while the man was tossed onto a direwolf's back, his subordinates clearing the way.

The people continued to exchange agitated murmurs, but none dared to shout back, knowing how unforgiving the monster nation's penal system was to those who rebelled. The atmosphere was subdued, but the nervousness was palpable in more crowded areas of the market, as this man was not the only one within the past few days to scream his rumors to the public. Hollers from hawkers were one thing, prophecies from promptly-detained foreigners were another.

Yet such disruptions were becoming almost commonplace across the city, with daily interruptions of unscrupulous individuals pulling the attention of hundreds of onlookers across the city, and even more so in populated towns and popular intersections. The reality could not be hidden for long; many feared what was about to come. As the jails became far fuller and the prophesiers stacked in number, the coffers filled slightly slower and the deals signed ever fewer.

X

"Sixteen more cases in the past day. And you think the church is intentionally causing panic?" Momonga glanced over the report presented by Demiurge, noting the increase in numbers from fourteen the previous day, and thirteen the day before.

The demon was standing in front of his office table, accompanied by Souei, who held stacks of papers neatly strung together. Despite not being an original Nazarick native, he was second in command to Demiurge when it came to intelligence operations, and was their primary go-to intelligence regarding foreign affairs. Demiurge excelled in internal affairs, being kept within due to being overly ambitious.

In short, he was trusted to keep even their most secret of affairs, besides the obvious of course. If Demiurge ruled the interiors, Souei rocked the exteriors. Souei's shadow squad team, easily hundreds of members large now, reported intel by the day or by the hour at various stations, at least twenty-seven within Dwargon alone.

Although the young kijin was more than capable of his high position, having even earned compliments from Demiurge and Albedo, Momonga suspected that nepotism played a factor as well. Just like how Benimaru enjoyed special privileges for being considered Momonga's adoptive son ever since the incident, Souei was publicly known as Buku's lover and head secretary for foreign affairs, and thus had many of the same doors opened for him by the woman who held him on a rather tight leash like how Pero held doors open for his many concubines. The people loved to gossip about the Lord-Secretary relationship, much to Buku's and Souei's annoyance.

"We are currently interrogating seven foreign agents, three merchants and four priests. Your suspicions appear to be correct, Lord Momonga. The Church is spreading propaganda and trying to cause civil unrest through religious merchants and smuggled priests, in hopes of inciting rebellion among our purchasing visitors," Demiurge dutifully reported. Souei handed the duo another paper report file, to allow the conversation to flow naturally.

"Outright closing borders to foreigners would show their attempts are working, that we are afraid of them influencing our people."

Momonga leaned back in his chair, thinking intently as Omniscience kicked in. Obviously and most of the time, he could as usual rely on Demiurge to solve problems for him, but he was long past the point of just going with the flow. As the absolute ruler of not only Tempest but also Nazarick, he needed to be on top of the situation and thus needed to figure out how to proceed on his own.

Supplying Demiurge a somewhat liberal approach to executing his orders would prevent any mistakes, due to his great oversight and high intelligence. The overeager demon still thought he left his orders vague on purpose, but that only worked in Momonga's favor. He could only push this so far, however, and it would take some thought to jumpstart the demon's scheming in the direction he wanted.

While he contemplated his options, Diablo entered his office with a tray in his hands and handed out cups of tea to everyone present, then took a stand beside Souei. The tray disappeared, having been made of his magicules, and nobody questioned the incredibly convenient function.

In a sense, letting a powerful demon like Diablo perform menial tasks was a waste of resources, but he also doubled as his personal guard, which in turn was enough for Rubedo to agree to perform tasks away from him. This means she could be put towards training the elite military corps and assisting her sister Albedo with paperwork, a major benefit for Nazarick and Tempest.

Besides, Diablo excelled at all household work and even the most miscellaneous of niche tasks that could be assigned to him. Even the ever-strict Albedo praised his tea-making skills, and that was commendable. The homunculus maids often complained of him taking away their jobs, finding rooms pre-cleaned or flowers replaced before schedule, something that got a chuckle out of Pero.

'I think it would be best to allocate more resources to surveillance. There is never such a thing as too much correct information with our current capabilities. Our standing army is large enough to handle the initial invasion of Falmuth. Yes, that will do.'

"Demiurge, you are permitted to use as much of Nazarick's resources as strictly necessary, but I want every foreigner to be covertly checked before they enter Tempest, which includes Blumund's visitors as well. Cleansing of all hostile elements is paramount, and do what you need to successfully obtain information from them. With the incorporation of Blumund, there has been a massive influx of humans, and spies could be entering under the guise of Blumund's citizens. And start looking into evolutions of shadow demons in favor of mass production or increased stealth," Momonga stated, flipping through the new reports.

"Understood, Lord Momonga, I will redouble my efforts on weeding out enemies from among your loyal subjects." Demiurge voiced his eagerness to carry out orders with a light bow, face twisted in a half smirk.

"Good. I will address the masses in person and assure them that we have everything under control. Moving on, while we are on the topic, Souei, do you have any updates on Blumund's nobles?"

Officially, Tempest had promised Blumund's nobles that they would keep their current positions, but at the same time, they didn't enjoy the near-immunity from the law as they had before and were still bound to follow Tempest's far stricter rules. Souei and his team of kijin and dragonewts were investigating each and every person of prevalence in the nearly acquired human kingdom, cleansing the land of its corruption. Even things once considered legal became illegal, resulting in a second wave of purges among the nobility and the wealthy.

Some nobles with lighter offenses, like misuse of tax money and general neglect, were given stern warnings that the next offense would be their last, along with secret assignments of shadow demons. But there were a lot of more serious offenses such as, working with crime cartels or engaging in slave trade and other illegal goods. Those were executed without mercy, replaced by competent Tempestian citizens eager to show their worth to their Lords. Even the occasional human peasant rose from their merchant, butler, maid, or lady-in-waiting positions, eager to take upon the power that came with the responsibilities.

Fourteen nobles, from baron to marquis, had been executed by public whipping for their outrageous crimes. The liberated slaves, primarily demihumans like elves and dwarves, were sent to Tempest for reintegration into the society. Some had chosen to return to their native nations, and Tempest complied as well through informal and formal contacts.

"Only four provinces, three barons and one viscount, are left to investigate. The criminal underground has all but collapsed, and we are following the last of the leads to weed out what remains. Only two noble houses are under suspicion at the moment." Souei spoke as clearly as he could through the cloth mask covering his mouth and nose that he was wearing all the time. It still came out slightly muffled, but neither admonished the dedicated kijin for his choice of wares.

"I see, everything is going according to plan. Good job. You both can carry on your duties." Momonga dismissed his servants, who quickly disappeared in flashes of light.

Currently, the next step was to have Albedo announce his public appearance at the public Tempest's main government palace, overlooking tens of hundreds of citizens from his kingly balcony, and give a short but reassuring speech about the incoming war.

Considering the massive growth of Tempest's population and land, Momonga's public appearance records as of late had become rather sparse compared to Pero or even Buku. His paranoia and many duties meant that while he did go to council meetings once a month to listen to the delegates of each race and town, he rarely stuck his skull into the public domain beyond that. In that sense, Pero and he were polar opposites, Pero was regularly spotted daily somewhere within Tempest while he rarely even ventured beyond his office.

Long gone in months past were the days when he could just walk the streets of the capital and converse with the average citizen, not being surrounded by crowds of eager tourists and even more eager natives being pushed back by heavily armed escorts. It simply wasn't something a world superpower's leader could casually do.

Casual strolls around the capital city or agricultural fields involved clearing out entire acres of citizens and tourists caught too much attention, making it extremely difficult to approach him as every platter of food was tested for poison and every blade of grass inspected for hidden explosive enchantments.

The worst thing about all this farce was that it was performed solely for the peace of mind of the floor guardians since he was immune to poison, and no explosives, no matter how potent, would be able to harm him with his barriers and resistances. But if it kept the peace, it kept the peace, and his personal guard who usually did nothing besides guard his secretaries in Tempest got to do their jobs for once, so he kept his skeletal jaw shut.

It didn't take long for Albedo to arrange everything, and at noon of the next day, he was standing on the balcony of the royal castle, a sea of people staring up at him. It could have been done in a day, but word had spread about his public speech and it had to be pushed back days to accommodate the sheer amount of citizens flooding the capital, and neither Albedo nor Momonga were leaders to deny their people what they so clearly wanted.

At Momonga's right stood Albedo as his head consort and Shalltear stood at his right as second consort. Shion, as the third consort, stood beside Albedo, and any future possible consorts would be assigned in a similar fashion to avoid clashes.

Not that Momonga ever planned to get more consorts. Dealing with the trio and keeping them happy already was exhausting. He had no clue how Pero could manage a harem far larger than his own, but they understood each other's problems whenever they had a dudes' night out. However, they apparently had contingency plans for pretty much every situation when it came to potential additions to their ranks. From how they would be placed in public events, to how to put the newcomers in their place and crush any ambition to upscale any of them, Albedo had masterminded their approach and Shion agreed to enforce it, leaving Shalltear to play catchup.

Knowing there was no point getting involved in their inner schemes, he left them to their own devices. He didn't even want to know their schedules for who stood guard when he was discussing things with other floor guardians; even Omniscience and Nazarick's libraries didn't help him fully understand the women.

At the moment the majority of the crowd was cheering loudly. At least half were locals who were celebrating the rare occurrence of seeing their leader in person as fireworks exploded overhead, the orchestras and bands playing anime music the best they could. He would need to have a chat with Pero later about his choices of grand event music since the companies employing said instrument players were owned by Pero's company.

Momonga raised his hand and the crowd instantly fell silent.

"My loyal subjects, friends, and allies of my beloved nation, today I have come to make one thing absolutely clear. I will not allow anything to harm my home, my people, and my allies. No tremendous force, no invading army, no matter how powerful they might be, will withstand the power of Tempest. Rest assured that I consider the safety of you all my top priority, and we have taken extensive measures to ensure this. Know that your Lords are always watching and that we are always ready to defend our beloved nation with all of our might. We shall not fail!"

As the speech went on for about another half hour, he assured everyone that no soul would be left behind, and should the enemy get past the nation's border, people would get evacuated to highly protected, secret areas constructed by the Supreme Beings.

If the speech was effective, it was hard to tell right away. Momonga could only hope that Demiurge would manage to capture all potential troublemakers and keep the public discourse to the minimum. The reports would come in eventually, but if the cheers from tens of thousands of civilians were anything, it had been a resounding success.

X

Legally and formally, the only direct ally of the Tempest Hegemony was the Armed Nation of Dwargon, but that didn't mean the other neighboring nations could ignore the political and military situation. Dwargon's spies were noted to be the most active within the Western Nations, however, that didn't mean the others were slacking.

If the Church of Luminism claimed Tempest for their own military and religious records, razing the nation of monsters and demihumans to the ground, they could just as well continue their momentum to annihilate the rest of the demihumans. Dwargon and Sarion were at the top of their list, but conquering the Jura Forests would open the doors for an invasion of Fulbrosia, Euranzia, and Milim's unnamed territories. Thus, it was in everyone's best interests to keep Tempest as a buffer zone of sorts, separating the old Demon Lord territories from ever-threatening human armies.

With that in mind, an urgent conference had been called between all interested foreign political factors besides Dwargon, of mostly demihumans. Held on Tempest soil in an unspecified room of the Tempestian Foreign Embassy, representatives arrived one by one to discuss their respective nations' policies.

Considering that time was of the essence, no flashy or regal arrival was needed. A secure, unrestricted teleportation area was prepared in the royal castle for all attending parties to converge at.

Momonga was the first to arrive at the spacious conference room, watching the castle staff perform last-minute preparations as he motioned for them to continue working. Albedo, Buku, and Demiurge converged moments later and took their seats beside him, Albedo and Buku to his left and Demiurge to his right.

"You know, we could push for a closer alliance and get our foot in the doors that way. It would make it much easier to slowly nudge Carrion and Frey into accepting our rule if we assert ourselves here. They're likely planning to use us as shields anyway, since if we fall then they could come under attack," Buku commented on the current political climate, enjoying a cup of coffee. Morning meetings were not her thing, and this was the ninth cup of joe she had.

"We still have no concrete ideas where the other more powerful demon lords are standing. If we push too hard, it may cause unnecessary problems. " Momonga replied, pouring over papers one final time before the meeting would start.

"Milim is on our side, Ramiris works for us, and Clayman is firmly in our pocket. If it comes down to some sort of voting among them, having Frey and Carrion would give us control over half of their Demon Lord council. Look, I'm not saying we should bend them over the table, but maybe they can be convinced that it's better to be our best friends like Gazel. He pretty much agrees with everything we want at this point, and he's benefitting quite a bit from even our lowest-level collaborations."

"Lord Momonga, Lady Buku, may I offer my humble opinion?" Demiurge inquired, a hint of nervousness hidden in his tone.

Although all present Supreme Beings had stated numerous times that they wanted to hear the opinions of their lessers, it still felt like the height of arrogance to actually insert himself into their conversations. Many others felt the same, but if the Supreme Beings commanded, he would obey and set the standard.

Even Albedo, for the most part, only observed them interact, only speaking up when she required clarification. She did make suggestions on rare occasions, but that was an exception, not the norm. Conversation in the bedroom and conversation in the meeting room were two completely different things, after all.

"Go on. Your expertise would be appreciated." Momonga waved for him to speak up. The castle maids took this as their cue to leave, knowing that even hearing the earlier conversation held them to the utmost secrecy, and the fewer secrets they knew, the less likely they or their families were to be targeted by foreign powers.

Demiurge resisted expressing his gratitude and lauding praises on the spot, as such actions only aggravated his superiors. The Supreme Ones knew all their servants were happy to be of use, they didn't require to hear it every time they gave someone a chance to shine, and it wasted everyone's time.

Getting a grip on his emotions, Demiurge took a sharp breath and explained his opinion on the topic at hand. "Asking Demon Lords to join the alliance may be perceived as a sign of weakness, even if in actuality we would provide protection for them, as it would appear to be that we are gathering the favor of various Demon Lords."

"Another potential danger would be that, by Nazarick pushing for the favor of four Demon Lords, others may see it as a threat, and quickly retaliate, which could be problematic considering that Nazarick's resources will be spread thin to assure absolute victory. Furthermore, accepting Demon Lord protection could send out the message that said Demon Lords are working with Veldora to grow this nation, furthering the threat presented at the time being. This could be the push for the unknown force behind Yuuki to create more of the unusual weapons, and is again something we cannot handle without problems at the current time."

"That's a good point. I guess I was rather hasty with my suggestion." Buku nodded in agreement with Demiurge.

"As much as I prefer a cautious approach, if any of you see an opportunity we can exploit during this meeting, do not hesitate to inform me," Momonga stated. Activating the thrice-encrypted Thought Communication, he continued, "any advantage we can obtain that outweighs its risks is worth taking into consideration."

Being keenly self-aware of how cautious and often paranoid he was, Momonga knew it was often best to rely on others to supply him with possible openings on when to be more daring and aggressive in his policies. As much as he hated to admit it, if not for Buku's meticulous and emotional meddling in his affairs, he would still be alone every night, and not enjoying the companionship of three wonderful women. His emotional suppression didn't help at times, his logical plans often didn't take into account any sort of moralities sometimes rivaling Demiurge's cruelty.

Demiurge, on the other hand, had the same tendency to overthink, but at the same time, his ruthless nature gave him the foresight to see beneficial opportunities in the many morally gray zones that Momonga still steered away from. Both were logical, but Momonga kept his sanity by tackling the morally upright issues and utilizing what remained of his human sensibilities.

"Got it." "As you wish, Lord Momonga." "I will do my best, my beloved." All three responded to his request in near unison, settling into their seats as maids re-entered the room in preparation for attending guests.

The first guest arrived minutes later, on the dot at 6:00 in the morning. Duchess Elyun, as the representative for Elmesia, was joining the talks on behalf of her nation, the Sorcerer Dynasty Sarion. She was not entertained at the thought of being rid of her international delights and freedoms for international worries and responsibilities. Her two guards, funnily enough, the adventurers who used to work with her in the past, settled to her sides.

Right after her, Milim and Ramiris all but marched in and took their seats, the former shooting glances at Buku. Everyone besides the girl herself wanted to keep Milim as far away from Hinata as possible due to the dangerous risk of her going into a stampede, but Milim still wanted to attend the meeting as a Demon Lord. As stubborn as the girl was, she still listened to her hosts' advice from time to time, and her firepower was to be reckoned with, meaning it should be accounted for. Ramiris, on the other hand, had her extensive Labyrinth and incredible knowledge of spirits, which templars were known for occasionally wielding.

Elyun became visibly nervous upon entry of the two Demon Lords, their names announced for identifying who they were, even if she didn't have personal tutorage from Elmesia about the appearances of various Demon Lords, but quickly suppressed her surprise with her professionalism. The two ignored her in favor of munching on maid-supplied chocolate chip cookies.

After them came King Gazel of the Armed Nation of Dwargon, who, as an ally of Tempest, enjoyed the privilege of being able to use Nazarick's unique transportation system to his leisure. Of course, he hadn't used the luxury even once, preferring to use written correspondence or a crystal ball for his own safety. Decked in royal regalia, he made a far greater presence in the room than Elyun, even more so as he sat directly left to her entourage on the table.

Closely following him, Baron Velyard arrived as the representative of the Kingdom of Blumund. Although now part of Tempest, the nation was still in the takeover phase, and many of the governmental branches mostly operated independently for the time being, of which he would be speaking for. He also partially represented the human voice in the primarily demihuman gathering.

Demon Lords Frey and Carrion both arrived at the same time, representing the Harpy Kingdom Fulbrosia and Beast Kingdom Eurazania respectively. Frey had her two daughters Claire and Nemu as her escorts, who sat beside her, while Carrion had sat his beastketeers next to him. Suphia, unsurprisingly, appeared like a whipped kitten, as Carrion had no doubt caught wind of her stunt with Lupus.

Clayman, Kagali, and a doppelganger posing as Yuuki came last, representing the Puppet Nation Jistav and the Free Guild respectively. The latter two had no escorts, but the former brought two relatively unknown and unnamed majins for appearances' sake.

"You look familiar. Have we met before?" Carrion asked Kagali, even before she sat down, the beasketeers staring at Clayman whose forces constantly put them on edge.

'There's something familiar about the elf.'

"We may have passed one another in Tempest, Lord Carrion, but I do not believe we have met otherwise," Kagali responded with a polite bow before taking her seat beside Yuuki.

{ What do you make of that elven woman? } He asked his closest ally, Frey.

{ She reminds me of someone. Kazareem's presence was unmistakable. } Frey replied, masking her confusion. Kazareem had been dead for centuries, slain by Leon. Someone replicating his aura was strange, to say the least.

{ Kazareem was a man as far as I know. Although I don't think I ever saw him without a mask. Do you think the sly bastard somehow escaped death? } Carrion eyed the woman with open suspicion, choosing intimidation over stealth.

{ I wouldn't put it past him to survive and possess some unfortunate elf. Whatever the case is, we'll have to look deeper into it. As I understand, this Kagali is second in command of the Free Guild. If this woman is indeed Kazareem, this would give Clayman enormous power within the human nations, something he could try using against us. }

{ Just a thought, but could it be that Momonga is purposely putting this woman in the same room with us to scare us into an alliance? If the church is as dangerous as reports indicate, he could try to use us as meat shields. }

{ Unlikely. I still think this is a power move from Clayman. I will play my cards carefully. I suggest you do the same. } Frey advised her friend and ally.

Whatever was going on, Kazareem's possible reappearance could not be a mere coincidence. Yuuki's "appearance" at the meeting also stirred thoughts among the duo, Elyun, and Velyard, since his status was famed across the western hemisphere as the most influential human across the land, meaning Tempest was bringing in their big-shot non-hostile entities to the table.

"I am sure, by this point, everyone present in this room is aware that the Kingdom of Falmuth and the Holy Empire of Ruberios are throwing everything they have against us." Momonga opened the meeting.

Frey and Carrion's immediate suspicion of Kagali was an interesting development. There was a chance they would want to join an alliance, with the help of a tiny underhanded push from either Kagali or Clayman.

"First off, I wish to express our gratitude that our trusted neighbors expressed their own concern about the situation, but please rest assured, we will deal with the invading forces, and use appropriate retaliatory measures to ensure such an unjustified attack on Tempest's soil is not repeated," He continued.

"Human aggression is a concern to us all; should Tempest fall, humans will no doubt continue their crusade towards all non-human nations, aiming to annihilate every non-human species once and for all." Frey expressed her concerns while glancing at Velyard and Yuuki. The former slightly shriveled in his seat while the latter only stiffened their pose.

Gazel, funnily enough, didn't respond to either prompt, choosing to remain neutral. Every visitor in the room knew of his nation's high target value and suspected he likely had cooperated with Tempest for backup plans.

"Not every human condones what the church of Luminism is doing. While both the church and Free Guild have been working hard to eliminate threats, the Free Guild has no qualms about working with nonhumans. If anything, we prefer peaceful cooperation - we have worked with demihumans before, and will continue to so long as it is beneficial to all parties involved. We hunt down dangerous humans like we hunt down dangerous demihumans - only if they are dangerous." Yuuki returned her stare with a confident smile. The doppelganger had enough superficial information to play the role of the guild's grandmaster to near perfection, and its installed experiences from Buku and Kagali allowed it to imitate him almost perfectly.

"Even so, I offer to supply one of my armies as a reserve, should Tempest fail to stop the initial attack, with a beastketeer as its leadership," Carrion spoke up.

"And one of my harpy legions will join Tempest's defense as well. Luchia is trained to be a commander." Frey joined in, using the opportunity to name-drop her daughter.

"As a close ally to Tempest, Dwargon offers full support and will coordinate the handling of the enemy forces, including military might. A threat to Tempest is a threat to us all." Gazel gave Momonga a subtle nod, something the others obviously caught.

Elyun remained silent as Sarion wished to remain neutral in the conflict, to prevent possible mercantile and magical losses to its technology-based economy. Sitting in one room with so many prominent world leaders was stressful at best, especially with her not publicly announcing any help from her nation, not even sending token forces for symbolic reasons. It made her nation appear unafraid as if mere humans weren't troubles to bother with, but it also made her nation appear aloof and perhaps secretly scared to deal with its unknown cards.

Milim was impatiently shifting in her seat, glancing at Buku with a pleading expression. But Buku cruelly gave her a subtle shake of her head to shut down her silent plea; she would have to sit the entire meeting out. Gazel and Elyun could tell that Thought Communication flew between the two, but couldn't crack their minds.

Ramiris sat with a bored expression, slowly nibbling on a florentine and sipping from her teacup of hot chocolate. Dealing with military logistics wasn't her job, and she was present mostly for decoration since she was a Demon Lord, it would have been weird for her to not attend when two others attended. And since neither Carrion nor Frey were aware of her growth rates, neither paid much attention to the fact that she was not palm-sized anymore, assuming it was one of her special shapeshifting abilities. Besides, they all knew about spirits, and thus she never had much to add to the conversation to begin with.

"I will accept your help, Demon Lords Frey and Carrion, and in turn give my word to offer my help in return should your nations be threatened. Gazel, I want to request that you close the border with Falmuth and prevent the passage of anyone through." Momonga stated.

"Complete closure of the border?" Gazel asked. His expression didn't change, but his voice gave off a subtle hint of surprise. The others were either blatantly surprised - in the case of Velyard - or completely suppressed their reactions.

The request for complete closure of Dwargon's borders to humans meant more than just a superficial stationing of soldiers over a wide strip of land - it meant blocking off hundreds of transportation tunnels, violating their all-species-acceptance policy they have had for centuries, and implying that they were under great influence of Tempest to even consider doing both. No sane nation would attempt to temporarily end ALL trade with an entire species, even if it was only just one border they had to manage, thanks to the economic and political ramifications for all those involved.

"Yes. We are prepared to launch a full-fledged counter-invasion onto Falmuth soil the moment invading forces cross our border. I want to ensure no individuals escape by fleeing into other countries, as we will in turn ensure the threat of humanity against Dwargon is ended permanently." Momonga turned this burning gaze toward the dwarven king.

"Momonga, may you clarify your intentions?" Gazel stared back with an equally fierce gaze. He was a monstrously powerful individual in his own right, he knew when to stand his ground.

However, his confidence was only on the outside. 'He couldn't plan to massacre the entire country. If that's his plan, I can do nothing to stop it. By the spirits please make it not to be the case.'

Gazel had accepted that it was only a matter of time before his nation would be under full control of Tempest, and the best he could do was ensure his people didn't suffer for it. When vassalage did come, they would be the strongest and best territory under Tempest's dominion.

"We will completely crush Falmuth's internal resistance and eliminate any possible opposition together with all the noble families. We want to ensure that none of those vermin escape our righteous retribution by fleeing into your nation. So as your ally, I request you to fully close your nation's border and prevent any human from either entering or leaving your shared border for the time being." Momonga announced, receiving nods of approval from Ramiris and Milim.

"But what of the trade with other human nations?" Gazel didn't fully back down, temporarily representing humanity as well.

"To compensate for any potential losses my request might cause to Dwargon, Tempest will remove all road tariffs for Dwargon-based merchants and ensure their safety while in Tempestian lands. I have no intentions of stopping trade with non-hostile human nations nor impede Dwargon's ability to do so." Momonga replied.

Velyard's calm appearance cracked for a moment, but he quickly managed to resume a professional expression thanks to the realization that his nation had been spared greatly despite all its purges. The one who couldn't hide their emotions completely was Elyun. Her lip quivered at the realization that Tempest indeed planned to do the same as the invading humans, flipping the cards on them, and with brutal efficiency and tendencies if Lord Momonga's statement was anything. She could already see the armies of Tempest marching across the land, putting towns and cities to the torch as they killed civilians and soldiers alike since anyone could be opposition.

'As Aunt Sylvia often says, a tooth for a tooth. I can't say they don't deserve it for attacking Tempest but… so many will die.'

"Very well. I will honor our agreement and comply with your request. But I must warn you that the rest of the Western Nations might get involved in conflict out of fear," Gazel stated, eyeing the skeleton.

"They are already involved. There are thousands of mercenaries from many Western Nations within the army, and tracing is already in progress. I will ensure they fully understand what they are dealing with. We will show the full might of Tempest to the world and ensure the world understands the no mercy doled towards anyone who threatens our people." Momonga stood up, releasing his aura of dread at the lowest level he was capable of, eyes flaring with great fire.

Even at its weakest, it would have enough of an effect on those unprotected. It was easy to notice that Frey's and Carrion's resolves were almost immediately pushed to the breaking point, and Elyun along with Velyard shook uncontrollably as their subconscious screamed for them to flee. Clayman, "Yuuki," and Kagali were mostly unaffected, but the first did shift in his seat, much to the surprise of Frey and Carrion.

"If humans want a war, they will get one. I will make sure there is not a soul in the world that thinks they can threaten my people and get away with it." Momonga declared.

Clayman nervously gulped and glanced away, expertly playing the role that was given to him.

"I understand your stance, but I must insist that there shall be no pointless bloodshed. The Guild will keep a neutral stance and will not stand in Tempest's way, as long as no innocent blood is spilled." Yuuki stood up as well, showing more bravery than most present. It appears the human-run adventurer organization most kept note of had a far stronger influence than Velyard or Elyun anticipated.

Momonga turned off his aura and stated in return, "If it's the innocents you want to protect then you have my word that we will not kill regular people, so long as they do not display any sort of resistance to fight us. If you want to save lives, use your guild to warn the people to not stand in our way. All possible threats will be eliminated, to end the Falmuth's threat against Tempest once and for all."

"That is good enough for me. All guild members will be warned to not only avoid fighting Tempest's forces but to warn the common folk to do the same." The doppelganger playing Yuuki nodded.

There were a few more minor logistic questions discussed, like where Frey and Carrion's forces would be stationed, but overall the meeting went as expected. The first step in making an alliance with the two weaker Demon Lords was made, with the possibility of slowly forcing them to be subservient to Nazarick in the near future.

Suffice to say, Milim didn't get her desired role of playing 'lunatic mode' bullet hell on Tempest's enemies, and she was still delegated to protecting Veldora or ensuring their neighboring nations' armies didn't backstab them. Blumund offered some token forces, but cited internal changes as to why they couldn't supply a larger army, something of which Momonga assured they would be protected.

Editing by aidan_lo

Proofreading by aidan_lo, Aurodium, Sluethen, Miracle of Gods, Cakeeight, athrav and FantasyTroll.

AN: Thank you for reading the story, and if you have caught up to the latest chapter, you can check out my other work or join my discord server (https://discord.gg/WmGKVU3XG2) where additional chapters are available or if you are interested in becoming a beta reader (gives access to chapters months ahead of regular readers).