After the initial chaos caused by the monster and Shiro's party, the rumours eventually died down after much work and not as many of the demons questioned the superiority of the higher rankers anymore.
Tapping his pen on the table, a soldier was looking out the window when he paused at three distant shadows that were flying towards the city at rapid pace.
Furrowing his brows, he wondered who they were as he quickly donned his armour and ran out of the room.
Dashing across the wall, he tried to get a clearer look at the shadows and realised that it was three members of the party in the rumours.
With Shiro in the centre, Madison and Lyrica followed beside her.
Before he could even say anything, Madison summoned her avatar as Lyrica opened two large portals.
Giant handles slowly appeared from the portal as madison grabbed them with her avatar and unsheathed two giant blades.
Stomping down, her avatar reared its head back and released an ear shattering cry.
*URAHHH!!!!!
Understanding that this was probably a declaration of war, the guard turned around to call for help with fear in his eyes. If the rumours were true, then there was no way they could fight them but as soldiers, if they didn't fight, they would be killed by someone else.
Just as he turned around, he sensed two presences not too far from him.
"Pft, Madi's cry seemed to have scared the poor man." Lyrica laughed softly as she saw the fear-filled faces of the guards.
"Well with the rumours and seeing it in person, I'm not surprised that they're scared. If anything, I'm more surprised that they still want to fight." Shiro shrugged as she casually walked past the guard.
"Say, should we kill you or should we spare you?" Shiro decided to mess with him and ask with a grin.
Stunned by the beauty of the woman in front of him, the demon quickly came to his senses after hearing her sentence.
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he gritted his teeth and drew his weapon.
"You can spare me but I'll be killed by the higher ups anyway if I abandon my post." The demon took a deep breath and slashed towards her with fear in his eyes. Despite his fear, his form was not affected and Shiro knew that he must have spent quite a bit of effort training himself.
*Ping~
Catching the sword easily between her index and middle finger, Shiro glanced at Lyrica.
"He's quite resolute, isn't he?" Shiro smiled before appearing behind him and knocking him out with a single hit.
"Mn, indeed." Lyrica nodded her head as she also knocked one of the guards out.
Looking at Madison who was menacingly walking towards the city and drawing most of their attention, Shiro and Lyrica made their way through the guards, knocking out anyone who was in their path.
In a few moments, the leaders were captured and the city was now under their control.
Scenes like this continued to happen as the three were storming through the eastern borders now that it was clear that no one could stop them.
The rumours that had faded away after great effort resurfaced since they were dominating the cities without any problems.
At first, the citizens were afraid but once they understood that the three didn't do anything to harm those uninvolved, they were a little more relaxed since they had also spared the guards.
The most they would do was knock them out while those that continued to fight would have a few broken bones but in this world, broken bones could be healed easily so it was equal to just a slap on the wrist.
While the civilians weren't worried, the candidates were panicking since there wasn't anything they could do about Shiro. Ranks 10 or higher couldn't be contacted and those that were lower than rank 10 could only resort to running away.
In a short few days, the entire eastern border was taken over and the candidates that ran away evacuated to the centre. The demons over there were forced to give up their own territory to the higher ranks since they were the weaker party.
As for Shiro, Madison and Lyrica, they did think about recruiting a few people to look after the cities but dismissed that thought in the end since each of the party members could look after a city on their own with ease.
Allocating the rest of the party members to look after the cities, Helion and Aarim continued their research while doing this since it wasn't too difficult to accomplish. All they had to do was drive back any invaders while the city functioned normally. Since Shiro, Madison and Lyrica attacked quickly, the candidates couldn't bring the soldiers away so they were given the task of continuing their job of defending the city.
There were a few who refused but they were given a warning so that they knew their place. It was Shiro who decided to reuse them so naturally, they can be replaced whenever. Whether that meant killing them or not depended on their attitude towards them.
After the first few demonstrations, the demons were much more obedient since they were used to a society where those at the top of the food chain oppressed those that are weaker than them.
For the candidates that ran away, even though they were safe for now, the fear of death always felt close to them and they decided to make their way towards the north to seek help.
Normally, this would be akin to suicide since they could be killed at any moment but with a monster like Shiro chasing behind them, they had no choice.
Not too long after they left, news of the party's appearance reached their ears as they felt fear grip at their hearts.
Increasing the pace of their travel, they flew across the skies and reached the northern border.
There were border guards who tried to stop them but they ignored them and continued forward.
This caused a fight to break out as the candidates slaughtered the guards without a second thought. Since they were going to probably die by Shiro's hands, they didn't care about the consequences anymore. But before they could even reach the halfway point, a heavy pressure crashed into them as a single demon stood in their path.
Rank 10 Queen Candidate, Asphil.
Glaring at the intruders while they were trying to help Nostic reach tier 6, she couldn't help but feel disgusted by their presence. They had actually ran here all the way from the east out of fear rather than the desire to help.
"Take another step and I'll kill you all." She warned with a harsh glare but the candidates who forgot fear only laughed.
"The white haired devil is making her way here, going back means dea-"
"Then die." Asphil interrupted since they had taken another step.
Appearing in front of the candidate, she swiped up with her hand as the candidate's torso cleaved in half.
"We already know about her. Just delay time for us and we'll deal with her when the time comes. It's not like you're going to become the king or queen anyway." Asphil narrowed her eyes as the candidates took a step back.
"Why waste your breath on them, they're dead regardless." A feminine voice laughed as miasma appeared around the candidates.
Their eyes became bloodshot as their skin started to turn a dark shade of purple.
"Go back and delay her for us." The same voice commanded as the 'candidates' started to walk back.
"Che, your skills are disgusting as always." Asphil clicked her tongue at the sight of the woman that had just appeared.
"Oh it's just a few parasites. It's not like they're dead now. But with them, we should be able to buy a bit more time. I thought that we'd have a bit longer but she's quite hasty isn't she?" The woman laughed as Asphil nodded her head.
'Thankfully, she didn't come directly to the north otherwise we'd be eliminated without a fighting chance. It's all up to Nostic to fight her one on one while we deal with her friends. Once that is over, we'll be able to gang up on her and end her for good.' She thought to herself as their goal was to send demons to delay Shiro as long as possible. If they can do this, the chances of them surviving increases.
Making their way back, the two demons disappeared from the area while the candidates returned to the centre in order to delay Shiro.
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