Chapter 547: General Liko's Plan (1)

Hey Guys, Aidka's Here!

I'm posting this announcement together with five chapters of each series. In this announcement, I plan to explain detailedly my current situation as well as my plans for the future.

Firstly, sorry about the irregular releases, but I was very busy with work. I was working on a very important project in RL, and it meant that I could not put as much time as before into writing.

Actually, writing is not a problem. I love to write very much, and even when I was tired, I could write one or two chapters easily.

The problem is editing.

As many of you probably noticed, English is not my native tongue. It means that there are some nuances of the tongue that I find hard to understand. Due to that, I dedicate a lot of time to edit each chapter (around twenty minutes to half an hour) to make the chapters as readable as possible, and even so, it's normal to see mistakes in the chapters.

However, editing is boring and tiresome. For the ten chapters I'm posting today, for example, I used almost four hours to edit them. That is a lot of time and the main reason the chapters take longer to be posted.

Actually, I finished writing the ten chapters yesterday, but only edited half of them, and the rest were edited today.

Well, changing the topic, the busiest time at work already ended. From this week (last week actually), my work hours will be until noon, so I can use the rest of the time to write. In other words, releases should return to normal this week.

Of course, if there is something urgent at work, I will have to work the entire day, and most likely I'll be unable to post, but I'll make sure to announce it beforehand (In P4TRE0N).

Starting this week, I'll be posting the chapters I owe from last week (three for S/M and five for FP), plus the chapters of this week.

And nope, I'm not planning to drop the novels. As I told you, I like to write a lot, plus, Fourth Prince is close to the end, and I'm going to end it.

Also, my schedule should change next year. Wait for the news (Good news).

With love, Aidka :p

...

"Dammit!" The daemon general cursed darkly after he returned to the camp.

Behind him, the other eight beyond-twelfth-layer daemon powerhouses arrived one after another. Right now, though, their appearances were rather pitiful.

With blood and injuries in their bodies, disordered mana, and pale faces, the nine daemon powerhouses seemed like defeated soldiers.

And technically, they had been defeated.

"Who would have thought that woman was so strong." The cardinal said with a bitter smile. "Dammit, if we would have not escaped quickly, we could have died."

The daemon general nodded. In fact, seventy percent of their injuries were caused by her.

"Her title of the strongest below gods is well-deserved." A daemon powerhouse said with a bitter smile.

Five beyond-twelfth-layer powerhouses, including a fifteenth-layer powerhouse, fought her, but even so, they were unable to defeat her.

Such a result was appalling.

Fortunately, not all was bad news.

"She should have used a forbidden technique during her final outburst." The daemon general said with a serious expression. "Once the effects of the technique end, she will enter in a weakened state. If she dares to attack us the next time we attack the fort, we will kill her."

"Are you sure it was a forbidden technique?" A daemon powerhouse could not help but ask. "What if she is in a perfect state when we fight her again?"

The daemon general fell silent.

Most of the techniques that increased the combat power of someone for a short period of time were forbidden techniques, but not all were like that.

Some techniques relied on other methods, such as compressing mana or creating a second mana core to get a momentary burst of power.

If the technique Ysnay used was like that, then it means that they will be disadvantaged the next time they fight her.

However–

"No, I'm sure she used a forbidden technique." The cardinal spoke up confidently. "Think about it. If that technique does not have serious side-effects, then why she waited until the situation was irreversible to use it? Moreover, she did not chase after us despite her advantage. She could have killed one or two of us if she would have chased after us."

The daemon powerhouses looked at each other and nodded in agreement. The cardinal's words were logical.

"We will know the truth during the next battle." The daemon general said with a look of determination. "The soldiers are tired, and we don't know how long the effects of that woman's technique last, so let's wait until tomorrow to start another attack. If Ysnay strength is the same as today, we can only think of another plan. But if she is absent or noticeably weakened, then…

"Fort Mist will fall in our hands tomorrow."

"For the Daemon God." The cardinal said respectfully.

"""For the Daemon God!"""

….

"How are the casualties?" General Liko asked gravely.

"We lost a third of our troops, general." A commander standing nearby replied with a slightly anxious look. "Almost one thousand soldiers died, and the rest are gravely injured."

General Liko nodded silently before heaving a sigh.

Then, he looked at the rest of the people in the tent.

All the higher-ups of the army were here, including General Liko, General Anson, and me. Aunt Dayana also came, to represent the men of the Reincarnation Auction House, plus most of the commanders of the army.

Right now, the atmosphere in the tent was somber. Despite having repelled the daemon attack just one hour ago, nobody was in the mood to celebrate.

Because the people here knew that the current situation was very bad.

Even if we repelled the daemons, we suffered great losses.

With an unreadable expression on his face, General Liko looked at me and asked:

"Prince Claus, what is the condition of your teacher?"

I put on a hesitant expression before sighing.

"She will need a few days to recover completely. The side-effects of the technique she used were pretty serious."

"Is it so? And how much strength you think she can show right now?"

I thought for a moment about how to respond, but someone replied before me.

"I have seen that kind of technique before. In my experience, she should be unable to use even fifty percent of her strength currently. If the situation is bad, perhaps even thirty percent of her strength will be impossible."

Nice assist, General Anson.

With this, the lie will be more credible.

But the words of General Anson made the atmosphere in the tent heavier.

The people here had seen the battle against the daemon powerhouses. They understood that Ysnay and General Anson barely managed to repel them with Ysnay at her full strength and after she used a forbidden technique.

Thus, now that she is suffering the side-effects of the forbidden technique and can barely show half of her combat power, how are they going to repel the enemies the next time?

Nobody in the tent said anything, but their thoughts were clear in their eyes.

Despair, fear, gloom, and hatred towards the daemons.

"… Dammit, where did these daemon powerhouses come from?"

"Can we expect reinforcements? Otherwise, I don't know how we are going to stop the daemons next time they attack."

Hearing the words of his officers, General Liko shook his head.

"We can't expect reinforcements. Most likely, the daemons will take advantage of the fact that Miss Ysnay is injured to take down the fort. They will probably attack tomorrow after their men rest. Even if we ask for reinforcements immediately, they will be unable to arrive in time."

The officers looked at each other with hopeless and despairing expressions.

"What are we going to do then? Are we going to wait here for our deaths?" One of the officers asked.

General Liko took a deep breath and shook his head.

"No."

"Huh?"

"We will not wait here for our deaths." General Liko said firmly and looked at each person in the tent. "I have decided. Before the daemons attack again, we are going to abandon Fort Mist."