Lilia saw Iris covered in blood and felt immense pain in her heart. She kept running towards Iris but was never able to get close. She could only watch as savage and powerful monsters pounced on Iris, tearing at her body and feasting on her flesh and skin, tearing her remaining clothes to reveal her skin, flesh, and organs. Iris tried to scream, but her throat was held tightly by the monsters' sharp claws, leaving her mouth open in silence.
Soon, Iris was torn apart by the monsters, her body split into several pieces, blood gushing out, leaving no trace of her remains.
"Iris!!!" Lilia woke up from her dream, sitting up in bed, gasping heavily and sweating profusely. Her forehead was covered in beads of sweat.
She looked out the window, where the moonlight was shining through the glass, illuminating the room.
"What is going on? Is it just a dream?" Lilia touched her face and felt the wetness of tears.
She then got up from bed, turned on the lights, and changed into clean clothes. After washing up, she left the room to search for her daughter, Iris.
Throughout the night, she searched but found no trace of Iris.
For the past two months, Lilia had been searching for Iris, but she couldn't find any clues about her whereabouts. She sent all of her shadow guards, but there was still no news. The charges against Iris were dismissed with a flimsy excuse, turning it into a misunderstanding.
"Ah~" Lilia sat on a chair, sighing heavily, feeling extremely anxious and worried.
"Your Majesty, you should rest and not worry too much. Princess Iris will be fine. She has her own fortune." Candace tried to reassure her.
Lilia returned to her room with a heavy heart, lying back on the bed, covering her face with her hands, sobbing uncontrollably.
Lilia was scared, scared that Iris was being devoured alive by monsters. Now that Iris was missing, she had no idea if Iris was dead or alive.
...
At this time, the vanguard forces of the Wu Region had assembled and entered the passageway, heading towards the end of the tunnel.
The captain of the vanguard force was Barnas, a member of the Bimon tribe. Barnas had a sturdy physique, sharp and huge fangs, and a thick and long tail. He was one of the strongest warriors of the Bimon tribe.
The vanguard force included the remaining four major races in the Wu Region: the Winged tribe, the Nightmare tribe, the Insect tribe, and the Witch tribe.
The total number of soldiers from the five tribes was nearly fifty thousand, with the Insect tribe being the largest in numbers due to their strong reproductive capabilities and terrifying destructive power.
Although the Bimon tribe had fewer people, their physical strength and defense capability were much higher than the other four tribes, making them the strongest.
The Winged tribe excelled in flying, with incredible speed and special flying techniques that could create storms when used.
The Nightmare tribe could infiltrate various terrains and turn their bodies into mist that could hide in the darkness and silently kill enemies.
As for the Witch tribe, their powers were ancient, with ancestral ties to ancient beasts. They were skilled in alchemy and could create various poisons. Their witchcraft was extremely powerful, able to control the minds of others and turn them into witch slaves.
In short, the power of the Witch tribe was extremely formidable and terrifying.
Soon, the vanguard force passed through the passage and arrived at the God and Demon continent.
Barnas stood on the land, breathing in the fresh air and smelling the fragrance of the earth. He felt at ease and had a pleasant mood.
"Which country should we occupy next?" General Iqiu of the Winged tribe asked.
At that moment, General Salas of the Nightmare tribe noticed a knife-shaped mark near a tree. He walked over and examined it carefully. After a moment, he turned to the others and smiled, saying, "Let's go west and occupy the country over there as our base!"
Upon hearing Salas' words, an elder from the Witch tribe frowned and said, "General Salas, your decision seems a bit arbitrary, doesn't it?"
"In the previous battle with the Divine and Demon Continent, one of our generals from the Nightmare Demon Clan unfortunately died. However, a part of his soul has entered a human body. As long as it's night, his soul can awaken, and then we can easily conquer a country with inside and outside cooperation," Sarath casually said, already having planned this strategy.
"I see," the elder of the Witch Clan nodded, not continuing to argue.
The remaining generals of the three clans also nodded and agreed, thinking that Sarath's plan was very feasible.
Afterwards, this vanguard of 50,000 troops headed towards the direction of the Azure Moon Empire.
...
In the past two months, Dios ruled the entire empire with an iron fist, killing all resistance and completely taking control of the empire.
Dios had just returned to the Azure Moon Empire from the wilderness. On his first night back, an additional soul emerged within his body, contending for control.
The two souls fought against each other, and Dios gradually fell into a disadvantage. Just as his soul was about to collapse, a mysterious power surged within his body, making his soul become as hard as steel and suppressing the soul of the Nightmare Demon General.
Not long after, Dios' father, Dierdek, fell seriously ill and passed away in the following week.
His brother, Dieror, inherited the throne. Dieror and Dios had a terrible relationship. As the elder brother, Dieror knew well that Dios was an ambitious person. He was afraid that after he ascended the throne, Dios would stab him in the back. Thus, he had to kill Dios to be able to rule as the emperor without worry.
On the seventh day of mourning for King Dierdek of the Azure Moon Empire, Dieror surrounded Dios with his men in front of their father's spiritual statue, intending to kill him on the spot.
When Dios learned of his true identity, he lost interest in the throne.
Dieror didn't believe Dios' words at all, so he directly ordered his subordinates to kill Dios on the spot.
However, Dios single-handedly killed all his subordinates, coldly looking at Dieror with eyes as icy as if they could see through his marrow.
Dieror felt fear, but he was unwilling to lose to his own younger brother.
"Farro, what are you waiting for? Take action and kill Dios on the spot!" Dieror angrily shouted at his subordinates.
A hidden old mage seized the opportunity and cast a spell. As soon as the spell rang out, a white barrier appeared around Dios.
"Brother, you forced me into this," Dios said coldly. Then, he flashed through the white barrier, instantly appearing beside Dieror, with a dagger against Dieror's throat.
"Brother, if you insist on seeking death, I will grant your wish." Dios directly stabbed the dagger into Dieror's throat, and fresh red blood flowed out.
Immediately after, he looked at the old mage in front of him and said coldly, "Farro, I remember you once served my father. I'll give you two choices: either you submit to me and serve me, or I kill you immediately."
Farro looked at Dios coming out of the white barrier and knew that he was no match for him. He immediately knelt down on the ground, respectfully kowtowing and said, "Thank you, Your Highness... I mean, Your Majesty, for sparing my life."
"Hmph, consider yourself smart," Dios looked at Farro's performance and nodded in satisfaction, then waved his hand, gesturing for Farro to leave.
Seeing this scene, Farro immediately stood up and hurriedly ran away.
Dios looked at Farro's fleeing figure, a cruel smile appearing at the corner of his mouth as he muttered to himself, "Humans are still the same, just as easily bullied."
After the funeral of Dierdek, he ascended to become the new emperor of the Azure Moon Empire. He issued his first order, to create magic crossbows and equip them on the city walls, as well as to start recruiting and training troops and reinforce the city walls, strengthening defense.
No one knew why the new emperor did this, and no one dared to ask. After all, they were all aware of the temperament of the new emperor. If anyone dared to question, they would undoubtedly die.
In the following days, the emperor personally supervised the training of troops and the reinforcement of the city walls.
Then, Dios gave the order to move the people from the front cities to the rear cities.
He also set up numerous magic traps at the city gates. As soon as anyone tried to enter, they would immediately be attacked by the magic traps.
Everything was going according to Dios' expectations.
Two months later, today, Dios stood on top of the city wall, overlooking the empire beneath him, a cruel smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"The savages from the wild lands, this is your graveyard."
"General Demon of Nightmares, take a good look at how your comrades died here."
The spirit of General Demon of Nightmares inside Dios can only express emotions of anger, hatred, and unwillingness in his mental sea, but cannot jump out of Dios' head.
Dios can completely erase the soul of this General Demon of Nightmares at any time, but he doesn't want to do that. He wants to let this General Demon of Nightmares see how his compatriots died under the crossbows.
