Far to the north of Kodria and the other southern territories held by the demon races, the pace at which territory switched control between the guilds was cooling down as the top guild''s strength started to solidify in the areas that they managed to keep under their control, even after daily raids by several other smaller guilds and groups.


    Although the fights around the main bases had simmered down, that did not mean that the battle for territory had cooled off. It only intensified the fighting for the unclaimed territory farther south now that they had a base to gather their strength and prepare war material to aid them in the capture of the southern towns and villages.


    The small towns were taken over easily but holding them was a pain.


    The larger settlements owned by the human royalty in the north now became the focus of everyone. The human royalty of each town realized what would happen if they resisted, so many of them became vassals to the local demigod guild that controlled the territory nearest to them.


    Doing this the human royalty were allowed to stay in control of their cities, but the cost was rather severe. They now had to pay a heavy monthly tax, as well as gather a certain amount of resources to help keep the demigods'' war machine running, and the most troublesome requirement... they and everyone in their city had to fight on the front line battlefields if the demigods called on them to do so.


    If they did all this their demigod overlords promised to protect them from other demigod guilds. With this protection, many of the cities grew faster than the other local towns and villages. With this new power that was backing them, they were able to slowly take over their neighbors and in this way, the many demigod dukedoms grew quickly.


    Many of the human royalty of the north were swayed into joining one side or another without the demigods having to fight a bloody battle.


    ***


    With the southern clean-up finished Akira had decided to take a trip north to the new fort that had been taken over by Kodria and her allies near the border between the northern Foradverold and Kaldrbiod. When he arrived at the fort he had been greeted by a waiting messenger from Jerora.


    “So this is the new human dukedom that popped up recently?” asked Akira pointing to a spot on a beautifully drawn map. Of course, it was not drawn by Akira.


    “It is. With it being so close, they are causing us a severe headache every day,” said Grub, the chubby messenger from Jerora.


    “If it was just that, Governor Scoit would not have sent you to us. What was so troubling that you had to come here to directly see the duke?” asked Klyn.


    “It is as you say, there is a serious problem that will soon include Kodria if the matter is not taken care of now. Recently they have exploded out of nowhere, the rumor that has been going around is that they have started talks with one or two demigod guilds and have received several expensive gifts from the demigods. If one of the guilds can gain control of the large territory so far south near the border, it will allow them to quickly expand and conquer the local territory without much interference from the northern guilds that are still in a struggle to control all the land around them. And...” said Grub as he wiped the sweat from his brow.


    “It will be a base for them to launch attacks into the demon race''s territory,” said Akira finishing Grub''s sentence.


    “Correct, even though all of this information is nothing but rumors, there isn''t much else to explain their sudden growth and their aggressive attitude toward everyone around them including the traveling demon race merchants who are harassed and mistreated in their territory.”


    “And what is the name of the human that is in charge of this place?” asked Akira.


    “His name... he forces everyone to call him King. That is all we know.”


    “It sounds like this guy wants us to teach him a lesson,” said Zundar while slamming his large fists together.


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    “If you did that it would cause more problems for everyone. I am here to ask you to come with me to try and talk sense into the ''King'',” said Grub waving his hand to dismiss Zundar''s comments.


    ***


    Inside the throne room of King Beegus DeKus.


    “Lord, our scouts have found a large force of warriors from the demon races and a few humans entering our territory,” said a sly-looking bald woman.


    “What did you say, Slytha? Who dares enter this King''s territory? Don''t they know who I am?” asked King Beegus DeKus, unhappy at being interrupted from his playtime.


    “Lord King, you are the greatest. Everyone knows who you are. As for who has come,” Slytha looked at her notes. “It seems to be the duke of Kodria along with several other human envoys from nearby towns both small and large including Jerora.”


    “Drag them in front of me and let me teach them a lesson,” said King Beegus DeKus.


    “Lord King, such violence would be an unwise thing to do right now.”


    “Fine, drag them in front of me nicely.”


    “...”


    ***


    As the group of envoys neared the main stronghold of King Beegus DeKus'', Akira made sure to look at everything in great detail. Now was the time to gather information before any conflict broke out.


    “It''s... rather plain,” said Akira.


    In his opinion, the stronghold was nothing special, it was just a standard fortified city that was far smaller than Kodria or even Jerora.


    Akira opened the Dukedom map and saw that it was lower in points compared to many other towns nearby as it was only recently formed.


    Its strength came from the resources in its territory that allowed them to prosper as the demigods sent them many gifts wanting to add them to the territory under their control.


    When the delegation of envoys reached the stronghold, the gates opened without the usual haughty guard banter that most places went through when encountering groups of unknown people.


    “I guess they were expecting us,” said Akira.


    “They would have to be blind to not have seen us enter their territory several days ago,” said Bo who had been on high alert the whole time scouting the way ahead for any demigod ambushes.


    When they passed through the gates, they found several dozen shiny heavily armored guards waiting for them.


    “Which of you is Kodria''s duke?” asked a guard with a large red feather flopping on top of his helmet.


    “I am. Is there something you wish to say to me?” asked Akira.


    The floppy feather guard and his subordinate guards around him, hesitated a few seconds when they saw the intimidating person that had spoken while sitting straight on top of a large fierce black wolf.


    With a nod of Floppy feathers head, his subordinates moved to surround Akira.


    Grarr let out a low growl warning them to back off.


    “Yap!” said a small Fluffball, not really intimidating anyone.


    “The King has ordered us to bring you to his throne room,” said Floppy Feather.


    Several of the guards gathered their courage and reached for Akira''s arms and legs to try and drag him off of Grarr.


    Akira did not bother attacking them as it would defeat their purpose of trying to get the ''King'' to change his mind. They were also not giving off any killing intent nor were their faces filled with hate or malice. Instead, they were all filled with fear, yet they continued forward and reached out with their armored hands.


    Fluffball transformed and plowed through several of the approaching guards before stomping on them several times to show his dominance.


    “ROAR!” said Fluffball triumphantly.


    Grarr had stopped his low growl and smacked four guards away with his tail. With his right claw he swatted away two guards on the right, another blur shot out as his left claw knocked down the remaining 3 guards on the left.


    Akira paid no attention to the groaning guards that were rolling on the ground in pain or being humiliated by being stomped on by Fluffball.


    “My legs work fine. If you want to escort me to this town''s leader, that is fine as I and my companions have much to talk about with him,” said Akira.


    Floppy feathers face was filled with sweat seeing his subordinates being easily dealt with. This group''s strength was something that he could not match.


    “O... of course. Please follow me,” said a thoroughly shaken Floppy feather.


    Floppy feather stumbled a few times as he turned around.


    “Clear a path for the respected envoys!” shouted Floppy feather.


    The guards still standing fell over each other trying to run away from Akira and the group of warriors with the excuse of clearing a path down the busy main road.