Reincarnated With The Strongest System

Demonic Continent…

All the Patriarchs of the Demon Clans in the entire Demon Realm had now gathered in the Royal Capital to listen to the Heir of Darkness, which had replaced the Demon Lord, in managing the affairs of the continent.

"I gathered all of you here to discuss our upcoming conquest of the entire world," Felix said as he sat leisurely on the throne that used to belong to his father. 

The Crimson Crown on his head glowed faintly in the torch light that hung upon the walls of the dining throne room, making those who were staring up at him feel uneasy.

"To those who are still not aware, or don't believe the news that has spread across the lands, I am now the Heir of Darkness," Felix stated. "The prophesied Prince that will cover this world in Darkness, and make it submit to my rule. The God of Darkness, Chaos, and Demons, His Excellency, Ahriman, has chosen me to lead our race to rule the world. So, I ask this of you, who among you wish to join me in this grand undertaking?"

Felix's voice met a deafening silence that lasted for a few minutes.

Even those that had long supported Luciel's wish to conquer the Central and Silvermoon Continent, found themselves lost for words. 

Even the Patriarch of the Gremory Clan, Alvah, could only stare at Felix as if he had lost the ability to talk.

Felix smirked after he was met with silence. He didn't even look troubled by the reaction of all the Patriarchs as they looked at him with dread and anxiety on their faces.

"One day," Felix said before standing up from his throne. "I will give all of you one day to make your decision, for I am merciful. At this same time tomorrow, all of you will return here to swear your fealty to me. Of course, if you don't want to, I won't force you. My Empire has no need for useless Demons under my rule."

The green-haired Prince walked out of the throne room without even waiting for the reply of the Patriarch's who stood rooted to the ground.

He was confident that, when the sun set tomorrow, not a single one of the patriarchs would refuse to submit to his will.

—--

Amberfang City Fortress…

Joash sat in his tower as he read the report of his allies that had gone to the Demon Capital of Astryae.

He knew that this would happen sooner or later, and he was already prepared for it. The way things were going, all of the Patriarchs would swear their fealty to Felix, in fear of being prosecuted and their entire Clans wiped out from the Demon Realm.

"If all the Patriarchs agree tomorrow, Felix will be able to mobilize their forces in one to two weeks," Joash muttered as he made calculations inside his head. "War is not a simple matter, so they need to ensure that their logistics, and supply lines will flow smoothly. It's quite unfortunate that guerilla tactics won't work since they have Pseudo-Gods on their side."

The Black Dragon waved his hand and a projection of the map of the entire Demon Realm appeared in front of him.

"The last time such a force was gathered was when we fought to conquer the Silvermoon Continent," Joash pondered. "If not for the Dungeon Conqueror, we would have already succeeded."

A wry smile appeared on Joash's face as he thought of the news that he had heard a couple of days ago. According to his sources, nearly a dozen dungeons had completely stopped spawning monsters in the span of a few days.

After an in depth investigation, the teams that had ventured to the deepest parts of the dungeons where the Dungeon Cores was located found nothing.

'This can only mean one thing,' Joash mused. 'The Dungeon Conqueror is back… but who?'

The image of a black-haired teenager appeared inside Joash's mind, but the latter was still half in doubt if William was really the current Dungeon Conqueror.

'If he is really the Dungeon Conqueror then why didn't he conquer dungeons in the past?' Joash thought. 'Could there be some kind of restriction on the Dungeon Conqueror profession that we do not know about?'

Joash didn't know the answer to these questions, so he couldn't confirm if William was really the Dungeon Conqueror or not. 

'I just hope that he is not on Felix's side.' Joash's expression became grim at the thought of someone having that kind of power under Felix's control.

Actually, he was not the only one who was having these thoughts. The appearance of the Dungeon Conqueror had coincided with Felix's ascension as the Heir of Darkness. This made the Kings and Emperors, of various kingdoms and empires, quite restless because if their hunches were true then they were in for an uphill battle.

'Still, there is some good news as well,' Joash thought as he glanced at the reinforcements from the Kraetor Empire, as well as the Amazon Empire that had arrived a few days ago. Half of the army from Hestia Academy had also stationed themselves near the walls of the stronghold, to protect against any threats that would be coming from the Demon Capital.

The other Human Armies had stationed themselves along the borders of the Demon Continent, just in case the Demon Army chose to use the teleportation gates that they didn't know anything about.

This was a possibility that the alliance had discussed during their meeting, and all of them agreed that they shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket.

The Holy Order of Light had declared that they would also place their forces along the borders of the Central Continent to prepare for any surprises that the Heir of Darkness had prepared for them.

"This is the layout of the alliance's defensive perimeter," Ephemera explained. "With this, we will be able to contain any unexpected incidents when the Demon army starts their invasion."

William looked at the projection with a calm expression on his face. He had tasked Lira and Ephemera to update him of the movement of the alliance, so he could see where they were placing the bulk of their forces.

The black-haired teenager would then avoid those places and conquer Dungeons elsewhere. For the time being, William didn't have any intention of starting any conflicts with the members of the alliance.

Although he wouldn't be able to hide the disappearances of the Dungeon Cores from the Kings and Emperors in their respective territories, avoiding a direct confrontation was the most optimal strategy.

"Thank you," William said. "Continue to report to me if there are any important developments. However, make sure to be discreet."

"Understood," Ephemera replied. "Should we really hide this from Lira?"

William nodded. "Yes. that girl is annoying, and I don't want to talk to her right now."

Ephemera could only shake her head helplessly because she could somehow understand what William was trying to say. 

A few days ago, Lira kept on asking William several questions like, "Have you eaten?", "Where are you right now?", "Do you miss me?", which prevented Ephemera from giving a full report of the current situation of the alliance. 

Because of this, the black-haired teenager made a subtle order to Ephemera using the pink crest that had appeared on her body to not bring Lira along whenever the purple-haired beauty needed to give a report in regards to the movements of the alliance.

"She will find out sooner or later, you know," Ephemera stated.

"It's your job to ensure that she doesn't find out," William answered with an indifferent expression. "Do you have anything else to report?"

Ephemera pondered for a while before nodding her head.

"Celeste has been going to the library inside the Palace of Light for the past few days," Ephemera reported. "After doing a subtle inquiry, I managed to find out that he was looking up for information about the God of Death."

William arched an eyebrow after hearing Ephemera's report. "Understood. Thank you for this information, I greatly appreciate it."

"Then about the reward…"

"A week from now. Let's meet a week from now. I will tell you the coordinates, so make sure to come alone."

"I'm not bringing Lira with me?"

"No," William replied. "She's annoying."

Ephemera nodded her head. "Understood." 

Although she felt sorry for her friend, Ephemera knew that this was for the best. Lira's obsession for William was growing with each passing day, and she was afraid that if the two of them met, her pent up feelings would explode, which might annoy the handsome Half-Elf, who had promised to give her a reward for a job well done.