Stepping out of the car, they could see two demon nobles that they had met last time. Akog the Demonic Duke and Bolgrad the Demonic marquis.
Seeing Madison, both of the demon nobility kneeled on one knee.
“Princess, you have returned.” Akog greeted as Madison sighed since she needed to get used to it.
“Stand up and tell us what’s been happening so far I guess. I don’t suppose the selection process has begun yet.” Madison asked since if they started late, it might be harder to win.
“There hasn’t been any signs of starting yet which is good news. We don’t know if it will change but if things continue as they are, it will either start at the start of the New Age or just before so that we have a queen to lead us.” Akog replied.
“I see… Are you able to tell us more about the other candidates then? How many there are and what they’re like in terms of power.” Madison asked as Akog nodded his head.
“We will talk while we escort you back to your rightful territory. It may be a little dull I do apologise but it has been hard to maintain the territory without a prince or princess.” Akog sighed.
“Don’t mind it.” Madison waved her hand dismissively as Akog nodded his head.
Sitting in the car, Shiro made two extra seats at the front for Akog and Bolgrad so that they could show them the way to the territory. While that was happening, they would also explain the current situation to them.
“Right now, we have a total of 67 queen candidates and 5 kind candidates. Despite the large number, there are only a few noteworthy ones. Naturally, you are included within the 67 queen candidates. Each of the candidates act in accordance to their demon god with ours being the Demon God Markon. We are currently ranked last I suppose since our candidates have been killed but with your current strength, I’d say we rank roughly in the 50’s or 40’s.” Akog explained.
“That low?” Madison frowned.
“Don’t underestimate Queen’s Madi. Even I lost control of my body when fighting against a weakened one. If it wasn’t for Nan Tian, I might have lost. Plus, there was another Empress that needed me, Isilia, Nan Tian and Li Jian to team up to even push back. The strength of Queens is much higher than average, you’re just at the doorstep right now. Honestly, I had expected you to be ranked around the 60’s rather than 40’s or 50’s.” Shiro cut in since they needed to know that queens weren’t to be underestimated.
Even if they were weak, they could turn things on their heads with a single skill.
Hearing that Shiro was restrained and might have even lost without backup, the party was shocked since Shiro had things under control most of the time. Especially with her recent upgrades, harming her seemed rather difficult and yet she casually mentioned two queens that pushed her close to the limit when they were weakened.
“Her highness is correct. Each of the queens are masters of their ‘title’. For example, trying to defeat a Queen of Flames with fire is basically stupidity.” Akog shook his head.
“Ah right, speaking of that Fire Queen, I’ve already eliminated her from this competition. She doesn’t have an anchor anymore and she can’t come back for the New Age.” Shiro said as the two demons immediately looked at her in surprise.
“I also eliminated the Vampiric Queen too. They were harming the spirit race so I had to deal with her.”
Suffering another shock, the two couldn’t believe that Shiro already eliminated two queens.
“Shouldn’t they have guards with them?” Akog asked with disbelief.
“The Vampiric Queen did and Nan Tian helped me stall them while I killed her. As for the Fire Queen, we were lucky to find her before she could actually do anything. Plus, she was an old acquaintance of mine so I made sure that she couldn’t come back.” Shiro smiled darkly as the two demons felt shivers down their spine.
‘Who the hell is the real demon here? Why does she feel so much worse than us????’ Bolgrad thought with a twitching smile.
“Anyways enough about that, continue what you were saying.” Shiro chuckled.
“Ah right. Most of the Queens are already allied with the higher ranking individuals since they know that their chances of victory is low. They might as well serve as a vassal and gain some benefits. Naturally, the Demon Gods are fine with that since there is a hierarchy among them as well. After the last garden, the ranks are ready for another reshuffling since the top ranked Demon Gods have powerful candidates all the time.
“The main enemy you need to defeat is the current estimated rank one king candidate, Nostic. His powers are unfathomable as no one understands what’s happening when he fights. Whenever he touches something, it breaks apart into ash. Some have tried to attack him from a distance but it’s no use. It doesn’t matter if he touches a being, item or spell, they are all reduced to ash. Naturally, this isn’t his only weapon either but no one has forced him to use anything else.” Akog sighed.
“Sounds like a touch enemy. What level is he?” Shiro asked.
“500. They say he’s on the verge of breaking through to tier 6.”
“Mn… that’s problematic. Speaking of which, what ranks is Demon God Verron? And if I kill the candidate, does that mean he can’t descend?” Shiro questioned.
Since she pissed off Verron, she might as well try to deal with him as soon as possible.
“Demon God Verron’s candidate is ranked 8th so naturally, he is ranked 8 as well.” Akog replied.
“Heh~ I see. Killing the rank 8 candidate is going to be hard.” Shiro sighed as the two demons just ignored the fact that she was thinking about killing the candidates with every sentence she says.
“As for the second part of your question, if you kill the candidates, the lower ranked Demon Gods will not be able to materialise. As for the higher ranked gods like Verron, they can but they’ll be severely weakened.”
“That’ll do I suppose. If I can reach tier 6 by the start of the New Age, I might be able to deal with Verron if he’s weakened.” Shiro muttered.
Once again, the two decided to ignore the fact that she was musing about killing a Demon God for their own mental safety and turned to Madison.
“My princess, to better prepare yourself for the New Age, you’ll need to focus on bolstering our ranks as well as acquiring territory so that our influence grows. Once we become big enough, we’ll have powerful demons seek us out and that will form the basic army to stand against the other candidates. You may be wondering why we demons keep trying to invade human territory and this is the reason. Most of the ‘easy’ to obtain territory is already acquired hence why most of us have set our eyes towards the human lands. Naturally, our factions hasn’t been able to do that since the moment we try, we’ll just be eliminated by the other’s competing for the land.” Akog explained as the party furrowed their brows.
“So if Madison gets land, would it be recognised by the system?” Shiro asked.
“Yes. Once she has a firm hold over the land, the system will recognise it as demon territory and the surroundings will change to suit us demons better such as darkened skies.” Akog pointed out the window at the dark red sky.
“I’m guessing the chances of succeeding the Queen role is determined by everything I do from now on such as territory.” Madison asked just to make sure.
“That is correct to a certain degree. We’re not sure of the final requirements just yet but you are not far off the.” Akog nodded his head.
“Seems like you have your work cut out for you princess.” Shiro chuckled while glancing back at Madison.
“Uhgg…. I don’t need you to call me princess. I don’t even know if we have enough manpower to capture anything never mind keeping a hold on it.” Madison sighed.
“And that’s why we’re here to help you with it. Most of us are already strong on our own so I’m sure we can make something work when we’re in a group.” Lyrica smiled as Madison nodded her head.
“I can provide us with a few soldiers and weapons from the spirit race if the push comes to shove. But I’ll need to see if the army is ready first.” Shiro reminded.
“Mn.” Nodding her head, Madison was happy that she had met everyone here. If not for them, she might become a brainless woman who only wants to serve the demon king if he ascends the throne. That was the worst case scenario that she wanted to avoid at all cost.
