Chapter 1312: Standing on Business

As the final troops of the Abyss and Rakos Empire arrived... Ronin and Tobias arrived, joining Jugram. And while they didn’t have another 7th-stage saint with them, the total number of soldiers and warfare machinery they brought was just as large as the one that arrived before.

Their forces were now tripled, and the saints who also arrived with the latter two bolstered their numbers by 4 times.

At this moment, their united empires had a total of 46 Saints present just on this battlefront.

Fabian was also present here as a deterrent to stop any of the Rakshasas from attacking Vale Sangaris. So their total numbers were simply overpowering in front of those who had already been stationed here for years.

The other 8 saints from the allied empires were also reporting everything about this development after receiving orders from their respective empires.

In just a couple of days, the entire army was now settled on this front, and they had already incorporated all their troops to lead the charge when the battles started.

During the afternoon...

In one of the communication relay towers, Jugram and others were having a meeting with Kahn in a similar fashion as he had with the leaders of the other empires before.

Kahn soon explained the situation.

"All the other empires are currently preparing to join as per the customs.

Last time, it was an empire named Takarth that was associated with the Demon God. It no longer exists, and for the first time, the Demon God has associated himself with the True Demon race... thus he got this name in this generation of summoned heroes." he revealed what he learned recently.

"So, what are our orders?" asked Jugram.

Kahn took a pause and spoke with a serious countenance...

"Completely ingratiate yourself into every corner and every unofficial business in Vale Sangaris.

Operate as we do with Seven Deadly Sins and pull the underworld and the black market within our grasp.

Spare those who comply and make an example out of those who don’t. Because soon, the armies of all the other empires would also reach there.

We need every bit of control that we could get, and then the war would also take a turn in our favor."

Fabian, who heard Kahn, soon asked...

"How so? Those are mere pests that stay at the bottom. Should we really associate ourselves and our cause with those kinds of people?"

"Lord Fabian, you may not have a history of dealing with such people, but even someone of your stature should know that no war sustains itself.

You need both wealth and resources from all spectrums of the world around you."

He then elaborated...

"The corpses on the battlefield can be used for their armor and weapons, while scraps from warships and battle barges can be reused to create new ones.

Since the Abyss Empire has been absent from these kinds of operations, I am certain that there is a force controlling this entire garrison from the shadows.

We already have a hidden blade put on our necks. So we need to cut their hands before they can even use it against us.

Once the great war starts, we won’t have any justification or the manpower to take control of these erratic factors."

"I see. Even now, we have more enemies amongst our allies than the one we are supposed to fight." said Fabian as he too turned serious.

"What should I do?" he asked.

Kahn, on the other hand, smirked as he replied...

"Let us leave that to the experts."

******************

For the next week... A purge began in Vale Sangaris.

Suddenly, many manufacturing enterprises that were doing business in this vast settlement started changing their leading operators.

Blacksmithing companies that previously dealt with the armies of other empires suddenly stopped preparing weapons for their soldiers.

Many deals with corporations that provided resources such as rations and daily life goods soon raised their prices and limited their allocated amount for these empires.

The already thin manpower was quietly being deployed towards the newly arrived empires’ residential areas.

Millions of people who previously thrived on doing business suddenly shifted their priorities.

And the biggest surprise was that low-level powerhouses such as Semi-Saints and many grandmasters who previously ruled certain areas of Vale Sangaris unofficially... simply disappeared.

Even among the official representatives of these empires, there was a morbid sense of fear.

Because while their numbers were at least 4 times bigger than the new arrivals, the rank of their saints alone wasn’t enough.

Just Jugram was strong enough to fight and kill all of them, even if they ganged up on him. Fabian was clearly a bigger threat than Jugram since he was currently the strongest saint in Vale Sangaris.

But after Ronin and Tobias arrived with their own troops, the power paradigm that was already against their odds... shifted completely in the favor of their ’allies’.

Some had already reported these things through communication hubs, but no satisfactory response came.

One, because to many of them... it was just an afterthought since they would arrive on the battlefronts with their ample armies and resources within a couple of weeks.

Two, all these operators were unofficial collaborators who would instead become a liability if the empires tried to demand answers behind their disappearance.

Three, in the grand scheme of things... most of the empires thought these ground-level henchmen were mere disposable pawns who posed no vital importance to their grand existences.

The only people who were most affected by this purge were those who unethically associated themselves with these criminal and business organizations to fill their own coffers.

As for the businesses that suddenly stopped working with them... they were not exclusively contracted with their empires given the nature of the Great War.

Because most of them independently wanted to work with every empire that chose to stay in Vale Sangaris, and like leeches, these people thrived on their deaths and misery.

And on top of it, it was indeed a dangerous place to be in case the Demon Empire’s army somehow breached the garrison.

They all would end up dead, and hence, they never wanted to have a permanent residence here, as after the war ended, most of them would return to their respective empires and native regions.

War was a business... and these people only came here for the money.

******************

3 Days Later...

Jugram stood on a small throne of his own; on his side, Ronin and Tobias sat on their own luxurious chairs as an assembly of business tycoons, underworld leaders, gang leaders, and mercenary guild leaders stood in unison.

"You all must know why I have suddenly gathered you here." said Jugram in a tyrannical voice.

Tremble!

Shiver!

As his voice reverberated in the meeting hall, many trembled with fear. These three people were now basically their masters.

All of them had been bound and forced into enslavement using the blood-oath tokens.

"In a matter of days, all the armies of the allied empires would arrive and take over their designated sectors. And the Great War would begin soon.

So your orders are simple." said Jugram in an authoritative tone.

"Do business with all of them for half the price."