Death Mage with an SS-Rank Talent-Chapter 281

"Actually, there is. There is something else of importance that my subordinates found out while they were looking into these disappearances".

"While the alliance soldiers at the fort believed that the monster disappearances were the work of cults, they didn’t have any proof, only conclusions based on what they found at the battlefields".

"Even though they believed that the cults were up to no good, they didn’t investigate further, as they had to concentrate on something else".

"From the information that my subordinates were able to gather, the cults had found a ruin which possibly holds a power that could tip the scales of war in their favour, but for some reason, they couldn’t obtain this power, and the news was leaked to the alliance".

"I believe that this ruin was the reason why the cults started the war, and even dragged us into this war. Even they failed to procure it and let the news leak to their enemies".

"Oh, there is such news", Veras spoke, intrigued by the news.

"Yes", Abuas continued, "As you can think, the alliance sent some of their powerhouses to stop the cult from getting the power. What exactly happened, we don’t know, but there was a huge clash between the Alliance and the Cult very recently, possibly over the ruin".

"If what we found out was true, both sides suffered greatly. A lot of top-ranking professionals were dead on Alliance’s side, while the suspected leader of the Cults, Supreme, was caught by the Alliance".

"Wait, are you sure about that?" the wolf monster asked.

"Yes, that’s what my subordinates were able to collect", Abuas replied.

"If that is true, then we are in an even more dire situation than we can think of", the Wolf monster said.

"What do you mean, Fen?" another monster asked the wolf monster.

"If what Abuas said was true, then it wouldn’t be long before the alliance would dismantle the cults, from top to bottom, and end the internal war once and for all. Even though Cults were not the only issue among humans, they are the biggest one".

"So, once those cults were gone, they would be free to engage and eliminate other criminal elements in human society, though it won’t be 100% free, but would be more than enough for progressive growth".

"Once they were done cleaning internally, where do you think that they would concentrate on?" Fen asked.

"On us", Abuas answered.

Abuas was a cautious monster who didn’t do anything without knowing the details regarding anything. It was one of the reasons why it lived long and have a lot of subordinates compared to other monsters, who would jump into the fire without knowing how to disperse the fire.

Abuas and his subordinates don’t jump into such situations without knowing fully what is going on. Such a cautious nature was why they were first to know what was happening with the alliance and the cults, and what cults were doing behind their backs, though that last part has nothing to do with the cults.

"Yes", Fen confirmed the answer that Abuas gave.

"For the humans, monsters are the main enemy and also a way to level up and get resources for their lives. We see them in the same way that they see us. It was one of the reasons why there was never a full-scale war between us".

"Also, internal struggles among them made it easy for us. So, they couldn’t concentrate fully on us, but as soon as that problem disappears, they would concentrate fully on us".

"They may not outright wipe us out, but they would turn us into a full resource farm, that I am sure of. For the high-ranking monsters that can think, I don’t think that they would show any mercy, only total annihilation".

As Fen spoke those words, fear was planted in the hearts of the monsters present.

"Then shouldn’t we double our efforts and eradicate the alliance, or at least reduce their power to such a level that they can’t rise up again?" one of the monsters spoke.

"Are you sure we can decide on such things, or that you are so sure that you can achieve with your strength?" Fen disapproved of the rash decisions that they were making.

"Yes, we can’t make such decisions by ourselves. We need to meet the leaders to do so", one of the monsters spoke.

As soon as those words were spoken, Abuas smiled.

This was its goal from the first. Only the leaders can be able to help the monsters at this moment. If not for the rule not to disturb them without proper reason, he would have gone there directly.

What constitutes a proper reason?

Any reason that at least ten of the peak-9 monsters believe it to be. So, it has to present first to these monsters before they agree with him to go to the leaders.

"Are you sure we should disturb the leaders?" one of the monsters asked.

Abuas wanted to curse this one, but he understood that the monster was not asking such a question because it was against it, but it was afraid that the leaders we not be pleased with it, and if that turned out to be the case, they would be in huge trouble.

"I think we should meet up with the leaders", Fen agreed.

Soon, one by one, others agreed as well.

---

The two Rank-10 monsters, a Fox and a Crocodile stood silently as they listened to the information that their subordinates gathered.

When they heard the news, it would be false to say that it didn’t alarm them.

After a while, the Fox leader spoke, "Withdraw the monsters from the attack zones. Stop any Rank-5 and above monsters from actively attacking the human settlements. Let Rank-4 and below do whatever they want. In fact, if they could kill a few of the next generation, that would be great, but make sure that it doesn’t look like we are targeting them".

"Once retreated, everyone concentrate on progressing as fast as you can. Whatever time we have, we need to invest that in improving ourselves, instead of just dismantling our enemies".

"A lot of alliance older rankers were already dead in the past few months, and from what we just heard that the so-called Supreme, the head of the cults, killed a lot of Rank-7 and above powerhouses, before getting caught".

"When they extract the information about the cults, the alliance would invest everything to eliminate the cults, and if we attack them in large numbers, then it would become an enmity that can only be gone with one of us perishing for good".

"So, instead of concentrating on humans, concentrate more on yourselves, as I am sure that the alliance would take a few years to properly eliminate the cults and even then, they might have to pay a steep price".

"After the cults are over, it would be quite a while before they might come for us, and we make use of all the time that we have. The world is changing, and we would make use of the new resources that were sprouting everywhere to raise to a level that humans wouldn’t even try to test us".

The Crocodile beside the fox nodded its head, "I agree as well. Spread the word as quickly as possible. We may have very little time".

"Yes, leaders, but what about the cults? They were killing us even after they made a deal with us", one of the peak rank-9 monsters asked.

"Let the alliance take care of them, and if you come into contact with any, as long as there is no danger to you, eliminate them or else act as if nothing has changed", the Fox order.

"As you wish, leader", the peak rank-9 monsters replied.