Villain in a Fantasy World; I Level Up by Conquering Villainesses-Chapter 84: Aftermath

The world moved fast and it was already a week since the events in Falaniondor, and yet the world still couldn’t get over what happened.

The War in Falaniondor confirmed the rumor that Zaratul was back.

There are extremely few news that can rattle the entire world, but well, Zaratul’s return was just that kind of news.

The news spread like wildfire in harmattan to the most prosperous cities and Kingdoms of the world and to the most primitive villages and hamlets.

Despite being ambushed and besieged by majority of the S Rank Sovereigns in the world a decade ago in the most significant military action in recent history, somehow, the tenacious Demon managed to survive and this added an even more sinister and mythological twist to the tale of the Demon of Debauchery.

Before, Zaratul was already widely regarded as a Demon among Demons, but now his name became synonymous with immortality.

In some parts of the world, people began to call him the Immortal Demon, and even parents began to use him as a tool to scare their children to sleep.

Zaratul’s notoriety grew as a result of that single act.

When Julian subjugated Falaniondor with the witness of the 2 surviving Councilors of the Kingdom, a lot of people didn’t witness it first-hand and Julian did everything in his power to keep it that way.

With her Illusionist’s powers, acting on his orders, Pandora altered the memories of everyone who witnessed the moment when the Soul Pact contract was signed. This was Julian’s early preparation for future conflicts.

Apart from his main subordinates and Councilor Ben and Warren, no one else remembered what happened at the end of the war.

Despite how successfully the battle in Falaniondor ended, Julian didn’t let it get to his head.

’I was lucky’. He was able to ground himself in reality with cold facts and the truth.

If another S Rank Sovereign responded to the call for help from Falaniondor and ambushed them that day, for example if the King of the Varad Kingdom joined the ambush, the outcome of the battle would have been totally different.

He would have suffered heavy casualties and there was a high chance that even he would have died that day.

That was how weak and vulnerable he was at the moment against even the weakest of his main enemies.

This was why Julian did everything possible to hide his sudden conquest from the world, making it seem like Falaniondor was still a Sovereign Kingdom.

He intended to turn the Kingdom of Centaurs into a secret force of his, a trump card to shock his enemies in future conflicts.

Afterall, an attack that your enemy didn’t see coming, he can’t deflect or defend properly against it. And to Julian, this was an advantage that he intended to hold on to.

No one suspected that something was wrong with Falaniondor simply because of Councilor Wilkinson’s death.

They believed that the Centaurs now had an unsalvageable vendetta and beef against Dreadmoor and Zaratul, having lost their strongest leader in battle.

Well, they were right, the Centaurs hated Zaratul’s guts and ruthlessless.

But the thing the rest of the world failed to realize was the fact that the higher-ups of the Centaurs no longer had their freewill.

They now reported to Sir Alfred, and in extension they reported to Zaratul.

Also, another reason why Julian decided to hide the truth of Falaniondor was because he didn’t want his powerful enemies to realize that Zaratul had changed and was no longer the arrogant Demon that acted on impulse and emotions.

He didn’t want them to realize yet that he was moving smart now.

’The more they underestimate me, the better’.

All of these swift decisions and actions by him kept the ending of the war under wraps, keeping the rest of the world in the dark.

But despite this, the aftermath of the war rippled through the entire world, mostly affecting the South and triggering changes as the 3 main Kingdoms of the South were forced into an alliance.

Despite the fact that the Elven Queen abandoned them at the last moment, to protect themselves, the Councilors of Falaniondor managed to let go of their pride and agreed to the alliance.

To the rest of the world, on the surface the 3 Southern Kingdoms of Falaniondor, Evergreen, and Varad were now allied, sworn to mobilize and help each other if Zaratul attacked again.

But the truth was that what seemed like a tight-knit alliance born out of necessity and the need for survival was already compromised from the beginning.

From the beginning, Zaratul already had spies inside.

Due to all these reasons, both covert and in the open, the aftermath of the battle of Falaniondor meant the entire South was now in a state of panic and fear.

Everyone knew that Zaratul was back.

In other regions of the world, the sentiment was similar or close.

The 3 Empires of the world also reacted to Zaratul’s return.

...

At the heart of the Western biome in Gomorra stood a city that rose like a nightmare carved into the bones of the world.

At the heart of the city stood a colossal obsidian citadel, its spires stabbing into a sickly green sky like spears aimed at the heavens.

This stood out as the city’s singular most impressive landmark.

Thousands of needle-like towers surrounded the obsidian citadel, forming the rest of the massive Demon City. Each tower was a sanctum of qi where Demon Mages study flame, blood, and shadow.

The general architecture of the tower-like buildings are impossibly tall and narrow, built not for comfort but for dominance like every tower was competing to pierce higher than the last.

The taller the building, the higher the status of its owner.

This setting reflected the dominant and overbearing personality of the ruler of this city, the man who was widely regarded as the strongest Demon alive, the Emperor, the Flame Sovereign, Adventus.

This was Tartarus, the capital city of the Infernal Empire of the West.

...

[Special Appreciation to Slammue, Cand_Jones, and clark_dadel for the Golden Tickets, thanks for the support! I truly appreciate it.]