Deities: Starting From Goblins

“The Demonic Sky Gate has an army of thirty thousand, while you collectively have nearly fifty thousand. If the Holy See does not intervene, you can surely suppress the Demonic Sky Gate.”

Logan pondered for a moment before speaking to Sandy Wexler, “But all the major forces are unwilling to arrive early. The earlier they arrive, the greater the losses they will suffer. Although they could all arrive within half a day, I estimate that it will take a full day before the military forces of all parties are assembled.”

“You mean to have everyone rush there together?” Sandy Wexler frowned. Indeed, what Logan said made perfect sense. The three Lords certainly had no second thoughts, but the Seven Major Sects were different. They would indeed drag their feet and delay.

The varied geographical locations of the major forces meant naturally different times of arrival. It was unrealistic to expect everyone to rush there at once, and it could even cause disputes among the major Sects. It might be better to tolerate some of the Sects’ little schemes.

Logan shook his head, a smile curving his lips: “No need. After taking down a dozen smaller Sects, the Demonic Sky Gate will certainly pause to regroup. They won’t rashly advance within a day. They also fear falling into your traps, so both parties will surely end up in a standoff.”

“My intention is for the Wexler Clan to rush there as quickly as possible, and then set up our forces in the very back. Those who arrive later can only place their troops in the front. In this way, the Sects that want to confront the Demonic Sky Gate will suffer the least losses, and those driven by various motives and lucky chances will instead be at the forefront of the confrontation with the Demonic Sky Gate.”

“My estimate is that only two to three Sects will delay. So even if they are unwilling, they will be outnumbered and have to follow the majority. You should communicate this to the other two Lords in a moment. They will surely be willing and pleased to see this unfold.”

“Admirable,” Sandy Wexler expressed his agreement. He had to admit that Logan’s strategy was perfect, aimed specifically at those who wanted to compromise with the Demonic Sky Gate. They had no desire to fight anyway, so it was better to let them suffer significant losses first and see if they would still dare to falter before the battle.

Several hours later, all forces converged at the Yunlong Mountain Range. This range was the only route the Demonic Sky Gate could take for their assault. The other two sides were cliffs extending for millions of miles. The early arriving forces set up camp in better defensive positions.

But those who arrived late found there was no space left for them. This made several Sects quite dissatisfied. Are they expected to run to the front of the Mountain Range? If the Demonic Sky Gate genuinely attacked, wouldn’t they be the first to incur heavy losses? Just the thought of it was enough to make their scalps tingle with dread.

Several Sect Leaders couldn’t contain their anger and protested, “Are we being taken for fools? You must make some space, or else we might as well leave and let you deal with the Demonic Sky Gate on your own.”

“Whose fault is it that you’re late? First come, first served,” most people sneered. They were angry now, but if they had come earlier, they wouldn’t be lacking a spot in the first place.

In any case, for those forces that had already arrived, it was clear they were unwilling to give way. Once a space was vacated, who would shield them from harm? The tacit understanding was to let these late-arriving Sects set up camp in the frontlines. This was also a silent agreement among the three Lords.

The angered Sect Heads ground their teeth and retorted, “It’s not that we didn’t want to come, but our Sects were too far away. We had to regroup our forces, which naturally took a lot of time. Besides, didn’t we arrive? Only an hour late, is that really such a big deal?”

“Don’t use the distance as an excuse. My Sect is a thousand miles away, the farthest, yet we still arrived an hour earlier. Why did you have to be so late? Clearly, you have ulterior motives and want us to fight the Demonic Sky Gate first.”

Upon hearing this untenable reasoning, a Sect Leader stood out. His Sect was not only far, but the cultivators within were mostly of Transcendent Tier, whose cultivation was much weaker. They barely possessed one-tenth the traveling speed of those in the Throne Realm.

The others burst into laughter at this. Now the late-arriving Sects had nothing to say. The Sect Heads’ faces alternated between ashen and pale; indeed, their late arrival was due to their deliberate stalling and dawdling along the way.

Who could have expected such an outcome? Had they known that earlier arrivals could set up camp towards the back, they would have rushed like flies. They regretted not discussing the plan clearly beforehand. In any case, they were very discontented in their hearts and were determined not to set up camp at the forefront.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, let’s leave.” Seeing no room for maneuver, the Sect Leaders decided to make an exit and let these forces slowly battle it out with the Demonic Sky Gate.

At that moment, Cain Scarlet emerged from the tent and said, “Try leaving, before we deal with the Demonic Sky Gate, we can use your Great Sects as a warm-up.”

“We just can’t accept this, why must we camp at the very front? If the Demonic Sky Gate attacks, will you all be safe and sound at the back?”

Upon hearing this, the Sect Leaders were consumed by fear, for if Cain Scarlet could utter such words, he clearly meant action rather than threat.

With a cold laugh, Cain Scarlet questioned, “Unsatisfied, are you? Why did you arrive so late? I haven’t blamed you for this yet, and you’re throwing a tantrum?”

The Sect Leaders were at a loss for words, but of course, they were acutely aware of the consequences of camping at the forefront—they wouldn’t survive an hour in the hands of the Demonic Sky Gate.

“I am the most merciful person, you may leave,” Sandy Wexler also emerged, and his words instantly lit up the faces of the Sect Leaders. Lord Wexler indeed had the courage to let them off.

However, abruptly, Sandy Wexler’s next sentence followed, “Right, to deal with those afraid of battle, we three Lords have discussed and formed a thousand-man Supervisory Execution Squad, led by six Half-step Saint Seats. Judge for yourselves.”

At these words, the Sect Leaders were petrified, taking in a sharp breath of cold air. With six Half-step Saint Seats watching behind, who the hell would dare flee? There were in total ten Quasi-Saint Seats present, and apart from them, the Half-step Saint Seats were the strongest. No Great Sect could compare.

Even if they were dissatisfied, they absolutely could not show it. Having already provoked public indignation, offending the Lords now was unthinkable.

“We are willing to camp at the very front,” the Sect Leaders said without hesitation, stating their choice immediately, for obedience was the only option now.

Cain Scarlet relaxed, resolving this small hiccup smoothly. It was fortunate that the latecoming Sects were merely minor forces. Had any of the Seven Major Transcendent Tier Sects been late, it would have been difficult to settle this farce, especially since their Sect Leaders were Quasi-Saints.

The Demonic Sky Gate, knowing that three Lords had come with troops, sent an envoy for peace talks, “The Demonic Sky Gate does not wish to oppose the three Lords and will only target a few nearby Sects. We hope the Lords will not interfere with our share of the Western Wasteland’s resources.”

Clearly, these words were meant to deceive. For merely dealing with a few nearby Sects, was there a need to muster an army of over thirty thousand, even with the help of a Saint Seat? Evidently, they aimed to catch them off guard, so naturally, it was a ploy not to be fallen for.

After being rejected, the Demonic Sky Gate seemed to fall silent, not making a single move, which puzzled the Lords and the Sect Leaders.

A day passed, and Amilia Scarlet returned from the Saint Sky Sect, but there was not a hint of a smile on her face; instead, she was silent and lowered her head.

All the Sect Leaders’ hearts skipped a beat, anticipating dreadful news; surely they had failed to bring a Saint Seat for support, spreading fear and dread amongst the crowd.

Cain Scarlet also had an ominous feeling and, after bringing Amilia Scarlet into the tent, asked, “What happened? Did you not meet anyone, or is the Saint Sky Sect unwilling to help?”

“The details are lengthy, but the bottom line is we won’t have a Saint Seat as reinforcement,” Amilia Scarlet glanced around, seeing all the Sect Leaders watching her with eager and anxious eyes. She gave a wry smile, shook her head, and delivered the direst of news.