Chapter 685 - Before The Challenge (1)

Inside the pocket dimension, I gathered my women.

I looked at every one of them carefully and put on a complicated expression.

During the last ten months inside the pocket dimension, they had trained nonstop, and now, the time to know if their training was useful had arrived.

The girls today, were much stronger than when the training just started. Even the ones with the least progress in terms of combat strength were a few times stronger than their previous selves.

However, I did not know if this was enough.

After looking at every one of them, I spoke.

"We will end our training here. Emilia's challenge will start two days later. You should rest the next two days."

The girls smiled happily and some of them sighed in relief, however, I could see a shadow of nervousness in their faces.

Obviously, they were tense due to the coming confrontation.

Seeing that, I smiled.

"Don't worry, just do your best. And even if you lose, you have nothing to fear. I won't let Emilia hurt any of you."

The girls put on complicated expressions.

"No, Claus, we are going to win." Dina looked at me with a determined expression. "That fox mocked us and said that we are not worthy of standing beside you. We will show her that she was mistaken."

"Dina is right. We can't afford to lose." Headmistress Evelyn stated.

The other girls nodded in answer.

I smiled wryly. It looks like they are more motivated than I thought.

"Then I will be waiting for your victory. Now go and take a rest. You need to clear your mind before the start of the challenge."

The girls nodded. Next, I send them out of the pocked dimension one after another.

When they were gone, I looked at the place that served as our training ground for one last time before waving my hand.

The next instant, the pocket dimension was crushed before disappearing.

One second later, I was in the sky of the capital.

"I guess now I should gather a bit of information about the enemy, huh."

With these words, I extended my senses towards the distance.

In less than one second, my senses had covered the entire world.

Right now, I could see anything that was happening in the world.

However, my goal was the Beastkin Alliance.

As I expected, the beastkins were preparing for war. Everywhere in their country, I could see soldiers and armies getting ready to go to war. The country was in a state of alertness, and any man older than fourteen had been conscripted into the army.

During the past month, the Beastkin Alliance had attacked three human countries, defeating them overwhelmingly. The three countries were completely unable to resist.

Once these countries were defeated, they were annexed, expanding the territory of the alliance.

Thanks to that, the Beastkin Alliance's territory now bordered the empire.

I knew that these were part of Emilia's preparations. She planned to send her men to attack the empire as soon as the day of the challenge arrived.

"This girl is really serious, huh…"

I continued scanning the Beastkin Alliance, but soon, I frowned.

I could not find any trace of Emilia.

Not just that. I could not feel any powerful powerhouse in the lands of the Beastkin Alliance.

There were a few mana practitioners at the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth layer around the country, but none of them was that powerful.

Any of my girls could defeat the strongest of them in combat.

'Suspicious…'

I was not foolish enough to think that it was the extent of Emilia's preparations.

Instead, she is most likely training a group of powerful combatants in secret, just like I trained the girls.

Now the question is which side was going to be stronger.

"It looks like I won't find anything more than this, huh." I sighed and pulled back my senses.

But at that moment, I frowned.

While I was retracting my senses, I noticed something that caught my attention.

It was not related to Emilia. Instead, it was about the Daemon Empire.

Through my senses, I could see that the situation in the empire was very tense.

Some battles had occurred throughout the territory of the Daemon Empire, and a tense air filled the place.

'A civil war?'

Judging by my observations, the Daemon Empire was experiencing a civil war.

Moreover, it was becoming more and more intense quickly.

Furrowing my brows, I thought about the Daemon Princess I met during the battle of Fort Mist.

Princess E'Athar.

I hurriedly used my senses to find her, and then, I sighed in relief.

It looks like she is alright. Good.

Apparently, she had abandoned the capital, but she did not seem to be at risk.

She was leading a group of troops, but it did not seem that she had sided with any faction.

I thought about going to see her situation, but it was not the time.

Emilia's challenge was my priority.

After I retracted my senses, I stepped across space. In an instant, I appeared inside my mansion in the capital.

But to my surprise, someone was waiting for me there.

"Your Highness, you are here. I was waiting for you."

"Daisy? Did anything happen?" I asked startled.

"Follow me, Your Highness." Daisy did not reply and instead smiled mischievously, before turning around and walking away.

I followed her just as she told me, realizing that we were walking towards my room.

My expression immediately became strange, then, I smirked inwardly.

Oh? It looks like my girls had thought of something fun.

When we arrived at my room, Daisy looked at me and smiled.

"We were waiting for you here, Your Highness."

She then opened the door, revealing the scene inside.

Every one of my women was there, dressed in provocative clothes and with shy, embarrassed, and seductive expressions.

"We thought that we needed a bit of motivation before the challenge, Claus. So we decided to spend the last two days before the challenge together." Aunt Dayana spoke for the group. "By the way, this was my idea."

I looked at my women with an amused smile and gave a thumbs up to my aunt.

"Aunt Dayana, you are the best."

Then, I got ready to enjoy the feast before me.