Antipa was on the verge of depression, literally.
After that black dragon brought back part of the Demon God Holy Corpse, the tower collapsed. But for the Demon Clan, this was not bad news because all their magic was derived from Bloodline Magic, so there was no concept of a High-level Professional in the mundane sense.
With the collapse of the tower, there inexplicably appeared many High-level Professionals on the human side. Currently, the Demon Clan’s professionals even found themselves at a disadvantage.
Moreover, the Demon Clan had already been firmly locked within the Eastern Border and the Eternal Frozen Land, and they could only struggle in the Black Fog.
The terrifying Iron Train from the Northern Border had already started construction along the controlled area of the Black Fog, with concrete roads spread around, and the human Iron Beasts began to traverse this world unimpeded.
If in the past the Demon Clan could still use the Eastern Border as a springboard to thrive through trade, now the entire kingdom was under the control of the Northern Border, making normal trade nearly impossible.
The only trade that could be conducted normally was probably maritime trade, but conducting sea trade in the Sea of Instability relied on the weather, and a stable shipping route merely meant that when the Sea of Instability was in a good mood, one could reach Solon, not that the route would be smooth sailing.
Furthermore, although the Avar people were still nominally trading with the Demon Clan and An Zhu, the gradually improving blockade from the Northern Border reduced the share of the Demon Clan in this trade.
Thinking that they could still survive after escaping into the Black Fog, the Demon Clan didn’t expect that the Northern Border Governor’s intentions were so malicious, or rather, that this governor was intent on exterminating the Demon Clan entirely. In the throne of the Black Fog, Antipa opened the map once more, looking at the red lines marking the transportation routes built around the Black Fog.
The blockade of the Northern Border against the Demon Clan was all-encompassing. In addition to physically blocking various transportation routes, they also blocked the Avar people who came into contact with the Demon Clan.
Lind directly declared that the Eastern Border was the territory of Cape, and the Demon Clan’s use of Supremacy Magic on the Eastern Border and the ensuing governance over it by the Black Fog was simply inhumane and must be dealt with!
Any business dealings with the Demon Clan were seen as assistance to them and enemies of the Cape Kingdom, making it unforgivable.
The Demon Clan found themselves helpless, as they were indeed stuck on the Eastern Border, and even those adept at manipulating public opinion among the Demon Clan could only stammer that Princess Claire had long promised this land to the Demon Clan, then drag out those nobles who sided with the Demon Clan.
Antipa understood that controlling human hearts was not difficult; the war against humans was just a matter of swaying their sentiments, but currently, it seemed that the despicable Northern Border Governor had completely seized control of public opinion.
The Avar people certainly did not care about Lind’s warnings, nor did they care for such diplomatic rhetoric, continuing indifferently to trade with the Demon Clan. However, Lind quickly informed those Avar people that while the Northern Border was still discussing diplomatic rhetoric with them, they should cherish it while they could.
Soon, the Lars Knights clashed with the Avar people, and the result was that the Avar people who came into contact with the Demon Clan were nearly crushed, with their leading High-level Knight being traumatized by a single strike from Myron.
Not long ago, the Avar people, who held on to a glimmer of hope and wanted to block the Castile delegation along the coastline, also paid their price.
In this situation, even the most greedy merchant gradually began to refuse trading with the Demon Clan, and the Demon Clan’s share of this maritime trade continued to shrink.
Although the Northern Border Governor did not directly charge into the Black Fog to strike at the Demon Clan, the current situation was indeed worse than if those Northern Border troops had come to attack the Demon Clan directly. Antipa completely understood what it meant to bluntly cut flesh.
For this reason, Antipa even sought help from An Zhu multiple times. Without much strategic insight, Antipa startlingly started to analyze the situation with Alberto, discussing at length that once the Demon Clan fell, the next would be An Zhu; the truth of the “if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold” rationale—how could An Zhu not understand?
Now, no matter how one looked at it, supporting the Demon Clan and holding back Cape was the best solution, right?
Yet it was the letter from An Zhu that left Antipa at a loss.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to help; it was just that they were also blocked by tanks at the door!
Receiving this letter made Antipa’s face filled with question marks, and he directly replied angrily: If you don’t want to help, then don’t. What do you mean by being blocked by tanks? Don’t you have so many High-level Professionals sitting around doing nothing?
Antipa was truly powerless; being blocked by tanks was just an excuse. What An Zhu truly wanted was likely to monopolize the maritime trade share with the Avar, which was why they didn’t want to take action.
As for the Avar people painting a rosy picture for Antipa, in reality, those Avar people could not control the dragons at all. The so-called ally relationship was pretty much the same as that of the Avar and the Demon Clan; it was a paper alliance.
Now Antipa felt like a wronged woman abandoned, continuously venting her frustrations in letters to various forces.
However, Antipa was not entirely inactive. No matter what, the Eastern Border could not be completely sealed off, and Antipa had also sent those Demon God Offspring to strike in the Black Fog, causing some destruction before retreating back into the fog.
This caused considerable trouble for the Northern Border.
As long as the Northern Border could not chase deep into the Black Fog, this tactic, though not able to inflict decisive losses, could still annoy the enemy.
As long as the Northern Border couldn’t deeply pursue into the Black Fog… Antipa couldn’t help but think of how the Northern Border was constantly conducting some experiments on the edge of the Black Fog. Following that, Antipa dismissed this unreliable thought from her mind; how could it be possible? How could the Northern Border easily penetrate deep into the Black Fog for a pursuit? Moreover, the range of the Black Fog was so vast that even if there were individuals resistant to the fog entering it, they could not pose any threat.
Yet Antipa’s heart always had a sense of inexplicable worry, and staying cooped up in here was not a solution. A dog will jump over a wall when cornered; even a rat will bite when pushed too hard!
Rather than lingering in the Black Fog for a slow death, it was better to let the Demon Clan’s traditional arts flourish—expand!
In the past, the Demon Clan could escape from the Eternal Frozen Land, not because the Lars Family’s horses were not fast enough.
Antipa turned her gaze towards the sea, for due to the relentless efforts of the Northern Border Governor, the people of this continent were well aware of the Demon Clan’s unscrupulous methods of extracting money and high-interest loans; it could be said that another continent was undoubtedly the Blue Sea.
Moreover, she still held something that could attract the Avar people—the Demon God’s Holy Corpse.
