The city council had a serious decision to make right now. Their jail wasn't large enough that they could hold all the prisoners that had been captured by the Oath Breakers, but none of them truly trusted them to be anywhere that wasn't secured.
They still had their friends list active and had no doubt sent messages back to their allies long before they arrived at the city, so Morgeth would know that things had gone wrong here, and would make it his first target for capture.
The best thing to do was to use the spell against them and see what they knew about their employer's actions so far.
"Is Morgeth coming here now? I would assume that some or all of you sent out messages before Cain had that spell put on you, so he must know by now that all of his scouts for the city have been captured." Prana asked.
"Yes, he is assembling the army now. They didn't say when they would be coming or with how many, because everyone knows that mind reading and truth spells exist, but it would be safe to say that they will be coming here very soon." One of the scouts agreed.
"How much more do you think it would take to get him to commit the majority of his forces to the region?" Cain asked, formulating a plan.
"You don't know much about Morgeth do you? The entire army moves as one, and then the leader uses Mind Control to convert the surviving fighters of the cities he has overtaken. Most join the army to bolster their ranks, the remainder is left in the villages to enforce his will on the non-combatants. That way he has a permanent recruitment method, and still keeps supplies flowing to the army and the central bases." One of the scouts, a pale-haired wrath demon with a black septum piercing explained.
"Sorry, Prana. It looks like we might be making a small mess of the area with an upcoming battle. I will have the Druids from the Farm come and take care of the repairs afterward." Cain apologized, while Prana just nodded.
"You don't understand, there are over ten thousand Mythic Awakened fighters in the army. Nothing can stand against him, even if you call all your allies and have them bring their awakened guards, it still wouldn't be enough." The Wrath Demon tried to explain.
"I think you have underestimated the might of an Ancient. If he wanted, he could bathe the continent in balefire and burn out every living thing simply for annoying him." Oath Breaker pointed out, making all the Scouts, as well as the Elders and Prana blanch in fear.
"That's got to be a lie, right? I mean a city maybe, but the entire continent? That's just ridiculous." Prana scoffed, horrified at even the idea of an entire city bathed in flames.
"I mean, if I summoned a few dozen Plague Mothers, and then gave them all Balefire Dragon Breath that they could pass to their summons, I suppose I could do a few thousand at a time, but Dragon Breath is limited in size. If we used an unholy flame aura, the radius would feed off the Plague Demons and undead, and they could likely set a few hundred square kilometers at a time on fire, but it wouldn't be as powerful." Cain said thoughtfully.
[Why not Golden Demon Ants? An Empress can call a hundred Queens, who can call a thousand workers. If you gave them all Dragon Breath, I bet we could reach just as large of a space.] Oath Breaker suggested in Cain's mind.
"[Not bad, plus, you have to see them in order to squish them, so durability doesn't matter. Do we know any birds that summon? I feel like flocks of Dragonfire-breathing birds would be a nice touch.] Cain thought.
[I don't think so, but the Watchers can take a look through the list and see if we missed anything.] Oath Breaker suggested.
"Why do I feel like he just thought of a way to do it? That look on his face definitely says he thought of a way to do it." Prana muttered, making Kone laugh.
"Guaranteed he did. Going by the introspective look it has changed to now, he is likely calculating the time it would take to actually cover the entire continent. I told you, Ancients are scary. Not just when they are challenged, but when they get bored and start thinking of new things to pass the time." Kone told the plantlike demon.
"Alright, I have a plan. Will one of you please contact your boss and tell them just how bad of an idea attacking us is? This contact won't be a betrayal of your oath." Cain instructed.
"Are you sure you want to give them a warning?" Prana asked, not sure where Cain was going with this.
"It's only sporting. With what I have in mind, I think that Jessica would strangle me in my sleep if I didn't at least warn them." Cain shrugged, making the Bunny High Priestess give him a dirty look.
"You know that warning them before you slaughter them still leaves them dead, right?" Jessica asked.
"Of course, but then they would be dead of their own free will, not some underhanded and unexpected trick that they couldn't defend against," Cain explained.
Jessica just shook her head and decided that it was easier not to argue with Cain for now. She could discuss the value of life with him when there weren't as many other lives at stake as there were in this situation.
"Sir, the message has been sent, and I think it might have enraged the boss. Morgeth says that he will be here very soon and that there will be a price to pay for the insolence of breaking his bonds of loyalty." One of the captives informed Cain politely.
"Ah, excellent, I do hate having to wait," Cain replied with a smile, then silently ordered the Oath Breakers out to go, scout the area, and incapacitate any enemy forces that they found wandering around the nearby cities and villages.
