Shang and Sylvia landed at the meeting place and waited for Jerald. The frontline where Duke Mithril had been was much farther away than Shang's target.
Half an hour later, Jerald also arrived.
"Tell me how the fight went," Jerald said.
Shang nodded and recounted the fight.
After Shang was done, Jerald also nodded. "Good work, Sylvia," he said as he looked at Sylvia.
"No problem, Jerald," Sylvia said with a bright smile.
Jerald looked a bit uncomfortable when he saw her smile like that, and he looked back at Shang.
"I'm going to give the orders and prepare everything. I need you two to stay near the northern border of the Empress Cobra Zone."
Shang and Sylvia nodded.
"I'll contact you with further orders," Jerald said before leaving.
Shang and Sylvia traveled to the northern border and waited there for Jerald.
After just half an hour, Shang noticed over 30 True Path Stage warriors take to the sky.
The next and last set of letters would be distributed today.
The Mages had gone all out to finish the letters as quickly as possible, and the warriors would distribute them over the surrounding ten Zones.
A couple of minutes later, all the High Mages Jerald had gained over the past couple of days gathered at the northern border of the Empress Cobra Zone.
Their mood was not great.
They had all heard about what would happen, and they had all seen and read the letters.
Not many of them talked, and they only waited with stress and worry.
They knew that the last battle would take place, and in comparison to all the previous ones, they knew that there would be casualties today.
In the past few days, the war had been fought with mind games and stratagems, but today, two armies would clash head-on.
The warriors distributed the letters, and the reactions to the letters were more pronounced than before.
This time, nearly everyone decided to evacuate from the surrounding Zones.
For the next few days, the citizens would stay in Zones far away from the Empress Cobra Zone.
This time, the letter didn't include any judgments of High Mages or the next target.
No, this time, the letter was shorter than before.
It spoke about the assassination of Duke Mithril and Duke Blastfurnace, and then it talked directly about the final battle.
Jerald made it public where his entire army would gather.
For the next two weeks, the army would stay in that place and not move.
The purpose of that was to tell the Council that there were no more hidden schemes they could pull.
They couldn't slowly take out one warrior or Mage after the other before the final battle.
In a normal war, this act would be stupid. After all, the goal of a normal war was to conquer land and not necessarily to get rid of every enemy soldier.
As long as the enemy army could surround the enemy's location, they would gain the upper hand in the long run.
But this was not a normal war.
This was not a war about land or resources but a war to kill one's enemies.
All of Jerald's forces would stay in one place, and if the Council wanted to deal with him, they would need to attack all of Jerald's forces at once.
Under normal circumstances, the Council could simply ignore Jerald's army for this time and conquer all the other Zones, but the problem for them was that they were on a timer.
They had just launched an intense offensive on the Magic Purity Kingdom, and the Magic Purity Kingdom would strike back with a vengeance very soon.
If they didn't fortify their borders in the next couple of days, the Magic Purity Kingdom would invade the Skythunder Kingdom and claim several Zones in only a couple of minutes.
If the Magic Purity Kingdom still didn't feel any resistance, they would take advantage of the opportunity and directly cut off the eastern Skythunder Kingdom from the western Skythunder Kingdom.
That would be catastrophic for the Skythunder Kingdom.
Or they might just directly go for the throne.
The publicly acknowledged reason why it was important for the armies to claim the territories first was to support the King in his battle.
If the most powerful Mages in the Kingdom were taken care of, the strongest Mages in the other Kingdom could help their King in winning the battle with the other King.
Five Peak and Late High Mages could combine their powers to unleash Spells that exhibited the power of the Archmage Realm.
Of course, the true reason was very different.
Shang and Jerald knew that the Kings were simply employees of the Lightning Manor.
They weren't supposed to fight each other but rule over several territories.
The reason for that wasn't clear to them, but that was most likely how it worked.
Presumably, if one King lost all his territories, he would also lose his job and would be forced to leave the five Kingdoms.
And because of all of that, the Council couldn't afford to wait and slowly regain their territories.
They had to end this internal war in the next couple of days, or they would soon die to the Magic Purity Kingdom or King Skythunder.
After about an hour, the warriors returned and also stopped on the northern border of the Empress Cobra Zone.
Even all the True Path Stage warriors from the Storm Eagle Zone were here.
All 65 had been summoned.
Right now, the Storm Eagle Zone was completely undefended, but that wasn't a big concern.
Jerald had also gained an additional 30 High Mages ever since the war started, with nine of them being Mid High Mages.
Right now, 65 True Path Stage warriors, around 35 High Mages, Jerald, Shang, and Sylvia, were all in the same location.
This force alone could already rival one of the weaker Kingdoms.
Shang's three High Mages had already set up their Magic Circles in a heavily fortified building.
Five of the Mid High Mages were stationed around the building. With their combined powers, they could even fight a Council member.
Their entire job was only to protect this building and maybe attack an enemy if they entered their reach.
Everyone knew that Count Sword, with all the augmenting Spells and Magic Circles, could rival a Council member.
The fight between the Council and Jerald would decide the outcome of the war. Everyone else was just fighting for an opportunity to help in that fight.
If the High Mages of Jerald's forces managed to get rid of the other High Mages, they could combine their powers and shoot powerful Spells at the Council. That would be almost like another Council member helping Jerald.
All the other High Mages were stationed behind the warriors but in front of the five Mid High Mages protecting the fortified building.
The warriors were supposed to get close to the enemy Mages and force them to deal with them.
If the enemy Mage decided to ignore the warriors, the warriors would quickly go on the offensive and attack their Mana Shields.
If they attacked the warriors, they would need to spend significant amounts of Mana and time to deal with them. After all, a warrior could be very slippery and agile. During that time, the enemy Mages would decimate their forces.
The plan was set up.
Everyone had been gathered.
Now, they only needed to wait.
Eventually, the Skythunder Kingdom's army would arrive.
And then, the final battle would begin.
