Chapter 1244: Chapter 1244

"It seems the Third Prince really has no other tricks up his sleeve." As more time passed, Du You noticed that the Third Prince continued to slowly consolidate power. The pace got even slower, to the point where the nobility was consolidating faster than he was.

He must have signed that contract initially because he had a tier-six fighter in his hand.

Because he made a move, the tier-six fighter directly killed the enemy’s upper class, which allowed him to use the Ragtag to put the Shenghai Kingdom on the defensive, then boost his reputation, consolidate the southern nobles’ armies, and take down the Shenghai Kingdom in one fell swoop.

Such a prosperous kingdom, coupled with the clandestine training methods, meant that as long as the Third Prince didn’t rebel, the throne was definitely his and no one could threaten his position.

What he didn’t expect, however, was that the enemy’s power was stronger than his, making tier-six nothing significant.

And the reason why the nobility could consolidate faster than the Third Prince was the Shenghai Kingdom had begun its assault. Declaring war without attack was out of the question, and not just on his side but for the northern Fox People as well.

The workload for Shaliya increased, and Luo Jia went straight to the front line, only able to receive his news through long-distance communication.

This time, neither side used tier-six masters, and even tier-five masters were seldom employed. However, Du You deployed his Bone Dragon and the massive team of Demonic Flame Skeletons, handing them over to the front lines to command.

The bodies of dead enemies would be collected and sent back. Once enough were gathered, Du You would Summon them again and then dispatch them to the front lines. If it wasn’t for Du You’s strict rule against indiscriminate killing of the innocent, he alone could sweep through the entire eastern continent with his skeleton army, even sweeping across the entire continent.

The northern Fox People also began to migrate southward, under the control of a group of generals, constantly encroaching on the Divine Flame Empire’s territory. The Divine Flame Empire’s army and nobles could only barely resist; they were no match.

Of course, until the tier-five masters gathered, there was no stopping the other side, and everyone was just probing.

However, border nobles and nobles near the frontier began to flee with their families in tow. The enemies on both sides were not the kind to treat them as nobility.

Once in Du You’s hands, hostile nobles were immediately demoted to commoners, losing everything.

And in the hands of the Fox People, it was even more tragic. Elsa didn’t care so much since humans never got along with them. Captured human nobles had all their crimes investigated on the spot, then punished.

And considering the deeds of the nobility and their descendants, practically every noble family, by the law, should have been wiped out. Few could survive, and they could only keep fleeing. The number of fugitive nobles increased, and so did the pressure on the royal household. Every day, many nobles would gather at the gates of the Imperial Palace, loudly protesting.

But in the midst of this conflict, the political situation in the Beastman kingdom underwent a huge shift.

The Beastmen usually had an extreme aversion to humans. The alliance between the Holy Fox Kingdom and the Shenghai Kingdom caused a lot of resentment among the Beastmen. Some believed that the Shenghai Kingdom would definitely plot against the Holy Fox Kingdom, and they would regret it later.

Unexpectedly, the two kingdoms were indeed sincerely cooperating, with the Shenghai Kingdom contributing even more. As a result, the power of the Holy Fox Kingdom grew stronger by the day, visibly so. Also, the life of the commoners in the Holy Fox Kingdom got better and better. Coupled with the previous propaganda, their reputation finally exploded.

Of course, Du You and Elsa used many methods in the process. For example, the first batch of people sent to each other were their own compliant subjects, not likely to make any trouble, setting an example and standard for those who followed.

As various materials arrived and the Beastmen saw the benefits, the change in their situation became very apparent.

The boarmen at the forefront finally couldn’t stand it any longer and announced their allegiance to the Holy Fox Kingdom. Then, the Leopard People who had been driven out of their homes by the Lion People and had nowhere to go, traveled all the way to the Holy Fox Kingdom to join.

Elsa unceremoniously allocated a piece of land to the Leopard People—of course, the new territories were allocated outside of their original lands. Then, with the Leopard People and some of her own troops, she rushed to the aid of the boarmen and secured their area.

As for the problem of the boarmen’s rapid reproduction, Elsa had already thought of a solution: birth control.

The united armies were no longer one-sided, and the lives of the boarmen also improved, no longer in the state of not even having enough food as before.

Meanwhile, the Lion People learned from some source that there might be a tier-six master in the Holy Fox Kingdom, which started causing restlessness among them. Although few knew about it, the impact was significant.

Under this influence, subsequent rebel species like the Bear People and Minotaurs started joining the Holy Fox Kingdom one after another. And thus, the territory of the Holy Fox Kingdom continuously expanded. At this point, more than half of the original Beastman kingdom’s land belonged to the Holy Fox Kingdom. The Lion People Clan’s living space shrank, and life became harder.

The Lion People and Tiger People, being regal clans, did not engage in production but lived off the tributes of other species, at most hunting for themselves. Now, having lost most of their territory, life began to get tough for the Lion People.

And with their character, internal extortion began, even reaching a point where the Wolfmen could hardly stand it. This situation created a vicious cycle, and gradually, more and more species began to defect from the Lion People.

Especially with the power of an example, those groups that joined the Holy Fox Kingdom found life getting better day by day. They no longer needed to be nomadic, and began planting and breeding on their own, no longer lacking food and other resources.

By the time the Lion People realized something was wrong, there was already discord within the kingdom.

Voices within the Lion People began to emerge, demanding a return to the central mainland, into the core of the Beastman Empire. But others were hesitant, worried that their status would be very poor once they returned.

With the Lion People internally disinclined to continue fighting, the front lines could only keep retreating.

Later on, due to Shaliya’s insistence, Elsa, albeit reluctantly, sent out a message, forgiving the Wolfmen for past offences and welcoming them into the family. As a result, the Wolfmen split into two factions. One insisted on distrust, while the other suddenly defected to the Fox People. Under the power of the example, the remaining Wolfmen became more and more indecisive.

As the last strong species supporting them began to defect, the Lion People finally could not withstand the pressure. After a major battle at the Lion People’s doorstep, which left numerous corpses of masters, they finally left with their people.

What followed was a long and arduous migration, with no knowing how many of these Lion People would survive.