Strategy

Upon his return to Arcadia after successfully hypnotizing the Heavenly Emperor and other court members of the Yulong Empire, Alex met with Lexi and other council members to discuss proposed laws for the kingdom.

While the council in Arcadia handles the administrative tasks, Alex maintains a vigilant eye on their decisions to ensure the well-being of the kingdom.

After the meeting, Alex and Lexi took some time for themselves, enjoying a quiet date to ease her tensions. Their relationship remained undisclosed to the public, known only to the rebels. Alex had chosen to announce their engagement on a grand occasion, awaiting the right moment.

Due to her role as the royal mage of Arcadia and her involvement in decision-making, Lexi primarily focuses on council duties after the establishment of Arcadia. Although Alex had given her the option to decline such events, she insisted on participating.

As Alex contemplated his next course of action, he considered the potential success of his plans with Yulong. If all went according to plan, he could conquer most of his targeted countries in one fell swoop, with only Egret remaining.

Egret, an island nation with a powerful naval force, maintains a strong diplomatic relationship with the Refreese Imperium. Its people are descendants of tribes that migrated from the Sea of Trees.

Unlike other kingdoms, it is not feasible for Yulong to attack Egret or for them to be forcefully conquered.

Egret has limited contact with the kingdoms on the mainland, except for the Refreese Imperium. However, it possesses a considerable amount of mineral reserves.

Centuries ago, Egret faced an invasion from Sandora, leading to a hostile relationship between the two nations. Even with the overthrow of the slave king and the establishment of Arcadia, their attitude towards Egret has not improved significantly, making it challenging for Alex to devise a plan to deal with them.

Alex contemplated the conquest of these countries and devised several viable plans. Turning to Astrid, he instructed her, "Astrid, please project the world map and locate the behemoths residing in the oceans."

"Affirmative," Astrid responded.

As commanded, Astrid displayed the world map, marked with numerous red pins indicating the current locations of the behemoths. These colossal creatures inhabited remote areas of the world, inaccessible to humans due to guild restrictions. However, their presence in the seas was not widely known due to the lack of monitoring equipment. Thousands of these behemoths existed, capable of wreaking havoc on countries.

"Sir, can I use other spells to identify their appearance and characteristics?" Astrid asked.

Surprised, Alex replied, "You can?"

"Yes, sir. With the help of the grimoire, I discovered spells such as [Characterization], and [Weak Spot], which provide detailed information about the targets identified by the search spell."

"In that case, show me what you've got, Astrid," Alex said eagerly.

A multitude of projections materialized around Alex, allowing him to witness live feeds of the behemoths. Another screen displayed a panel showcasing the behemoths' names, locations, weaknesses, characteristics, and detailed descriptions.

"With the assistance of the grimoire, I found these special spells that enable me to provide the behemoth's characteristics and weak spots," Astrid explained.

"You never cease to surprise me, Astrid," Alex couldn't help but say, impressed by Astrid's ability to project and provide detailed information.

"Thank you, sir," Astrid replied happily as Alex analyzed the behemoths.

As he examined the projections, Alex was impressed by the various types of behemoths and their characteristics.

There were powerful behemoths like the Giant Kraken, a shiver of Silver Shark Behemoths, a Leviathan Behemoth that ruled over a group of Leviathans, an Electric Eel-type Behemoth, and an Undead Whale Behemoth, among others.

Alex went through many behemoths before dismissing all the screens, except for the one displaying the Tentacular Behemoth that was closest to Egret.

The Giant Tentacular Behemoth resides in the deepest parts of the sea. Its defensive capabilities are not as great as other behemoths, but it compensates with its immense size and incredible strength. It has the potential to destroy an entire country if it so desires, and it commands a group of fifty-three Tentacular magical beasts.

A Tentacular can be described as a squid-like magical beast, typically as large as the sea serpent Alex had encountered in Egret.

Alex studied the Tentacular through the description Astrid had provided and discovered that the behemoth only had a few days left to live, as it was dying from old age.

Alex also recalled the event in which Touya established a relationship with the king of Egret by catching the Tentaculars for him, thereby ending their famine.

Reflecting on the behemoth and the details from the novel, it can be inferred that after the Behemoth's death, other Tentaculars collectively attacked Egret, leading to dramatic consequences.

Observing the live feed of the behemoth, Alex couldn't help but release a smile before dismissing the screen and once again focusing on devising his future plans.

It didn't take long for him to develop a well-thought-out strategy, and by the time he finished, it was already time for dinner. Alex and Lexi shared a romantic candlelit dinner, succumbing to their desires and spending the entire night in Alex's bedroom, where their passion filled the room with joyous sounds.