‎Rasmus looked at the letter while the others were sitting on couches or standing on the sides. Everyone was waiting and staring at him silently after Erdinand came and gave that letter to him with such a worried expression.

‎"The enemy has finally taken the last nation, the Eustias Kingdom, and there's no survivor. They fought until their final breaths," Rasmus said as he put down the letter.

‎"They're like only five days away from us with a carriage and three days with a horse..." Erlina pointed out with her arms crossed and the folded fan tapped gently on her chin. "And the enemy force?" She glanced at Rasmus.

‎"We don't know the exact number, but based on the information, five millions or double of that..." Rasmus answered as he looked down at the letter.

‎Erlina, Daryus, Carrion, and Aider were stunned by the numbers. To fight millions of soldiers would be an all-out war, or perhaps a war that would go down in history. However, they weren't soldiers, they were the possessed, the Corrupted, and other things, not to mention about the Prime Lords and their master, Satan.

‎"Our current military is like what? A million at most?" Carrion furrowed his brows. "Let's assume we have two millions, and that won't be enough," he pointed out.

"It's not the numbers that we need to be worried about, it's about what they're going to do with those numbers. They might recreate that colossal being, the Nephia with those numbers," Rasmus answered as he tapped his fingers on the table, staring blankly at the letter.

As soon as Rasmus spoke, someone knocked on the door, and everyone's attention shifted to the door. Javi opened the door and it was Aurelia who knocked with a worried expression.

"Count, everyone is waiting for you and Saint Serena in the meeting hall. They only want you two, nobody else," Aurelia said as she glanced at the figures in the room, and she could feel the pressure that far worse when she was with Lenin and the other powerful figures.

Rasmus nodded with understanding as he stood up while at the same time, Serena also stood up from the couch, fixing her robe before she joined with Rasmus. When they both left the room, Serena caressed Aurelia's cheek with a soft smile on her face without saying a word before she followed Rasmus to the meeting hall.

Aurelia was stunned when Serena suddenly showed affection to her, and it was out of nowhere. She slowly turned around and saw the way Serena walked, the way she walked beside Rasmus, and the way her posture looked more relaxed. Aurelia didn't know what was happening, but she could feel that something about Serena had changed.

‎The three of them entered the meeting hall where everyone had gathered. Unlike before, there were only a few of them, which were Lenin, Moriganne, Arthor, Thalior, Julius, Xena, and Marina. Rasmus, Serena, and Aurelia sat at the round table while observing everyone's expressions.

"You must have heard about what had happened to the Eustias Kingdom as well, Great Sage," Rasmus said as he looked at Lenin. "Their numbers, the estimated time for them to arrive here outside the wall..." he added with a calm expression.

‎"I see, you must have received the same information from the Black Hands. So there's no need for me to explain it again since everyone has heard about the news," Lenin nodded as she held the report in her hand. "However, did you receive any report about what had happened to the Cerdentis Kingdom as well from the Black Hands?" She asked with her brows raised.

‎"No, I don't have any information related to the Cerdentis Kingdom anymore. I told the Black Hands to retreat when they were in danger, and so they abandoned their mission," Rasmus shook his head.

‎Everyone was both surprised and not surprised at the same time. They knew Rasmus was the most logical and most rational person in the room, but they didn't expect him to not find that disadvantage a problem because of the lack of information.

‎"The Cerdentis Kingdom is gone as well, Count. No sight of the living, it's completely empty without any trace, not even Nemu and his faction. It's as if everyone disappeared," Lenin revealed with a serious expression.

‎Rasmus stared at Lenin's expression then to Thalior, and Xena. Those three had seen the colossal being, Nephilim. Although the one they fought for was an imperfect version, they would never be able to forget that. He also thought the same thing, the possibility that Nemu would use those humans as the food for him to create Nephilim.

‎"The last report I received, at least a third of each nation's population took refuge in the Cerdentis Kingdom. If we have to count it roughly, tens of millions..." Rasmus said as he rubbed his chin. "The colossal being, Nephia, is that your concern, Great Sage?" Rasmus asked, staring into Lenin's eyes.

‎"Yes, but that doesn't mean I haven't prepared for this, and right now the magic weapon is ready. That should be enough to hurt that thing, enough to make it less threatening than before," Lenin answered and nodded. "But our main concerns are those things, the Prime Lords of demons. I don't think that we will have enough people to deal with all of them, not to mention their master..." She revealed her main concern as she massaged her nose bridge.

‎"Based on your information, they have three Prime Lords originally here. You killed one, and the other one's whereabouts and mission is still unknown. Now Kiel is here, and their master is here also. I don't believe that Elder Lazarus or Lord Arandil could handle one of them by themselves. Our chance of surviving is as close as to none," Lenin calculated as she looked at Rasmus.

‎"You haven't changed your mind to help us, Count Blackheart?" Moriganne asked, glancing at Rasmus with a cold and stoic expression.

‎"No," Rasmus shook his head. "Aris has her own reason to fight, Serena has her own reason to fight, Rullein has no reason not to fight, and I also have my own reason to fight," he assured as he looked at his wristwatch, trying to estimate the time and date of the arrival of Satan and her army.

‎"If I may ask, who's going to fight their master?" Xena asked with a serious expression.

‎"Aris and Rullein, but I'm not sure they're enough because we have to assume that the Prime Lords' master has regained more than half of her power," Rasmus answered as he tapped his fingers on the table. "I might join them as well, but I know for sure that I'm not stronger than Aris or Rullein," he added.

Everyone processed what Rasmus said, and they tried to scale the power of Satan. They realized that even with Rasmus and his people's help, it might not be enough. They began to feel anxious because even Rasmus' help, their chance of winning was still slim.

"What about the plan? We might be able to increase our chances of winning if we use the right strategy. We need to strike their weakest spot and disturb their plan," Thalior asked as he looked at Lenin and Rasmus.

"I did say in our last meeting, about their plan in finding the Zevrathi through the cult, or just Luke since he's the one who knows the whereabouts of his Lords," Rasmus answered with a calm expression. "Their main purpose is to grow stronger, and they already got what they needed. If I'm right, they still need to reserve their power, and if fighting us does more harm than good, they would consider retreating because they're not reckless," he explained as he furrowed his brows.

"So you're saying that we should focus on defense rather than offense?" Julius asked with his brows furrowed. "But you said that they're after the cult, and wouldn't they do everything they could to get what they wanted?" He added.

"Exactly, that's why we're just focused on defense. We are not at war to win, we are at war to protect what we have left and prevent them from getting what they need. Let Aris, Rullein, and me to make them question their invasion," Rasmus answered with a serious expression.

Everyone looked at each other, knowing they couldn't disagree because they didn't have the power to even question his decision.

"Then I have a request, Count," Lenin said with a serious expression. "I need some of your people to protect the magic weapons while I'm controlling them. If we are focusing on defense, then protecting the magic weapons will be our greatest defense strategy," she requested.

Rasmus thought about it, looking at Serena since he remembered that Serena and Videl had another mission to do, which was to take the corpse of the Zevrathi for themselves. Serena knew what Rasmus was thinking, and she gave him a nod.

"Then I'll have Videl and Serena to protect those magic weapons, Great Sage. They both should be able to do so and I'll have the Great Spirit Yur to assist them as well," Rasmus nodded with understanding.

"Thank you, Count," Lenin bowed her head, showing her gratitude.

"We have, three days at most, let's prepare everything," Rasmus said as he looked at everyone at the table.

Everyone nodded in agreement.