The Road Ahead is Long

Having resolved to accelerate her pregnancy, Vivian now needed to make slight adjustments to her existing plans.

Under the dim light within the tent, she unfurled the parchment scroll covered with countless annotations and plans, her fingertips tracing the inked lines.

The Frost Banshee, Lucia, made Vivian’s brows furrow slightly.

Lucia’s abilities were unquestionable, but her intentions were hard to discern.

Her combat prowess, execution, and comprehension perfectly met Vivian’s expectations.

She carried out tasks without hesitation and could converse with ease, seamlessly matching Vivian’s pace.

One could say Lucia embodied Vivian’s ideal of “efficiency.”

Yet, as a Frost Banshee, she ultimately served the Winter Demon Lord, making her an “outsider” whom Vivian could not fully trust.

As for Aria… her loyalty was as unyielding as stone, the truest of confidants.

The thought of Aria’s ever-enthusiastic eyes and fluffy appearance warmed Vivian’s heart, though it was soon tempered by a sense of helplessness.

Aria was like a razor-sharp but inflexible sword—peerless in charging into battle or guarding her side, but less adept at coordinating factions, balancing delicate relationships, or handling the intricate

administrative tasks that required political acumen and adaptability.

She often seemed clumsy in such matters.

But there was no other choice.

These two were the strongest demons under her command, and during the accelerated pregnancy, Vivian would have to entrust matters to them, letting Aria and Lucia work together.

Even so, Vivian needed to plan every detail meticulously, or she wouldn’t feel at ease.

Before that, however, there was a major task at hand.

Rebuilding the mage tower and restoring the Demon Lord’s communication network within the territory.

This was the key to reintegrating Evernight City and the Evernight Territory into the Demon Clan’s vast system.

Without it, Evernight City and its territory would remain an isolated island, unable to receive timely external information, coordinate with other Demon Lords, or call for aid in times of crisis.

Vivian took a deep breath, suppressing the subtle fatigue brought on by her pregnancy.

She closed her eyes, channeling the mana within her to weave a delicate barrier of disguise, perfectly concealing her true physical condition.

To the outside world, she remained the powerful, majestic, and indisputable Demon Lord of Evernight.

Having done this, she slowly stood and pushed aside the heavy tent flap.

A cold breeze swept over her, and her gaze moved past the bustling demons working on the chaotic reconstruction of the camp, settling on a cleared patch of land not far away.

There, a new mage tower rose from the ground.

Its body, shaped from dark gray magical stone, was still bare of intricate runes or a towering spire, with only a few foundational levels completed, giving it a rather crude appearance.

Yet it stood there, resolute, like a silent beacon.

The materials for rebuilding the magical communication network had already been delivered, but constructing a mage tower took time.

As mentioned before, the reconstruction period was plagued by a shortage of manpower, and building a mage tower was delicate work that only a handful of mages could undertake.

To construct it, the territory’s already scarce mage resources had been stretched to their limits.

Scholars who typically studied advanced spells had to roll up their sleeves, working like common craftsmen, tirelessly transporting enchanted stones, carving basic arrays, and calibrating core crystals day

and night.

Only then had the communication hub been勉强 completed.

The Demon Clan was not synonymous with barbarism.

Over long years of warfare, they had developed a unique system of “magitech” centered on mana and magic.

This system powered their vast war machine and supported an internal information network—the maginet.

It enabled near-instant communication akin to a telephone, transmitting voices and even simple images across vast distances.

However, this system had clear limitations tied to its era.

It relied heavily on a powerful central node—typically the mage tower in the territory’s main city—which routed and relayed all communications.

Secondary nodes, like the communication crystals in villages or outposts, could not connect directly with one another and required the central hub to relay messages.

In simple terms, it was somewhat like early human telephones from the 20th century, with manual switchboards operated by an operator.

A central hub connected other communication points, and secondary nodes had to go through the hub to reach others.

Moreover, the connections were fixed.

This was rather peculiar.

Magic, with its boundless possibilities, was being used for such rigid and inefficient tasks, leaving Vivian momentarily at a loss for words.

This was also why, after Lucia’s single sword strike devastated Evernight City, the Evernight Territory had collapsed so swiftly.

Each village and outpost lost its means of rapid communication with the outside world, and the command system couldn’t quickly establish a new structure.

The entire Evernight Territory became a scattering of isolated islands, leading to an avalanche-like defeat.

Vivian reflected that, despite appearances of a medieval world of swords and magic after years of war, the Demon Clan’s internal technological systems and magical applications were quite advanced.

They had their own instant communication methods, as well as established production systems and trade networks—otherwise, they could not have sustained prolonged wars against other races.

Of course, the Demon Clan’s system had only developed the initial stages of technological application, with deeper conveniences yet to be explored.

At its core, the Demon Clan was not a unified whole but a collection of Demon Lords’ territories, each fighting independently.

“‘The road is long, and the journey is far.’”*

Vivian thought to herself.

In the next moment, her gaze settled on the newly constructed mage tower—the communication terminal—before her.

A circle of captain-level demons had already gathered around the mage tower, excitedly and curiously observing the new structure.

Among them, the goblin chef Golin, being shorter, had even dragged over a bucket to stand on, tiptoeing to get a better view.

His round eyes were wide with focus, his comical appearance standing out amidst the crowd.

“Demon Lord!”

The group turned and saluted as Vivian approached.

“How are the preparations for the maginet communication?”

Vivian’s question was direct, her eyes scanning the group.

Aria promptly responded, “It’s essentially ready. Mages have been dispatched to each node, and we’re now in the final countdown to restarting the maginet.”

“Good.”

Vivian nodded curtly, her gaze shifting to the silent gray tower as she stood by, awaiting the maginet’s reactivation.