After talking to Isirid, Mart summoned the fire ghost.

The fire ghost floated around Mart, it had no definite shape, it was like a white and light blue flame, floating.

Since he had summoned it using the knowledge he learned from Professor Dervec, he could now sense the feelings of the fire ghost.

"Do you want to make a contract?" Mart asked.

The fire ghost flew swiftly around Mart. Since he first used the summoning of low-level demon spirits to summon an incipient fire demon spirit that barely had a shape, he had been transferring demonic energy to the demon spirit from time to time until he gained the demon spirit's sympathy. But Mart studied over the months and understood the possibilities that summoning magic could have, which is why making a pact was very important for both the summoner and the demon spirit.

"So you want to use me to make yourself stronger," Mart murmured.

The flames of the fire ghost dimmed at Mart's words.

Seeing the fire ghost's reaction, Mart remembered how Deniris would tilt her rabbit ears when she was sad or nervous, and he ended up laughing briefly.

"If I agree to the pact, you will never attack me or my descendants. Do you agree?" Mart murmured. He proposed this condition because he had read about some spiritual-demonic pacts in which high-level demonic spirits rebelled against their summoners and wiped out entire lineages.

The flames increased in intensity, showing that it agreed.

"From now on, you will be called Denio."

Mart decided to give it that name because the fire ghost reminded him of Deniris.

The moment Mart named the fire ghost, a spiritual bond was created between the two, allowing the fire ghost to absorb demonic energy directly.

As Mart watched the fire ghost, he could see how it ascended to a demonic specter and took the form of a blue-white winged lion cub. Shortly after, the demonic specter became invisible, reducing the amount of demonic energy it absorbed but keeping the invocation active.

"Although his rank is close to the middle level, I can more efficiently apply the spiritual characteristics of the demonic spirit to the fire element demonic diagrams, increasing the versatility with which I can use fire spells, just as I did when I battled that demonic human. Otherwise, I would have been injured by my own spell," Mart concluded as he leaned back in his chair, thinking about some things Isirid had told him.

...

A few days later, when Mart came out of seclusion, he reported to the teachers that he had reached the peak of the fourth rank.

He believed that it was best not to flaunt his power, because even though the enemy might have him in their sights, they would only consider him a target with an intermediate level of power (fourth to sixth rank). That way, he could seize the opportunity and catch the enemies off guard if they decided to attack.

...

As Mart walked through the corridors of the Academy, he noticed that most of the students had gloomy expressions on their faces and were discussing the same topics.

The fear of direct war against the Venrac Empire chilled their blood.

Although the Sevec Marquisate had previously crushed the humans, the demons knew that this was partly because it was a small-scale war, but according to reports, there were currently human military camps along the entire border between the Argaris Republic and the Venrac Empire.

Some students feared that in the event of an extended war, many of them and their families would be drafted by order of the Republican Council, a matter that did not concern the nobles, who were not obliged to obey the orders of the Republican Council.

••••

At various points along the borders of the Argaris Republic, the Republican Council sent letters to each of the generals and high nobles who protected the borders.

Just as humans infiltrated the demon country to cause chaos, there were also humans willing to sell information about their Empire. Filth, ambition, and betrayal were everywhere, and everyone exploited the weaknesses of their adversaries.

...

Currently, at the borders, the demons who had been alerted were preparing their camps to face the enemy at any moment.

At one of the points was the military camp of the Marquisate of Sevec, where the troops would be led by the Great Demonic General Balac Sevec.

At another point on the border was the military camp of the Duchy of Crocell, commanded by the Duke and Great Demon General Talion Crocell.

In another area of the border was the military camp commanded by Marquis Velor Decarabia.

Finally, there was the military camp of the Duchy of Ertrael, commanded by the Great Demon General Galot Ertrael.

All military camps led by high-ranking noble demons were in turn composed of mid-level or low-level noble demons from the surrounding territories, who commanded their subordinates in accordance with the orders they received.

...

Although the Argaris country had not been able to celebrate victories in total wars against the Empire, they always sold their defeat dearly, causing the Empire a large number of human casualties and the loss of some important talents. It is clear that the price of such damage to the empire was equivalent to a loss two or three times greater for the Argaris republic. But even so, in the end, such wars caused the empire's army to hold back and advance in its conquest gradually, over the centuries, because when humans saw the determination of the demons, they feared that cornering the demons could lead to an unexpected outcome. In the end, human patience had made the empire stronger and stronger.

••••

Currently, there were tens of thousands of demons in each military camp. They were not necessarily of mid-level rank or higher, because the war needed cannon fodder to test the enemy's tactics and power. Similarly, in the human military camps, there were also thousands of humans who would serve as cannon fodder, although they were unaware of this.

...

The Republican Council had the Baratrense army, a powerful army made up of demons of intermediate and high levels (seventh and eighth ranks). All the demons in that army took a demonic oath of allegiance to the Republican Council, so they only followed orders issued by the Republican Council. At that time, the powerful Baratrense army was still in the capital of the Republic without receiving orders.

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