By all rights, he should have died, but, the Demon Sage saved him, bringing him along his own campaigns. Arios thought it would always be impossible to come back even the Demon Sage couldn't control time perfectly, let alone him. But, it seemed like he had finally come back home.

Dyon smiled as Arios wiped the last of his tears, "we'll go see your family in no less than a year. In fact, if you'd like to go now, I won't blame you."

Arios blinked. "How long has it been since I've been gone?"

Dyon thought for a bit. "Ava was only 18 when I met her, so she should be 19 at most right now."

Arios looked like he had just heard the greatest thing in the world.

"Only two years? I've only been gone two years? HAHAHAHAHA."

His laughter was light, as though a massive burden had been dropped from his shoulders.

Arios was only 23 right now and he left home at 20. But, despite this, he had no way of knowing what point of earth's history he had come back to. The fact he had been gone for even less time than he experienced away was only the best of news to him.

Dyon smiled. 'It seems like that technique the demon sage used stopped their aging completely and stopped them from being aware of how much time had really passed. Arios should have experienced thousands of years in the deformed state, but to him, he only spent three years as a demon general. I guess the Demon Sage truly is a kind man

'Since you've lived such a pitiful life, I'll take up the mantle for you. I can't take you as my master, as I've already promised that to someone else, but you've earned my respect. Once the time is right, I'll be the new Demon Sage. I'll save your daughter. I'll slaughter your enemies. And I'll make sure they know the reason why they're dying. Consider this a thank you for leaving your legacy to me and an apology for being the fated reason you died.'

The demon generals sat down on the ground, happy and content with everything. Although Dyon still had many questions from their hair to who they were as people and what they'd done in the past, he held it in for now. These people had been through a lot, it was time for them to relax.

Arios looked at Dyon with an interested impression and said something that made Dyon rethink his whole attitude.

"So, successor. When's our next campaign?"

Dyon looked at Arios for a bit, feeling the blood of the demon generals boiling along with his.

Dyon grinned widely, 'I guess it's time to make a splash.'

Dyon was immediately immersed in his planning. And even planning his planning. He wanted to know everything there was to know about the army he had just gained, and how to make the best use of their abilities.

What he ended up finding out was surprising. Even the weakest among the generals were of the Essence Gathering level, including Arios. At first, Dyon wondered why a sage would need such relatively weak generals, but then he realized his thought was stupid. Since some Gates cap at the essence gathering level, you obviously needed talented young generals to lead campaigns at those Gates.

There was a total of 3000 generals. A thousand at the lower essence gathering level, another thousand at the higher essence gathering level, and the last thousand at the lower saint level. This realization made Dyon widen his eyes in shock.

'A thousand saint level experts?... ridiculous.'

However, Dyon was also aware that this was but a drop in the ocean compared to the experts even in this universe. Not only did even the small the Elvin Kingdom itself have peak level saints who could wipe out Dyon's entire army with just a bit of effort, if one took the entire planet into consideration, a thousand lower saints, even without taking into account those of higher levels of cultivation, would lose out by sheer lack of numbers. What was a thousand to millions?

Thus, Dyon made a decision. He wouldn't use the demon generals in his first campaign unless he uncovered the mystery of the Elvin Kingdom and the Celestial Deer Sect. Only by knowing who and where his enemies were would he feel comfortable revealing some of his hand. The second decision he made was to cap the amount of demon generals he would use.

Because of the talent of the demon generals, their combat prowess far surpassed those of the same level. As such, Dyon decided that he would only take out 100 lower essence gathering demon generals if he uncovered the mysteries of the Elvin Kingdom.

Dyon smiled to himself, 'sure, leading a massive army is great although I guess 2000 isn't that large,' he thought.

Remembering that the Gate his first campaign would take place in had a cap of peak essence gathering, Dyon knew the saint level experts weren't a possibility.

'But, what could be cooler than having a small army and still dominating?'

Although Dyon thought this like a joke, there were real reasons why he preferred a smaller army. For one, with his lack of experience, smaller numbers would be easier for him to command. Then, with the unpredictability of the Gates, it was also easier to protect everyone should their numbers be kept in check. And finally, him suddenly appearing with an army of a hundred was still acceptable two thousand though? That was pushing it.

'Plus with only a hundred, considering how many spiritual weapons the Celestial Deer Sect left to me, I should be able to equip them all.'

With that thought, Dyon quickly memorized the names of each and every one of his demon generals. Over the next few months, he would take his time to learn about all of their abilities and more about the Gates. With that knowledge, he'd form a well-balanced team of a hundred. Dyon already had no doubt in his mind that settling the matter of the Elvin Kingdom was only a matter of time.