This small squad of Demons wasn't very powerful. They looked like they were all at the second rank.

Their leader, the Horned Demon, was a bit better, at the 3rd rank.

From their circumstances, they had probably suffered a loss while attacking the capital.

Marvin didn't feel like taking care of such small fries, but it would be a simple matter to do so.

The refugees were shocked to see a shadow leap out of nowhere and scatter the Demons just like an autumn wind sweeping across fallen leaves.

Using Cold Light's Grasps to kill these Demons was just like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut: it was overkill.

In just seconds, the heads of all the Demons had fallen on the ground and only Isabelle was left calmly standing there.

Everyone froze there like they were unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Finally, after no less than five seconds, someone managed to react and he immediately knelt down, loudly thanking her for saving their lives.

The corner of Isabelle's mouth twitched faintly. Looking at her, it was obvious that she wasn't very good at dealing with that kind of matter.

Fortunately, Marvin calmly walked over from the main road to address them.

"Who are you guys?" he asked.

Someone in the group of refugees firmly answered, "We are going to take refuge in the capital."

"The Great Duke released the latest decree, everyone within the Dukedom has to gather there…"

"We heard that the Demon army had already been repelled, but our luck wasn't too good, and we ended up meeting some on the road. Thanks a lot for helping us," he said, looking back at Isabelle.

They could see that neither Marvin nor Isabelle were ordinary people.

Marvin lowered his head. They noticed that this youth looked familiar, but they couldn't quite him.

"Since that's the case, you can follow behind us," Marvin offered.

In any case, the capital wasn't far from here, and Marvin didn't mind slowing down for a while.

The refugees couldn't thank them enough.

They gathered their things back up and rushed toward the capital, following behind Marvin and Isabelle.

They found out from these refugees that the previous evening, the bloody battle that had gone on for five days had finally come to an end.

The encouraging news was that Lady Daniela personally closed the Abyss Gate, and most Demons were expelled.

But there were still a few within the borders of the Dukedom.

And the discouraging news was that Lavis Dukedom's power had fallen to an unprecedentedly low point. Apart from the Demons, there were still forces harboring evil intentions in the surroundings.

They still needed to consider the threat from these other sources, and thus, the Great Duke had issued a decree to gather everyone in the territory.

Putting more people in the capital and its surroundings would help preserve and consolidate their strength.

This kind of choice was undoubtedly correct.

Lavis didn't lack food at all. The Great Duke had incredible foresight.

A year before the Great Calamity struck, before Marvin had even transmigrated, he had already started storing up additional reserves of food. At that time, his actions had made the bordering countries nervous, thinking these were war preparations, but they eventually relaxed. Apart from purchasing food, Lavis didn't make any other unusual movements.

Now, anyone could tell in hindsight that the action back then was very sensible.

After the Great Calamity, it became very difficult to grow crops. Food had turned into a hard currency.

In many places, people would fight for just a piece of bread.

And a bag of wheat was enough to make some small forces go all-out.

...

'Looks like Lavis' fortune is quite good, getting through the first period is hard, but then it becomes a great opportunity to develop freely,' Marvin thought silently.

The North was very vast. As long as Daniela did the same as she did in the game, Lavis would definitely develop into a very frightening and influential country.

After the bloodbaths caused by the Wizards, the Sorcerers would be welcomed in the spring that followed.

They assumed the status of the Wizards and became the new nobles. In Marvin's memories, at least one quarter of the North eventually belonged to Lavis.

But at that time, Lavis wasn't a Dukedom anymore. It had become a true Kingdom!

And like Rocky Mountain, the Sorceres of Lavis were also a formidable force and were worth befriending.

As Marvin was thinking, the capital's city wall appeared in front of them.

The refugees suddenly got excited.

When they saw the wall, they saw the hope of survival.

Some of them even wept softly.

...

On the cold city walls, guards were keeping watch.

Although it was the beginning of spring, the capital was built on a snowy mountain so it was still about as cold as before.

The Sorcerer on duty was wearing a black gown, looking gloomily at the batches of refugees surrounding the walls.

He felt a bit irritated.

"Look at all these groups of wastes who only know how to cry!"

"The Great Duke's conscription decree isn't for this trash. The young and the able aren't bad, but what can those old bones even do?"

He kept mumbling to himself, and the clerk to the side showed a strange expression.

"Sir Jast, the Duchess' decree…"

The Sorcerer immediately snapped, "Duchess? Who gave her that title?"

"The Elder Council has yet to make the final decision! That woman is just temporarily in charge of a few simple government affairs. My job is to defend the city, I have the right to act after examining the situation!"

The clerk turned into a yes-man and didn't dare to say anything further.

But a bit of sorrow flickered across his face.

Even after winning the war against the Demon army, the capital was still not at peace.

Those pitiful refugees had come at the call of the Great Duke's decree, but because of Jast's decision, they could only linger outside the city.

Jast believed that they would only be a burden if they were allowed to enter the capital. He only allowed the fit youth, the others were left to their own devices in the surroundings, to let them perish on their own.

He had put this practice into effect this very morning. Because the war had just ended, the inside of the capital was in chaos, and the management of the city's defenses had also been temporarily reassigned.

Jast was one of Sir Turalyon's followers, so he disliked the fact that Daniela was now in charge.

Daniela had stayed in White River Valley for a while, and it was said that she was engaged with White River Valley's Sir Marvin. In the eyes of many people, she couldn't succeed the Great Duke's position. Thus, at that time, at least 70% of the capital had been in the hands of Turalyon.

Including Jast, a 4th Rank Sorcerer. He had made great efforts when the Demon army attacked the city, so he had risen to be in charge of the city's defenses.

But regarding the Great Duke's new decree, he was implementing it differently.

The clerk could only shake his head in silence.

At that time, a guard rushed over from below. "Sir, there is a new group of refugees that is about to reach the city. There seems to be some militia among them."

Jast had a satisfied expression. "Good, we'll go take a look. If it's militia, it's okay to train them and get rid of the useless ones among them."

...

Meanwhile, Marvin and Isabelle took the group of refugees and slowly approached the wall of the capital city.

But they were surprised to find that there were small groups of refugees gathered outside the city walls.

The group of refugees following Marvin became worried and unsure.

"What's going on?" Marvin was puzzled.

At that time, a gap opened between the city gates.