"Wow, Lady Brightwater is something else, she's in the lead."

Damon clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes.

This almost reminded him of when he was at the bottom of the academy rankings and Evangeline was all the way on top.

These days he was undisputedly on top of his grade, which was saying a lot. However, Evangeline being on top was surprisingly unexpected to him.

"What about Lilith Astranova…" Damon asked, sitting on the ground cross-legged.

Waton looked for her name until he found it. "She's number seven on the ranking, right next to Princess Moonveil."

Damon nodded, noticing the number two on this ranking was actually Leona.

The rest were different people, including some demon heirs. The third place was held by a young demon who carried the name of the demon lord Adramelech.

"Hmmm, we won't be able to gather many medallions. We already lag too far behind."

Waton analyzed their situation with a frown on his face. Damon understood what he was saying. While they had fought a few battles, from the demons to fighting Wendy.

Damon had fought a few high-level battles, but none of them involved him killing his opponents or even taking their medallions.

"We need a quick way to gather them…" Waton whispered, trying to think of a variable solution to their problem.

Wendy didn't add anything; she just watched them. She didn't particularly care for the whole war game.

Damon smiled, looking at the distant horizon and the rest of the arena spread before them.

"I have something in mind."

He stood up, holding his head slightly.

"For now, there's no need to hunt anyone or anything."

Waton narrowed his brows with an inquisitive look.

"How do we get medallions then… if we don't hunt?"

Damon sighed, feeling a pang of disappointment.

"Why isn't that obvious? I didn't expect a prince to not understand something so simple."

Waton was confused. "What is it that I'm not understanding?"

Damon chuckled with an evil smile. "Tax."

Waton was even more confused by Damon's words. What did tax have to do with their current predicament?

Damon made a circle on the ground with his fingers.

"Look, this place has the dungeon gate at the center of the arena with four bridges that lead to it. However, each of these bridges is guarded by powerful monsters and is treacherous to cross."

Waton narrowed his eyes. "How do you know that?"

Damon smiled, touching his finger to his head. "I have a sixth sense for that."

That was a lie. His shadow clone had already reached the center of the arena and investigated those bridges, having seen what was there.

He didn't try to cross yet, knowing the monsters there were strong.

And acting as a powerful demon lord, he would not hide from monsters.

Damon was planning to have his shadow clone, Amon, kill one, and when he passed, Damon would show up and take over the bridge.

'I simply have to kill the weakest of the monsters and let my true body take over bridge operations.'

He tapped his makeshift map. "We take over one bridge, or better yet, we destroy the rest."

Waton still didn't know what this had to do with tax.

Damon held his head as blood filled his throat. Shaking his head, he ignored the pain.

"I want to charge a toll to anyone passing the bridge. We take eighty percent of their medallions, let them keep their lives, and maybe their dignity."

Waton blinked with an expression of shock.

"Tax… I think you just described highway robbery."

Wendy sat there listening, watching them, but didn't say anything.

Damon waved his hand dismissively. "Don't be ridiculous. This isn't robbery, it's tax."

Waton bit his lips, unsure of himself. "You intend to take this tax by force, right?"

"Ahem, ahem." Damon cleared his throat, feeling his head heavy as an anvil. "Only if they refuse to pay."

Waton leaned closer. "That's what robbery is."

Damon shook his head in disagreement. "I'm pretty sure I just described how tax works."

Waton gritted his teeth. "Tax offers a service in return."

"Yeah," Damon nodded, "the service of keeping their lives, the service of walking on my bridge. I mean, how else are we going to maintain the bridge?"

Waton closed his eyes. "We aren't building anything though."

Damon shook his head with a pained frown. "No, worse. We are maintaining delicate infrastructure."

He glanced at Waton. "As a prince, you have to understand since you're part of the system that taxes everyone. This I'm learning from the empire's example."

Waton bit his lips as the broadcasted orbs zoomed in on him.

"Those taxes make the empire great. They fund our great lifestyle."

Damon's eyes were deadpan. "Yeah, the empire takes from the poor to feed the rich and uses that money to fund its wars. It's a very beneficial system."

His tone was sarcastic, but Damon was actually taking a jab at the empire for its policies on tax.

Waton sighed, knowing Damon was speaking the truth.

A lot of money went towards wars rather than fixing and making the lives of the people better.

This was the fallacy of every empire catering to the rich and powerful while the weak suffered.

"How do you intend for us to even coerce powerful warriors into giving up their medallions to us?"

He glanced at Damon, who was breathing heavily and clearly in no condition to fight.

"Wendy is the only one in condition to fight. You need rest."

Damon chuckled coldly.

That was true. He was in no condition to fight now and needed rest to recover. But he still had Matia, and he had sent Croft to find Renata.

Add their power to Wendy's, and he would be able to extort everyone who came.

Damon stood up, shaking the dust off himself.

"Don't worry about that. All you need to know is they will give us their share. After all, why fight us when they're so close to the main and final battle?"

He smirked. "Relax… I got everything under control."

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