Chapter 1522

The drums of victory sounded all over the continent.

There were many players active in local battles—Hurent, who carved the overlapping mountains like stairs and cultivated fields to fortify the entire mountain range; Regas, who blocked the bridge and tied up tens of thousands of demonic creatures alone; Huroi, who used a few words to overpower the commander of the demon army that captured the refugee shelters; etc.

Unbelievable news occurred one after another.

The difficulties of the players belonging to the Yatan Church also became a hot topic. It was because Damian and Eat Spicy Jokbal attracted the aggro of the Yatan Servants and they had been chasing the two for several days.

There was also an incident where the 'retired' Haster defeated a great demon in cooperation with the people who made him a retired person, and an incident where Euphemina stood at the entrance of the Abyss with Braham and suppressed the appearance of the demonic creatures for three hours.

Some of them were legendary anecdotes.

However, people didn't rejoice. It was right that war was hell. Apart from the performance of the allies, large-scale casualties were occurring on a daily basis. It was because they couldn't block the activities of the demons.

Originally, demons were tricky. Unlike the great demons, they were cunning because they weren't overconfident in their power. They rarely aimed at targets beyond themselves and made great use of their abilities. The lower the strength, the more obvious it was.

In particular, a small number of demons capable of camouflage or intervening in human dreams and desires were threatening. They easily dug into the psychology of the masses who were afraid from the war. They naturally integrated into human society to collapse the organizations and destroy the main strongholds. Some demons disguised themselves as high-ranking nobles of the empire and killed tens of thousands of people in just two days. It was the result of several misfortunes overlapping.

The power of strategy was so scary. They seized and exploited power using their ingenuity and showed a strength beyond force.

"It is an unavoidable problem. Didn't Damian say it? It would be the same even if the Rebecca Church was still intact. It is impossible for the priests of the three gods to find and destroy the demons who secretly disguise themselves for infiltration or approach through dreams."

Demonic energy was the sign of a demon.

It was a concept that was directly proportional to strength. The more powerful the demon, the more overflowing the demonic energy. This meant it was more difficult for them to remain hidden. It meant relatively weak demons were hard to find. It was even more difficult when the nature of their power involved concealment. They had no choice but to respond only after the 'signs' occurred.

However, not missing the smallest signs in war... it wasn't easy. People weren't being beaten because they were stupid. It was natural that the damage kept occurring.

"However, the mirror demons must be eradicated. The number of allied leaders who have been assassinated by them is already 24."

Demons that appeared in mirrors—those who used the mirrors as means of movement were very threatening. There were many camps that were paralyzed due to losing their commanders.

"We haven't been helpless in the meantime. It is possible to predict the next place they will appear by analyzing the radius of their activity. The margin of error is still large, but... we can respond."

Instead, there were conditions. In addition to the top-ranked Overgeared Shadow members who had learned the shadow techniques, Faker and Kasim should be added. This meant that the escort of certain people would be weakened. Of course, Irene was the person they were most concerned about.

So far, there had been no direct threat of assassination. There were many reasons.

First, players didn't target Grid's family. They kept the bottom line unless they were determined to quit the game. In the first place, it was impossible for any player to approach Irene. The players on the side of the demons belonged to the Yatan Church, but they had no way to infiltrate the Overgeared Castle with the skill tree of a black magician. Reinhardt's defense far exceeded the general category.

Secondly, the demons weren't interested in Grid's family. Their resentment of Grid might be deep, but it didn't take priority over the war. People who could be easily tricked or killed could be found everywhere. There was no reason to cling to people who were difficult to harm.

In the first place, what were the benefits of killing Irene? Nothing. It was simply intended to harass one person, Grid. It was much more rewarding to hurt more humans using this time.

Still, this didn't mean that Irene's protection could be neglected. It was natural to always make every effort. This was why he wanted Irene to stay at the temple for the time being. It was the main temple of the Overgeared God Church. The place where Sariel resided was one of the safest places in Reinhardt at present. It was adjacent to the Overgeared Castle, so it was easy to operate the troops.

"Yes, leave it to me," Sariel, who was grieving over the news that many people were killed by the demons, responded with a soft smile. The quiet response was just like her.

***

The king of the dark elves, Horbus—the reason why Grid kept him alive without killing him was simple. He might've been corrupted, but he was still an elf. Like Sticks and Beniyaru, he served the world tree akin to his mother. Additionally, the world tree had given the blessing of elementals to all of the Overgeared Guild members. It was uncomfortable in many ways to hurt Horbus.

'The reason he became a dark elf in the first place is insignificant.'

People still called elves the residents of the forest. They were treated as walking mysteries that were hard to reach. They were suitable objects to fantasize about. They were a species that was reclusive, could communicate with elementals, and were even beautiful.

Yet for Grid, the elves were nothing special. He had been with Sticks for a long time. One of the most powerful ones among the elves was even Piaro's partner. He was too familiar with them, so they became ordinary existences.

"You said you wanted to meet me.

"Yes, I dared to invite you."

The elves had long been isolated from the world. Among them, the isolation of the male elves was stronger. It was because they lost in the struggle against the female elves and stayed in the deepest part of the forest for a long time.

For Horbus, human culture and organizations were unfamiliar. He couldn't sympathize or understand in many ways. The basic common sense was different. There were many times when those familiar with humans or human culture didn't know the concept of taking it for granted. The view of interpreting power was inevitably different.

Elves measured power by looking at the mana density and communication with elementals. It wasn't the accumulation of mana in the body, but affinity with nature. This was why Horbus mistakenly thought Piaro was the most powerful person among human beings. Other human beings apart from Piaro weren't one with nature and were only at the level of borrowing strength. He thought that human beings were weaker than what he thought.

In this state, he came to the Overgeared Kingdom and faced Grid. Horbus realized it at once. The combat power of humans wasn't low. It was just that the direction of pursuit was different. It was worthy of becoming a god...

That's right—based on Horbus' common sense and perspective, Grid became a god after achieving the limit of martial power. In other words, the martial god.

His attitude toward Grid was very sincere. "I am grateful to Your Majesty for giving your precious time to this prisoner. I'm so touched..."

"......"

Grid frowned. It wasn't a conscious response but a natural one. He didn't like Horbus' words which were lengthy thanks. It seemed he would become tired.

Horbus noticed the fine change. As a transcendent being, he grasped Grid's heart instantly and brought up the main point. He also modified his tone of speech. It was awkward. "Your Majesty must have no intention of killing me."

Horbus' thinking split into hundreds of directions in one second. It was an ability that was possible by combining his connection to nature and his transcendence. It meant he thought well enough before he spoke.

Grid answered without any signs of discomfort, "I think your punishment is merely a matter to be decided by the forest."

Grid would feel uncomfortable if he killed Horbus. There was no damage done to the Overgeared Kingdom, so there were no grudges. It was a family dispute in the first place. It was a problem that the elves would solve on their own.

'Will an envoy from the forest come as soon as the great human and demon war is over?'

They wouldn't visit during the war. The current war was also applied to the elves. The portals connected to hell occurred randomly throughout the continent. This happened to include the World Tree Forest. The boundaries of the forest had become meaningless.

"It is better to commit suicide than to fall into the grasp of the elves. The elves are existences that do more harm than good. I don't want to entrust my fate to those stingy and insignificant beings who monopolize the forest where elementals are gathered under the pretext of protecting the world tree and who stopped evolving after locking themselves up."

"......"

"Your Majesty will set my fate," the dark elf king spoke with a determined expression. He was clearly revealing the side effects of accepting demonic energy. Unlike his tone, his conduct wasn't polite. Demonic energy was seething due to his rising anger.

At first, his two hands were politely gathered together. Now they unknowingly moved to his waist and below his chin. His two legs that were neatly placed together were now bent. It was a change brought about by the process of bringing up the story of the elves. Perhaps he wasn't aware of it. He believed that he was controlling his feelings very well. It was because his tone of talking was still polite. He was mistaken.

"Um..."

Grid liked Horbus. He just had a good impression. Did Horbus think about his future path and make a decision while imprisoned? It was worthy of a being who had built up transcendence. His armed force was also outstanding. If he was a subordinate, he would be useful in many ways.

'I can use the Different Species' King title. There is no reason to refuse. Rather, he is a talent who should be welcomed with both hands.'

He was the culprit who divided the elves by gender, but it didn't matter. At that time, Horbus wasn't greedy. He just had the justification of hoping for equality. Beniyaru also acknowledged this part. Of course, it was necessary to figure out where the source of demonic energy came from. He had to find and kill the demon who made Horbus a dark elf to avoid future troubles.

"I will think about it," Grid gave a short answer before his gaze headed toward Horbus' feet.

Horbus naturally followed the gaze and was afraid. Since when had his legs become bent? There was no change in his expression as he stood at immediate attention. It was as if he had been doing this from the beginning.

The spirit of the elves mixed with transcendence combined to give him an unusual nature. Add in the temperament given by demonic energy and wouldn't he be able to properly overturn the enemies? The synergy would be considerable if he was partnered with Huroi.

"......"

Grid's smiling gaze seemed to say it would be interesting. Then he looked down again.

Horbus, whose other leg had bent, hurriedly stood up straight again. He even added an apology like he couldn't believe he made the mistake repeatedly.

The workers repairing the furnace in the distance secretly peeked at it. Grid was truly amazing to enforce military discipline on an individual of ability, who could reign like the martial god in private...

***

At the same time, the Behen Archipelago...

'What?' Pon felt something bizarre as he watched the soldiers eating. It was because he sometimes saw soldiers eating food with their bare hands covered with dirt. This was even though there was normal cutlery. Were they psychologically unstable due to the ongoing battles?

'No, it doesn't seem so.'

These signs came too abruptly. The number was too subtly high for him to dismiss it lightly.

Grid's words flashed through Pon's mind. It was that Judar had intervened in the war. In fact, the enemies had become more difficult to kill recently.

'Don't tell me...?'

Judar was the god of wisdom and health.

A chill went down Pon's spine at the thought. Several weapons that had lost their owners were reflected in his trembling eyes. Some of the soldiers who left after the meal had left them behind.