CHAPTER 46

"You must wait until I reach the epic level, and until then, you will defend the borders against the darkness on this side. Now, do you accept?"

A hysterical laugh echoed from beneath the ice.

"You will use me, thinking such a plan will benefit you! But know this—it will be a curse upon your existence. The day will come, and when it does, you will regret this decision!"

Hazard remained silent, knowing that such a threat was not empty. When the time came, a fierce battle awaited him. But with the plans in his mind, he chose to believe in his power and the probability of his progress.

"I hope you still exist by then so you can make me regret it!"

With that, Hazard saw no need for a soul contract. He knew the nameless King of Death well enough—despite being a ruler in his own domain, his martial prowess and vast experience hinted at many hidden secrets about him.

"My existence will not be erased before that day, but know this—I will not wage war against humans!"

As Hazard departed with his troops, black steeds emerged like liquid from beneath the rocks. He shouted,

"Angel or demon! Whatever plunges my domain into chaos shall face my wrath. Even the humans roaming my borders will not be spared. I have no need for you to fight against humans—my army and I alone will be enough!"

"I hope so..."

A week later, as Hazard finished repairing his fortifications and buildings, he listened to Hegna's report from the highest floor of his castle.

"The 1,200 witches who were imprisoned have all pledged their loyalty to me, just as you requested!

The next piece of news—The King of Death managed to conquer a small military city with 50,000 guards all by himself..."

While checking his system messages in the empty room, Hazard glanced at Hegna.

"So? What's wrong with that?"

"The castle is in the center, between the borders of two dark princes' territories... I'm certain that with such deep infiltration in enemy lands, especially in a small fortress, he won't last long."

Hazard stood up and approached Hegna.

"Show me the map."

With great control over his ice magic, Hegna conjured a detailed map of the small fortress conquered by the King of Death.

"This..."

"That man is either a genius or a madman!"

Hegna was confused. What led to such a statement? He tried to think like Hazard, like an undead, until his eyes widened in realization as he stared at the map and the surrounding cities.

"The Black Watchtower Fortress... Due to its difficult mountainous terrain and distance from supply lines, it has always had a small population... Its purpose..."

"To control the valley—a strategically vital location, as it's the shortest route between the capitals of the two princes. If the two royal armies want to support each other in the shortest time, they must pass through this gorge. If this fortress is reinforced, it could severely delay one of the armies... especially while the King of Death and his new army are rampaging through the other prince's lands. Such a place is not suitable for a prolonged siege either—the enemy is undead, requiring no food or water, whereas the dark army does. The narrow and harsh terrain greatly benefits the defenders...

He's not just trying to stall the two princes—he wants to prolong the war and sow discord among their nobles to destroy them both!"

Hegna was astonished by Hazard's foresight and tried to respond.

"There's no way the nobles will betray Vlad. The vampire faction holds the most power, and Vlad himself is a pureblood vampire who turned them—he practically controls the life and death of the nobles under him. The same goes for Prince Mordred... He, too, is a pureblood vampire, and despite having many werewolf nobles under him, they worship him like a god because of the divine blood of Fenrir, the Wolf God, flowing in his veins."

Seeing that conventional logic wouldn't work here, Hazard sat down in his chair.

"It would be easier if everything played out like before. That way, you wouldn't be caught off guard, and you wouldn't have to worry about them."

Still unsure of what Hazard meant, Hegna moved on to the next report.

"As you ordered, our scouting units on the empire's side, accompanied by a black steed, managed to wipe out all those pesky flies. However, as you predicted, our patrols have decreased in number, and the empire has begun assembling a massive army to confront us."

Hazard looked around his room, always filled with those bizarre, crazed creatures. He found peace in their presence, but he couldn't explain why. Somehow, he had grown used to them—and strangely, he even missed them.

"The forges are running nonstop, producing weapons in mass quantities. However, the best items produced are only at grade C, and nothing above that level has been crafted yet."

Hazard couldn't deny his mistake—purchasing blacksmiths had been a blunder. Now, the smiths charged three times the material costs to sell their items, and he had foolishly thought that simply sharing his skills through thought-sharing would lead to success. But fate had played a trick on him.

"The obsidian mine is highly active, and thanks to the miner's camp you finally agreed to build after much insistence, our daily obsidian extraction has increased by ten stones."

Hazard, tired of Hegna's sarcasm, gestured for him to conclude the report.

Meanwhile, in the Demon Kings' channel—where 25,202 of them remained, all ranked fifth or higher—a heated discussion was underway regarding the selection of a server-wide leader to unify and command them all.

At that moment, the first level-seven Demon King revealed himself, claiming to be the best choice for leadership—an assertion that made Hazard uneasy.

"Level seven… I haven't even unlocked a single level-six skill despite all these battles, yet he has already reached level seven?"

Of course, he didn't know the reason—a massive army stood under the banner of that level-seven Demon King.

An army from another continent.

An army that was uniting.

And as their new leader had promised…

The orcs were preparing to plunder!