CHAPTER 51

Lamorak, as part of his daily routine, was kneeling in the church before the golden statue of an angel, holding his twelve-pointed star emblem in both hands. As his trusted knight entered, he let out a deep sigh from within.

"What happened?"

Foussard looked unwell, his expression weary, and his tone exhausted as he responded.

"The army of Markinz Tor has been crushed by a being at the peak of the Epic level. According to reports, this Epic-level entity was summoned and serves under the Demon King, who himself possesses power equal to the early stages of the Epic level."

Lamorak clenched the star emblem in his hand and rose to his feet, though his gaze never left the fifteen-meter-tall golden statue.

"What about my brother?"

"Markinz Tor had set up camp slightly away from the battlefield with his elite forces for the night. Count Antonio took command and led the advance. Among them, only a handful managed to escape the pursuit of the Demon King's forces and survive. I believe that Markinz Tor being the sole noble survivor was deliberately arranged as a message from the Demon King."

Lamorak turned around and, with the same face that had stolen the hearts of many maidens and instilled fear in numerous villains, walked slowly toward Foussard.

"Two beings at the Epic level… Asking for King Arthur's help would only give those bastards an excuse to mock the descendants of Pellinore even more than they already do. Send letters to Duke Aglovale de Galis and Duke Percival, requesting military support—"

"Lamorak, your brothers would never abandon a war that threatens the bloodline of Pellinore… But their territories are in worse condition than you think. I wouldn't expect them to send significant aid."

Lamorak kissed his star emblem and let it dangle from its golden chain around his neck. His glowing eyes slowly lifted, locking onto Foussard's gaze.

"The Lord desires nothing but goodness for His servants, and this is a test we must emerge from victorious to earn His favor!"

Foussard turned away, leaving with a hopeless sigh, speaking his final words as he departed.

"I hope you won't punish me for spending some of the treasury funds on hiring mercenaries and adventurers."

At that, Lamorak smiled.

"I trust your experience and judgment. Better to spend our coin than lose the lives of God's faithful!"

With that, Foussard left the church, leaving behind Duke Lamorak—the man who only left the church for war and even met his own wife only during communal prayers. Many whispered that his fanatical devotion had kept his wife, who had been a pawn in a political marriage, untouched.

"Oh Lord of the Stars! Even if heaven and earth are entwined by demons, it will be my faith that keeps my sword raised until the end of time! So watch over me! Guide me! For I am Your servant, the punishment upon the unbelievers! I am Your servant, the savior of the devout! Lead me, O Lord!"

Behind the closed doors, Foussard sighed at the sound of Lamorak's passionate prayers and continued on his way, for the Duke had a past—a past that explained his intense devotion to the gods and divine powers.

Meanwhile, in the forbidden dark mountains, Hazard stared at the system chat, and, as was his habit when enraged, attempted to fling the screen aside, only for it to simply slide away and pass through his hand.

"Kaya, you damn demon #$#$, you're causing me trouble too?!!"

His anger was, of course, directed at the voluntary vote among server members to elect a leader—someone who could unite them before their numbers reached four digits. Most of them had already realized that a similar tragedy had happened before in this world, and that the previous generation had failed to conquer it.

"He's got power too easily!! If anyone is even slightly a threat to him, he'll erase them!! Why don't they understand?!"

Hazard felt that losing the election—without even a single vote—was the greatest humiliation he had ever faced. He began blaming even the most irrelevant factors for his defeat.

"What was I even thinking…? Of course, I didn't work hard enough or show off enough to expect—"

He stopped mid-sentence upon noticing new messages in the server chat, where discussions about the rising number of Demon Kings were growing. A wicked smile spread across his face.

[Mahout, Chimera Demon King: "Have you heard? There's a Demon King in the southern empire who has two Epic-level beings under his command?"]

[Apollo, Spirit Demon King: "There's a lot of talk about him in the Realm of Darkness too. He even managed to defeat a former Epic-level fighter from the northern faction!"]

[Soraya, Apocalyptic Flower Demon King: "But he's still not as famous as Kaya on the continent."]

[Mahout, Chimera Demon King: "You've always been a Kaya supporter! Who knows, maybe you're getting something from him? Are you part of his continental alliance?"]

[Apollo, Spirit Demon King: "Three days ago, you were hyping him up like crazy before the election!"]

[Soraya, Apocalyptic Flower Demon King: "I've never even heard of the one you're talking about. Besides, our continents are separate! That's why supporting my own continent's Demon King is the right decision, isn't it?"]

[Apollo, Spirit Demon King: "…"]

[Mahout, Chimera Demon King: "…"]

As their conversation continued, Hazard realized that his actions were not going unnoticed. Deciding to take advantage of the misunderstanding, he resolved to ascend to the Epic level and rally his continent's Demon Kings under his banner—preventing a foreign Demon King from ruling over them.

"If he finds out about the Abyss Summoning potential, he definitely won't let me live…"

With that, he observed the movements of his army from the highest terrace of his fortress—unaware that millions of kilometers away, on a continent half the size of his own, in vast plains with a densely populated center, millions of green-skinned orcs, noble red orcs, a few royal white orcs, and some black orcs were kneeling before a succubus demon. Behind her, a massive army of various demonic creatures gathered as she coiled her whip.

"With the alliance of the Demon Kings and the native tribes of this continent, the conquest of this world is no longer a distant dream."

But even she was unaware that an ancient orc shaman—one with a legendary rank—watched her indifferently from within the orc ranks. What she didn't know was that this shaman, due to his allegiance to a god who was a subordinate of the God of Destruction, could not harm the envoys of the Supreme God. Furthermore, since her rank was below the Legendary level, he was forbidden from interfering in the affairs of mortals—unless the individual was aligned with the enemy gods.

"The gods desire nothing but destruction… Was the first time not enough for you?"