High pressure

In a way, this "volcano eruption" incident was a coincidence as well as an inevitability.

We made many preparations for the Holy War, such as turning the entire Northlands into an ironclad alliance. The Northlands became a difficult place to conquer, with few benefits to be gained here even if you conquered it. Additionally, as time passed, the Northlands became ever stronger.

While this sounded quite nice, even as we calculated, others were calculating against us.

Although the Northlands would be difficult to conquer, with few benefits to be had here, meaning that nobody wise would intentionally choose such a difficult opponent… the Chaos Faction still managed to find the Fire Elemental Lords, who wouldn't care about losses, forcefully turning the Northlands into a battlefield.

"…You want to keep gaining power in a carefree fashion, easily becoming the final winner in the end? Dream on! This world isn't as simple as you think!"