The front fortress position on the Northern Front was in a very precarious situation.

Due to the daily battles, part of the wall barrier was torn down, and the internal facilities were also in poor condition.

Additionally, due to the harsh cold climate, the physical strength of the soldiers had reached its limit.

Many wounded soldiers eventually died without being able to recover.

However, such an extreme condition completely reversed once Woohyuk arrived with his army.

He was a Hero King who defeated several Demon Kings and prevented a great catastrophe.

In addition, the fact that he was engaged to Emperor Eleonora was widely known throughout the lands, so everyone naturally viewed him as the next Emperor.

“Hero King, please save us from this h.e.l.l!”

“Please burn Alice the Queen of Thorns and punish the Devil King Alliance!” begged the soldiers from all over the fortress camp.

Ibn Rusud, who saw this scene, stuck his tongue out at the exasperatedly stated,

“This is almost like fanatics who came to see their savior.”

“It means that he’s accomplished an amazing feat. Thanks to that, we’re also treated like VIPs,” Brynhildr replied while she looked around with a satisfied expression.

Inside the fortress was not only the imperial people but also the Elven races.

The fierce battles that often occurred in the other parts of the fortress consolidated the remaining people in this central area.

However, seeing that they were not working together in any meaningful way, there seemed to have been some conflict between the races.

“The Elves seem to have no power. Is it because of the epidemic that is spreading these days?”

“Perhaps that’s the case, Helena. Why don’t you go and check their condition?”

Helena was a Saintess so her healing powers were considerable.

Though, in the Lydia Kingdom, when making a cure for an infectious disease, she had unwittingly used amanita mushrooms, which had almost killed all the patients.

“Very well. If I can help, I’ll do it,” Helena stated while she stepped toward the Elves.

Woohyuk placed his other allies in a suitable place and went to the fortress’ commander’s office.

“The situation is very bad.”

“Honestly, it’s amazing that we’ve endured this much. If the supply line was cut off, we would have been wiped out.”

Hugo agreed with Woohyuk’s a.s.sessment that this was their limit.

He was considering leaving this fortress and withdrawing before he heard that Woohyuk was planning to come. With the Hero King, there was a sense of antic.i.p.ation that something would become possible despite such difficulties.

“We need to repair the internal facilities first. I’ve heard that there’s a considerable number of enemy troops that come to the front at night,” stated Woohyuk.

“I couldn’t afford to put it there until now. However, since the Hero King has come, I think I’ll finally be able to organize and maintain the troops and their patrols,” Hugo answered.

Hugo respected Woohyuk’s judgment.

He was also very tired from the constant, ongoing battles.

There was no way to do anything about it as a Paladin leader.

“Which one of the Demon Kings is currently aiming for this fortress?”

“It is Paimon in terms of frequency. As it turns out, he’s also the one with the highest rank.”

“Paimon?”

He was the 9th ranked Demon King.

This was different from the prior information that the Demon King Alliance was made up of low-ranking Demon Kings.

However, Hugo nodded and pointed to the map on his desk.

“Since he only recently showed up, not many people know of Paimon’s existence. I guess it seems that the scale of the Demon King Alliance is gradually increasing as those who recently woke up are starting to join.”

“… So, that’s how it is.”

It seemed that Paimon thought it was dangerous to go around by himself when even Demon Kings with a much higher rank than himself were in danger.

While looking at the map, Woohyuk received a report about the history of the Demon King Alliance from Hugo.

“For now, you can see that there are six Demon Kings who are ranked above 50th, three in the ranks between 20th to 49th, and one inside the top 20. Furthermore, if we throw in Alice the Queen of Thorns here, the overall scale is huge.”

“A member of Lilith’s family and ten Demon Kings. Except for Paimon, it’s the same information I heard before coming here.”

As Hugo said, there were many enemies, but it wasn’t at a level that was insurmountable. Woohyuk was relatively confident because he already had seven Demon Kings and capable va.s.sals on his side.

The main problem was that the enemy leaders weren’t appearing.

‘We need to make the Demon Kings gather together in one place.’

In this way, he could effectively utilize Black Demolition to subdue them altogether.

Woohyuk thought about this problem for a while and then took out the Lemegeton.

Saaaah~

Black energy leaked from Lemegeton and the seven Demon Kings appeared.

Hugo stepped back in surprise.

“Th-This, this is…”

“You must have heard the rumors already, right? I can have Demon Kings sealed using Lemegeton.”

Unlike before, Woohyuk was now able to show off his power in public with confidence.

Empress Eleonora and Pope Ignatius were on his side, so who would dare trouble him?

He no longer had to hide his ident.i.ty and make excuses.

“Of course, Hero King… actually seeing it, I can’t help but put my trust in you. Actually, the rumors have been so vague and outlandish these days that I was half in belief and half dubious.”

“What rumors have you heard?”

“For starters, the Hero King is said to heal the blind and cure those suffering from incurable diseases…”

Hugo reported all the rumors he had heard.

After listening to his words, Woohyuk made a satisfied expression.

‘Once, my existence has definitely taken hold in the Eeth Continent people’s minds.’

Although his public reputation was temporary and unreliable, it had its own benefits.

For one, it made one less suspicious.

Thanks to this, he could now actively mobilize pseudo-G.o.ds, like Bailey and Hong Yuri.

Dantalion spoke while Woohyuk was imagining the fraudulent plans he hoped to implement soon,

“Master, I have a good idea.”

The sealed Demon Kings were trained to always call Woohyuk ‘Master’ when there were outsiders present.

Woohyuk nodded and allowed Dantalion’s request to speak,

“Speak.”

“It seems that Alice the Queen of Thorns has also been away from this battlefield due to the invasion of the Princ.i.p.ality of Croix. Our strength alone is enough to deal with the Demon King Alliance.”

The fortress position could last several weeks even if only the additional troops brought this time were incorporated into the main forces.

Even if they weren’t totally successful in taking over an empty nest, their attacks should be enough to make the Demon King Alliance wary of their presence.

Hearing Dantalion’s suggestion, Woohyuk fell into thought.

‘Attacking an empty nest.’

Their actions could certainly show a threatening appearance.

Only a small number of elite members would be mobilized, so secrecy and a certain level of effectiveness were secured.

‘I think it’d be better to do as Dantalion mentioned than to use some kind of trick.’

However, in preparation for the long-term war, there was a need to seize one of the main bases in addition to threatening the empty nest.

As soon as he came to a conclusion, Woohyuk attempted a thought conversation with Hong Yuri.

[Can you hear me, Hong Yuri?]

[Yes. What’s going on?]

[The time has come for you to play an active part.] 

The Kazak race weren’t the only people who infected other races and used them as hosts.

Rather, vampires were more advantageous in this regard, especially because they were less affected in a cold climate.

At night, when their stats were higher, they’d be able to conduct surprise attacks on their enemy and cause chaos within their camps.

Hong Yuri happily agreed to Woohyuk’s surprise attack order.

[Are we finally starting that race war you spoke of before? This is great. The Talis Kingdom was getting boring.]

[Now, handover ruling control to the Beast Race (please let me know the correct term) and take the vampires over to the Enoa Kingdom. That would position us well in the long run.]

If the vampires continued to grow in the Talis Kingdom, it would have created friction with the Beast Race, so taking this opportunity to move them out of the Talis Kingdom worked out in the grand scheme of things.

Hong Yuri also chatted excitedly as she agreed with his a.s.sessment.

[To be honest, I’m scared of the Beast Race. Their regeneration ability is excellent, and their nails are sharp, so it hurts when I get scratched. What’s more…]

[Okay, so when the day comes, go north along the Karlheinz Mountain Range. You have to go around using the mountain pa.s.s and attack the western part of the Enoa Kingdom.]

Woohyuk was planning to mobilize Dreadlore’s undead troops at this time.

Combining those guys, their forces would be extremely formidable.

No matter how much strong Alice and the Demon King Alliance was, they wouldn’t be able to effectively defend against the attacks that seemingly came from everywhere.

After deciding on giving an attack order to Death Knight Huperion, the head of the Dreadlore…

“It would be better to hit the capital of the Enoa Kingdom right away. Which route do you think is best?” Woohyuk asked as he entered into a full-scale operation meeting with Hugo.

“Since Alice the Queen of Thorns is situated firmly the east, it is best to avoid entering into that area as much as possible. Furthermore, since there’s a risk of being surrounded and isolated if we just stay in the middle, it would be better to take over and occupy one of their outer ring bases. We can then use that as a waypoint for further movement into the interior.”

On the military map, the various Enoa Kingdom bases were marked in detail.

Woohyuk put a horse-shaped marker on the base he thought they must occupy.

“We should advance like this,” Woohyuk stated.

“Oho. We’d take a detour on the west side for a while and then have a straight path to the capital. It is an excellent choice,” Dantalion added on, trying to flatter his Master.

Then, the other Demon Kings nodded one by one later.

“If the road is later blocked in the middle, it may be possible to bring the following reinforcement troops and conduct an all-out war from both sides.”

“The risk of the supply line being cut off is low… It seems like a stable and effective strategy.”

Everyone agreed that Woohyuk’s tactical choice was excellent.

Once they reached an agreement, Woohyuk pulled out Steve’s Amazing Apple and attempted a conversation with Elf Reina.

[Are you in the Princ.i.p.ality of Croix, Reina?]

[Yeah, I’ve been serving Ophelia ever since I returned home. It’s been a while since we last spoke.]

[What is Allen doing?]

[Maybe magic training? It’s his dream to become a great mage. Well, it seems like he has the quality and potential to become one.]

[Sure. Anyway, let me speak with Ophelia. I have something to say to her.]

[… Hold on. Let me ask Ophelia.]

The Elf Queen didn’t deal with just any human.

As Woohyuk waited, he heard a familiar female voice come through,

[Were you looking for me, King of Rhine?]

Ophelia’s uniquely soft and commanding tone rang out.

Woohyuk, while recalling his past with her, spoke,

[I heard that the plague is spreading among the Elven races. How serious is it in reality?]

[Up to 30% of our people have died. As their queen, it hurts so much to see my people suffer.]

[Be careful not to get the infectious disease yourself. I won’t be able to help you for a while from this point forward.]

Woohyuk explained his strategy to Ophelia.

Ophelia asked in an amazed voice,

[You’ll really do that for us? I’m constantly being taken care of by you.]

[You will have a chance to pay off the debt later.]

[I don’t know what you want, but… I’ll try to grant your wish, whatever it may be.]

Ophelia was happy to hear of an unexpected reinforcement force during this critical battle time.

Of course, he wouldn’t be directly helping her right now, but there was no reason to refuse an offer of support to defeat a common enemy.

When she answered positively, Woohyuk expressed his main message,

[Then, I’ll be taking Reina and Allen later.]

[… I understand Allen, but why do you want to take Reina? Do you like the child’s appearance?]

[I just need a skilled magic-using archer. There’s no specific reason.]

Currently, his allied forces comprised of knights and wizards, but they lacked archers.

When Woohyuk gave his reason, Ophelia nodded.

[I heard rumors that you are of the same family as Allen. I don’t think you’ll l.u.s.t for me, so I’m relieved in one part, but I also feel a little frustrated.]

The same family as Allen meant the ‘ball-less’.

Woohyuk was a bit upset at Ophelia’s words and their innuendo.

‘Now the Elf Queen is treating me like a eunuch.’

However, Woohyuk couldn’t come up with a refutation.

At that time, the door opened, and Roan entered with Sieg.

“Master! I’ve been thinking about raising the morale of the soldiers, so tonight, I suggest drinking and hanging out with girls…”

Bam!

Woohyuk’s fiery fist buried into Roan’s abdomen.

Roan didn’t even know why he was. .h.i.t harder than usual.