Inside the Imperial Palace of the Theresian Empire.

Marcus was reporting to Emperor Ahar II.

“The preparations for the Western Conquest expedition are almost over, your Majesty. Would you like to hear the report today?”

“… No need. Do according to your will,” the emperor answered softly.

Ahar II’s face was drained of blood as if he was sick.

It had already been a long time since Marcus took decision-making control over the Theresian Empire’s important political affairs.

Therefore, it was safe to say that Marcus, for all intents and purposes, was the actual ruler of the Empire.

‘Everything is going according to plan.’

As he left the royal chambers, Marcus’ expression brightened.

He, a single mercenary of the Yen Princ.i.p.ality, got this far entirely thanks to the turmoil of times.

Because of his ambitions, he lost his pregnant wife, but that too was used as an opportunity to become even stronger.

‘I will surely sit on a Divine Throne. Even if I have to reach the throne by building a tower of corpses through numerous wars.’

For a moment, Marcus’ eyes reflected his blood-hungry madness.

A black shadow appeared in the background and changed into the form of Aleister.

“You look good today, Marcus,” Aleister said as he observed Marcus’ state.

“Hahaha… there’s no reason for me to look bad. I’m sure I’ll obtain the world soon,” Marcus stated confidently.

His ambition led him to make an overarching plan wherein he’d secure all four epic dungeons and take all the rewards in them.

Marcus believed that he was the only worthy human being to sit atop the Divine Thrones. Thus, he coveted all four seats for himself.

“You must have the confidence to fight the Hero King and win. Have you ever met him?” Aleister asked.

“No. But I won’t lose. No person longs for the Divine Throne seats more than me,” Marcus replied.

“That’s a very confident mindset. Then, I’ll wait for the day you return in victory and sit atop the Divine Thrones,” Aleister said before he disappeared with a broad, meaningful smile on his face.

Marcus frowned after seeing Aleister’s smile, which seemed condescending.

‘I have no idea what that guy’s thinking.’

Thanks to Aleister, Marcus was easily able to take control over the Theresia Empire.

However, he could never get a sense of Aleister’s true intention.

Seeing that Aleister was constantly encouraging him to kill the Hero King, Marcus felt that Aleister and the Hero King seemed to have an unavoidable death vendetta against each other.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter. If he gets in the way, I can get rid of him later.’

He would stop anyone who got in between him and the Divine Thrones!

With a mad gaze, Marcus hastened his steps.

Within a conference room with a huge round table.

Woohyuk was seated and having a conversation with the seven paladins.

“It’s a little comforting to hear that your black wings sprout because of the power of the reaper and not because you’re a demon…” a paladin commented.

“By the way, can you tell us the story of fighting the legendary paladin, Reinhardt? I really can’t get enough of it,” another paladin stated.

The seven paladins were friendly toward Woohyuk.

Basically, he had defended the Empire when Fallen Angel Cruella descended and then defeated Alice the Queen of Thorns in the northern front.

Of course, when Emperor Tiberius was a.s.sa.s.sinated, many questioned his whereabouts, and suspicions about his true intentions continued to rise. When they voiced their concerns, Woohyuk had given a satisfactory answer to all their questions. It seemed he had completely deceived the seven paladins.

“… Would you like to get to the main reason why you’re here, Hero King? There must be a reason why you called us at such an important time,” Paladin Commander Hugo, who was silent and listening to Woohyuk’s explanations, asked Woohyuk with a serious expression.

Woohyuk nodded his head and pulled out Bhilante’s Dagger.

“This is the property of Paladin Reinhardt’s family, the Bhilante Family. He gave me this and told me to be acknowledged by the seven paladins,” Woohyuk explained.

“Recognition… that’s a difficult word to interpret,” Hugo replied pensively.

“For him to give you a quest personally, I think Reinhardt must have really liked you, Hero King,” another paladin added on.

The seven paladins turned to each other and looked at the Bhilante Family’s treasured dagger.

The authenticity of the item information could easily be seen on the system window.

Its market value would be at least a million gold if sold on the black market.

“I have come to you all to express my goals and aspirations and how I plan to realize them,” Woohyuk stated.

Before giving a lengthy speech, Woohyuk wanted to first establish the right atmosphere.

As a Lord and leader, he had experienced many of these situations in the past.

The seven paladins waited for his words with antic.i.p.ation.

“Speak. We will listen,” a paladin said.

“I have been through a lot of adversity to end the constant waves of turmoil that have afflicted this land. I was able to withstand and overcome these adversities each time because I thought that only I could do the task…”

Woohyuk went on to retell many of his personal experiences.

The seven paladins couldn’t hide their tears after hearing how hard his journey had been.

“It’s so heartbreaking that you had to give up your beloved woman for the sake of humanity,” a paladin said through tears.

“If it were me, I would have given up many times over. I would have just cooked for myself. I am grateful for the Hero King, who has continued to give humanity a chance to thrive by sacrificing his own stomach and mental well-being for the good of the higher cause,” another said, swept with emotional fervor.

… They were positively affected by his story, though it was weird that they felt the pain and anguish of his tale at a seemingly minor part…

Woohyuk coughed and continued on.

“Paladins, you who defend the Empire according to a higher and n.o.bler will, will you acknowledge my conviction? I will never stop until this turbulence is over.”

“I can’t help but admit it, Hero King. You are the true savior of this time,” a paladin cried out.

“Please bring peace to the Eeth Continent and always look out for Empress Eleanora. We will also help with all our might,” another paladin piled on.

The seven paladins had a surprisingly naive corner.

As the atmosphere rose, the Paladin Commander, Hugo, stood up and took Woohyuk’s hand, “I wish that you may come out victorious on this Eastern Conquest expedition, Hero King. Although we have to protect Empress Eleanora and remain in the Empire, we trust that you’ll be able to defeat them without us.”

“Thank you, Hugo. Please take good care of Eleanora while I’m absent,” Woohyuk replied.

Woohyuk took time to shake hands with the other paladins in turn.

Then, a system message appeared before his eyes.

[Your conviction has been recognized by the seven Paladins.]

[Legendary Quest: You have completed ‘Unbreakable Belief’.]

[As a reward for completing the quest, a pa.s.sive ability, Battle Foresight, has been given.]

[You can know the opponent’s movement in advance through Battle Foresight. The degree of effectiveness varies depending on the gap in stats.]

Battle Foresight.

It was a kind of super sense.

Woohyuk showed a satisfied expression because Battle Foresight was a usable ability.

‘Now I just need to fill one more ability as the Mythical Successor.’

After completing the Mythical Successor cla.s.s, he’d be able to devote more time to his fourth cla.s.s, Rule Breaker.

Taking his leave from the seven paladins, Woohyuk personally went to find Eleanora.

“I won’t be seeing you for a while, Eleanora. While I’m away, I will entrust the Western continent to you.”

“Can’t we have a wedding before you go out, Hero King? My heart is always yearning for you…” Eleanora shyly murmured as she turned bright red.

She was very beautiful, but Woohyuk shook his head.

“I don’t want for us to have a wedding until the trouble is over. If we did wed now, on the battlefield, I will start regretting not being with my family and loving wife.”

“If so, I will wait until King Woohyuk achieves all his goals,” she said with a sigh.

Woohyuk embraced Eleanora on the balcony.

Woohyuk stroked her hair as if to appease a little child.

“Do well. You’re now the Empress of the Holy Aperian Empire.”

“Yes… I will work hard…”

Eleanora raised her head and put on a smile.

The scene was like a romantic picture that could only be read in romance literature.

However, Woohyuk couldn’t help but feel guilty.

‘When peace returns, I’ll return you back to normal, Eleanora.’

Outside of Eleanora, Woohyuk also had to be mindful of Leifina. It was Leifina that he owed more towards.

So, although the situation was undesirable, it was unavoidable to control and mobilize the imperial army.

After having a short kiss with Eleanora, Woohyuk returned to the outskirts of the capital.

“Lord, have you finished?” Leifina asked.

“Yeah. Everything will go according to our plan,” Woohyuk answered with a sigh.

They had come up with a relatively easy countermeasure thanks to Maria’s prophetic vision.

However, whether she was still worried, Leifina’s expression remained dark.

“I can’t imagine it. The number of people who will die in this war…”

“We need to reduce the damage as much as possible. Also, keep in mind that if we don’t conquer the East, there will be even more victims,” Woohyuk said aloud for everyone nearby to hear.

The others aboard the flying shuttle nodded in agreement.

“We’ll be justified in our actions as well since the Eastern Empire invaded the West first,” someone mentioned.

“By the way, what about the Flood, Helena? When will it happen?” Woohyuk asked.

“Fortunately, I think we’ll be able to deal with the second Catastrophe ourselves since our power levels seem high enough. I’ll tell you the details once our ceremony is over,” Helena responded.

The followers of Etheria Rodinus were scheduled to conduct a sacred ceremony to prevent the second catastrophe, the Flood, two days later.

Woohyuk nodded and stared at the eastern sky, where the shuttle was heading.

They would soon enter a naval battle that would long be talked about on the Eeth Continent.

The Strait of Isis, located between the Croix Princ.i.p.ality and the Theresian Empire.

There, a large-scale Eastern fleet continued sailing east through a storm.

100,000 soldiers were on board. Their mission was to land at the Croix Princ.i.p.ality and subdue the elven race.

“The Elf Queen won’t expect an amphibious attack in this weather,” Marcus muttered.

In the Captain’s Room, Marcus looked out the window with a happy smile.

The key to any strategy was to outwit one’s opponent by situating oneself in an unexpected place.

In that respect, his expedition entrance was really good.

“The elven race will soon be under your control,” a copper-skinned admiral, who was next to Marcus, said flatteringly.

The admiral was excited about the idea of tumbling around in the bedroom with the pretty elves after achieving victory.

“If the amphibious operation is successful, I will give you a big prize. I would have had a hard time building a fleet like this. I was lucky that I could depend on you,” Marcus replied.

“Thank you, my Lord,” the admiral said as he smiled and bowed his head to Marcus.

At that time, an uproar broke out with a bizarre cry.

Go-Oh!

At Woohyuk’s call, a Kraken had appeared.

The Imperial Army trembled at the appearance of a deep-sea monster that they were seeing for the first time in their lives.

“W-What the h.e.l.l is that?!” a deckhand shouted out in confusion.

“Is it the mythical sea monster Kraken?” another yelled in fright.

KwJi-Jik!

A giant s.h.i.+p was easily cracked into two as the Kraken’s tentacles wielded around the helpless s.h.i.+p.

The Eastern forces fleet stopped advancing and began firing at the Kraken at once.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

However, their weapons were not enough to stop deep-sea monsters.

When the imperial army was screaming in fear, a black fog rolled in and a pirate s.h.i.+p appeared.

It was the dark purple sailing s.h.i.+p of Pirate King Drake.

“Hahaha! It’s been a long time since we last saw some sea warfare. Ah, it’s nice to reminisce on old memories. No fleet could contend with my s.h.i.+p in those days…”

“W-Who are you?!” someone screamed.

“Get out of our way, can’t you see the monster right in front of you?!” another added on.

The Eastern imperial army, not understanding the situation, fired fiery cannonb.a.l.l.s at Drake.

Instead of answering, Drake ordered his ghost sailors to rain on them with sh.e.l.ls.

KwKwKwKwKwKw.a.n.g!

Drake’s specially designed cannons were many times more powerful than those of the Eastern fleet.

As the empire’s front s.h.i.+ps sank into the sea, one by one, Marcus sent more s.h.i.+ps to contend against the pirate s.h.i.+p.

“Quickly, defeat him! There’s only one pirate s.h.i.+p!”

He had made a big judgment mistake.