“War? It wasn’t a normal matter. It is good that you came to find me.” Baler burst out laughing. He bent over and continued laughing. This wasn’t simply an unusual event. It was a big deal. War wasn’t something to laugh off lightly.

“I want to hear exactly what you are thinking.” Baler was now smiling fully.

“It is exactly as I said. I want to start a war. It isn’t staying at the level of dealing with the demonic creatures and demons currently flocking to Etono. It is to be more active here,” Hyeonu truthfully conveyed his thoughts.

No other packaging was added. He only said what he wanted to say.

“I want to expand the front line. Can you help me?” he asked.

Baler thought about it. What could be obtained from expanding the front lines?

‘The paused balance has already been broken.’

The pattern that had been fixed for hundreds of years was already changing. It was just happening at a very slow speed.

‘This is a way to speed it up. It is also a very effective and good way.’

Even at this moment, a large number of demonic creatures and demons were dying near Etono. However, they were consumables located at the bottom of the village food chain. No one would grieve when they disappeared. Moreover, their proportion in the whole scheme of things wasn’t large.

‘Nobles have to die to speed up the balance.’

The thing that determined the power balance was the number of nobles who had cities and how many ordinary demons they had under their command. This was important. The lowest level demonic creatures and demons had little meaning alone.

‘Then it’s good.’

Baler answered, “It doesn’t matter to me. Instead, you must promise something. The only place you can occupy is Earl Kalea’s city. Beyond that, I won’t allow any advancement. If you agree with this, I’ll convince some of the demon kings.”

Etono was geographically on the east side. The closest city to Etono was Penn, ruled by Viscount Garcia. Beyond that was the city of Earl Kalea and the city of Quere, where John Blake stayed before becoming a demon king. In other words, Baler limited the number of cities that the human side could take to three.

‘I don’t think it will matter.’ Hyeonu thought that Baler’s opinion was pretty good. It would be difficult to occupy three cities with players anyway.

‘Penn is okay. If I use John Blake, Viscount Garcia’s absence won’t matter.’

The problem was after that. Once it was known that Penn was occupied, the nobles who coveted Penn would appear from all over the demon world.

‘It is impossible for the emperor or Lebron to wipe out all the demons. Moreover, if those two run rampant, then another demon king will definitely appear.’

The angle was roughly set. This was enough. If Hyeonu moved properly...

Hyeonu nodded and accepted Baler’s proposal: “I understand, Baler. I won’t be greedy. It is only up to Earl Kalea’s territory. I’ll stop there.”

Baler said, “Finally, there is one last thing. Kill all the nobles. Especially... once you occupy Earl Kalea’s city... kill every one of them. Is that possible?”

[A quest has been created.]

[Baler’s Request]

[Baler, who is freer but lives a more repressed life than anyone else, wants to be the real demon king of the demon world. Kill the nobles of the other demon kings on his behalf.

Rating: SS+

Conditions: Kill the demon nobles 0/???, kill the highest grade demonic creatures 0/???

Rewards: Experience, Baler’s gift (varies according to the number of demons and demonic creatures killed).]

‘Isn’t this a profit?’

Hyeonu looked at the quest window that appeared in front of him and tried to hold back his admiration. It was an unexpected gain after suffering for a long time.

“Of course... I’ll get rid of every noble I see. Perhaps there will be rumors after this war of human beings who eat demons.” Hyeonu readily agreed to Baler’s request. There was no reason for him to refuse. Hyeonu had no intention of letting the nobles leave obediently if they showed up. Each one was a lump of experience and a lottery that might spit out good items.

‘I can’t be a fool who throws lottery tickets to the ground.’ Hyeonu showed a satisfied smile and nodded.

Baler continued, “Then... I will cooperate as much as possible to expand the front lines. Instead... I can’t be responsible for Damanos and Galiya’s actions. Do you know the reason?”

He could only be responsible up to here. Baler couldn’t control the hard-liner demon kings who weren’t moderates. No, he didn’t want to do so as his intention was to wipe out their forces during this war.

“I know. Isn’t it shameless if I want you to take responsibility for the hard-liners?” Hyeonu responded with a grin. He wasn’t expecting too much. Hyeonu was just content to start the war.

“Then our next meeting will be held in Blanc. Don’t bully this guy for no reason,” Baler said.

[Successful negotiation with Baler 1/1]

All that remained for Hyeonu to do was to go back, report to the emperor, and start preparing for war.

***

Hyeonu received permission for the war from Baler and immediately returned to Etono in order to report the news to the emperor as soon as possible.

‘Even if I report it now, there will still be quite a lot of time before the war breaks out.’

A war was no joke. It could only start once all the preparations were completed.

‘I have to gather the players together and at least tell them what to do. Then the big guilds will fight over it...’

It was clear that it would take around a week. Moreover, that was the minimum amount of time necessary. If he wanted to increase it, he could increase it endlessly.

‘There is no need to start so quickly...’

Hyeonu wanted the war to break out after Arena Week was over. People’s attention would be drawn to the war but he didn’t want the wrong players to get rewards from the main scenario.

‘There shouldn’t be any variables.’

It was clear that the compensation from the main scenario in the demon world would be the highest level of compensation that anyone could currently get in Arena. Although it would be fortunate for the average player to obtain it, it would be a great problem if a professional gamer got it.

‘In fact, if anyone gets a good item or skill...’

It was obvious that he would feel sick. To be honest, it wasn’t so much worry as not wanting anyone else to come to the fields he had sown and harvest his profits. He had done all the hard work, but someone else would get the reward…

Hyeonu felt terrible just thinking about it.

‘I can’t let the others get the good things.’

So, he thought of ways to monopolize as many rewards as possible. In the meantime, Hyeonu arrived at the place where the emperor was staying.

‘It is clear that there is an ominous energy in here.’

Hyeonu’s instinctive reluctance to enter the mansion convinced him that the emperor was in there. Nevertheless, after several deep breaths, Hyeonu walked carefully into the house, making a very small sound. He soon found the emperor, who was standing in the middle of the stairs of the house and staring out the window.

“Your Majesty, why are you looking out like this?” Hyeonu asked as he looked at the emperor stare out the window.

“I was waiting for you. I don’t have a personality that likes to wait... But I was certain there would be sweet fruit at the end, so I was willing to wait.” The emperor’s voice sounded a bit excited, and the speed of his words was a bit faster than usual.

‘He really wants to fight...’ Hyeonu thought it was possible. This could’ve been the case after a long period of static life.

‘That is bullshit. He isn’t fighting a war because he is bored. He is simply that type of person.’

The emperor was a monster.

Hyeonu concealed these thoughts and started to truthfully report the agreement he had received from Baler: “I have received an answer from Baler. He said we can occupy two more cities apart from this place, Etono.”

“Two?” the emperor uttered.

Seeing the emperor’s disappointed expression, Hyeonu spoke quickly, “It is indeed two cities, but there are only 72 cities in the entire demon world. This is a big land, Your Majesty. I think capturing two cities alone requires a lot of power.”

The emperor nodded under Hyeonu’s sincere persuasion.

“I understand. Let’s do this first.”

The moment the emperor’s words were over, there was a message announcing the quest was cleared.

[Report to Alexander 1/1]

[Negotiations with Baler has been cleared.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[34,122 imperial contributions have been acquired.]

[You have received the full trust of the emperor.]

‘Think of this as the springboard for future rewards.’

There was nothing special about the compensation, which was mainly an increase in his experience and imperial contributions. The emperor’s trust was Hyeonu’s true reward, but he honestly didn’t want any more trust placed on him.

‘I just want to leave it in moderation...’

“Your Majesty, how are you planning to prepare for war? Even if the adventurers become the main axis, they can’t replace every part.” Hyeonu asked a question in an attempt to push the war back as far as possible.

“Preparations? Yes, many things are needed for a war...” The emperor stopped talking to think about it. Supply was the basis of war. War wouldn’t end in a short time, so they naturally needed supplies for soldiers during this period of time.

“So... will the nobles agree to the war?”

“Agree? I don’t think that is necessary. They want a war too, so the nobles won’t stop it...”

Hearing the emperor’s words, Hyeonu cocked his head. Nobles who hoped for war… he didn’t understand them at all.

The emperor explained, “They have nothing to lose anyway. It is just offering a bit of money. If the war is won, they will be busy running around to try and dig a spoon into the gains. It is even better if I get into trouble. Well, that’s how it is.”

Hyeonu realized it upon hearing the emperor’s words and nodded. He could now understand the mindset of the nobles.

‘It is a good situation.’

“Still, you should at least let them know...”

“I suppose... Then I’ll have to go personally. That will be the fastest. Marquis, gather adventurers to participate in the war. The rewards will be well prepared,” the emperor said and turned to Hyeonu. The emperor was smiling brightly as if he already had all the world, but his eyes were as sharp as a reptile’s. Those flashing eyes were hard to look at.

‘What is this... It’s scary.’ Hyeonu was shocked to see the emperor’s face and immediately lowered his head in a very natural manner. Then he quickly erased his expression of surprise. Hyeonu now looked as if he hadn’t been surprised at all. “I understand, Your Majesty. I will gather the adventurers.”