“We’re back.”

There were concepts that increased in value over time. Reputation was one of them.

The Red Knights of the golden age, led by Piaro—they brought countless glories to the Saharan Empire and became legends of the empire. It had been like this since they were cleared of their unfair charges. The story spread so rapidly that it seemed to surpass the greatness of the Undefeated King who caused Lubana to rise.

“......”

The heroes that their homeland gave birth to only to abandon.

After a fierce battle, the knights and soldiers watched the successful capture of the dark elf king and their eyes became wet.

Thrills and sorrows intersected. The final emotion was shame. Why did they, who devoted themselves to their nation all their lives, have to be kicked out? They, who deserved praise, were deprived of their honor, lives, and families, and suffered. Why couldn’t their nation trust them? Why weren’t they protected?

The history of the great empire, which should’ve lasted for thousands of years, might’ve disappeared the moment it turned its back on these people. No... it wasn’t too late even now. The empire changed with the coronation of a new ruler. Empress Basara was carrying out various reforms. They were convinced that the empire that expelled the former Red Knights was completely different from the current empire...

“You’ve struggled.”

“......”

The imperial knights shook off their thoughts. They stared blankly at Piaro and the heroes who were turning away. It was because there were no shadows on the heroes’ faces that they dared to ask to go back together. These people were laughing in the battle against the dark elves, who were more powerful than imagined. Their steps were light as they thought about returning ‘home.’

In the silence, Resh shouted, “You’ve worked hard!”

The knights and soldiers belatedly saluted. The heroes carried the Overgeared Kingdom’s flag on their shoulders. The imperial flag had once been there. Wouldn’t it have flapped without losing its momentum anywhere on the continent?

The expressions of the knights and soldiers gradually calmed down. The status of the empire might not be as good as before, but there was an ally called the Overgeared Kingdom. The surface and hell were on the brink of a great human and demon war. They weren’t afraid of the chaos and storm that were approaching.

The Overgeared Kingdom was with them and the heroes were in the Overgeared Kingdom.

***

“In the current state, we will only accumulate damages. We need to shrink the battlefield.”

The continent was huge and more than half of it was the empire’s territory. The empire had six different time zones. It was late at night in the west and morning in the east. The warp gates might’ve been recently introduced by the Overgeared Kingdom, but it wasn’t sufficient to cover all regions. There were only a few warp gates in full operation. It was because installing, maintaining, and operating warp gates required an astronomical amount of resources and personnel.

“Shrink the battlefield. Let’s evacuate the people to the central region.”

“Yes. It will be hard for the people who have to leave their hometowns, but if the empire wholeheartedly supports them, they will be able to adapt.”

“For the time being, many industries and economies will be paralyzed. The treasury might run out while supporting the refugees. However, we can’t just sit back and watch people die. Please understand.”

“Please understand!”

The officials spoke in unison. They shared their views regardless of faction.

It was shortly after the news was delivered that numerous cities and villages were taken away by the demonic humans. The demonic humans’ momentum was overwhelming. The damage grew dramatically the further away it was from a big city. There were limits to the troops operated by the imperial family and nobles. It was impossible to calculate the casualties in the mountain areas.

What was the use of having millions of troops? The number of people they had to defend was in the hundreds of millions and the landmass of the empire was too large. It was impossible to take care of the people scattered everywhere. As such, the number of demonic humans only increased. The only way to reduce the damage was to move people to a safe place.

It was gratifying that the great nobles had the ability to take responsibility for and protect their territories. The number of refugees would only be about 60% of the total population. It was a great number.

“Your words are right. Support the evacuation and settlement of people to the greatest extent. Don’t spare the resources and manpower.” Basara stood up from the throne and took off the golden crown. This was a treasure that was handed down from generation to generation. This crown had symbolized her since her days as a duke and it had replaced the imperial crown. Basara handed it over to the finance minister. “The imperial vault will be opened. Use this crown and everything for the people without leaving anything behind.”

“Y-Your Majesty...!”

“There is no empire without the people. Please do your best.”

“The imperial favor is immeasurable. I will definitely accept the cooperation of the nobles.”

“The imperial favor is immeasurable!”

Ever since Basara became empress, the empire had invested a lot in the future. It was the future of the continent, not the future of the empire. It was in the belief that they would became a force leading the empire’s long history. The damage suffered immediately was great. It was hard to count. Then at this time, the massive invasion of the demons was foreseen. The damage to the empire accumulated and their finances were shaky. The fate of the empire was at stake. It was like walking on an icy road.

However, Basara’s mind wasn’t shaken at all. She was from a collateral bloodline and rose to the throne. The former Emperor Juander gave up on his children and personally gave the throne to her. She wasn’t inferior in ability. Even in the midst of the turmoil, she didn’t stop looking for the best result for the empire.

‘I will continue setting an example so the local families won’t just sit back. The bureaucrats have finally united with one heart and one mind, so I have to take center stage.’

She felt empty without the crown, but she had to adapt. Basara spread open a large map and along with the officials, she looked at the areas where people would be evacuated. Many things were discussed carefully.

Some time passed.

“It is said that the seeds of the demonic humans in the south have died out.” The messengers arrived one after another. Most of them were messengers from the south.

Maritime trade also played a large part of the imperial economy. There was a large population and facilities in the south. It was an area where wealth was concentrated, so it wasn’t monopolized by one or two big nobles. Rather, it was ruled separately by the imperial family and various nobles. The nobles didn’t have private soldiers. Their military power was weak compared to the population. It was most urgent to send troops to the south, but by the time the troops arrived, things were already set. Every lair of the demonic humans had become ruins without exception.

“Every eyewitness account is the same. It is said that a big man and a white-haired old man killed the demonic humans."

“An old man?” The officials were agitated. It was hard for them to believe that an old man and one other man destroyed the powerful demonic humans. Then they soon calmed down. The continent was vast. It wouldn’t be strange if a transcendent with an unfamiliar name suddenly appeared. The imperial officials were even more aware of this fact.

Wasn’t it the imperial family that erased the name of the Undefeated King from history? Some of the names that the empire hid and erased were such big names. For example, the Great Robber of the Red Night wasn’t known to the public. He had stolen so many imperial treasures, but he was hidden due to the strict orders of the emperors. They were afraid the imperial family would lose face if it was known. Just as the civilians didn’t know about the Undefeated King and Great Robber of the Red Night, there might be transcendents that the imperial officials didn’t know about.

Besides, their identities didn’t really matter right now. The important thing was that they were benefiting the empire. Thanks to this, the empire had more room with their troops.

‘An old man and a big man.’ Basara noticed the identity of the two men—former emperor Juander and armored cavalryman Chensler. Unlike what was known to the world, Juander wasn’t dead. He left the palace and declared he would spend the rest of his life helping the people. Chensler’s disappearance was also false. He just followed Juander.

“Huhu.” Basara laughed slightly as she covered her mouth with her long sleeve.

Grid, who gathered the allied nations and Juander, who was working for the imperial people...

She felt relieved when she realized that there were many strong helpers inside and outside.

***

By the end of Biban’s inauguration, the access time limit was approaching. Grid returned to the smithy and was forcibly logged out when he was getting ready to work. Back in reality, he forgot his fatigue. He was so excited that he couldn’t sleep easily.

After gaining the scale, he got the second dragon body part. It was even the hardest fang.He would be able to make a sword that was comparable to the ‘minimum’ sword Hexetia created. It was a highly likely guess. There was the Fire Dragon Sword he made with a ‘mineral containing a dragon’s breath.’ A divine sword with an ego was created with a by-product containing the breath. The sword made with a dragon’s body part would obviously be better.

‘My one wish is for it to not have too strong an ego.’

If the ego had a similar nature to a real dragon, then it would likely be more difficult to control. Youngwoo shuddered as he recalled the nature of the gourmet dragon. He was concerned that there might be restrictions on the usage, just like the Falling Moon Sword. In the worst case scenario, he would have to erase the ego and grant it another ego.

‘I’m nervous.’

There was no record of any dragon weapon in history or legends. As far as Youngwoo knew, only the Tower of Wisdom had made dragon weapons and armor. However, the power wasn’t great. There were no blacksmiths among the tower members. Based on the skills and wisdom of the giant family, and the experience accumulated in making the magic machines, the 3rd seat, Radwolf, could make similar works, but could he fully unlock the potential of the materials?

It was impossible. Making dragon weapons was something that Grid couldn’t challenge even when he was a legendary blacksmith. In fact, Biban’s clothing was made from smelting dragon scales and it was of poor quality. The first true dragon weapon would be created at Grid’s fingertips.

‘This won’t do.’ He was unable to sleep because his heart was pounding.

Youngwoo got out of bed and sat down in front of the computer. He accessed dozens of foundation sites that he regularly sponsored every month and increased the sponsorship amount by 1.2 times. It was from hundreds of thousands of won to millions of won...

He raised the amount whenever there was a happy occasion so the donation amount that started in the thousands of won had increased by thousands of times. The monthly sponsorship was in the tens of millions of won. He also often donated hundreds of millions of won. It wasn’t a small amount.

He didn’t get any help from anyone when he was in trouble, so why should he help others? The attention and love that Youngwoo now received from people was too great to think like this. He wanted to give back to the world a bit. However, the donation was made anonymously. It was because the keyboard warriors would obviously say sarcastically that it was a charade. The electronic receipts system had been introduced for donations a long time ago, so tax deductions could be received even if one donated anonymously.

“This is good.” The thought that he did a good thing made him calm down and feel better. Youngwoo could have a good night’s sleep, even if it was for a short time.

The form of the dragon weapons had long been determined. He had come to a realization during the duel with Biban. Tomorrow, he was going to pour everything out. He was sure that his ultimate blacksmithing skill would be able to handle the fang of the stone dragon. It was the same for the scale he received a long time ago. The moment had finally come to strengthen Khan’s work. He had to be careful to enhance the performance without making the traces of Khan disappear...

In the future, he could expect the dragon weapon and armor set effect.