When it comes to witches, magic was basically their symbol. However, witches are far more troublesome since they could also use sorcery. They could exert a far more powerful sorcery if they devoted their vitality or energy to the sorcery. It was so powerful that even a great wizard could not solve it with their powers. So, in ancient times, witches were known to be undefeatable. 

And now that they were going to go against a witch, the expressions of the Ghosts and the rangers all turned for the worst. 

“First, let’s retreat.” 

“Yes. A witch… ah, I’m having a headache.” 

Carl Gustav and Jim Rogers immediately ordered a retreat. At the same time, the two commanders were also informed of the sudden appearance of a witch. 

After the Ghosts and the rangers retreated, Command declared that the Black Forest was a high-risk area as they proceeded to place blockades all over the place with their troops. In addition, they also deployed a Surveillance Unit from the Drake Unit to observe, investigate and monitor the Black Forest through the sky.

They went deeper to monitor and investigate and eventually concluded that the cause was truly a witch.

They had sent their information to the military scholars real time and after carefully combing through the historical records, they had no choice but to confirm that it was truly the work of a witch. 

In the end, Command ceased the Ghosts and the rangers’ mission as they started to prepare and discuss a plan of attack to target the Black Forest. 

“Witch…” 

Iron, who had nothing to do after being tied to Command, devoted his free time to training. However, thanks to the unknown suddenly appearing in the form of a witch, he couldn’t keep his focus on his training.

Since he couldn’t concentrate because of the witch, he thought that he should just investigate more about the witch. So, he went to the military scholars and started looking for data and records together with them. But the more he found out, the more he felt pity for the witches. 

Witch hunt.

It was something that actually happened in the Empire. It was what the Emperor did to strengthen his unstable Imperial power. However, if it had already ended there, Iron could say ‘Ah, so there was a time like that’ and move on from the topic but it did not end there. 

Those Imperial hypocrites used the black mages and the witches as an excuse to wage war. They found evidence that the country colluded with a black mage or even found information that a witch lived in this certain place. Although they did nothing wrong, the Empire still persecuted them.

“Hoo… This Empire is obviously better off destroyed.” 

There had been several records of Empires collapsing and this Empire’s history in particular was so trashy that he thought that it would be better if it just got destroyed and collapsed. 

There’s a lot of things to take care of, right?

The Empire’s rotten roots had been shown when the problem of the Northern area being a scapegoat had been exposed. So it was already something that had been taken care of to some extent.

“But I think I would be tired if I were like the dark elves who bet everything on the line…” 

Iron shook his head. 

There was only one witch but he felt like his head was being twisted from the problems that aroused. And considering that the witch was also a being that did not appear in his previous life like the dark elves, the thoughts in his head were bound to be extremely complicated. 

He had already thought that this was the reason why the Northeast fell in his previous life. But if that was the case, then he still couldn’t understand why no one discovered this during the monster wave. After all, not all of the dark elves had been sacrificed in the Winter Mountains. So, there should be survivors that have appeared back then. But there were none at all. 

“Hoo… Why in the world are they doing this?”

He was curious about the connection between the dark elves and the witch. He was not sure if they were on the same side but Iron thought that the two of them were moving with the same goal.

Considering that their common interest was the dimensional crack, there were two cases that Iron could infer.

First, they had a terrible grudge against the Empire. In this case, there was a high possibility that it was all due to the Imperial Family. Even he was extremely annoyed with them that he wanted to beat the Imperial Family like crazy and starve them to death. And since these beings had been persecuted in the ancient times, he could fully understand why their grudge still remained until this point in time. 

Second, they had a grudge against humanity itself. Once the dimensional crack had been opened, it was common knowledge that the entire continent would be affected so he could not rule out the possibility that there were other purposes aside from their grudge against the Empire. Throughout the long history of humanity, many records had proven that humanity was a race that rejected other races except their own. It was only now that they were apologizing and arguing that it should be changed. However, everything was already too late. All the mixed-races and other races had hidden deeply and out of sight. In other words, the continent was mostly dominated by humans. As a result, the dark elves bore grudges against humans. 

The problem was the witches. Witches were also from the human race. If it was the second case, then it did not make sense for the dark elves and the witches to join hands together. 

“Destruction… If they could endure joining hands with humans for that purpose…”

The destruction of the continent. This was the only thing that would happen once the dimensional crack opened. It seemed like they were willing to hand over the entire continent to the beings of the void after they had suffered enough hardships in this place. This was how deep their grudge was. 

The bigger problem was that there was a high possibility that these beings that wanted the destruction of the continent were not only the dark elves and the witches. 

“This is driving me crazy.”

Things that did not happen in his past life were obviously happening right now. He couldn’t discern whether this was the real cause of the collapse of the Northeast in his previous life or if this was something that only happened in this life. If it was the latter, then the difficulties and risks would definitely be higher than his previous life. This would inevitably lower his chances of survival even if he hid somewhere and lived quietly. 

Iron wondered if he could ever return to his own world alive after realizing that his plans for survival were getting harder and harder to implement. The thought of just living a YOLO and happy life before going to the afterlife even flashed in his head.

While Iron was deep in frustration as he realized that his survival was getting ever so darker, the Center, who had heard of the situation, was currently in a frenzy. 

“What do you mean a witch?!”

“Weren’t they extinct?”

“Ho… dark elves weren’t enough… there’s even a witch now?”

Center officials began to discuss what they should do when the news about the witches reached their ears. However, there was one thing that was for sure. The power that the Northeast had right now was not enough. And the officials were of one mind that since the witch came out, it meant that something else would also come out. That was in addition to the dark elves not being subdued as of yet. 

“Crown Prince.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“They haven’t found the witch before you left, right?”

“That’s right.”

The Emperor rubbed his chin while maintaining his indifferent look. 

“But the timing is quite strange. I can’t believe this happened shortly after the Crown Prince returned.”

The officials all shut their mouths when they heard the underlying blame for their incompetence in the Emperor’s words. 

A drop of cold sweat fell from the Crown Prince’s face as silence pervaded the great hall. He instinctively felt that saying something wrong here would immediately drop him off of his father’s good graces. He, the one who was confident that he was the best in the Imperial Family, was feeling the biggest crisis in his entire life right now. 

“That… At that time, I was busy trying to grasp what the Northeast was trying to do…”

“Right. Is your trying to grasp just knowing about the few merchants that came to them and changing the officials' doubts to conviction?”

The officials all looked at one another when they saw the Emperor pressing and pressuring the Crown Prince once again. Meanwhile, happy smiles were seen on the mouths of the high-ranking nobles that were backing the Fourth Prince. This was because they finally felt that the Emperor was going to abandon the Crown Prince. 

The Emperor was the one who pushed the Crown Prince to his position in order to put a leash on the nobles.

The Emperor already knew that all of the high-ranking nobles were aware that the current Crown Prince had talents that fell short of his younger brothers, especially the Fourth Prince. However, that wasn’t important to the Emperor. All he wanted to do was to create a structure that would enable him to hold onto his power for as long as possible.

This was what he wanted to do the most and the Crown Prince was the most suited for the Emperor’s intentions so he pushed him to that seat. 

The Crown Prince’s quick wit was extraordinary so the Emperor knew that he wouldn’t make a big problem for him. In addition, his talents were not that useless so he could still use him if necessary. He also had great acting skills to the point that he could win against anyone just with his face alone. So, the Emperor thought that it would be okay to hand this seat over to him once he died.

However, the current situation had poured cold water all over the Emperor’s ideas. 

‘They can no longer watch anymore.’ 

The people were swearing at the Imperial Family. The nobles’ dissatisfaction with the Imperial Family was also increasing by the day. And even the once closed off Northeast began to share information to the masses real time. Because of that, the other military units also began to put pressure on the Center as their corruption began to emerge one by one. 

The Emperor knew that the Crown Prince was not enough to break this situation. 

‘Finally! His Highness, the Fourth Prince’s chance has come!’ 

‘As expected, I rode this line well.’ 

‘Haha! Is spring coming for the Fourth Prince?’ 

The power structure in the capital was cleanly divided between the Crown Prince’s faction and the Fourth Prince’s faction. If the Crown Prince’s power fell down the only thing that would be left would be the Fourth Prince’s power. 

“Just in time, Your Majesty. His Highness, the Fourth Prince, has sent us a magnificent idea.”

“Idea… Right, that guy is also smart. Alright. What is this idea, Marquess Maldini?”

The Marquess immediately replied when the Emperor asked him. 

“Send one of the capital’s masters in the support forces.”

“Hmm…”

Just before disappointment colored the Emperor’s face because of their lackluster idea…

“With that as the pretext, send Duke Terrion Sigurd to the Northeast.”

“Hoo~”

The Emperor’s half-closed eyes opened as if the suggestion was quite good this time. 

Hearing that they could use it as a pretext to send Duke Terrion, a person famous in the South for being the head of the strongest swordsman family, the Godly Sword Family, the Emperor looked happy. And since most of them wouldn’t need to work, they just need to send a big fish over. There was also the Lion Family Head from the Leonhardts, one of the two pillars of the Empire, in there. So if the Godly Sword Family Head came up there, an interesting scene might be produced. 

After thinking that far, the Emperor smiled flatly. 

The Marquess smiled when he realized that his suggestion had been accepted. 

“Which capital master are you thinking of?”

“What about Marquess Leopold?”

“The commander-in-chief who protects the capital?”

“Being a commander-in-chief is quite a heavy position to be left open but since this is for the Empire, we can easily rule out that problem.”

The Emperor smiled upon hearing Marquess Maldini’s words. This, too, was the Emperor’s favorite thing to hear. 

Unlike Marquess Rocan, who was loyal to the Imperial Family, Marquess Leopold was someone who only moved for the benefit of the Empire. And because of that, there were cases when he would disobey the Emperor’s orders. However, because he was a warrior who had entered the ranks of masters, the Emperor was unable to touch him recklessly. All he could do was stand by and be troubled by his affairs. But now, he could remove this thorn and send him to the Northeast. And while he was in there, the Emperor planned on taking control of the capital’s defense by placing his loyal dogs in important positions. 

“Then, that means that we will need a temporary commander, right?”

“Yes.”

The Marquess hurriedly bowed his head in reply to the Emperor. The Emperor grinned at his servile appearance before speaking. 

“Then, Marquess Maldini should try and send me a recommendation for a person that will fill in that post.”

“Thank you!”

The Emperor stood up in satisfaction after throwing a carrot to Marquess Maldini. He left the great hall as if there was nothing else that he needed to see. The officials hurriedly bowed their heads as they bade the Emperor goodbye. 

At the same time, this thought flashed through their heads.

‘The power in the center is changing!’