Raon returned to the Five Divine Orders' conference hall with the Thespian Emperor and the Queen of Swords.
"Now, I should properly introduce myself."
The Thespian Emperor spoke as she handed Raon a cup of tea she had personally brewed.
"I am Ariel, the leader of White Whale."
She revealed her position as the leader of White Whale rather than her alias, the Thespian Emperor. It seemed to signify her sincere decision to follow the Five Kings.
"Brigitte."
The Thespian Emperor glanced at the Queen of Swords, as if telling her to introduce herself as well.
"I know."
The Queen of Swords nodded briefly in response to the Thespian Emperor's gaze.
"I am Brigitte, the leader of the Unyielding Blade."
She introduced herself in a noticeably softer tone, as if she had taken a liking to him.
"I am Raon Zieghart of the Zieghart family's Light Wind Palace."
Raon stood up and bowed politely to the Thespian Emperor and the Queen of Swords.
-What's this? No casual speech or rudeness?
'There's no need to provoke people we'll be working with from now on. Besides...'
He licked his lips as he raised his head.
'I believe leaders of major factions deserve respect.'
After being promoted from Light Wind Division Leader to Light Wind Palace Master, he realized how difficult it was to manage a large faction. Leaders like the Thespian Emperor and the Queen of Swords were worthy of respect.
"Can you tell us what plans the Five Kings have and how they will move forward?"
The Thespian Emperor asked as she set the teapot down on the round table. Her eyes sparkled with intelligence, like moonlight pushing away the darkness. It seemed she had regained her original personality and judgment after breaking free from her state of enlightenment.
"Yes, we need to know that first. We also need to decide what we should do."
The Queen of Swords leaned forward on the round table with her hands clasped, as if asking him to speak.
"Before that, I'd like to ask one thing."
Raon turned his gaze to the Queen of Swords.
"Is Briana listening in as well?"
"No, my sister went straight into the mental world."
The Queen of Swords shook her head, saying that Briana had departed for the mental world.
"She said she wanted to internalize the insights gained from her duel with you."
She chuckled, saying that Briana probably wouldn't be coming out for a while.
"I see. But..."
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Queen of Swords' upturned lips.
"You're calling her 'sister' now that Briana isn't here."
The Queen of Swords had seemed to refuse to acknowledge Briana as her sister, but now that Briana was gone, she called her 'sister'.
"Th-that's... No, I..."
The Queen of Swords stammered, her cheeks flushing as if she had been caught off guard.
"I understand now."
Raon smiled faintly, saying he now understood.
"You've been acknowledging her on the inside, even if you acted otherwise on the outside."
"I-it just came out that way! It's not true!"
The Queen of Swords shook her head, insisting it wasn't true, but her trembling eyes revealed that his guess was correct.
"It's about time you acknowledged it."
The Thespian Emperor nodded calmly, as if she had known all along that Brigitte had been acknowledging Briana.
"I-I'm telling you, it's not..."
The Queen of Swords bit her lip, seemingly embarrassed, her voice growing quieter.
"Let's leave it at that, then."
Raon nodded with a smile.
"First, I'll explain how we brought down the Black Tower and killed The Fallen. To begin with..."
He explained in detail what had happened, as even the Thespian Emperor might not know all the specifics.
"S-Soul Sword? You really are insane!"
The Queen of Swords let out a hollow laugh, as if she now understood why Briana had been defeated.
"I thought the conclusion of your battle with The Fallen was strange, but now I understand. It was the Soul Sword."
The Thespian Emperor rubbed her chin absently, saying she hadn't known he had used the Soul Sword to kill The Fallen.
"After bringing down the Black Tower, we took in a large number of neutral forces who were undecided at the Five Kings Conference that followed. We plan to use their information network spread across the continent to track down the Five Demons' movements."
Raon placed his hand on the round table as he explained the plan from the Five Kings Conference.
"Are we going to attack immediately after finding them?"
The Queen of Swords twirled her finger, which still had dirt from the training ground on it, as if asking if they would wage war right away.
"The remaining Five Demons are Eden, the White Blood Religion, the Holy Sword Alliance, and Derus Robert. On the other hand..."
Raon pointed to the continental map spread out on the round table.
"We have Zieghart, Owen, Balkar, the Beast Union, and the magic tower on our side. With five major factions and three of the Five Divine Orders joining us, we now have a clear advantage not only in the number of experts but also in overall faction strength."
He explained that with the Five Divine Orders joining, a definite crack had formed in the Five Demons, and they could attack immediately.
"Moreover, I recently wiped out a large number of Eden's executives and ghouls, so Eden's current strength is likely less than half of what it was originally."
Raon nodded, saying that was also why the Five Demons had completely hidden their movements.
"We certainly have the advantage now."
The Queen of Swords clapped her hands as if agreeing.
"But what do you mean by three of the Five Divine Orders? Wasn't your Pirate King retired?"
She lowered her eyebrows as if asking whether Alice hadn't already left the martial world.
"She was about to retire, but..."
Raon shook his head, recalling Alice's hearty laughter.
"She's back. And she's even stronger than before."
"That's reassuring. That woman will definitely be helpful."
The Queen of Swords smiled lightly, as if pleased with the news.
"..."
The Thespian Emperor calmly closed and opened her eyes, as if she already knew about Alice's situation.
"But how do you plan to find the Five Demons using the neutral forces' information network?"
The Queen of Swords tilted her chin, as if curious about what he had mentioned earlier.
"The Five Demons are as vast as their name suggests. Although they're perfectly hidden now, given the large number of people, they'll inevitably need a lot of supplies, which will eventually reveal a gap."
Raon traced his finger across the continental map.
"As I mentioned, we'll use the neutral forces spread across the continent to gather information, and the Black Market will analyze that information to narrow down suspicious locations one by one."
With the Five Kings, the Five Divine Orders, and numerous neutral forces working together, the Five Demons would inevitably reveal their tail.
"Moreover, White Whale has information gathering abilities that rival the Black Market's, so if we cooperate, that time will be further reduced."
Raon looked at the Thespian Emperor, saying he was counting on her help.
"Finding the Five Demons is important, but there's something else we need to consider."
The Thespian Emperor raised her hand over the map, as if dividing the continent in half.
"Things to consider?"
The Queen of Swords blinked, as if telling her to elaborate.
"First, the balance of power between the Five Kings and the Five Demons."
As the Thespian Emperor raised her finger, the flags of the Five Kings and the Five Demons that were stuck in the continental map floated into the air.
"The Destructive King of the North is still in good shape, but the Silent Sword Master, the Archmage of Eternal Flame, and the Beast King haven't fully recovered from their injuries."
"Hmm..."
The Queen of Swords let out a low groan, as if she had just remembered that point.
"I've heard that the Silent Sword Master's injuries have almost healed, but the injuries of the Archmage of Eternal Flame and the Beast King are related to their souls, so they can't be easily recovered. Especially for Ogram, we should assume that he might not recover at all."
The Thespian Emperor lowered her eyebrows, as if saying that Ogram's martial prowess couldn't be restored until the Leader of the White Blood Religion died.
"On the other hand, while the number of Five Demons leaders has decreased, each of them still possesses extreme martial prowess. The Heavenly Demon has power comparable to Glenn, the Leader of the White Blood Religion has grown rapidly after drinking the Beast King's blood, and Derus is strong enough to overwhelm the Silent Sword Master."
She let out a heavy sigh, saying they needed to consider this difference carefully.
"Although there's a significant crack in the Holy Sword Alliance, even the current Alliance leader is no weakling. It would take someone of the Silent Sword Master's caliber to face him."
The Thespian Emperor bit her lip thinly, saying they should also keep Rector in mind.
"You're right."
Raon nodded as he listened to the Thespian Emperor.
"The Five Kings may have more Transcendents in number, but the Five Demons might be stronger in terms of individual power. So we need to defeat them one by one, like we did with the Black Tower Master and The Fallen. They can't unite like we can."
He clenched his fist, saying they needed to exploit the gaps in the Five Demons who couldn't perfectly unite.
"There's one more point we need to consider."
The Thespian Emperor exhaled a thin breath, as if slightly tired.
"The Five Demons, or rather, Derus Robert, has an Archangel by his side who is on par with the Five Kings and Five Demons leaders. If we include the Angels as well, we might be at a disadvantage even now."
She shook her head, saying the situation wasn't entirely favorable for the Five Kings.
"Archangel..."
The Queen of Swords furrowed her brow, as if she hadn't considered the Archangel.
"There are two Archangels now, right? If more appear, it could be really dangerous."
She clicked her tongue, saying she didn't understand why someone like Derus had an Archangel on his side.
"It's partly because I couldn't make proper judgments while in a state of enlightenment, but I didn't think the current situation of the Five Kings was as good as it appeared."
The Thespian Emperor let out a heavy sigh, saying that's why she couldn't help but worry.
"Regarding the Archangel..."
Raon nodded slightly as he looked at the yawning Wrath.
"I have an idea. It might be difficult to use against other Five Demons leaders, but we should be able to counter the Archangel."
"Really? What's the method?"
The Thespian Emperor's eyes widened in surprise.
"I can't tell you now. But the possibility is sufficient."
Raon smiled faintly, saying they could trust him on that.
"Hmm..."
The Thespian Emperor's eyes narrowed slightly.
'It's not working, is it?'
The Thespian Emperor was a cold strategist who followed reason rather than emotion. There was a high possibility that she wouldn't consider a method that couldn't be properly explained in her plans.
"Alright. Then I'll trust you and plan for battles excluding the Archangel."
Contrary to expectations, she nodded, saying she would trust his words.
"What?"
Raon let out a surprised breath as he looked at the Thespian Emperor.
"I haven't even told you the whole story, and you believe me?"
"If it were the old me, I wouldn't have believed you. However, thanks to you, I fell into a state of enlightenment and was able to feel a bit of Raon Zieghart's soul. You're not a man who speaks empty words."
The Thespian Emperor smiled awkwardly, as if surprised by her own judgment, and said she would trust him.
"Then I'll trust you too."
The Queen of Swords raised her hand, saying she would trust him as well. It seemed that both of them had slightly changed their personalities after falling into a state of enlightenment.
-It's not their personalities, but just towards you.
Wrath shook his head, saying it wasn't that they had changed, but that they were giving special treatment only to him.
'Maybe so.'
Raon licked his lips and bowed his head to the Thespian Emperor and the Queen of Swords.
"Thank you for trusting me."
He raised his head, revealing eyes full of confidence.
"I'll make sure you won't regret joining us."
He smiled, saying he would lead them to victory at the end of this fight.
-By the way, aren't you going to talk about your old man?
Wrath tilted his head, as if asking whether it wouldn't be easier if he brought up Rector's story.
'No.'
Raon shook his head firmly.
'I can't let grandfather and the Holy Sword Alliance get involved in this war.'
It was already a great benefit that the Holy Sword Alliance wasn't participating in the war on the Five Demons' side. He didn't want to drag the pure-hearted people who dedicated their lives to sacred sword training into the bloodshed of war.
'I'll protect that land.'
Raon clenched his fist as he looked at the location of the Holy Sword Alliance's holy ground on the continental map.
'So that no evil can touch it.'
***
Rector frowned as he looked at the path filled with sacred light.
'What is this place?'
When he arrived at the location Derus Robert had specified, a corridor of white light had opened. As soon as he entered, sacred energy spread in all directions along with an aura as if he were receiving a god.
'Impressive.'
This land emanated an even more sacred aura than the grand cathedrals he occasionally visited during his travels. However, deep within that light, there seemed to be an indescribable ominous stench rising.
'This is neither magic nor sorcery.'
What he felt from this corridor wasn't the mana of this world. It seemed to be operated by holy power, the divine energy that Angels were said to possess.
"Hmm."
Rector frowned as he stepped onto the path of light that undulated like the sea.
'This is ominous.'
Just by standing on this path, his heart felt constricted, and the hair all over his body stood on end. An inexplicable sense of unease swept through his entire body.
'I want to turn back, but...'
I can't stop here. Only by walking this path can I protect Raon and everything that child holds dear. Even if I die at the end of this meeting, I must move forward now.
'Phew.'
Rector took a deep breath inwardly and walked along the path of sacred light. As he continued through the white terrain that seemed to cling to his legs like a swamp, a door emitting a faint divine energy soon came into view.
'Is that the entrance to the conference room?'
After mentally preparing himself, he grasped the door handle. Unlike the warm and sacred path, a chill that sent shivers down his spine emanated from the handle. He bit his tongue slightly and turned the doorknob without hesitation.
Darkness that seeped out from the wide-open door spread like octopus tentacles, seeming to engulf the path of light.
Rector entered the room, pushing back the darkness with the realm of his soul. As soon as he felt the warm air suddenly turn cool, he saw a black round table with four candles floating above it.
"You've arrived."
Derus Robert, sitting on the right side of the round table, bowed his head politely.
"Why is this brat so late? How rude."
The Leader of the White Blood Religion, with half her face covered by a white veil, wrinkled her nose as if displeased.
'Phew...'
Rector raised the corners of his mouth as he felt the darkness and chill spreading throughout the conference room, as well as the immense pressure from the Leader of the White Blood Religion and Derus.
'Yes, this suits me.'
He felt more comfortable with this darkness and coldness than with the sacred light, knowing that he wasn't a righteous person.
"Since we've met before, there's no need for introductions."
Rector raised his chin, wearing an unwavering smile.
"I am the Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance."