Chapter 306. The Uninvited Guest of the Festival (4)

At the Imperial Palace's main building...

The martial tournament had been completely suspended, and the heads of various nations had gathered there for an emergency summit. Revelio sat at the head seat, listening to the Prime Minister's report.

"The incidents across all districts have been fully suppressed. We are currently tracking and exterminating the demonic monsters that have infiltrated various parts of the capital," the Prime Minister said.

"And the scale of the damage?" Revelio asked.

"It is minimal. The priests administered emergency aid to the citizens exposed to the plague, which proved crucial. As for the demons who emerged alongside the monsters, they were all wiped out by the Oceanwolf Knight Order and the Imperial Guards," the Prime Minister answered.

"We must mobilize every available resource to restore order, Prime Minister," Revelio said.

"Yes, Your Majesty. You do not need to worry," the Prime Minister reassured.

"I've delegated full authority to Duke Halo. Ensure that he is given full cooperation," Revelio added.

"I will take it to heart, Your Majesty," the Prime Minister replied.

The Prime Minister quickly left the main palace after finishing his report, and Revelio clenched his teeth as he looked over at the other leaders seated at the grand table.

"This festival, meant to be shared and celebrated by all across the continent, has turned into a disaster. Innocent blood has been spilled in this capital," Revelio said, his voice tightly wound with anger.

Moved by the emperor's fierce fury, the regent of the Southern Great Forest said in a low voice, "May the souls of the wrongfully slain find peace."

"Thank you, Regent," Revelio said. "While we mourn the victims, we must also come to a consensus on a matter here today."

For the first time since Revelio ascended the throne, foreign forces had invaded. But the empire had crushed the invasion with overwhelming might. The gathered rulers had seen with their own eyes the true power of the empire.

It was utterly devastating.

Any lesser kingdom would have collapsed in an instant. But the empire's strength had exceeded even their boldest expectations. Countless knights, elite soldiers trained to perfection, and mages gathered under the Imperial Magic Tower had all moved like clockwork to quell the chaos.

Even the kings who had once dared to raise their voices against the emperor now sat in silence. The boy emperor before them could no longer be dismissed as young or inexperienced. He was, without doubt, the ruler of a great and powerful nation.

Though he had never before raised his voice at the foreign monarchs, Revelio now spoke with righteous fury.

"The threat of the Demon Realm is no longer a mere possibility," Revelio continued, his voice steady but sharp. "As you have all witnessed, they invaded the empire's capital, and our citizens have shed blood."

He met the eyes of each leader in turn.

"As emperor of the empire, I propose the formation of an expeditionary force to the Demon Realm," Revelio proposed.

The peace talks, the martial tournament—everything had led to this moment. The original plan had been for Caron to win the tournament, then propose the formation of the expedition. But circumstances had shifted drastically.

Now, with the recent invasion by the demons, the empire had an undeniable justification.

No one dared to raise an objection to the emperor's declaration. When the one who had suffered the most spoke with righteous indignation, no one could defy him.

"Caron Leston of the Ducal Family of Leston is entering!" came a herald's cry.

Just like during the second summit, Caron entered the main hall to the herald's voice. But this time, everything about his entrance was different.

Drip. Drip.

With every step Caron took, blood dripped onto the marble floor of the hall. His armor was shattered and split in places, revealing torn flesh beneath. There was hardly a single spot left intact.

"I apologize for the delay, Your Majesty," Caron said.

He was soaked in blood from head to toe as he took the seat beside Revelio. The sharp scent of blood quickly spread throughout the room.

But none of the leaders complained. They simply stared at Caron with grim expressions. The murderous aura radiating from his body was enough to make their hair stand on end.

"I heard the demons attacked the Minister of Finance. Are you all right, Caron?" Revelio asked, following the carefully scripted flow.

Caron nodded with a stoic expression, then answered, "Yes. I rescued him safely."

"That's a relief," Revelio said.

"I hope my delay didn't disrupt the meeting?" Caron added.

"Not at all. We were just discussing the formation of the expeditionary force to the Demon Realm. If you have something to say, you're welcome to contribute," Revelio said.

"Then if I may be so bold—" Caron began.

Thunk.

He drove Guillotine straight into the marble floor. The bloodstained blade glinted with a sinister gleam.

"I don't know exactly what His Majesty said, but do you all agree?" Caron asked.

His tone was blunt to the point of rudeness, but he saw no reason to sugarcoat his words. After all, this meeting was effectively a declaration of war on the Demon Realm.

"As you've seen, the minds of those ruling the Demon Realm are filled with nothing but the desire to drown this continent in blood. You have two choices," Caron continued. His gaze swept over the others like that of a predator sizing up prey. A terrible thirst for vengeance laced his voice as he finished, "Die at the hands of the demons, or kill them first. Make your choice wisely."

It was the sort of tone one might expect from a back-alley thug, not a noble knight.

Shing.

But Caron calmly wiped his bloodied blade with his hand, casting his sharp gaze around the room. Blood from his hand trickled down the sword.

The first to respond to Caron's thinly veiled threat was the Sultan. He said, "The Pajar Sultanate too was humiliated by the demons. It is wiser to bite than to be bitten. We, the Pajar Sultanate, will gladly join the expedition to the Demon Realm."

With the Sultan leading the way...

"The time for a crusade has come. The Holy Kingdom will follow the empire's lead. The wicked shall pay for their sins," the Pope of the Holy Kingdom said.

"The Elven Union agrees with the empire's proposal," the regent, representing the elves, added.

"The Blackclaw Clan stands with Moktar," Srom, the chieftain of the Blackclaw clan, declared.

"It would be an unforgivable shame to miss the honor of fighting beside a great warrior. We, the giants led by Utula, shall bleed on the front lines," Utula, the Grand Chief of the Giants, stated.

"We beastkin will not be left behind either..."

The Holy Kingdom and the non-human races offered their full support.

Caron then turned his attention to the southern kingdoms and the remaining nations. Drenched in blood like a specter of vengeance, he met their eyes one by one.

Unable to endure the pressure of his chilling gaze, they could only nod.

"Y-Yes, the Neon Kingdom will also participate in the expedition," King Kali III of the Neon Kingdom said.

"The Keath Kingdom, as well..."

The decision of the summit was soon finalized.

"All attending nations are in agreement. The proposal to form the Demon Realm Expeditionary Force is hereby approved. The commander of the expedition will be appointed by the empire. Each leader is requested to submit the list of forces to be deployed by the end of this month," Caron said.

It was a unanimous approval.

"The number of troops you send will determine your command assignment. So we ask that you give it your utmost consideration," Revelio added pointedly.

It was a clear declaration: The more soldiers sent, the greater the influence granted.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Three hundred years ago, during the great war against the Demon Realm fought by Rael Leston and the empire's first emperor, a similar expedition had once been formed.

This day marked the decision to form the second Demon Realm Expeditionary Force in history.

***

The news that a Demon Realm Expeditionary Force was being formed spread across the entire continent in the blink of an eye.

The fragile era of peace, which had been barely holding on, had finally come to an end. All the races of the continent, including the human kingdoms, began full-scale preparations for war.

The dwarves willingly opened their warehouses and began supplying weapons, while the elves produced war supplies such as medicinal herbs needed for healing.

In the dockyards of nations bordering the sea, warships were constructed without pause. To reach the Demon Realm, they had to cross the freezing North Sea, and ordinary vessels simply couldn't survive the journey.

Many names had been suggested for the position of commander of this historic expeditionary force, but in the end, the decision settled on the continent's strongest.

The one appointed to lead the expeditionary army was an elderly man, Halo Leston. He sat in the office of Azureocean Castle, gazing at his youngest grandson.

"In the end, you're the one who gave me the boost," Halo said.

Caron chuckled and shrugged, then replied, "Well, let's be honest. No one would listen unless you were the commander. This is the first true multinational, multi-racial army. Who's going to obey some feeble scholar?"

"You think I don't know you're planning to set me up as a figurehead while you pull the strings behind the scenes?" Halo asked with a sly grin.

"Come on now. I honestly don't have the confidence to lead an army that big. The actual command should be left to the military officers. Thankfully, we've got a number of them with plenty of real battle experience," Caron said.

Surprisingly, a significant number of officers from the southern kingdoms had been assigned to the expeditionary force. Regardless of their knights' skills or the quality of their troops, the prolonged wars in the south had allowed their armies to accumulate extensive combat doctrine. Now, under the banner of the expeditionary force, those experiences flowed into the Empire's military, causing quite a stir in the imperial academies.

After all, theory from books and doctrine refined through actual battle would inevitably differ.

"His Majesty is making good use of this expedition," Halo remarked.

"No doubt about that," Caron agreed.

The empire had, in effect, devoured the hard-earned lessons of the southern kingdoms without shedding a single drop of its own blood.

In peacetime, such conduct could have drawn scorn as nothing less than thuggery. But these were times of war, with the Demon Realm as the common enemy. And due to the pretext of strengthening the expedition, the southern kingdoms couldn't openly criticize the emperor.

"I hear that once the campaign is over, His Majesty plans to actively recruit talented individuals," Caron said.

"You know," Halo replied, "the more I think about it, the more I see how much you and His Majesty are alike."

"That almost sounds like an insult, Grandfather," Caron said.

Halo laughed heartily and remarked, "How could being compared to the emperor be an insult? Any noble of the empire should be honored."

He handed Caron a glass filled with whiskey.

Caron took a sip and gently set the glass down, continuing the conversation. "We've interrogated the captured demons from the capital and narrowed down a few potential foothold regions."

The demons that appeared had in the capital turned out to be unexpectedly helpful, offering valuable information. For instance, they'd described the terrain of the Demon Realm.

When the rough map found in the Tomb of Saint Kamael was combined with intel extracted from the demons, it began to form a surprisingly usable guide.

"That invitation the Demon King of Lust brought us... I think it really was genuine," Caron murmured.

Laia had claimed she was inviting the mortals of the continent into the Demon Realm.

If she had truly wished to take things further, things wouldn't have ended at just that. Gates of Chaos would have opened all across the empire, and massive battles would have erupted.

But instead, she had only mobilized a fraction of her forces—and, as a result, the expedition had gained critical information about viable landing points.

From a human standpoint, her actions were clearly treasonous to her own kind.

"Still, there's no reason to turn down that information," Caron said. "No point in stopping someone who's digging their own grave, right?"

"Even with the expedition formed, you won't be able to move right away," Halo cautioned. "You'll need time to coordinate."

Joint training was essential. These were troops who had never worked together before. They needed time to synchronize.

Caron nodded in agreement.

The expedition had only just begun. How long it would take before they could even land in the Demon Realm, and what they could need before then—no one could say for sure.

"But hey, everyone seems to know what they're doing. I'm sure they'll figure it out," Caron said lightly.

"And what about you?" Halo asked. "What do you plan to do?"

"Me? I'll just sit back with my arms folded and keep watch from a distance. Pretty sure that's what you'll do too," Caron said with a smile.

"That, my boy, is the virtue of the strong," Halo said, then gave a faint smile and took a drink.

Caron watched him closely, sensing that something about Halo had changed.

Only a few years ago, Halo had treated Caron simply as his beloved grandson.

But somewhere along the way... This wasn't the way a grandfather usually regarded his grandson. Nor was it just recognition of Caron's growth. There was something deeper, something unspoken.

It's a familiar feeling... but not quite familial,

Caron thought.

"When you reach my position, you'll come to understand," Halo said. "Sometimes, it's better to pretend you don't know—even when you do."

"...Is that so?" Caron murmured.

"The one who walks ahead must know how to wait in silence," Halo added, his voice soft.

Caron idly turned the glass in his hands, then glanced at Halo and carefully began, "Grandfather—"

But before he could finish, Halo smoothly cut him off. "Now isn't the time for heartwarming talks between grandfather and grandson."

"I just wanted to say—" Caron began again.

"Caron, the right time will come. A day when we can roll in barrels of whiskey and talk all through the night," Halo interrupted again.

He reached out and gently patted Caron's back, then added, "So for now, let's focus on the enemy before us. There'll be plenty of time to talk once we've brought the Demon Realm to its knees. Don't you agree?"

Caron forced a smile and nodded, then said, "Yes, Grandfather."

Whether Halo truly knew something—or knew nothing at all—Caron couldn't tell. But he decided to let it go, just as Halo had advised.

After all, the moment he had waited so long for was finally within reach.

The Demon Realm.

It wouldn't be long now before he drove a blade into the heart of the place he had come to despise more than anything.

With that bitter hatred burning inside him, Caron drained his glass.