While the great battle raged on, a group of Third Braves watched from afar beneath black robes.
Their leader, Priest Marin, was not disguised.
This group lacked the strength to directly change the battlefield, but they could become the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Aida Suzuki—the long-vanished Delinquent Brave—stood silently among the black robes, the expression that once found everyone unpleasant long gone from his face.
"Priest, are we still not making a move?"
Once Chen Yi finished dealing with the Mage Association, the other battlefields would soon have their victors as well.
Marin paused before shaking his head. "Let's keep watching."
They were merely opportunists. Whoever won, they would support.
If they chose wrong, not only would years of effort be wasted, but they would lose their lives as well.
The Martial Tools of the other three Braves were all in Marin's hands. Those were his true bargaining chips.
Marin had originally planned to secretly obtain an unlocked Divine Weapon and give it to Aida Suzuki to level up.
But he had not expected the Braves to be surrounded by imperial people. At the king's command, those Braves died without putting up the slightest resistance.
What was laughable was that the Sword Brave, Bow Brave, and Night Brave had all died in bed.
What Marin had not expected even more was that the imperial people had not taken the Martial Tools, as though they had deliberately left them for him.
No one knew how he had felt at the time.
He could only kneel on the ground and repeatedly kowtow toward the Royal Court until the king's messenger arrived with orders.
The distant battlefield reflected in Eagle Eye Technique, and Marin could not help but smile bitterly.
The reason he had not acted was not because the timing had not come, but because he had not received the king's signal.
He... did not dare act!
Princess Anna led the soldiers in slaughtering every monster within the Royal Court, and now they were dragging Demon Race corpses through the streets as a display.
"Princess Anna..."
"Princess Anna!"
"Long live the Empire! Long live Princess Anna!"
The civilians everywhere they passed cheered. They cheered for Princess Anna, for the Empire, for humanity, and for having survived.
The soldiers who did not know the full plan held their heads high as they received the glory that belonged to heroes.
Blood streamed continuously from the monster corpses. Rather than feeling fear or disgust, the people applauded, and some children even picked up stones and threw them at the corpses.
In the end, Princess Anna led the soldiers to the ruins beside the church.
How could those in the church fail to hear the thunderous cheers outside? The Demon King gritted his teeth, endured Ilius's attack, and slammed into the church's only remaining door alongside her.
The knight had long since vanished. Faced with an attack that harmed the enemy for two hundred while costing herself a thousand, Ilius had no other choice.
With a tremendous crash, both of them landed in the street.
The church's final facade collapsed with a boom.
Seeing the Demon King's strange human skin, cries of alarm rose from the civilians. Some recognized him.
"What is that?"
"There's no mistake. He's the Demon King!"
"There are records like this in the history books. Demon Kings have black skin and are surrounded by ominous Black Qi. Their race is not fixed, but whenever one appears, it brings unprecedented disaster to humanity."
"The other one is... Bishop Ilius?"
Ilius realized this was an opportunity. A golden shockwave blasted toward the Demon King, keeping him busy dodging and unable to speak.
"Believers, I need to tell you something..."
"All troops, form ranks!"
Before Ilius could finish, Anna interrupted her. The soldiers who received the order stepped forward one after another.
The soldiers had just finished fighting and were exhausted, yet their momentum brimmed with killing intent!
Princess Anna rode her horse to the very front. "My people, rest assured. The Empire will protect you!"
No one noticed that Anna's spear-holding hand was trembling.
Ilius was stunned. Hadn't all of this been caused by the Empire?
"Believers, do not be deceived! The Empire is the true culprit! The Demon King is the king of this generation!"
Yet no matter how she called out, the civilians merely watched Anna, curious as to why Princess Anna had not yet ordered the Demon King surrounded.
Faith was never something sturdy. Once shattered, it was difficult to restore.
And humans especially trusted what they saw with their own eyes. This was the king? What a joke. Everyone knew the Empire's king was too fat to move.
Ilius, who had not shown a trace of panic throughout the battle, now appeared flustered. "Look carefully! He truly is your king."
"He looks so much like Anna. Haven't you ever suspected anything?"
"His former obese appearance was merely a disguise!"
A spear blocked Ilius.
Princess Anna was expressionless. "Enough, Bishop Ilius! Please maintain the etiquette of a noble!"
"Perhaps the Braves' defeat and the church's loss have caused you to behave so disgracefully."
"But rest assured, the Empire is now fully capable of protecting its people."
"I, Anna, swear in the name of the Veselia family!"
The civilians who had followed them cheered for the Empire and Princess Anna.
The king, who was being increasingly affected by Black Energy in the distance, felt somewhat gratified at this moment. Had he not planned for an entire lifetime just for this scene?
Afterward, all he needed to do was personally die at Anna's hands to put a complete end to the plan.
The king gave the distant black-robed people a look. Marin bowed respectfully. Even when facing a king on the verge of death, he could not harbor the slightest thought of betrayal.
Chen Yi and the Fire Dragon stood atop a nearby tall building, eating while watching the father and daughter "play" below.
As for the Mage Association's mages?
They had decided to go down and keep the others company, generously contributing several pieces of Green Quality equipment to Chen Yi.
It was not that no soldiers had noticed Chen Yi, but other soldiers who had participated in the battle held them back.
"Meeting you again, Priest Marin."
Marin, who had appeared at some point, stood beside Chen Yi with a deferential smile. As long as Chen Yi did not interfere, everything was negotiable.
"Healing Hero, you jest. May I ask what plans you have afterward?"
Chen Yi gave him a bored glance. A few months ago, Chen Yi had been the one trembling with fear. Now, it was Marin.
This was power!
The Fire Dragon swallowed two bites of meat, then rubbed against Chen Yi to signal that she wanted more.
Chen Yi patted the Fire Dragon and told her to eat more politely. She was a Female Fire Dragon, after all. "Of course I'm preparing to return. This isn't my world."
Marin inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. This master was not someone ordinary people could afford to provoke.
It was not as if Marin had failed to sense it. The Healing Hero truly was a mage below Tier 2, yet the combat power he displayed was no weaker than Tier 2.
If this master had any other ideas, Marin would probably be the first to die.
The Demon King and Princess Anna fought while shifting the battlefield, quickly putting distance between themselves and the others.
Before Anna could say anything,
the Demon King suppressed the dark energy to maintain his sanity and took the initiative to meet the spear.
The spear pierced his heart.
The dark energy, which had been unusually active, slowly began to dissipate after losing its vessel.
Black smoke rose from the king's body, and his black skin faded to reveal its original color.
Anna's body trembled without stopping. Only now did she reveal the vulnerability of a young girl.
Even though she had prepared herself mentally, when the moment truly came for her to kill her own Father King, she still could not accept it.
The king, in his final burst of life, wiped away Anna's tears. This was the burden a child of the Vesilia family should bear. It was only a pity that he could no longer continue teaching Anna how to become a qualified queen.
Just then, scorching flames ignited across the king's body, and his hand soon fell limp.
Anna, who had been crying just moments earlier, swept her gaze around with killing intent. Yet there was no one nearby, nor had there been any elemental attack from a mage.
She could only attribute it all to the strangeness of the dark energy.
The flames continued burning over the king's body. For a time, the black smoke grew even thicker, as though cleansing him of his sins.
When Anna emerged, she was already the Empire's queen.
"The Demon King has been slain by me, Vesilia Anna! Rejoice, my people!"
Her gaze swept over Chen Yi on the rooftop. Only after noticing Marin shake his head did she dismiss the suspicion in her heart.
But she did not know that Chen Yi was smiling at the panel.
Ignite dealt 10 damage to "Demon King" Ignite dealt 10 damage to "Demon King" EXP+18000 Congratulations, you have leveled up to LV17
Unfortunately, most of the damage had not been dealt by him, so he could only gain a small portion of the experience.
As for what the Demon King might drop after death, Chen Yi did not care. The drop rate for a boss killed together with non-players was terribly low.
Chen Yi then looked at the vacant-eyed Iris and shook his head. The 1,000,000 Gold Coins they had agreed upon earlier were probably impossible to collect now.
The church had basically been destroyed. The Gold Coins needed for rebuilding would be astronomical. If Chen Yi asked her for money now, she would probably fight him to the death.
The thought of joining Princess Anna in pressuring Iris flashed through his mind before he discarded it. If his strength was insufficient, he should not think about such things.
He could not start getting carried away just because of Marin's attitude.
Chen Yi always remembered that before and after breaking through fifty attribute points were entirely different matters.
After greeting Marin, Chen Yi left this world under his gaze.
But Chen Yi did not know that the instant he left this world, time began to freeze.
Birds stopped in midair, ripples on the water stopped spreading, and everything in this world had its pause button pressed.
After obtaining the World Source, the Game World finally began to interfere with this world.
Generating dungeon...
World named: Hero War World
Recommended Player Level...LV15-LV19
Player Count: 30
Execution initiated.
Time in this world began to reverse, and the speed of reversal continued accelerating. Soon, it returned to the day the Heroes were summoned.
"Oh, welcome, Heroes. I am Priest Cross Marin. You may all call me Marin."
The four players atop the Summoning Array continuously tried to recall which world this was.
The other twenty-six players were placed in the Mage Association, the church, and the Empire's side, with simple memories implanted.
"Is this a player-versus-world scenario?"
"I've decided to join the Empire's side. It's not because Miss Anna is pretty. I just think I'm suited to being an imperial citizen."
"Hehe, ignorant fool! Do you know how wonderful Bishop Iris of the church is..."
"Not even dogs would go to the Mage Association!"
"Why let me see a Purple Weapon if it says I can't take it out of the world?!"
Before you continue