4: Position

Under the shame and self-reproach, Eddie failed to notice when his older brother's crying had stopped.

"Oh my, he really is dead." Avilan looked at the young man before him, his face brimming with delight.

For some reason, he especially wanted to see the despair on this young man's face.

Just like when he had discovered his brother and wife's betrayal all those years ago—alone in the world, with death hanging over his head.

"Can I go now?" Eddie struggled to his feet and asked.

"Go?" Avilan shook his head and said with an evil smile, "I only said I would let you live. I never said you could leave this place."

"You devil!" Eddie roared, flinging the dagger in his hand at Avilan.

Yet the dagger stopped in midair. With a light tap from Avilan, it shot back and pierced Eddie's ankle, crippling his right foot completely.

The entire hall was left with only Eddie's heart-rending screams.

Avilan looked somewhat regretfully at the dead Agonsi. He had been Avilan's true target.

Now, however, it no longer mattered. Holding this badge in his hand, Avilan's expression grew solemn.

"Radiant Knights."

This was a guild that had stood against Despair Fortress ever since Myth began operating. Like Despair Fortress, it was one of Myth's ten great guilds. This silver badge was the official membership badge of the Radiant Knights. It granted attack bonuses against undead and evil creatures, one of the guild's benefits.

As sworn enemies, Avilan knew the Radiant Knights extremely well. This badge was undoubtedly an official Radiant Knights member badge.

"Could someone from the Radiant Knights have crossed over as well?" At that thought, a sharp gleam burst from Avilan's eyes.

"Esteemed Supreme Sovereign." Arthur approached at that moment.

"I know." Without even turning his head, Avilan put away the Silver Badge. He silently made up his mind that, once things had stabilized, he would immediately search this world for information about Myth players. For now, his first priority was to understand the surrounding situation and reduce the chances of such incidents happening again.

After dealing with the intruders, Avilan used more than forty corpses to summon over forty Horned Demons between level twenty and level thirty-something.

Horned Demons were the demons closest to humans. They were the offspring of humans and demons, though their strength was relatively low. Of course, "relatively low" referred to the overall strength of the Demon Realm.

However, their enormous population made them the cornerstone of the Demon Realm's population.

The summoned Horned Demons were no different from those in the game.

On the surface, they looked no different from humans, except their faces were exceptionally savage and vicious, and sharp horns protruded from their heads. Ordinary Horned Demons reached around level twenty upon adulthood. Some outstanding Horned Demons evolved twin horns and became Horned Demon Commanders in their thirties.

He had summoned more than forty Horned Demons in one go, yet only one was a Horned Demon Commander.

Avilan did not even spare them a glance before handing them over to Arthur. He ordered them to gather all the gold coins and useful resources from the ruins as quickly as possible, while also having Arthur fortify the forest around the ruins to prevent more intruders from appearing.

Avilan sat in the castle study. The decorations that had once existed only in the game had now become real objects, and Avilan could truly take books from the shelves and read them.

He specifically found a book that recorded information about demons. One passage left a deep impression on Avilan.

Demons were the symbol of evil. They were the enemies of all gods and humans, most fond of using their power to deceive, manipulate, or ravage humanity. They greatly enjoyed the wails and cries humans gave when driven into despair.

After reading that passage, Avilan closed the book. Since he had crossed into another world, his demon character from the game had naturally become his present body. The emotional fluctuations and strange preferences from earlier were likely the instincts of a demon's body.

After figuring this out, Avilan instead heaved a sigh of relief. Demon instincts were nothing more than a psychological illness.

He firmly believed that no matter the psychological illness, with enough time and self-control, it could be corrected.

More than forty Horned Demons were far too few for the vast Despair Fortress, let alone its four major districts.

Rubbing his temples, Avilan looked at Arthur and asked, "The Demon Fortress is waiting for all industries to be rebuilt, and we are desperately short on manpower. Arthur, do you have any good ideas?"

When not in battle, Arthur wore a black tailcoat with a simple bow tie around his neck, looking every inch the chief steward of Despair Fortress.

"Esteemed Supreme Sovereign, this subordinate is ashamed. Construction and internal affairs are precisely what this subordinate is worst at. Though this subordinate holds the post of chief steward, this subordinate is merely a warrior. Guarding the guild core is no problem, but such matters truly make things difficult for this subordinate." Arthur knelt on the ground, lowering his head with a face full of shame.

Avilan covered his head, at a loss for words.

"I'm asking whether you have any good suggestions, not ordering you to do anything. Besides, the summoned Horned Demons only have three days. We must make good use of them. We can't have them picking through scraps forever, can we?"

"This subordinate has a suggestion. Please revive the Southern District steward, Admiral Zhou Yu, as soon as possible. With her abilities, she should be able to help you resolve quite a few problems," Arthur said after thinking for a moment.

"Admiral Zhou Yu." Avilan thought of that character. She was one of the characters created by Zheng Xiuqi, the only woman among his close friends.

Compared to the other brothers, Zheng Xiuqi had been very fortunate. At the height of the guild's glory, she had chosen to leave the guild, marry, and have children.

Recalling the last gathering when all the brothers had been present, it had been for Zheng Xiuqi's child's one-month celebration. At other times, for all kinds of reasons, they had rarely been able to gather together at once.

"Revive the level fifty guild city Southern District steward, Admiral Zhou Yu?"

Avilan pressed the button to revive Zhou Yu. A prompt informed him that reviving Zhou Yu required one hundred thousand gold coins. She could be revived one more time, but if she fell afterward, she would vanish completely and cease to exist.

"One hundred thousand gold coins? Do we have that?" Avilan asked uncertainly.

Arthur thought for a moment before saying, "We will need to wait a few more days. This subordinate will immediately have the Horned Demons search for all the gold coins in the four major districts."

Avilan nodded.

"How is that human called Eddie doing now?"

"Very well. This subordinate has already obtained quite a bit of important information from him. We are currently on the outskirts of the Messiah Great Forest, at the border between the Roen Kingdom, the Kompno Duchy, and the Kate Empire. The nearest town to us is Essin City of the Kompno Duchy," Arthur answered respectfully.

"Our position is unfavorable." After muttering to himself, Avilan continued, "What realm has Essin City's strongest person reached?"

At that, Arthur fell silent. Only after a long while did he speak. "That human's level is too low. He himself has only just entered the second tier and does not know much about Essin City. This subordinate cannot obtain exact intelligence on this matter either."

After saying that, Arthur dropped to one knee and pressed his head tightly against the floor.

"This subordinate is incompetent. This subordinate deserves ten thousand deaths."