Flames of the hammer crushed Balak’s head in an instant. It was such a clean hit. I tilted my head, surprised at how smoothly it had been handled.

But I didn’t feel the need to bring it up. Ruby’s expression already told me the answer. She looked relieved, probably having found her own answer.

Even if others found it questionable, if she had reached her own conclusion and was satisfied with it, I had no intention of interfering. I smiled and said, “Looks like you’ve found your own answer.”

“That’s right.”

“Then it’s settled. Let’s wrap this up.”

“Leave it to me!”

Ruby decided to take care of Balak’s corpse herself. I thought she would ignore it, but surprisingly, she planned a Dwarven-style funeral. A Dwarven funeral meant throwing him into a crater of flames.

Like smelting iron, they dig a pit, add something like coal to create a hot furnace, and then throw in the body to burn it all away.

Of course, not everyone understood Ruby’s method—especially not her close comrade and unpleasant rival, Clara. Surprisingly, even Helia couldn’t grasp Ruby’s reasoning.

“Ruby! That guy is your enemy! Do you really have to go this far?”

“I also agree this time. Why do you have to do that?”

“Don’t get it twisted. It’s not for Balak.”

“Then for whom?”

“It’s for me. To forget all the past ties and start anew.”

Ruby had come this far to kill her father. At first, she wanted to make him suffer through every pain in this world and was filled with the will to do so.

But then she realized that revenge wasn’t everything. She had to consider what came after. So after much thought, she chose to cleanly kill Balak.

“Revenge isn’t my life; it’s just something I had to do. So I won’t waste any more emotions on this.”

“Then this isn’t a funeral but a celebration!”

“A… celebration?”

“Of course! On the day you take revenge, you should feast on food and drink!”

Commander Yuren smiled and put her arm around Ruby. Ruby looked flustered, but she didn’t seem to dislike it. Soon, their eyes turned to me, and I smirked.

“It won’t hurt.”

“Then I’ll get ready right away!”

“Sounds good, really good! Today is a party!”

“Is that really okay? I mean, the mood and all…”

“No, it’s fine. On the contrary, it’s welcome.”

Since Ruby was saying that, there was no reason to decline for the sake of morale. Balak’s corpse went into the prepared furnace. I lifted my head.

Not a single person was silently mourning for Balak. He brought it upon himself. No matter how much one may fight for wealth and power, if you can’t even take care of your own family, the ending is obvious.

Balak’s headless corpse was engulfed in flames. Looking closely, it resembled a crow rather than an eagle. Ruby silently stared at the corpse in a daze.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Are you feeling so empty after finishing your revenge that you might jump into that fiery pit? Worried, I hurriedly asked Ruby. She smiled bitterly.

“I was thinking about the past.”

“The past?”

“When I first decided to kill that trash.”

“……”

“Honestly, I was scared. Of everything.”

For the first time, she had a person she hated. But that person was her own parent. How would a child who knew nothing feel when faced with such a horrifying truth?

I could hardly imagine. But Ruby managed to overcome that situation somehow. That’s why she made it this far. I patted her back.

“Good job, you did what you could.”

“Is that really true?”

“Of course. I can vouch for that.”

“Vouch… If someone else had said it, I would have been angry…”

“Hmm?”

“No! It’s nothing!”

Ruby briefly stammered but soon broke into a bright smile, shaking her head side to side. One thing was clear: the worries she had just a moment ago had vanished. What a relief.

With a smile, Ruby ran towards her comrades. I watched her from afar, then smirked and took a drink. It seemed things had resolved well enough.

Now, let’s see. The comrades’ darkness had been somewhat addressed, and they seemed to think of each other as comrades. Plus, support from other races had recovered by over 50%.

At this stage, it might be fine to hand over the command.

*

The power of the demons was immense. As a single race, they were nearly equal to the dragons. In fact, they were likely stronger in numbers.

But the problem was the confidence that stemmed from that overwhelming power. More directly speaking, it was hubris. They believed they were the strongest and that nothing could pose a challenge to them.

Naturally, they often underestimated their enemies. Typically, there were no issues due to their overwhelming strength. But the biggest problem arose when they met an opponent.

Unless the opponent was another demon, demons hardly acknowledged rivals. Was it due to pride? Or was it the survival instinct developed from childhood? I’m not sure.

Hubris and inattention are the worst companions that can turn a winnable war into defeat. Especially when it comes to the arrogant demons who currently acknowledge the Royal Knights as their only worthy rivals.

[We can’t drag this out any longer; let’s set a trap and lure them in.]

[What a joke! Let’s clash head-on in a fair fight!]

[Exactly, traps are for cowards!]

[So? What achievements have our great ones accomplished?]

Thanks to all this, the demons fought fiercely among themselves over the Royal Knights. Of course, if it weren’t for the Holy Kingdom’s barrier, the demons could have shown their true strength.

Due to the Holy Kingdom’s barrier, the demons couldn’t enter. The only option was to send out the monsters they had created for invasion.

In the midst of this, a strategy emerged to dig traps and lure out the Royal Knights. Half of the demons objected fiercely. Real victories were those earned through direct confrontation.

Conversely, many demons were also in favor. If they could somehow sweep away the Royal Knights, the already tenuous bonds in the continent would surely collapse into disarray.

Fortunately, there were informants within the Royal Knights. They also managed to place informants among other races. It was entirely plausible, and in fact, they successfully lured the Royal Knights out.

“The Royal Knights are definitely annihilated.”

“Yes, that’s right. We annihilated them ourselves.”

“There are survivors, but we didn’t think it would be a problem.”

“But… things are quite different now.”

Of course, the demons suffered considerable losses as well. Even though they had lured the Royal Knights into a trap, they had recognized them as true rivals. Naturally, this led to unimaginable losses.

Right away, many comrades fell in battle against the Royal Knights. Consequently, their power to intervene in the continent weakened. They needed significant time to recover.

So, they sent informants to sow discord and ultimately aimed to have them kill each other. And that plan was successful. At least for the early stages.

“Who the hell is that Hans guy?”

Hans, the man who took down all their informants and even killed the low-level demons they had unleashed. Where on earth did such an insane talent come from?

What’s worse, they received distressing news that he was rebuilding the Royal Knights. He had gathered the surviving members and even succeeded in recruiting the Guardian of the Forest.

Even more absurd was that in just one year, he stabilized relationships among the races that were on the brink, and he was on the verge of complete unity among the Royal Knights.

“Is that really important right now?”

“What do you mean?”

“The point is we need to act before the Royal Knights fully rebuild.”

“But I think they won’t budge an inch with low-level demons or blood demons.”

“Therefore, we must take matters into our own hands.”

Until now, they had no choice but to watch. After all, they had suffered serious injuries in battle with the Royal Knights. Currently, the number of demons they could mobilize was exceedingly low.

So, they attacked using informants and followers without stepping in personally. But they never expected the enemy to restore their strength so quickly. Therefore, they had to gather their forces.

“Fortunately, preparations are all complete.”

It wasn’t for nothing that they had empowered Balak. Balak had excellently fulfilled his role. He managed to reach the Royal Knights’ base without being detected thanks to his lack of presence.

And there, he met his end magnificently.

So now they would use that corpse as a sacrifice to march forward.

That was the reason they had granted Balak power.