This place was the headquarters of the Demon Sect, the Thousand Mountain Range.

Among them, the building where the sect leader of the Demon Sect resided was called the Heavenly Demon Palace.

And at the moment, in that Heavenly Demon Palace…

Boom!

A black lightning suddenly erupted, shattering a large table into pieces.

“Huh!”

“Sect leader?”

The people who were sitting across from each other in the conference room were startled and quickly got up from their seats.

A large round table that could seat at least fifty people was burned by the lightning and emitted a foul smell.

“…”

The sect leader of the Demon Sect, whose face was hidden behind a veil, was silent, but his whole body was emitting a suffocating aura of demonic energy.

It was rare for the sect leader to be in such a bad mood.

A moment later, a middle-aged man with a clear and elegant appearance and a black beard that reached his chest opened his mouth cautiously.

“Sect leader… please explain.”

His name was Sa Yeo-han.

He was ranked fourth in the Demon Sect and was in charge of the military affairs.

He looked like a weak scholar, but he had sacrificed hundreds of experts from the Righteous Alliance with his vicious schemes.

He was called the Demon Brain by the Righteous Alliance and feared by them.

Of course, he had a lot of trust from the sect leader, so if he didn’t step forward in this situation, no one else would dare to speak.

“The ones we sent to the Imperial Palace were annihilated.”

“…!?”

“Huh?”

The sect leader’s answer was brief, but everyone in the room looked at him with shocked eyes.

If it wasn’t for the sect leader who said it, they would have thought it was a joke.

“Unbelievable. Weren’t there experts from the White Sword Demon Association, including Geum Jong-oh among them?”

“But it’s true.”

The sect leader had calmed down his anger and answered with a calm voice.

Only then did Sa Yeo-han and the others nod their heads with heavy expressions.

“To think that our secret weapon, No. 2, would be wiped out…”

“I didn’t expect that the Righteous Alliance would have such strength.”

Then someone sighed as they looked at the leaders of the Demon Sect.

“That’s not the problem.”

“…!?”

The one who said that was Sa Yeo-han, the military officer.

He turned his gaze to the sect leader and opened his mouth again.

“If we failed at the Imperial Palace, then our plan must have been exposed by now.”

“That’s right. The military officer is indeed sharp.”

The sect leader seemed to like Sa Yeo-han’s insight and answered with a softer tone than before. But his expression was serious.

‘Now that our involvement in the Imperial Palace is known, there is only one outcome.’

That was war.

The Demon Sect had not only made enemies with their arch-rivals, the Righteous Alliance, but also with the sole nation of the Eastern Continent, the Hwan Empire.

They had literally turned the entire Eastern Continent into their enemy!

“We have to speed up our preparations. We could have taken over the Eastern Continent in one go, but there’s no choice now that it’s come to this.”

“Hmm?”

The sect leader’s eyes flashed.

This meant that he was going to execute his plan to take over the Eastern Continent right away.

“Are you confident?”

“Of course.”

Sa Yeo-han nodded his head firmly and lowered it slightly.

“But it’s a shame that our spies in the Righteous Alliance and the Imperial Palace were exposed. It was a really costly mistake.”

If everything went according to plan, they would have used the Imperial Palace to cause chaos among the Righteous Alliance and other forces, and inflicted huge damage on them before taking over the Eastern Continent easily.

‘I can’t believe that my plan that I’ve been working on for over ten years failed! There can’t be any more mistakes like this!’

But the sect leader had a slightly different thought.“It might not be a mistake.”

“…!?”

“Didn’t you hear what the player said? Coincidence becomes inevitability when it repeats itself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lately, our plans have been failing unprecedentedly.”

“I apologize.”

“I’m not blaming you.”

The sect leader stopped Sa Yeo-han who was about to bow his head deeply.

His eyes hidden behind the veil sparkled again.

“Have you ever thought that there is always someone involved in our failures?”

“…!?”

***

Meanwhile, Eurius, who had entered the Righteous Alliance, went to see Je Gal Se first.

He had some news that he couldn’t hear while he was in the Imperial Palace.

“I’m glad you’re safe. It seems like you’ve done something big again.”

Jegal Un Hyun greeted him with a bright smile.

Eurius answered briefly and told him his purpose.

“You are all safe and sound, that’s a relief. Did you solve the problem I asked you before?”

“Of course, we have investigated it.”

A young man in a military uniform came out from behind.

He was Jegal Seung-woon, the chief of the Jade Moon Sect.

It was his duty to answer this question.

“Are you talking about the two people you mentioned?”

“Yes.”

What Eurius was most curious about right now was the two people who parted ways. Nuada and Heinz.

They were both outstanding warriors, so they had a high chance of being alive, but their whereabouts were still mysterious.

“As you ordered, we collected information on anyone with unusual features around the coast where you drifted.”

“So, did you find anything?”

Eurius was somewhat anxious.

If they couldn’t find them with the information power of Jade Moon Sect (Hyunwoljeon), their chances of survival would be significantly reduced.

“To put it briefly, we found people who are suspected to be them.”

“Hmm?”

Eurius tilted his head.

If they were them, they were them.

What did he mean by suspected?

“Hehe! That’s what I mean…”

“…!?”

Jegal Seung-woon suddenly burst into laughter.

***

For nearly two hundred years, the Righteous and the Magi had been enemies of enemies.

They were so hostile to each other that they almost had a large-scale clash every twenty or thirty years.

The martial arts world called this large-scale clash between the two sides.

[Righteous-Magi War]

And now, the Righteous Alliance was preparing for the seventh Righteous-Magi War.

Of course, this seventh war was different from the previous ones in terms of scale.

Buzzing.

The factions that rushed to the Righteous Alliance’s call looked at the list of leaders posted on the wall and murmured.

“It’s understandable that traditional prestigious factions like Odaesega or Shaolin are there, but what about these people?”

“The royal army and the army from the Western Continent?”

“There’s also news that the Alliance has formed a special unit called Cheokmadan. The royal support is focused there.”

“The royal family is involved in the martial arts world, which is surprising enough, but the Western Continent? I wonder if the command system will work properly.”

“That’s right. I’m sure the high-ranking people know what they’re doing, but it looks like they have three heads. They might compete for credit with each other.”

“Hey! Do you think the leaders are so incompetent? They must have arranged it reasonably.”

The martial artists who gathered in the Righteous Alliance had different opinions, but there was one thing they all agreed on.‘Maybe this time we can finally root out the Magi!’

As they thought, the scale of the forces gathered for the seventh Righteous-Magi War was unprecedented.

They had the support of the royal palace, and according to rumors, there were many formidable experts among the Westerners.

Considering that it had been a war between only the Righteous Alliance and the Magi until then, it could be said that the game had become much bigger.

And if the body grew bigger, it was natural to arrange a command system that suited it!

Eurius summoned people for that purpose.

“I greet Cheokmadanju!”

“I greet Daehyeop!”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you all. Sit down first.”

He nodded his head and looked at their faces in the conference room.

First of all, on his right were those who followed Eurius from the Western Continent.

The knights of Sharnos Knight Order, including Beatrice, Heinz and others! And there were also officers of the Empire’s First Fleet, including Admiral Cornel.

And on his left were the existing figures of the Righteous Alliance. There were representatives of Odaesega, including Jegal Sae-ga, and other prestigious Righteous factions.

“…”

The Westerners were all those who followed Eurius’s name, so they sat with a calm expression. But the atmosphere on the side of the Righteous Alliance’s leaders was quite different.

‘Ahem…’

‘I trust Daehyeop, but he may not know well about the martial arts world’s nature. What if there is a conflict between them?’

They were either uncomfortable or had some small worries.

This was a concern about the command system.

[Non-interference between civil and military affairs]

No matter how Eurius received the royal order and legally obtained the command of the Righteous Alliance, there was a fundamental difference between martial artists and soldiers.

Of course, they couldn’t ignore Eurius, who was Lee Cheong-mun’s disciple and received royal favor, but the number of experts gathered in the Righteous Alliance was unprecedented since its establishment.

‘Maybe we can finally subjugate the Magi this time!’

There was also this expectation psychology that made their morale sky-high. Some of them already thought that subjugating the Magi was like taking something out of their pocket.

What the leaders of the Righteous Alliance, including Namgoong Il-cheon, were worried about was this point.

‘Each faction will try to take the lead in order to gain credit, but I don’t know how Daehyeop Eurius, who doesn’t know much about the martial arts world, will solve this.’

If Eurius arranged it arbitrarily, the factions that were excluded or pushed back from the places where they could gain credit would harbor resentment against the Righteous Alliance.

This was a problem that was directly related to the morale of the entire forces gathered in the Righteous Alliance.

“The reason I called you here is because of the formation.”

But Eurius’s solution was surprisingly simple.

“I will divide Cheokmadan into two groups.”

“What?”

“It means exactly what it sounds like. I will command the Westerners myself, and the Easterners and the royal army will be arranged by the Righteous Alliance through a meeting.”

“Huh…”

The experts of the Righteous Alliance looked at Eurius with a surprised look.

He was practically given all the authority over the Magi subjugation by the emperor’s order.

But he didn’t use that power as he pleased, and said he would only directly command the Westerners who followed him.

Eurius began to explain slowly, as if to clear their doubts.

“As you all know, I still don’t know much about the martial arts world and the Eastern Continent. If I interfere with the formation every day, it will only cause confusion.”

“…”

He smiled in front of the silent leaders of the Righteous Alliance.

“Wouldn’t that be better for you to gain credit? The Westerners, including me, are here to subjugate the Magi, not to gain credit.”

Boom!

The leaders were all shocked by his words. Namgoong Il-cheon opened his mouth with a surprised expression.

“Daehyeop, do you mean?”

Eurius spoke again with a nonchalant expression.

“Didn’t I say I would split them into two? I and my followers will mainly play the role of support. It’s only natural that you, who know more about the Eastern Continent, take on the central role.”

This was tantamount to saying that he would give all the credit to the Righteous Alliance. Not to mention that he respected them without breaking the existing command system.

“I thank you for your generosity, Daehyeop.”

The leaders all exclaimed and sent admiring glances at Eurius.

‘Huh… Maybe I misunderstood him. He really doesn’t seem to have any interest other than subjugating the Magi.’

‘This way, I have less chance of not getting any credit!’

Even those who had not very good feelings toward Eurius were overjoyed by his words of giving them credit.

Seeing them relieved, Eurius smiled inwardly.

‘This way, I can reduce the backlash from the martial artists who are commanded by a stranger!’

Now they would obediently follow Eurius’s words even if they were greedy for credit. It was time for the next step.

“Then I will move on to the next agenda on the formation.”