Inside a chaotic yet cheerful tavern.
"Have you heard about the ongoing secret war between the Silverback Gorillas and the Church of Goddess Ignia?" One adventurer asked the person before him.
"Of course I did. It is the talk of the tow- Oh, sorry, the kingdom's now."
"Brother, can you tell why they went to war all of a sudden? I thought the beasts should never go into conflict with humans."
"Huh~ it looks like you are a new adventurer. So, I won't tell you everything, but remember this: the usage of beast blood for your own benefit is strictly prohibited."
That young adventurer got a bit nervous, seeing the brother before him warn him with stern eyes. So, he curved those words in his mind and silently chugged down the beer in his hand.
Commoners and young adventurers might not know or they were refrained from informing others about this stuff. Because when someone gets to know about something, even if it is the worst thing possible, it might sow a seed of curiosity to give this unknown a try or see it with their own eyes.
Humans and demons were arch enemies of each other, as was their blood. If one wanted to use others' blood to strengthen themselves, they would fail miserably. However, there was one exception, and it was the blood of beasts.
Beast blood does not contradict with either human or demon blood. So, in ancient times, humans and demons of all kinds used the beasts as much as they liked to make themselves stronger. However, in doing so, the beast race was almost about to get completely wiped out.
They begged everyone to let them go and have their own freedom, but no one agreed; no one looked at them with kind eyes, not even the gods. Beasts were left in hopelessness as they could see themselves going extinct. So they waged an all-out war, not caring about the casualties. If they would disappear from this world, then they would at least go out in glory. They didn't want the future world to know them as livestock.
Humans and demons were left speechless, as they didn't know what to do in this scenario. They might win with their overwhelming number, but the casualties they would have would be enormous, which is what the demons were also thinking about.
Eventually, to stop this madness, Goddess Ignia descended down onto the world, quelling the angry world to peace. She was the one in charge of maintaining balance in this world. She couldn't let a race completely disappear from this world, or it would bring chaos to the world.
However, Ignia only banned using the blood to strengthen your own, as it would delude the blood and give you an advantage over others. But they could use other parts for anything, such as making weapons, for example.
No one disagreed with her either, as killing others was the norm; every race killed other races; even in-killing happens. Because only the words of the strong were the rule.
So, to think the Church of Goddess Ignia would be the one to break this taboo was mind-boggling to many.
…
Near Migotanie City, the forest stretched toward the horizon.
"From here on, I grant you to be the fourth general under this lord." Benimaru spoke with a hoarse yet dignified tone as he pulled his hand back. He looked down, watching Belal gulp down his condensed blood essence.
They were inside the castle, in the throne room, without any brilliance around them. Behind Benimaru were his other generals, who were watching the ceremony calmly, as was the entire demon army behind Belal.
Bailey and Tanaka watched calmly, not worrying about the future, as they would follow whatever path Belal took.
Unlike Ragnar and Fiain, who had extreme reactions, Belal was kneeling quietly, just like Ravenna. But there was an invisible improvement happening inside Belal's body, which Benimaru and his generals could see.
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm "Now, you may stand." However, Benimaru didn't care about it and instead began to close the ceremony.
Belal stood up and stared into Benimaru's eyes. He saw him smiling and signaling with his eyes to move behind him and stand with other generals.
Belal immediately followed his orders and went to Benimaru's right, standing with Ravenna. On Benimaru's left were the other two, Ragnar and Fiain.
After Belal stood in his position, Benimaru spoke to the other demons below him. "Are you all jealous? Do you also want to get this lord's blessing and climb up the ranks?"
The demons nodded their heads eagerly, greed flashing before their eyes.
A smirk grew on Benimaru's face, satisfied with the response. It meant one thing for him now: the demons would work much harder. But, this wasn't enough, Benimaru wanted to give them more to have this yearning engraved in their hearts. "My soldiers! I believe you can also reach this height, do not get worried about your limited potential."
"You see the two generals on my right? You have seen their strengths?"
How could they not? Fiain and Ragnar were their main goals to achieve, as they had the most contact with them. They had seen how strong and awesome they were in their eyes. Especially Ragnar, who had garnered a fanbase who would do anything to join his camp. Only Belal was close to that level of popularity.
"Then let me tell you something. They were once meatscrapers, just like many of my soldiers below."
This information shocked many, especially the meatscrapers. Only the original ones, who were in the same batch as Ragnar and Fiain, had calm expressions.
"They were also like you, but their bravery and will had made me grant them my blood, leading them to this evolution. So, work diligently, because everyone's future is limitless!" Benimaru's voice peaked, echoing throughout the room. However, what Benimaru said was something even he doubted, as he was not sure if his blood essence was capable of it, but he was sure of one thing—it would increase anyone's strength gradually.
"GRAAAA!!!"
"KRIII!!!"
"ARRRRGGG!!"
All the demons yelled in enthusiasm as they were filled with energy to do anything now.
Benimaru nodded his head in satisfaction before saying. "Now, dismiss. I hope you guys return with good results."
After bowing to Benimaru, they left the castle and went onto the work on their hands. Only Bailey and Tanaka didn't leave, they were waiting for Belal.
Benimaru glanced at them, then headed toward his throne, not minding their presence.
Sitting on his throne, Benimaru asked. "So, do you have anything to report today?"
"Yes, my lord." Ragnar was the first one to speak. "The Tier 1 demon baron on the north of our border is acting up all of a sudden. Some of our spies say he is arming up his soldiers and stationing them near our borders."
"Oh.. that guy is again trying to do something even after getting our warning." Benimaru pondered for a bit before calmly saying. "Eliminate him or try to see if he wants to join us."
"As you wish, my lord." Ragnar bowed a little, as he couldn't stop his itchy hands.
"Lord," The next one was Ravenna, who didn't call him directly by his name. She has grown up and knew she could let their personal lives step into the actual workplace. "I have successfully concocted the Three Stipe Tiger Pill."
A smile grew on Benimaru's face as he started to dream of monopolizing the entire alchemy market. So he bought every pill-concocting technique and gave it to Ravenna to learn. By doing so, he could produce them in mass amounts in these five years of peacetime. However, the problem of no manpower still remained, as it was extremely hard to find demons with as high intelligence as Ravenna.
'I should send more expeditions to search for demons with high-ranking bloodlines.' Benimaru pondered while Fiain spoke of what she knew of.
"Lord, we have some bad news. Paladin Warriors from the Church of Goddess Ignia have arrived in the city." Fiain spoke with a cold face. However, her words made others' faces turn grim.
This past six months, after the burial of Arash, Benimaru had reached a new height in strength, unlocking another level of the shop. First, he bought all the books related to the world because Benimaru believed that the more he knew about this world, the better his chance of success. This time, he had made a library, storing all of these books and encouraging his generals and enough sentience commanders under them to read them.
This batch of books has greater knowledge and some secrets than the past ones, so everyone who had spent time in the library knew what this meant.
"They are finally here to exterminate us and Belal. They want to take revenge and improve their public image through Belal. These hypocrites! They should be worried about handling the Silverback Gorillas." Letting out his annoyance a little, Benimaru asked. "How good is their strength?"
Fiain had better vision and great speed, so he gave her the spy department. While Ragnar took the military side, so did Belal too.
Fiain pondered for a bit before answering. "Lord, we have only seen four people, but there may be more. From what I could sense, it seems they are stronger than us but that doesn't mean they are unbeatable. It's just…"
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