Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

What was he going to give him?

Had he heard wrong?

When Su-ho narrowed his eyes and looked at him, Grid spoke evenly.

“Don’t make that face. You heard right.”

“Yeah. With my physical specs, there’s no way I misheard. But does that even make sense? I know you’re the Demon King, but how exactly are you going to give me the Demon Realm? Is the Demon Realm an object?”

“There is a way.”

“Don’t tell me you mean it in some abstract sense. Like, ‘I became the Demon King, king of this world, so the world is mine, and I’ll give you what’s mine,’ something like that...”

At Su-ho’s long-winded explanation, Grid looked at him as if he were pathetic.

“I am Greed. Do you really think someone whose possessiveness surpasses all others would play word games like that?”

“That’s exactly why... that’s exactly why this is even stranger.”

“If you’re curious, then win the war. You’ll naturally find out.”

“Can’t you just give it to me officially as some kind of quest? Documentation makes everything cleaner. You’re a Constellation. You can do at least that much, can’t you?”

“No. In any case, I’ve said my piece. If you win this war, I’ll give you the Demon Realm. Whether you believe me or not is up to you. If you’re curious, then win. Then you’ll obtain the Demon Realm.”

Faced with Grid’s firm attitude, Su-ho could not bring himself to add anything more.

Fine.

If he was the curious one, then he’d just have to dig the well himself.

“Fine, got it. But if this turns out to be a lie or some word game, you’d better know I won’t find it funny. You saw what happened to the Six Great Demons in the Demon King Palace, right?”

“Heh. Yes. I’m looking forward to it.”

There were now fewer than twenty hours left until Phaidiak was removed.

Su-ho gathered the Olympian gods in one place.

Then, after making detailed adjustments to each sector, he conducted one final review of the order in which everything would proceed once the war began.

Naturally, Su-ho took command at the front.

Because the only person who cared about the outcome of this war was Su-ho himself.

“All right, if everyone’s confirmed their assignments, to your positions!”

At Su-ho’s command, they all scattered in every direction.

Now all that remained was to execute the plan the moment Phaidiak was removed.

It was after several hours had passed like that.

Rumble— rumble— rumble— rumble—

The sound of the earth shaking came from somewhere.

An earthquake?

No.

This sound, beating with a certain regularity, was no earthquake.

As Su-ho listened closely, he heard Hermes’s voice transmission.

“Humans are coming.”

“Humans?”

All of a sudden?

At those words, he mounted Cheolma and flew up, only to see that a vast number of humans really were marching toward the Phaidiak where he stood.

Su-ho quickly called Grid and asked,

“What is this? What’s going on?”

“Curious?”

“Of course I’m curious. What kind of question is that?”

“If you’re curious, why not go check for yourself?”

“You’re in the mood for jokes right now? There’s less than half a day left until the East-West War breaks out.”

“Even so, go.”

“I don’t even know the language here.”

“When I’m here, why are you worried about that?”

Grid grinned.

Was he seriously in the mood to joke even in a situation like this?

But Grid seemed sincere. He jerked his chin toward the approaching crowd, and after glaring at him for a moment, Su-ho let out a sigh and went down alone.

When Su-ho landed in front of the man standing at the very front of the oncoming crowd, that man raised a fist and signaled for everyone to stop.

Their skin held a pale bluish-white tint, and their eyes were red.

After a brief moment of consideration, Su-ho asked politely,

“Who might you be?”

“And who might you be?”

The man’s reply.

Fortunately, they could communicate.

And since Su-ho had shown courtesy, the other man answered with courtesy as well.

But although his words were polite, he was plainly on guard against Su-ho.

Then suddenly a thought occurred to him.

“Are you people from the Demon Realm, by any chance?”

“People from the Demon Realm?”

At that phrase, the man who had answered furrowed his brow.

“Yes. We’re people of the Demon Realm. But you have a face I’ve never seen before. And yet you know what we are. So what are you? A monster? Or perhaps something related to a quest sent by the system?”

Only then did Su-ho understand why they had come here in a mass.

They were a volunteer army.

A volunteer army meant a force organized by civilians to save a nation or society in a moment of crisis.

In other words, these people had gathered with one heart and one mind to protect the Eastern Demon Realm, their world, in anticipation of Phaidiak’s imminent disappearance.

And at the same time, he understood why Grid had smiled.

Because to someone who loved the Demon Realm, a volunteer army was something deeply lovable.

‘And he probably knew exactly what I’d do once I realized who they were.’

When Su-ho lifted his head and looked toward where Grid was, Grid—hidden so that only Su-ho could see him—curled the corner of his mouth upward in a grin.

Su-ho lowered his gaze again and spoke to the man who appeared to be the volunteer army’s leader.

“My name is An Su-ho. I’m also an otherworlder.”

“An otherworlder?”

“Yes. I’m a person from another world, so naturally I’m an otherworlder. But more precisely, I am also the Demon King’s sole deputy and Incarnation.”

“The Demon King’s Incarnation?”

The Demon King’s Incarnation!

That name carried enormous weight to the people of the Demon Realm.

To them, the existence of the Demon King was quite literally something beyond myth itself.

Maybe that was why.

The man’s brow furrowed again.

“And how are we supposed to believe that?”

“Whether you believe it or not is your freedom. But as the Demon King’s Incarnation, I’ve already finished preparing for the East-West War in anticipation of Phaidiak’s disappearance.”

“What?”

The man’s eyes widened again.

Naturally, there was no helping his shock.

After all, this otherworlder—someone {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} he had never met before, and not even a native of the Demon Realm—was not only claiming to be the Demon King’s Incarnation, but had also prepared for the East-West War faster than anyone in the Demon Realm itself.

And more importantly, this volunteer army they had organized was, unfortunately, not something the entire Eastern Demon Realm had come together to form.

Just as all people had their own thoughts and individuality, some had chosen flight, while others, unable to endure their fear, had already given up on everything.

So only those who had resolved to fight to the end to protect their world had gathered into this volunteer army and marched here.

That included both the Awakened and the non-Awakened alike.

In that sense, the man standing at the very front and speaking with Su-ho was, just as Su-ho had guessed, the leader of the volunteer army of the Eastern Demon Realm.

More precisely, he was both the leader of the volunteer army and the greatest and strongest Player in the Eastern Demon Realm—

Leihian.

Leihian frowned and asked,

“And you expect us to believe that? Is war some kind of joke? How can you be so sure you’ve prepared for a war of this scale all by yourself?”

“And what about you?”

“Pardon?”

“Judging by the numbers, it looks like you gathered quite a lot. But do you really think an organization thrown together in less than a day can win a war?”

“Then are we supposed to just stand by and watch?”

He glared at Su-ho with a piercing gaze as he spoke.

“Thrown together or not, are you telling us to sit on our hands and give up? Because there’s no hope anyway? Is that what you’re trying to say right now?”

“Who told you to give up?”

“What?”

“You were the one who asked first. Whether I can handle this war alone. Yeah, I can. That’s why I came all the way to another world and am standing here doing this. But what exactly set you off like this all of a sudden? And for the record, you’re the one who dropped the honorifics first.”

At the suddenly sharpened atmosphere, Leihian’s expression twisted.

It was true that Leihian had been the first to grow angry and abandon formal speech, but he had still been overwhelmed by the force of Su-ho’s very presence.

When Leihian’s momentum faltered, Su-ho smiled again to ease the mood.

“Let’s start by introducing ourselves properly. I gave my name, but you never even told me yours. What kind of nonsense is that?”

“...I’m Leihian.”

“Leihian? That’s a pretty distinctive name. Is that how people in the Demon Realm name themselves? All right, Hian. Since we’re speaking casually now, I’ll just talk comfortably too. Judging by the way you’re standing, you seem to be the leader here, right?”

Leihian’s brow furrowed once more at the tone that had changed in an instant.

Still, silence was golden—and in this case, it was agreement.

Su-ho smiled and continued,

“I don’t think badly of you people. At a moment when the fate of your world is hanging in the balance, you didn’t run and you didn’t give up. You gathered here because you still wanted to fight for your world to the very end, right? That alone already makes me think very highly of your resolve. I can tell even from the mix of presences here. There are definitely a lot of non-Awakened among you too, aren’t there?”

Leihian still did not answer.

But Su-ho continued as if it didn’t matter.

“The fact that you’re the leader of this volunteer army means you’re the strongest Player here. Then you should understand better than anyone that in a Great Cataclysm where the system is involved, there are many things that can’t be solved through willpower and determination alone.”

“So what exactly are you trying to say? Get to the point.”

“I already told you. As the Demon King’s Incarnation, I’ve already finished preparing for this war to protect the Demon Realm. You still don’t get what that means? It means I can handle this war alone, but even if all of you joined forces, you still wouldn’t be able to stop this sudden disaster. You don’t believe me, right? What level are you, by the way?”

“Why are you asking my level?”

“I’m 335.”

“...!”

“Judging by that look, I can pretty much tell. Lower than mine, right? And by a lot. Maybe 335 is a number you’ve never even heard before. Then doesn’t that settle it? A strange being you’ve never seen before suddenly shows up and says he prepared for war for the sake of your world. Ah, of course, it’s not because some special quest popped up and sent me here. And it’s not pure goodwill either. You could say the timing just happened to line up. I’ve got my own purpose here too. A very important one. But setting all that aside, I also came because my partner, the Demon King, asked me to.”

Su-ho smiled as he continued.

“So let’s keep it simple. I was going to prepare for this war alone anyway. Even if you don’t help, I’m fully confident. And no, I’m not just trying to look cool to put your minds at ease. Like I said before, I have my own purpose here. So if your help is only going to amount to not much either way, then just rest for one turn and wait. If, by some chance, I get defeated and collapse, it still won’t be too late for you to jump in then, will it?”

Su-ho stepped aside and cleared the way.

“Of course, it’s also your freedom to watch. No matter how much I try to stop you here, how could I forcefully stop people determined to go anyway? So go see for yourselves. See what preparations I made here. And see how I deal with the bastards from the Western Demon Realm. But I won’t take responsibility if you get caught up in some accident while watching and die.”

Having said his piece, Su-ho climbed onto Cheolma and added,

“I think I’ve said everything I needed to say. I’ve given enough advice and enough warning. So decide for yourselves. Whatever I say, it looks like your leader’s words will carry more weight with everyone here anyway. So think it over carefully and pass it along. I need to wait for the war to begin.”

With that light farewell, Su-ho rode Cheolma and soared back into the air.

Soon afterward, the vice-commander of the Demon Realm Players, ranked second in the Demon Realm and Leihian’s adjutant, asked him,

“What do we do?”

At that question, Leihian thought for a long while before answering.

“We...”

Leihian’s answer.

And a little while later, at last, a system notification appeared before everyone’s eyes.

[Phaidiak is being removed.]