The fight in the eternal Battlefield lasted only an instant but it would forever live in the mind of those who witnessed this incredible feat.

Even now, records of what happened were being sent everywhere. After all, the fight between two countries was always of interest for the rest of the world. Even more so when it came to the birth of a new legend.

After putting down the two sages and making sure they were unable to fight, Lilin proceeded in systematically killing all those who were loyal to Lupus as listed by Camelia and the Crown's shadow.

Alongside her band of knight, they bathed in the blood of their enemies, uncaring about their pain and cries for surrender.

Like a demon, Lilin made blood flow everywhere, giving the impression that rivers of blood were flowing.

In nothing but a short day, the news was already all over the world and citizens of Lustburg were cheering once again.

Thus was born the legendary Sword Demon.

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Somewhere in Wratharis, a small gathering was happening, as four people stood all around each other, drinking and generally just talking quietly.

It was hard to call this a party. But there was undoubtedly a courant of warmth and joy in the atmosphere.

At least this was so until the fifth person entered with rather shocking news.

“Jialong and Camel lost.”

Silence fell at the shocking statement. they were able to relax only when they realized that the word ‘lost’ was used rather than ‘killed.’

There was nothing wrong with losing, every one of them in this room had lost an unknown number of times as they searched for greater height.

“Oh? The geezer lost? How many fought against them? Did a King move?”

Even so, it was very surprising for the two of them to lose like this. Neither Camel nor Jianglong were the strongest in their groups even when taking Wukong outside of the rankingt as they always did.

But at their current level, the level of power between each of them was not particularly obvious.

In their opinion, if a King didn’t take action, most likely a few hidden Dukes from Lustburg must have launched a sneak attack. This was the only actual logical way in their mind.

Sadly — This train of thought was dashed once again.

“There was only one person.”

“...”

“Seriously? They lost one after another against the same person?”

“...They lost at the same time.”

“Huh…?”

“Seriously?”

“Damn.”

They all whistled in surprise, this was big news alright. Losing two vs one means that the one who fought them was a Duke who was very close to the level of King.

Perhaps a Duke who already knew their true name and was simply waiting for ascension or a better name. Such a thing was not rare, in fact, the two strongest of their group, the Bull King and the Lion King were in the same situation. They could have jumped to the level of King long ago but they knew that if they did, this would be all. Their chance of becoming a Demigod would be extremely low.

This was not what they wanted and there was no way they would settle for something average.

“Is there still a Duke who is strong enough to win against us in the mortal realm outside of the witches?”

“Who is the one who beat them?”

This was not arrogance on their part. They had truly wreaked havoc all over this world from high to low and even middle. They fought against both devils and angels, and even the elves were not ignored.

Sometimes they won, sometimes they lost but in the end, they always won more than they lost until no one dared to even challenge them.

They were the uncontested strongest in Wratharis and could have all had their clans if they wished.

“Hum… The one who took them down. Well, it’s slightly ironic when you think of this but it’s Lilin Luxuria, daughter of Lilith Luxuria. They call her — The Sword Demon.”

They understood why they mentioned the irony and they all looked at Sun Wukong who was quietly sipping his monkey wine.

The reason both Camel and Jialong went to the war was to make Lilith move faster and appear on the battlefield. But it seemed like the job had been done in a way they did not expect.

“Should we move? Our reputation will be severely affected after this. Will it affect you negatively?”

Sun Wukong who had been mostly silent up to now shook his head and smiled,

“We have never cared about reputation until now. Even if I do need Faith now there is no need to worry about the so-called reputation. This is nothing but an illusory cloud.”

He stood up and continued,” As for Jialong and Camel, don’t worry about them. They will not die. You should all know what is the reality of this war.”

Lion and Bull grimaced, they of course knew that this whole war was a sham. Rather than a sham, it was mostly just a play with many actors and Wratharis King playing the role of the clown.

But it felt like shit. While many of them were not born on Wratharis and lived years before in the Astral realm, this did not diminish the love they started to have for this world in any way.

They lived in this place for years, made friends, some even made families, and all of them came to love this kingdom as their own.

“Big brother, I still do not understand why you are participating in this farce. You should be flying up by now and establishing your force in the Astral realm. This is all we are waiting for.”

Demigods were the true powerhouse of the Astral realm and demigods like Wukong who ascended from the mortal realm were considered to be at a completely different level.

In the future, when they mentioned Wukong, he would be put at the same level as the three monsters who rose to fame millennia ago.

Compared to all that, fights in the mortal realm were nothing but child play.

***

Sun Wukong did not mind the words coming from the man he considered a brother. He knew very well that this was done because they cared.

The legend and reputation one gathered were very important. This was a form of Karma, a weight that brought many benefits when one became a demigod and was to build his or her territory.

“I know what I am doing.”

He waved his hand dismissively but his eyes were serious as he gazed at everyone in the room, “Currently, the mortal realm is in the middle of a giant whirlpool. I can feel that at this rate, the world will change, and not necessarily for the better. Either way, a new era of strife is close upon us, and monsters who have stayed inactive up to now we'll all wake up in unison to fight for godhood.

“So, we need to fight together, my dear brothers and sisters.”

This era would be his most loved one. He was truly happy to be born in such a troubled time.

The more he spoke, the more excited he seemed to be, even though his stoic face barely changed, the pressure he was bridging on continued to rise.

“Do you understand, my dear siblings? A great era is upon us. Many will rise, and many others will fall. So all of you need to grow. Grow up even faster. Because when I stand at the top and look behind, I do not wish to not even be able to see your silhouette.”

The Bull King laughed out loud as he punched Sun Wukong in the chest,

“Look at this bastard. Who says you will have to look behind to find us? Hahaha. When you reach the top, we will be right there beside you. I think I will be right in front.”

They all laughed, stopping worrying about their two siblings who had been captured. At worst, they will lose a few limbs.

It did not matter, as long as they were alive, there would be a way to heal them. So all they had to do was focus on themselves.

“So. Do we still participate?”

“No. Kun Peng, you go to the main battlefield. You are the fastest out of us. I want you to face the princess and see what she is made of. The others stay in retreat.”

One of the reasons Sun Wukong’s group was so respected in Wratharis was their strength. But another reason was much more insidious.

“Do I engage in a fight with her?”

Wukong was not worried. Kun Peng, the Great sage throwing Heaven in confusion was undoubtedly the fastest out of them all. Even Sun Wukong could barely beat him in terms of speed with his Somersault Cloud at the same level of power.

“Do as you like. Avoid any fight to the death if possible though.”

“Heh. I guess I will have some fun. Been a while since I fought a Blessed.”

The Pen King grinned. He was the youngest of the group but he was also the most mischievous. Rather than fighting itself, there was nothing he liked more than teasing people with his superior speed.

“Do not underestimate her. She is a Blessed. You know very well how tricky they can be when they start going at it.”

“Haha. Don’t worry. I will simply teach the princess a lesson. Just to avoid letting her new power go to her head. You know how stupid Blessed can be sometimes. Gotta teach them fast.”

Kun Peng did not wait for any more words and immediately left the house, excited to go fight after a long while.

As for any divine punishment? He was not worried in the slightest.

No matter how much they identified themselves with Wratharis —- They were not part of this country. They were not Beastmen.

Meaning…They were not restricted by the Blessings.

Watching Kun Peng vanish in the distance, the Bull King asked quietly to Sun Wukong

“Will that stupid dog not complain?”

“He is still my king, you know?”

“He is no king of mine.”

Bull simply shrugged and asked again, “So?”

“Of course, he will complain. That man can do nothing else but reject the fault of failure onto other people. Though in this case, I guess he would be right.”

Sun Wukong had no particular feelings for the King. Be it this one or the previous one. In the end, this kind of thing did not matter to him and he would rather spend his time having fun by fighting and training than focus on a useless war of succession.

Even so, he had to admit that Lupus had a very special way of making him very angry sometimes and he had to fight the urge to simply crush that bastard and would have done so already if he wasn’t worried about the blessing.

Weirdly, he was considered part of Wratharis. So he was still affected.

“Well. I guess it’s time to train.”

The only woman left out of the seven sage clapped her hand, making all the tea seats vanish. It was time for them to fight, this fight would be different from everything they had until now and so they would train.

—-

[Main Battlefront]

In the main battlefront, there was no interference from other countries such as Souther Pride and Envilya.

This place was the direct place where Lustburg and Wratharis shared a border. This was the Silk Road so to speak; a very strategic and important point that no side wanted to concede on.

This was also the place where there was the highest concentration of soldiers from the two countries.

Unlike the Eternal Battlefield where even Ruffian ran rampant and mercenaries were accepted, in this place, only discipline was to be respected. The higher-ups were all soldiers related to the Highland in one way or another, bringing the necessary order.

Athena and Ares, using their talents, were able to push back the enemy many times even though they had a clear advantage over them. They were already well respected in this place, Athena more so than Ares. But this was inevitable.

Even though she was not a Duke, Athena could already summon a power equivalent to that of a zone, covering a great part of the battlefield and saving many soldiers with her power.

In hushed tone, some called her already a goddess of war, and the less daring called her princess one could say that this place was where all the loyalists of the crown were.

‘This is why this is all the more awkward.’

Lustburg was a Melting pot of a nation and even now, people of other races have reached higher positions.

—But…They never dealt with a bonafide Blessed.

This was a completely different matter and the fact that she was somehow the Prince’s fiancee made everything harder.

In this place —Setsuna was slowly isolated.

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Standing on a field, looking at the soldier going through a drill while clad in armor showed how much freedom they had currently.

Setsua admired this while holding a report about Lilin's grand display of power.

She was quite jealous. After all, unlike her, Lilin was already making her proof to the world;

‘It’s time for me to act.’

She just needed a reason.