As many might have expected —Lupus Ira was not laughing.

He had been receiving a series of bad news one after another and he could see the flow of the battlefield.

The new machines introduced by Lustburg were literal machines of death and destruction and the only reason casualties were not higher was because those so-called Rangers would always give an ultimatum before attacking and would respect their words.

At first, only a few people took the offer but as the war advanced, more and more soldiers were starting to follow the trend.

The reports he received showed that the different cities that were attacked would simply surrender and Lustburg would also treat them well.

Setsuna even appeared on many fronts to show herself and appease the people while the Holy Daughter of Luxuria would take care of any wounded no matter how deep their wounds were.

The tigers clan that had remained in Wratharis capital had mysteriously vanished and now the Tiger Lord was one of the staunchest and loudest supporters of his niece, giving even more weight to her words and title.

They were giving up.

Everyone was giving up.

Sitting on his throne, Lupus quietly observed the opulence of this room. His face was calm, his eyes calculating.

He had already been screaming and shouting too much the last few days and for the first time in his life, wrath did not cloud his mind.

Nearly no servants were left in the Castle as many had fled as well and even his most loyal servants were looking at him with complicated expressions.

Lupus did not stop them. Killing more servants now would only increase the riots.

Lustburg hadn't even reached the gate of Wratharis but already his kingdom seemed ready to implode. All it needed was just a little more push.

But he could see that someone was manipulating things from the inside.

A traitor. Someone high-ranked. He even had an inkling of who it could be.

Lupus sighed. The situation around him was clear.

The soldiers were deserting.

The servants were fleeing.

The citizens were rioting.

He…was losing or maybe he already lost.

How many more plans did Lustburg have?

Did they activate all the rangers they had at their disposal?

How long could he still hold on?

All those questions swam into the depths of Lupus’s mind, but no answer came.

Retracing everything from the beginning, he realized that all of this started on that night.

The Saint Fall. The moment when his pride and arrogance rose to the maximum as he thought he had a chance to take down the legendary Lustburg.

Back then, he still had a chance to stop. The worst had yet to come.

His mistake was in insisting on continuing the war even after realizing that the Supreme Daughter of Luxuria had never lost her power and this was nothing more than a ploy.

“Heh…” Lupus laughed quietly, realizing once again that he had been played from the start and he had nothing but himself to blame for this situation.

“I will not give up,” Lupus spoke quietly as he stood up from his throne. Walking in the silent and uselessly large throne room For the first time, Lupus realized one fact.

He was all alone.

Because of his fear of giving birth to a new Blessed he never had children.

Because of his murderous rage, he had no close friends or advisors.

He killed the only family he had with his hand.

“Do you regret it?”

Lupus stopped and looked behind him, only to see a man wearing a monocle.

Instantly the world seemed to buzz for an instant as if reality was being affected and Lupus wobbled slightly while memories rushed into his mind.

“You…”

He looked at the intruder with surprise and anger while light started manifesting in his hand.

“I would not do that if I was you. Your divine weapon is certainly powerful but would it not be a shame to use it against me now? After all that sacrifice?”

Lupus gritted his teeth, knowing fully well that the man was right.

Divine weapons were not things that could be used so easily. Unless the person holding them was a demigod, the price he had to pay for each use was tremendous.

“Are you here to mock me again?”

Eins smiled quietly as he adjusted his monocle. “Perish the thought. Why would I mock you when Fate itself is already doing so? Kicking a man while he is down is in no way entertaining.”

His words may have been polite but the twinkle in his eyes made his thoughts evident.

Clearly, in the mind of this man, Lupus was nothing more than a Joke.

The worst? He could not even truly deny this.

“Why me?”

“Oh? This is the first time you asked something rather than flying in rage. I guess facing defeat woke you up.”

The man chuckled, “So why you? Well…Should I say because you are the best for my plans?”

The man seemed to vanish for an instant from Lupus's sight before appearing behind him.

This was not a feat of speed. This was not teleportation either. For all intent and purpose, it seemed like Lupus had lost sight of him while the man simply walked towards him.

“I could kill you very easily and take your divine weapon now. But it would be counterproductive. The WoF started lacking in numbers and I am thinking of replenishing the force.”

Lupus looked up but Eins simply wagged his finger, “No need to worry. They cannot see me nor hear me for that matter. Truly amusing don't you think? Those so-called goddesses.”

What was happening was going against everything Lupus knew.

Not even demigods could so easily hide from the sight of the goddesses unless they were in their territories.

How could this man do it so effortlessly?

“I can hear the gears in your brain turning, moving, working as they try to uselessly understand who or what I am. But you know? I can easily answer you. After all, with just a snap of my hand, you will forget everything.”

For the first time in his life, Lupus felt true fear and he asked, gulping, “Who are you?”

“I am a god.”

He uttered those words with perfect nonchalance and ignoring Lupus' shocked expression, taped his forehead with a finger, “It's time to make a choice little King.”

“Will you stay under the goddess who gave a blessing to your niece? Or will you follow me to fight your Fate? You have until the day Lustburg reaches the door to answer me.”

On those words, the man vanished again, leaving Lupus alone.

He was now at a crossroads and it was time for him to decide.

***

Now alone once again, Lupus looked up and though his eyes could not see past the ceiling of his castle, he felt like he could gaze into the night sky.

The words this man said kept resounding in his mind, forcing him to contemplate what kind of choice he would make for his future.

Join them or fight them?

Is it even possible to win?

Lupus thought back to what happened earlier.

The man did not show his full strength. Only the equivalent of a King but this alone had been enough to make Lupus feel helpless.

It was not even a question of power.

Concept.

The man had been able to toy as he wished with his mind, leaving him completely helpless, and from what he was saying — There were more of them.

“The world is entering a new age of god?”

There has always been discussion about the legitimacy of the goddesses. Though those all had been squashed in the simplest way possible.

These suspicions came from the concepts the goddesses wielded and the fact that if Demigod existed, gods of different concepts should also exist.

Finally, even though history had been wiped out many times, Lupus knew that the Goddess of Chaos was accompanied by the Goddess of Destruction as well as four more goddesses.

Where did those goddesses vanish? What happened to them? Were they killed by the 14? If so, their death would only be temporary and they might soon come alive again, to bring a new age of war.

Lupus knew all that. He simply never bothered thinking that it concerned him. He was sure that this would be a problem for the future generation far after his death.

“Call Sun Wukong.”

“Yes.”

Many of the servants left but a few were still present. Calling one the death-sworn warrior he had trained over the years, Lupus walked back to his throne and sat quietly.

Pondering. Thinking. Analyzing.

In the end, he came to a simple decision. He did not need days to make his choices as he knew that one needed to be decisive at times.

Closing his eyes, Lupus sighed. He would have never thought that he would find himself in this situation.

I guess I have no one to blame but myself.

Now all he had to do was wait. Wait for the final moment.

_________

Meanwhile on Sun Wukong's side, for once in a very long while, the ever stoic Monkey King could be seen laughing out loud as if he had heard the funniest news possible.

“So in the End, Camel, Flood, and Kun all got instantly destroyed by two young princesses?”

The other three Sages were speechless. This was perhaps one of the greatest losses they had faced in a long while.

“This reminds me of our old days when we were still just starting.”

After laughing a while, Sun Wukong took a swing of Monkey’s wine from his guard before continuing, “You guys…No, all of us. We all started from the bottom. We earned our fame, fought on numerous battlefields, and faced numerous losses. But after a while, the stronger we became, the less defeat we faced, and the more victory we accumulated the more prideful we become.”

“The two princess only won because they used their Zones the very moment the fight began.” Thus spoke the macaque King. But even as he did so, he cringed slightly.

“From your expression, I guess you understand just how stupid the words you proffered sounded.”

“I apologize.”

Sun Wukong shook his head, “I read the reports. Even though the two princesses won, it’s undoubtedly true that it was because they acted first. If our brothers and sisters had been able to use their full power, they might have gone either way. But…So What?”

He looked at all of them. The lion king, the Macaque King, and finally the strongest one just below him — The Bull King.

“So what if their defeat had some circumstances? This is war. This is not a playground. Defeat means death. This is a truth all of us have forgotten. Never underestimate your enemies. Always go all out from the start. The difference between life and death is separated by nothing but an instant. A snap of fingers is enough time for one to lose their head.”

His voice was calm even as he spoke as if this was nothing but an afterthought. “Bull, Macaque, Lion. The three of you will go on the battlefield next.”

They exchanged looks, “Do you wish us to bring back honor to our names?”

“Honnor?” Sun Wukong who was about to walk away stopped and looked at the Lion King in disbelief, as if he had just said something that made no sense, “Since when did we start caring about honor?”

“Wukong…”

“Stop. It seems like all those years of peace went to your heads.” He raised his hand, his golden eyes shining with intensity, “The Seven of us, on that night, even before we became Dukes, all sworn to fight alongside each other, to protect each other, and to walk a great way together. We Became known as Great sages, not because of pure arrogance but to express our goal.”

He growled, “None of us reached that Goal. I am not equal to Heaven, you do not drive away the gods and this goes for all of us. But this Title is a wish, a direction! We do not fight for honor. We do not wish for Glory. All we want is to reach the Summit!”

He stopped speaking and the light in his eyes dimmed, “Or at least I thought this was our common goal…It seems like I was the only one.”

He was about to continue but his ears twitched, “Let’s stop here. The King is calling me.” He started walking away, “As for going on the battlefield, forget I said anything. Do as you wish”

Now alone, the three Sages looked at each other, bitterness evident in their eyes. The bull King, a tanned man with two large horns above his head also stood up, “It seems like we have been blinded by our pride.”

The Lion King shook his head, “I am ashamed. I never thought I would one day receive such a wake-up call from Wukong of all people.”

As for the Macaque King, he looked up, counting on his finger, “I received information that the Prince of Lustburg appeared in the fortress of the Eternal Battlefield. What do you say?”

“Let’s go. Let’s see if the prince can make the fire in our hearts burn brightly once again.” said the Lion King.

“I believe that the Prince is undoubtedly a higher threat than the two princesses. Our chances of winning are not the brightest.”

“So what? Wukong was right. Since when did we start caring about honor? In the past, we would not hesitate to scavenge the battlefield or gang up on anyone who threatened us. If one of us cannot win, then what about? If two can lose, what about three?”

The muscular frame of the Bull King twitched as if all his muscles were squirming, “We should go with the mindset of hitting way above our weight. You don’t want to let even the Reckless Monkey mock us, right?”

The three sages laughed, the heaviness in the air dissipating quietly. They were not children and the words of Wukong did indeed make them understand the reality.

They called themselves Great Sages.

Not because they were Great Sages.

But because they wanted to become one.

“My brothers. Let’s go.”

Meanwhile, a little farther, Wukong let out a quiet smile full of relief.

It seemed like the hearts of his brothers did not fully die.

As for what happened next, he did not care. Losing or winning was not the most important. As long as their Dao Heart shone brightly, they could still walk forward.

In fact — He hoped they would lose.

Thinking so, he looked forward to his fight.

Would he lose? Or would he win?

All of this did not matter. What mattered was to have the most exhilarating fight possible.

This was his way. This was his path. The Path of endless Battle and enlightenment.