On the north-western border of Earth Hill, Gadfalk Fortress on the Lowalf Plains.
An iron-walled fortress where many troops were stationed as it was a key area of conflict with Kajor.
"......"
The soldiers on the ramparts looked at the plain beyond the fort with pale, weary eyes.
The Gadfalk warriors, reputed to be the bravest in the kingdom, were nowhere to be found in the gloomy atmosphere.
Even the commander of the fortress, Masto, who had never lost his fighting spirit in any desperate and terrible battle, had nothing but despair in his eyes.
It had to be.
A black army that covered the whole vast plain.
It was almost impossible to maintain morale even in the face of such a disastrously large army.
'Why is the Black Sea Empress...?'
Commander Masto could not understand the situation. It was the same for everyone present.
It was only a short time ago that the Seventh Lord had declared his support for Earth Hill at the Neutral Conference.
But why was the Black Sea Empress, the same Lord of Calderic, sending troops to support Kajor?
Even though they were both Lords of Calderic, everyone knew that these Lords rarely cooperated with each other... Wasn't this the same as the Eighth Lord openly fighting the Seventh Lord?
If not, could it be that the Seventh Lord had a change of heart?
Then it would make sense that the Eighth Lord didn't care about his promise to Earth Hill and supported Kajor. Yes, that was more likely.
...Whatever it was, it's a disaster.
Whether it was the former or the latter, her will was clear just by seeing how the Eight Lord directly mobilized her forces.
Even if all the power of the kingdom was gathered, there was no way that the strength of this fortress could stand against that army. Now, this Gadfalk Fortress was in a more precarious position than a candle in the wind.
Although the enemy forces were still camped on the plain, the fortress would collapse like a sand castle the day this army advanced.
"Your Excellency, Commander! His Majesty has arrived!"
Commander Masto took his eyes off the plain and nodded heavily at the news delivered by the sergeant.
The reason why the enemy forces were still waiting without invading was because of the final negotiations with Earth Hill.
Besides Longford, the king of Earth Hill, only a few knights and mages entered the fortress.
In order to be as quick as possible, they arrived at the fortress before the troops from the capital.
"How is the situation?"
In response to Longford's question, Masto gave all the details in a miserable voice.
"Envoys from the enemy camp have come twice. One demand was that there would be no invasion if we completely relinquished our rights to the Lowalf Plains and withdrew the north-western border to Kabaon."
"......"
Longford's eyes trembled.
Because Kajor's demands were just as absurd.
Complete surrender of rights to Lowalf, plus a withdrawal of the border to Kabaon. It was far worse than what they had demanded at the last meeting.
If they accepted all the demands, even if this invasion was over, Earth Hill could no longer maintain the balance of power with Kajor.
It was then...
"Your Excellency! It's an emergency!"
"What's going on?"
"There's a huge monster in the enemy camp...!"
Longford and Masto quickly walked up to the wall to see.
A gigantic monstrous spider, almost as tall as the fortress, was slowly approaching the fortress alone.
"That's the power of the Eight Lord. But why...?"
"Someone is riding the spider."
The troops were concentrated on the walls where the spider was rapidly approaching. But it didn't look like it was about to attack.
Soon, the spider that had been approaching the fortress stopped at a small distance from the fortress wall.
Someone was riding on top of the spider, and he was also from the Eight Lord's side.
He had a human appearance, but his entire body was covered with the skeleton of a blackish insect, and several antennae were wriggling on his forehead.
"Hello, King of Earth Hill. You arrived at the fortress sooner than expected."
Hearing these words, Masto had no choice but to bite his lip.
Of course, the Eight Lord was fully aware of the movements within the fortress. He didn't know what her intentions were, but she must have acted immediately after learning that the king had arrived here.
The other one immediately mentioned why he had come here.
"I came as an envoy to deliver the message of the Eight Lord."
"A message...?"
"If you wish to further negotiate Kajor's requests, the Lord has said that she will allow you to meet face to face. If you agree, I will lead you now."
Longford's eyes widened.
Masto, who was standing next to him, understood the words a beat too late and was shocked.
"Wait, does that mean the Eight Lord is here in person?"
The emissary looked at Longford with a broad smile, as if wondering what he would do.
Longford furrowed his brow and pondered, then replied.
"Okay. I want to meet the Eight Lord right away."
"Your Majesty!"
Masto and the others immediately stepped forward to object, but Longford shook his head.
"Don't you know? If the Eight Lord has an ulterior motive, there's no reason to do such troublesome things."
If the Eight Lord was here in person, there was not the slightest hope for them. The power differential was literally between heaven and earth.
Taking him hostage? Why would she do that?
If she set her mind to it, she could destroy the entire fortress and slaughter all of their forces in the blink of an eye.
Still, sending such an envoy really meant giving them a chance to talk.
It would be ridiculous to call it a chance, but now he had no choice but to grab at least this thin straw.
"Then we will accompany you, Your Majesty."
The aides stepped forward and spoke sternly. When Longford looked at the envoy, the other just shrugged.
"It doesn't matter."
So Longford and some of his aides climbed onto the monstrous spider the emissary was riding.
Cooong. Cong.
When the spider reached the place where the Eight Lord's army was, the bugs and insects split to make way for them.
On the other side of the army, where the spider stopped, there was a huge tower of insects that stood in the middle of the army.
"Come this way."
After getting off the spider, Longford followed the emissary into the tower.
Inside the tower, there were things like spider webs and foils that were tangled with insects to form walls.
Among them, there were also glowing bugs that emitted light from time to time. They were the light that illuminated the dark space.
Kiyi...
Seeing them wriggling in all directions, Longford swallowed his disgust and continued walking. The grotesque cries of the insects seemed to eat away at his mental strength.
After such a long walk, they finally reached their destination.
"Lord, as you commanded, I have brought the king of Earth Hill."
The envoy bowed his head into the dark room and moved to a corner to stand.
Lying on a huge, unfamiliar cocoon hanging in the air, she slowly rose to her feet.
Lordford and his aides nervously watched the scene.
"Welcome, King of Earth Hill."
As she opened her mouth, the cries of the insects that had been buzzing inside stopped immediately.
The air, which had been sticky and disgusting, added a chill that seemed to suffocate them.
The Eighth Lord of Calderic, the Black Sea Empress.
She looked down at Longford and lifted the corner of her mouth.
***
The Black Sea Empress supported Kajor.
It was then that I received a detailed report from the butler on the current situation of Earth Hill.
"They say they fought for the fifth day in the fortress on the Lowalf Plains..."
"Yes. Apparently, when the King of Earth Hill arrives, he will give an ultimatum.”
The Lowalf Plains, it was the same as in the last conference, and it was the territory of Earth Hill that Kajor persistently coveted.
Was that why Kajor invaded Earth Hill?
'But why the Eight Lord?'
What I didn't understand was the Eight Lord's intervention.
Why was the Eight Lord suddenly supporting Kajor?
Did she have something to do with Kajor? At least, as far as I knew, she did not.
"Why did the Eight Lord support Kajor?"
The butler answered my question.
"We haven't figured out the exact reason yet, but it seems Kajor was the one who first persuaded the Eight Lord."
Persuaded? How?
I wondered at first if the Eight Lord was inciting Kajor for her own benefit, but that didn't seem to be the case.
What price was Kajor willing to pay for the Eight Lord's decision to intervene in the war?
She should know that I decided to support Earth Hill during the Neutral Nations Conference...
Of course, she was under no obligation to follow my will.
But to do so without telling me was tantamount to openly tearing her face with me.
I couldn't say that the Eight Lord and I were on good terms, but what the hell was this about?
"You said they were still in confrontation?"
"Yes. But once the King of Earth Hill arrives, we don't know what will happen."
"Did the Eight Lord move directly?"
"I’m sorry. I also haven't found out that yet."
The butler bowed his head apologetically.
"What is the exact purpose of Kajor? Is it Lowalf?"
"Yes, it is."
"Do you think Earth Hill will abandon Lowalf?"
"Given the nature of the King of Earth Hill, I think it is likely."
It was a question that didn't even need to be asked.
What if he didn't surrender? Would he still stand against the forces of the Eight Lord?
It's not a war at all. It's like a fight between an adult and an infant.
'What should I do?'
I was worried.
Why the Eight Lord supported Kajor was unimportant.
What if Earth Hill surrendered to Lowalf and Kajor's invasion ended there?
If Kajor got what they wanted, there would be no more armed demonstrations.
Attacking Earth Hill without any justification would be suicide.
And if that was the case, there was no need for me to rush. I didn't have to clash with the Eight Lord right away, and I could settle things later.
What’s more, now even the hero had come out of her sleep. If the hero intervened, she could blame Kajor without me suffering anything.
...It was the intention of the Eight Lord that made me feel uncomfortable.
It wasn't her intention to support Kajor, it was her intention to openly go against me.
'I don't know why she moved and did that.'
It's probably no coincidence that the invasion began while I was away.
Even if Earth Hill were to surrender, would the invasion really end there?
Kajor must know that what they're doing was useless once I got the news and I intervened, right?
'This is not a good feeling.'
For some reason, I had an intuition that I shouldn't be so casual about the situation.
Wouldn't the Eight Lord assume that I would hear the news and intervene directly on the battlefield?
Or was it that she was confident enough even if I were to go to Lowalf right now?
The Eight Lord might be in Lowalf. I was reluctant to face her directly, but there was no other way.
"I'm going to Lowalf right now."
Together with Asher, we immediately climbed onto Ti-Yong's back.
