A herd of wolves went around at dawn.
Originally, they should have been running after their prey. However, they smelled blood early on and gathered lots of clues from the smell.
The smell suggested there were overwhelmingly more enemies than allies. Moreover, there was an unfamiliar smell mixed in that blood.
The pack of wolves informed their boss that they should be prepared, but their boss was not in a hurry. Slowing down, they moved forward, sufficiently prepared. Their movement was like tranquility before the storm, which was so calm that anyone who did not know the situation would think it was just their casual walk.
Embrio, the leader of the pack and the Demon King of the wolves, was covered with blood all over its body, bled by the enemies. The heads of the coalition of Western Houses and their loyal spirits did not stop resisting in a spectacular display of grit until the last minute, but Embrio felt irritated this time because the situation was so difficult.
The strategy chosen by the Western families' coalition, "Expansion of the Battlefield," was effective. They didn't allow Embrio to deal a "final blow" to crush them all. They engaged in small battles repeatedly for a war of attrition and focused on getting rid of Embrio's forces, not Embrio himself.
Embrio was strong, and his army was also strong, but they were not invincible. The Western Houses' coalition won the battlefield without Embrio. Embrio was alone, while there were several heads in the Western families' coalition. The more fighting there was, the more damaging it was to Embrio.
So, Embrio also changed his strategy. He forced an inevitable fight against the Western Houses' coalition, which desperately avoided fighting with the Demon King of the wolves.
Embrio attacked the dungeons.
The dungeons in the west, which had been already conquered, or the dungeons in the north, located adjacent to the west, were ignored. Instead, he mobilized the troops to attack each of the dungeons of those heads of families belonging to the Western Owners' Alliance.
This time he did not go to the trouble of occupying the dungeons like he did in the north. After occupying the core dungeons, he thoroughly destroyed them.
The heads of the Western Owners' Alliance could not give up the dungeons like Embrio.
The dungeons deserted by Embrio were a kind of extended bases under his command, but each of them was a home base to the heads of the Western Owner' Alliance.
Dungeons were different from normal fortresses and castles.
So, the fall of the dungeons meant the death of the 'subordinate spirits' registered in the dungeons.
Heads of the houses and their spirits were connected to each other. In other words, they were in the same boat, protecting each other.
Of course, their status was different from each other.
Even if the dungeons were destroyed, their heads survived, but their subordinate spirits, who made the contract with their masters through the dungeons, lost their lives. .
The mass death of subordinate spirits greatly weakened the power of their masters. It was not symbolic but real. The weakening of their magical power even weakened their overall physical capabilities.
In order to save their spirits, the masters had to cancel their registration before the dungeons fell. However, the cancellation also greatly weakened their power. The dungeons were limited, and it was not easy for the masters, who canceled their registration, to find a new dungeon.
Embrio weakened individual heads, the foundation of the Western families' coalition.
There were few family heads who could attack Embrio's dungeons while their dungeons were being attacked.
It was clear that some heads of the Western Owners' Alliance proposed attacking Embrio's main dungeons, but they could not easily carry out such an idea.
Embrio's main dungeons were in the north, not the west. Moreover, there was no way of identifying which dungeon really belonged to Embrio. Embrio had several dungeons. Those family heads, who had multiple dungeons, could make one of them their main dungeon by investing time and magical power.
It had already been awhile since Embrio occupied the north, during which he could have moved his core dungeons if he had wanted.
Moreover, Embrio did not have any subordinate spirit. There was some speculation that the wolves that he always took around were his subordinate spirits, but no matter how clever they were, they were mere wolves. There were few family heads who replaced their spirits, whose number was limited, with ordinary wolves.
If Embrio did not have subordinate spirits, attacking his dungeons could deal a psychological blow to him, but it would not weaken his power tangibly.
The heads of the Western Owners' Alliance could not pursue the same strategy as Embrio's.
While most of them had only one dungeon, Embrio had multiple dungeons.
They had to invade the northern part, relatively far away from them, but the northern part belonged to Embrio. Moreover, it was impossible for them to attack Embrio's dungeons quickly because the target of their attack was not clear.
Their crucial weakness was that they were more concerned about protecting themselves.
Currently, their dungeons were exposed to destruction, but there were few heads who could dare to head out to the northern areas to fight.
Such a task was like hanging the bell about the cat's neck to them.
Embrio took a deep breath.
Sooner or later, the heads of the Western Owner's Alliance would be forced to divide from within or pursue a new strategy, which would mean their unavoidable fight with Embrio that they had so desperately avoided.
They would have to face Embrio sooner or later, so they needed to be a little bit more patient until then.
While Embrio led his elite troops and attacked their dungeons, the heads of the Western Owners' Alliance attacked the frontline strongholds established by Embrio. Even if their dungeons were destroyed, Embryo would not suffer fatal damages like the coalition's heads.
But he could not ignore the damages lightly.
So, he had run desperately to defeat the task force of the heads of the Western Owners' Alliance that repeated a 'hit and run' strategy to avoid him.
No matter how strong Embrio was, he couldn't maintain an army without supplies.
He saw the frontline base several hundred meters away from him when he slowed down enough.
As he got closer, he sized up the situation with his sharp observation.
The frontline base was not destroyed. There were not many friendly forces killed compared with the enemies, who suffered heavy casualties. Looking at the number of those killed and the enemies' condition, his attack could be called a certain victory.
Embrio now realized why he won.
"Death Knight."
The mighty Death Knight stood firmly against a mountain of enemy corpses.
His presence was a tremendous pressure on Embrio. Indeed, he was qualified to claim the status of the strongest undead along with Elder Lich.
A black full plate armor enveloped his whole body, and a dark blue cloak resembling the night fluttered in the wind. His huge magic sword, stained with a lot of blood, emitted the aura of the wicked.
He was obviously stronger than any of the family heads in the southern area.
Embrio laughed bitterly. The Death Knight was certainly here to "support" him, but his presence was like a warning.
There were more powerful beings under the Death Knight's master. Compared with the real force behind him, the Death Knight was just like the tip of the iceberg.
"Embrio, it looks like you were struggling to fight more than I expected."
A harsh, gloomy voice rang from the ground. The voice belonged to the surveillant, a servant of the 'King of Gluttony.'
The frontline base was now around the corner.
Embrio stopped where he was. Instead of approaching his subordinates who maintained a strange distance from the Death Knight, he took a break with the wolves. He could not inform them about his meeting with the surveillant.
"It is a gift from the king. Use it well," said the surveillant.
Embrio gulped. He couldn't respond, nor could he engage in a subtle war of nerves with the surveillant as usual.
It was not because of the Death Knight's presence. Embrio looked in the sky.
The surveillant laughed menacingly. Embrio's competence and agility usually rubbed him the wrong way, but this time, it gave him joy.
"Don't forget. The king is watching you, Embrio."
The surveillant disappeared in no time. The Death Knight bowed to Embrio from a distance.
But Embrio couldn't respond to both. Clenching his teeth, Embryo stared at the dazzling sky of the demon world.
His presence beyond that cloud.
The death monster surpassing the Death Knight.
He clearly revealed the power of the six kings, who ruled the demon world.
"… Dragon…"
As if responding to his quiet call, the air current in the sky changed. The mighty magical power of death disturbed the sky of the demon world.
***
"Come to your senses, brother! Just do what you have been doing!"
Ophelia shouted, staring straight ahead. Blue magical energy emitted from her slim, elastic calves.
Eligos breathed roughly. Suppressing excitement and tension, he clenched his fists.
He gathered dark red energy in both hands and was prepared for the battle.
The dungeon battle lighting could not drive out all the darkness. It could only illuminate the center of the crossroads with a wide road in all directions.
"Skull!"
Skull, who was standing on the opposite side of Ophelia and Eligos, shouted loudly.
The thunderbolt of greed arising from Brigada's necklace was present not only in Warhammer but also in the magic shield Yong-ho obtained on the fifth floor of the arena.
The Skull unit also shouted as their captain did. Each of them stared at the darkness while grabbing their weapons.
Catalina calmly caught her breath. She controlled the magical power of greed originating from Brigada.
Greed strengthened her magical power. Her black magical power was now like a blade that freely transformed itself. It was not an exaggeration to say that Catalina's body, armed with black magical power on her arms and legs as well as daggers on both hands, was now a weapon itself.
Rikum and several Orcs under his control kept swallowing, standing beside Catalina.
They were not seen because it was dark, but it was not easy to guess how many they were, given their shouting.
The Goblin Rangers and Baduk who stood among the Orcs couldn't even breathe properly because they felt so tense.
Kiaaaaah!