The 7th Arrangement [Location of the Hamel Empire Secret Research Institute]

The next morning, all eight members of the Hero party gathered in the palace courtyard.

Around them stood King Madhan, the Queen, Crown Prince Tobias, Princess Fria, and the knights.

King Madhan, with a heart full of emotion, instructed Park Gyeong-cheol, the party leader.

“Hero-nim. Now, bestow the divinities of the Seven Heavenly Virtues upon your party members.”

Park Gyeong-cheol, his face gaunt from having his essence sucked dry to the extreme last night, replied.

“Understood.”

As Park Gyeong-cheol stretched his hand towards the sky, seven spheres of shining divinity sprang from his palm, entering each of the remaining seven party members one by one.

‘Chastity,’ which would make Serena develop an agape-like love for him, went to Serena;

‘Temperance,’ which pushed space away from Nisa in the direction she was moving, went to Nisa;

‘Charity,’ which enhanced the performance of buffs cast on others and allowed Asha the Saintess to make a wish once to sacrifice her own life to save someone, went to Asha;

‘Diligence,’ granting infinite stamina and the regeneration of even severed arms, went to Gilluk;

‘Patience,’ providing immense defense and the ability to take damage for comrades, went to Kyle;

‘Kindness,’ which strengthened one trait of a comrade, went to Aibos;

‘Humility,’ which made Andre stronger when he acknowledged his opponent as stronger, went to Andre.

Everyone watched this mythical spectacle with awe.

Some clutched crosses and prayed, calling upon Goddess Elia.

The Hero said.

“It is finished.”

King Madhan seemed pleased that his son, Andre, had become a member of the Seven Heavenly Virtues.

King Madhan praised Park Gyeong-cheol.

“Euhahaha! Well done! Now, we have nothing to fear from the God of Darkness!”

The divinity of Patience that had entered me, Kyle, was surrounded by the darkness within me, writhing.

‘Keuek. This bastard is resisting.’

The divinity of Patience could not withstand my darkness, the darkness of the God of Darkness, and eventually became tainted by darkness, becoming the (Twisted) divinity of Patience.

At that moment, Serena sent an urgent message through the Tentacle mental network.

• [Kkeueuk! Master-nim! The divinity of Chastity is resisting. I feel like I’m going to explode!]

• [Damn it! Tell them you need to go to the bathroom quickly! I’ll follow you!]

Serena raised her hand with a hurried expression and shouted.

“I’m sorry, but I need to go to the bathroom!”

Serena ran to the bathroom with a sseng sound.

The people around her pretended not to notice, as a beautiful woman said she urgently needed the bathroom.

As I glanced at Nisa, Nisa also raised her hand and shouted.

“Ah! Me too, I need the bathroom!”

Nisa also ran to the bathroom.

I raised my hand to match.

“Kkeuaa! It’s a big one! I need to go to the bathroom too!”

I also quickly ran to the bathroom.

The Queen clicked her tongue.

“Tsk tsk. How urgent must they all be…”

Everyone around wore dumbfounded expressions.

Communicating with Serena, I went straight into the women’s bathroom.

Serena and Nisa were in the women’s bathroom.

Nisa said.

“Honey, I’ll keep watch. I can send the maids back with illusion magic.”

“Thanks.”

I grabbed Serena’s shoulders with both hands, who was in pain, and soothed her by injecting the energy of darkness.

“Serena. Endure it.”

“Kkeueueung. I can endure it now that the energy of darkness is coming in.”

After a few minutes, Serena’s divinity of Chastity became the (Twisted) divinity of Chastity, ceasing its resistance.

Serena said with a comfortable expression.

“Ah. It’s okay now. Thank you.”

“That’s a relief. You’ve been doing well so far, so keep up the good work.”

“Yes!”

“But who do you like more, Park Gyeong-cheol or me?”

“Of course, it’s Master-nim~ Park Gyeong-cheol is just a pet for absorbing essence~”

“Puhahahaha. That’s a good mindset. It’ll be easier now that you’ve obtained the divinity of Chastity.”

“Of course~ Giving the divinity of Chastity to a Succubus Queen is like giving wings to a troll.”

I grabbed Nisa’s hand and was leaving the women’s bathroom when I ran into Gilluk, who was heading to the men’s bathroom.

Gilluk was surprised.

“Hyung-nim!”

Gilluk was strong, so I couldn’t use illusion magic because he would notice Nisa’s illusion magic.

I hurriedly made an excuse.

“No! I was too urgent, so I went into the women’s bathroom!”

“Keuhahaha! So you weren’t going to pee, but to do something else. I like that you’re manly!”

Gilluk laughed excitedly and went into the men’s bathroom.

I blamed myself.

“Damn it! Now the rumors will spread!”

Nisa hugged my arm tightly and said.

“Honey~ What does it matter between us.”

“Puh. That’s true. Let’s go.”

I returned to the palace courtyard with Nisa.

Afterward, Gilluk excitedly spread the rumors, and everyone learned that the Elf Hero and the Fairy Queen had done it in the palace bathroom.

—

Afterward, a parade was held in the capital to celebrate the formation of the Hero party.

This parade was an event held to dispel people’s anxiety and boost morale.

The parade started at the main gate of the palace and marched throughout the capital along the main streets.

The parade’s lineup was as follows:

Lion Knights riding white horses,

Soldiers and military bands,

Tiger Knights riding white horses,

Soldiers and military bands,

Eight golden carriages without walls or roofs carrying the eight members of the Hero party,

Soldiers and military bands,

Golem Knights,

Soldiers and military bands,

Wyvern Knights,

Soldiers and firepower weapons.

The military band played cheerful music.

Ppam~ ppambabam~ ppam~ ppam~

The knights and soldiers in the parade marched down the street in perfect unison, without a single tremor.

Cheok cheok cheok cheok

The Magic Golems of the Golem Knights stomped and walked, matching the speed, and the Wyvern Knights also commanded their Wyverns to match the speed.

The Hero party, fully armed, smiled and waved at the people.

Spectators from all over the Hamel Empire crowded around the parade, cheering and throwing flowers.

Young girls, seeing the knights, waved their handkerchiefs and let out cute screams.

“Kyaaak! The knight saw me!”

“Knight-nim! Please look over here~!”

There were also people who appraised Park Gyeong-cheol.

“Oh my~ That’s the Hero-nim. He’s still very young.”

“Even though he’s young, they say he awakened the Space Sword. Look at that strong face.”

King Madhan watched the parade from the palace terrace with a pleased expression.

The smile never left King Madhan’s face.

“Hahahahaha. Hahahahahaha”

Marquis Simon, the Archmage whom King Madhan had invited as a friend, spoke to him from beside him.

“Madhan-nim. You seem to be in a very good mood today.”

“Hey. Simon. Why are you using honorifics between Hamel High School classmates?”

Marquis Simon smiled and said.

“Then I’ll drop the honorifics.”

“Do as you please.”

“Do you believe that humans will win?”

“Isn’t that obvious? The Hero obtained the Space Sword, and we obtained the Seven Heavenly Virtues to counter the Seven Deadly Sins. And the power of the Hamel Empire, which has defended the continent for a thousand years, is not weak.”

Simon looked at the sky with a worried face and opened his mouth.

“I’ve been looking for all the data on the God of Darkness since the Geil Kingdom incident. And I found something strange.”

“What is it?”

“The actions of the God of Darkness a thousand years ago and the actions of the God of Darkness now are completely different. A thousand years ago, he was much more impulsive and charged forward without any plans. But currently, the God of Darkness’s army isn’t even approaching the Hamel Empire. Isn’t something strange?”

“Isn’t that just unnecessary worry? Wouldn’t the God of Darkness also be preparing for war?”

“A being called a god does things that humans can hardly imagine. I’m worried that the God of Darkness learned something from the defeat a thousand years ago and is making more elaborate plans. Can humans, who live for at most a hundred years, overcome a thousand years of wisdom?”

King Madhan thought for a moment and said.

“Didn’t Goddess Elia also live for a thousand years? Goddess Elia sent down the Hero and gave us the Seven Heavenly Virtues. The Goddess has a plan, and humans just need to struggle as part of that plan.”

Simon pondered and said.

“Isn’t the God of Darkness also a god like Elia-nim? Are Goddess Elia, who watches from above, and the God of Darkness, who directly runs around on the continent, really in an equal position?”

King Madhan smiled serenely and said.

“How can humans know the plans of transcendents? We just need to prepare and fight as hard as we can. Let’s enjoy the parade now. Isn’t today the historic day that the Hero party was launched!”

Simon nodded and looked at the parade with the Hero party.

“I pray that my worries are not justified.”

As Simon continued to worry, the King decided to tell Simon a secret.

“Do you know that the Hamel Empire has maximized its military spending?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll tell you because you’re a trustworthy friend. The Hamel Empire, in cooperation with the engineers of the Dwarf Kingdom, has been building killing Golem called Colossi in a secret laboratory northeast of the capital. We’ve poured a huge amount of military spending into it.”

“Hmm. That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”

“Of course. This was secretly agreed upon by the Imperial Royal Family and the Dwarf Kingdom Royal Family, so only trusted engineers gathered to create it. There isn’t a single person here whose family or relatives are Dark Elves. Also, the Intelligence Knights are secretly monitoring all the researchers to prevent secrets from being leaked.”

Simon retorted in a slightly angry voice.

“Why hide this and only tell me now? Wouldn’t it have been better if there had been support from the Magic Tower?”

“The reason I’m telling you now is because we succeeded in production. And most of the researchers are already from the Magic Tower. If we gave the project directly to the Magic Tower, wouldn’t the information inevitably leak while the wizards were talking among themselves?”

“Kkeueung. Now that I hear it, that seems to be the case. The old men of the Magic Tower are obsessed with papers and academic conferences.”

King Madhan paused for a moment and asked Simon.

“There’s one more project that succeeded in the secret laboratory. How much do you know about the Hero Chronicles from 600 years ago?”

“Of course, I know most of it. A person named Hwang Cheol from a world called Joseon was summoned as a Hero and caught the demonic beast Behemoth. Afterward, he married the Queen of the Hamel Empire and became your ancestor, didn’t he? The Four Tiger Sword that your son Andre is holding is also a relic left by Hwang Cheol-nim.”

“There’s an additional story after that. At the time, the Hamel Empire’s Royal Family collected Behemoth’s corpse and secretly researched it. After the research subsided, I recently poured a huge amount of military spending into it and succeeded in making Behemoth into a Chimera.”

“What! How did you make that huge monster into a Chimera!”

“Shh! Speak quietly. Aren’t the Dean of Biological Sciences, Barbara, and the Dean of Necromantic Sciences, Edward, not at the Magic Tower these days?”

“Ah! Now that you mention it, Professor Barbara and Professor Edward said they were doing field research and disappeared with all the faculty and graduate students from their departments, so they haven’t entered the Magic Tower.”

“They were all secretly投入into Behemoth research. Professor Barbara is very talented. She immediately solved the problems that the Hamel Empire researchers were struggling with.”

Simon asked with a curious face.

“Tell me just how she did it.”

“I don’t understand it all either. She said that to handle a giant body, you need a nervous system for it. Also, it only works properly if you use the same dark race. They created a nervous system that controls Behemoth with the brains and nerves of tens of thousands of Demons. Professor Edward and the Necromancer graduate students helped to infuse Behemoth’s life force with the Demons’ life force.”

“Heo…. You needed a tremendous number of Demons to succeed in the experiment, didn’t you?”

“Demon slaves and the budget were enormously expensive. But we have no choice if we want to win the battle against the God of Darkness.”

Simon said with a relieved expression.

“At this point, I feel sorry for the God of Darkness. As you said, the Hamel Empire is not weak.”

King Madhan was pleased that his friend trusted him.

“Yes. The God of Darkness gave us time to prepare. The moment the God of Darkness attacks the Empire will be the moment he is defeated! Euhahahahaha!”

The parade ended successfully.

The imperial citizens held pride and trust in the Hamel Empire in their hearts.

Most of the imperial citizens talked excitedly about the Hero party’s and knights’ strong aspects and the Hamel Empire’s powerful national strength.

That evening, King Madhan called the Hero party and praised them.

“Hahaha! The parade was well done today. Thanks to you, the Hamel Empire was able to unite as one.”

Park Gyeong-cheol bowed his head and answered humbly.

“It is all thanks to Your Majesty’s virtue.”

“Baron Park Gyeong-cheol is even humble. You really don’t want to marry one of my daughters?”

Park Gyeong-cheol and Serena had their status raised from Baron to Viscount for their achievement in successfully subjugating the Witch’s Forest.

Andre was a Hamel Empire Prince, Gilluk was a Dwarf Prince, and Asha was a Saintess of the Holy Kingdom, so they didn’t need noble status.

As Park Gyeong-cheol glanced at Serena, Serena glared at Park Gyeong-cheol and warned him.

Park Gyeong-cheol answered with a firm face.

“I’m sorry. I only have Serena.”

King Madhan was disappointed.

“I can’t help it then. Viscount Serena. It’s not that I think you’re bad at all. It’s just that I’m greedy for Viscount Park Gyeong-cheol.”

Serena answered politely.

“It’s okay~ Gyeong-cheol is the best man, after all.”

Park Gyeong-cheol’s face brightened upon hearing Serena’s words.

King Madhan cleared his throat and told the Hero party about the missions they would be undertaking in the future.

“I will give the Hero party two missions. One is to investigate the serial murder case in the city of Stozanya. Something is in the city of Stozanya, but no one can find it. The next mission is to conquer the Forest of Screams. If the Forest of Screams cooperates with the God of Darkness, the Empire could be in danger, so it must be dealt with quickly.”

Park Gyeong-cheol nodded and answered.

“I will carry out the missions.”

[Location of the Hamel Empire Secret Laboratory]