Chapter 244: Victory is Ours!

When there was only half an hour left before dawn, the demons suddenly retreated.

The main weakness of the demons was the sun, which only appeared in the Empire.

There was no day in the Ashen Expanse, only night. But for some strange reason, humanity had its own sun that rose and set over the horizon.

The Church even claimed that it was the Godhand of Salvation’s Authority of Salvation, gathering faith from the people.

Max observed as he finally commanded the Radiant Knights, causing their efficiency and coordination to soar. They killed as many demons as they could before they were forced to stop near the southern border.

Max strictly ordered them to stop as soon as they perceived the presence of a Demon Lord, as their capabilities were beyond their imagination.

When the demons fully retreated, dawn finally arrived.

The first world event’s eighth night had concluded.

[Congratulations for defending the Empire from the invasion of monsters and demons.

Current Ranking:

Individual: Max, Lewis, Aaron...

Guild: Demon Hunters Guild, Lewis Guild, Vikings Guild...]

At this point, the top three rankings had slowly become established.

It was the first player, the first Guildmaster, and the first Berserker player who were making names for themselves—not just individually, but through their guilds as well.

Many players speculated that after the very first night of the war against the Demon Lord of Wrath had concluded, those top three in the rankings would be difficult to shake.

However, what they didn’t expect was that once the forces of the Demon Lord appeared, the monster tribes that had been shaken by the presence of the Demon Lords were forced to relocate to the north and south, with some even going as far as the west.

Monster tribes would often fight with each other, but when their interests aligned, they united and became even more dangerous.

This was especially true when the monsters in the north and south were ruled by Mythical Monsters that compelled the demons not to spread their influence in those directions.

In other words, guilds below the current top three would soon be able to compete with them...

...

Max did not recall every one of his active Radiant Knights.

Forty-one Radiant Knights gathered before him.

Since he had reached the Intermediate stage, he had a maximum capacity of forty Radiant Knights. However, the Ring of Knight Authority allowed him to have one additional Radiant Knight.

That was why, despite having only twelve Radiant Knights at C-rank, he had one additional slot, bringing the total to thirteen.

Watching forty-one Radiant Knights kneeling before him, with Jeremiah at the front and the other twelve Radiant Knights who had accompanied Max since day one on his sides, they became the cynosure of all eyes.

The demon hunters were awestruck. Angelo was astonished, and the people beside him who were closer to the scene were naturally equally shocked.

Max had achieved the desired result, and he did not want to be any more dramatic, so he cast Knight Recall four times.

He started from the back and worked his way toward the front.

When the Radiant Knights finally disappeared, Max appeared to have exuded a brilliantly shining aura.

It took a while for Max’s Authority of Radiant Contract to settle down as he swept his gaze across the demon hunters.

Feeling awkward, he thought of a way to snap them awake.

He suddenly raised his hand with a clenched fist, and soon the demon hunters followed, except they were shouting at the top of their lungs.

Two thousand five hundred Demon Hunters had been sent to the southern frontier, and casualties were expected to have reached four hundred.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Army had twice the number of soldiers, and their casualties were more than twice those of the Demon Hunters.

Many players died as well, but they were insignificant to Max.

They belonged to the Imperial Army.

Since it was the first world event, the punishment for players who died was lenient, and NPCs they had previously interacted with simply forgot about them.

In other words, the relationship status with the NPCs they had worked hard to increase was wasted after dying.

For the Demon Hunters, it was their first large-scale war against demons.

They finally experienced what it meant to be on the brink of death, only to be saved by their Guildmaster’s summons.

Their admiration for their enigmatic Guildmaster grew.

The rumors of his power had finally come to life.

They had witnessed it with their very own eyes.

Truly domineering. Absolutely powerful.

The Guildmaster alone was enough to change the tide of the war, shifting it in their favor.

It was as if their Guildmaster was born to be the nemesis of the demons.

The savior of humanity.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, they collectively recalled how the Radiant Knights had gathered before their Guildmaster, knelt on one knee, and bowed toward him.

When one mage ran toward the Guildmaster, they instantly knew what he intended to do.

One by one, they followed.

Just as Max thought they were about to rejoice in front of him, he was utterly shocked to see them imitating his Radiant Knights.

Seeing them kneeling in formation while bowing to show their deep respect toward him, he was amused.

What? I will recall you to my Conclave Network? Max thought to himself, finding amusement in the spectacle before him.

The sun rose over the horizon, blanketing the Empire in its radiance.

Sunlight poured down upon the Demon Hunters, who were disheveled and worn out.

Their faces, however, were filled with vigor as they showed their deepest respect toward their Guildmaster.

Max smiled at them, and before he was able to say anything, Angelo landed in front of him and cupped his fist.

He bowed deeply without kneeling.

He said, "Guildmaster, we have successfully defended the southern frontier. We have won the first night of the great war."

Although his voice was low, it echoed in every ear of the Demon Hunters.

They felt their blood boiling.

They had won the first night of the war—their very first war against demons.

They had successfully defended the place they were assigned to protect.

They had emerged victorious.

Max sensed their exhilaration and replied in a victorious tone, "We have fought against demons.

We have stopped them.

We have toppled their arrogance.

We. Emerged. Victorious.

Victory is ours!"

The Demon Hunters rose to their unrestrained excitement, shouting at the top of their lungs and bringing life to the dead environment.