Lauvredo personally greeted and shook the hands of the people that entered the basement, “Oh my, you came. Brother, your hair looks very thick today.”

“Haha. Brother Lauvredo, I heard that you will be the leader of the Talmor Branch here in Barras Kingdom?”

Lauvredo gently placed his hands together and looked up at the sky, before saying, “Everything will happen according to the will of Lord Talmor, right?”

“Hahahahaha! That abundant and thick hair of yours is proof of your solid belief and loyalty.”

The men that stood behind him and the door were all ‘believers’ saved by Talmor. Surprisingly, there were many players among them.

‘This place they call Talmor is really amazing.’

‘Although we can’t grow hair in real life, Talmor has become our hope!’

The players joined them in hopes that hair-loss treatment would also be developed in reality someday.

After everyone had gathered together, Lauvredo’s eyes took on a sharp glint. He was once the deputy knight commander of the kingdom. However, the kingdom had practically abandoned him and his troops. And now, he was going to fight for this new place that accepted him. He looked at the crowd, which exceeded a thousand, that had gathered in front of him, as he clenched his fist that was holding his sword.

“We can expect Barras Kingdom to strike Let’s Eat Sect’s territory, the place where Talmor is located, soon.”

“How impertinent!”

“How dare they attack the sacred place that houses Talmor!!!”

“Talmor is the greatest god!!!”

All of their heads were covered with silky and thick black hair, just like Terrius. Then, Lauvredo opened the secret letter that he had received through a carrier pigeon and declared, “Our fellow believer in Eivelis Empire said that he has gathered around 2,000 troops. And that’s not all. There are also around 1,500 troops crossing the border and joining us from Collodis Empire.”

If they included that number in their ranks, then the number of troops gathered for Talmor would be around 5,000.

“Talmor has given us a new lease in life. We must protect Talmor!”

“That’s right!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”

“Long live Talmor!!! Our Lord Talmor forever!!!”

“Now, let us all sing together!”

“Talmor Fati! Fweet, fweet, fweet, fweet!”

“Talmor Fati! Fweet, fweet, fweet, fweet!”

“Talmor Fati! Fweet, fweet, fweet, fweet!”

Everyone sang the Talmor’s hymn passionately. And by the end of their song, Lauvredo plucked a strand of hair from his head.

‘Aaaaaaah. Th… that…!’

‘I can’t believe it… he pulled out a strand of hair from his head… his hair that is more important than his life…!’

Then, Lauvredo said, “This is a token that represents our will and determination. Everyone, pull out a strand of your hair.”

Some would choose to cut their fingers and use their blood to show their firm will and determination. But for them, their hair was more than that. It was a representation of their life. Despite the tears welling up in their eyes, they still plucked a strand of hair from their heads.

“Sob, sob, sob…”

“My dear hair, goodbye…”

Lauvredo gently and politely placed his strand of hair together with the thousands of strands of hair gathered in front of him. He could feel their strong will through these strands of hair.

“For Talmor!”

“For Talmor!”

“For the great Talmor!”

Soldiers and troops from all over the continent stood up and took arms for the sake of protecting Talmor.

***

The Dragon Palace, located deep within the Dragon King’s sea, had undergone a lot of changes. Ever since the Great Mage Arfield incident, where the Dragon King almost lost both his home and his life, he made sure to make his troops undergo hellish training, which resulted in a far stronger army than before.

And now, someone was rushing to the palace. With two long ears, fluffy and pristine white fur, and a twitching tail, Kiari, the rabbitman, furiously hopped along while shouting, “Dragon King! More than a hundred thousand troops from the Barras Kingdom are marching towards Mister Minhyuk’s territory, Atlas!”

A solemn and grave expression flashed by the Dragon King’s catfish face, as he sat with his golden king’s robe and listened to Kiari’s words.

Who was Minhyuk? He was their benefactor, the hero that saved their Dragon Palace when they were in a crisis. Not too long ago, Minhyuk had paid them a visit and asked them if they could lend him some of their strength. Back then, the Dragon King only gave Minhyuk a vague answer and Minhyuk just laughed it off.

‘It’s alright even if you choose not to help me! I love this place that is filled with a lot of delicious things!’ Minhyuk said before taking a lot of ‘Sea Honey’ and going home.

The reason why the Dragon King could only give Minhyuk a vague answer was because the beings residing in the Dragon King’s Sea had never meddled in human affairs, especially in fights between them.

But Minhyuk was not like the other humans. He was the one that saved his life and his entire palace.

“Kiari, Jevis, Radin.”

The Dragon King’s children all knelt down on one knee.

“Let us help him just as he had helped us before.”

Both Kiari and Jevis smiled brightly after hearing the words of the Dragon King. Then, they started to rally the Dragon King’s Sea Troops, including the shark race, a race of bipeds with shark heads, the blue whale race, a race that grew to a height of seven meters and was known to be the Dragon King’s shield.

There was also the Dragon King, himself, an existence that grew stronger despite being known as someone that was more powerful than any Named NPC in existence. His power now could rival or even best the Supreme NPCs.

More than 5,000 Dragon King’s Sea Troops went ashore under the command of the Dragon King and headed for Atlas. After walking for a day, they met another 5,000 strong troops on the way. The one that was leading this army was sitting on top of a white warhorse with a hood covering most of his face. However, despite his face being covered, the presence of the leader’s pointed ears could not be hidden at all.

The Dragon King and his children stepped forward first. The leader of the unknown troops also stepped forward with his warhorse before removing the hood that covered most of his face. The Dragon King was very familiar with the face of the man in front of him.

“Gorn.”

That was right. The man was none other than Gorn, the king of elves, the elves’ absolute ruler that had sat on his throne for hundreds of years! And the one right next to him was Aragon, the prince of Elvenheim and the elf known to have the best archery skill in elven history.

The truth was, the elven race and the seafolk did not have that close of a relationship. In fact, they were hostile to each other. In the past, during the reign of the previous Dragon King and the previous Elven King, the Dragon King asked for the help of the elven race when their Dragon King’s Sea was put in a crisis.

However, the previous Elven King rejected his request. Fortunately, the Dragon King’s Sea restored its peace and averted the crisis. But ever since that time, the seafolk and the elven race had grown hostile with each other.

The Dragon King and Elf King Gorn stood face to face for a very long time. Both the Sea Troops and the Elven Troops standing behind them were wondering if a war would break out between the two of them.

The one that broke the silence was Elf King Gorn. He said, “It seems like we both came out for the same reason?”

“Are you talking about this guy that can eat as much as an elephant, Gorn? If you’re talking about that, then we really did come out for the same reason.”

Both Elf King Gorn and the Dragon King looked at each other silently with small smiles curling at the corners of their lips as they slowly inched towards each other.

“It seems like a new wind will come forth.”

“Perhaps, our intervention will make him stronger. This time, we might be able to witness the birth of an emperor that would rule the entire continent.”

“If he becomes the continent’s emperor, then I will be very delighted to have witnessed it first hand.”

Then, the two of them grabbed each other’s hand in a handshake. Just like that, over 10,000 troops, comprising of the Dragon King’s Sea’s Troops and the Elven Army, began to march forward together.

***

Eid Territory, a territory under the spear master Marquis Bard located in Eivelis Empire.

Marquis Bard looked out of his window and watched the cold rain pattering outside while recalling the past.

‘Master.’

Born in a world where spearmanship had always been ignored in favor of swordsmanship, they met a great man in the form of Ghost Spear Ben, the father of all the spearmen in the continent and their master.

Bard was an ordinary man, he was not born a genius. But with the teaching and training hidden under great scoldings from Ghost Spear Ben, he had grown out of his mold of just being the son of a baronet knight and became who he was now, a marquis.

The truth was, Marquis Bard felt happy when Ghost Spear Ben came to visit him not too long ago, even if it was to make him bury his head on the ground.

‘Master is still alive and well…!’

Some of the stories that he had heard about Ben’s feats sounded more like a legend to his ears. However, for the longest time, he believed that Ghost Spear Ben had died and went after his son. But after seeing his hearty and lively appearance, Bard realized that it was just a baseless rumor that the people that hated him spread around.

‘Bury your head.’

Ben’s words shook his heart that had long gone stagnant. Bard, after becoming a marquis and standing in a high position, had gone lazy in his spearmanship training.

Crackle! Bang, bang!

Thunder and lightning cracked and fell down from the sky as cold rain continued to fall down.

“Aide.”

“Yes, Marquis.”

“I’m going to Louvide Village for a small break.”

“I understand, my lord.”

After leaving those words to his aide, Marquis Bard moved. He quietly wore an asura mask and covered his head with the hood of his dark robe as he walked inside the forest. And when he stopped in the middle of the dark forest…

Crackle! Bang, bang!

Thunder and lightning cracked once again, illuminating thousands of spearmen with fierce momentum and firm determination lined up in front of him. All of them stood under the cold rain wearing asura masks that were sent by Marquis Bard.

“Our father is facing danger.”

Murderous intent flashed in everyone’s eyes. He was a legend, and at the same time, he was also their father and an old man that sometimes would get angry at them. Still, the fact that he was the idol of all the spearmen would never change!

“According to my intel, around 150,000 troops from Barras Kingdom have already gathered together and are marching towards the territory where our father is residing.”

Despite the cold rain pouring down on their body, the powerful voice made their hearts tremble, as their will and determination burned brightly.

“There is a high chance that we will die in this endeavor. But the moment we wear this mask, we are no longer nobles, merchants, wealthy people, nor some knight somewhere. We might even die without receiving any glory and honor. However…”

Bard looked around.

“…we must take our weapons and fight because we are his children.”

“For Ghost Spear Ben!”

“For our legend!”

“If it’s for our master, I willingly give up my heart!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Loud and fiery shouts rang loudly in the otherwise silent forest.

Just like that, another 2,000 strong troops began their march towards Atlas Territory. All of these were the result of the kindness and great character that the man named Minhyuk and the vassals that worked under him had shown these people.