Chapter 257: Astral Ranger

In the Central Command Hall, the atmosphere was very heavy.

Max had fully explained what had happened last night.

The High General remained quiet as Max laid out his further plan.

To the High General’s surprise, Max had never considered leaving him out at all.

Max simply wanted to delay the all-out war against the Demon Lords, as if he was waiting for something.

The High General could not help but ask, "Are you leaving out the Imperial Army?"

Max glanced at him and firmly shook his head.

"I am not. We will always need your support.

You, however, must not participate unless their Supreme Commander goes all out."

The High General nodded.

"That’s good. I won’t be idle throughout the duration of the war."

"You won’t. Mirefall Province is at stake, after all."

Their discussion continued until, an hour later, they finally concluded their meeting.

Max speculated that for another week, the demons might attempt to expand their territory in the Southern Frontier.

But that didn’t mean the Western and Eastern Frontiers were neglected.

Gareth and Maurice would remain in their respective provinces.

The only major change was the High General, who was stationed at the temporary camp near the Southern Frontline.

As an S-rank, he could naturally deal with the Supreme Commander Demon Lord, but he alone was not enough to change the tide of the war if multiple Demon Lords were involved.

It was precisely why he was treated as the backup, allowing the players from the Imperial Army and Max himself to grow stronger by killing a lot of demons.

When the emergency meeting was concluded, everyone managed to heave a sigh of relief.

Max’s meticulous planning and unyielding tone when laying out his plan allowed them to take a breath.

It appeared that the situation was not hopeless at all.

As they were ordered to rest, Max returned to his temporary room and logged out.

He wanted to take a rest first and have some time to ponder by himself.

...

A week had passed since the Demon Lords established their territory.

Their Abyssal Conquest Flag and the other twelve obelisks remained steadfast and strong.

At the same time, the other provinces that were affected, the Southern Province and Western Province, continued to suffer from the demons’ assault.

Hence, Max had expanded the Battlefield Network of the Western Frontier and Eastern Frontier’s Demon Hunters, inevitably establishing temporary camps outside the Southern Province and Western Province.

Thankfully, the Assassins Guild in the Southern Province was very cooperative, unlike the Vikings Guild.

They were extremely hostile to the Demon Hunters, and they did not even bother hiding it.

Gareth did not force himself or the Demon Hunters as they proceeded with Max’s instructions.

For a single week, Max had reached Level 90.

He was the most active against the demons throughout the war.

The Demon Lords were unable to make a move against him, as Angelo and he were very wary of their movements.

At the same time, their only Demon Lord responsible for assassinating them had already been wiped out in front of their very eyes.

The least they wanted was to die because of a Divine Authority.

They would rather die an honorable death.

But to die against a Divine Authority, suffering extreme agony filled with helplessness, was a nightmare for them.

Of course, dying against Max and his summons was an entirely different matter.

They watched Max and his summons slaughter Greater Demons as easily as picking off easy opponents.

Not only was Max getting stronger, but his Radiant Knights were growing more formidable as well.

The more they fought against demons and the more demons they killed, the more they were becoming absurdly terrifying.

If the Demon Lords remained passive, they knew it was only a matter of time before Max could catch up to them.

But their Supreme Commander was not worried.

Their greatest threat remained the Authority of Salvation.

They were simply biding their time until the demonic mana saturation in their territory reached one hundred percent.

If it did, they could pull out the Abyssal Conquest Flag without worrying about the Authority of Salvation returning.

At the same time, they were also allowing the Authority of Salvation to accept the fact that five kilometers of its previous territory had been lost.

The Supreme Commander was extremely patient.

After the seventh night had passed since they planted the Abyssal Conquest Flag, the Supreme Commander called for the Demon Lords to gather.

The Demon Lords received great news.

Their newly established territory was finally fully reclaimed.

The Authority of Salvation would not return and threaten them at all.

Gazing at the temporary camps four kilometers away from them, while watching humans planting traps as if they did not care whether they were being watched, the demons who received the great news from their Demon Lords glared at them.

Tomorrow evening, when the moon had risen and the threat of the sun filled with radiant mana had receded, would be the moment they would expand their territory.

Not just in Mirefall Province, but even into the surrounding provinces.

The Supreme Commander had already ordered the demons, from peak Greater Demon and below, to attack with full force in the Southern Province and Western Province while carrying the obelisks.

The obelisks would allow them to expand horizontally, while the Abyssal Conquest Flag would expand deeper into the Empire’s territory.

However, after a week had passed, players had finally reached B-rank, which would become their biggest obstacle as well.

The second player was naturally Lewis, followed by Aaron and many other players, mainly warriors.

But the Guildmaster of the Sun Tzu’s Hand Guild had also reached B-rank not long after them.

This showed that the support classes were not being left behind in the great war.

Of course, it was not just the Guildmasters who reached B-rank.

Just last night, Rhayne had also reached B-rank.

Given that her legacy class did not require her to complete a class-advancement quest, when she killed a demon after accumulating enough EXP points to fill her requirement, she reached B-rank.

An Astral Ranger.

Her current class surpassed any other Ranger class...