Chapter 264: Authority of Radiant Contract’s Demands

The Radiant Knights felt flattered.

Jeremiah responded, "We can’t lose under your command, Master."

Max smiled.

He then began recalling them to his Conclave Network.

When he was finished, Seraphina, Lancelot, and Danny arrived by his side.

Seraphina was the first to speak.

"How long do you think this great war will last?"

She was already beyond exhausted.

The shock she had felt when she learned that the demons possessed an artifact that could push back the Authority of Salvation continued to linger.

If it were not because she had received assurance from the Authority of Salvation that the great war at the moment would not result in the impending victory of the demons against the Empire, she would have fallen into despair throughout the duration of the war.

Max acknowledged her efforts, especially after the demons acquired a piece of the Empire’s territory.

Seraphina worked the hardest, as if she was afraid that the Demon Lords would soon conquer Mirefall Province, commencing the fall of the Empire.

Max glanced at her and smiled.

"A week, I guess. We have to kill every one of them, including their Demon Lords."

Seraphina stared at Max in disbelief.

Lancelot asked on her behalf, "Really?"

"Yes."

They found it difficult to believe his words.

After Max recalled all his Radiant Knights to his Conclave Network, the Demon Hunters gathered in front of him.

Max offered a few words of encouragement and emphasized the importance of courage during the war against the demons.

Max did not forget to praise them.

Although they were NPCs, lacking the advantage of players, they grew stronger throughout the war as well.

In fact, many C-rank Demon Hunters had already broken through to B-rank during the duration of the war.

At the moment, there were a thousand and a half B-rank Demon Hunters, while the rest were at C-rank.

This conveyed that despite not being players, they could keep up with the latter’s innate advantage.

Max was utterly satisfied.

The Demon Hunters who survived the great war would become his main force and attract a lot of other hidden powers to join the Guild.

Max needed more than five thousand Demon Hunters.

He at least needed a million humans to participate in his desire to wage war in the Ashen Expanse.

The Empire’s total population was almost a hundred million.

Adding the continuous addition of players, they could easily reach a billion.

For Max, it would be fine if players joined his Guild, but the high-ranking officials must always remain in the hands of the NPCs.

Players were more greedy than NPCs, and that was what Max believed.

The campaign to explore the Ashen Expanse would begin in the near future, and Max had already accepted the fact that the campaign might grow stronger to the point that the future would become unfamiliar to him.

It was inevitable.

Max’s involvement with the present was too strong.

His influence would definitely force the system to adjust.

As for whether it was good or bad news for Max, the latter wasn’t sure, but he was certain that what he did was not simply out of selfish desire.

He wanted the Empire, at the very least, to fight against the demons until they were eventually swallowed by them.

Max understood what the Empire regretted the most.

It was still vivid in his mind when his NPC friends expressed their regret for not being proactive in fighting against the demons before they were inevitably killed.

In fact, every player was killed as well in the last season of the story—the great war between the Empire against monsters and demons.

That was when the apocalypse descended.

Max could still recall how he died against a demon before fighting against them in reality.

At that time, he thought he would die again in their hands.

I guess, the real demons are humans themselves.

Max dismissed the unnecessary thoughts at the back of his mind as he returned to the Central Command Hall.

Every morning, after their exhausting fight against the demons, Max and the High General had already concluded that a meeting must always occur.

It was to summarize and report the current situation to the other parts of Mirefall Province and offer better suggestions or solutions to what they faced the previous night.

It was highly effective.

Max even understood the significance of the meeting, as it connected the support and expedition teams, with the former being the provider for the latter, such as equipment, potions, and many other external resources relevant to the war.

They were one of the main reasons behind the fewer casualties every night.

The meeting concluded with satisfaction.

Although there were depressing reports, the Demon Hunters Guild remained optimistic about the great war against the demons...

...

Another week went by, and the war had been intensifying over the last few days.

There were only two days left before the system would conclude the first world event.

It appeared that the system did not plan on extending the first world event due to the ongoing war between the four provinces and the Demon Lords.

At the moment, it was the seventh night since the night when the Sword Emperor was forced to make a move.

Max remained at Level 299, which, for some reason, made it difficult for him to accumulate EXP.

When he reached Level 299, the amount of EXP he received from killing Greater Demons significantly decreased.

Max could also perceive that his Authority of Radiant Contract had yet to reach the threshold for him to ascend to A-rank, and Max could understand why.

It appeared that for him to reach A-rank, he not only needed to level up by accumulating EXP, but he also had to increase his skills, especially the Radiant Conclave’s skills.

After all, the higher the skill proficiency, the stronger his Authority became.

It was why Max only focused on increasing his skills’ proficiency, especially the Radiant Conclave’s skills, and successfully cultivated them to Master level.

It was why he believed that tonight, as his Authority had reached the threshold, he was about to ascend to a higher rank once again.

A year had yet to pass, but Max was already reaching A-rank...