When the elves and the wolfkin woke up from their sweet rest, the world hadn't changed a single bit. No intense battles, no suspicious higher existences; nothing could invade their area. It was as if they were isolated from the world.
"The flow of the air is..."
"It's the same with the surrounding scenery. Oh, but a lot of the trees are gone."
"Just what happened?"
"If you woke up, then please come this way."
"Ah, Your Majesty!"
Next to Yu IlHan was a mountain of paper, and in front of it, new sheets of paper were continuously emerging from a black metallic machine.
Of course, the pile of sheets consisted of blueprints for building the satellite. After realizing he had to hand one out to each and every elf and wolfkin, he ended up developing a pseudo-photocopier!
"I'm going to make a foothold to win this war. Cooperate."
"Foothold...?"
"Just, what is...?"
"You just need to put those into action. Well, then. Let's start!"
Their doubts did not last long. What was necessary had already been explained in the blueprint, and the construction materials were already in Yu IlHan's inventory!
Of course, delicate control and mana crafting required Yu IlHan himself, so what they were doing was building the basic foundation and confirming the satellite's area, but that was enough for them.
"Like this, the construction happens once again..."
"Move if you have the time to speak! We are on a tight schedule if we consider your training as well!"
"As expected of His Majesty! Unfaltering in his work!"
"I said move!"
The elves and wolfkin had rapid adaptation, and they quickly got used to the large-scale construction of an aerial fortress after flipping over the entire area. The enormous region was separated into areas, and they split up suitably to construct in their own areas.
"Area 1-A-13, construction complete!"
"Area 2-C-27, support! We require support!"
"We are lacking materials, what do we do?"
"Mana cement incoming!"
The forest that served as the elves' habitat for several hundred years. Right now, it is being tainted by human greed. They wiped out any traces of nature in pursuit of civilization and were inserting metal pipes, cement, and whatnot into the ground to terraform the area!
"So Mr. IlHan can make anyone a construction worker~." Na YuNa muttered while playing around with compressed holy power at the entrance of the mansion, watching the elves and wolfkin busy working. Ericia, who was carrying an enormous metal pillar, found her and spoke with narrowed eyes.
"Don't be so leisurely and work."
"I need to adapt to the holy region!"
"Oh, you also have some work to do, Miss YuNa."
"Kek."
"Fufu, good for you."
The merciless Yu IlHan did not allow anyone to rest. His eyes were akin to those of the quartermaster trying to give any kind of work to the soldiers. Not that Yu IlHan had ever been to the military or anything!
"Miss YuNa, please make some holy stones from now on. I'll give you all the magic stones you need."
"What are you going to do with them?"
"Well, of course, I'll make the satellite into a holy region. Although it would not be as good as the Flying Fortress, I'm planning to give some buffs to the ones residing in it."
"Uhiiiik."
As Na YuNa's exceptional ability allowed her to adapt to the artificial holy region very quickly, she really wasn't confident in her ability to control it if this area were extended.
However, just as she was about to say that she was not confident, Yu IlHan grabbed her hands with glistening eyes and spoke in a voice that tickled her heart.
"Please, Miss YuNa."
"....I, I guess I can't help it if you want me to do it that much."
"IlHan, you... are seriously evil."
"Nah, Miss YuNa told me to do it like this when I had something to ask of her."
"Ah, why did you say that!"
"Oho."
Na YuNa had to be first beaten up by Liera before going to work. Yu IlHan thought that the two really got along well before going back to his work. His 'work' was making equipment for all elves and wolfkin.
Aside from a few elves and wolfkin under Yu IlHan's rule, the rest were equipped with rare or inferior gear. Even though it had been several years since Yu IlHan stopped making anything under unique rank!
This was no good. They had to survive amid higher existences, and if their equipment was not perfect, even those with potential would not blossom properly.
'I really wish I could make them all with 5th-class materials...'
No matter how many 5th-class beings he had killed, it still amounted to fewer than 100, and he could not cover for them all. He might screw up while trying to be fair and give them all equal ones, so it would be better for him to focus on equipping the high-levelled core members, as well as the Flying Fortress and the satellite.
However, with that, he'd get leftover materials. Then, with that…
"Good, I can only use alloying+plating combo.'
Other than a few things he left aside for a specific purpose, he ground five corpses of higher existences and produced a large amount of alloy by combining them with the metals in his storage.
Of course, that was still lacking to produce 40,000 pieces of equipment. This was purely for plating. The main materials were, of course, the corpses of perverted demons, which were both good in quality and plenty in quantity!
"Then."
The preparations were done. Yu IlHan awoke the Eternal Flame sleeping within the Infernal Dragon's body, moved it to the furnace, and heaved a deep sigh at the hot air in the workshop.
"Let's start."
He started working on the mass production of over 40,000 pieces of equipment, including both weapons and armour.
"Be careful not to let it go over!"
"Pour it here. Sorry? Mix it with holy stones?"
"Area 1-D-13, construction complete!"
"Area 3-C-2, construction complete!"
"It's not complete! We still have additional work!"
Construction was a very good prescription for the elves and wolfkin who were panicking due to the sudden change in their environments. They just needed to run forward without thinking about anything else. The most positive aspect was that it would help protect them.
"How long has it been?"
"A month and a few days!"
"Wow, a lot changed during that time."
Because the Flying Fortress was just his mansion, with its grounds floating in the air, it didn't look like a fortress from the outside, aside from the fact that it was floating. Unlike that, the new satellite fortress, designed with intense battle and defence in mind, felt a little crueller, with all the plants gone and concrete replacing them.
It was the same with the tall, sturdy fortress walls lined with sharp spike traps, but there were all sorts of installation-type weapons, as well as battle camps where they could prepare for battle while switching around, which made the onlookers very nervous for some reason.
As this was a fortress constructed for elves and wolfkin, the environment was optimized for their battles as well, and the one thing Yu IlHan poured his mind into most was the fortress's jumping pads.
The jumping pads helped one to instantly exit the satellite fortress and ambush the enemy as long as they jumped with the right power and at the right angle, but it was, of course, made as an artifact, so it had the option to raise attack power and jumping power the moment one used it. If the tens of thousands of wolfkin all jumped into the jumping pads at once, not even the enemy's bones would be left.
Other than that, there was a line of small ballistas for castle defence for the elves that had great sniping abilities; a poisonous swamp that the wolfkin could dowse their claws in before attacking (* does not work against allies.); as well as secondary and even tertiary walls that can be collapsed and rebuilt at any time!
The problem was that the various elements of the satellite fortress, and the fortress itself, had not yet been made into artifacts and could not be used in real battle. The elves still could not believe that this fortress could fly as high as the Flying Castle. They only thought that Yu IlHan had poured a great deal of thought into constructing a line of defence!
And after 43 days, once the barrier was up, the moment finally arrived.
"Area 1-A-3, construction complete!"
"Huh? Then where do we have left?"
"None!"
"It's over!"
"Did we really do it!?"
"Y-yay!"
"I still don't get what's happening though!"
"Woof! Wooooof!"
"Awooooooooo!"
The elves and the wolfkin became of one mind. The joy of liberation from labour, and the sense of achievement that they finished this massive construction work! Above all, the fact that they could properly carry out Yu IlHan's orders made them happy.
At that time, Yu IlHan also left his mansion. After hearing their cheers, Yu IlHan roughly knew what had happened and immediately jumped down from the Flying Fortress, landing in the middle of the satellite fortress.
"Ah, Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty!"
"Stop there."
Where did they cast some magic that made them long for him if they didn't see him for one day? Yu IlHan actually didn't like showing up in front of them that much since they all called him Your Majesty and tried to rush into him. Would there be a day when they get used to his presence? He only wished that the day would come soon.
"It's perfect. You've worked hard, everyone. It's above my expectations."
"It's all thanks to Your Majesty!"
Really, he wanted to let them rest now, but it seemed better to finish it off here. He gathered all the elves and wolfkin into a clearing and called his subordinates out.
"First, Ericia, Flemir, Paté, Jirl, Mirey."
"We're ready."
"Yes."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Take these."
"Sorry...?"
"Whoa."
He handed out weapons, armour, and accessories to each of them. Only Paté with the epic-ranked bow did not receive a new weapon. The weapons and armour he gave out were all at epic rank. Each of them was given 5 accessories as well, and each of them was at least legend rank.
"*Hiccup*."
"Just what..."
"I promised you that I'll give you all epic-ranked equipment and not only Paté if you do well. I'm only carrying out that promise."
"But how can we receive such...."
They hesitated before the enormous treasure before them. Yu IlHan made a bitter smile while looking at them.
"Receive them when I give it to you. I'm not going to see any of my subordinates die again."
"....Yes, sir."
"Understood."
His subordinates were secretly jealous of Paté all this time. The power of his bow helped him survive any battle, and the power to call dead enemies back as undead helped them win a battle they should not have been able to win.
Moreover, as it was bestowed by Yu IlHan, they felt that Paté was receiving special treatment from Yu IlHan, and they were envious. But now, everyone could be equipped with epic-ranked equipment!
"There aren't many that have special abilities like Paté's. But the power should be sufficient."
"It's more than enough!"
"U, Uoooh. My mana...!"
Epic ranked meant that their equipment didn't lose out much to what Yu IlHan was using. Yu IlHan had used the remains of higher existences to bring their battle capabilities to the maximum.
His objective was to have them hold off against a higher existence by cooperating with each other, backed by Na YuNa in the holy region. Seeing them hurrying to adapt to their gear right now, it seemed possible after all.
"It's not the end. Next is your turn." Yu IlHan declared, looking at the elves and wolfkin who were exclaiming. The elves didn't understand whom he was referring to, and Mirfa asked on their behalf.
"Do you mean you have made equipment for all of us?"
"Yup."
Yu IlHan called out enough equipment to arm the one and a half thousand elves and the twenty thousand wolfkin. They were made with over half of the materials from the perverted demons he had stacked up until now, and were all at least legend rank, boasting their glows that filled the area.
"Woooooow."
"....This idiot. He surpassed the armoury of the Heaven's Army within mere two months."
"Oh my god, all these weapons are all….!"
Yu IlHan bestowed all that equipment to the elves and wolfkin without so much as a flinch, even though any of it would cause a massive ripple in any world out there. Of course, he didn't give it to them for free.
"Take them. And now that you're armed with those, your objective is to."
The lower existence that surpassed all history of artifacts of all worlds declared his ambition.
"Obliterate a higher existence with a thousand of you."
With the equipment set that Yu IlHan had poured his blood and sweat into, it may actually be possible for lower existences to beat higher existences. The proof of such a thing was steadily approaching.