Hearing the introduction, Hera paused for a moment.
'So this is Halnarson.'
Even though his body was as huge as a small mountain, he could control even his voice so gently.
It even gave people a comforting sense of kindness.
This elderly man, who looked to be over fifty, must have been incredibly powerful in his younger days.
Halnarson continued and asked the most important question at the moment.
"Tell me the current situation."
Hearing the question, Hera lowered her head slightly, her expression darkening.
"Before the First Prince left, the number of monsters on the front line was still balanced."
After the fighting in the south became somewhat stable, the First Prince left the southern front.
But not long after he departed, the monster rift suddenly expanded out of control.
Countless monsters poured out of it, catching the southern front completely off guard.
Many soldiers and adventurers were torn apart and devoured by the monsters before they even had time to call for reinforcements.
Left with no choice, they retreated to the second defensive line. Adventurers and soldiers joined forces and fought the massive tide of beasts with everything they had.
However, the number of monsters was far beyond anyone's expectations, and the second defensive line was nearly destroyed as well.
If the monster tide reached the third defensive line, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Because the third line had almost no chance of stopping so many monsters.
Once it was breached, behind it lay areas home to hundreds of thousands, even over a million residents.
At that point, the entire city would fall into disaster.
Fortunately, just as the second defensive line was about to collapse...
Reinforcements from Klevenna arrived.
Those well-trained demi-humans charged across the battlefield, slaughtering monsters. Especially the tiger-man, who hunted the monster tide as if it were prey.
This also explained why the guild Hera led was called Beast.
Because only beasts that relied on instinct were the natural enemies of these monsters.
When humans fought monsters, they always had to worry about casualties, making it difficult to accurately strike their weak points.
But beasts followed their instincts. Like hunting prey, they could find the winning opportunity after only a few attempts.
That was why beast-like demi-humans were so effective against monsters.
Their efficiency was something ordinary armies couldn't match.
"Thankfully... those monsters never reached the last defensive line."
As she spoke, something began to feel strange.
Logically, if there wasn't a leader, so many monsters shouldn't have gathered to attack the Empire's south so deliberately.
They could have gone into the Wasteland to hunt instead, yet they had chosen to attack the Empire.
It was as if someone were deliberately controlling them.
But if someone really was controlling these monsters, it should have been the strongest among them.
For example... a Floor Lord.
Yet the being leading these monsters still hadn't appeared.
Just as Hera was thinking, she suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of danger approaching.
Every hair on her body stood on end. Her eyes widened, and even the strands of hair floating around her stiffened upright.
The giant flowers blooming layer upon layer in her eyes began changing several times faster than before.
The tiger-man farther away also sensed the terrifying presence.
Its orange fur exploded outward like burning flames as it instantly turned toward the source of the danger.
Large beads of sweat rolled down Hera's forehead. Ignoring the catgirl beside her who was bandaging her wounds, she suddenly stood up and shouted at the bear-man ahead.
"Danger!"
BOOM!
In an instant, towering earth shot up behind Halnarson, reaching into the blood-red clouds like a brown waterfall rising into the sky.
An enormous monster burst out of the earth.
Its brown flesh writhed continuously.
Countless purple veins twitched beneath its skin as dark blood rushed through them.
Rows of ghastly white teeth burst through its flesh, spinning as they tore through the ground.
A gigantic abyss-like mouth that looked capable of swallowing the sky opened and closed in the air, revealing countless long, razor-sharp fangs while releasing waves of foul-smelling breath.
The moment it appeared, it devoured countless monsters, scattering flesh and blood everywhere.
Chunks of earth fell from its body and crashed onto the blood-soaked ground.
Muddy rivers of blood rained down from the sky, and the thick smell of blood spread across the grotesque land once again.
Looking at the giant sandworm that rose from the ground like a towering castle, the roses in Hera's eyes stopped changing.
Her mind went completely blank.
Because it was...
A monster she had never seen before.
There were still many unexplored areas inside the monster rift.
Even Beast, the strongest adventurer guild, had only reached the fiftieth floor at their deepest.
That meant the enormous creature before them...
Could only be a super monster from below the fiftieth floor.
If she made an even bolder guess...
It was very likely...
"The... Floor Lord of the sixtieth floor?"
Compared to it, Halnarson's enormous body looked as tiny as a pebble.
Everyone who was still alive stood frozen with their eyes wide open, staring at the giant mouth descending from the sky.
At that moment, their minds also went blank. Their blood seemed to freeze, and every limb became stiff.
They couldn't move.
Only the demi-humans showed no sign of worry.
Silently, they pulled the injured people a long distance farther back.
It was as if... they were trying to keep them from getting caught in the crossfire.
At that moment, the towering sandworm fell from the sky.
With its massive flesh-filled mouth open, it seemed ready to swallow Halnarson and everyone present whole.
But...
Without even turning around, Halnarson simply raised one arm behind him.
In that instant, the muscles in his arm swelled dramatically, while thick veins bulged across his skin.
BOOM!!!
The deafening impact made everyone's eyes widen.
One of Halnarson's arms had sunk deep into the giant sandworm's head.
He had completely stopped its terrifying charge.
But that wasn't the end.
He turned around, leaned forward, and reached out with his other hand, firmly grabbing the edge of the sandworm's enormous mouth.
Halnarson took a deep breath.
The muscles across his body swelled once more.
Several buttons on his butler uniform burst apart.
Supporting the sandworm's gigantic body with both hands, he released a powerful shockwave from behind him.
One foot lifted into the air.
Then, with one violent motion, he ripped the enormous brown sandworm completely out of the ground.
In an instant, a terrifying wave of sand exploded from the earth.
The flesh and blood of countless monster corpses scattered in every direction together with the overwhelming smell of blood.
The sandworm's massive body flew high into the air, passed over the bear-man's shoulder, and crashed heavily onto the ground on the other side.
BOOM!
A tremendous explosion rang out as the vast earth shook violently.
The powerful tremor snapped everyone out of their daze.
They quickly raised their arms to shield their faces, trying to avoid the sandstorm sweeping toward them.
The brown storm rose into the sky, while thick clouds of dust crashed back down across the ground.
After a long while, the dust slowly settled.
The enormous sandworm lay completely flat on the ground, twisting and writhing back and forth.
Its thick body was as large as dozens of magic trains joined together.
Meanwhile, Halnarson casually held it down with one hand.
With that simple movement alone, the sandworm couldn't move at all.
Everyone present stood frozen, staring blankly at Halnarson as he pinned down the sky-reaching sandworm.
Their eyes were filled with shock. Their thoughts were in complete chaos.
Even now, it still felt like they were dreaming.
Even Hera blanked out for a moment as she looked up at the still composed Halnarson.
What had she been thinking just now?
That he must have been very powerful when he was young?
Was it still possible to take that thought back?
At the same time, Halnarson calmly straightened his neat butler uniform and adjusted his tie.
Only then did he slowly turn around to look at Hera.
"Now then."
"Where were we?"
———
"So those monsters still haven't entered the city."
The First Prince lowered his head and repeated the sentence weakly as strength slowly returned to his body.
He took several deep breaths.
When the officer had reported that the southern front had fallen, he had been so anxious that it felt as if his heart had stopped.
His vision blurred, and his mind nearly went blank.
If the beast tide had really entered the city in such a short time, the army wouldn't even have had a chance to evacuate the civilians.
Even if the civilians had escaped, once the city itself fell, the consequences would still have been disastrous.
The Empire had established three defensive lines in the south.
The first was the frontline guarding the monster rift, followed by the vast battlefield of the second defensive line.
The final line was the city wall built around Godin Lima.
There, countless powerful large-scale weapons were stored. It was the final and most important defense on the border.
Even if the civilians had already evacuated, that place was still an extremely important strategic position.
If it was lost, the entire southern region would face complete destruction.
The First Prince slowly regained his composure, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and took a deep breath.
He straightened himself, walked solemnly over to Viktor, and grasped one of Viktor's hands with both of his.
Then he bowed ninety degrees in the highest gesture of respect.
"Thank you very much, Count Viktor."
Watching the scene, the nobles all fell silent.
A ninety-degree bow was already the highest form of respect.
Anything beyond that would be kneeling on one knee to swear loyalty.
As a prince, Albany naturally couldn't do that.
At this moment, however, everyone understood why the First Prince had acted this way.
From his point of view, Viktor's reinforcements had saved the entire southern Empire.
The southern Empire was the land under the First Prince's protection.
Meanwhile, Liya quietly smiled and stepped back beside Cocotte.
Resting her chin on one hand while sitting in her chair, Cocotte looked at Viktor with some dissatisfaction.
"Didn't we agree I'd be the main character today?"
Seeing Liya return, she muttered again, "You really don't mind letting him steal all the attention."
Liya sat back down with a smile and shrugged helplessly.
"It couldn't be helped."
"He's the head of my family."
As she said that, she looked toward Libeot on the other side.
Looking at the elegant and noble head of the Rayser family, Liya couldn't help finding it amusing.
Now Viktor had every reason to question him.
Sure enough, it was exactly as Liya had expected.
Viktor casually reached out, gently removed the First Prince's two hands from his own, and said, "You can save your thanks for later."
"After all, you were the one who asked me for help."
The First Prince straightened up.
His eyes widened slightly, his mouth hung half open, and surprise spread across his face.
"Just don't forget to transfer the money."
Then Viktor turned to look at Libeot again.
"Now."
"I only have one more question."
With everyone's eyes on him, Viktor's footsteps echoed crisply as he slowly walked up to Libeot.
Feeling Viktor approach, Libeot slowly raised his head.
His brilliant golden eyes met Viktor's deep black gaze.
"The south is also under the jurisdiction of your Rayser family."
Viktor spoke each word slowly, a sharp light flashing in his eyes.
His voice carried a chill as cold as a bottomless ice pit.
"Today..."
"If you don't have an explanation."
"I'll make sure you're forced to give one."