Chapter 202
Chapter 202
Chapter 202
Continental Nations Conference (3)
After the incident with Berus' barrier, Gabriel could no longer approach Rudian with the same domineering attitude as before.
In fact, from the moment Heaven's Fall's true nature was exposed to Rudian, Gabriel had become thoroughly placed in a subordinate position.
"We, we will unconditionally accept the Morian Empire's proposal."
After Galeol I made what was essentially a declaration of surrender, no one dared to raise their voice against Rudian, who was serving as the moderator.
"Then let's continue."
"Uwaaaah! Sorry! Did I come a bit late?"
Just as Rudian was about to resume the conference, holy and divine light shone down from the conference hall ceiling onto the central round table.
"Oh, ooh!"
Religious figures immediately stood up from their seats and made the sign of the cross, while the demon faction frowned and clicked their tongues.
Gabriel scolded Uriel, who had belatedly appeared.
"...You're late, you bitch."
"Really sorry! Lord Haniel wouldn't let me go and kept asking about this and that!"
"Haah, that person has such a heavy mouth but is so curious about everything."
Gabriel sighed and asked Uriel again.
"So, what's the Pantheon's position?"
The reason Uriel was late was partly because Haniel had interrogated her about various things, but mainly because she had been tied up in the heavenly realm coordinating the Pantheon's opinions and reaching a conclusion.
"Neutral. They said gods who want to can voluntarily help the lower realm, but..."
"...That's essentially saying they won't do anything, isn't it?"
Gabriel's sigh grew deeper.
The indifference the heavenly gods showed toward the lower realm was famous even among angels.
Excluding North and Garganta, who had been busy meddling in the lower realm lately, only Ruura was relatively interested in the lower realm.
"Still, Lady Ruura promised to help. She said she would dispatch her army."
"Well, that's at least something."
Uriel turned her gaze to Rudian.
"The heavenly realm... actually doesn't see this situation as that serious."
It was Baal who responded to those words.
"Hehehe, still arrogant. Would they be able to say such things even if their heaven was corrupted and ruined by another realm?"
"...Should I take that as you plotting such a thing?"
Uriel's playful expression immediately darkened and turned cold.
She certainly had the imposing presence befitting the heroine who had 'gone toe-to-toe' with Diablo during the Heaven-Demon Great War and sealed him.
SHRUG!
However, Baal paid no attention to Uriel's intimidating presence and shrugged his shoulders slightly with a cheeky expression.
"That bastard...!"
Uriel was genuinely enraged and completed the curse that even Rudian had started to say but held back.
"Hey, hey! Watch your language, you bitch! What are you doing breaking your sanctity!"
At Gabriel's sharp rebuke, Uriel quickly came to her senses.
"Oops, my mistake."
But like the saying that mistakes can't be taken back... Uriel realized that the high-ranking priests of the middle realm were watching her in shock.
"I, I'll be quiet from now on..."
Just a few minutes after her sacred entrance, Uriel quietly sank down next to Gabriel.
"Hahaha, how cute. To think the great Uriel would shrivel up like that."
"Shut up, Agares."
Uriel glared at the muscular Agares with a low gaze, but her momentum was definitely diminished from before.
"Haah... Let's continue the conference."
Half giving up, Rudian continued speaking in a deflated voice.
"Then, returning to the previous topic..."
Rudian's expression became slightly cold.
"In the current situation, the war ban is not simply a recommendation but an essential matter. Internal strife is absolutely unacceptable when threats to entire races lurk outside."
The expressions of the 17 nation kings changed slightly.
"Since most asymmetric forces capable of representing each nation will be deployed, only conventional forces will remain on the ground. So if there are those who harbor ulterior motives taking advantage of this situation..."
Rudian's gaze crossed with those of the other kings.
"You should be prepared for at least a change in royal authority."
"...!"
Quite a few were outraged by those words.
However, no one openly expressed opposition, as they had all clearly seen what had happened to Galeol I right before their eyes.
'It's become a threatening situation, but it can't be helped.'
If he let them freely advocate for their respective national interests, not only would the conference become a mess, but the conference schedule wouldn't end in just a day or two.
"Then I'll first announce the deployment roster for each nation."
From the Morian Empire: Archduke Quihiller and Sword Master Kaitel, along with all Master-level knights. And all ability users classified as 7th Class or higher from the Four Great Magic Towers and the Psychic Tower.
The total number reached an impressive 120-plus people.
"...The Morian Empire's power is tremendous."
When one of the kings muttered this, others formed a consensus.
This was just Master-level and 7th Class or higher forces, no one else.
Of course, since most of that number came from the former Psychic Luminous, which ranked in the top 5 secret organizations, it was somewhat natural.
Excluding human forces, those participating in this battle included all dragons over 2,000 years old, and all Demon King-level, supreme-level, and high-level demons except those managing the Kingdom of Rohans.
Ten lower gods from the Pantheon supported by Ruura, and a thousand-strong angel legion led by Cherubim Siniel, Gabriel's adjutant.
Additionally, elite personnel from the four successfully recruited secret organizations: Granado, Ulsirokx, Azur, and the Ascension Society.
With Elli's 10,000 bodies included, simply looking at the forces from Chapter 3, the current power far exceeded the original work.
"We don't know how many enemy forces will come, but it certainly won't end with just 10,000 to 20,000."
The enemy had also brought dozens of times more forces than the million mentioned in the original work.
Gabriel had made a prediction closest to the correct answer.
"Considering their numbers, at least in the millions. Maybe even tens of millions."
Others agreed with this assessment to some extent.
Well, actually, Krakar had told them the specific number of 40 million, but that information couldn't be shared directly.
Doing so would naturally require confessing the conversations held with Krakar...
***
Even after that, the Continental Nations Conference continued rapidly, quickly disposing of most issues.
It was truly lightning-fast speed.
In fact, it was only superficially a conference; since most matters had been pre-negotiated, it was no different from unilateral notifications.
The ceasefire period decided by this conference was a whopping 150 years.
Unlike ordinary treaties that would be torn up like old shoes once a single nation became prosperous, a document with the highest and strongest guarantee was born, signed by Dragon Lords and Archangels.
While there were aggrieved places like the Veledic Kingdom, nations like the Seta Duchy and Kapuras Kingdom that neighbored Rohans actually supported this forced agreement.
This was why the historic scene of all agenda items that would have taken at least a week being processed in just one day could be created.
After the conference ended, Rudian stretched out long on the sofa during a brief break.
"Good work, Rudian."
"Yes, Princess... no, you too."
Rudian smiled somewhat awkwardly at Luciella, who was taking out a handkerchief.
He still wasn't used to seeing her like this.
Since coming out of the Hall of Heroes, Luciella had demanded that Rudian speak casually to her, and accepting the previous promise, he had begun speaking casually with her.
Of course, this was quite awkward and felt like it had created even more distance than before...
"Hehe, no matter how capable you are, you seem quite nervous, don't you? Here..."
"Uh, uhm..."
Luciella didn't hand over the handkerchief but stretched out her arm and wiped Rudian's sweat directly.
"You, you don't have to do this."
"I'm doing it because I want to."
Really, whatever she had heard from Yugria in the hall, Luciella had been actively appealing to Rudian since they reunited.
"Do you hate it?"
"...I don't... hate it..."
In fact, Luciella was the closest to Rudian's ideal type.
It was just that until now, she had been like a pie in the sky or premium shoes in a shoe closet, so he hadn't been able to look at her properly.
"I didn't intend to burden you before such a big task. I just wanted to help you relax."
Rather than relaxing, it felt like both shoulders were stiffening.
"Mm..."
"Well, it would be nice if you looked at me a bit more. Hehe..."
Luciella, who had been creating a somewhat enchanting atmosphere, felt slightly embarrassed and stepped back when Rudian showed no particular reaction—though he was actually too nervous and had frozen up.
"I, I have work to do, so let's meet again later."
"Y, yeah..."
Thus, Rudian and Luciella left each other's presence, leaving only an awkward atmosphere.
"You, you came on too suddenly, so you both got flustered..."
After returning to her quarters, Luciella...
"Hmm, the handkerchief strategy seems to have failed... Should I try number 8 next time?"
She had tried to do something, but it felt like they had only amplified each other's awkwardness.
"It should be fine, right? It's a book that Rudian's succubus girls strongly recommended, so surely..."
In her hand was a book borrowed from the imperial library titled 'Surefire Romance Strategies: 21 Selections.'
***
Before the aftermath of the Continental Nations Conference, which ended in just one day, could spread, Rudian gathered the highest level of elite forces possible.
The reason was to subjugate the Pantheon, which could be called the most powerful internal enemy in the current situation.
"Considering the Pantheon power, we cannot implement the lunar plan while leaving them alone."
"That's certainly true. The Outer Gods Krakar and Ktuna are absolutely not to be underestimated, enough that we'd have to fight with divided forces."
Gabriel nodded.
"But no matter how fallen they are, their power is absolutely not to be underestimated. Who are you planning to take?"
Uriel, who had been erasing her presence next to Gabriel, spoke for the first time since the conference ended.
"First, I intend to take all my companions."
Luciella, Gray, Elvin, Rebecca, Evangeline.
The five companions who had now begun to transcend the human category had to be included necessarily.
Maria was already a step above the other four from the beginning...
"Even if I handle Mars, the War God who is the current leader of the Pantheon, we need to supplement our forces with a few more people to deal with the remaining personnel."
Though it seemed sufficient now, since the opponent was a god, even a former one, there was no telling what variables might emerge.
The divine authorities they possessed had tremendous influence on creating variables.
"Considering numbers, we need about four... or maybe five more."
"Who are you planning to fill that with?"
"That's the problem."
Taking Elli would be simple, but right now Elli was leading the bodies and had already begun constructing a temporary base on the moon.
Considering the importance of the base, Elli couldn't be removed from that role.
Moreover, regarding the demon army commanders brought this time, due to their bout with Rudian, they were all injured in succession making it difficult to immediately deploy them as forces.
"For now, I'm thinking of persuading the leaders of the secret organizations we've recruited this time."
Each of them was a Dragon Lord-level powerhouse or stronger.
Though considerable compensation would have to be provided, they could definitely be trusted in terms of military power.
"Hehe, you don't need to go that far."
Then Rudian heard a familiar but unpleasant male voice.
"We'll lend you a hand with that."
"..."
Baal and other Demon Kings revealed themselves before Rudian.