After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

This would not only keep Garsen busy in the Roman Empire, but also allow him to take the opportunity to rescue the little queen and the chief judge in the chaotic capital... Thinking about it carefully, with the Elf Kingdom and Bayerzans in hand, his plans could indeed be brought forward.

Even though she wouldn't be able to retire after rescuing the little queen and the chief judge, it was still better than Teresa regretting it for the rest of her life and being haunted by nightmares.

"...Qinna, I also need data on Gaparia's current food reserves and other aspects—send it to my office and categorize it according to the elves' methods. By the way, Finn is comforting Theresa, so don't disturb them right now."

"I see."

Qinna nodded, then turned and left.

Yang Hao stared at the conference room door ahead. He knew that another tough battle was about to begin—the Bayer Zans might not hide anything from him, but the power of the demon might exceed his imagination.

(After all, it took tens of thousands of demons to reduce the Bayern people from 2000 million to less than 100 million... and that's after accounting for the losses made up for by normal newborn growth.)

I hope the Golems, the current Elves, and the current Demons can fight against those monsters.

With this thought in mind, Yang Hao pushed open the conference room door. There, the aged standard-bearer of Bayer Zans was sitting solemnly, waiting for his arrival.

......

On the other side, in the lounge.

Finn and Teresa looked at each other in silence.

"Should I congratulate you?" Finn muttered. "You've already been granted permission to marry! I thought it would be several more years... But now, not only has the country been revived, but you've also found happiness in your own life. I really don't know what to say."

"...I won't let him swear at the wedding that he only loves me."

"what?"

He watched as Theresa muttered these words to herself.

Finn, on the other hand, was unsure whether she should exploit the loophole in her promise to do something...

However, this is also good news – since Gaparia and Bayezid are brother states, it would be better for the two countries to rule together than to fight each other alone again.

But does this mean that the core bond between the two countries has become that man...?

She patted Theresa on the shoulder. She thought this should be feasible.

Chapter 5: The Rebellion of the Roman Empire (8K)

In the reception room, Yang Hao sat in front of the flag bearer, carefully examining the weathered old soldier before him.

The standard-bearer was also scrutinizing the man who had an extremely close relationship with their purple-clad princess.

The weathered veteran thought to himself that this man was probably Princess Purple's guardian in the outside world. He looked a little older, but he was dressed properly, and in the gorgeous clothes of the elves, he was indeed a suitable match for their princess in terms of both status and etiquette.

On the other hand, you should actually be Fen's husband from the Elf Kingdom, right? The veteran pondered that if he were Fen's husband, then it would be reasonable for this man to stand on the same level as them in the audience hall.

Just as the veteran was pondering something important, he heard the man speak:

"In short, let me introduce myself—I am Yang Hao, the current Regent of Gaparia, and also the lover of your Purple Princess Theresa Justinian II."

"Ah, hello, I am—uh?!"

What did you just say?

The flag bearer's eyes widened in shock: the purple-clad princess's...lover?!

At that moment, a formula was drawn up in Lucas's mind.

Yang Hao = Regent of Gaparia.

Yang Hao = Princess Ziyi's lover = the future regent of Bayer Zans.

In conclusion, Yang Hao, serving as regent for both Gaparia and Bayezid, will not only lead them to revival but, more importantly, further strengthen the already brotherly relationship between the two nations.

At this thought, he immediately jumped up from the sofa. He frantically straightened his clothes, which were now a mess, then knelt on one knee and solemnly held Yang Hao's boots in his hands.

"Forgive my poor judgment! Your Majesty, Regent, please allow me to extend my highest greetings to you!"

“Let’s skip the formalities for now.” Yang Hao reached out and helped the agitated veteran to his feet. “Let me make one thing clear to you first—Theresa wants to restore the kingdom. So you don’t need to worry right now. But we need to understand the situation underground. I mean, everything.”

Lucas trembled with excitement, and at one point his eyes almost rolled back.

But in the end, he resisted his inner elation with the will of a veteran, and after repeatedly refusing Yang Hao's advice on the grounds that "a subject should stand before his master, not sit," he stood before Yang Hao and did his best to report all the intelligence about Bayer Zans to him using all the knowledge he knew.

Where should we begin? Let's start with the devil.

According to Lucas, in Bayezid's existing records, the Demonic Calamity Demons are intelligent beings from another world that emerged from the Great Rift. While bloodthirsty, they also possess a sense of honor characteristic of demons, and the demon race is roughly divided into three types.

The most powerful, rarest, and possessing a large number of or specializing in a particular ability are called "Higher Demons," which are what the Bayerzens call "Demons."

A demonic larva that evolved from a larva.

And the larvae themselves.

Among them, the larvae are like infants in the demon hierarchy. Unless in the most desperate moments, the demons will protect their infants well and prevent them from being harmed by humans.

Demon larvae are the product of larvae evolving after a period of feeding—at this stage, demon larvae exhibit many unique abilities.

Their size varies depending on the species, ranging from the size of a child to the size of a yak. ​​At this stage, the average strength of the demon larvae is already greater than that of ordinary soldiers. The smaller the size, the more agile they are, while the larger the size, the slower they move, but their impact force is also multiplied.

Physically, the [Large Formation] alone is already a formidable foe that Bayrzan's legions must array to confront. Moreover, the demons' greatest strength often lies not in their physical bodies, but in their [Special Abilities].

In their larval stage, most demons possess special abilities that pose a deadly threat to the warriors of Bayrzans.

Whether it's fireballs spewed from their mouths, poisonous needles with a corrosive effect fired from their tails, the summoning of sharp cones rising from the ground, or even purple meteorites falling from the sky, the demons' innate special abilities have caused the Bayrzens considerable trouble, resulting in some casualties—but that's about it.

If the demon army only consisted of juveniles, the Bayern Empire would have risen from the ashes long ago. The truly deadly threat lies with the highest-ranking [Higher Demons].

"Higher demons were once the most powerful and threatening enemy this continent has ever faced."

All high-ranking demons possess terrifying innate abilities—the petrifying demon can slowly petrify anything it looks at, the ice demon can turn an area into an extremely cold place just by lying down to rest, and the fire-breathing demon can ignite all flammable materials around it with a single breath, while its full-force attack can briefly transform the ground into aggressive lava.

Each time we campaign against higher demons, we suffer heavy losses of our elite troops. Fortunately, the number of higher demons isn't large; at least, considering their population size, they are truly not many.

"...Could you use a simpler analogy?"

After a moment of contemplation, Lucas pointed to the small snacks laid out on the table in the reception room:

"If the entire house were a demon swarm—the larvae would form the backbone, [representing the walls and floor]. The number of larvae would be determined by the [mother's] production efficiency, representing [the furniture in the house]. And the high-ranking demons would be the only treats in this house."

Yang Hao followed the direction of his finger and roughly came to a conclusion: in the world of demons, powerful [High-Rank Demons] are, in a sense, geniuses like Night Witches or Saintesses among ordinary humans. In other words, High-Rank Demons are extremely rare... but even so, there are thirty of them below?

Doesn't this mean...?

"Outside Constantinople, based on our observations, the number of demon larvae and larvae has been reduced to less than 30 thanks to our efforts. But as long as we fail to kill the core of the demon, the demon known as the 'Mother,' the larvae and larvae will continue to be born in an endless stream."

30? Considering that the ratio of 30 to 30 is constantly increasing and decreasing, Yang Hao thinks it is acceptable.

But what exactly is this "mother" demon?

Faced with confusion, Lucas simply stated that this was a record from the ancient Bayrzans Empire. During the Great Cataclysm, demons would advance with the "Mother" as their core. The "Mother" was an extremely fragile but highly prolific demon that constantly gave birth to demon offspring and was guarded by more than ten high-ranking demons.

"Only one 'Mother' will appear in a single demonic calamity, and the 'Mother' will only emerge from the large rift rather than the small cracks—after all, its size is said to be enormous."

From a distance, it looked like a moving hill. After being dragged underground by our ancestors, we roughly knew its location—but it was stuck at the site of Constantine XII's previous battle with the demon that controlled the rise of Constantinople…”

"So, you mean we need to deal with that demon first before we can elevate Constantinople, right?"

"Yes. Great Regent, we must deal with the demons—if the demons were to appear on the ground, the consequences would be unimaginable."

"So we have to add another condition—we can only allow the city to rise after we have completely annihilated the demons underground? How are the elves supposed to go down then?"

"The core control console not only has mechanisms to control the city's ascent, but also a giant elevator capable of bringing an entire legion to the ground. However, that place must be incredibly desolate now, having been neglected for centuries, and with the demons' roots firmly planted there... I can't guarantee whether the elves can withstand the shaking when the elevator platform descends."

"I roughly know what to do. So, do you have any experience regarding the weaknesses of demons? And where will you be to meet us?"

Yang Hao probably came to a conclusion.

This war will be centered around elven mages and golems, supported by elven riflemen for ranged combat. The demons cannot intervene; given Lucas's assessment of demonic abilities, if they rashly intervened, they would likely be routed within two minutes of entering the battlefield—it would be more practical for them to focus on logistical support from the rear.

At that time, the elven riflemen could devise a way to specifically target the demons' [eyes] or weak points—the petrifying demon seems to petrify the surrounding area only through [gazing] at it, and other demons also have their own weaknesses...

Elven mages can use elven magic to annihilate the surrounding demon army on a large scale, and they can also provide healing to corrupted allies at the fastest speed.

Golems will once again become the core of this war: petrifying demons have little effect on golems, which are made of inorganic matter, and golems themselves are not particularly flammable. Combined with the attributes of golem siege monsters, they will likely cause significant damage to the "mother"...

In addition, the half-elves in the Elf Kingdom can be recruited as temporary archer units to bolster the army, driven by their sense of belonging to the Bayerzans Empire. Furthermore, having experienced fighting side-by-side, they will face fewer obstacles in integrating into the Bayerzans Empire or returning to life in the Elf Kingdom...

Now all that's missing is finding the demon's weakness, right? And how will Bayerzans fight alongside the elves then?

In response to Yang Hao's questioning gaze, Lucas said that Bayer Jones would mobilize the entire nation's resources to forcibly break through the elevator, which was heavily surrounded by demons, at the agreed time, and create a safe haven in the surrounding area.

"If Your Majesty the Regent's army goes down first, they will be surrounded by demons in the next instant and die in a miserable way."

"But if we let our warriors break through the lines first, and then use magic to send a signal, you can rest easy on the high platform when you come down, without worrying about being surrounded as soon as you land."

"But what about your casualties?"

"The Bayerians are not afraid of casualties, Your Majesty. As long as we can win, as long as there is hope for our country, it is permissible for any number of warriors to die in the face of the demonic calamity."

Hearing this, Yang Hao remained silent for a long time.

Having realized that this was the best tactic, and that it was indeed the truth and sincerity of what Lucas had said, he nodded.

"...I understand. So, what is the demon's weakness?"

A respectable warrior. But, the tactical plan is solved, what about the demon's weakness?

"If I had to put it that way, it's the demon itself—or more precisely, a weapon made from the raw materials of the demon."

When asked by Yang Hao, the standard-bearer of Bayer Zans simply gave his answer without hesitation.

"what?"

Yang Hao was taken aback by this.

For a moment, I almost thought this was an unsolvable, chicken-and-egg-or-egg-and-chicken-like problem.

............

Yang Hao and Lucas were confirming the intelligence underground, while on the other side, Nia the Black Dragon was also confirming the situation of Isugard with her presidential friend.

"In short, Margarita, the Regent's status and importance have exceeded my authority—you must grant me higher authority, and I might need your help someday."

After explaining to the President that Yang Hao might be serving as regent for two countries simultaneously, and that one of those countries might be a human nation that has been fighting a thousand-year-old "demon" underground, Nia came to this conclusion.

But unexpectedly, the president did not respond immediately.

She was just lost in thought when, after finding a few books from her, Nia heard the sound of pages turning.

After a while.

"Demons?" Nia heard the president, disguised as a little girl, speak in a light, confused voice. "According to the records of the ancient ruins we've collected in Isgard... there were also records of demons on the continent of Orros, where Isgard is located... I'm confused about whether they are the same kind, but in any case, the continent of Elusia experienced a catastrophe a thousand years ago, right?"