Confident in his abilities, the Emperor of the Metal Empire believed that no one was stronger than him among all the remaining human emperors.
He had already reached the peak of Transcendental Being and was waiting for the reward of the demon lord to break through to Celestial Immortal.
He even offered to become a demon lord as long as he defeated the 10th rank demon lord of Wrath.
Aware of the challenge of defeating a demon lord, he had been given thousands of years to prepare after finishing his trial.
If he failed, he would become like the demon in front of him, forever a lackey of Irethane.
Witnessing the power of demons and the intimidating strength of Irethane made him feel uneasy every time he faced him.
Although Irethane was ranked 9th, his power could match those of higher ranks, and he seemed indifferent to increasing his rank.
The Emperor was initially shocked to learn that a human could reach such power by accepting the power of demons, so didn't hesitate to betray the human race for such an opportunity, much like Irethane had done.
The demon looked at him seriously and bid his farewell.
"Very well, remember, if you fail, you die."
Swoosh!
The demon disappeared instantly, and the Emperor clenched his fist, mumbling to himself.
'Be arrogant for now, I will kill you and that Irethane if I become a demon lord.'
Even though he betrayed the human race and sided with the demons, he still bore a grudge against Demon Lord Irethane.
To become his lackey, Irethane told him to offer his wife and watch her be savaged by demons.
If he showed any anger, he would fail and be killed as well. He was angry, but he had no choice.
Even if he rejected it, they would still kill him, because breaking a deal with the devil could make him suffer backlash.
He still remembered that day when he watched his wife being brutally abused by the demons in front of him.
He could only cry, unable to release any anger for his safety. Until now, he was still undergoing the trial, and he couldn't become too angry.
If he failed to control his emotions, he would become a mindless demon, his consciousness devoured by Irethane.
"Arghh, bastard, you will pay for that."
The demon who told him the news about the Lightning Empire situation was one of those demons who killed his wife after abusing her.
He even ate her flesh in front of him like candy. The Metal Emperor then calmed himself and looked out the window before shouting, "Men, prepare for war!!"
"We'll kill those impudent fools!"
His voice reverberated throughout the domain, the power of a Transcendental Being not to be underestimated.
They didn't need to go there; they would just wait for their prey to enter the hunter's den.
........
The Metal Empire is divided into four regions: the western, southern, and eastern regions. The palace of the emperor is located in the northern region, while the other regions are managed by the six Dukes of the Metal Empire. The eastern, western, and southern regions each have Dukes guarding the border, and their power is only below that of the Emperor in terms of strength and prestige.
The plan to attack the Metal Empire was devised by Xegron with the help of Kirito's suggestion.
Their plan is simple: Kirito will lead the entire army and split the troops into two groups to attack the eastern and southern regions of the Metal Empire.
In these regions, they will face four Dukes of the Metal Empire, along with some nobles, and their combined army numbers estimate around 7 million troops.
Kirito is in charge of leading 700,000 troops of the Lightning Empire to the southern region, while Muller will lead the remaining 700,000 to the eastern region.
The Lightning Empire only has 1.4 million troops ready to fight, as Kirito believes it is already enough and doesn't need to overpower them with numbers.
Kirito's confidence comes from his strength, and he believes that conquering the Metal Empire will be an easy feat.
This plan seems risky because they could be ambushed and outnumbered by the remaining two regions. However, those two regions would face an even more terrifying enemy than the eastern and southern regions.
Xegron will face the Dukes of the Western region alone, with a command from Dave to kill everyone who does not surrender and spare those who do.
Xegron's power is strong, surpassing that of 50 soul flowers, and he used to act alone.
Unlike Kirito, who likes to use intelligence in fights, Xegron prefers brute force to solve every problem.
As for the demons, Xegron was told to kill and devour them, or if he preferred, he could make them undead under his troops.
Xegron's undead legion only numbers around 50,000 because he does not choose to make weaker ones undead, only selecting strong combatants.
All of the 50,000 undead are with Kirito because Xegron prefers to act alone and can create an undead army on his way to massacre the Western Region.
As for the Northern Region, Dave will personally lead his way there, as the castle, where the Emperor is located, is situated in that region.
First, Kirito suggested attacking the northern region with all of the troops, but Dave told him that he would take care of the Emperor personally.
Kirito didn't reject this because he already knew how strong his master was.
Dave must have had some arrangement, but he didn't tell Kirito about it.
With 100 soul flowers, Dave believed that he could even kill Celestial Immortals.
This thought was crazy because Celestial Immortals are different from Transcendental beings.
A Transcendental being is considered to be the limit of mortality in the Celestial Plane. Beyond that, one can be considered a real immortal being when they reach Celestial Immortality.
Celestial Immortals have an almost exhaustible lifespan and possess characteristics that Transcendental beings do not have, such as Divine Power.
Yes, Divine Power. Being a Celestial Immortal means one is now on the path to godhood, and Celestial Immortals are divided into many stages: Demi-God, Lower God, Mid God, High God, and True God.
Dave will be accompanied by Draco as well, who will serve as his mount because Dave is too lazy to fly to the Northern Region.
The Northern region has fewer armies than the other regions, but based on the intel Xegron managed to acquire, it is full of demons blending in with civilians, and there are many strong combatants there.