Lee Shin’s strategy was simple.

When the two orc warriors attacked, he deliberately made it seem like he was constructing an expansion base.

Then, as soon as the orc warriors retreated, he immediately canceled the command center construction and prioritized summoning a hot air balloon and mages as quickly as possible.

In short, instead of using his magic points to build a command center and summon more slaves, he invested them in advancing his tech tree.

For Casanova, who had been relaxing and preparing for a long-term battle, this was a complete blindside.

‘The mage will reboard the hot air balloon. This time, we’ll raid the magic stone collection site outside the main base.’

Three mages were on board the hot air balloon.

Each could cast Fire Storm only once before having to wait for their mana to recover.

In other words, they still had two more casts left. This would be a decisive blow.

The hot air balloon moved toward the magic stone collection site outside Casanova’s main base.

A few orc warriors and orc spearmen tried to chase after it, but they had no air-combat-capable units.

The orc slaves at the magic stone collection site could be seen fleeing in a panic.

‘Now! Follow the orc slaves’ escape route!’

Two mages disembarked from the hot air balloon.

The moment they landed, the orc warriors and orc spearmen desperately charged at them, but the mages swiftly cast Fire Storm.

“Fire Storm!”

“Fire Storm!”

Fwoooosh!

Fwoooosh—!

“Chwiik!”

“Chwik!”

The orc slaves wailed mournfully as they burned to death!

Casanova was left with almost no orc slaves.

He had lost his means of gathering magic stones.

Moreover, before the mages could be killed by the orc warriors and spearmen, they swiftly reboarded the hot air balloon and escaped with their lives.

The hot air balloon leisurely drifted away, as if mocking him.

‘I’ve lost!’

Casanova instinctively knew his defeat was sealed.

All his orc slaves were dead, with only three remaining.

He needed to summon more orc slaves and send them to the magic stone collection site to keep gathering magic, but would his opponent just sit back and wait for him?

By the time he did that, the enemy would have summoned troops and launched an overwhelming full-scale attack.

But at this point, he had nothing to lose.

“Attack! Everyone, attack!”

At Casanova’s roar, the orc warriors and orc spearmen all advanced.

He didn’t have many troops left after investing in an expansion base, but if he didn’t strike now, he’d never have another chance to win.

Just as he sent out all his forces—

[Enemy sighted!]

“What?!”

A hot air balloon appeared from the east.

This time, eight archers descended from it.

“Fire!”

“Kill them all!”

The eight archers mercilessly shot down the remaining three orc slaves.

But that wasn’t all.

The hot air balloon continued flying over the eastern hills, ferrying in more troops—eight archers and spearmen at a time. With each trip, the enemy forces rampaging through Casanova’s base increased.

And then—

Flash!

All the archers upgraded to crossbowmen, and all the spearmen upgraded to long spearmen. The weapon upgrades from the forge were complete.

Perfect timing!

Casanova could hardly believe what he was witnessing.

‘Right next to my main base’s hill…’

When he launched the terror attack with the mages aboard the hot air balloon, he had already stationed all his troops nearby in advance.

“Hahaha……”

Casanova let out a hollow laugh, unable to believe it.

He had been completely played.

It was a crushing defeat, ensnared in a meticulously calculated strategy that had foreseen several moves ahead.

Casanova shrugged.

“I lost this match!”

[Contractor Giacomo Casanova of Demon Lord Amdusias has declared defeat. Demon Lord Gremory is victorious.] [If Demon Lord Gremory wins once more, she will be victorious in the ranking match.]

The first match ended in Lee Shin’s overwhelming victory.

Upon teleporting to the waiting area, Amdusias stared at Lee Shin with a shaken expression.

- Has he really only fought in a ranking match once?

A voice like an eerie melody, resonating deep into the mind.

Gremory took Lee Shin’s hand, shielding him from that voice. She responded in his stead.

“This time, I just happened to find an outstanding Contractor.”

Having long been looked down upon, Gremory wore a triumphant expression.

- Hmph, no wonder you demanded such a high bet.

Amdusias seemed greatly flustered.

Even Casanova was staring at Lee Shin in disbelief.

“How can a Contractor who hasn’t even been contracted for a month have such skill…?”

“Let’s start the next battle in thirty minutes. My Contractor needs some rest.”

- Very well. My Contractor also needs time to collect himself.

With that agreement, a break was granted.

“You did really well.”

She used her healing power to completely relieve Lee Shin’s fatigue and praised him.

“Thank you.”

“I saw everything. It was like you were commanding the game while seeing exactly what your opponent was doing.”

“I can see it all.”

Casanova had a certain level of tactical sense.

But his opponent was the problem.

Lee Shin was a professional gamer with an astonishing record. The strategies Casanova devised were things he had encountered countless times before.

“Make sure you win the next match too.”

“No problem.”

“I can’t believe this day has finally come for me.”

Gremory beamed with joy. Seeing her so excited, Lee Shin found her adorable.

Thirty minutes passed, and the second match began.

“Human.”

“Monster.”

Lee Shin and Casanova selected their factions.

[The ranking match begins.]

Thus, the second battle commenced.

‘I absolutely cannot lose this time!’

Casanova was growing anxious. It was because of Amdusias’s warning.

- If you lose again and I fall to the lowest rank, you will not be safe either.

‘W-what do you mean by that?’

- You’ll understand when the time comes. But it would be better if you never had to find out.

Terrified, Casanova resolved to use the best strategy he knew.

He built a Hellhound Altar and summoned two Hellhounds.

“Scout the 1 o’clock area.”

The Hellhounds growled and set off toward the 1 o’clock region.

Next, he constructed a magic circle at the magic stone collection site outside his main base and another within his base. The more magic circles he had, the more troops he could summon.

At the same time, he observed Lee Shin’s movements using the Hellhounds he had sent for reconnaissance.

The entrance was completely blocked off with buildings, making it impossible to get inside. However, he could see that Lee Shin had not constructed a separate command center.

‘Is he planning to mass-produce troops as quickly as possible using only the magic from his main base?’

He wouldn’t fall for the same pattern as before.

This time, he constructed ‘Flame Arrays’ all throughout his camp. No matter which route the enemy took, the countless arrays would launch fireballs at them.

Once the Demon Realm Garden was complete, three magic circles simultaneously began summoning Poison Spore Flowers.

Poison Spore Flowers attacked by scattering poisonous spores in all directions.

Moreover, he initiated the evolution of four of them into Ents.

Ents were giant tree monsters.

The crossbowmen and long spearmen of the Humans would barely be able to scratch an Ent’s bark.

But something felt off.

‘Why aren’t they attacking?’