Like pouring water into a bottomless jar, the Hellhounds were annihilated.

Of course, the Human side soldiers also suffered losses, but the exchange rate was very poor for the enemy.

This was thanks to Lee Shin’s ghost-like command.

‘Griffin squad, take on the Hellhounds. Crossbowmen, target the Demon Dragons!’

It was a masterful division of roles.

The command was aimed at utilizing the Griffins’ claws and beaks for close-range attacks.

The Griffins’ own attack power was on par with knights, and it was quite effective against Hellhounds.

The archers on the ground shot bolts whenever the Demon Dragons approached, bringing them down.

The shield soldiers and spearmen held back the surging Hellhounds.

In the midst of it all, even Sanada Masayuki’s snap judgment was commendable.

Seeing the battle turn unfavorable, he boldly abandoned the front yard’s mana stone collector and retreated.

Then, he concentrated the Hellhounds at the entrance to the main base to defend it.

With the catapults completely destroyed, it was difficult to easily repel the massed demonic troops at the entrance. It seemed he was buying time to gather more forces.

‘Destroy the front yard first and have ground forces hold position.’
‘Engineers, rebuild the catapults.’
‘Griffin squad, charge into the main base as is. Eliminate the remaining Demon Dragons and kill the Claws.’

Orders fired off like a machine gun in Lee Shin’s mind.

His forces destroyed the buildings Sanada Masayuki had constructed in the front yard.

The Griffin squad ignored the Hellhounds blocking the entrance and stormed into the main base, beginning to slay the Claws collecting mana stones.

The Demon Dragons flew in to stop them, but there were only four in total.

The Demon Dragons merely harassed with hit-and-run attacks, but could not stop the Griffin squad from killing the Claws.

‘There’s too few Demon Dragons.’

Lee Shin immediately noticed something was off.

Even during the battle, the enemy must have continued summoning troops.

But for that, the numbers of Hellhounds and Demon Dragons were too low.

‘They’ve been diverted.’

And the diverted forces were headed straight to…

[We are under enemy attack!]

A small group of Hellhounds and Demon Dragons raided Lee Shin’s front yard.

As soon as he realized he was at a disadvantage, Sanada Masayuki diverted part of his forces to launch a surprise attack on Lee Shin’s camp.

‘Recall the Griffin squad!’
‘If the catapults are complete, begin the attack.’
‘All slaves working in the front yard, retreat to the main base.’

Lee Shin recalled the Griffin squad to defend the front yard.

Meanwhile, from Sanada Masayuki’s camp, completed catapults began launching boulders.

The Hellhounds gathered at the entrance had to retreat to avoid the flying rocks.

As the entrance opened up, the shield soldiers and spearmen pushed in, leading the charge.

Meanwhile, the raiding Demon Dragons and Hellhounds focused their attacks on the command center in Lee Shin’s front yard.

The newly summoned crossbowmen counterattacked, but the enemies ignored them and solely targeted the command center.

Boom!

The command center couldn’t withstand the assault and collapsed with a thud.

With the front yard’s mana stone collector obliterated, Lee Shin’s mana collection took a serious hit.

Sanada Masayuki was also suffering severe damage as his base was ravaged by Lee Shin’s invading troops.

If the main base was fully destroyed, it would be Lee Shin’s victory.

The returning Griffin squad attacked the monsters rampaging in the front yard.

Sanada Masayuki abandoned the Hellhounds and only withdrew the Demon Dragons.

‘He hasn’t given up yet.’

Lee Shin had a hunch.

‘I thought I had won, but there was no end to it.’
‘It felt like I was fighting a war against an opponent who kept running away.’

‘Columbus, scout the 3 o’clock direction. Gilles de Rais, to 7 o’clock. Griffin squad, circle the battlefield clockwise for recon.’

Lee Shin swiftly sent out reconnaissance units across the battlefield.

As expected—

Columbus, scouting the 3 o’clock area, discovered Sanada Masayuki’s demon buildings.

As the magic circle was just completed, Claws quickly began collecting mana stones.

Right in front of the magic circle, two buildings were being constructed: a Hellhound altar and a Demonic Garden.

A small number of Hellhounds and Demon Dragons were guarding the area.

‘Such tenacity.’

By that time, the crossbowmen, spearmen, and shield soldiers had completely wiped out Sanada Masayuki’s main base.

Slash!

“Argh!”

The Demon Dragons sprayed venom at Columbus and killed him.

But Columbus had already fulfilled his role, so Lee Shin didn’t even bat an eye.

‘All troops head to 3 o’clock. One Griffin remains airborne and patrols the battlefield perimeter to prevent more hidden structures.’

Thus, he moved to finish the match, and also began reconstruction of the destroyed front yard mana collector.

When the Griffin squad arrived at the 3 o’clock area, they spotted three Poison Spore Flowers evolving into Ents.

They were also constructing two Flame Arrays, doing everything they could to defend the position.

Lee Shin understood what Sanada Masayuki was thinking.

He probably believed that once the three Ents were complete, he could hold out for a while.

Ents, with their tough bark, were resistant to crossbowmen and spearmen, and could temporarily hold off Lee Shin’s attacks.

‘That’s why he destroyed my front yard.’

An interesting opponent.

Even among pro gamers, there was a strategy where one kept creating expansion bases and running away.

And while doing so, continually landing counterstrikes to keep the balance of the match from tipping either way—a stall strategy that maintained equilibrium.

Sanada Masayuki was employing precisely that kind of survival tactic. It was something possible only with relentless tenacity and unwavering focus on victory to the very end.

However, since Lee Shin had swiftly deployed the fast-flying Griffins, all of that was rendered meaningless.

The Griffins were fast.

You can quickly discover wherever a building is secretly constructed.

You can fly over hills and launch a direct attack, so blocking the entrance alone isn’t enough to defend.

In the end, what he heard from Joachim Murat about Sanada Masayuki played a crucial role in determining victory and defeat.

Ultimately, Sanada Masayuki declared defeat.

[Contractor Sanada Masayuki of Demon Lord Flauros has declared defeat. Victory goes to Demon Lord Gremory.]
[Demon Lord Gremory has acquired 20,000 mana.]
[With a total mana of 129,000, Demon Lord Gremory is now ranked 69th.]
[With a total mana of 111,000, Demon Lord Flauros is now ranked 70th.]

"It was a complete defeat."

Sanada Masayuki extended his hand, his face filled with regret.

"It was close."

Lee Shin accepted the handshake without hesitation.

"Was it really?"

"No. Even if we repeated this a hundred times, you would still lose with that strategy."

Lee Shin spoke with brutal honesty.

"Hah, honest, aren’t you. It felt like you already had me figured out from the beginning. You heard about me from that Joachim Murat bastard, didn’t you?"

"Yes."

"You must’ve made a deal to share info later too. That sly Western bastard!"

Sanada Masayuki was sharp as a tack.

Lee Shin had no intention of hiding it, so he just shrugged once.

"Though I lost, thanks to you I’ve figured out where I went wrong. If we face off again, it won’t be the same as today."

......

Sanada Masayuki’s biggest blunder was knowing formations but not knowing combinations.

If he had mixed in even two Ents with the Hellhounds and Wyverns, Lee Shin might have had a tough time.

It seemed he had already realized that mistake.

If they were to clash again, he would be a far more difficult opponent.

But that, too, would be fun in its own way, Lee Shin thought. He was not afraid of a challenge.

At that moment, the leopard with burning eyes, Demon Lord Flauros, approached Lee Shin.

That distinctive growling voice rang out.

-Speak your wish. I am Flauros the War Panther. I can reveal to you the secrets of the past, present, and future, or incinerate your enemies. And... well, you already know the rest. Choose your wish.

"The secrets of past, present, and future?"

Lee Shin tilted his head.

-That’s right. You can learn the secrets of what happened in the past, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future. However, you must know that if you wish to know secrets beyond your capacity, your life may be endangered. So, will you choose this wish?

Flauros asked.

Lee Shin thought deeply.

Is there any human not curious about the future?

But Lee Shin thought that knowing it beforehand would make it boring.

He wasn’t particularly curious about the present either.

However...

“The secret of the past?”

Lee Shin’s gaze naturally drifted to his right wrist.

Thanks to Gremory’s healing, it had recovered far better than before.

But the pain of having the wrist bone shattered at the time, and the despair of never being able to play again, still remained in Lee Shin’s heart.

He wasn’t the type to dwell on the past, but as a human being, he couldn’t completely shake off the trauma of that not-so-distant incident.

He wanted to know.

Who did that to him, and why?

But on the other hand, he didn’t want to know.

It sounded absurd, but what if Hwang Byeong-cheol or Shin Ji-ho really was behind it, like the rumors said?

Or it could be someone entirely unexpected, someone close to him who was jealous of his success.

Or... it could even be his father or mother...

“No way.”

Lee Shin shook his head.

Hwang Byeong-cheol was a man of perseverance and grit. He wasn’t the scheming type.

Shin Ji-ho was a bit petty and crooked, but he wasn’t evil at heart.

And his parents? That wasn’t even worth considering.

No matter how much they disliked gaming, would they really harm their son who had already found great success in that field?

Knowing the truth might only bring pain.

There was no need to open Pandora’s box.

"Kaiser, if it’s a past you don’t need to know, don’t dig it up—just let it go,"

Gremory came up and advised him.

But then Flauros also sidled up and whispered in a suggestive tone.

-But in the end, humans cannot live without knowing secrets. How to accept the truth is for you to decide. But there’s no rule that says you must stay ignorant. Don’t you think?

"There are plenty of Demon Lords who can reveal the secrets of past, present, and future. Even if you want to know later, you can just decide then,"

Gremory continued to advise him.

Flauros frowned.

He clearly wanted to grant a wish other than giving away 1% of his precious mana.

Lee Shin tightly closed his eyes and thought.

He agonized for quite some time.

Then, opening his eyes, he spoke.

"I want it."

-What do you want?

"...The secret of the past."

-Hehehe, good.

Flauros grinned in triumph and suddenly spat out a black orb from his mouth and handed it to Lee Shin.

Startled, Lee Shin caught it, and Flauros spoke.

-Hold that and think about what you want to know. It will come to you. You can use it whenever you wish, but once used, the orb will disappear. But remember—I warned you. If the secret is too much to bear, it could threaten your life.

"It’s not that grand of a secret."

-In any case, your wish has been granted, so I’ve no further business here. Farewell.

Flauros disappeared along with Sanada Masayuki.

"You know that acquiring mana would be better for your ranking in the next placement battle, right?"

Gremory asked.

"Yes, I know."

Lee Shin nodded.

"But there’s something I absolutely need to know."

His right hand continuously fiddled with the black orb.