Upon hearing the introduction, Hela was momentarily stunned.

  So this was Helnersen.

  Despite his massive frame that resembled a small mountain, he could even modulate his voice to sound so gentle.

  It even gave people a reassuring sense of kindness.

  This elderly gentleman who appeared to be in his fifties must have been incredibly formidable in his youth.

  Helnersen continued speaking, asking the most pressing question at hand:

  "Now tell me about the current situation."

  At his inquiry, Hela lowered her head slightly, her expression growing somber:

  "Before the First Prince departed, the monster numbers on the front lines remained in a balanced state."

  After the southern war situation had somewhat stabilized, the First Prince left the south.

  But shortly after his departure, the monster rift suddenly began expanding uncontrollably.

  Massive hordes of monsters poured forth, catching the southern front lines completely off guard.

  They didn't even have time to call for reinforcements—many soldiers and adventurers were ruthlessly torn apart and devoured by monsters during their desperate resistance.

  Left with no alternative, they retreated to the second battle line, where adventurers and soldiers joined forces in a life-or-death struggle against this enormous beast tide.

  However, the monster numbers exceeded everyone's wildest imagination, and even the second defense line teetered on the brink of collapse.

  If these monster hordes broke through to the third defense line, the consequences would be catastrophic.

  The third defense line would be virtually impossible to hold against such numbers.

  Once that line fell, behind it lay regions housing hundreds of thousands—even millions—of residents.

  The entire city would plunge into disaster.

  Fortunately, just as the second battle line was about to crumble, Kravina reinforcements arrived.

  Those well-trained demi-humans swept across the battlefield in a killing spree, with the tiger-man especially hunting the monster tide like prey.

  This also explained why Hela's guild was called [Beast].

  Only beasts driven by pure instinct could serve as the natural predators most effective against these monsters.

  When humans faced monster attacks, they had to consider casualties, making precise strikes at monster weak points difficult.

  But beasts followed instinct—like hunting—and after simple probing could seize the winning moment.

  Therefore, demi-humans who most resembled beasts could effectively counter monsters.

  This efficiency was nearly impossible for regular armies to match.

  "Fortunately, these creatures never reached the final defense line."

  As she spoke, something struck her as odd.

  Logically, without a leader, so many monsters shouldn't concentrate their assault on the empire's south like this.

  They could have ventured into the wasteland to hunt, yet they chose to attack the empire instead.

  As if someone were deliberately controlling them.

  However, to command such a monster horde would require the strongest among them.

  For instance... a floor master.

  Yet the entity leading these monsters had yet to reveal itself.

  Just as Hela pondered this, she suddenly sensed intense danger approaching.

  Every hair on her body stood on end, her eyes widened, and even her floating hair tips bristled upright.

  The speed of the constantly shifting giant flower patterns in her eyes increased several-fold.

  The tiger-man at some distance also detected this menacing aura.

  Its orange fur exploded like burning flames as it instantly whipped its head toward the danger's source.

  Sweat beaded on Hela's forehead. Ignoring the cat-girl's bandaging beside her, she shot to her feet and shouted at the bear-man before her:

  "Danger!"

  BOOM!

  In an instant, towering earth that pierced the blood-red clouds erupted behind Helnersen, like a brown waterfall ascending toward the sky.

  An impossibly massive monster burst forth from the soil, its brown flesh writhing constantly.

  Countless purple blood vessels pulsed beneath its skin as dark blood raced through them at breakneck speed.

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  Gleaming white fangs protruded from its surface, rotating as they tore through the earth.

  A colossal maw that seemed capable of devouring the heavens opened and closed in the air, lined with razor-sharp elongated teeth while exhaling waves of putrid stench.

  The moment it emerged, countless monster corpses were completely devoured, blood and flesh flying everywhere.

  Earth cascaded from its body, crashing violently onto the blood-soaked ground.

  Muddy rivers of blood poured from the sky as the thick metallic scent awakened and spread once more across this nightmarish landscape.

  Gazing at that massive sandworm as thick as a castle rising from the earth, the roses in Hela's eyes ceased their transformation, her mind going completely blank.

  Because this was...

  A monster unlike any she'd ever seen.

  The monster rift contained countless unexplored regions.

  Even the mightiest Beast Guild among adventurers had only reached the fiftieth floor at their deepest recorded exploration.

  So this colossal creature before them could only be a super-monster from beyond the fiftieth floor.

  If one dared guess more boldly, it might very well be—

  "A floor master from the sixtieth level?"

  Compared to it, even the massive Helnersen appeared as tiny as a pebble.

  Every survivor present stared wide-eyed in stupefaction at the giant maw descending from above.

  In that moment, their minds went blank, their blood seeming to freeze solid, their limbs growing incredibly rigid.

  Unable to move.

  Only the demi-humans appeared completely unperturbed, silently pulling the wounded back a considerable distance.

  As if... preventing them from getting caught in the crossfire.

  At this moment, the sky-piercing giant sandworm plummeted from above.

  It opened its massive bloody maw, apparently intending to devour Helnersen and everyone present!

  But...

  Helnersen didn't even turn around, simply raising one arm behind him.

  In that instant, his arm muscles swelled explosively, veins and blood vessels bulging from the skin's surface.

  BOOM!!!

  Accompanied by a thunderous impact, everyone's eyes widened in disbelief.

  Helnersen's single arm had driven deep into the sandworm's massive skull.

  Completely halting the sandworm's devastating charge.

  But this wasn't the end.

  He spun around, leaned forward, extended his other hand, and firmly grasped the rim of the sandworm's giant maw.

  In this moment, Helnersen drew a deep breath, his torso muscles bulging once more.

  Several buttons on his butler uniform popped clean off.

  His hands supported the sandworm's enormous body as a powerful shockwave erupted behind him.

  One foot lifted into the air before he suddenly yanked the brown behemoth completely free from beneath the earth.

  Instantly, terrifying dust clouds and air currents rose from the ground, with various monster corpse fragments and bloody stenches scattering in all directions.

  The sandworm's horrifying bulk soared through the sky once more, passing over the bear-man's shoulder to crash heavily onto the opposite side.

  CRASH!

  An explosive sound rang out as the vast earth trembled violently.

  Everyone snapped from their daze at this intense vibration, raising hands to shield their faces from the sweeping sandstorm.

  Brown tempests spiraled skyward while thick dust crashed earthward.

  After what felt like an eternity, the smoke and dust gradually cleared.

  The massive sandworm lay completely prone on the ground, writhing and twisting its body against the earth.

  Its girth rivaled dozens of magic trains combined.

  Yet Helnersen casually pressed down with just one hand, effortlessly pinning the sandworm's body.

  With merely simple movements, he rendered it completely immobile.

  Everyone present stood frozen, staring wide-eyed at Helnersen restraining this heaven-reaching sandworm.

  Their eyes brimmed with shock, their minds in utter chaos—even now, they felt trapped in some impossible dream.

  Even Hela's mind blanked momentarily as she gazed up at the still-dignified Helnersen.

  What had she been thinking earlier?

  That he must have been quite powerful in his youth?

  Was it too late to retract that assessment?

  Meanwhile, Helnersen reached up to straighten his pristine butler uniform and smooth his tie.

  Only then did he slowly turn back toward Hela:

  "Now, where were we in our discussion?"

  ...

  "So those monsters haven't breached the city yet."

  The First Prince hung his head, weakly muttering this phrase as his body gradually regained some strength.

  He drew several deep breaths.

  Upon hearing the military officer's report about the southern defeat, anxiety and panic had seized him so completely that his heart seemed to stop.

  His vision blurred momentarily, consciousness growing hazy.

  In such a brief span, if the beast tide had actually stormed the city, the army wouldn't have had even a chance to evacuate civilians.

  Even with civilian evacuation, once the city fell, the consequences would prove equally catastrophic.

  The empire's south had established three defensive lines.

  The frontmost line guarding the monster rift, the second line's massive battlefield, and the final defense line—city walls established around Godinlima as the foundation.

  Stockpiled there were vast quantities of highly destructive large-scale weapons—the border's most crucial final resort.

  Even with civilian evacuation, that location remained an absolutely vital strategic point as the border itself.

  Once lost, the entire southern region would face utter catastrophe.

  The First Prince slowly collected himself, wiped sweat from his brow, and drew a deep breath.

  He straightened his posture, walked solemnly before Viktor, and grasped one of Viktor's hands with both of his own.

  He bowed a full ninety degrees in respectful gratitude.

  "Thank you immensely, Count Viktor."

  The nobles witnessing this scene fell into contemplative silence.

  A ninety-degree bow represented the highest form of respect—beyond that lay only the single-knee genuflection of sworn loyalty.

  But as a prince, Aubrey naturally couldn't go that far.

  Seeing the First Prince act this way, the nobles could all understand his reasoning.

  From the First Prince's perspective, Viktor's preemptive assistance amounted to saving the empire's entire south.

  The empire's south was precisely the territory under the First Prince's protection.

  Unnoticed, Lia had smiled and retreated back to Cocotte's side.

  Cocotte sat in her chair with her face propped up, regarding Viktor with clear dissatisfaction:

  "Didn't we agree I'd be today's protagonist?"

  Seeing Lia return, she continued her muttered complaints.

  "You really don't mind letting him steal all the spotlight."

  Lia settled back into her chair with a mixture of amusement and helpless resignation, shrugging:

  "Can't be helped."

  "He is the head of our family, after all."

  As she spoke, her gaze shifted toward Libert on the other side.

  Observing that elegant and noble Reiser family head, Lia found the situation rather amusing.

  Now Viktor had every reason to interrogate this fellow.

  Sure enough, exactly as Lia had anticipated.

  Viktor casually extended one hand, gently removing the First Prince's two hands from his other arm.

  "Save the thanks for later—you did request my assistance, after all."

  The First Prince straightened up, eyes widening slightly, mouth half-open with bewilderment written across his features.

  "Just don't forget the payment."

  Then he turned once more, directing his attention toward Libert:

  "Now I have only one other question that needs answering."

  Under everyone's watchful gaze, Viktor strode forward with crisp footsteps, slowly approaching Libert.

  Sensing Viktor's approach, Libert raised his head slightly.

  Those brilliant golden eyes like flowing sand met Viktor's profound black gaze directly.

  "The south also falls under your Reiser family's jurisdiction."

  Viktor spoke each word deliberately, his eyes flashing with razor-sharp intensity.

  His tone bloomed with frigid menace like the depths of an arctic cavern:

  "Today, if you lack a satisfactory explanation..."

  "I'll be forced to extract one from you."

  """

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