"None of you have given me what I'm looking for yet. I still haven't seen that look of despair on your faces."
Then a voice came from behind him. "General, hold on. We can't let them off that easily."
Roland turned. It was Maro.
"What these fools have been guarding all along is nothing but this energy core. I've brought it to you. In return, I ask to join the human army."
But Roland was no fool. Why should he trust him? He pressed the blade against Maro's throat.
Maro smiled with confidence. "My clan has been the guardian of the energy core across every generation of the Dusk Realm. From the very beginning, when Vorath the First unified the entire demon continent, my ancestor stood at his side as his most trusted founding marshal. Every demon king has been served by three demon generals. One master of sorcery and governance, one master of warfare and combat. Only my clan has always held one of those three seats without relying on raw power or combat strength. We hold it through the energy core alone. That should be proof enough of my sincerity, because the energy core left behind by Vorath the First holds the blood of our founding marshal, Dragorn. Only our clan can unlock the energy core, or grant its power to another."
Roland's interest was piqued. He had heard of the energy core, a massive energy body that concentrated the entire destiny and spiritual force of the demon race. Every energy core required an ancient demon king's crystal and generations of refinement. A single top tier energy core took at least decades, sometimes a century, to form.
"Something that powerful, and you're just handing it over. Do you think I'm an idiot?"
Staring at Roland's murderous expression, Maro's confidence wavered. He was terrified Roland might cut him down without a second thought. He shook as he spoke. "I— I'm sorry."
In his panic, the energy core slipped from his hands and fell to the ground. Then he broke into tears.
"I just want to survive. I'm too weak. I have no great magical power. I have no physical strength. A body as frail as mine. Even activating the energy core would cost me my life."
Silvara was devastated. "Uncle Maro, have you lost your mind? That man, he just slaughtered so many of our people. How can you betray your own kind and grovel before a human? He personally took your own brother's head. Have you no spine at all?"
Roland tilted his head, thinking something about Maro seemed familiar. He pressed his foot down on Gorman's severed head. "This one your brother?"
Then he kicked it away like a ball until it rolled to a stop at Maro's feet.
Maro's expression shifted into something unsettling. "He deserved it. He absolutely deserved it. He had no business picking fights with people stronger than him. We were never a match for the humans. This war should never have been started. The wise know when to yield. Isn't that right? Only a fool fights the inevitable."
Roland burst out laughing so hard he nearly lost control of himself. "Handing something like this over to someone like you. Now that would truly be wise."
Roland smiled and closed his hand around the energy core. "In that case, I'll gladly take it."
At that moment, Maro's eyes were shot through with red. He bit down on his own finger. "Everyone, protect your highness."
His oldest comrades understood in an instant and immediately cast their absolute defense barrier. Silvara and Wynn were stunned. What is happening? Didn't he just betray us?
A barrier rose up and sealed all four of them inside. By now, Maro's finger was bleeding heavily. The energy core activated. Roland was caught off guard and flung the energy core away. Then all eight faces of the energy core blazed with light.
Roland was completely blindsided. "What is this?"
The blinding light swallowed him whole.
"Our clan has been waiting for this moment all along. After all, this is something only I could do. Generation after generation, our clan has received the kindness of the demon race. We have never been able to repay it."
From a distance, a blinding white sphere of light suddenly appeared at the heart of the city. The violent energy storm swept around the barrier Weston had cast. With nowhere else to go, the energy surged outward in every direction. Soldiers caught in the blast were reduced to particles in an instant. They had no time to react.
The demons on the city wall were horrified. "What is happening out there?"
Then they saw it. A mushroom cloud rising into the sky. Lightning split the air. Thunder rolled, and rain began to fall.
At the center of the explosion, as the smoke began to clear, a kneeling figure slowly came into view. Maro was engulfed in flames across his entire body, barely clinging to life, his body charred black. He said it quietly. This was everything he had. But even so, it had only drawn out one percent of the energy core's true power.
Thanks to Weston's protection, Hawk and the other three narrowly escaped.
Maro's life had reached its end. The regret was almost unbearable.
But the next second, an S tier thunder drake appeared at the center of the explosion, shielding Roland completely with its wings. It was his S tier skill, absolute defense, capable of blocking all damage for thirty seconds.
With a thunderous roar, Roland emerged completely unharmed. "You made the worst possible choice, revealing your trump card before you even know your opponent's hand. That is the most foolish play I have ever seen."
Then he walked slowly toward Maro. Maro used every last bit of strength he had to reach for the energy core. Then a bolt of golden lightning struck the energy core, and the next second it was in Roland's hand.
"Are you ready to face the consequences?"
Maro had no peace with it. He had given everything he had.
After finishing Maro off, Roland hadn't expected to walk away with the energy core. "No wonder this is the land that produced a demon king."
With the energy core secured, he moved on to the next phase of his plan. He ordered the thunder drake that had just protected him to carry it out.
But the thunder drake didn't move.
"What's wrong? Can't bring yourself to strike your own kind?"
Then a mechanical spider burrowed into the thunder drake's body. The thunder drake let out an agonized roar. Its eyes went bloodshot as it turned toward Wynn and the others.
Weston scrambled to use his skills to hold it back. He had to protect Silvara and the others no matter what.
Roland was displeased. Weston was getting in the way. He became a bolt of lightning. The next second, Weston coughed up blood. A hand had driven straight through his chest.
A voice came from behind him, cold as ice. "Let me teach you what war really is."
Hawk reacted fastest and launched an immediate counterattack, but Roland deflected it without effort.