In order to deal with Clayman—and possibly even face the worst-case scenario of confronting eight Demon Lords at once—Ren Kuroda naturally believed that the more fighting power he could gather, the better.
Through the power of the "Demon King Pact," he could summon roughly ten great yokai who served under him.
But even so… he still needed more subordinates.
The first thing that came to Ren's mind was, of course, the army of the Kingdom of Falmuth.
At first glance, the kingdom's military might have seemed weak. After all, they had previously been crushed one-sidedly by Ren and the Spider Princess.
But that would have been a serious misunderstanding.
Falmuth was still one of the strongest nations in the region. Its overall military level was actually quite respectable. The Royal Guard Knights, in particular, were composed of individuals whose strength rivaled that of elite adventurers.
Combined with proper military formations and high-quality equipment, they were more than capable of handling ordinary monsters.
However—
When Ren returned to Falmuth late at night, something immediately caught his attention.
From a distance, he could see towering flames rising into the sky.
The royal capital… was burning.
The rebellious nobles of Falmuth had long understood one thing.
If Ren Kuroda returned, their chances of success would drop to nearly zero.
So they had changed their strategy.
Instead of attempting to seize power directly, they took the civilians of the city hostage, opened the national treasury, and planned to flee to another country—where they could continue enjoying their noble lifestyles.
Thanks to the newly constructed road connecting the Great Forest of Jura and the Dwarven Kingdom of Dwargon, the treasury of Falmuth was now overflowing with wealth.
The rebellious nobles understood perfectly well that with enough money, they could live comfortably anywhere in the world.
There was no reason to stubbornly cling to Falmuth and risk death.
And in truth—
Their plan had worked remarkably well.
The nobles who supported Ren had never expected the rebels to resort to such a desperate gamble.
In the past, nobles would hardly have cared whether commoners lived or died.
But after experiencing the benefits brought by the trade routes, they had realized something important.
The amount of dividends they received depended entirely on the prosperity of the common people.
And since King Ren clearly valued the lives of civilians, Duke Brans and the others did not dare act recklessly.
Under the threat of hostages, the Minister of Finance had no choice but to open the treasury.
When the vault doors finally swung open—
Mountains of gold, jewels, and rare materials came into view.
The rebellious nobles were nearly blinded by the sight.
Their eyes sparkled with greed.
At that moment, they felt certain their decision had been correct.
With wealth like this, they could easily relocate to another nation, reclaim their noble status, and perhaps even rise to titles greater than they had ever held before.
"Duke Reim… do you truly understand what you are doing?"
Duke Brans spoke sternly.
"This is treason. If you lay your hands on the treasures of the national treasury, there will truly be no turning back."
Standing across from him was a middle-aged man.
He held the same rank—duke—but had inherited the title from his father, making him much younger than Duke Brans.
This man was Duke Reim.
"Hmph. Spare me that hypocritical speech, Duke Brans."
Reim sneered coldly.
"You're part of the group that benefited from all this, so of course you can stand there on your moral high ground."
"Some of the wealth here originally belonged to us."
"That despicable monster first tricked us into donating money to build those roads—and conveniently forgot to mention how valuable those certificates would become."
"That was clearly intentional!"
"We are nobles. We're supposed to stand above others."
"And yet now, aside from a few useless privileges, we're poorer than merchants and commoners."
"Tell me… does that sound reasonable to you?"
The difference between the two duke families had become painfully obvious.
Back when Ren had demanded donations for the road project, both families had contributed the same amount.
But their attitudes toward the new king had been completely different.
Duke Reim believed Ren was nothing more than a thief and executioner who had stripped nobles of their rightful authority.
When Ren introduced the so-called "stock dividends," Reim had immediately torn up his certificate in disgust.
The Brans family, on the other hand, had always supported policies that benefited the common people.
Not only had they complied with Ren's decisions—they had actively supported them and even donated additional wealth.
Now, they were receiving the rewards.
Seeing their loyalty, the Spider Princess—who had temporarily governed the kingdom—had even entrusted part of the kingdom's military authority to one of Duke Brans' sons.
As the Kingdom of Falmuth grew stronger day by day, the gap between the two ducal families widened dramatically.
One family now possessed three dukes within a single lineage, military authority, vast wealth, and enormous popularity among the people.
The other retained nothing but an empty noble title.
Their estates were losing money.
Their past hostility toward Ren had made others distrust them.
The difference was painfully clear.
And Duke Reim was not alone.
Many nobles in Falmuth now found themselves in similar desperate situations.
After all—
Could a noble without money still be considered a noble?
If they couldn't show off their wealth at banquets, what was the difference between them and a salted fish?
So after enduring months of humiliation—and with Ren and his monster allies absent for so long—Duke Reim and several other nobles had finally chosen rebellion.
"I was wondering what all the commotion was about."
A calm voice suddenly echoed through the hall.
"I just returned… and the first thing I see is this farce."
"If I remember correctly, when I asked you to donate money, I clearly said it would benefit you."
"You were the ones who refused to believe it."
"And now you're blaming others for your own choices?"
"Isn't that a little unreasonable?"
The sudden voice caused everyone to turn toward the back of the hall.
And when they saw the speaker's face—
The surrounding soldiers and nobles immediately dropped to one knee.
They instinctively parted to form a clear path.
Allowing the man to walk forward.
No one could possibly mistake that face.
After all, in the center of the capital's main square stood a stone statue of him—funded and erected by the citizens themselves.
Everyone saw it every day.
And thanks to that statue, Ren had gained a tremendous amount of prestige.
The king who had disappeared for months—
had returned.
For Duke Brans and the others, the sight of Ren Kuroda felt like finding the pillar that held up the sky.
But for Duke Reim and the rebels…
It was pure terror.
Although only one man stood before them, they all knew the truth.
This was the man who had single-handedly crushed the Kingdom of Falmuth in the past and then rebuilt it into something entirely new.
The kingdom's strongest mage Razern, the captain of the royal knights, three otherworldly summoned warriors, and tens of thousands of soldiers—
None of them had been able to defeat him.
Naturally, Duke Reim and the others did not believe they had any chance of victory.
Even so—
Though fear gripped their hearts, they had no intention of simply waiting to die.
After all…
They still held hostages.
Negotiation was still possible.
Not every conflict had to be solved through violence.
Sometimes, intelligence could be just as powerful as strength.
They were holding a massive number of civilians.
If Ren insisted on attacking them anyway—
Then the image of the noble and merciful king he had cultivated would collapse completely.
So…