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The group arrived in Rhode’s study room at the top floor of the fortress. The pitch-black, solid wooden door was brimming with dignity. Sol swallowed his saliva while the Half-Demons behind him were unusually anxious. No matter what, a person who could dominated Elves, Angel, and Demon must be a terrifying presence. However, Agatha had no intentions of consoling the faraway guests. She stepped forward without turning around and knocked on the door.

“Master, the guests are here.”

“Come in.”

A deep voice sounded inside the room. Agatha opened the door and beckoned to the Half-Demons beside her.

We have no way out now.

Sol sucked in a deep breath. He pressed down the creases on his clothes and lifted his head with all the courage that he had mustered. He entered the room in big strides while his companions followed closely. Then, they witnessed the young man sitting in the center of the elegantly decorated room.

Before they headed to the Land of Atonement, they had done some research regarding this overlord. Apart from the rumors surrounding him, the most that they had heard about was the number of beauties around him and his beautiful facial features—of course, they knew not to mention about this before him.

They discovered that the rumors weren’t even close to describing this young man. Although they were mentally prepared in meeting him and imagined his appearance, their heart skipped a beat as soon as they saw him with their own eyes. If it weren’t for Rhode’s ice-cold expression and the male noble attire, perhaps they would’ve mistook him for a young, gorgeous lady.

“Hi there, everyone.”

Rhode nodded to them. But he remained seated and squinted to scan the Half-Demons in his room. It was apparent that they were being overcautious and flustered. Some of them peeked at the chairs for a seat while some stood nervously on the spot. Although this was their first meeting, Rhode was sure that they were the ones that he remembered clearly in his memories and they had fought with these NPCs shoulder to shoulder in the game. But now, he had become their commander and he felt that fate was an amazing thing. He sized up Sol, the leader of the Half-Demons. In his memories, Sol had always been a calm, steady person and well-liked by the players. Some of the female players who had too much time on their hands had even ranked him as the ‘Top 10 man to marry’. However, Sol appeared seemingly nervous and uncomfortable. He didn’t dare to speak a word, but it made Rhode even more fascinated about him.

“Please have a seat. Don’t stand on ceremony.”

Rhode extended his hand and gestured. The Half-Demons carefully sat down on the chairs, but they fidgeted uncomfortably as though they were worried that they would dirty the luxurious chair and get reprimanded for it. However, Rhode wasn’t mindful about that at all. He nodded as a greeting.

“As the overlord of Grenbell, I welcome all of you here. I know you’ve thought about it deeply before making this decision. I won’t be elaborating too much, and all I have to say is that you won’t regret your choice.”

“Sir Overlord.”

Sol stood up and bowed respectfully.

“It is our honor to receive your invitation... But I have a few questions that I wish for clarifications. I hope you won’t be offended by it.”

“What questions?”

Rhode nodded inwardly even though his expression remain unchanged. Although he appeared rather tense when he entered the room, he calmed himself down just like he was in the game.

“Sir Overlord. Although you’ve mentioned about it in the letter, we still aren’t too sure about our duties as your subordinates. Sir, you are also aware that we’re Half-Demons and it doesn’t seem like you’re simply recruiting us into your private army only. Also... Sir, where did you hear about us, the Demon Hunter Squad? We are sure that we’ve never met before...”

Of course we have never met before. Not in this world, that is.

Rhode displayed an inward smile. He folded his arms and sat back on his chair. He gazed at the man before eventually nodding.

“Good questions, Mr. Sol. The reason why I’ve invited you guys here isn’t because I hope your group will just become my subordinates. Instead, I need your strength as Half-Demons, which is why I’ve chosen your group. I know that you guys have received criticism and unfair treatments for possessing the powers of the Demons. But now, I need your strength for battle because, in the future, we will face a dangerous war and I need formidable people I can trust. You guys fit my requirements and as for how I know your group exists...”

Rhode spread his arms apart and shrugged.

“It’s only a coincidence. I unknowingly heard from the traveling merchants that there’s a group of Half-Demons who specially assisted Humans by Black Fin Coast. I began my investigations on your group thereafter and believed that you guys are trustworthy, which was why I sent out an invitation letter.”

“...”

Sol nodded and pondered in silence. Rhode’s explanation was as he had expected. However, he didn’t expect that this young noble overlord would be this straightforward. Sol thought that nobles loved to beat about the bush, but Rhode’s behavior surpassed his expectations. It seemed that the rumors regarding this ‘Mercenary Overlord’ was reasonable. Sol felt like he was speaking to a guild leader instead of a noble—straightforward and open-minded, which was much easier to maintain the conversation.

At this moment, Rhode continued.

“Of course, I’m not forcing everyone here. I have to put this up front. If you guys become my subordinates, you will undoubtedly face unprecedented dangers. I need to make this point clear. I need you guys to fight alongside me, which means that you will face enemies that are several times larger in quantity and death will be inevitable. If any mistakes are made, I will possibly abandon and sacrifice your members to ensure the victory and success of the battles. I hope you will be mentally prepared for that. But, as a reward, I will allow you to reside in the Land of Atonement and obtain the legal identity I mentioned in the letter. I’m sure you’ve experienced that this city doesn’t discriminate special beings such as yourselves and the mercenaries and soldiers under me won’t hold any prejudice against you. But if you hope to change the impression you leave on others, you’ll need to change it yourselves. All I can do is to give you a chance and I hope you won’t let me down.”

“Yes, I understand. Thank you for your kind reminder, Sir Overlord.”

Although Rhode’s words sounded rather irresponsible, Sol bowed deeply to him. As Half-Demons, he knew clearer than anyone else the importance of Rhode’s words. As the saying went, ‘whoever is pitiful must have a cause to be despised’. Nobody could wash one’s hands of innocence no matter how pathetic and despised one was. It was due to this reason that Half-Demons had a bad reputation in people’s minds. Their unique appearances was only one aspect. Humans barely accepted the looks of Elves, dwarves, and even Half-Beasts. But as for the Half-Demons, humans could never accept them. This had something to do with the Half-Demons’ behaviors. As they were mainly the product of a tragedy, there was no future for a life born between a Demon and Human. Living in such a hopeless life and under fearful gazes, many Half-Demons abandoned their pride. They lived in self-pity over their tainted bloodline and betrayed their body and soul to bring pain and hatred to the living creatures of this world. On the Dragon Soul Continent, there were many Half-Demons who were Demon worshipers and it was due to this that the Half-Demons were viewed as enemies. This was an unbreakable vicious cycle. The more the Humans were hateful toward the Half-Demons, the more the Half-Demons abandoned themselves to harm Humans, in turn getting hated even more. To ordinary Humans, the Half-Demons were a symbol of evil and danger. It could also be said that Sol was part of the minority who was desperate to change his life around. This minority was as rare as the precious pandas.

Therefore, Rhode didn’t even try to console them. Instead, he hit the nail on the head and told them that if they wished to change others’ judgment on them, they had to work hard in order to succeed. This was what Sol wished to hear. If Rhode emphasized that everyone welcomed them here and the Half-Demons didn’t need to worry about their lives here, perhaps Sol would suspect if Rhode was deceiving him. But it seemed that Rhode indeed had a deep understanding of their identities. The truth usually wasn’t nice to hear, but it was also equally hard to confess. Besides, it was regarding changing others’ impression of them, which was a rare opportunity to come.

“I understand what you mean, Sir Overlord.”

Sol had decided. He turned around and gazed at his companions. Then, he turned back and bowed solemnly.

“Frankly speaking, we’ve had a lot of doubts about the content of the letter before we came here. But now, I’ve made up my mind. Our Demon Hunter Squad accepts your invitation and become your subordinates. We will fight for you no matter how dangerous the battles will be and as long as you give us an order, we will not back down even if we have to head down to the depths of Hell.”

“At least you won’t need to head down to Hell, for now.”

Rhode nodded in satisfaction. Sol revealed an awkward expression and Rhode stood to his feet.

“Alright then, as the overlord of Grenbell, I officially welcome you... I believe you’ll soon realize that this is the right decision.”

Sol seemed to have noticed a smile glinting in the young overlord’s eyes, but he wasn’t sure about that.

The puzzle in Rhode’s hands was almost complete with the arrival of the Demon Hunter Squad. The final piece of the puzzle left was the Battle Mage Group. However, Rhode had no intentions of starting the training sessions after confirming the addition of the Battle Mage Group. Therefore, he officially announced his battle tactic.

The elite squad was the most important role in his battle tactic and the commander of the squad would be Rhode, of course. Apart from that, Randolf’s Ranger team and Joey’s Thief team would also join him. Randolf’s Ranger team would be responsible for scouting the enemies and providing assistance from the rear while Joey’s Thief team would be in charge of penetrating routes and opening up ways, at the same time assassinating the main sentry troopers.

As the situation turned out smoothly, the mercenaries led by Marlene and the Half-Demons led by Sol would dash forward and use their formidable strength and the Half-Demons’ natural AOE skills to suppress and bombard the enemy’s base. Lize’s Cleric team would follow behind them and be responsible for protection and healing. Of course, Anne would be by Lize’s side and ensure that they were safe. Then, Rhode would sneak his way to the enemy’s commander alone and assassinate him in the shortest time possible to take over the entire location. However, this wasn’t the end yet. Instead, it was only the start. After taking over the location, Rhode would request for his men to set up defenses instantly, in preparation for retaliation from the enemies.

With the Sphere of Mystery around, it wasn’t complicated to practice this battle tactic. The mirage could replicate the holder’s imaginations and due to this reason, Rhode could make use of a fortress he had attacked before for their repeated practices.

The group didn’t feel that the training was easy and they discovered that it was overly difficult for them. In order to ensure that everyone experienced the effects and the might of this battle tactic, Rhode trained them up with the requirements of the players. However, this high intensity training was far too torturous for some, where even the Half-Demons who were great in enduring hardships found it tough to follow.

Rhode’s requirement wasn’t complicated. It could be simplified to one word: quick.

No matter how complicated the layout of the fortress, they had to eliminate the sentries, open up the path, and suppress the defenders in the shortest time. Then, they had to set up their defenses and traps before the enemy’s main troops recovered and retaliated. This also meant that Rhode’s men couldn’t be too gravely harmed during the process.

And this was also the most painful point for them. Although they were able to take down the fortress a number of times while training in the mirage, they had suffered ‘grave damages’ and failed to sustain their forces while resisting the retaliating enemies. In the end, they crumbled miserably. They also tried to conserve their energy and eliminate the defenders of the fortress, but they failed to hold back the retaliation from the enemies and collapsed completely.

But the training still wasn’t enough. The mirage could be used to simulate the situation, but it couldn’t replace reality. In order to allow his subordinates to understand the might of this tactic, they had to gain experience through actual practice.

And this time, Rhode had focused his attention on the ice field above the Northern Mountains.

Winter had just begun and the same went for the Orcs’ migration period.

The time to farm for EXP had also arrived for Rhode.