The Author's POV

[Alliance Headquarters]

―There's a sudden situation. This is the perfect time to strike the demons.

―I have just been informed that our forces and the demons in Idoania have engaged in full-scale warfare against one another. Even though there have been no requests for additional support, the situation appears to be rather grim. The Demon King is currently engaged in combat with the Leaders of our race.

―The mana on this planet also seemed to have drastically increased. Do you have any idea of what happened, Ren?

"One at a time, please…"

I massaged my head while I stared at the three projections in front of me. They were Gervis, Maylin, and Brutus. The heads of the three races on Earth.

The three of them had different facial expressions at the moment and were talking over one another, but I roughly understood what had occurred.

I looked at Maylin.

"So you're saying a war broke out on this planet called Idoania and that the Demon King is currently fighting against all of your race leaders?"

―That's correct.

Maylin, who was hidden behind the holographic projection, nodded her head. After staring at her for what seemed like an eternity, I eventually leaned against the back of my chair.

I had a sudden thought.

"There are seven Protectors, but as far as I can tell, there is only one on Earth. If I'm not mistaken, then it seems highly likely that the race leaders of the three different races are the other Protectors... right?'

It was a possibility.

If not, why would Jezebeth opt to move to them before heading down to earth? The more I thought about it, the more obvious it seemed.

… In the same manner, as on Earth, the Protectors kept a close eye on the three other races in order to ensure that they remained in their proper place.

Clean up and oppress those who have talent.

Their surveillance wasn't something that was exclusive to human beings alone, but it did affect the other races as well...

It was also abundantly clear that the Protectors placed a higher priority on the other races than they did on us, as evidenced by the fact that there was only one Protector watching over us as opposed to the two others for each race.

Not that I blamed them.

After all, mana was something that humans had only very recently begun to interact with. In addition, our population was noticeably lower than theirs.

It only made sense.

I turned to look at Gervis.

"Yes, the mana in the atmosphere did indeed become a lot denser. I don't know why, but I've received several reports from our side that many have broken through because of it."

―Oh? Is Octavious one of them?

"Yes."

I replied with a short nod.

Not even a day after my other self killed Waylan, a large phenomenon swept over the city, and Octavious broke through to rank.

The news of his breakthrough was met with a great deal of enthusiasm, and some news articles even suggested that he ought to take the reins as leader of the alliance in light of his recent success.

If only they knew...

"He's broken through to the next rank, and so have several other people. What about you?"

―Same for us.

Gervis heartily laughed.

of us experienced a large

"That's nice to hear."

my attention to Brutus. Even though he was hidden behind a projection, I was still able to feel his breath from

focused on me,

advantage of this opportunity to attack the

of the significant increase in mana density that has recently taken place. Even though we orcs didn't go through any of what you humans did, we didn't lose any strength, in contrast to the demons. If we take advantage of this

"Hmmm."

had some reason behind

that time would be now. Not only did a good number of us become stronger, but because

since the mana compressors needed to be tuned in order to

only one

me with expectant eyes. It seemed like they had already discussed the matter beforehand and were only waiting for

my

pretty big war, and if we suddenly get into another war right now, the people will start

for certain that this was the case, it was safe to assume that the general populace would be anything but

to picture all of the articles that would be written about me, calling me a war-hungry tyrant

Not that I cared.

said about me in the media,

a matter of fact, I found them to be rather humorous. The vast majority of the time, all I

opportunity that can be wasted. There's no better time to strike now, and honestly, since we're the ones attacking, it shouldn't matter whether the citizens are happy

response to Gervis's statement, I tilted my head back to take a look at the other two. From the looks on their faces, it appeared

a contrasting viewpoint,

period of time, as no one spoke at any point. I turned on the chip in my head and rapidly drummed my

and over again in my head, and I went through each and every one of them very carefully, analyzing

the leader of the Alliance, I had many things to consider, and knowing the scope

without saying that I needed to bring

I needed to

to defend the domain in the event that the demons decide to launch an

to bring alongside

there was a trap set

the citizens would think of the situation and how to calm down the

I needed to take into consideration, and

the aid of the chip, I was

"Haa…"

let out a long

going to be a pain in

wasn't? At this point, everything was a pain in

you

at her. Staring at her for a good couple of seconds, I nodded

"Yeah."

stood up

get ready for

***

"Here."

"What's this?"

fell on the small bottle he

bottle on my table as I was preparing a series of documents regarding the upcoming war for a general assembly

and replicate. With a little help from Melissa, we were able to alter its

"Uh?"

started to surface

"Isn't this…"

"Yup."

Ryan smiled.

supersoldiers from the Monolith. I

"You're damn right."

liquid contained within. It was clear and resembled water, and as I shook the bottle from side to side, I observed how the liquid mirrored my movements and moved in tandem with the movement of the

'Rather smooth.'

was rather viscous, this

"How are the effects?"

into someone, they'll follow your commands, but in a limited manner since it takes several