The horns above Yong-Hoâs ears had initially been hidden, but now they were growing. They grew straight out and created a sharp triangular shape above his head, comparable to the blade of a knife.
The concentrated mana didnât disappear. Instead it started to violently spin around Yong-Ho and cover the entirety of the inside of the meeting room.
Oros gulped. Yong-Ho now had two horns on each side, meaning he now had a total of four. Oros knew that Yong-Ho was strong, but he never knew that Yong-Ho even had four horns.
The number of horns represented the userâs mana class.
The owners in the empty region of the demon world usually had two to three horns. Where out of all the owners in the entire demon world, owners with four horns make up less than half.
âHorns do not determine everything.â
Oros screamed it in his head. He controlled his mind so that he wouldnât be swept away by the mana.
It was true.
The numbers of horns was a sign of how strong oneâs mana was, but it didnât determine everything.
There has been owners with just three horns that have had much more powerful mana than some owners with four.
Having the same number of horns didnât mean that the strength of mana was the same. There was usually a definite difference in strength between users.
It only took Oros a short time to recover. While he was catching his breath, he felt relieved by that thought. He had managed to succeed in looking at Yong-Ho without panicking.
Horns didnât determine everything.
Mana didnât determine everything either.
The strength of mana wasnât enough to determine oneâs power. Itâs true that the stronger oneâs mana was, the greater the advantage they had during a fight, but there was no guarantee, for instance, that an opponent holding a sword was a skilled swordsman.
Furthermore an Ogre or a Troll could use their physical strength to overpower the strength of an opponentâs mana. Mana alone wasnât enough to determine the result of the battle.
âBut!â
Oros still felt himself cower. Cold sweat was rolling down his back.
He still had a hard time breathing. It seemed like the mana that Yong-Ho released was pushing Oros really violently.
Simply saying that his mana was strong wasnât enough to describe it.
It was heavy. It couldnât be compared to the mana of Foras or Jungceros.
Oros gritted his teeth. He activated his physical skill and tried to escape the suppression he was feeling from Yong-Hoâs mana.
âItâs not strong!â
It was strong. It was definitely strong. But it wasnât absolute. His mana was about 1.5 times stronger than the mana that Jungceros and Foras had. However he was sure that the mana that Agares possessed was a lot stronger!
He just couldnât get rid of the oppression that he was feeling. It wasnât just because of the size of the mana. There was something else. There was something within Yong-Hoâs mana and it was something that Oros wasnât able to detect.
It had only been 10 seconds since Yong-Ho released his mana.
Oros had no choice but to acknowledge Yong-Hoâs power. He gave up on resisting it. Thatâs why during those past 10 seconds, he had completely forgotten about Dargonâs existence.
Oros felt like he was being blown away by the mana rainstorm. Whereas Dargon was face-to-face with the root of the rainstorm.
The oppression that he was feeling couldnât be compared to what Oros was feeling.
âDargon.â
Dargon used his mana to resist as well. As an Ogre Mage, he was able to control a larger amount of mana than Oros.
Dargon smiled. He put his mace down and spoke loudly.
âYouâre strong. Thereâs no need to fight. YouâŚno, I acknowledge you, owner of the House of Mammon.â
He didnât sound good. It was obvious that he was forcing himself to say it.
Oros could imagine the expression that Dargon had as he looked at his back. It felt like he could see Dargon forcing a smile.
Yong-Ho looked straight at Dargon, and then burst out laughing.
âOne who wields the sword must know that they can get hit by the sword as well.â
He raised his right arm. The mana that was flowing violently around him suddenly calmed down. But he couldnât put his guard down yet. For this was just the calm before the storm.
Yong-Ho focused his mana in one place. Aamonâs fire then rose out of Yong-Hoâs right hand and transformed into a lance.
âEven though you started it, Iâll be the one ending it. I also need to test your strength.â
The flowing mana transformed into fire. The oppression they felt was now a lot stronger than before.
Mana wasnât the only thing. There was something else within it. Oros didnât know what, but he definitely felt something special.
It was the worst situation.
Dargon couldnât avoid the fight anymore. Like Ophelia had stated, the owner of the House of Mammon wasnât a fool. There was a good chance that it wasnât going to end with a simple spar and that the result of this fight would end up breaking the equality between them.
Dargon breathed heavily. He started spitting out profanities and tightened his grip on his mace.
Oros contemplated. The moment felt like an eternity.
What was he supposed to do? Should he join Dargon? Should he fight together with Dargon so that they could prevent Yong-Ho from dominating over them?
But that was unreasonable. This may ruin their relationship with the House of Mammonâs owner. It was a fight Dargon shouldnât have started.
What was he supposed to do? Was he going to acknowledge the fact that he couldnât take responsibility for Dargonâs mistake? Was he going to let Yong-Ho take the lead? Should he try convincing Yong-Ho that fighting amongst themselves was useless and that they should focus on taking down Agares?
It was a close call.
Oros was focusing on Yong-Ho and Dargon when an unexpected thing happened.
âThe owner of the great House of Mammon, I ask that you calm your anger. Please forgive Dargonâs mistake and blame me for not being able to talk him out of it.â
The calm voice belonged to Ophelia.
Oros widened his eyes when he saw who the voice belonged to. Ophelia was known for being full of pride, but currently she was kneeling on the ground.
âOphelia?!â
Oros has known Ophelia for 10 years. No matter what kind of owner she saw, she spoke formally to them, but thatâs all she did. He never imagined that she would do something like this.
Oros felt like his head was going to explode. Opheliaâs actions had completely caught him off guard, but the situation he was in was making him feel extremely confused.
He was on the same level as Ophelia and Dargon. But Ophelia kneeled on the ground and acknowledged that she was beneath the House of Mammonâs owner. That meant that the other leaders were under Yong-Ho as well. It might be better for Dargon because it wouldâve been embarrassing if he lost to Yong-Ho, but in actuality, this was a perfect win for Yong-Ho.
âI also ask for your forgiveness. No, please forgive me. Please forgive me for testing you.â
Dargon spoke. As the leader of the outlaws, he was the most sensitive out of all the other leaders when it came to superiority. The House of Mammonâs owner was stronger than himself. He had to no choice but to acknowledge and back away. Going up against a stronger opponent was foolish, not courageous, and this situation was the perfect example of that.
Dargon thought he was immature for even requesting the fight. Since Ophelia was acting that way, there was no need for him to push it. Bowing was his only viable solution.
Once Ophelia and Dargon acknowledged their defeat, Yong-Ho looked at Oros.
Oros closed his eyes shut. Just like Ophelia and Dargon, he showed respect towards Yong-Ho. He acknowledged defeat.
âI ask for your forgiveness.â
He didnât say much, but it was enough.
Yong-ho slowly nodded his head while maintaining a sharp, cold expression. The fiery mana disappeared.
Ophelia looked at Yong-Ho and sent signals with her eyes.
âThat was too much. Didnât it make you cringe? How could you say that you were going to end the fight?â
The level of communication was weaker than Catalina. But, Yong-Ho understood the basics and in order to hide the smile that appeared on his face, he purposely swung his right arm more violently. He spoke with his eyes.
âAnd youâre okay with kneeling?â
âItâs not my first time. Youâre my owner anyway. Itâs a relief that things worked out.â
This was what he had been expecting.
Ophelia knew Oros and Dargonâs personality and depending on the situation, she knew how they were going to react.
âButâŚâ
Ophelia was actually surprised by Yong-Hoâs strength. It had only been a month since she first saw Yong-Ho. But he had grown a lot since then. He grew at an extremely fast rate.
Yong-Ho played a big role in making todayâs plan successful. If Yong-Hoâs mana hadnât been this strong and if he wasnât strong enough to contain Aamonâs power inside his own mana, then todayâs plan wouldâve definitely failed.
âWeâre going to get caught. Stop smiling.â
âI canât help it. This was the greatest investment of my life.â
It was a forced investment though.
While the owner and his spirit were talking happily, Dargon and Oros accepted their reality while displaying mixed emotions. The House of Mammonâs owner was far more than just an ordinary warrior.
Skull put the hammer down and Catalina looked at Yong-Ho with affection and respect. Even though her tail and ears were flapping violently, Dargon and Oros were so focused on Yong-Ho that they didnât even realize the guardâs feelings.
Yong-Ho walked towards the table. The table no longer represented equality. The moment Yong-Ho took his seat, he was now at the head of the table.
***
âI will now provide an explanation about Agares.â
Ophelia was in charge of the meeting. She stood in front of a portable blackboard that held various data on it and pointed to the map of the southern empty region.
âAgares is currently located in the House of Aleâs dungeon, which is located to the east of the Free City. According to the scout team, it seems like Agares isnât even trying to hide. The soldiers that Agares has gathered from the other dungeons are currently gathering there.â
Agares ate the owner of the House of Ale as well as the members of the dungeon.
Oros knew about Agares, but he couldnât help but frown. It looked like he really wanted to smoke.
âCurrently, we believe that Agares has about 700 to 1,000 soldiers.â
Foras and Jungceros had about 100-200 soldiers, so when comparing to that, Agares really had a lot of soldiers.
Ophelia then explained about the three powers in the Free City. The number was correct, so Dargon and Oros gulped once again. It couldnât be helped, they felt like they were sitting there naked in front of Yong-Ho.
From the pub, about 70 of them were able to fight.
The workerâs guild and the outlaw group had about 100 soldiers each, so the pub had the least when looking at just the numbers, but the soldiers that Ophelia picked were just as strong as the other two groups.
âThis is a life and death situation for the Free City, so Iâm sure weâll be able to gather more soldiers. Since we also have a fortress, we shouldnât have that big of a disadvantage.â
The bigger the group was, the stronger it would become.
This was common sense during war and it also worked that way in the demon world. However it wasnât completely identical to the human world.
Magic was also used in the demon world.
If one has extremely strong mana, they were able to replace 10s, maybe 100s of soldiers. In the demon world, one soldier had the ability to change the entire flow of war.
The result of this war depended on Agaresâs existence.
The reason why the Free Cityâs leaders asked for Yong-Hoâs help was because they needed someone to fight Agares with them.
Read Latest Chapters at wuxiaworld.eu
Ophelia continued her explanation.
It was regarding Agaresâs army and his powers that were somewhat known in the demon world.