“Proceed with drafting the contracts,” Siegfried commanded.

“As you command, sire!”

The demon lords read the contracts Siegfried had tossed down, but their reactions after reviewing the contents were not particularly good.

“Hmm...”

“My subjects won’t be too pleased with this...”

“This is a bit...”

The Demon Lords looked troubled after reading the terms of the agreement.

Their reaction was only natural, as the terms hadn't stated anything about the humans staking their souls as collateral. It was a fair agreement where both the Proatine Empire’s troops and the demons stood to benefit.

However, the problem was that demons needed soul energy to grow stronger, and entering into unfair contracts with humans was one of their main sources of soul energy.

They would grant their wish before stealing and absorbing their souls as payment, but if the contract did not include the soul as payment, then the demons would see no merit in accepting it.

“If I may, my lord. I do not think my followers will accept these terms...”

“Isn’t this just... volunteer work?”

“Persuading them will be difficult with these terms...”

The demon lords seemed troubled and were at a loss on what to do.

They revered and respected Siegfried, but convincing the demons with these terms was a stretch.

“Ugh... You muscle-brained morons,” Siegfried grumbled in frustration. Then, he asked, “Where do you think is the best place to gather human souls?”

“Huh?”

“Erm... The prisons?”

“Of course, by going into contracts with numerous humans...?”

The demon lords replied, tilting their heads in confusion.

“War! When war breaks out, our troops will fight on the frontlines. Then, we can absorb the souls of the enemies we kill! We just call it a contract, but it’s really deployment to the battlefield. Isn’t absorbing souls on the battlefield better than struggling to get a single soul through a contract with a human? Think quantity over quality!”

A person capable of entering into a contract with a demon was bound to yield massive high quality soul energy. However, the soul energy that could be obtained on the battlefield was of lower quality and smaller in amount.

If compared by ratio, the souls obtained from a contracted human were a hundred times better than the souls harvested from a battlefield.

On the flipside, however, acquiring a single soul from a contracted human was a long process, while obtaining many souls on the battlefield was rather easy. In other words, a large-scale battle could yield hundreds of souls in mere minutes, while many days would be wasted trying to harvest a single contractor's soul.

“Oh?!”

“Well, that changes things...”

“The Great Demon King is right!”

The demon lords finally saw Siegfried’s point and agreed that the terms of the contract were good.

“And I will bestow Demonic Power to the one who brings the most troops,” Siegfried added.

“Hrm?!”

“Mmh!”

“Oho...”

The eyes of the demon lords widened. Demonic Power was the primary energy source of all demons, and the Demonic Power of the Demon King was the purest energy source. Obviously, it was immensely powerful.

The Demonic Power wielded by the Demon King was so dense and high in quality that it was an even sweeter reward than thousands of human souls combined. Thus, the Demon King’s offer to bestow Demonic Power was an offer so shocking that it could completely change the hierarchy of the Demon Realm.

“Hey, what are you standing around for? Hurry up and start recruiting!” Siegfried shouted in frustration.

“Your grace is immeasurable, Great Demon King!”

“Your grace is immeasurable, Great Demon King!”

“Your grace is immeasurable, Great Demon King!”

The demon lords all replied in unison before bolting out of the meeting chamber, each hell-bent on recruiting more than the others, even if they had to drag their subjects out to the battlefield.

“Geez... These guys can be quite simple at times,” Siegfried muttered with a smile.

Convincing the demons was actually quite easy. All he had to do was offer them a chance to become stronger, then they would follow whatever he said.

Survival of the fittest.

The demons were a species driven solely by strength, and that natural instinct of theirs was the perfect tool to steer them around.

‘Now that the demons are convinced, it’s time to head to the Celestial Realm.’

Siegfried left the Demon Realm and headed straight for the Celestial Realm. Once there, he met Michael and presented the same idea, wherein the Proatine Empire's troops would enter into a contract with the angels.

“W-What is this, Siegfried...?” Michael stammered while reading the terms of agreement.

“Can’t you tell by looking? This states that the angels will be deployed to the battlefield alongside our troops,” Siegfried answered as if the question were ridiculous.

“But this is too... too radical,” Michael said, still looking shocked.

Humans, demons, and angels forming one unit and fighting together as comrades-in-arms on the battlefield? No one in the history of the world had ever imagined that such a thing could even happen.

“Honestly, I am not sure if this will work. My brothers and sisters might be reluctant to this arrangement...” Michael said, trailing the end of his words.

“Does it matter whether they’re reluctant or not?” Siegfried asked in response with a shrug.

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“This is about maintaining world peace. It’s about the harmony of the three realms.”

“But t-that’s...”

“The three races will finally unite after a millennium of conflict, and this has never happened before. Isn’t that monumental? Happiness, love, hope, and world peace... that's your motto, isn't it? Am I wrong?”

“Y-Yes, but...”

“I believe that the noble angels won’t pass on this opportunity just because they are reluctant to fight alongside the demons. I mean, the demons have already started recruiting troops, so why would the great and honorable Celestial Realm cower?”

“But still...”

“Or maybe I was wrong. Maybe you guys don’t want peace on—”

“No! That is precisely what we yearn for!” Michael exclaimed. As the Chief Archangel, he couldn’t pass up on this opportunity, even more so after hearing that the demons had already started recruiting troops for the battle.

“Then round up your troops and have them ready,” Siegfried said with a warm, gentle smile.

However, his smile was neither gentle nor warm deep inside.

‘Hehehe! As expected, these angels are just as easy to handle as the demons!’

The angels instinctively leaned toward noble causes such as justice, love, harmony, friendship, and peace. Unlike the demons, who were obsessed with their own power and power alone, the angels were extremely altruistic creatures.

Thus, presenting a noble cause that would benefit many would surely make them think of it as their duty.

“I take it that we have an understanding. Can I leave things to you?” Siegfried asked.

“Yes, rest assured. We will gather our forces and dispatch them to the Middle Realm soon,” Michael replied with a nod.

In the end, the Chief Archangel was swayed by Siegfried’s glib tongue and decided that the angels would participate in the upcoming battle.

***

A few days later, a new phenomenon began to take place within the Proatine Empire.

The Proatine Imperial Army created a new three-man unit composed of humans, demons, and angels.

At first, things were extremely awkward between the three creatures.

From the perspective of human beings, both angels and demons were terrifying beings.

The angels and demons had always loathed each other, so their relationships could only be described as abysmal.

Thus, even after the three-man units were formed, it was rare to see any units chatting with each other.

However, the awkward atmosphere gradually changed. Siegfried organized a national event called Night of Harmony, and through it, the three races slowly grew closer.

The Night of Harmony was a very simple event.

Each Proatine soldier would invite the demon and angels they had contracted with to their home for dinner. From there, the three races ought to get along and foster camaraderie.

‘Hmm... I wonder how they’re doing. I hope they're getting along,’ Siegfried wondered.

He put on a disguise and wandered around the homes of the Proatine soldiers to get a feel of the atmosphere himself.

“Oh my, welcome, welcome. Come on in!”

An old mother of a Proatine soldier opened the door and welcomed a demon and angel standing awkwardly at the door.

“What a gallant and manly demon you are! And you are such a beautiful angel! Just like a young noble! Please, come in and make yourselves at home.”

The old mother did look nervous, but she still ushered in the demon and angel, welcoming them as guests.

“My son is out back grilling meat. He prepared it specially for your visit, so even if it doesn’t taste great, please help yourselves to some.”

Siegfried watched a little longer and observed the households welcome their guests.

“Thank you for coming. We did not prepare much, but I hope you will enjoy it.”

“This is my mother, and here are my wife and daughter.”

“These are Sir Halpis, the demon, and Sir Haurel, the angel. I am contracted to them, and they will be fighting alongside me on the battlefield. Please, introduce yourselves.”

A soldier opened the door and greeted the angel and demon standing outside with a warm smile.

Another soldier introduced his family to his new comrades, and another soldier first introduced his new comrades to his family before urging them to introduce themselves.

Based on Siegfried’s observation so far, the Night of Harmony seemed to be going better than expected.

The three races shared meals together, and conversations naturally began to flow as the awkward atmosphere slowly eased.

Of course, it was far too optimistic to expect everyone to get along so well in just one night.

“Tsk, tsk... What dreadful table manners you have there. So unrefined and barbaric. Ah, excuse me, I seemed to have expected too much from a mere demon.”

“What did you say? I didn’t quite get you because you sounded like an uptight baboon with a stick up your ass, you birdbrain!”

In some households, the angel and the demon quarreled; the humans in the house froze in horror. However, thanks to the strict orders of Demon King Siegfried and Chief Archangel Michael, the situation did not spiral out of control.

Whenever the angels and the demons snapped at each other, the Proatine soldiers would scramble to mediate between the two.

Even though the soldiers were well aware that there would be no physical confrontations, they couldn’t help but break out in cold sweats whenever the angels and the demons raised their voices or banged on the dinner table.

‘Well, that’s how you build bonds,’ Siegfried thought with a smile.

He was confident that their relationships would eventually improve. Even though they had different cultures, beliefs, or even temperaments, fighting side by side against a common enemy would surely forge deeper ties.

After being tempered by the flames on the battlefield, the camaraderie between the three races was bound to become strong.

Thus, the Proatine Empire formed an unprecedented alliance of humans, angels, and demons.

With that, they began preparing for the upcoming war against the Marchioni Empire.

Of course, that was not the only thing they prepared. Thanks to Siegfried’s efforts, the Proatine Empire made explosive progress in terms of magic. The countless books he brought back were absorbed by the empire’s mages, elevating them to new heights.

‘Just you wait. I’m going to send you an even bigger gift,’ Siegfried grinned.

By now, he was certain that the emperor was seething at his gift, and he couldn’t help but feel excited at the thought of giving him an even bigger surprise.

***

“Time to go spend some time with my beloved daughter!”

The next morning, Siegfried logged in early, eager to see Verdandi. After that, he also planned to spend some time with Brunhilde before starting his day.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Siegfried grimaced, noticing that his surroundings were still dark.

“Did I make a mistake logging in?”

He thought that way because dawn had not broken yet.

In the game, the Proatine Empire’s day and night cycle was identical to that of Korea in reality. If the sun was up in Korea, then the sun was up in the Proatine Empire, too. If the sun went down in Korea, then the sun would go down in the Proatine Empire as well.

Siegfried woke up early, worked out, took a shower, ate a chicken breast salad with coffee, and logged in around nine in the morning. By then, the sun ought to have already risen in the Proatine Empire.

However, the sun was nowhere to be seen, even though it was supposed to be nine in the morning now.

‘Did I misread the time? Well, I guess that’s what happened,’ Siegfried thought, maybe he had gotten confused after waking up at dawn.

After all, his sleep schedule was irregular, and since he had not gone outside today, he could have mistaken day for night.

“Kyuuu! Owner punk!”

At that moment, Hamchi came scampering over, crying out in panic.

“Something’s wrong! Kyuuu!”

“Huh? What’s up?”

“The sun hasn't risen! Kyuuu!”

“What?”

“It’s already morning, but the sun is still missing! Where did the sun go?! Kyuuu!”

“What the hell are you talking about...?”

“It’s nine in the morning right now, but there’s still no sun! Kyuuu! It’s not even cloudy! The sun disappeared!”

“I-Is that even possible...?”

Siegfried couldn’t make sense of what Hamchi was saying.

The sun did not rise? The sun disappeared?

What nonsense was this?

“Kyuuu! It’s true! The sun really didn’t rise! It’s late!”

“Hey, it’s just overcast covering it. Don’t get so worked up.”

“Kyaaaah! No! Why don’t you believe Hamchi, owner punk?!”

“I’ll go check it myself, then. Happy?”

“Kyuu?”

“Just wait.”

After saying that, Siegfried soared into the sky.

He broke through the clouds to see for himself whether the sun had disappeared or if it was just hidden by bad weather.

“What the hell...?” he muttered in sheer disbelief.

Even after he pierced the clouds and broke into the stratosphere, the sun was nowhere to be seen. At this altitude, he was supposed to see it without fail, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t see it at all.

“Did the sun... really disappear?”

If the sun had truly disappeared, then the Middle Realm was doomed. Without the sun supplying heat to the planet, an ice age was inevitable, and it would freeze the world solid.