Louis was yet unaware of the happenings in the Golden Land.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that this escort was unnervingly calm, calm enough to send chills down his spine.

Typically, nations would clash over benefits worth less than Ten Thousand Gold Coins.

Lords would even attack each other's territories if someone treaded onto their land.

But this time?

Such abundant resources, placed in the hands of any participating nation, could easily elevate a small country to a medium status.

—Just cultivate a demigod, and that's enough.

With just one demigod, compared to having two, the margin for error is on a completely different level.

It's been a concession to the Ense Empire that these nations are refraining from contesting each other.

But this time?

It's too strange.

More terrifying than noise along the way, is there being no noise at all.

He even hoped those lunatics from the Abyssal Church would find an opportunity to attack their convoy.

Rather than hiding in the dark, unseen.

Because this suggests that the attention of those people has been diverted elsewhere.

A shift of focus might not be a good thing, given the lack of intelligence.

So when Louis returned to Ense beforehand, he began frantically assembling the intelligence department to track the dynamics of neighboring countries, especially those already clearly caught in the Seven Great Disasters.

Soon, a shocking piece of news arrived.

The Secluded Forest Sea had severed ties with the outside world, and intelligence agents sent to investigate had gone missing one after another.

Louis, sensing something amiss, swiftly reached out to other nations.

He wanted to ask those countries with "business" in the Secluded Forest Sea if they'd received any news.

Especially those near the Secluded Forest Sea.

They could investigate the situation more easily than Ense, which was further away.

Then, in a series of inquiries, all fell silent. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Their people were missing too.

Louis doubted these people were deceiving him.

This group followed him, having enjoyed their fill on the Cosmic Serpent, and with favors in their hands—not to mention it's not confidential intelligence, so there was no need to lie.

It's precisely because of this that Louis grew increasingly suspicious that something had gone wrong over there.

Louis's first thought was whether the insidious Great Sin of Jealousy was up to something again.

Although the Great Sin of Jealousy isn't currently on Louis's list of "must-target enemies," it still counts as a headache for him.

But that was before; when Louis ascended, the fate of the Great Sin of Jealousy was sealed.

Meeting again, Louis would ensure its demise.

Yet, the sudden emergence of anomalies, rather than facing outside attacks, left him uneasy.

Because such situations where spies and the opposing high command collectively go missing are rarely due to foreign adversaries.

A sudden collapse often starts from within.

Honestly, Louis hoped the collapse within the Secluded Forest Sea was internal; otherwise, it implies something far more terrifying.

That an external force targeting them has the power to annihilate the entire Secluded Forest Sea in an instant.

This is scarier than internal collapse.

The possibility that the opposition couldn't even call for aid points toward only one likelihood.

—With incredible speed, they were wiped out before they could even call for help.

In his lifetime, he's only seen two entities possess such power.

The first is the destructive Black Sun, Old Deng.

The other is the Cosmic Serpent, unmatched in modern times as a world-ending calamity.

These two are representations of individual zeniths.

The Cosmic Serpent caused fewer casualties than expected primarily because it hadn't managed to create chaos.

When Louis rallied the coalition forces, it was of considerable intensity, pulling together all available strength.

Continental powerhouses were gathered in the shortest possible time.

Nevetheless, Louis wouldn't be able to organize such a massive rally again.

For one, the damage was too severe, and countries hadn't cultivated new demigods quickly enough to form such a team again.

Secondly, in times of chaos, with nations struggling for themselves, it's enormously difficult to gather manpower as now.

Such a heavy price was paid, with the Goddess of Death and Magic and the God of Glory and Justice personally intervening to kill the enemy.

No doubt, it was unbelievably absurd.

Even the Emperor never received such treatment.

Entities capable of such destruction must undoubtedly be similar superpowers, or slightly weaker but bolstered with additional capabilities.

In his mind, Louis recalled the Seven Great Disasters, eventually locking his gaze onto Demon King Helmer.

Helmer ought not to be stronger than the Emperor.

At least until the Emperor fell into an eternal slumber; he dared not brazenly appear on the continent, remaining cocooned within the Underground City.

Yet he possessed a terrifying army surpassing all living entities of the time, the monsters within the Underground City.

The Demon King is the King of Monsters.

Monsters aren't necessarily magical beasts, more commonly referring to species of lost reason, driven solely by slaughter.

As the uncrowned king of the Underground City, Helmer holds unrestricted authority over monsters.

He had learned this from the Diary of Greed long ago.

If the Demon King demands monsters to die, then they must.

What an overwhelming power this is!

After entering the legends, Louis gained a deeper understanding of the regulations and vaguely deduced the truth of such absolute command.