Mythology: Ragnarok

Upon learning of Augustus's tragedy, Agreed immediately brought the news home. After all, the Wizard King was Hepburn's father, and the loss of all her relatives and friends was inevitably heartbreaking.

Agreed produced the intelligence that the current King of Avalon had secretly mailed to him, which stated...

"According to reports from spies, the fall of Augustus was entirely due to the betrayal of Augustus's business leader, Toure. Toure sold Augustus's defense map and all the military information he knew to the Church of Light. Furthermore, when the Church of Light launched a surprise attack on Augustus's capital, it was Toure who led his private army to ambush the Imperial Guards from behind, opening the city gates and letting the wolves in."

Agreed gripped the paper carrying the intelligence so tightly he almost crumpled it. At that moment, Agreed unconsciously thought of something Toure had once told him: "We merchants value our reputation above all else. Unless we are certain that we can make a living from this deal for the rest of our lives, we will not trample on... a merchant's morality and reputation."

Agreed chuckled and said, "You really do keep your word, Touré. You're quite the businessman, almost dishonestly so. You're climbing the ladder in your own way, just like me. Looks like we'll be meeting soon."

After saying that, Agreed tore the intelligence report in his hand into pieces and set it on fire with magic. Looking at the raging flames, Agreed swore an oath.

"I will not let a traitor live, even if you are affiliated with the strongest power in humankind today."

However, after exterminating Augustus, the Church of Light did not continue to expand outwards. Instead, it sent gifts to various countries to appease their emotions and numb their senses.

Agreed knew they were buying time to digest the treasure they had obtained from Augustus, and that the Church of Light was cunning; they knew that the Church was not strong enough to deal with a joint attack from dozens of countries, and that if they were besieged by hundreds of human nations, they would surely die.

So the Church of Light came up with a vicious idea: to 'shift the blame and instigate civil war among human kingdoms.' Therefore, they began to send assassins, missionaries, spies, and diplomats abroad. The assassins were responsible for doing bad things and framing people, the missionaries were responsible for inciting the public, the spies were responsible for throwing mud at other countries, and the diplomats were responsible for stirring up trouble and sowing discord.

This made Agreed admire the Church of Light. Their underhanded methods were very clever, and one could even say that their actions were similar to Agreed's secret control of a country using magic. However, they had exaggerated the scale of the internal strife too much. If this continued, it would eventually turn into a large-scale human civil war. And humans were not the only inhabitants of this planet. Vampires, elves, orcs, dwarves, and even intelligent monsters like goblins and ratmen all coveted the fertile lands that humans possessed.

If internal troubles arise now, they will inevitably lead to external troubles. When the situation becomes turbulent, it will be the ordinary people who are unarmed and swept along by fate who will suffer. However, the good news is that because Agreed is in charge of Avalon, all the spies and assassins sent there by the Church of Light have disappeared without a trace. This ultimately led the Church of Light to temporarily abandon its infiltration of Avalon and change its strategy to provoke other countries.

Soon, the Church of Light's actions yielded results. Wars of all sizes broke out among humanity, and people were displaced. Large numbers of refugees began to flock to stable countries. Avalon, which remained uninvolved, naturally received a large influx of visitors. However, this was not a good thing. Avalon did not have much land, and its industry and handicrafts were underdeveloped, so it did not need so many laborers. The large number of refugees could not be absorbed quickly, and crime began to emerge. The country was also disturbed by these uninvited guests.

What's even more terrifying is that the Orc Empire seized this opportunity to launch an invasion! And this time, it wasn't some suicide squad, but a genuine elite Orc army, all clad in iron armor and fully equipped, no less formidable than human troops. Their army was well-equipped with engineering machinery, had a well-balanced mix of troop types, and boasted numerous powerful warriors. Such a force was not something Avalon could possibly withstand, no, it could even be said that a few human nations united together could not possibly resist them!

Sunset Town Gate

"No, I won't go, I want to stay with you!" Hepburn shouted from the carriage, while their daughter huddled in her arms, too afraid to speak.

Agreed stepped forward, explaining and comforting her, "Sweetheart, the Orc Empire's intentions are not good this time. Sunset City will definitely fall. Take the child to the capital; I've already arranged everything there. Don't worry, once I've resolved everything, I'll bring you back."

Hepburn looked at him with tears in her eyes, and the two finally kissed goodbye with reluctance. As the carriage drove further and further away, Agreed watched until he disappeared from sight before reluctantly turning his gaze away.

Turning around, his team members stood neatly behind him. Agreed looked at them and said, "Brothers, the country is in trouble now. I don't want to morally blackmail you. Adventurers are all paid to do things. Here is some money. I want to hire you all this time. Please help me protect this country, okay?" As he spoke, Agreed took out several large sacks of gold coins and threw them on the ground.

Ike, who usually values ​​money the most, walked over, took a gold coin from the bag, stuffed it into his pocket, and said, "Alright, I accept your payment, so I have to serve you, my employer."

Seeing this, the group exchanged glances, smiled, stepped forward, took out a gold coin, put it in their pockets, and shouted in unison, "At your service, my employer!"

Agreed smiled with relief and said gratefully, "Thank you, thank you everyone."

Heya smiled and said, "This is everyone's choice. Put the money away. But how are you going to help Avalon face the million-strong orc army?"

Agreed looked at them, then took out a medal and said, “Ike, Sophie, Shakda, and Rayleigh, I need you to take this medal to Lester Magnus Dracula to seek his help, while I will take Hea to the Elven Kingdom to seek assistance.”

Upon hearing that they needed to seek help from the elves, everyone expressed their doubts and asked, "Captain, is this really going to work? Elves don't seem to like humans very much."

Agreed replied helplessly, "We have no choice. The other nations are struggling to survive. The most powerful human nations—the Griffin Empire, the Warhorse Empire, the Dawn Empire, and the Armored Empire—are fighting amongst themselves under the instigation of the Church of Light. It's laughable that when our own people are invaded, our compatriots not only fail to unite against the enemy but also fight amongst themselves for ridiculous interests. If this continues, humanity will eventually lose vast amounts of territory and be wiped out by alien races!"

Everyone fell silent instantly; a cloud of despair hung over Avalon, making it hard to breathe.

Agreed then broke the silence, saying, "Alright, there's no time. We need to hurry, or we'll be too late even if reinforcements arrive." With that, Agreed mounted his dragon steed, and Heya mounted her own elven horse, whose speed was no less than the dragon steed's but was exclusively hers. The two quickly mounted their horses, whipped them, and galloped towards the elven kingdom.

Meanwhile, the other team members mounted their horses and headed towards the Death Swamp in another direction. Now, the future of Avalon was in their hands.