The Player's POV

The Lumindra Kingdom was famous for its abundance of minerals.

And this could also be considered the main source of the kingdom's economy.

For them, the mineral mines were literally money printing machines.

For hundreds of years, since the kingdom was founded, they had focused on mining instead of investing in other sources of money.

After all, they had too many minerals.

But that was why if something happened to the mines, the kingdom's economy would be completely frozen.

…

At the largest mineral mine in the Lumindra Kingdom.

It was a normal day.

The weather wasn't too hot and there weren't any storms.

The perfect time to mine minerals.

Not only that, everything was going on as normal as possible.

The miners were all in a good mood, and very few people were sick.

Therefore, they all had the same thought that today would be a good day.

A day where they would have a good harvest of minerals.

But, they were wrong.

This was not a good day.

On the contrary.

Today marked the worst day for the Lumindra Kingdom since its founding.

"Hurry up, you weaklings! Do you want to rest early?!"

As usual, the captain was shouting until his voice was hoarse to urge everyone to work harder.

What a pity.

He should have used this last moment to write a suicide note to his family.

Why?

Because the next moment…

Rumble!

The entire ground shook, causing everyone to lose their balance and fall.

"What the hell!?"

"What the fuck!?"

"What's happening? There shouldn't be an earthquake today!?"

There shouldn't be an earthquake today.

Of course.

Because the reason the ground was shaking wasn't because of an earthquake.

"Everyone, stay safe and endure!"

The captain shouted, trying to calm everyone down.

"This earthquake will pass quickly! Hang in there!"

Yes.

An earthquake wouldn't last for too long.

But as said before, there wasn't an earthquake.

Just like that, everyone waited.

But, after more than 10 minutes, the ground still shook.

"Are you lying to us!? This earthquake doesn't show any signs of stopping!"

Not only that, the ground shook even more violently than before.

It was as if… some giant creature was trying to charge up from below the ground.

Thinking of this, everyone felt a chill.

Part of it was because they were worried about the mine and the people below.

And the other part was because they couldn't imagine how big and terrifying that creature would be if it was true.

"Hey, there's someone over there!"

Suddenly, a miner shouted and pointed to the sky.

Following his direction, everyone else looked up.

And then, their eyes met that creature.

A creature with a human body, but exuding a pressure and aura that no human possessed.

He just stood there, floating in the air, using his crimson eyes to glance at all the lives below.

As if what he was looking at were piles of trash and not people.

"W-Who are you!? What are you doing here?"

Even though he knew it was a stupid move, the captain still had to stand up and ask for the truth.

After all, he was the one with the highest authority in this place.

Which meant he had to be responsible for the safety of everyone else.

And the rest was because the captain felt that this earthquake was closely related to the creature floating in the air.

But, the captain only had one word in response:

"Regulus."

Boom!

The next moment, an explosion rang out.

And right after that explosion… was the earth-shattering roar of a giant creature.

Roar!!!!

From the newly created hole… a giant worm rushed out.

It was truly like… a giant mobile weapon of destruction.

It was worse than any nightmare any human had ever experienced.

And then, it instantly attacked all the humans present without hesitation.

It was as if the giant worm had been programmed beforehand.

"Argh!!!"

Miserable screams rang out continuously.

But, Regulus still stood there, not moving even a little.

"…When humans kill a cockroach, do they feel pity for it?"

The answer was of course no.

And then, when the entire scene had quieted down, Regulus continued his self-introduction:

"I am one of the commanders of the demon king's army. And this giant worm is called Pochi. Pleased to meet you, human."

There was no one left alive to hear the rest of the introduction.

But it seemed that Regulus didn't care.

"Let's continue, Pochi."

He turned away.

"You're still not full, right?"

***

Nethervale was a kingdom located on an island.

And the good thing about this island was that it was located in the middle of a giant lake.

Basically, the Nethervale kingdom was not much different from Japan.

The resources of this place were also quite abundant.

They could be self-sufficient.

So, Nethervale did not need to fight for resources.

But, if something happened, especially when the entire surrounding water was frozen, then the kingdom would be no different from a prison.

But, unlike a prison, there would be no iron bars.

And also unlike a prison, those trapped inside would definitely die.

"How interesting. Hehehe."

Walking around the largest port in the Nethervale kingdom, Eden chuckled.

She wasn't a human.

Yes, she was a demon.

But, she wasn't an ordinary demon.

Eden was the last commander of the demon king's army.

"What if I froze everything?"

Eden's body started to tremble with excitement.

It felt like she was on drugs.

Eden's curiosity was about to overcome her reason.

Wait, did she have something called "reason" in the first place?

"Hey beautiful girl, what are you doing here!?"

All of a sudden, the voice of a staff member of this place rang out in Eden's ears.

Causing her excitement and anticipation to decrease by more than half.

"…"

Eden didn't respond, only coldly glancing at the staff member.

Ignoring her attitude, the staff continued:

"This is not a place for someone like you to stay. Please follow me out immediately."

The more the staff spoke, the more Eden's joy gradually faded.

"What if I don't leave?"

"Then I'll have to force you to leave, no matter what."

"Oh, no matter the price?"

Eden smirked.

A smirk full of hidden meaning.

Ignoring this detail, the staff immediately grabbed Eden's wrist.

And at this moment, even she had to stun for a moment.

"Tsk. You're so unlucky, employee."

Because of her special power, Eden always had to cover up to avoid skin contact with other demons.

Because otherwise, something bad would happen.

"You can touch other places, but why did you touch my wrist, which is not protected by anything?"

Sighing heavily, Eden looked at the staff.

He had completely turned into a block of ice.

Obviously, he was dead.

"Well then, playtime is over. Let's get back to work."

With that, her eyes flashed.

In the next second, all the seawater in this area had frozen.

And the craziest thing was that this layer of ice did not only exist on the surface of the water.

Eden's power had turned all the seawater, regardless of depth, into ice.

"...Next target."