The believers had seized a province in the Scarlet Flake Kingdom.

  It was formerly in the Blue Rose Kingdom's lands, but the believers set up their own nation after Reylin's scarlet royal clouds teemed the sky.

  They called themselves The Ascended Nation.

  The Ascended Nation's goal was to create a home for their ascended.

  It became clear that the ascended struggled against the Nerven Race.

  The ascended used this as an excuse to express their helplessness in the outer world. They blessed a few chosen believers, then exposed a half-truth.

  Half-truth was about the ascended fighting against the most powerful family from the Nerven Race.

  Alas, the problem was that it wasn't the strongest family as there was ultimately another world with the Sin Of Gluttony at the helm.

  Another problem was the way they conveyed that half-truth.

  They said they have been fighting ever since the arrival of dark times. However, Reylin was well aware that the ascended were simply caged.

  They had their own rooms and fueled the seal, not the epic battle they had told their believers about.

  For example, how many of those believers would fume if they knew about Milkyona? That woman drank vodka every day as she had nothing better to do.

  Well, now it has changed a little.

  The Ascended focused more on the quests. They chose the brainwashed believers and greedy players, then passed their own mana.

  Of course, the ascended allied all their believers. This happened in all continents, and many more nations as such appeared.

  The reason? The Crimson Dragon.

  Reylin's deeds changed the ascended's way of thinking.

  It was a good step for them, but not for all.

  The Ascended Nation in Reylin's continent wouldn't survive for too long as he was on their way to infiltrate them.

  "The Crimson Dragon has taken over the kingdom. His mana repelled all dark matter people, and his declaration swept through all neighboring kingdoms! The Brightdoom Kingdom will be the first to taste the Crimson Army," A man known as the Third Apostle shouted.

  The Fifth Apostle added, "They will fight kingdoms and take dungeons with players. If we play it right, we should erase the heretic by assisting the Brightdoom Kingdom! Snatching rewards from the dungeons also sounds plausible!"

  The First Apostle nodded, "We ought to gather our believers but exclude players. Let the players go to the dungeons. I still can't believe they work for our esteemed ascended."

  The agreement flashed on all their faces.

  The Ascended Nation had tenth apostles. All of them were chosen by their ascended. That alone raised their levels significantly.

  They didn't really believe the players in their ranks, but who would? Crimson Dragon left many believers trembling from fear, and that was just his tale.

  As those apostles stood up, their bodies suddenly froze!

  "I've become king quite fast," A voice that was known pretty much throughout the whole Faynom World rang out.

  That voice alone melted a little of the iciness around the apostles' bodies.

  The black-cloaked group promptly poured more mana into their skill while the king strutted toward the first apostle's seat.

  "And the same goes to your little nation," Reylin faced the First Apostle, whose expression desperately wanted to change. Yet, his facial muscles were rendered useless by the ice skill.

  Reylin smiled, then slapped the man with his raw strength.

  The First Apostle's head turned to the side, then he felt immense power kicking him away from the seat.

  Reylin's ass dropped onto that seat, then he lifted his legs onto the table, "The difference is that I level up on my own. After becoming the king, I've leveled up naturally as I sucked the mana from the royal vein.

  I have my system, which increased my level further alongside my stats and skills. On the other hand, you rely so much on your ascended. Brainwashed cunts whose sole purpose is to send a message," Reylin inferred this on his own.

  His system knowledge grew significantly after he became the king. He saw more than anyone, and he frankly understood why the ascended brought so many players to this world.

  That was why he was aware of the apostle's jobs.

  At least in his continent.

  While the First Apostle's soul trembled from shame as his whole body was still under the ice control, the second apostle's eyes rose to face Reylin.

  That man was a believer of Milkyona, and his mana seared Rose's mass area ice skill.

  If Rose wanted, she would've still rendered him useless. However, Reylin gave her eye signal to not do anything.

  He smiled and said, "Am I not right? I am confident you've passed more mana to other continents' believers while giving those fools just a scant…… Is that a message to me that you can create nations everywhere? You either forgot about streams or just want to fuel your ego more. Which one is it?"

  "Reylin…… I noticed your uniqueness first," Milkyona's voice came straight from the second apostle's mouth, "You will surely cut our ties with this continent, but that won't happen-"

  "Answer my question, Milkyona," Reylin cut her with his king's tone.

  "……"

  "You seem to believe in your other ascended nations. Well, good luck with those. I have my own goals, and this continent will neither welcome you nor the Nerven Race. It will be my home, free of all your bullshit and greed.

  Still, Milkyona. It feels like you have some thoughts of alliance with me? Otherwise, why would you bring our first meeting? Haha," Reylin pointed his finger at the second apostle's forehead, then added, "You will either become my bitch or die from my hands."

  The Second Apostle's eyes widened, which was naturally due to the ascended's reaction in her cage.

  Reylin sneered, "Changnam will die. He will die because he's the cause of Yuki's sacrifice. We wouldn't have faced such a strong monster if that cunt had managed to kill the Abomination. Others ascended, I will think. Still, no one of you will meet me as equals.

  And I know very well that I have enough strength to see all of you in person. See you soon enough, Milkyona. Let's prepare well for our clash. Ah, I forgot to add…… Don't think I will do all the dirty jobs for you. If you stop fighting Nerven, I will kill them all and absorb their strength…… Then, killing you will be nothing but slapping a fly."

  Reylin's finger lit up in flames. It fired a bullet that killed the second apostle.

  The second apostle's body dropped onto the ground, then Reylin's people killed all other apostles.

  "They were all brainwashed without any return," Reylin said, then stood up, "Catch all other believers in the Ascended Nation. Leave a few rebellious ones to me to talk," he chuckled and went for a stroll.

  Rose replied, "Yes."

  All of them disappeared to get the job done.

  Reylin strutted the Ascended Nation's streets while all believers fell one by one to the Sapphire Dragon's Iciness.

  "Players will get other believer rats……" he said out loud.

  Those believers were worse than rats.

  They hid everywhere!

  His eyes rose to look at the dark sky, "It will take a few months at least…… All preparation from the dungeons and Kingdoms Conquest……"

  Reylin's sadness over the last events clenched his heart from time to time.

  He planned to spend much time in the blacksmith and Layla's study as preparing items and skill scrolls was pretty time-consuming.

  He also wanted to vent on the brainwashed believers, so there was that……

  Alas, Reylin's eyes often would flash with helplessness.

  That was when he was alone, though.

  A void in his heart deepened after Maya's death in the game world. She was in a coma, and he wouldn't see her smile for some time.

  Reylin didn't care whether the world was real or not.

  People took his beloved, so he would similarly conduct himself.

  That void seemed impossible to fill unless these two suddenly returned.

  "Layla?" Reylin suddenly noticed his girlfriend, who stood with a few guards from his army.

  "Reylin…… I have something to talk about with you…… It's important, and I don't want to use a system to tell you this," Layla blushed as she said this, her hands on her stomach.

  Reylin tilted his head curiously, but Layla's following words froze him.

  "I am pregnant……" Layla said happily.

  "Really?" Reylin asked absent-mindedly……

  It seemed like the little baby would soon fill that void.

  Reylin once again would see the world in new colors.