The towering centaur was easily split in two, an act that left both the not-yet-dead centaur warrior and those who learned of it through mystic techniques utterly shocked.

Especially the prince in the Imperial Palace at this moment, who even forgot about the kingdom's fertility issues. When two of their own heroic spirits were easily killed earlier, fear had already gripped him.

While the fertility problem could lead to the Empire's collapse in a few decades, a failure in the grand expedition would mean its immediate demise.

The royal family holds countless records on the consequences of the grand expedition's failure, far more than anywhere else. They foresaw the hardships and struggles detailed by the Emperor when the continent was still the "Demon Realm," so winning was crucial for them.

Without victory, it would be like living in Hell, a lifestyle completely unacceptable to them now.

With one move, the enemy almost completely lost their fighting ability, leaving only one main demon team surviving in the Demon Realm.

Far away, the prince finally breathed a sigh of relief.

To win, finally, and after the grand expedition's victory, to spare no effort in researching and solving the fertility issue.

However, just as he indulged in the illusion of time and thought far into the future,

the unexpected often arrives before the fantasy does.

...

Land of Judgment, on the small island at the start of the Demon Realm.

The mad Viscount immediately sensed something was wrong. He initially thought that with his strength and that of the Golden Emperor, they could easily kill the heroic spirits of the Demon Race and capture their hosts as experimental materials.

But now he knew he was wrong; the opposing heroic spirit was terrifyingly strong.

It seemed to be a barbarian capable of summoning any beast, and such a simple fellow was making both of them sweat profusely in battle.

Initially, the opponent seemed strong but not comparable to the Golden Emperor, who easily pinned him down like an unruly child, pummeling him into submission.

The Golden Emperor was arguably the strongest heroic spirit on the human side, although the mad Viscount thought much of his reputation was due to exaggeration by their descendants. Yet at least in his heroic spirit form, he was incomparably powerful.

According to Xue Dili's standards, he was at a Tier Four peak, known specifically here as a "Demigod."

Things initially progressed as he imagined, with the big golden one pinning down the enemy, allowing him to make his way to the Demon Race's host.

All he needed to do was deal with the goblin protecting the Demon Race's host. Such a lowly creature was beneath him.

However, in the next second, an unexpected turn occurred. The barbarian, who was being beaten by the big golden fellow, suddenly surged from just entering Tier Four strength to its peak in mere seconds.

In less than two and a half minutes, he went from being crushed by the Golden Emperor to matching him evenly.

A little more than a minute later, the barbarian stopped pretending and soared to a quasi-5th tier power level, even the giant stag by his side reaching nearly the same strength.

It was like the Golden Emperor was pitting against a kindergarten kid named Er Gou from next door in a ring. Mid-fight, Er Gou suddenly turned into Masked Rider without bothering to act.

But it's not over. The transformed Masked Rider Er Gou, still unsatisfied with his dominance, summoned five mechanical dinosaurs to merge into a hundred-meter-tall electric lizard king. And he was just a human Emperor.

This is bullshit!

Even the goblin guarding the Demon Race's host evolved from a roadside casualty easily crushed by the mad Viscount, to a goblin king needing serious attention, and finally, even further into a goblin superman, all in just a few minutes.

No, even in the Empire's wildest fantasies about the grand expedition, the protagonists only gain power during life-and-death moments or sacrificing their friends, shouting rallying cries like "We are the human expedition army!" before triumphing over enemies.

You all defy logic compared to those stories, with exponential power growth, don't you?

The mad Viscount was speechless.

In the next moment, the Golden Emperor, whom he had high hopes for, was blasted away, his gleaming golden armor nearly pierced, almost sending him back to the Netherworld.

The mad Viscount immediately gave up his target and approached the Golden Emperor, saying, "There's a problem! Retreat!"

"Then we..." The Golden Emperor seemed eager to continue fighting, but was quickly stopped by the mad Viscount.

"There's something wrong with them. Their strength has increased tenfold in such a short time, as if... as if a god directly empowered them for battle... They don't even bother shouting 'friendship, bonds, dreams.'" The mad Viscount's words rendered the Emperor silent.

He remembered his founding grand expedition, during which his side was at an absolute disadvantage, when the enemy mysteriously broke into infighting, and chaos ensued.

His side united, their strength surging, and overwhelmed the infighting demon realm people, paving the way for a new era.

This very moment mirrors that past moment.

Only now, it seems he stands on the opposite side.

His end kept infighting; if not for another heroic spirit pretending to be the mad Viscount taking care of the pollution, who knows what larger powder keg might explode.

Meanwhile, the other side seemed to gain infinite power, no longer faking, forcefully upgrading those far weaker than himself to the "Demigod" level.