Supreme Monarch

In a world of myths and legends, magic, and mysteries, the four most dominant races claimed sovereignty over the continents of Neron. Though fundamentally different, these races—humans, demons, dwarves, and elves—had coexisted in peace since the age of the ancient gods. However, the death of the gods shattered this fragile harmony, igniting tensions between humans and demons.

Threatened by the growing power of the Demon King, humanity launched an offensive. Yet, even with the dwarves' aid, they stood no chance against the overwhelming might of the demons and their infernal allies. Desperate, humanity turned to an ancient holy ritual—a summoning of powerful souls from another world. These summoned heroes, wielding powers beyond mortal limits, were tasked with saving Neron, aided by the armies of the allied forces.

...

After taking the most dangerous path through the Darkin Mountain Range, the group of five had finally made it through the most treacherous part of their journey. Traveling across the plains, they approached a giant castle in the distance. They were approaching from the rear, and as expected, their path through the mountain range had been the most difficult aspect of their journey. 

These monsters weren't magic beasts, but they were increasingly hard to deal with. Not only were they immune to magic—the lifeblood of this world itself—their resistance to physical attacks was also insanely high, making it almost impossible to kill them. Their attack power was equally impressive. Their only weakness was their lack of speed, though their numbers more than made up for it. These monsters were called mountain golems. As their name suggested, they were practically the size of mountains and could easily alter the terrain around them with a single step. 

These factors, among many others, made the mountain range a very dangerous place for anyone. It was hundreds of times more dangerous than the old Darknar Forest and was therefore labelled a forbidden zone. No one in their right mind would even think about approaching such a place, yet these five figures had emerged from there, looking as though they had just taken a stroll through their dusty backyard.

The five continued their journey as they approached the castle ahead. They had no scratches on them as they dusted off the dirt and debris the monsters had covered them with. "That was easier than I thought it would be. I can't believe they thought this path was that dangerous," said the large, bald young man in silvery-white, exquisite-looking full plate armor. He carried a large black hammer in his right hand and an even larger white shield in his left.

"The only reason it was easy was because of my special ability, you blockhead. Any other party would have been wiped out by that many mountain golems," retorted one of the two females in the group. She was quite short and petite, wearing red light armor. Her short red hair was styled to the side, and her round face, paired with big, bright scarlet eyes that glittered like fireflies in the night sky, made her look almost childlike.

"Be quiet. Children should not speak when adults are talking," the bald man shot back.

"You overgrown buffoon!" she snapped.

"That's enough, guys. We're already close to the castle. This is not the time for your usual bickering," the young man leading the group interjected in a soft voice as he turned to look at the two. He knew if he didn't intervene now, this could continue for quite a while. "Besides, we were blessed by the goddess of luck. We didn't encounter any of the true terrors of the mountains."

He was a handsome young man with short blonde hair, a slightly elongated nose, sky-blue eyes, and a well-defined jawline. Standing at 5'10", he was slightly tall, wearing a set of pure gold armor adorned with white runes and markings that gave it an ancient yet magical appearance. The longsword he carried on his back was equally impressive, its blade made of some kind of crystal, the hilt golden and bearing similar markings to his armor.

The other man in the group chuckled and kept walking. "What the hell are you laughing at, Rey?" the short girl yelled angrily at him. Rey had long black hair and wore a dark blue robe. He held a wooden staff in his right hand, its appearance deceptively simple, as if it had been broken off a tree, yet it radiated an ancient aura that gave it a terrifying presence. Rey ignored her and continued walking, which only seemed to anger her more. She was about to yell at him again but was cut off by the other female in the group.

"Alright, Rosie, that's enough. John already told you to stop. You should also know better than to engage her, Leo," said the other woman, her voice calm but firm.

Rosie muttered something under her breath but didn't make another fuss, while Leo scratched his bald head in embarrassment.

"Looks like I'm still no match for you, Elsie. You always know how to calm them down," John said with a smile as he looked at Elsie. She was a beautiful woman with long, curly dark purple hair. She wore a long purple dress that did little to hide her voluptuous curves, and she carried two iron fans in her hands. Her dress clung to her figure, accentuating her every movement.

She smiled, and the group continued their mission to invade the castle from its rear. They weren't far now; after exiting the mountains, they were closer to the castle than they had ever been. Thanks to the frontal attack by the allied forces, they had gotten this close without being noticed. The plan was simple: draw the enemy's attention by launching an all-out attack from the front while an elite group of the strongest individuals in the world would circle around and infiltrate the enemy's base to assassinate their leader.

The instant they arrived within a hundred meters of the outer castle walls, the sentries on top of the wall finally noticed them. They were undead knights, clad in heavily enchanted adamantine plate armor, wielding great bows and short swords at their belts. One of the sentries immediately ran toward a golden bell at one of the towers in the wall, while the others prepared their bows to fire.

Their reaction speed was impressive. Luckily for the group, Rey's concealment spell had gotten them too close for the enemy to use the large artillery in the towers at the ends of the outer wall. This was why the team had chosen to walk instead of fly. Due to the dangers of the Darkin Mountain Range, the enemy considered it a natural line of defense and had set up anti-flight magic and detection spells in the area.

Even with the presence of flying beasts, attempting to fly would have played straight into the enemy's hands, making them easy targets for bombardment. While the group could survive such an attack, it would render their mission a failure.

The sentry reached the bell and was about to ring it when a white streak of light sliced through him, severing the top half of his body. John swung his sword again, and another white light cut down a second sentry who had rushed to replace the first. The remaining undead knights fired their arrows, each one enveloped in a red aura as it left their bows.

Leo stepped forward, raising his large shield and banging it with his hammer. "Come at me!" he yelled with a grin. His shield glowed brightly as the barrage of arrows rained down on him. He blocked every single one, his hammer beginning to glow red as the strange aura from the arrows enveloped it. "Not bad," he said, dashing forward. But before he could move, a gust of wind blew past him.

Rosie had already arrived at the top of the wall in an instant. She took a low stance, holding two silver daggers in a reverse grip. "Flame Dance," she whispered, and the daggers burst into flames. She moved fluidly across the wall, slashing any undead knight that came close. With a single swing, her enemies burst into flames.

Leo scratched his head. "She's stealing my thunder."

"Not the time, Leo. We should end this as soon as possible," John said. The group sprinted forward, scaling the 15-meter-tall wall with ease to assist Rosie. By the time they reached the top, only seven sentries remained. Rosie had already taken care of more than thirty of them in mere moments.

Rey pointed his staff at the remaining undead and cast a single spell: "Sunlight." The tip of his staff glowed brightly, like the sun itself, and the seven undead knights were reduced to ashes. The group jumped down from the castle's outer wall and, as expected, found less protection here than at the front entrance. Still, they didn't have time to waste. It would only be a matter of time before the generals in the castle sensed their presence. Rey's concealment spell wouldn't protect them for long. There were only about a hundred enemies in the ward.

"Ellie, we'll go on ahead. Can you handle things here?" John asked.

"Hehe... You insult me," Ellie replied with a smirk.

"Sorry... sorry... my bad. Alright, Leo, clear a path for us."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Leo roared as his body emitted a faint aura. He charged straight for the side entrance of the castle, smashing through any undead or beast that stood in his way. The others followed closely, with John protecting their flanks. Ellie, however, remained behind, standing calmly with a faint smile on her face.

Most of the undead knights and beasts ignored the others and focused on her, charging toward her with weapons raised and roars echoing through the air. The others had already entered the castle. According to their intel, they were in the South Wing and needed to make their way to the top floor of the North Wing. They ran through the hallways, following the map they had prepared, ensuring they stayed on the right track.

The castle was massive, covering over a million square meters and guarded by the strongest tamed beasts, monsters, and undead, not to mention the insanely powerful demons who served under the master of the castle, including the six demon generals. Luckily, the group didn't have to worry about most of these threats. By now, the war was at its peak, and if the demons wanted to avoid massive casualties, they would have sent at least five of the generals to key locations to oversee the war. If they were lucky, all six generals would be deployed. The generals were the key to the war, and while the group was confident they could handle three or four of them at a time, facing all six would be trouble.

Their only goal was to reach the master of the castle. They didn't need to kill the generals; they only needed to hold them off while focusing on their primary target. They had also received the blessings of the goddess, which meant their luck was almost supernatural. The effects were already visible. So far, they had only encountered a handful of stone knights, indicating that there weren't many entities in the castle. Everything was going according to plan.