Chapter 283: Command Mode Simulation

Gustave was the Imperial Family’s Creation Architect—an A-class Enchanter.

He was as old as the former Emperor.

He rose into prominence during the former Emperor’s reign, who noticed his potential early on and supported him.

He was the only Creation Architect during the former Emperor’s reign until he retired after his successor successfully reached the same rank as him.

It was indeed a pleasant surprise for Max that a Creation Architect wanted to join the Guild, but he was a bit worried, not wanting to immediately replace the current head of the Artificer District just because a better newcomer had joined.

Max treasured those who had managed the Guild from its early days.

If the Creation Architect demanded it, Max would have had no choice but to reject him and potentially lose him later on.

Who would have thought that he was willing to work under someone who had a lower rank than him and had even produced the latest update of the Command Mode?

"What’s about the update?"

The former Emperor shrugged.

"It would not be a challenge if I already knew about it beforehand."

"Fair enough."

"But..."

The former Emperor cast an ambiguous smile.

"It’s not just the Command Mode. The Survival Mode has also been updated."

Max gazed at the former Emperor, and suddenly, a smile broke across his face.

Max entered the simulation mode without saying a word, leaving the former Emperor grumbling.

This guy is trying to be mysterious.

The former Emperor clucked his tongue in annoyance.

Although the Survival Mode had been easy for Max, with Gustave around and having updated it alongside Louie and the other Artificers and Enchanters, the former Emperor believed that the previous Survival Mode would be the same as before.

With the knowledge about demons provided by the Church, he was certain that the Survival Mode’s difficulty had increased significantly compared to before.

He could not understand where Max’s confidence was coming from.

Even when Max finally employed his Radiant Knights, the former Emperor still believed that the Survival Mode could not be completed at all.

After all, he had heard rumors from Gustave that the Survival Mode’s update was designed to challenge the Guildmaster, who remained the strongest human when it came to fighting against demons.

Everyone knew how strong Max and his Radiant Knights were, and Gustave specifically wanted to challenge him by increasing the difficulty of the Survival Mode.

Gustave revealed that the new Survival Mode was about invading a Demon City ruled by a Demon Lord as strong as the Demon Lord of Wrath.

The former Emperor could still vividly remember how his grandfather narrated the events of his failed conquest of the Ashen Expanse.

His first invasion had been the city of the Demon Lord of Wrath.

There were many Demon Lords of Wrath from the Kingdom of Endless War.

Yet, during their first war outside of the Empire, they were decisively defeated.

The events were not comprehensively mentioned or narrated in the history of the Empire, but the Church, which had participated in the event, possessed a very detailed account.

This compelled the creation of the current update.

If before, the Survival Mode was simply about invading a Demon Nest, with the highest difficulty treating an early Demon Lord as the strongest opponent, the current update featured a peak Demon Lord with hundreds of Demon Lords under his command.

It was truly a major update that, of course, was only available to those who had completed the previous highest difficulty.

The former Emperor did not overthink Max’s confidence at all and immediately tried the Command Mode simulation.

To his surprise, the Command Mode simulation accurately understood the difficulty that a Tactician faced.

Even an S-rank Tactician like him, who was tasked with commanding a million Demon Hunters against the demons, faced a level of difficulty that made the former Emperor realize he was already far past his prime.

Or maybe I just haven’t reached my full potential just yet.

The former Emperor’s greatest regret had always been not being able to fully utilize his class.

Of course, he had reached S-rank not because of his Imperial Family’s legacy, but because of his good governance during his reign.

However, he believed that an S-rank Tactician had much more to offer than simply governing the people.

It should be about following its main class progression.

Tactician, Battle Strategist, War Oracle, Architect of Fate, and Supreme Strategist.

Tactician had not always been about governing the people, but about leading the people in war.

The former Emperor despised the fact that Tacticians eventually became corrupt officials.

As a Supreme Strategist who had already experienced governing people, what he wanted now was to fully utilize his class to lead the people in war.

That was why he dared to gamble.

He didn’t mind dying on the frontline.

Like Max had said, it was better to die fighting for the human cause than to die of old age.

The former Emperor admitted defeat after failing to complete the Command Simulation Mode.

The former Emperor did not lament.

On the contrary, he felt excited.

So this is what it means to lead the Demon Hunters in the Ashen Expanse.

Indeed, the Command Simulation Mode was designed to lead the Demon Hunters to explore the Ashen Expanse and invade a Demon Lord’s territory.

What made it difficult was that the Demon Hunters were not only outnumbered but also outclassed by the demons.

The Command Simulation Mode challenged the former Emperor by having him lead a million Demon Hunters, but...

The former Emperor believed they were not the future Demon Hunters at all.

Their equipment and weapons were different from the Demonbane Aegis Armor and Demon-Slaying Ballista.

It was simply a simulation where the Demon Hunters were not being led by Max, but by him.

He was put in Max’s shoes.

He fell into deep thought.

The Command Simulation Mode’s highest difficulty was to lead a million Demon Hunters with lacking equipment and weapons.

A difficulty lower than that presented the greatest weapons that the Demon Hunters possessed—with Max being their main provider.

The former Emperor tried such a difficulty and, to his surprise, despite only leading a hundred thousand Demon Hunters, they were able to successfully conquer a Demon City...