Charles glanced around at the adventurers and mercenaries before him, his grip on the war hammer so tight that his knuckles turned white.

"I know your hearts are filled with fear and confusion, and you must have a lot of questions, but please save them until after everything is over! At this moment, we are facing the most sinister of the four Deceitful Fog gods of Chaos—Novel!"

"In the face of its military might and evil, the monsters and Undead in the labyrinth are not even worth mentioning! Their chaos and destruction will engulf the world, and if we do not stand united, no one will be spared!"

"Do you hear the sneaky voices around you? That voice is its whisper, and that creature is using all its strength to tempt you! It wants you to doubt, to fear, to turn and run, or to fall into its embrace... Make no mistake, once you obey it, you will be the next to die! If you can hear its voice, it means you have already been branded by it!"

Upon hearing Charles's voice, the crowd around him stirred, and whether they were adventurers or hired guards, or even civilians, a look of fear appeared on their faces.

The brand of the Chaos evil spirit!

Inside them!

There was no more terrifying story than this... Its intimidation far exceeded the Undead army standing right before them!

"Do not fear!"

Looking into those fearful eyes, Charles mustered his emotions for a moment before he continued to shout with a resonant voice.

"Do not retreat or flee!"

"The seed of conspiracy has been planted within us, and no matter where we flee, even if it is to Hell, we can never escape Its grasp!"

"There is only one way to erase the mark Novel has left within us—to confront its existence, and then send it back where it came from!"

Watching as the morale and fighting spirit began to reignite, Charles continued to roar with an elevated voice.

"Its conspiracy has already killed over ninety percent of the innocent people in Mist Town, and it plans to drag even more people into the mire!"

"Just this once—"

"I implore you to take up arms, to stand shoulder to shoulder with us, to stand alongside the monsters beside us!"

"Even if tomorrow we are beaten bloody in the labyrinth, at least for now—please point your swords at those evil spirits from the deepest depths of Chaos!"

"For the Campbell Duchy! For the land gifted to us by Saint Sis! For ourselves!"

The heartening roar passed through the forest, scattering the fog, and even more so, blowing away the adventurers' hesitation and doubt.

To stand with the monsters of the labyrinth!

That was something they had never contemplated.

But they had no choice.

They had no way out.

Just as the Knight had said, they had already been marked by the Chaos evil spirits.

No matter where they hid, even if they retired and fled back to their homelands, into some obscure alley where no one knew who they were, it would only bring back both the curse and the shame.

"For the Campbell Duchy!"

"For the land gifted to us by Saint Sis!"

"For us!"

The speech was no longer a monologue by Charles; the armed crowd responded to his calls, rallying their spirits and picking up the courage they had lost.

Watching those eyes rekindle with the will to fight, Luo Yan couldn't help but wonder if this guy had used some kind of charm-enhancing magic.

Like Holy Word Technique or something.

Even so, being on the side of his allies, he wouldn't so inappropriately reveal such needless trickery.

For these people to not flee with their tails between their legs, but instead, to choose to stand here with them and face the mess in Mist Town was praiseworthy on its own.

This was a calamity of their own making by the surface-dwelling humans.

The ritual of Chaos might have been ignited in the labyrinth, but all of this chaos was fueled by their own suspicion from the very start.

Standing among the crowd of adventurers, Alex looked up at Charles and the Trident Knights and felt a surge of burning passion within him.

Hero!

The word suddenly appeared in his mind, merging with that majestic figure.

And it was in that moment that he had a sudden epiphany of what he was chasing—

His desire was neither for adventure

Nor was it to please some so-called deity.

It was to become a hero in the eyes of people—

Or better said, a legend!

And right now, this was when they needed him!

Driven by courage and responsibility, he moved forward, stepping out of the crowd, and drew his sword, pointing it toward the fog-shrouded sky.

"Alex Spinor!"

"You might not recognize the name of this rookie, but the second son of the Spinor family swears to you, there will come a day when you will hear stories about him from bards, and take pride in having fought bravely under his command!"

Facing those eyes filled with skepticism or those thinking he's insane, he didn't shy away but instead, followed Charles's example and shouted out loudly.

"In this line of adventurers, I am just a rookie; my experience in battle and adventure is far less than yours! But on the battlefield, I have commanded a hundred-man unit within a ten-thousand strong army! I am confident in telling you when to advance and when to retreat! Only I can ensure we all make it back alive from the battlefield!"

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