The fourth layer of the Maze, in the misty depths of the jungle, a team of guards is patrolling the streets.

Due to being shrouded in mist year-round, only sparse lamplights dot the dim streets, and eventually, this nameless town earned the name Mist Town.

However, ever since the arrival of the new Demon King who took over here, everything has changed; not only are the streets considerably cleaner and tidier, but coal-burning street lamps have been installed on both sides of the roads.

So much so that this famously lawless area has surprisingly become orderly.

Of course, the order here is only in contrast to the chaotic Maze itself.

Comparing it to Thunder City, this little town cannot compete, for here you'll scarcely find a proper resident; if not Undead and Demons, then mercenaries and adventurers.

Yet, the wonder lies in this very point, where two irreconcilable groups can coexist peacefully in this safe zone, keeping to themselves.

Such an occurrence, even throughout the history of the Maze, holds not a second of precedent.

As the captain of Mist Town's guard unit, Alex has pondered this issue for a long time.

At first, he attributed it to the great power of Lord Demon King, but soon realized that this newly arrived Demon King is not as strong as the previous one, thus it made little sense to credit it solely to individual might.

As for the Demon King's minions... Though they have some extraordinary tactics, calling their power decisive would be an overstatement.

After all, the Campbell Duchy's swords have never been blunt, and history shows that whenever Hell fully invades the surface, there hasn't been an example of defeating the latter.

However, as time passed, he ultimately found an explanation that could stand up—

because people need such a place.

This may sound unreasonable, yet unexpectedly reasonable.

Being of noble background, Alex's education included theology and history, thus he knew far more than the average person.

Most farmers in the Campbell Duchy believe Divine beings are similar to the sun, existing since the world began, but it's not really the case.

If they truly read the Holy Word Book instead of listening to the Priest's snippets, they would understand that Divine beings are entities born from the collective prayers of people.

The Gods of Elements came into existence because ancient people needed a deity to anchor their chaotic Spirit and those of their kin.

Otherwise, if one person wishes for rain today, and another for sunshine tomorrow, while someone else flips the order, the weather would become unpredictable.

This is history from the First Epoch, engraved in stone murals.

Because people need Divine beings, they are born. In other words, Divine beings are a choice by all!

Long ago, this was once the source of "legitimacy" for the Holy Sis Church, but a thousand years later it's no longer important.

After all, the Imperial has already won this world, mentioning those old matters sounds redundant and unsightly.

Alex could faintly perceive that there should exist something in this world capable of responding to people's wishes.

When people collectively hope for something, it happens... though not necessarily in the way they envisioned.

Just like now, the people of the Campbell Duchy and the demons within the Maze need a place where they can coexist peacefully, resulting in the "Bridgehead" of surface human invasion of the Underworld becoming this place.

This is both the will of the Demon King.

And perhaps the choice of everyone.

The patrolling guard passed through the street in front of the adventurer guild, the bustling crowd soon attracting the attention of Alex and the guards.

"There seems to be more people in Mist Town recently," one guard murmured in surprise, his face full of astonishment.

The slightly older guard glanced towards the distant crowd and casually remarked.

"Maybe it's because winter is over, adventurers indeed aren't very active during winter."

He used to deal with adventurers a lot when he was a mercenary, and as injuries during winter would be hard to endure, most opted to spend this time conservatively, either staying by the tavern's fireplace or visiting their family back home.

Alex initially agreed, but a guard beside him mentioned,

"...It's not quite the same, spring is actually the busy season for farming, while there are more adventurers than in winter, there aren't usually this many. Not until summer does one typically see so many gather at the adventurer guild's doorstep."

This statement resonated with many guards, as quite a few had once been in this line of work.

From their understanding, most adventurers hail from various villages and towns across the Aus Continent.

After all, city dwellers neither endure the life of licking blood off the blade nor have a need to venture out. Only the children of tenant farmers living rurally year-round, occasionally visiting their wealthy uncle or aunt back in their village, would dream of exploring the outside world.

The guards conversed in whispers, while Alex curiously raised an eyebrow.

This year's situation indeed seems very unusual.

Especially as he suddenly notices that many of these adventurers are obviously inexperienced rookies.

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