"... That sure is a lot of Beast Cores," Cethus commented as he looked at the pile of Beast Cores in front of him that piled up into a small hill.
The revived monsters were lining up one by one as they waited for Diablo, Ishtar, Zagan, and Revon to take the Beast Cores out of their bodies.
Even though these Cores were extracted from their bodies and caused their Ranks to regress by one rank, the Monsters didn't even voice out any complaints for that was the order of their new Master, Gaap.
Lux had asked his Master if he could take the Beast Cores with him and divide them among the teenagers that accompanied him, as well as the Soldiers of the Yelan Kingdom.
After his experience with the Blackrock Clan, Lux was starting to believe that, maybe, the Yelan Kingdom existed somewhere in Elysium.
He didn't know whether his assumption was true, but if it was, he wanted to create good karma between him and the Kingdom that he had fought alongside inside the Sacred Dungeon.
Gaap didn't think much of it and agreed to Lux's request. However, he kept the Dreadnaught-Ranked Core of the Godz*lla-like Monster with him because he wanted to give this to Lux personally.
Prince Cyrus and the rest of the candidates from the Skystead Alliance looked at this scene with envious gazes.
They had managed to defeat a Deimos-Ranked Monster, and naturally, the Prince was the one who received its Beast Core.
Nero and Malcolm didn't utter any complaints because they understood that this was for the best.
It was not only the Skystead Alliance who were looking at the Beast Cores that Lux had piled up beside him.
The Xynnar War Pact and the Six Kingdoms were feeling the same.
To a certain extent, the Initiates of the Crystal Palace were also in the same boat. However, they were more disciplined, so their envy didn't show on their faces.
After more than an hour, all the Beast Cores had been extracted from the Monsters. Lux started to allocate them as he deemed fit.
Cai, Keane, Gerhart, Cethus, Xander, Henrietta, Einar, Val, Jasper, Enlil, and Gilmore were all given one Deimos-Ranked Beast Core each. This didn't include the ones that they gained when they each fought against one Deimos-Ranked Monster in order to lighten the load of the Yelan Army.
Lux then did something unexpected and handed one Argonaut-Ranked Beast Core each to Xander, Einar, Val, and Henrietta, greatly surprising the four teenagers.
The Half-Elf had a calm expression on his face, but deep inside, he was laughing internally.
His intention was to show those who were watching them outside the Gate of the Fallen that only his allies would receive the good stuff from him.
Also, he wasn't short of Argonaut-Ranked Cores because he had several of them from Zangrila.
The only problem was that all of those cores were from Abyssal Creatures, which he intended to purify using one of his Transcendent Necromantic Skills that would be unlocked once he became a Ranker.
This way, his members would be able to safely gain Abyssal Skills without worrying about their hearts being tainted by the corruption of the Abyss.
"I saw the battles that the five of you fought earlier. I was very impressed by your skills," Lux said as he handed dozens of Rank 5 Beast Cores and below to the five Barbarians that Einar had brought with him to the Gate of Famine. "These are all for you guys."
"T-This is the first time I have been able to hold so many Beast Cores in my life," one of the Barbarians said. "Can someone pinch me?"
The Barbarian who had confessed that he had become heartbroken when he fought against Pazuzu punched his comrade, making the latter yelp in pain.
"Bastard! I said pinch me, not punch me!"
"You had a silly look on your face, so I decided to punch you because you annoyed me."
"Why you…!"
The two Barbarians grappled each other and only stopped when Einar moved in to slap both of them silly.
Lux could only chuckle at this comedic scene before calling out Val's Guildmates, whom he also gave dozens of Beast Cores to.
When it was Henrietta's Guild Members' turn, Lux became exceedingly generous as he handed them dozens of Beast Cores, significantly exceeding the ones he gave the Barbarians and Val's Guild Members.
Henrietta smiled at Lux's generosity because she didn't think that the Half-Elf would blatantly show his favoritism to them.
"You guys come here as well," Lux called the members of the Six Kingdoms, and gave them half of what he gave the Barbarians and Val's Guildmates. Although the number of Beast Cores they received was fewer, each individual still gained six Rank 5 Beast Cores, which made them very grateful.
The red-headed teenager gave the same number of Beast Cores to Jasper's members, making them thank the Half-Elf for his generosity.
After distributing the spoils of war, Lux ignored the Skystead Alliance, as well as the Crystal Palace, making them glare at him.
"General Fahad, I know this isn't much, but take half of the Beast Cores and give them to the families of the Soldiers who died in battle."
"Thank you, Lux," General Fahad replied.
The General of the Yelan Kingdom didn't reject Lux's offer because this would help those that had lost their family members in the battle against the Monster Army.
These Soldiers, whom Lux had revived not long after they had died, would finally gain their eternal rest once he had freed them from his control.
After becoming a Heaven's Necromancer, he intended to send their souls personally to the Cycle of Reincarnation, as he had done with the souls that had been trapped in the Kingdom of Zangrila.
Most of the soldiers had lingering regrets, which would make it hard for them to pass to the other side. However, with Lux's powers, these regrets would be dissolved, allowing them to rest in peace.
Prince Cyrus, who was in a bad mood, walked toward Lux with an irritated look on his face.
"It is very possible that we have defeated all the Monsters here in the Yelan Kingdom," Prince Cyrus stated. "What do we do next?"
Lux arched an eyebrow because he didn't expect the Prince of the Vahan Empire to ask for his opinion on what their next move would be.
"First, we will confirm that the threat to the Yelan Kingdom is indeed gone," Lux replied. "When we are certain that all the threats have been dealt with, we will go to the Ammarian Kingdom and face the remaining Dreadnaught-Ranked World Bosses."
Even though he didn't get along with the members of the Skystead Alliance, he wasn't petty enough to leave them in the dark about the next part of his plan.
Everyone, with the exception of Lux, believed that since Gaap was with them, the conquest of the Gate of Famine was already in the bag.
They were not aware that the Old Halfling was doing his best not to close his eyes due to drowsiness.
Gaap knew that the moment he closed them, he wouldn't be waking up for a few days in order to recuperate from summoning the Golem of Destruction, who had drained a portion of what little remained of his lifespan.
