"I will not yield!" Ifrit shouted as Astrape pinned its body to the ground with her foot. "Just kill me! I will not submit to anyone!"

Ifrit's angry shout reverberated within his Domain. After being one of the strongest Overlords of the Western Continent, it prided itself as being the strongest among his peers.

But, now, after experiencing Astrape's strength firsthand, it realized that it was wrong all along. There was someone stronger than it, and it made it feel as if all the hardships it had overcome in order to achieve its current strength was a lie.

Ifrit started as a lowly fire spirit that managed to step into the Rank of a Demigod after hundreds of years of hardship. 

Because of this, it prided itself for being able to attain what others could only dream of.

Even though it was getting beaten up to a pulp, its pride wouldn't allow it to submit. Not to Astrape, and certainly not to the red-headed teenager that commanded the brutish woman.

"Master, this one is serious," Astrape smiled. "He would rather choose death than submit to you. Should I continue to beat him up?"

William shook his head. He and Ifrit had no quarrels with each other, so there was no need for excessive violence. Even so, he didn't plan to leave empty handed, so he ordered Astrape and Bronte to tie the Demigod of Fire up with shackles made from lightning bolts.

Durren, who noticed the battle from start to finish couldn't help but feel that he was being part of a momentous moment in history. 

Now that one of the Four Demigods had been subjugated, all of his doubts had disappeared completely.

"Sir Durren, where are we going next?" William asked the Dwarf to look at him with a respectful gaze.

"From here, we head to the South East," Durren replied. "There, the Demigod of Wind, Henkhisesui, lives. I have been fortunate enough to see him, and I can describe to you in detail what he looks like."

William was quite interested to know more about the next Demigod that they were going to meet, so he allowed Durren to continue his tale.

"Henkhisesui is a four-winged, snake-headed man, who sends seasonal storms across the entire Western Continent, from where he lives," Durren explained. "He has a good relationship with Ifrit, and I am afraid that he won't be too happy once he sees that you've captured him."

The Half-Elf glanced at the bound up Demigod of Fire who was glaring in his direction.

"I don't know who you are, or why you came to the Western Continent, but I can guarantee you one thing," Ifrit said with steam coming out of its mouth. "None of us will submit to you, and recognize you as our Master."

To the Demigod's surprise, William just shrugged, as if making four lowly Demigods his subordinates was the least of his concerns.

Astrape, who was standing beside Ifrit, chuckled.

"Fool, do you still not understand?" Astrape sneered. "My Master has us by his side, so what makes you think that someone like you is worth his time? You think too highly of yourself."

"Then why do you want to make me submit?!" Ifrit countered Astrape's words, making the beautiful lady look at him in disdain.

However, before she could reply to Ifrit's question, William's words cut her off.

"We don't need you to submit," William replied. "We just need to show your defeated expressions to the Kings of the Gunnar Federation. That will be enough to make them understand who they are dealing with."

William could tell that Ifrit wasn't joking when it said that none of them would submit to him, even if they were beaten senseless. Since that was the case, he decided to come up with a Plan B, and simply show the Kings of the Gunnar Federation that going against him was a very stupid thing to do.

Although he didn't want to follow Nisha's way of doing things, he had no choice but to do it. The sooner he made everyone realize that going against him was a bad move, the sooner he could discuss things of importance without being ignored.

Nisha had even told him before he left that, if the Kings were to defy him, he should just pick a random beggar on the street and crown them as the new King of the Kingdom. That way, the other Kings would understand that the Half-Elf didn't really care who sat on the thrones of the nations belonging to the Gunnar Federation, as long as his will was followed without questions.

Naturally, William didn't want to follow this path. If possible, he wanted to work hand in hand with the Kings of the nations in the Western Continent. 

If things failed on his end, he would just order Nisha to take over. 

Since the veiled beauty was an expert in getting her hands dirty, the Half-Elf would just let the professional handle the job that he wasn't capable of doing.

A few hours later, the Flying Ship arrived at a mountain range where strong winds blew non-stop. 

If not for the fact that several Pseudo-Gods were in the flying ship to protect it, the flying vessel would have long been blown away by the powerful winds, which was barring their entry to Henkhisesu's territory.

"Who are you, and what do you want from me?"

A dignified voice spread in the surroundings, making Maple and Cinnamon look around, trying to look for the owner of the voice. 

"My name is William Von Ainsworth, and I have come to ask you to accompany me for a short while," William stated. "Don't worry. I mean you no harm."

"Accompany you?" the voice asked with sarcasm. "Did you also ask Ifrit to accompany you?"

Just by looking at the Demigod of Fire, it was fairly easy to see that it didn't willingly come with the Half-Elf and his entourage.

"I didn't ask him," William replied. "He attacked us on his own initiative and threatened to destroy our flying ship. Since that was the case, we used self defense and made sure to beat him up good."

"..."

The owner of the voice couldn't come up with an argument to the Half-Elf's statement because he could also imagine how Ifrit would react if someone entered its Domain. The Demigod of Fire would rather destroy things first, and talk later, making him a very hard existence to socialize with.

"Can I refuse?" 

The voice asked once more.

"No," WIlliam replied. "Are you going to come with us willingly? Or must you come with us tied up like your friend here?"

William no longer hesitated and acted like a bad guy. If being nice wouldn't work then he would just use other means in order to accomplish his goal.

A few minutes of silence passed. The Half-Elf simply crossed his arms over his chest as he patiently waited for the Demigod to make a decision.

Optimus had already pinpointed Henkhisesu's location, so the moment the latter tried to escape, he would personally go and capture him. 

After being subjected to the Pope's Holy Light, William's strength remained at the peak of the Demigod Rank, allowing  him to be on par with a Pseudo-God.

It would be fairly easy for him to capture Henkhisesu, even if the latter tried to flee with everything it had. 

"Fine, I'll come with you." 

A four-winged, snake-headed man appeared on top of the highest peak of the mountain range and gazed at the Half-Elf in a calm and collected manner.

After weighing the pros and cons, Henkhisesu deemed that the people around the Half-Elf were more than capable of beating him up, just like what had happened to Ifrit, if he resisted.

"Good choice," William commented. "Now, come. We still have places to go."

Henkhisesu reluctantly nodded as he flew towards the Flying Ship, and landed beside the bound up Ifrit.

The Demigod of Wind glanced at his pitiful looking friend, which made the latter avert its gaze in shame. 

Now that two of the Four Demigods were already in William's hands, the only thing he needed to do was find the remaining two Demigods, and explain why the Half-Elf needed their cooperation.

The red-headed teenager believed that after learning the truth, the four Demigods would no longer resist him, and might even take the initiative to ensure that all the Kings of the Gunnar Federation took his words seriously.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read