Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

"Why on earth am I the one staying behind!?"

The first to protest Justin's decision was Derek.

He stood up, shouting with a frustrated expression that showed he couldn't understand the reasoning.

"This doesn't make any sense! The strongest person in the territory right now is...!"

"That would be me," Justin calmly interrupted.

"Ahem! I misspoke. The second strongest person here is...!"

"That would be Ethan when he uses his Avatar skill."

"Oh, come on! I mean in terms of average combat power!"

"If we're talking about average combat power, then yes, you're the second strongest."

Justin smiled as he said what Derek clearly wanted to hear.

Only then did Derek nod in satisfaction.

"Exactly! When it comes to average combat power, I'm the second in command!"

"Yeah, you're amazing. Truly impressive. As expected from you, Derek."

"Hmm-hmm."

Derek cleared his throat and sat down, looking smug after receiving Justin's praise.

But after a moment, he tilted his head, as if something wasn't adding up.

Thirty seconds later, he suddenly jumped up again, his eyes wide open.

"Wait, no! That's not what this is about!"

"Then what?"

"Why am I, one of the core members, being left out of the main quest!?"

He couldn't comprehend why someone as important as him would be excluded from such a crucial mission, especially a main quest, which was the most significant of all quests.

It was one thing to be left behind for regular hunts, but to be excluded from the main quest? It was incomprehensible.

"To be honest, even I find this lineup a bit unusual," Zachary chimed in before Justin could respond.

Given that the matter involved him as well, he wore a rather serious expression.

"I understand your reasoning, Lord Justin. You want to leave behind two of the people who demonstrated their strength during the second wave to ensure that no disturbances arise in your absence."

"That's right. The power difference between first and second-job pioneers is considerable. If we only leave first-job pioneers, someone might get bold and try something."

"It's certainly the best strategy for preventing potential trouble. If those two stay behind, not only will there be no conflict, but people will fall in line on their own. But this time, the situation isn't ideal," Zachary said, letting out a deep sigh as his expression turned even more concerned.

"Although there are only ten competing forces, each territory has over a thousand commoners. This is a different level of challenge than we've faced before. Leaving the best fighters behind under these circumstances is far too risky."

"Exactly! That's exactly what I was trying to say!" Derek exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

The others around him nodded in agreement, expressing their shared concerns.

"Shouldn't we bring as much firepower as possible, especially when we don't know the quest's difficulty level?"

"We all know how strong Justin is, but don't you think we might be taking this too lightly...?"

"This is a main quest, after all. We should approach it cautiously—just in case."

Rachel, Ethan, and Nathan each offered their opinions, one after the other.

The only person who remained silent was Emily, the newest officer and an outsider.

Although she didn't voice her disagreement, likely out of politeness, her expression mirrored the concerns of the others.

It's understandable that we need to leave some forces behind, but shouldn't we send everyone except the bare minimum required for defense on the main quest?

That seemed to be the general consensus among the officers.

Justin smiled faintly and turned his gaze toward Zachary.

"What's our current number of commoners?"

"Excuse me?"

"The number of commoners, including the ones we've recently brought in. What's the count?"

"Well... we haven't done an exact census yet, but...."

"It doesn't need to be exact. Give me an estimate."

When Justin gestured for him to answer, Zachary hesitated for a moment before responding.

"If I had to guess, I'd say at least 2,500 at the minimum."

"That many!?"

"Yes. We brought in at least a hundred commoners from each of the captured territories, including those who defected. And that's from the territories that suffered total massacres during the three waves. Most of them managed to survive the first wave, at least."

A hundred per territory wasn't a large number.

Before the waves, each of the captured territories had well over 200 commoners.

Losing half their population was no small thing, but still, after everything, they had managed to bring in around 2,000 people.

"Add to that the 400 or so commoners we already had, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume our population has reached close to 3,000 by now. That's just a rough estimate, though."

"Even if it's an estimate, the margin of error shouldn't be too large. So, at the very least, we're certain we have over 2,500 people, right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"What do you think of that?"

"What...?"

Zachary blinked, confused by the sudden question.

Justin smiled warmly as he continued.

"We've taken over 20 territories, and there are only nine hostile territories left around us, right? So how many of those remaining enemies have over 1,000 commoners? How many pioneers from outside have they absorbed? How's their construction of fortresses and cities going?"

"...!"

It was as if Zachary had been struck by a hammer. His eyes widened as the realization hit him.

For a moment, Zachary stood there, speechless, before letting out a long sigh, rubbing his temples as if trying to ease the sudden headache.

It was as though he'd been so focused on other things that he had forgotten the most basic considerations.

"I completely forgot about that. No other territory is as well off as ours, is there? It's because Lord Justin always pulls off the impossible."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means the other territories aren't doing nearly as well."

Despite Zachary's explanation, the other officers still looked confused. It seemed that no one else had understood what Justin and Zachary were getting at.

"Think about it. What was the requirement to participate in this main quest?"

"It's only open to territories with more than 1,000 commoners, right?"

"Exactly. So what do you think the other territories will be doing during the main quest?"

"Well, they'll stay here and... Oh!"

Rachel's eyes widened in realization.

Justin nodded with a smile.

"Exactly. They'll all stay here. Territories with more than 1,000 commoners are required to send people on the main quest, but the enemy territories will remain right where they are."

Up until now, Justin and his team hadn't even considered the nine remaining enemy territories.

The power difference had grown so vast that fighting them had become irrelevant.

But what about the other territories?
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'Of course not.'

The reason Justin had managed to take over 20 territories was due to his overwhelming military strength.

It had been the combined result of his hidden class, Apostle of Eternity, and the explosive level-up from the third wave.

But there was no way the other territories could replicate Justin's methods.

Even Justin himself wouldn't have been able to accomplish this with any other class.