Calamity Upon This World

Inside a dark room in an unknown location where no light could enter, a figure sat; his features were completely hidden from sight except for his bright silver tophat, which shone even in the darkness.

The figure seemed to be watching something on his device, but for some reason, the light from the device didn't seem to illuminate the room around it or the man holding it.

A deep authoritarian voice played out from the device; it contained a unique charm and a charisma of sorts that could motivate even the laziest person to follow their dreams or, in this case, declare war.

"That's right, tonight, on the 18th of Julias of the year 5678, I, William Verhein, declare war on the group known as Laughing Coffin."

That's right, this was a video from Williams Livestream, which was only viewed by a few thousand people while live.

But now it had spread like wildfire throughout the human continent of Astressa as well as Morgov.

When people first heard about the return of the laughing coffin, they felt a deep-seated fear inside their hearts that they had barely managed to forget about and move on.

Had resurfaced, making them worried about the tragedy from the past century repeating itself, especially with their own children this time.

But thanks to the sheer mockery William had made of the group as well as the video of him brutally crushing a member of the feared group before turning three of them into his eternal slaves in the form of summons,

It had definitely achieved its effect of making people no longer fear the group; however, it didn't mean that everyone started looking down on the group; instead, with the fear now gone, all that remained was pure, unadulterated rage for the tragedies of the past.

And even those who didn't care much about the past were moved by the sight of Ciara, the beloved daughter of Duke Fiel, and this sentiment was only strengthened in the Rubalt kingdom, which was Ciara's home kingdom, where she was treated as a princess due to her talent, status, kind-hearted nature, and cute looks.

So seeing their beloved princess on the verge of death was more than enough for the citizens to completely forget about everything else and instead focus their attention on seeking retribution on the group responsible for her poor condition.

However, not everyone seemed to share the sentiment.

In his attempt to turn Laughing Coffin into a joke, William had naturally been placed in the limelight of the entire world.

The whole world seemed divided on what to think of the boy.

Many people considered him the spawn of the demon king itself due to the brutality he displayed despite just being 10 years old and considered his actions crimes against humanity, despite the one's towards whom these actions were directed being criminal.

They wholeheartedly believe that the boy will plunge the world into chaos unless he is purged out while he is still relatively weak.

And they wanted him gone before he could grow and become even more powerful than he already was. Of course, this group was just a minority and was heavily suppressed due to the father of the boy they were accusing.

Another group considered him a disillusioned, arrogant rich kid who let the attention and praise he received in the past get to him and now thinks the world revolves around him, anticipating his eventual failure to meet his promises so they could openly mock him.

And just like the last group, though a bit bigger in size, it was still a minority.

Another group were the fan boys and fan girls who either idolised Rex due to all his achievements, were fans of Myra due to her days as an adventurer or her breath-taking beauty, or were fans of William who were anticipating the glorious achievements that they were sure he would achieve in the future so they could brag about how they supported him from the start.

And of course, this group was doing exactly what keyboard warriors do best, which is spending their whole day defending their idol or their son against all the allegations and slander.

Now, for the vast majority, they already consider him a pioneer of the future, the undisputed no. 1 once he matures due to his parents as well as his awakening at just the age of 4, and that too with a Tier IV aspect.

This sentiment was only further strengthened once they saw him completely manhandle a member of the infamous criminal group and even imply how he had killed two other members.

But that wasn't what they were concerned about right now.

Because now all their attention was on the words he spoke, saying he could destroy a group that had existed for 100 years.

And even suggesting that the only reason all of them had failed to do this till now was because he wasn't born yet.

And even more arrogant claims similar to these.

It was definitely enough to cancel just about anyone who said this in just a few hours.

And yet, due to the background of the boy involved as well as the sheer confidence and determination he displayed, many people found themselves believing the boy even if they didn't want to believe it.

It was absurd to believe the words of a kid, especially when it involved taking down a criminal organisation that had existed for a whole century.

And yet here they were, getting their hopes up.

For now, no one knew which group was right; after all, no one knows the future, and even those that do are oftentimes unreliable.

But one thing was sure: regardless of the results, the boy had already cemented his place in history. Whether that was as a clown or a grand figure capable of doing the impossible, only time could tell, but one thing was for sure.

That history has its eyes on William Verhein.

And yet, as the man who was perhaps the most affected by the contents of the viral video, instead of feeling enraged or scared, he just laughed.

"Hahahahaha! This will be fun."

It was impossible to see the face of the man, but just from his voice and words, it was fair to assume that he was smiling.