Altars are a very important type of thing in the Demon King's territory. Both the Headless Knight and the Black Knight are born from altars, given blood, flesh and soul, exchanging the things of the dead for new birth.

This is a way of adding new members that carries a strong sense of tradition.

"Mr. Ira~ Look, look~"

Satan Yeh said happily, handing Ira the head of the gnoll leader, whose eyes were wide open and filled with a vicious expression, which was stuck on the scythe.

Ira then shifted his gaze from the procession continuously feeding gnoll flesh and blood onto the altar, and looked at the gnoll leader's head that Satan Ye held aloft... With a decisive scythe, he separated the gnoll's head from his body.

As Ira made this judgment, he immediately noticed the penetrating wound on the gnoll leader's forehead. He instantly understood everything, nodded, and said, "That's right, a fatal blow, then the head was severed to prevent any accidents."

This technique, or rather, this "strategy," was called "finishing blow" in the world before Ira, and it was essential to finish off enemies who were on the verge of death.

Many villains in movies and animations are killed by the protagonist who is mysteriously resurrected later in the story because they failed to finish off the dying protagonist. Their grand plans are thus ruined.

If we're talking about the Demon King's territory, then by a rounding up, it could be considered a villain.

"Huh? To avoid accidents?"

Satan Ye did ask that question, looking shocked and seemingly having never considered the possibility of finishing her off. She pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "I understand... I originally cut off my head to show you."

"I saw it, you did a great job."

As Ira praised Satan Ye, he patted Satan Ye's head and watched as the black knights lined up to help the little lesser demons pile up the flesh and blood of the gnolls on the altar.

This was a huge stone platform, surrounded by a circle of stone pillars as thick as a person. Many runes were arranged on the platform and the pillars, and Ira could vaguely recognize the incantations used for conversion.

To forge flesh and blood into steel, to awaken the consciousness of flesh and blood and condense it within, transforming it into a jet-black knight... It's truly amazing, it's as if the physical laws that the Federation has studied for thousands of years are being trampled underfoot.

As Ira pondered the principle, the flesh and blood of the gnolls, stripped of their bones, had already piled up into a small mountain. Then, before everyone's eyes, the flesh and blood began to slowly melt into the altar.

As if corroded and melted, some of the flesh turned into juice, seeping into the interior of the altar from the runes. The flesh of those who were not qualified to become Black Knights remained on the altar.

Until they are taken away by the lesser demons... these will turn into new lesser demons.

After that, another round of moving began, repeating the action of carrying flesh and blood onto the altar. It is said that the birth of a Black Knight takes a certain amount of time, so it is impossible to see a new Black Knight being created today.

However, the fact that we don't see the Black Knight transformed from the gnoll's body today doesn't mean that the Black Knight transformed from the Gorgon's corpse won't appear today, since the transformation is a rather long process.

Perhaps it was Ira's good luck, because while everyone was piling up flesh and blood, a small area of ​​the altar's runes began to glow, and mana was visibly gathering towards it.

Some pitch-black powder poured out from the altar, and under the rapid construction of Mana, it formed the prototype of a hollow, pitch-black armor—the prototype of the Black Knight standing there appeared in a second.

Those black powders that stuck together and turned into shells were the transformation of flesh and blood swallowed by the altar. Perhaps the altar's magic lay in its ability to transform flesh and blood into other substances.

"Where did this altar come from? Who created it?"

Ira asked this question, while Satan, who was beside him, seemed to have no idea.

As Satan Ye deftly tossed the gnoll's head, which was stuck in his scythe, onto the center of the altar, he said, "The altar serves as a substitute for rituals. It's actually the same concept as the lich transformation ritual, but I don't know who developed it or who improved it."

Indeed, Ira could see that too, but that's precisely why Ira thought the person who transformed such a complicated ritual into something simple and clear was a genius... at least a genius in alchemy.

...

Have you decided on your name yet?

Black asked the newly formed Black Knight this question, watching as the other party blankly accepted the generated knowledge... Originally, there were specialized Black Knights who would ask similar questions and arrange the whereabouts of newly formed units.

But Xiao Hei happened to be here today, so he also came to provide some guidance.

"..."

The newborn Black Knight simply shook his head.

"Then let's find the answer in the battle... I look forward to the moment you decide on your name."

As Xiao Hei said this, he gestured to the black knight beside him to take this person down to prepare for joining the team. The meaning of his words, "think of a name," was to give that black knight a strong sense of his own.

Here we must mention the Royal Black Knight and the Black Flame Headless Knight. The Headless Knight is a transformation of the warrior's soul, while the Black Knight is a transformation of the warrior's flesh and blood. Therefore, the Black Knight does not have a strong sense of self at the beginning of its creation.

The headless horseman only has his own consciousness, while the warhorse is like a puppet, having the appearance and nature of a horse, but not a truly independent tool.

When the Headless Horseman and his warhorse develop a bond of camaraderie, the blue flames above the Headless Horseman's head will turn black, and the warhorse will develop its own consciousness, becoming a higher-ranking unit, just like a real horse.

Black Knights, on the other hand, become Royal Black Knights with more magnificent and powerful armor once they develop their own emotions and a sufficient sense of self.

The hallmark of the "self" is the urgent need for a name that belongs to oneself.

Ira watched from afar, then suddenly remembered something and asked Satan Ye beside him, "Speaking of which, when Lotia went to war before, she always used ordinary headless warhorses, right? Those must have belonged to other headless knights. So where is her own Blackflame Warhorse?"

Yes, when Lotia took him to war before, the head of her warhorse was clearly covered in blue flames.

"He died in battle protecting Lotia."

As Satanye said this, she lowered her eyes with a sigh. It was because of this that Lotia would sometimes fall into self-blame. With a slightly apologetic expression from Ira, she added, "But even without the Black Flame Warhorse, she is still the best headless knight."

Iraq nodded in agreement...

"Yes, I've never doubted that."

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Lotia, who was walking over from a distance and happened to hear this, thought: "How...how embarrassing," but she couldn't shake the smile on her face.