So...

  Since those grandiose "principles" are not enough to be the obstacle in his way—

  What, then, is the real obstacle?

  Elo knew perfectly well that what held him back was never those lofty arguments.

  The real barrier that prevented him from taking that step was the most fundamental, most basic question.

  At this moment, Elo lowered his gaze and asked himself:

  —Do you really want to interfere with this world?

  —No, I don't.

  —Why?

  —Because it's exhausting, these things are troublesome, and I just want to live a bit more easily.

  To make both sides on the battlefield lay down their arms? That’s not difficult, nor is it exhausting.

  For Elo, with his power, it would indeed be extremely easy.

  But the real question is—what happens after they lay down their weapons?

  What about the slaves?

  After the war ends, where can they go?

  Their homes have most likely already been leveled to the ground, reduced to ruins in the fires of war.

  How are they supposed to survive?

  They have no land, no property, not even a place to rest their heads.

  Everything they once owned has been burned, looted, and chopped to pieces.

  Their family and friends—perhaps already slaughtered, with not even a single complete gravestone to mark their existence.

  Where can they go?

  To starve to death?

  Or to be enslaved all over again?

  No future, no hope, no place to call home—how are they supposed to believe in so-called "peace"?

  What about the officers?

  Will they be sent to military tribunals?

  Will they be convicted of treason for surrendering?

  Will they be executed by firing squad?

  Even if they somehow avoid trial, even if they manage to keep their lives for now, their futures are utterly destroyed.

  They will lose the honor of being soldiers, becoming cowards and traitors in everyone’s eyes.

  What awaits them will be the scorn and ridicule of all society—even the gallows and bullets.

  Their families will be implicated; their children will be spat upon.

  The brothers and comrades they once fought beside will see them as a disgrace because of their "cowardice."

  What about the soldiers?

  Maybe they won’t be sent to military court.

  Maybe they won’t be judged as traitors and shot like the officers.

  But they still won’t escape the battlefield.

  They will merely fight under a different banner, for a different reason, but still be sent to die.

  Today, they fall on this land;

  Tomorrow, they will be dragged to another front line.

  Continuing to bleed for someone else's orders, continuing to die for the interests of the powerful.

  They will still march toward another battlefield Elo cannot see,

  still struggle amidst shells and steel,

  driven like cattle, herded toward the slaughterhouse.

  What about hatred?

  This war, fought until today—how many people have died?

  Rivers of blood, fields strewn with corpses—do you think those are just cold numbers?

  Maybe, to you, it's nothing more than a line of digits on a battle report.

  But to those who have lost their loved ones, lost everything—

  That is their whole world, their very life, the most precious moments of their existence!

  The slaves—they watched with their own eyes as their fathers, brothers, and sons were beheaded, blood splashing on the ground;

  They watched with their own eyes as their mothers, wives, and daughters were trampled, dragged into the darkness, letting out one final desperate cry for help.

  Will that scene ever fade from their memory?

  The soldiers—they watched with their own eyes as brothers who fought side by side were blown in half by artillery shells;

  They watched as former comrades dragged their mangled bodies through the mud, wailing in agony, crying and calling for "Mother," dying bit by bit in despair.

  The ones they fought alongside, those who lived and died together—in an instant, reduced to nothing but broken corpses.

  Can they forget? Can they forgive?

  And now, just because of a word from you, you want both sides to shake hands and make peace?

  A sea of blood and deep hatred—do you think it can vanish into thin air with a casual order?

  —Just how much do you look down on humanity to say something like that?

  Elo lowered his head and asked himself:

  —If one day, my mother, Vian, even my wife,

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  were trampled, beheaded, collapsing before me in a pool of blood…

  If all this truly happened to me, and some "hero" showed up after some time,

  stood amid the bloodstains and said to me: "Let go of hatred. Embrace peace."

  What would I do then?

  —F**k you!

  When my loved ones cannot rest in peace, when my home is reduced to ruins,

  you stand on my ruins, beside the bones of my family, and speak to me of peace?

  —F**k you!

  In that moment, the only thing that could bring peace to my heart is revenge!

  Only revenge can let the dead rest, only revenge can show the world—

  —some hatred can never be laid down!

  Elo knew clearly in his heart—if even he cannot let go of such hatred, how can he ask others to?

  This is not peace—this is humiliation for the survivors, desecration of the dead!

  Therefore, hatred is not something that can be erased with a single sentence.

  More importantly, why should they listen to you?

  Who are you?

  —An outsider.

  What is your current identity?

  —A slave.

  Come on, answer me: who would obey your orders?

  Where does your authority come from?

  —Force?

  Yes, force can indeed make everyone put down their weapons.

  But force will never be enough to make everyone truly submit to you.

  Perhaps they will yield for now out of fear, but won't they hate you, reject you, and rise against you the moment you turn away?

  Besides, you're just one person.

  When both sides lay down their arms, how will you manage thousands upon thousands of soldiers?

  How will you calm the countless slaves filled with terror, anger, and despair?

  You alone simply can't do it!

  You would have to rely on the officers to manage their armies.

  But—why would the officers obey your commands?

  You destroyed their battlefield, cut off their path forward, and shattered their honor.

  And now, you expect them to obediently follow your orders?

  What gives you the right? Who gave you the confidence to be so arrogant?

  Moreover, this war is not just a siege—it's part of a larger, more complicated, and unsolvable war.

  Even if you manage to stop the fighting here today, tomorrow the flames of war will rage elsewhere.

  If you don't address the root causes behind this war—power, resources, hatred, and system—

  —the war will never end.

  If Elo truly manages to solve most of the problems, does that mean everything will be over?

  No, of course not!

  Reality is not a novel, so this would only be the beginning.

  Wealth, power, status, glory...

  These things may mean nothing to Elo,

  but what about those who follow him?

  For those longing to change their fate—do these things mean nothing?

  Of course not!

  They may follow Elo out of ideals,

  they may truly be awed by his strength and charisma.

  But never forget— for many more, there has always been only one reason to follow him: interest.

  To claim a share of the spoils in the new order;

  To become the new nobility under the new regime;

  To ensure their families enjoy wealth and glory for generations to come.

  So, once they believe you have the power to overthrow the old world and establish a new one,

  they will push you forward, elevate you to that position—

  to become their spokesperson.

  By then,

  they will eagerly present you with that golden crown encrusted with gems and diamonds,

  holding it high, as if offering a sacrifice, their eyes burning with greed and desire.

  And then, a crowd will kneel to the ground, pleading in unison:

  —Your Majesty, the world awaits you to take the throne.

  Of course, Elo is strong—strong enough to refuse their pleas, strong enough that no one can truly force him.

  But still, they will say to you:

  —If you refuse, the flames of war will rise again, and countless people will lose their homes because of it.

  This is not just a threat, not just an excuse—it's a reality that is very likely to happen.

  Because once the throne is left empty, ambitious men will surely wage bloody wars to seize it.

  By then, from beggars to nobles, from commoners to generals, the whole world will not understand:

  —Why would you refuse that crown?

  Moreover, can you truly refuse?

  All the way here, you have solved countless problems, overcome countless hardships, and built a great cause.

  In that great endeavor, there is your effort, the sweat, blood, and even lives of countless others.

  And now, to tell everyone, to tell those loyal followers who put all their faith in you—

  that you are giving up?

  Ha—just give up, as if it were nothing?

  What is true ruthlessness? That is true ruthlessness!

  So, in the end, you cannot refuse.

  Whether you want it or not, the crown will fall upon your head.

  And when you ascend the throne, what awaits you is another endless war:

  —the war of governing a nation.

  As the saying goes: "It is easy to win a country, but hard to rule it."

  This is not an empty proverb, but a harsh and weighty reality.

  To win a country, you rely on iron and fire, on strength and determination;

  But to rule a country, you rely on wisdom, patience, compromise, and even cruel choices.

  In this war, your former comrades, former partners, former followers—may very well become your enemies.

  Because they may seek to seize the interests of the nation and its people for themselves, to divide up the hard-won fruits of peace.

  And when that time comes, facing those brothers who once fought and bled alongside you—

  Can you really swing the butcher’s knife without a second thought?

  But even if you do, that would only be the first hurdle in governing a country—perhaps even the easiest one.

  —The real difficulties are only just beginning.

  When you wear the crown and sit upon that throne — the symbol of supreme power —

  the enemies you will face are no longer just individuals.

  They are — a group, a class, a vast and intricate web of interests deeply rooted within society.

  They may be the elites, the holders of power and wealth;

  They may be cunning, calculating politicians and entrenched interests.

  They won’t be foolish enough to oppose you openly — they may even kneel before you, swear loyalty to you;

  But in the shadows, they will lurk like vipers, silent and deadly—

  Slowly corroding your will, sabotaging your reforms, tearing your ideals to shreds.

  You won’t see their true faces, you won’t hear their true voices.

  But their hands will already have reached into every corner of the nation you rule;

  before you even realize it, they will have undermined your ideals, destroyed everything you once sought to protect.

  And on the path of ruling a nation, you will never be able to eliminate all your enemies!

  These vipers will keep coming, wave after wave, endlessly.

  You cut off one viper’s head — and more will crawl out from the darkness,

  baring their fangs to rip apart your ideals, to devour everything you guard.

  You can never kill them all! You can never wipe them out!

  —Why?

  Because as long as humanity exists, greed and ambition will never die!

  Do you think one revolution, one victory, one purge will solve everything?

  Wrong! As long as the world keeps turning, as long as human hearts keep beating,

  There will always be new schemers, new corrupt men, and new traitors — endlessly, one after another!

  This is war — a war with no end!

  You can defeat every enemy, but you can never defeat human nature!

  The ideals you want to protect — every single day, there will be people trying to tear them apart, defile them, trample them!

  And you must stand on that battlefield day and night, sword drawn, never resting!

  —This is the truth of ruling a nation!

  An endless struggle, a war that will not stop until the day you fall — or even after your death!

  And all of this is only what Elo can foresee at this very moment.

  Once he truly sets foot on this path, there will be more — far more complex, unimaginable problems — endlessly surging forward.

  Those unforeseeable variables, those questions that no book has ever answered, that no one can solve —

  will come crashing over him like waves, one after another, dragging him into an abyss he can never escape.

  So, at this very moment, Elo's heart is filled with frustration and helplessness.

  He lowers his head, silently telling himself:

  —This is exhausting.

  —These things are really troublesome.

  —And all I ever wanted was just to live a little easier.

  Yet, as Elo tries to convince himself with the word "exhausting," another voice echoes coldly in the depths of his mind:

  —Then what about your political ideals?

  —What’s the difference between your actions and those of the people who "have the ability but choose to stand by, those who could make the world better but do nothing"?

  —So, what's the conclusion?

  —You're just a hypocrite, a liar with a mouth full of falsehoods, a coward who stands still.

  At this moment, Elo’s emotions were too complex to put into words.

  Those questions were like sharp blades, ruthlessly stabbing into the most hidden, most vulnerable corners of his heart, causing him to feel a tearing pain.

  He wanted to defend himself, to shout that—No, I’m not!

  But when he opened his mouth, he realized he couldn’t refute it.

  Because, he himself was beginning to doubt—maybe, I really am a liar.

  Finally, Elo slowly exhaled and quietly said:

  "Yes, I am. I’m a liar, but this... is my decision."

  His voice was calm, yet carried an unwavering certainty.

  "It has always been like this—

  I’m not a hero, not a great person, not a partner of justice.

  I’m not the savior who saves the world, not the king who leads the era, and certainly not the legendary figure remembered by history.

  I am just me, an ordinary person, nothing more."

  However, even so, could he truly stand by and watch?

  —No, of course not.

  Would he regret his choice in the future?

  —Perhaps.

  After a long silence, Elo finally spoke slowly, as if declaring it to himself, or perhaps compromising with fate:

  "I don’t want to be the savior, nor do I want to be the conqueror.

  But if one day, I can no longer bear all of this, if I can no longer stand the pain and injustice before me—

  Then I will do ‘what I am willing to do.’

  Not as the 'Emperor of the Ark Empire,' but as 'Elo,' the person.

  Even if what I do is insignificant, even if I can’t change anything,

  At least— I won’t regret it."