Chapter 1023

When Minhyuk first acquired the Battle God’s Origin Authority: God and Knight, it randomly guided him to someone who could become his God’s Knight. But during the God’s Succession Ceremony, he was able to level up the skill. Because of that, the effects of the skill had also changed.

(

God and Knight

)

Origin Authority

Current Status

: Sealed

Effects

:

•If you find a talent that you truly covet, the God and Knight will guide you or develop a situation where you can obtain the talent as your own. Players are also included. This can only be used once every two months.

•The system will search and recognize strong men and powerhouses that can shock the world once every six months.

•It will provide a method and guide you or create a situation that will help you attract the talent to become your knight.

•Obtain more than fifteen God-rank NPCs to unseal.

•Obtain more than 400 Legendary-rank NPCs to unseal.

•Reach Level 1,000 to unseal.

Unlike the previous God and Knight, where he could only be randomly guided to a potential candidate for a God’s Knight, he now had two ways to find candidates. One of the effects stated that he would be guided to a powerhouse with talents that could shock the world once every six months.

‘It hasn’t been triggered ever since.’

This effect was different from the previous random activation. It said the system would search for and recognize a powerful candidate. But it hadn’t been triggered ever since the skill had leveled up. There was one main reason why it hadn’t been triggered before.

‘It means that the system has not recognized any strong powerhouse.’

And now, the God and Knight was triggered.

‘God and Knight has the power to guide me to someone who has outstanding power and can become a God’s Knight.’

That has been the case even before. All the candidates it had chosen became knights who were very helpful to Minhyuk. They also had something in common.

‘They are those who can change or become evil because of something else.’

Of course, there were other reasons for triggering the God and Knight. But for Minhyuk, Duke Balaman did not fit any of those reasons. Wasn’t he just some crazy warmonger?

“Ugh...”

Balaman was slowly coming back to his senses.

Minhyuk looked around him. He could see that the members of the Beyond the Heavens Empire began to fight fiercely with the Black Skull Knight Order troops once the Song of the Black Skull. The Beyond the Heavens Empire was overpowering the Black Skull Knight Order and quickly reducing their numbers.

[His parents have forced Balaman to train to become the emperor since he was young.]

[He had lived a life where his body had to endure a burning and searing pain with every waking moment. A life where he was forced to read up until the point where he had to sleep and go to bed. A life that was suppressed and restricted.]

[He had lived a life where he had to walk a particular path under pressure. Because of that, he developed the idea that he was the only one qualified to become an emperor.]

[If you overpower him and show him what frustration is like, then you can take him in as your knight and vassal.]

“...”

Whether he wanted to or not did not matter. Duke Balaman lived under the pressure of becoming an emperor the moment he was born. Because of that, he was led to believe that he would and should become the emperor.

“I will never let you go!!!” Duke Balaman shouted as he drew out the last of his strength and tried to stand once again.

***

Duke Balaman seemed to have been under the effects of brainwashing. Since he was young, he was led to believe that only he could become the emperor. That was why he firmly believed he was the only one truly worthy of the throne.

While other children enjoyed a delicious and warm dinner with their parents, he was forced to drink the troll’s blood to the point that he wanted to vomit them out. He was made to bathe in a river, which had waters beyond freezing, that was said to have the effects of strengthening the body. Also, he had been told to swing the sword constantly to develop excellent reflexes from six years of age.

Duke Balaman’s parents belonged to families that were driven away or executed because of treason. For some reason, they were able to survive. However, they were driven crazy by their desire to make Duke Balaman the emperor.

When Duke Balaman was fifteen, they could safely and successfully send him to the Luvien Empire. As someone who had been forced to live excellently since childhood, Balaman naturally stood out from the rest.

He continued to hide the fact that he belonged to a family of traitors and grew stronger day by day. Even so, his crazy parents could not satisfy their thirst.

Make a more significant contribution!

Stand out more!

Take the head of the enemy general!

Make sure that you do a great job in this war!

His hands were dyed by the blood of many every single day. In the end, he became a lunatic drunk on victory. But by the time Balaman became a duke, his crazy parents had died. They died without seeing Balaman become an emperor. But despite that, Balaman did not stop because the path he was forced to take from the beginning was the path to becoming the emperor.

“Ugh...” Balaman groaned as he stood up.

He was a man not dictated by the path he had walked. Even though he wanted to die and give up so many times, he still stood up again and again and again. That was why he deserved the emperor’s throne. He was the one truly suited to sit on that throne. He has to fight. He had to get back on his feet and kill the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor.

The black energy that surrounded Minhyuk’s body dispersed.

‘The power of Transcendence is great. But...’

But this man could no longer fight against him. Duke Balaman stood up and looked around the Black Skull troops and the two surviving Red Skull knights. He still held hope that they would win.

Then, Duke Balaman saw the Food God’s Almighty Tools, which were moving by themselves, finished what they were doing.

Gulp–

The Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor’s throat bobbed.

“...!”

This was a power that Duke Balaman had never heard of.

‘He doesn’t need to eat the food?! He can just consume it right away?!’

At that moment, two dice appeared, bursting in black and gold light illuminating the world.

Then, Duke Balaman caught sight of the expression on the face of Prince Cardin, someone he believed to have lived a life of luxury and ease.

He saw the eyes of the Black Skull troops, who had always trusted and followed his orders, carrying their strong faith and trust in him.

He also saw the contempt and disgust in the faces of the people from the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

“I– I have never lost.”

A skeleton wearing ragged robes and holding a scythe floated over Duke Balaman’s head. Then, this skeleton got sucked into his body.

[Exploiting the God of Death.]

[You are borrowing the power of the Reaper in exchange for your life.]

[In exchange for a greater power, 10% of all the power in your possession will be destroyed once the Exploiting the God of Death’s duration is over.]

[To pay the price of borrowing the power of the Death Reaper, your lifespan will be reduced. You will die after a year.]

It was a skill that could only be invoked with death as collateral. The fact that Duke Balaman triggered such a skill was a testament to his desire to become the emperor.

Crack, crack, crack–!

Balaman’s power grew by leaps and bounds.

At the same time, both the golden and black dice floating above Minhyuk’s head stopped rolling and showed the number three.

Duke Balaman slashed at Ben and sent the old man flying away.

Slash–!

“Urk!”

After sending Ben flying away with a single strike, Duke Balaman charged straight at Minhyuk with fearsome momentum. Conir and Herakel, who had recovered from their injuries to some extent, jumped out to stop him. Even Great Demon Elpis and Brod jumped in his path while Elizabeth tried to control the system. But...

[The power of the Death Ripper cannot be controlled or restricted.]

Slash–!

When the notifications rang, Herakel was sent flying back by one of Duke Balaman’s punches.

“Berserk.”

Great Demon Elpis triggered the Devil Judge’s Sword’s Berserk to amplify his powers before using the Devil Judge’s Final Chapter.

“Splitting the Great Demon.”

A gigantic sword light made of black demonic energy shot toward Balaman. However, Duke Balaman ripped the sword light with his sword light as if ripping a simple piece of paper.

Fwoosh–!

Blood burst out from Elpis’ chest. Brod immediately jumped forward and blocked Balaman’s path.

“Get out of my way!!!”

Balaman had given his life to the God of Death and was determined to fulfill his one and only goal: to become the emperor.

‘I must become an emperor!’

That was his sole reason for living. But...

“Mercenary’s Pinnacle Swordsmanship. Final Chapter.”

Hundreds of red sword lights appeared and ran rampant.

“Death Wolf.”

Hundreds of wolves appeared. They ran toward Balaman and began biting and tearing him apart. But despite the blood gushing all over his body, Balaman continued forward. He ignored Brod and walked past him.

I need to cut down Minhyuk.

My sole reason for existing must not disappear.

And behind Brod was Minhyuk, who had already received the effects of the Overlapping Delight.

“Absolute Defense.”

Minhyuk immediately triggered the absolute shield. The Absolute One’s Breaker’s Ring on Balaman’s finger flashed at that moment.

Slash–

Balaman successfully cut down Minhyuk, who was looking at him indifferently despite the blood spurting from his body. Seeing this, Balaman went crazy and swung his sword non-stop. The problem was that Absolute Defense blocked the following attacks. The Absolute One’s Breaker’s Ring could not break through everything every single time. This was a fact that Minhyuk had already known about earlier, so he took advantage of it.

Minhyuk had chosen to use the effects of the black die on the skill attached to the Sword of Aeon. The skill that he chose was none other than The Annihilator’s Sword.

The Annihilator’s Sword was a skill that could increase his attack power by 11,000% and create an explosion that could devour the entire area within a forty-meter radius. This power received the effects of the black die, which had cast the number three, doubling the skill’s effects.

Slash–

Minhyuk just slashed Duke Balaman once. But that single attack carried 22,000% damage and instantly dragged Balaman’s life down to the bottom.

Flash–!

With a flash of white light, an explosion erupted and devoured an entire area with an eighty-meter radius.

Bang–!

When the light caused by the explosion disappeared, what greeted them was the sight of Duke Balaman on the ground with a mangled and torn body.

Balaman looked up to the sky as he listened to the screams of the Black Skull and the Red Skull knights and troops.

“Duke!!!”

“DUKE!!!”

After the fierce and desperate battle, the army of almost 400,000 strong was reduced to less than 100,000. The once one hundred Black Skull Knights were now down to twenty-five, while the Red Skull Knights only had two surviving members left. All of these people gave up fighting and ran to surround Duke Balaman. The only reason why they were alive was to make Balaman the emperor. Their existence was solely dependent on Balaman’s existence.

Balaman continued lying on the ground and staring at the blue sky.

“...”

He continued to stare blankly at the sky for a long time. Why did he do so? He did not know. But for some reason, he felt very relieved. This was his first defeat. But it made him feel like his burden was slowly disappearing. It was as if his defeat told him he did not have to be an emperor. As strange as it was, he felt it was telling him he no longer had to kill.

“I never knew it was this beautiful.”

He was talking about the blue sky above him because, for the first time in his life, Balaman could feel its beauty.

Meanwhile, the Beyond the Heavens Empire executives surrounded and pointed their swords at them.

“Thank you.”

“It was our pleasure to be under your command.”

“We will follow you even in hell, Duke Balaman.”

Even though the swords were all pointed at their necks, his troops still laughed. There was one last thing that Balaman wanted to say before he died.

“I’m sorry.”

Balaman, born to the wrong parents and raised in an extreme environment, raised the Black Skull Knight Order the same way. He viewed them as if they were his second self and treated them like he was treated. These were the very first words filled with emotion that he told his men.

Then, Duke Balaman saw Minhyuk looking at him. The man asked him, “Balaman, have you heard of the power of the God and Knight?”

Balaman’s eyes grew wide when he heard those words. He immediately recalled the effects of the skill. Why did he know about it? It was because the Luvien Empire’s intelligence department was extensive and far-reaching. The Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor has used that power to bring influential people like Elizabeth to his side. And every single one of these people had a story to tell.

It was true that he also had a story to tell. But he had now let go of such a story. But Balaman could tell that the power of Minhyuk’s God and Knight seemed to have chosen him as a target.

‘Is he trying to enslave me? Or maybe he wants to keep me alive?’

Thud, thud–

No one, not even the people from the Beyond the Heavens Empire, stopped Minhyuk from approaching Balaman and making his choice.

‘This is His Majesty’s choice.’

‘It’s also true that Balaman would greatly help the Beyond the Heavens Empire if he joins our side.’

‘He might be trash. But I will respect whatever choice His Majesty makes.’

Balaman stared at Minhyuk, who was looking down at him. His expression remained calm and relaxed. As someone raised solely to become an emperor, he felt like he could live a different life from this point on. He could live a comfortable life like how Elizabeth had changed and lived a life of satisfaction and contentment.

At that moment, Balaman made his decision. He said, “Right—a slave. I will become your slave and kill any man you wish for me to kill. Just take my men under your wing.”

Relief flashed on Balaman’s face. He smiled as he continued, “I no longer have to live a life that has to run madly for the sake of becoming an emperor.”

He felt so at ease and comfortable.

“What bullshit are you talking about?”

“...?”

A shadow was cast over the head of Duke Balaman, who was overcome with his emotions.

“The God and Knight might have been triggered. But...” Minhyuk said as he raised his hand. “...I will give up the chance to turn you into a knight.”

Stab–!

The members of Beyond the Heavens Empire, the troops and knights of the Black Skull Knight Order, and even Balaman did not expect Minhyuk to do this. With his sword, Minhyuk stabbed Balaman, who looked relieved, through the heart.

‘Balaman has turned into a lunatic after being forced to live a life where the only path to him was to become an emperor?’

That was bullshit. That was Duke Balaman’s nature. Was he supposed to let this man, who had now been defeated, live in the Beyond the Heavens Empire and have guaranteed comfort for the rest of his life? Minhyuk felt like he had no reason to do that.

That was why Minhyuk rejected God and the Knight for the first time.

Minhyuk twisted his sword in Balaman’s chest before pulling it out of the now-enraged duke. Despite the anger on the man’s face, Minhyuk just stared at him indifferently. Not long after, Balaman’s body lost its vitality.

“DUKE!!!”

“You bastard!!!”

“I won’t let you go!!!”

Minhyuk looked at them coldly as he gave his order to his men. He said, “Kill those who resist and tie up those who surrender. Those who surrender will be bound and turned into slaves. They will be left to work in the ‘Breath of Lava Mines’ until their deaths.”

The Breath of Lava Mines was a mine owned by the Beyond the Heavens Empire. Its temperature exceeded seventy degrees Celsius. Although the mine was filled with countless precious ores and minerals, people did not dare collect and mine them. This was because it was too hot and too dangerous for the laborers.

Minhyuk decided that he would use these people here and exploit them until the day they died.

“Have you ever been begged for mercy? Back then, did you give those people mercy when you plundered and killed them?”

Minhyuk was very confident that he would not regret this choice.

[The God and Knight has failed...]

Yes, he did not have any regrets even after the notifications rang.

[A variable has appeared!]

“...?”

Minhyuk looked puzzled. Then, he saw a black energy appear and got sucked into Duke Balaman’s body.

[Duke Balaman refuses to die.]

[Duke Balaman has persistently collected the Death Knight’s Life to fight against the God of Death.]

[Due to the Death Knight’s Life, he will become an undead! He will only be available to you for a year!]

[The God and Knight has been triggered.]

[The reason Balaman collected Life was because he feared being exploited by the God of Death upon his death. He was someone who feared death more than anybody else.]

[Balaman only has a tiny bit of ego left.]

This was the first time that this had happened. And it left Minhyuk shocked.

When Minhyuk saw that Duke Balaman only had a bit of ego left, he realized that God and Knight had told him he could become the second Viel’s Puppet Doll.

‘Duke Balaman would not have any summoning time restriction, unlike Viel’s Puppet Doll.’

On top of that, Duke Balaman was also much stronger than Viel’s Puppet Doll. Also...

‘Did the God and Knight predict this situation...?’

Minhyuk was left stunned by this thought.