Chapter 1286

Chapter 1286

[

Hidden Quest

: Survive Against Ares’ Army for One Day.]

Rank

: SSS

Requirements

: Those inside the Land of Ebeia

Rewards

: Level +2, Ownership of the Land of Ebeia.

Penalty for Failure

: Forced logout.

Description

: Gaia Continent’s God of War, Ares, is furious at the people who invaded his lands. He has vowed to send back those who survive the attacks from his army after one day. Endure and survive from them.

This notification rang in all players' ears when Ares descended upon them. A quest with a reward that could increase their level by two? It was a very generous quest that any player would rush in with their eyes shining brightly. This was especially true for high-rankers who could no longer level up as quickly as before. This was a tempting quest for them.

Regardless, the players present did not rush to act. First and foremost, Ares’ level was at around Level 1,400. While they knew that the people of the Gaia Continent had much higher levels and standards than their own, Ares’ level was beyond common sense. At the level of the players and NPCs gathered here, it would be tough for them to stop or even endure the attacks from Ares and his army.

[Ares’ Sword.]

[Ares’ Sword will deal with 40% damage and a 40% decrease in STM for everyone recognized as his enemy!]

Shwaaaaa!

All of the people present received severe injuries when Ares activated his AOE attack skill. What was even more shocking was that their STM decreased by 40%.

At the same time, Ares’s troops of almost three million began to march forward.

Duke Laghman and Duke Vakkaman, who both sustained severe injuries, looked at each other. Even the Swords of the Gods had exchanged glances.

They could tell from Ares’s tone of voice that he was arrogant and conceited. That was not all. He also showed so many gaps that it was as if the title God of War did not suit him at all. In that short moment, everyone realized that the only way to find a breakthrough in this situation was to kill Ares as quickly as possible.

Duke Laghman quickly pulled the strings of his bow and shot an arrow.

Thwang!

The arrow split into dozens of pieces, which scattered above Ares. The fragments of the arrows then turned into a net that tightly bound the God of War.

“Ugh! So, you have this kind of power...!” Ares shouted, panic evident in his voice.

At that moment, dozens of Swords of the Gods jumped in, Duke Vakkaman and Duke Laghman leading at the front.

Prime Named NPCs. Perhaps this title could only be used for Duke Laghman and Duke Vakkaman. Why? They were the best NPCs, excluding Brod, in the entire Athenae, with a level above Level 900.

They swung their swords and aimed at the tightly bound Ares. To their shock, Ares, who they thought was panicking, had easily torn apart the net that bound his body.

“...!”

The two realized when they saw the horrifying grin on Ares’ face that everything was just a play. They discovered too late that these little tricks would not work for someone like him.

The Swords of the Gods were the pride of the Luvien Empire. With their level averaging at Level 750, they boast power that could rival the gods in the sky. They were the best knights of the empire. But the Sword of the God, who fell first from the sky, was cut in half while another fell straight into Ares’ sword. The two did not even have the time to scream. They died instantly.

Like that, Ares leaped to the sky and began slaughtering the falling Swords of the Gods. Some were lucky to sustain only severe injuries. However, they were rendered helpless as they fell from the sky.

At that moment, Ares suddenly grabbed the arm of Duke Laghman, who could not stop his fall.

“What position do you stand on in that continent?”

Crack!

Ares applied a little force, yet Duke Laghman’s arm was instantly broken. Unfortunately, Ares was not yet done with him. He raised his foot and kicked him in the shin, easily breaking one of his legs.

Swoosh!

“Are you the knight order commander?”

No. Not at all. Duke Laghman could not be said to be at the mere level of a knight order commander.

Ares, as cruel as his name suggested, broke the remaining arm and leg of Duke Laghman.

“KEUHAAAACK!” Duke Laghman screamed. With both his arms and legs broken, he could only fall to the ground helplessly. His body could no longer move as he wished. The only movement that he could do was the intermittent twitches from the pain that was coursing through his veins.

Duke Vakkaman bit his lips tightly and immediately used his swordsmanship, which resembled Supreme Rundalk’s swordsmanship. Why was their swordsmanship alike? Of course, it was because Rundalk and Duke Vakkaman belonged to the same family. Skills that could rival the power of the swordsmanship that Duke Vakkaman wielded could only be counted on ten fingers.

“Supreme Reckless Strike.”

Hundreds of sword lights shot out and moved to tear Ares apart. Alas, all the attacks that came his way were quickly neutralized by the golden shield that wrapped around the god’s body.

Ping!

Only one of the hundreds of attacks landed successfully. This attack grazed his cheek and left a trail of blood.

“Ho?” Ares hummed in surprise as he wiped the bloodstain off.

At that moment, Duke Vakkaman spoke, “Annihilation.”

Vwooooooooong!

An overwhelming amount of mana erupted from Duke Vakkaman and wrapped around the blade of his sword. A wild gale appeared around them as Duke Vakkaman swung his sword, which was loaded with mana, at Ares.

Bang!

A massive mana explosion erupted as the force that could kill a few gods was shot out.

“Interesting,” Ares remarked. Although his body was covered with injuries and blood could be seen spurting all over him, he did not sustain any significant damage.

Ares whispered behind him, “But it’s just this much.”

Ares raised his sword and cut off all of the veins in Duke Vakkaman’s body. His movements were so fast that Duke Vakkaman did not even have the time to let out a single groan.

As it turned out, Ares did not intend to kill them directly.

“That’s no fun.”

He was an evil bastard, so even the Twelve Gods of Olympus were reluctant to associate with Ares because of how cruel and brutal he was.

He intended to bring down and incapacitate all of the commanders and leaders of the people gathered in this place and show the troops that followed them every detail of how he dealt with them. He wanted to show the troops that the people who were leading them were nothing but useless garbage.

Duke Vakkaman fell to the ground with only a breath left. He, who fell right next to Duke Laghman, could only gasp in pain. The surviving Swords of the Gods hurriedly approached the two and quickly examined their state.

“I-If they don’t get treatment right away then...”

They all realized that if the two did not receive treatment soon, they would die. They hurriedly rushed to feed the potion to the two.

[God of War’s Suppression.]

[The God of War prohibits using all kinds of potions on the battlefield.]

“...”

The faces of the surviving Swords of the Gods all turned pale. They could only watch as Ares and his army pushed in while the elite forces of the Luvien Empire and the Beyond the Heavens Empire tried to stop them. Unfortunately, Ares’ troops were close to Level 800, and they were easily being pushed back.

Spear God Ben also knew things were taking a turn for the worst. Still, there was one question that he could not find an answer to.

‘Why are we...’

Of course, it was probably because the one that struck first was the Luvien Empire. Perhaps that was why he had been attacking them and trampling on them relentlessly. In contrast, the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s troops were openly attacking them, yet the retaliation was quite mellow. This was why everyone from the Beyond the Heavens Empire was relatively okay.

That was when Ares called out in a drawl, “Beyond the Heavens Empire. Call Hephaestus here.”

“...!”

He clicked his tongue and continued, “I want to see my old friend. Will my friend come here if I slaughter all of you here?” Then, he laughed heartily. “If you let me meet my friend, then I will only kill half of you.”

“...”

“...”

At this moment, everyone realized why Hephaestus flinched whenever he first migrated to the Beyond the Heavens Empire. They learned why he considered himself a monster and entertained the idea that he would be abandoned if he did not do something to please others.

When they first met Hephaestus, he behaved like a wounded puppy and always curled in on himself. He had also developed several mental illnesses like social phobia, panic disorder, depression, and countless others that they could not even count with their own hands. Thankfully, Hephaestus had been recovering well and had grown bright.

Finally knowing Hephaestus’ pain, the people from the Beyond the Heavens Empire shouted, “YOU F*CKING BASTARD!!!”

Ben’s eyes had turned bloodshot. He could be said to be the one who usually made the calmest and most objective judgment among the people of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. This came from his years of experience and long life. But now? Ben had grown highly furious.

Why did Ares want to call Hephaestus here? It was so he could mock him, laugh at him, and trample on him just like how he did in the past. Although he said he was a friend, his voice clearly screamed that he was missing his old toy.

“Come down. I will kill you myself.” Sword God Conir’s expression also grew cold.

Ping!

Ares exclaimed, “Ho?”

Something surprising happened. When Conir became furious, all the swords in the surrounding area began to cry.

[Sword God’s Fury.]

[The swords’ attack power will increase by 30%. This is dependent on how furious the Sword God is.]

This was the first time that this power had been triggered. Everyone was surprised by its power.

“Ha. F*ck.” The players were also gritting their teeth. They all knew what the future awaited them.

“We’re going to die anyway,” Khan said as he stepped forward. “Regardless, you deserve a beating.”

Their momentum had changed. From looking like they were trying to protect themselves as much as possible, they were now looking up at Ares in the sky with angry looks.

“Hey! Come down. You f*cking bastard.”

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

“K-keuhahahahahahaha!” Ares cackled. “You’re furious for someone like that f*cking Hephaestus?! Huh? You’re doing this all because of that f*cking monster? Because of that limp with a f*cking shitty face?!”

Ares found it even more delightful. He continued, “If I kill all of you, then that f*cking moron will realize it and come here sooner, no?!”

After that, Ares landed on the ground. As for the players of the Beyond the Heavens Empire? They immediately stepped forward.

“All of the vassals go to the rear.” The players sent the NPCs as far back as possible. After all, even if they died here, they would only suffer a decrease in level.

When Khan, still gritting his teeth, kicked the ground and tried to jump up, a bright light suddenly flashed and almost blinded everyone. When the light disappeared, they saw Hephaestus standing before them.

“...”

Everyone was rendered speechless when they saw Hephaestus appear.

“You’re here, my dear friend!” Ares shouted, a delighted smile appearing on his face.

When Ares saw Hephaestus look back at everyone, he realized something.

“I see, you want to protect them. Huh? Right. You moron with nothing has gotten some new friends. That’s why you want to protect them!”

“That’s right,” Hephaestus answered, a wry smile on his face as he stared at the people of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

It was the truth. He did not want to lose any of them.

“Hephaestus! Let’s have fun! Just like old times!” Ares said as he spread his legs wide. “Yeah? Let’s play Dog and God, like in the past! If you come crawling and barking at my feet, I will throw you something to eat. Well then, Hephaestus, come quickly! Hmmm?! If you do that, then...” Ares smiled sickeningly, continuing, “I will let all of your friends go.”

“...!”

It was cruel. Nothing sounded crueler in the world. Ares wanted to show Hephaestus that, in the end, he was nothing but a bastard, and he could only amount to this.

Hephaestus nodded slowly. He looked back one last time before he limped forward.

Thud!

“He-Hephaestus...” Genie called out.

‘No. You can’t do that. Don’t do that. If you give in now, you will return to how you were in the past. You don’t need to do that. You have been free from him and will forever remain free.

“Hephaestus!” Ben shouted.

Hephaestus did not stop.

Thud, thud!

Hephaestus continued to limp toward Ares.

“HEPHAESTUS!!!”

“NO!!!”

“STOP!!!”

“We will fight for you! So, please!!!”

Their screams echoed across the battlefield.

“That’s right, Hephaestus,” Ares mocked as he crossed his arms. He laughed as if he understood what the man in front of him was thinking. “You want to protect them. Regardless, you’re originally a bastard like this. Right? A monster that is more servile and obedient than anybody else. Hmm? You’re born a god, but still worse than a dog.”

Ares believed that he knew Hephaestus more than anybody else in the world.

“People don’t change so easily.”

He looked at Hephaestus, who had been limping toward him for a long time and pointed at the space between his legs. And when Hephaestus was near him, he placed his hand on his shoulder and pressed with force.

“Bark. Don’t you want to protect them? Then, let’s return to how we were used to in the past.”

Ares whispered, “Let’s return to being master and dog.”

“...” Hephaestus stared at him silently. After a brief moment, he said, “That’s right. I want to protect them...”

His teary voice represented how he truly felt. Ares, who heard the sound, felt highly delighted. He would show them how Hephaestus would bow down and submit to him! This was his punishment for these people who dared to take what was his!

Hephaestus continued, “I will make sure of it.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“Regardless of the method or the means, I will protect the Beyond the Heavens Empire. I had promised it!”

“That’s right. Then crawl! Crawl and bark for me!!!”

Just then, Hephaestus's callused and thick hands that had been weathered by hard labor and work in the smithy reached out and grabbed Ares’ sword.

“That’s why I’m doing my best to protect them.”

Crack, crack, crack!

Cracks spread out in the blade of Ares’ sword. It did not end there; web-like cracks spread over his golden armor, helmet, pauldrons, boots, and all the artifacts he wore. Then, Hephaestus grabbed his hammer and slammed it hard on his already cracked equipment.

BANG!

All of the armor and artifacts that Ares used were made personally by Hephaestus. That was why it was very easy for him to break them apart. Perhaps he was the only one who could break it like that. When his hammer made contact with his artifacts, everything that covered Ares’ body broke into pieces. Even the hilt and the scabbard of his sword were destroyed.

This left Ares flustered and embarrassed.

[All of Ares’ artifacts have been broken! Ares has been dramatically weakened.]

[God of War Ares. Level 1,211.]

Hephaestus grabbed his hammer tightly and swung it with all his might while shouting, “I’m no longer the Hephaestus that you know!”

BANG!

With all his strength, he hammered Ares’ dirty trap.