Chapter 661: The Land of the Forgotten Heroes

Henry had always dreamt big. He aspired for his merchant group ‘Money Bag’ to take root in all corners of the world and take control of all of the integrated continents. It was important to dominate the commercial sector but it was also equally important to have ‘military forces’.

Henry had spent quite a huge sum to develop and nurture his own troops. He purchased and distributed nurturing medicines to his troops, and even hired Named NPCs to become their instructors. It was not just hundreds of thousands of platinum spent on them. Perhaps he had spent millions of platinum on their development. That itself was a testimony to his drive.

This elite army was Henry’s pride. The soldiers were stronger than the knights of any ordinary empire, and the same was true for his mages. Henry believed that it was not a waste to spend that much money on them since their levels had exceeded Level 450.

Unfortunately, his dreams were dashed in one fell swoop.

“Summon, Hanwoo. Hanwoo, charge.”

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

[Knight Rikaedo has died.]

[Knight Ribae has died.]

[Knight Clyde has died.]

[Soldier Amborr has died.]

[Soldier Clow…]

[Mage Aejen has died…]

The 2,000-strong elite soldiers that Money Bag Merchant Group was proud of, were helplessly trampled on. Whenever Hanwoo, who was almost the size of the cave, passed by them, not only their armor, even their bodies broke apart.

Hanwoo had just appeared for a few seconds, but it was devastating.

[1,953 soldiers have been killed!]

[You are their master.]

[As their master, you have to console their bereaved families.]

[This was a contractual relationship forged with ‘money’. The God of Money class will receive a penalty if he loses his troops.]

[You have to give consolation money to the bereaved families. The amount will depend on the military power and strength of the soldiers that died!]

Henry felt his head throb painfully. He had been nurturing these troops for a very long time, yet they were easily swept away in a matter of minutes. Fortunately, the Five Reapers were safe. This was thanks to Mage Cain, one of the Five Reapers, who used Mass Teleport to escape.

However, before Henry could even express his anger, another shocking thing happened. An old veteran sporting his long black hair descended from the sky and stabbed his spear through the mighty Fake Sun Wukong’s chest.

“Your Majesty! Please give me your orders!” The old man shouted as he knelt down in courtesy.

The sight made Henry reel in shock,

‘How…?’

Henry could not understand it. The appearance of one old man made him feel extremely helpless. He had the God of Money class and was a great man whose reach had taken root in all corners of the continent. And yet, a single person felt much more overwhelming and powerful than the strong men that he nurtured and developed.

“…”

Anger started to mount within Henry,

‘No. That’s absolutely impossible.’

These were the prized mercenaries that he bought with money and raised with so much difficulty. He was sure that they would never give in and would be able to triumph against that man.

“Five Reapers, rip that old man to shreds!!!” Henry shouted, a sense of inferiority engulfing his entire being.

Nolsun, a man sporting a long beard and was once the candidate to become the Mercenary King, charged forward with his greatsword while shouting, “I will quickly tear you apart!”

A powerful force erupted from Nolsun’s greatsword. This was ‘Splitting Steel’, a skill that could instantly triple his cutting power and destructive force.

Clang—

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

Everyone in the scene was rendered speechless. Spear God Ben easily blocked the greatsword. He did it just by simply thrusting the tip of his spear against it. Nolsun might be a Supreme NPC, but he was just someone that could potentially become the new Mercenary King. He was still nothing in front of Brod, the previous Mercenary King. Instead of taking up the position, he chose to work under Henry since he had good money.

To this very same Nolsun, Ben said, “You won’t be able to win just because you have the strength.”

Stab—

Spear God Ben thrusted his spear once more. It parried the greatsword, then pierced through Nolsun’s thick full plate armor until it pierced through his heart.

Stab—

[Critical Hit!]

[Double Attack!]

[You have an 80% chance of triggering Double Attack to inflict another attack with the same damage!]

Once again, the spear struck through Nolsun’s heart. Among the Five Reapers, Nolsun had the highest HP and defense.

“Keok…”

However, he could not even utter a word due to the intense pain after receiving two strikes from Spear God Ben.

Thud—

Spear God Ben left Nolsun behind, his body collapsing in a heap.

[Supreme NPC Nolsun has died!]

[You have employed Nolsun as a mercenary!]

[You have done a lot of vicious and evil deeds with Nolsun!]

[You have to pay 300 platinum to Nolsun’s bereaved family!]

[You have received a -2 in all of your stats for all of the evil deeds that you have done with Nolsun!]

Henry felt like his mouth had been glued shut.

Another reaper, who was hiding within the shadows of the cave walls, moved to attack the Spear God. This reaper was Assassin Rhen, the one called the ‘Reaper of Death’ in the Money Bag Merchant Group. Rhen jumped from the walls and went after Spear God Ben’s neck.

Stab—

In the blink of an eye, his body ended up getting stuck like a meat on a skewer on Spear God Ben’s spear, who had taken him out without even looking at him.

Thud—

[Supreme NPC Rhen has died!]

[You have employed Rhen as a mercenary!]

[You have…with Rhen!]

In fact, Food God Minhyuk did not even pay any attention to the Five Reapers. He was not even focusing on the Fake Sun Wukong at all. Instead, he was actually inside a transparent barrier eating as fast as he could. As for Fake Sun Wukong, he was still reeling and staggering, unable to recover from the injury that he sustained from Spear God Ben.

Stab—

“Three.”

In a matter of seconds, Spear God Ben had slain another one of the Supreme NPCs, Silver Mage Rowane.

“S, stop…” Henry mumbled, an unbearable sense of helplessness engulfing his entire being. He felt like everything that he had built was falling apart with each of their deaths. The worst part was the fact that it did not seem like it was that difficult for Food God Minhyuk and Spear God Ben to deal with them.

“Four,” Spear God Ben said as another of the Five Reapers collapsed just right in front of Henry.

“Hi… Hiiiiiiiik…!”

The final Reaper, the king of a nation that was deposed by a traitor and had fled to survive, threw Henry under the bus. Once again, he chose to flee for his survival.

“…”

A greater sense of loss and helplessness washed over Henry at the sight. He had heard about the loyalty of the Food God’s vassals, that they were willing to offer their lives for him. In contrast, he, who offered money alone for people’s service, did not nurture camaraderie and trust with his men.

‘Everything that I have built collapsed in front of just a single vassal…?’

It was quite devastating.

Henry believed that he was above everyone. Yet in front of a single vassal, the elite troops that he nurtured and the Reapers that he developed, crumbled one after the other. There was another thought that came to mind.

‘Aren’t there more people like this in Beyond the Heavens…?’

The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom was home to many strong men, including Spear God Ben. There was also the Absolute God’s Sword Brod. He might have just appeared for a brief moment in the Battlefield of the Gods and his exact location was still unknown, but it was obvious that his loyalty was to Minhyuk.

Just when Minhyuk’s barrier was slowly being lifted, the Ruyi Jingu Bang extended past Minhyuk and blew Spear God Ben away.

Baaaaaang—

“Kghhk!”

A small flame of hope burned in Henry’s heart. No matter how strong Minhyuk was, the Fake Sun Wukong was still far stronger than him. Perhaps the Fake Sun Wukong would be able to kill both the Food God and Spear God Ben.

‘Now, the only one I can rely on is not my subordinates, but Fake Sun Wukong.’

He wanted to see the frustration on the Food God’s face. Thus, he resorted to another move.

[The God of Money’s Grace.]

[The God of Money gives his grace upon a single being.]

[In exchange for increasing the power of that single being, you will lose gold. If you don’t have enough gold, it will turn into a ‘debt’ and you will have to pay it back!]

[If the person that you chose to strengthen dies, you will lose triple the amount of gold you invested!]

[You need 222,544 platinum to strengthen Fake Sun Wukong!]

It was truly a huge amount of money. However, once Fake Sun Wukong invoked the skill ‘Greedy Monkey’, the drop rate of the opponent that he killed would increase significantly. Henry believed that they would not be at a loss if Minhyuk just dropped a single God-rank artifact.

Henry was going to bet his life and death here.

“Sun Wukong! I will support you throughout this fight!!!” Henry shouted the words that he did not mean. However, he had to do it just so he could get out of this situation and to get the items from the Food God’s dead body.

But then, a golden die appeared above Minhyuk’s head as he stepped out of the barrier. Minhyuk slowly turned his head and looked at Henry.

‘What… what kind of look is that…’

Henry thought, gulping dryly at the sharp look that he received.

Was it a cold look? Or perhaps it was disgust and contempt? No. It was none of the above. Minhyuk’s gaze was calm and unperturbed. Only then did Henry realize what that look meant. Minhyuk was looking at him calmly as if he was not even someone that was worth dealing with. That was right. Henry, the God of Money that almost dominated the entire continent, was not worth anything in the eyes of Food God Minhyuk.

“Eeee… eeeeeeeek!” Henry screeched, fury coloring his face. That gaze was not fake at all.

Amidst that, Fake Sun Wukong charged swiftly towards Minhyuk.

[Raging Monkey.]

[All of your stats will increase by 30% for five seconds!]

Fake Sun Wukong’s body glowed red at the dramatic and sudden temporary boost in power.

‘That’s right! Kill that arrogant bastard!’?

Henry thought, believing that this would be the end of the Food God.

“Sword of Absolute Death.”

Stab—!

“Keuhaaaaaaaaaaack!” Fake Sun Wukong shrieked, his body bowled over as he flew back from the impact of the hit.

Not long after, a barrage of exploding sword lights devoured Fake Sun Wukong, creating a thick cloud of dust. However, it did not end there. Minhyuk once again spat out, “Sword of Absolute Death.”

Stab—!

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!” Another scream rang out from Fake Sun Wukong’s mouth as the barrage of exploding sword lights pierced through his body once more.

And finally…

“Sword of Absolute Death.”

Stab—!

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab—!

Minhyuk began to recklessly use his skills. The effects that he received from the buffed dish that he ate were as follow:

[Overlapping Delight.]

[The Overlapping Delight’s buff effect will last for seven minutes!]

[You have rolled a six, your EXP Acquisition Rate will double for seven minutes!]

[You have received the effects of the Legendary Grade Chicken Mayo Rice Bowl and the Legendary Grade Chicken Mayo Rice Bowl.]

[All of your skills’ cooldown time has decreased by 70%.]

[You can use all of your skills two times in a row without any cooldown.]

[You can use Sword of Absolute Death three times in a row.]

Minhyuk was able to make two of the same dish using the skill Double Food. On top of that, he was given the option to choose what kind of buff would appear in his dishes through the ingredients that he would use. Minhyuk deliberately chose ingredients that would help him reduce his skills’ cooldown time, as well as allow him to use them consecutively. That was why he was able to utilize his skills non-stop after eating this dish.

Thump, thump, thump—

Minhyuk approached the place where the thick cloud of dust was and where Fake Sun Wukong’s body laid. Then, he thrusted his sword as hard as he could.

Stab—

He could see the silhouette of Fake Sun Wukong’s body twitch from the sword stab. At the same time, the notifications rang in Henry’s ears.

[The being that has received the God of Money’s Grace has died!]

[Your gold payment’s rate has tripled!]

[You funds are insufficient. You need 398,513 platinum more!]

[You have borrowed 398,513 platinum from the God of Money!]

[You are now in debt to the God of Money!]

No matter how rich Henry was, this amount was enough to shake his entire merchant group.

“…”

Henry’s body began to shake and tremble at the empty gaze that Minhyuk was looking at him with. He looked behind Henry as he walked towards him and said, “I really have to thank you. Thanks to you, I have acquired plenty of funding for my kingdom’s development.”

“…”

Henry looked back to the place where his elite forces and the Five Reapers died. The place was filled with countless gold and artifacts that dropped from them. The value of those drops alone could reach, and even go beyond 100,000 platinum. Henry had lost a lot today while Minhyuk gained a lot.

Minhyuk laughed mercilessly at his plight. After all, they were the ones that planned to hit the man in the back after making use of him.

Smirk—

That laugh was the most vicious and most cruel laugh that Henry had seen.

“This f*ck…!!!”

Slash!

However, Henry’s head fell on the ground before he could even finish his words. As his vision slowly darkened, Minhyuk’s cold voice rang in his ears, “This is the difference between you and me.”

“…”

“You m*therf*c**ng bastard.”