Chapter 702: The Ten Plagues

The Masserati Kingdom’s troops were reeling from despair.

‘The enemies are too strong.’

‘Even their numbers are higher than ours.’

‘Our best and strongest are already exhausted.’

‘Are we going to die today…?’

The number of enemies was far too overwhelming. It was not just that. The strength of the enemies’ reinforcements was much better than the troops before. In fact, the troops of Masserati Kingdom were all fighting, knowing that they would die by the day was over.

They all tried to do their best for their kingdom but their enemies did not even give them the opportunity to do so. In the end, even Ricor, the commander of Masserati’s Fifth Knight Order, was about to be thrown down on the ground.

That was when a distinct voice rang out.

“I am granting you the permission to awaken the power sealed within you and go berserk!”

A man’s voice rang above them as a woman appeared in front of Ricor in a flash. At the same time, an unidentified voice rang in the ears of both the troops of the Luvien Empire and the Masserati Kingdom.

[The Red Flame Swordsman. She is someone that will unify the continent with her sword.]

[She might even split the sky with her sword.]

[She has wielded her sword for the Masserati Kingdom that has been thrown into the pits of despair.]

[The enemies standing in front of her will have no choice but to submit in front of the ‘Red Flame Swordsman’s sword.]

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

The notifications sounded very chuuni-like. However, the moment the woman, who was glaring at the approaching enemies, brandished her sword, the heavens and earth were overturned.

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

“Keuaaaaaaack!”

“Aaaaaaaaack!”

The enemy soldiers that got hit by the hundreds of sword lights that she unleashed were easily swept away. Ellie pointed her swords and spoke to her enemies in a nonchalant voice. “Come.”

“…!”

“…!”

“

Hihihihihihiiiing!

” The horses shrieked, their hinds rearing from fear as the soldiers retreated with them. Even Ricor, who was looking at her from behind, broke out in a cold sweat.

‘This… is the real strongman of this era…’

Actually, it was not that easy to change into the Absolute Demigod Class as Ricor thought it to be. There were simply not that many people in Athenae that could be hailed as a supreme existence of the era. Simply put, the condition in changing his class required him to meet with existences like the Great Demon or if it was monsters, those at the level of the Six Monster Gods.

As for Ellie, a recognized legend of the current era, she was much more powerful and greater than Ricor had imagined.

‘I was nothing but a frog in a well…’?

Ricor was finally able to realize his own shortcomings.

The woman in front of him stood alone with Esser Fortress behind her, yet in the eyes of the terrified soldiers of the Masserati Kingdom, she was like a mountain: strong and immovable.

Ricor felt his heart shake as he looked at that solid and sturdy back.

‘She’s so cool…’

Unbeknownst to them, Ellie, who had her back to them, also felt her heart thump wildly.

‘They must think that I’m a cool person, no? Hohohoho!’

As expected of one of the members of Gremory and the Attention Seekers.

Elainey and Rend, who were sent flying back, finally recovered. If Ellie were to be honest, there was no way that she could handle those two by herself.

‘They’re much stronger than I thought.’

She was quite surprised when she felt a much stronger resistance than she imagined when she struck their weapons with her sword. In fact, the only reason why they were stronger than what Ellie imagined was because they had eaten Minhyuk’s buffed dishes.

At that moment, Black Dragon slowly landed on the ground and walked forward. Standing around him, the four dragons immediately burst out in a loud cry and glared sharply at the two Swords of the Gods.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeck!”

“Graaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Kihyaaaaaaaack!”

Covering the left side of his face with his hand, Black Dragon continued to walk with an eerie smile on his face.

[

Black Dragon

: Son, you have to get the timing right. Understand?]

***

‘Father…?’

Previously, Minhyuk had already informed his father, Black Dragon, that he had fed them his buffed dishes. He had also told him that he could take away the power that he had given them and make them weaker.

In response, Black Dragon had an interesting thought.

—

I have a brilliant idea.

It was basically a ploy to use ‘Inversing Giddiness’ at the perfect timing to make them look cooler as they say their lines.

[

Black Dragon

: Thanks to my dear son, this father will be able to show the world his cool side.]

‘D, dad…?’

[

Black Dragon

: Fufufufufu. My heart is already pounding at the thought of my enemies shaking in front of me!]

‘…’

Minhyuk could only shake his head in embarrassment.

***

Black Dragon continued to move forward with his four dragons.

He had climbed the ranks and changed his class to Dragon Monarch. However, his original class was ‘Destined Chuunibyou’. Recently, he was able to acquire a class-specific item, which was called ‘Gloves of Darkness’. The item was a gauntlet that could only show the wearer’s desired effect and had no practical effects. It could not even inflict any damage against his enemies. However, it was perfect for the idea he had.

Vwoooooooooooong—

A fierce and vicious black energy swirled around Black Dragon as he raised his right gloved hand in front of him. His face was grim and fierce as he gathered the energy in his palms.

“My comrades have died by your hands.”

“…”

“…”

Rend and Elainey were aware that the man in front of him was Beyond the Heavens’ Black Dragon. They watched as the face of the man named Black Dragon turned grimmer with every step he took.

“Someone was the father of a newly-born child, someone else had to leave behind a grieving wife.”

Grit, grit, grit, grit—

Black Dragon gnashed his teeth. He had no doubts that they would not even be able to recall the faces of the people and soldiers of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom that they had killed. In fact, it was likely that hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of people, had already died under the hands of the Swords of the Gods.

“Those people, whose wives and children were waiting for them to come home, were killed by you!!!”

Rumbleeeeeee!

Crackle, crackle, crackle—

The heavens suddenly rumbled as a huge and dark cloud appeared and hovered above their heads. At the same time, black sparks began to appear in Black Dragon’s arms.

“A young man that dreamt of becoming a soldier and even a soldier that hoped to get married, they all died.”

“…”

“…”

Elainey and Rend listened silently to Black Dragon. In fact, the two of them were nobles, and felt that they were superior to others from birth.

“Why would we care about the life of an insect?”

“Emotions are only a distraction in war.”

“Besides, we don’t even know who you’re talking about.”

The people and the soldiers of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom were nothing more than bugs in front of their eyes. Why would they even bother to remember them? The only thing that they could remember was the thrill and joy of cutting down their terrified enemies!

The words triggered an even more intense reaction from Black Dragon, the sparks that appeared in his arms growing more wild as his eyes turned entirely black. While he had his chunni side, he was not doing this just so he could look cool. Black Dragon truly felt sorrow for those people that had lost their lives.

Then, Elainey and Rend continued.

“Moron.”

“I’m pretty sure even your king does not want you to openly reveal your identity like that.”

“I heard that you’re the father of His Majesty Minhyuk. Get lost. Since we have eaten his dish, we don’t really want to cut you down right now.”

Rend and Elainey’s favor toward Minhyuk had reached a high level. That was why they did not want to touch the crazy moron in front of them.

The words and actions that Black Dragon uttered had revealed his identity and was completely contrary to what the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had wanted him to do, which was to move in secret.

“In the first place…” Black Dragon glared sharply at them as he slowly and carefully uttered his next words. “I have no intention of leaving a single one of you alive.”

“…”

“…”

Rumbleeeeee—

The black energy that surrounded his body grew fierce, swirling rapidly like a raging typhoon. Black Dragon looked at the two Swords of the Gods with a cold gaze before snapping his fingers once again.

Snaaaaap—

“This is for the people that died under your hands. I bring judgment upon you in the name of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.”

[Inversing Giddiness]

[The buff effects that you received after eating the Duck Jumulleok have disappeared!]

[Your stats and skills will decrease by the amount equivalent to the buff effects that you have received.]

[You have lost 13% of your STR, 10% of your STM and 8% of your AGI.]

[Your physical and magical attack have decreased by 20%.]

[Your physical and magical defense have decreased by 20%.]

[Your God’s Axe Technique’s level has decreased by 1.]

“…!”

“…!”

Only then did they realize that the Beyond the Heavens King already knew that they were a part of those that invaded their lands. That gentle and kind smile as well as the words that he wanted to be friendly with the empire, all of it was false.

“Hiiiiik…!”

“Damn it!”

The swirling black energy formed powerful, swirling tornadoes that made the troops of the Luvien Empire feel flustered.

[Look. This is the power of the man that became a king with his power alone.]

“Summon, Darksword.”

A huge and bulky man wearing black armor emerged once one of the tornadoes disappeared. This man was a supreme NPC that reached the ranks of the Absolute Supreme NPC on his own.

Crackleeeeeeee—

At the same time, blazing flames shot out of the man’s sword. The heat of the flames was so intense that the Imperial Army troops felt like their armor was melting.

“Die.”

The huge flame, brought about by the man’s Overlord’s Technique, devoured thousands of the Imperial Army troops and turned them into ashes. ‘Darksword’, or Overlord Raldo, shot forward and struck Rend on the shoulder with his sword.

Slaaaaaash—

“Keuaaaaaaaaack!”

Elainey hurriedly tried to stab Overlord Raldo with his spear when he heard Rend scream, but Ellie was there to stop him.

“I will also bring punishment upon you in the name of the people of the Eivelis Empire and Sword Emperor Ellie.”

Tingle—

For the first time in his life, Elainey felt a bone-chilling dread creep up his spine.

Thousands of arrows rained down from the sky and swept away the Imperial Army troops as another tornado disappeared out. At that moment, the enemy troops wondered,

‘Are there thousands of archers behind that tornado?’?

The truth was there was only one person, to be exact, one elf that came out of the tornado. He was none other than Elven King Argon, who received the codename ‘Phoenix’s Incarnation’ this time around.

Just like that, the Imperial Army troops were pierced through by his arrows, every single one of them striking their target true. Even Elainey and Rend did not escape the onslaught of attacks, their bodies pierced through by countless arrows.

“Keuaaaaaaack!”

Overlord Raldo dug into the gaps of Rend’s defenses fiercely, his sword going straight through the chest. He even went so far as to cut his Achilles’ tendon one after the other, before slamming his face with the hilt of his sword.

Stab—!

“Uwaaaaaaaaack!”

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!

On the other side, Ellie ran forward and expertly avoided Elainey’s spear.

Baaaaaaaang—

Swooooosh—

Ellie brandished her sword, throwing it in the air before taking a dagger out and cutting her opponent’s wrists.

Spuuuuurt—

She immediately grabbed the falling sword, using it to slash Elainey’s chest as she passed by.

“Keuhaaaaaaack!”

Ellie also kicked the back of Elainey’s knee, forcing him to kneel down as she poked his

qi

, or acupuncture, points with the tip of her sword.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping—

Unable to move, Elainey looked at Ellie with fear. “This… this is impossible…”

Ricor, who had finally returned to Richard’s side, looked at the scene incredulously. Every single time a member of them appeared in front of him, these notifications rang in his ears.

[He is one of the Supremes of the current era!]

[You might experience something special!]

[He is one of the Supremes of the current era!]

[You…special!]

[He is…the current era!]

[He is one of the Supremes…!]

Richard looked back at Ricor. “Among all of Athenae’s players, Beyond the Heavens’ Minhyuk is the one with the most connections.”

This was the reason why Richard had hesitated even though Black Dragon had only said that there would be ten people that would come to help them.

“He has the power to attract people to his side, always caring for and loving those that come under his wing. Perhaps one might call him sentimental, but it was through all that that he was able to become a real king.”

“…”

At this moment, a new name was engraved upon Ricor’s heart. It was none other than Beyond the Heavens’ Food God, Minhyuk.

“So, you better remember this clearly.”

“…”

“That man, with the support of his comrades, will likely be the first user to become the emperor in Athenae.”

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The fact that Richard said this himself meant that he was sure that Minhyuk would become emperor much earlier than him. Ricor felt a shiver run down his spine at the thought alone.

Meanwhile, Elainey and Rend, the two people that cut down others like they were killing bugs, knelt on their knees in dumbfounded despair, while Overlord Raldo and Continental Emperor Ellie’s swords were raised above their heads.

At that moment, Black Dragon declared, “Bring judgment upon them.”

Slashhh—

Slaaaaaash—

The heads of the Swords of the Gods Elainey and Rend fell and rolled on the ground at the same time.