Chapter 853

The other kings and emperors were fully aware of Arcalso’s reputation. He was not only a genius born in a prestigious and noble swordsman family but also a master of the sword who would lead an entire continent in the future.

Arcalso was a high-level NPC, above Level 600, and the commander of the Aplath Empire’s First Knight Order. Although he was not yet capable of fighting toe to toe with the Swords of the Gods right now, he had great talent that would very likely allow him to surpass them shortly.

However, that very same Arcalso had fainted from the pain of his jaw being broken. Seeing this, all of the kings and emperors present were left wide-eyed and slack-jawed. The one who was most surprised about this outcome was none other than Emperor Elise.

“What... What the hell is this?!”

Emperor Elise could not understand what was going on.

The woman in a military uniform had been aiming her strike at Arcalso’s neck. But in an instant, she had turned, and her elbow had made contact with Arcalso’s jaw, breaking it.

It had to be known that Arcalso had fortified his body with strict discipline and diligence. This meant that no amount of force should have been able to bring Arcalso into shock.

‘But in just one move...?’

Arcalso had been knocked out with one blow.

The woman then pointed her sword at Arcalso’s neck and asked, “Can I kill him?”

The Beyond the Heavens Emperor responded arrogantly “Of course.”

The negotiations had already been discussed and signed. Besides, the ones who had suggested this were the kings and the emperors. Even if the woman, Ellie, were to kill Arcalso, none of them could make a fuss or attempt to attack her.

Just when Ellie was about to chop Arcalso’s head off...

“W-wait! Stop!!!” Emperor Elise shouted hurriedly. He shook his head as he stood in front of Arcalso. “Th-there’s no need to kill him, right?!”

“???”

Ellie stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Minhyuk.

The one who answered Ellie’s unspoken question was Haze. “Wasn’t it you, Your Majesty, who suggested this first? Didn’t you say that you would kill the talents we summoned, and in return, we could also kill the talents you brought forward?”

“...”

Emperor Elise was left with nothing to say. However, Ellie frowned when she heard Haze’s words.

[God’s Negotiation has been triggered!]

“Even so, we, of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, are not cruel enough to kill the talents of the other empires that have gathered here.”

Emperor Elise felt delighted. “Th-thank–”

“However, you have to pay five hundred thousand platinum.”

“This is daylight robbery!” Emperor Elise shouted with wide eyes.

Five hundred thousand platinum was a huge amount even for him.

“Then, shall we kill him, Your Majesty?” Haze asked with a glint in her eyes.

Emperor Elise was rendered speechless. Nevertheless, considering Lord Arcalso’s value, the five hundred thousand platinum would not be a waste.

“N-no... I... I will pay.”

[The Aplath Empire’s Emperor Elise promises to pay 500,000 platinum to the Beyond the Heavens Empire!]

“Please take your sword away from him. However, you may continue to subdue the others who are standing in that line over there,” Haze said.

Ellie found Haze to be quite cute. She nodded slightly as she looked at the long line behind Arcalso.

Flash– Ping– Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping– Ping!

Then, she began to overwhelm and subdue those talents with a single swing of her sword.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The kings and emperors were all rendered speechless as they watched their talents collapse in just a blink of an eye.

Ellie looked nonchalantly at the fallen talents and asked, “Are you going to pay, or am I going to kill them?”

“...”

“...”

[The Iris Empire’s Emperor Crevice promises to pay 300,000 platinum to the Beyond the Heavens Empire!]

[The Plaine Kingdom’s King Bormon promises to pay 200,000 platinum to the Beyond the Heavens Empire!]

[The Aeodo Kingdom’s King Henia promises to pay 150,000 platinum to the Beyond the Heavens Empire!]

Minhyuk knew that his wallet was going to be thick and full as he listened to the notifications that rang constantly in his ears. As for Ellie, she felt very satisfied because she had managed to successfully attract the attention of everyone right from the start.

Meanwhile, the kings and emperors all looked dumbfounded after seeing Ellie’s fighting prowess.

‘Who the hell is that woman?’

‘How is such force coming out of that small body?!’

They could only think of a few people who were that powerful. However, it did not cross their minds at all that Ellie might be part of Minhyuk’s knight order.

Meanwhile, Emperor Elise was clenching his fists tightly. Several warriors had lost against Ellie in the blink of an eye, making them lose nine hundred thousand platinum in one go.

“Sir Hanor! Show them your strength!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Hanor was another of the Aplath Empire’s prides. Everyone knew that Hanor possessed herculean strength. He had been working as a mercenary for ten years and had even been nominated as a candidate for Mercenary King. He was at around Level 600.

The person whom Hanor had chosen to fight also had a gigantic physique.

Emperor Elise said, “That guy is huge. Seeing that the one with the smallest physique could display such great power, it’s clear that their appearances are just for show.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Show that guy your herculean strength.”

A loud thud echoed as the mountain-like Hanor took a step forward and stood face-to-face with the man he singled out. Despite being over two meters tall, Hanor’s opponent looked like a child in front of Hanor, who stood at 2.4m tall and was a

giant

in the literal sense.

Unbeknownst to Hanor, the man he’d chosen to fight was

Mercenary King Venteio.

Just like Hanor, Mercenary King Venteio also used the sword as his main weapon. However, Hanor was so huge that the greatsword he wielded looked like an ordinary sword in his hands.

Shwaaaaaaaaa–

Hanor swung his sword fiercely as he waited to hear the sound of his opponent’s head getting brutally cracked open.

Baaaaaaaaaang–

However, the only sound was a loud thud. The man lifted his sword with one hand and easily blocked Hanor’s attack. Hanor pushed his sword downward with increased force, trying to cut through the man’s sword. At that moment, the man began to push back more forcefully.

“Hnggggh...?”

Hanor had never been dealt such a powerful attack in his entire life. He was using both hands to press his sword down, but the man in front of Hanor was successfully pushing back despite only using one hand.

Slaaaaaash–

The moment Hanor tried to counter with increased force, the man immediately swung his sword and cut him down. The man looked nonchalantly at Hanor, who was now bent over backward from the force of his attack.

‘Hanor was nominated as a candidate to become the Mercenary King.’

Minhyuk also knew about Hanor. However, the difference between

someone nominated

and

someone who became the Mercenary King

was like the difference between heaven and earth.

Venteio pointed his sword at Hanor’s neck and said, “How much for this one?”

“...”

Anger washed over Elise, making him tremble and shake. However, the problem was he was one of the ones who had suggested that the talents be allowed to kill their opponents. On top of that, he absolutely could not lose Hanor.

Elise’s gaze drifted. He finally had the mind to look around him.

“N-no! Don’t kill him!”

“Uwoooh! Please... Please spare him!”

A man with only a somewhat well-built physique was completely overwhelming the warriors of the other kingdoms and empires with just a swing of his sword. This man was none other than Overlord Raldo.

There was also a dark-skinned woman holding a mysterious whip. She was completely subduing all of the warriors who chose to fight her with one crack of her whip.

Craaaaaack–

“Keooooooook...!”

However, the problem was the woman failed to control her strength and ended up killing the warriors who fought against her. This woman was none other than Great Demon Gremory. Gremory had responded to Minhyuk’s summons, but she did not feel the need to spare her opponents. All she wanted was to make the humans who tried to come at her pay the price.

Seeing Great Demon Gremory’s actions made the kings and the emperors more anxious. They began to beg for the lives of their men to be spared.

[You have received the promise of a total of twenty million platinum in payment!]

This amount was enough for the Beyond the Heavens Empire to operate their empire for an entire six months while expanding their territory and influence.

After witnessing the warriors on his side lose one after the other, Elise finally felt that something had gone wrong.

“Enough!!! Stop! We can’t win!”

He realized that he had once again been fooled by the Beyond the Heavens Empire. Not only were they unable to bring back the talents that they had lost, but they were also forced to lose an enormous amount of funds.

Elise stood up as he shouted at Minhyuk, “You have once again used that glib tongue of yours to destroy us, huh?!” Minhyuk answered him curtly, “What seems to be the problem?”

“Hiiiiiik...!”

Emperor Elise could not retort, but his cries were able to stop the reckless behavior of the other kings and emperors present.

Then, Minhyuk said, “There’s only one minute left.”

After that minute was over, they would no longer be able to fight against the soldiers of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. In other words, they would be left in a situation where they had gained nothing and only lost more.

Realizing this fact, the kings and emperors all shuddered with rage.

However, Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor Minhyuk just mocked them and said, “

Hmph.

Fine. I will give you one last chance.”

Minhyuk adopted a bitter look on his face as he continued, “After all, what good would it bring me if I’m the only one beating you up?”

“...”

First, he was going to make them listen to his sweet and tempting offer.

“Right now, this knight over here has not been chosen since earlier.”

Minhyuk pointed at the knight who looked the most ordinary out of all of the knights that Minhyuk had summoned. The knight had an ordinary physique and an average height, and that was perhaps why he had not been chosen.

“If all of your remaining warriors can win against him, then we will return all of your talents. Additionally, we will also return the platinum that you have promised to pay us as well as the recruitment fee that we received before.”

“Your Majesty!!!” Haze shouted hurriedly.

Meanwhile, the kings and emperors began to murmur amongst themselves. There were around forty warriors left. These warriors had levels that ranged between Level 570 to Level 610.

Simply put, Minhyuk’s offer was too sweet. He would return everything if all of the warriors who represented their kingdoms and empires won against one knight. There was a saying that when a person was lost on the road, the most terrifying thing was the fact that their mind would be filled with thoughts of wanting to go home. And right now, that was what was happening. Even though the kings and emperors were very suspicious of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, they still wanted to pin their last hope on him and his words.

Minhyuk nodded slightly at Haze. “What’s the point of beating them up and dealing with them right here and now? It would be better for them to look at Beyond the Heavens Empire favorably in the future.”

The kings and emperors thought that had to be the case. What was the probability of the Beyond the Heavens Empire surviving after they took advantage of all of the people present here? It would be less than 1%. Besides, if the Beyond the Heavens Empire were to truly return what they had promised, then that could be the start of a friendly relationship with the other kingdoms and empires. After all, they had already clearly proven their abilities at this point.

However, what if the Beyond the Heavens Empire was tricking the kings and emperors again?

‘No. That’s impossible. It would be impossible even for the talents of the Beyond the Heavens Empire to deal with this number of people.’

‘One has to be at the level of Spear God Ben to deal with this many people. It’s impossible to hide that kind of power.’

‘This is true.’

One by one, the kings and emperors began to accept the suggestion. After all, no knight could deal with this many people at this level with their power alone. They judged that what Emperor Minhyuk said was very likely to be in their favor.

“There’s not much time left,” Minhyuk reminded them.

With the time ticking away, their conflicting feelings began to grow wildly. Was the Beyond the Heavens Empire acting suspiciously, or was Emperor Minhyuk telling the truth? Should they believe his words or not?

“I... I will accept!” Emperor Elise said.

With someone pulling the trigger, the rest began to follow.

“I will also accept!”

“I will accept it too!”

“Right, let’s do that then.”

“Then, let me thank the Beyond the Heavens Emperor for his kindness and generosity in advance.”

[All of the kings and emperors accepted your proposal!]

[If your knight loses, you will have to return everything that you received from them!]

[If your knight wins, all of the platinum and rewards that they promised you will be paid to you!]

“Since there’s not much time, please come forward quickly.”

Thud, thud, thud, thud–

The knight, who looked like the epitome of the words “plain” and “ordinary,” took one step after another. He looked to be around 176 cm tall and had a well-built physique. Basically, he looked no different from any other ordinary knight.

The kings and emperors were fully convinced that there was no way that such a knight would be able to beat all of the talents present there.

“It would be good if there was no killing involved.”

“Of course.”

“What’s the point in killing that poor and ordinary knight?”

“They will try their best to hold back.”

Around thirty to forty warriors from each of the kingdoms and empires charged towards the lone knight.

However, the kings and emperors were mistaken. The words that Minhyuk said earlier...

–

It would be good if there was no killing involved.

Those words weren’t a plea to the other kings and emperors of the other kingdoms and empires but to his knight. After all, the knight’s name was

Sword God Valen.