Chapter 864

The number of strong men and powerhouses who dominated an entire era was limited. There were eras with exceptionally high numbers of strong men, but their numbers remained limited.

And Dark Elf Jack? He was once one of the leading powerhouses of his era. Back then, he fought against many people. There was a human that had become transcendental after transcending the limits of his human body. He became a god that possessed the strongest power among the gods, with a legendary class that had already gone beyond the realms of god. A king of an entire race. Men who threatened humanity as a whole. He had fought against so many and found out something common about these strong men.

‘They were people that would not bow down to anyone.’

Why did those people, who were hailed as the supremes, fight against each other? Even though Dark Elf Jack was considered one of those strong men, he still loved peace back then. Nevertheless, he understood their reasoning. They fought against each other because of their desire to

possess

and

dominate.

The supremes would never work with each other. They were like oil and water.

They were the type of people who had high pride and ego. They might kneel to others but never allow themselves to bow down to anyone. But what Dark Elf Jack was witnessing was something that went against that.

The current era’s supremes had surrounded Pero, who was floating in the sky and glaring fiercely at him. Then, Jack heard these vassals shout, “Your Majesty, please give us your orders!!!”

Those that would not mix like oil and water were all working together. And they all served a single man.

Sizzle–

Minhyuk, whose HP had dropped below 10% in one go, immediately ate some choco bars and used his Absorption Conversion skill. When his HP had recovered by more than 20%, he looked up and glared at Pero before giving his order, “Destroy him.”

‘That’s not it. It’s probably because it’s been long since I appeared in this world, right?’

Jack quickly denied his conjectures. Yes, they might be powerhouses, but they were most likely not the ones who stood at the peak of this current era. The true supreme was only the man named

Minhyuk.

However, that was only his wishful thinking.

Then, a man with a massive build, Brod, made a move. “Mercenary’s Pinnacle Swordsmanship. Final Chapter.”

Brod looked infinitely smaller than the thirty-meter-tall Pero. However, when Brod swung his sword, hundreds of red sword lights tore through Pero’s body.

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash–!

“Ah! Hurts...! It hurts- hurts! It hurts!!! It huuuuurts!”

Pero was the Great Spirit of Darkness, so no one should have been able to inflict damage on his body. However, the red sword lights that Brod released forced a scream out of Pero’s mouth.

Jack shook his head.

‘Right, let’s deny the reality in front of us.’

At that moment, an old man with long black hair stepped forward. Even if he was once a legend or even if he became a god, an old man would forever be considered a weak and frail existence; it was only natural. As people grew older, they also grew more vulnerable. However, this old man was different.

“Spear God’s Bull.”

The elderly man named Ben might look weak and frail, but he had the God-rank artifact

God Piercing Spear

in his hands. When he raised this spear, the soft and feeble old man would instantly become one of the greatest gods, Spear God Ben.

The moment he activated the Spear God’s Bull, a spearlight shot from the tip of his spear and turned into a recklessly charging bull.

[Spear God’s Bull.]

[The Spear God’s Bull will charge at anything and everything within a hundred-meter radius and inflict 6,800% additional damage.]

[Those that the Spear God’s Bull had grazed would receive a variety of abnormal status debuffs!]

[You have equipped the God Piercing Spear!]

[The one that equipped the God Piercing Spear would receive a 1.4x increase in all their skills’ damage!]

[The Spear God’s Bull will have 9,520% additional damage.]

The Spear God’s Bull triggered right above Pero’s head, receiving a 1.4x increase in damage after Ben equipped the God Piercing Spear. The Spear God’s Bull pierced through Pero before charging straight toward the dark elves below them and tearing them apart.

“Keuaaaaaaaaaack! Aaaaaaaaaack! S- stop! It hurts. It hurts. It hurts!!!”

Jack grew restless when he heard Pero scream once again. Pero’s recovery rate was beyond anyone’s imagination. He could see that the injuries on Pero’s body were slowly recovering.

[Recovery Regulation.]

[The system has taken control over Pero’s recovery rate. He would not be able to recover from his injuries!]

“...”

Jack turned his focus on one of the women. And he could not believe his eyes. The cold look on the girl’s face could not hide how pretty she was. Her clear skin and slightly raised eyes were a thing of beauty. However, those eyes were very familiar to Jack.

‘Elizabeth?’

Of course, Jack knew who Elizabeth was. She was the god in charge of the system and a very pitiful woman who was driven away from the Land of the Gods by the Absolute Gods and trapped and sealed on earth.

‘How come you’re here?’

Jack could not understand a lot of what he witnessed today. While he was still confused, the enemies continuously attacked Pero, whose ability to recover had been restricted.

“Giant’s Fist.”

Boooooooooooom–!

King of Fist Khan’s punch landed on Pero’s waist and almost dislocated his pelvis. But that was not the end; Ares quickly landed a kick on the back of Pero’s head.

Kiiiick–!

“Keuooooook! Aaaaaaaack!”

The kings and emperors were speechless as they constantly heard the screams from Pero’s mouth.

Minhyuk’s Shadow, Sword of the Gods Luo, moved swiftly and skillfully. Using his daggers, he stabbed all over Pero’s body a hundred times per second. Then, Great Demon Elpis used the

Berserk

skill attached to the

Devil Judge’s Sword

.

Shwaaaaaaaaaa–

Of course, Elpis did not stop there. He also triggered the Splitting the Great Demon skill, releasing a ten-meter-long sword covered with roaring black demonic energy that cut through Pero’s body.

[The Great Spirit of Darkness Pero is in danger!]

[The Great Spirit of Darkness Pero has triggered the Great Spirits’ Pinnacle Power!]

The Great Spirit’s Pinnacle Power appeared as a pentagon and carried the symbols representing the Great Spirits.

Darkness was represented by a black hole.

Fire was represented by a blazing flame.

Water was characterized by droplets of rain.

Earth was represented by a boulder.

Lightning was represented by a bolt of lightning.

Seeing this, Jack was utterly flustered. Jack was a being who loved peace. He only changed because of the greedy and vicious human beings. Even earlier, the only reason Pero borrowed the power of the Great Spirit of Fire Ifrit was Pero’s decision and not Jack's. It was also the case now. However, the Great Spirit’s Pinnacle Power would attack anyone, regardless if they were an ally or a foe.

“Pero! Stop!”

Jack shouted hurriedly.

However, it was too late.

The five different symbols were already starting to cast their pinnacle powers.

[Terrifying darkness fell upon the world.]

The Darkness’ Pinnacle Power became a black fog that devoured the battlefield. How did the Darkness’ Pinnacle Power work? It would inflict a variety of abnormal statuses on everyone until they succumb to their deaths.

[Fierce and strong winds blew away all of the enemies.]

A sharp wind blew and covered an area of a hundred meters. This wind would tear apart anything and everything in its path.

[Blazing flames burned everything to ashes.]

Shwaaaaaaaaaaa–

A gigantic lump of flame that looked similar to a meteor fell from the sky to devour the enemies that surrounded Pero. The flame burned everything and had the power of a nuclear bomb.

[Powerful bolts of lightning devoured everything in the area.]

Crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle–

Thousands of lightning bolts threatened to fall from the sky and annihilate everything regardless of whether they were friend or foe.

[The earth’s power moved to destroy everything.]

Thousands of gigantic boulders appeared in the sky, shooting down as if they would crash and topple everything beneath them.

Jack’s expression grew ugly. Pero was a violent and ferocious Great Spirit. However, he was a friend who had stayed by his side for a very long time. And this very same Pero, who wanted to escape the terrible pain that he was being subjected to, made a choice that he should not have made.

“Ah...”

Many of the dark elves who vowed to help Jack regain the land taken away from them would die from this. They might have become a race that only knew how to wield their weapons and fight, but it was only because they wanted to regain what had been taken away from them.

However, it was not just them that would die. Pero was determined when he cast that power, he would take down those supremes. If that happened, then the situation would still fall in their favor despite the pain of losing countless of their allies.

“Compress.”

At that moment, a man with golden hair fluttering behind him made his presence known. This man had achieved what even the NPCs chosen by the God of Magic had failed to achieve. With a wave of this man’s hand, all of the strong men of the Beyond the Heavens Empire were gathered together in one place.

“Barrier.”

Then, he immediately wrapped them all within a barrier, allowing them to escape the danger.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

“...”

Jack was impressed by the man’s fantastic control. That was when he saw a man escape the barrier the mage had created.

‘Emperor Minhyuk?’

Of course, he knew the emperor was doing this to protect his people. The coalition army’s troops were also interspersed with the dark elves. However, shockingly enough, the man recklessly jumped into the Great Spirits’ Pinnacle Power, which was slowly creating countless large-scale attacks. Then, he took something from his inventory.

‘A mixer? And a bowl?’

Yes, that was right. Minhyuk took out a mixer and a bowl.

“...?”

Jack looked at the man in confusion. This man was the man who slaughtered hundreds of thousands of elves by himself. So, why did he suddenly take out a mixer and a bowl? But the moment he started to whisk the mixer in the bowl, all the attacks in the area disappeared into nothingness.

Shwaaaaaaa–!

“Keok?!” Jack spat out in shock.

However, Minhyuk did not stop there. He quickly used the Absolute Defense skill and became invincible for seven seconds before casting another skill just below Pero.

“Sword of Absolute Death.”

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash–!

Hundreds of lightning bolts fell upon the Great Spirits’ Pinnacle Power and began crushing it. After the Sword of Absolute Death tore apart most attacks above them, Minhyuk quickly reached for the Legendary Frying Pan in his inventory.

“Gigantification.”

A tremendous amount of mana slowly entered the frying pan and made it grow bigger and bigger. Then, Minhyuk wielded the pan and swung it toward the remaining hundreds of lightning bolts, boulders, and blazing balls of flames slowly falling upon them.

Swoooooooosh–

A vast number of the attacks were blocked by the gigantified frying pan. This was only possible because Minhyuk’s magical defense would reach a level beyond anyone’s imagination, especially with the frying pan in his hands. But that was not all; he could also reflect more than half of the magical attacks sent his way.

However, even if he did so, more than half were already falling toward the surviving dark elves and coalition army troops.

Fwoooooooosh–

But then, a mighty wind blew. The fierce wind’s power was similar to that of the Great Spirit of Wind’s Pinnacle Power that Pero had summoned earlier. The wind instantly tore apart the boulders, blazing balls of flames, and lightning bolts falling from the sky, making them disappear into nothingness.

Everyone, including Minhyuk, was surprised. When Minhyuk turned to look around him, he saw Elven King Argon with around ten million elves aiming their arrows at Jack and the dark elves behind him. And right beside Elven King Argon was the Wind Spirit King in the form of a woman. Argon looked like he was very exhausted and breathless after summoning a Spirit King. It seemed like he could not call her for too long since the figure of the Wind Spirit King immediately dispersed and disappeared.

Jack, who saw the elves appear on the scene, could not hide his surprise. Then, he heard Argon ask, “Father of the Elves, how were you able to come to this world?”

“...” Jack’s mouth turned shut.

Minhyuk was relieved to see that the elves were showing hostility toward the dark elves. However, he also found something a bit too strange:

‘This episode is a bit weird.’

Generally,

signs and omens

would appear before an episode broke out. There would usually be something happening in the game to signal the start of an episode or Athenae would release a trailer or an announcement in advance to tell the players about a large-scale episode. Why? Because this was also a way for Athenae to entertain players and attract new subscribers.

However, not even a bit of foreshadowing happened before this episode started. Jack, the king of the dark elves and the father of all elves, just suddenly awakened and began the invasion of the dark elves.

‘No way, right...?’

Minhyuk’s brows furrowed.

Jack was one of the Six Monster Gods. However, the Six Monster Gods no longer held such a massive influence in Athenae. Why? If all of the high-rankers had joined this war, they would have been able to overpower Jack and the dark elves without Minhyuk's appearance. After all, they were all

talented and strong individuals

who could return to life even if they died in battle. Simply put, episodes related to the Six Monster Gods no longer held any appeal to the masses. Because of that, Minhyuk and the Beyond the Heavens Empire came out to hunt them down.

‘There’s no way that Jack is just a smokescreen for this episode, right...?’

Just when the thought crossed Minhyuk’s head, Jack said, “The one that allowed us to descend upon this world is...”

Everyone, including the kings and emperors, Minhyuk, and Elven King Argon, listened carefully to Jack’s words.

“Immortal Sorceress Helenia.”

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

Everyone’s eyes grew wide from shock. At the same time, a shocking world message resonated worldwide.

[The

Episode

: Invasion of the Dark Elven King and the Dark Elven Army has changed!]

[The

Episode

: One of the Eight Pillars, Immortal Sorceress Helenia has started!]

Minhyuk’s prediction suddenly became a reality. The episode regarding the Six Monster Gods was indeed just a smokescreen. The true episode? It was the first ever Eight Pillars Episode.

***

Sword God Valen had recently found a new Sword God’s Descendant.

‘Minhyuk.’

Like Obren, Sword God Valen knew the Eight Pillars would considerably threaten Minhyuk. It was one of the reasons why he still did not cross the River of Reincarnation. He had hoped that Ellie would become his successor and help the boy. However, she chose not to inherit his position to protect her empire.

This time, Valen had turned his attention to a different successor he had been eyeing for a long time. A small and faint smile was on his face as he watched his chosen one.

‘This boy will be the sword that will protect you.’

Valen, who was in his translucent soul form, continued to watch his chosen descendant, the faint smile on his face growing by the second. And the one that he was looking at?

“I am Conir! Everyone, eat ramyeon before going!”

The story of the new Sword God was about to begin.