Chapter 399: A One-Man Army (1)

"That is something only I can do." Kai, the one who instantly froze Kun Feng’s arm, reached out his right hand and patted Helik’s head.

At that, Helik’s expression melted like chocolate. "

Heh

... Th-this feeling..."

It was that familiar touch only the master of head pats could give, something recognizable even without seeing his face. A gentle stroke that made one feel drowsy just by staying still.

"

Ah

..." Letting out a sound like a man soaking in a hot bath, Helik snapped back to her senses and shouted, "

Oh!

You’ve returned!"

"Yes."

Helik turned her head and naturally grabbed onto Kai’s sleeve as if to say to never leave again. "Has Ha-Rin come too?"

Rashya was reuniting with Yoo Ha-Rin in the back. When Rashya glanced over, she answered Helik’s question with a mature smile that didn’t match her young face.

"You’re... Kai?" Kun Feng spoke with difficulty as his teeth continuously clattered. "How did you... get here..."

"What, were you surprised because the homeowner came back while you were looting the place?"

"Inso... lent..." Trembling in humiliation, Kun Feng ordered, "K-kill... him!"

But Kai snapped his fingers before his subordinates could cast their spells. At the crisp sound, a mountain of ice formed. The white and clear ice that could be seen straight through it, engulfed all the nearby Black Dragon guild members.

"Th-that size is absurd..."

"Did he just cast a spell this big without even chanting?"

"I heard the Divine of the East was strong, but I never expected this much..."

Not only the students who witnessed the scene in real time, but even the magic professor looked shocked. Inside the mountain of ice that had surged up in an instant were a total of twelve Black Dragon guild members.

Kai looked at them for a moment, then turned around. "Ha-Rin, would you please protect the people here?"

"Of course. Don’t worry." Yoo Ha-Rin replied cheerfully and tapped her sheath.

At that, Kai knelt on one knee to meet Helik’s eye level. "I’ll be back."

"

Mmhm

, be careful."

"I’m past the stage of needing people to worry about me."

Helik shook her head. "No, not you. I mean the city. I like this place. So don’t get too excited and be careful not to break the buildings."

She pointed at an iceberg with her tiny finger. The massive iceberg had collapsed the surrounding pillars and roads the moment it formed.

With nothing to say about that, Kai scratched his head and smiled. "I’ll try my best."

***

In front of the fortress of Arkan city was an endless plain. Seen from the top of the fortress, the green fields swaying in the wind looked like a sea. Currently, about 680 members of the Black Bee Unit who were supposedly protecting High Priest Albert and the paladins were resting there.

Suddenly, one member exclaimed, "

Hm?

What?"

Naturally, those around him turned their heads in curiosity.

"What? What is it?"

"Did you see some funny news or something?"

"N-no, that’s not it..."

The bewildered member who suddenly became the center of attention looked at his interface again.

The ones who went into the fortress with the unit leader... Why are they all showing as logged out?

He thought it was just a display bug, but even sending direct messages resulted in messages showing them as offline.

His face hardened and said, "Something’s not right. Everyone who went into the fortress with the unit leader is showing up as logged out."

"What?"

"That can’t be... Wait! It’s true!"

"What? What’s going on?"

News that Kun Feng had disconnected spread quickly, and at the same time, panic set in.

"

Uh

... So what do we do now?"

"Revenge? Or just wait?"

The Black Bee Unit members fell into panic. In fact, it was a predictable outcome ever since Kun Feng was taken down. The Black Dragon guild was structured so that a few executives led the overwhelming majority of members. If an executive was defeated, the rest of the guild members were nothing more than a disorderly mob. That was why Ghost had tried to eliminate the Black Dragon’s middle links.

While the headless Black Bee Unit members were unsure what to do, someone walked out from the collapsed fortress.

"

Huh?

Someone's coming out over there."

"What?"

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the entrance of Arkan Fortress. From the still small-looking entrance, a man was approaching with a relaxed yet confident stride. The afternoon sun was shining warmly, the white cleric’s robe glowing in that light suited the man perfectly.

"Wait, that robe belongs to..."

"Kai? Isn’t that Kai?!"

"Y-you idiot, that’s absurd. The reason we started this war in the first place was because...”

Because Kai had disappeared.

Becoming anxious, the Black Bee Unit members hurriedly opened the ranking window, and all their eyes widened at the same time.

[Ranking]

1. Kai LV.600

2. Yoo Ha-Rin LV.539

3. Chris LV.482 .

.

.

"H-holy crap."

"It’s really him!"

While they panicked, Kai had already crossed the long distance and arrived right in front of them.

"

Hmm

." He scanned left to right.

680 didn’t seem like much when written on paper, but it looked overwhelming when they were gathered in one place.

"First..." Kai turned his attention to High Priest Albert and the dozens of paladins protecting him. "You guys can get out of the way."

When Kai flicked his fingers, the Black Bee Unit members who had subtly surrounded Albert were lifted into the air and flung away.

"W-what the hell."

"Is that a cheat?"

While the Black Bee Unit members couldn't even comprehend what had just happened, Kai walked toward High Priest Albert.

"Sir, it’s been a while."

"

Ohh

, Kai. You’ve returned!" High Priest Albert greeted him with a visibly brightened expression.

"But why were you held in a place like this? And why are you all just standing there watching?"

"We’re sorry."

It was the members of the Holy Blood Order who answered Kai’s question.

But Albert quickly waved his hands. "Kai, please don’t scold them. This was all my fault. They wanted to fight, but I stubbornly insisted on negotiating..."

Kai grasped the situation. The Holy Blood Order members were likely boiling inside as they had to sit there powerless against a bunch of weaklings.

Kai patted their shoulders with a look of understanding. "Good work."

"Not at all, sir... But more importantly, we’re truly glad you’ve returned."

Respect sparkled in the eyes of the Holy Blood Order members as they could sense the immeasurable extent of his power even with just a single move after his arrival.

"Then why don’t you all take care of things out here before coming in?"

"Please leave it to us."

"Thank you for the opportunity!"

The gazes of the Holy Blood Order members blazed.

Kai gave them a slight buff and then returned to the fortress with High Priest Albert.

While walking back, High Priest Albert kept glancing back with a worried face. "

Um

... Kai. Is it really okay not to help them?"

Kai quietly chuckled at his concern. "

Haha

, High Priest, sir. Have you already forgotten? The Holy Blood Order is composed of specialists you selected yourself."

"I know. I do know that... but they’re outnumbered by almost ten to one."

"True, that would be a problem if they were just ordinary paladins, but..." Kai said with a firm voice without even turning back, "I don’t believe my members were raised so weak."

As if to prove his words, screams from the Black Bee Unit members soon rang out behind them.

"What the? They were frozen in fear before Kai arrived and couldn’t even draw a sword..."

"Put the weapon down.

Huh? H-huh? Gah... kugh!

"

"E-everyone, kill them...

Kugh!

"

All 680 Black Bee Unit members who were wizards couldn’t overcome the mere 80 members of the Holy Blood Order.

***

"

Hmm

, they’re really out of their minds, aren’t they?" Kai furrowed his brows after hearing the full story from High Priest Albert.

"I didn’t expect the Aldebaran army to be that irrational either."

"No, rather than the Aldebaran army... it would be more accurate to say it's the Black Dragon army."

Even though Aldebaran did not adopt the faith as state religion, the majority of its citizens believed in the Solarian God. In such a situation, there was no need to provoke the church and create unnecessary trouble.

From another perspective... The Black Dragon guild probably had no issue offending the church.

Even Albert himself was placing the blame on Aldebaran. In other words, the face of this war was ultimately Aldebaran, not Black Dragon.

Those bastards have been given the justification to act however they want.

Which meant they could now abuse their power in ways they usually couldn’t.

"Now that I think about it, it's really pissing me off."

Why did they have to come all the way to his territory to throw their weight around?

Kai’s eye twitched as he stood up and said, "I’ll get going now."

"Wait... Where do you mean?"

"A war broke out. Of course I have to go fight."

At Kai’s calm tone, High Priest Albert asked with a puzzled look, "But you don’t have an army...?"

Kai replied with a smile, "I am the army."

***

After promising to play with Helik, who was being clingy, and Rashya later, Kai headed straight to Libertia.

I always feel bad asking Ha-Rin to protect my home, but...

This war was one he wanted to end with his own hands since the enemy had dared to invade his home without permission.

"

Hm?

Kai!"

"L-Lord Kai is back!"

"It’s Kai!"

As soon as he returned to Libertia, the territory’s citizens swarmed in to welcome him.

The territory’s mood is definitely a bit down.

Libertia had always overflowed with bright and positive energy, but now, everyone’s shoulders slightly drooped.

It’s only natural they would feel uneasy after hearing that millions of enemy troops were on their way.

He had come back at just the right time. According to the encyclopedia, both fish and birds should never be stressed.

"

Oooooh

, Kai!" Karius, the king of the merfolk, approached and gave him a big hug with his large body.

Ughh.

The distinct fresh scent of the sea, unique to the merfolk, spread through the air.

"It’s been so long! I heard you went missing!"

"I’ve also heard that at least ten times today already."

After the short reunion, Kai gathered all the leaders of the different races and started a meeting.

"How far has the enemy advanced?"

"Our elven scouts are currently holding them off in the Forest of Anjamin," the elven queen Elania answered.

"Pull them back. A few hundred elf scouts won't be able to stall them and I won’t allow needless sacrifice."

"But the central forces, I mean the human reinforcements, will still take quite a while to arrive..."

"We don’t need reinforcements," Kai said bluntly.

"Here." He pointed to a location on the large map in the meeting room. It was the Tinoum Plains beyond the Forest of Anjamin. "I will fight the Black Dragon army there today."

"Th-that seems a bit... I don’t know..."

"Are you sure you're not deciding this a bit hastily?"

Everyone was taken aback by Kai’s sudden declaration.

Then their representative, World Tree Luteria, waddled across the table and said, “Friend, I urge you to reconsider. Even if we gather all of Libertia’s people, our forces are not as numerous as theirs.”

"There’s no need for the people to step up."

Kai politely tapped the table with his finger, and his eyes shone brighter than ever.

"I alone am enough."