Chapter 405: A One-Man Army (7)

The more urgent the situation, the calmer you need to stay.

Xao Lin quickly regained his composure. Honestly, he had been taken aback. Kai was far too strong. Stronger than any standard he had ever imagined.

As long as you stay calm, there's a way out.

Xao Lin began to focus on the duel. Through his messy hair, a fierce light burned in both eyes.

“Here I come.”

Every single word Kai said unsettled his mind. It felt like Kai’s voice sank deep beneath his heart, leaving a heavy pressure behind.

“Four spears.”

Four spears appeared behind Kai. The spears circled around Xao Lin, as if waiting to tear into him like piranhas.

Clang! Clang, clang!

Xao Lin’s hands grew busier.

I’ve... I’ve never seen an attack like this.

The four spears didn’t just add four more attacks to block.

Their movement paths are going to feel new to him.

Attack trajectories when fighting monsters or people were usually similar, but these four spears came from angles completely different from what Xao Lin knew. Sometimes they swept down toward his crown, other times they stabbed up from the ground like spikes. It didn’t just force the enemy to block four more attacks, it drained far more of their mental focus. In fact, Xao Lin’s eyes darted around nonstop just to track the spears, and his body had no moment to rest.

But Kai didn’t stop there.

“Divine Wrath.”

The sky split open, and beams of God’s wrath rained down on the ground. Xao Lin wasn’t the only one that got affected. Light particles fell indiscriminately across most of the battlefield, mercilessly striking the Black Dragon forces. Every time a sound like a laser beam rang out, the enemies screamed and scattered in panic.

“D-dodge it!”

“The sound! It’s coming again!”

But punishment from a furious god could not be avoided. By the time the brief indiscriminate bombardment ended, Kai had leveled up twice.

“Remaining health is 70%... Still plenty left,” Kai quietly murmured and drew a small sign of a cross. “Bless.”

All stats increased.

“Haste.”

All speed increased.

“Solaris Blessing. Solaris Armor.”

Attack and defense power increased.

“Holy Frenzy.”

All stats dramatically increased.

Kai cast only the simplest buffs and charged toward Xao Lin.

He’s coming...!

Even while handling the four spears, Xao Lin never let his guard down. He had never taken his eyes off Kai the entire battle. So when Kai pushed off the ground to charge at him, Xao Lin was able to react first.

I blocked...?

Xao Lin hastily raised his Conqueror’s Blade. However, Kai’s Holy Sword was faster, striking a second before Xao Lin’s blade was fully up, and it left a long cut across his body. A horizontal gash was carved across Xao Lin’s chest, and blood sprayed like a fountain.

It even cut through my armor?!

Final Attack. A skill that ignored the opponent’s defense and instantly tripled attack power.

Follow-up strike! I have to brace for the follow-up...!

Xao Lin turned around before he could even recover his lost health, but what filled his vision was a spinning blade coming at full speed.

“

Gaagh!

”

In

MID Online

, getting hit by a sword didn’t cause real pain for players. At most, it felt like getting poked hard with the tip of a pen, but human imagination was boundless. When a spinning blade lodged into one’s chest and began grinding through their flesh, what would they feel?

“

U-ugh...

”

Fear. That fear created new terrors in the mind that had never existed before.

“

Kugh!

”

Xao Lin tumbled onto the ground in an ugly manner. Covered in dirt, he crawled backward, trying to escape. However, Kai didn’t bother chasing him.

“

Huff, huff...

”

Xao Lin barely escaped the attack range, and his gaze trembled violently.

He clutched his chest and shouted in desperation, “C-cleric! Where are the Clerics?! Hurry... hurry and heal me!”

His voice, dry from being nervous, came out shredded and rough. But no one came to heal him. To be exact, there was no one left who could.

“Your army has no Clerics left,” Kai said firmly.

That was because he had already given the order to the dullahans. While he was fighting Xao Lin, they would have gone around and killed every last Cleric. In fact, not even a single trace of holy power emerged around Xao Lin’s body.

“Th-this is insane...”

He had to be the absolute. No, up until just a moment ago, he had been treated and respected as such. Master of the Black Dragon guild. With that title, there was no place in the game— no, not even in real life—where he wasn’t given special treatment. And yet, look at him now. He was crawling on the ground like a defeated man.

“You...”

Thud! Thud!

Xao Lin pounded the ground with his fists. Even that didn’t relieve his frustration, so he clenched his fists tighter. Dirt from Tinoum Plains pressed into his palm.

“This doesn’t make sense!”

Xao Lin suddenly stood and turned, throwing the dirt in his hand at Kai. Kai quickly closed his eyes.

Got him!

Xao Lin’s eyes gleamed with a dull glint. Then he charged straight at Kai with his eyes full of murderous intent.

“Die!”

A blue aura began to envelop the blade of the Conqueror’s Blade. It was a skill that only a Monarch-class player could learn at level 400. It tripled attack power, guaranteed a critical hit, and inflicted a bleeding effect. Monarch’s Sword.

The Conqueror’s Blade pierced Kai’s heart. His pure white cleric robe was stained red due to the bleeding effect that had caused blood to flow out.

Feel the same pain I did!

Xao Lin spat out a curse, but when Kai slowly opened his eyes, they were filled only with ambiguity.

“

Oh

... I’m bleeding.”

“

Hah

, what? Did you think you’d never bleed?”

“No, that’s not it...”

Just as Xao Lin was about to ask what he meant, his expression turned pale and dark.

“

Urgh

...”

His knees gave out on their own. He couldn’t muster any strength into his body.

Kai looked down at Xao Lin, trembling on his knees, and let out a sigh. “I’m doing this because I pity you.”

Kai had acquired several new skills back in the Demon Realm, when he had sparred with two archdukes. One of them was learned from Basion. A skill that transformed his own blood into poison, Blood Poisoning Technique.

[

Blood Poisoning Technique

]

Grade: Unique

At the user’s will, their blood transforms into poison.

The moment the blood exits the body, it turns into gas and spreads.

If an enemy is poisoned, they suffer the Exhaustion status effect and take damage.

It was only a skill he could learn because he had Poison Master.

“Well, this wasn’t the ending I wanted, but...”

Xao Lin’s health had dropped to 45%. Kai lowered his sword and glanced around. The Black Dragon army had already lost their momentum and was falling back. Meanwhile, the undead army had grown to hundreds of thousands.

“Let’s finish this now.”

Kai thrust his Holy Sword forward.

“Point Explosion.”

Light burst from the sword embedded in Xao Lin’s heart.

Boom!

A massive cloud of dust erupted, and the terrain dipped beneath them. The ground beneath them had caved in to form a crater. Even so, Xao Lin still had 20% of his health left.

“I’ll send you off in one go.”

Kai slowly raised his Holy Sword. The blade, bathed in sunlight, shone brilliantly. Xao Lin, drained of willpower and focus, looked up at it with tired eyes.

It’s so bright...

The blinding sunlight filled his entire vision. Then, a clean, quick sound shook his body. It wasn’t something he heard with his ears. Xao Lin heard it through his throat, through his entire body. And at the same time, his consciousness faded like the last flicker of a dying candle.

[You have died.]

[A Monarch must always be victorious. It is a lonely position where defeat is not tolerated.]

[Due to defeat, you have been stripped of the hidden class Monarch.]

***

The war was over. It wasn’t just a devastating loss for the Black Dragon army that tried to invade Libertia, but the Aldebaran army had also been wiped out. Of course, the reason things wrapped up so quickly was simple. It was because Kai and Yoo Ha-Rin, the new war heroes born of Rashion, were there. Kai, who had annihilated the Black Dragon forces in the east, then moved with Yoo Ha-Rin to take down the enemies in the north and west.

As a result, his fame among Rashion NPCs skyrocketed. King Beoruk summoned Kai to reward him for his merit, but Kai postponed the meeting for a while.

Ignoring even the king’s command, the place he visited was none other than Arkan Academy. When he knocked on the door, a rustling sound came from inside.

“Who is it?”

Hearing the familiar voice, Kai couldn’t help but smile as he replied, “It’s Kai.”

“

Oh

.”

No more questions followed, and soon the sound of a chair scraping back was heard from inside before the door opened. Helik poked her face out through the slightly opened door and looked up at Kai.

“

Ta-da.

It’s me, Kai.”

“

Hmph

.”

Huh...?

What was that? He had expected a big welcome, but her reaction was much colder than expected.

With a bored look, Helik opened the door, crossed her arms, and gestured with her chin. “Well, come in.”

“A-alright then.”

As he stepped inside, a cutely decorated room immediately came into view. The academy dorm rooms were fairly spacious, each being around twenty pyeong. Since there were many noble students, even Kai couldn’t do much about that. Of course, the room wasn’t used by one person alone. Inside were two beds and two desks. The left side had a pink interior, while the right side was decorated in blue tones with a rather modern style.

Just by looking, the left is definitely Helik’s space, and the right is Rashya’s.

When they first enrolled, Kai had used his authority as director to ask Albert to assign the two to the same room. Kai stood awkwardly by the entrance, like a father visiting his daughter’s dorm.

“

Uh

... But where is Rashya?”

“She went out to water the crops she planted in the back garden.”

“I see...”

Kai scratched the back of his head as the air between them turned awkward. It had been a very long time since he had properly talked with her. Almost two months.

Helik dragged the chair from her desk and placed it in front of Kai with a grumpy expression. “Sit.”

“

Huh?

”

“I said sit.”

Her emotionless eyes were terrifying.

D-did Helik get scarier?

Swallowing hard, Kai quietly followed her command. But as he sat alone and Helik stood there looking clearly upset, a strange sense of guilt crept in.

Unable to bear the tension, Kai cautiously asked, “

Um

... Helik, why don’t you sit too?”

“No. I’ll stand.”

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

“Th-then I’ll also...”

As Kai slowly began to rise, Helik’s eyes narrowed. “I told you to sit, didn’t I?”

“Right...” Kai quickly sat back down and stared only at the floor.

Today’s Helik was way too scary.