The players of the Cairon Continent, led by Black Dragon Order’s Xu Jiaqi, launched a full-scale attack against Berdk Attack Base. With Xu Jiaqi leading the attack, the players of the Cairon Continent were able to continuously advance forward. There were around 30,000 troops from the Cairon Continent that partook in the recapturing of Berdk. The players of Asgan Continent had also started to defend themselves.

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

Powerful attacks flew out of Berdk’s magic tool siege weapons and engulfed the players of Cairon Continent.

“Keuaaaaaaaaack!”

“Ugh, aaaaaaaaack!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaargh!”

Half a day had passed since the beginning of their attack. Although the players of Cairon Continent kept on flocking to Berdk, their numbers were slowly dwindling from the huge amount of casualties on their side.

‘Black Dragon Order is hiding in the rear and waiting for the right time to strike,’ Genie thought, standing on the ramparts and watching the entire situation.

Although the Black Dragon Order had taken command of the attack, they still had yet to come forward. It was simply because they did not want to damage the excellent siege weapons in Berdk by sending out hasty and unplanned attacks.

Besides, the magic tool siege weapons had clear limitations. In other words, their bullets would run out. What would happen then? Once that happened, the only thing that the Asgan forces could rely on was Berdk’s solid walls, and they would then wage a defensive battle against the Cairon Continent. The Black Dragon Order planned to move once that time came.

And finally, the imposing Berdk siege weapons that sent out countless overwhelming attacks stopped.

“The siege weapons’ mana has been exhausted!”

“The siege weapons are no more!!!”

The Kharamis soldiers reported quickly as thousands of Cairon Continent players flooded to Berdk. Of course, there was also a significant number of Asgan Continent players concentrated in Berdk. Counting the players stationed at the ramparts, as well as the players and NPCs inside, there were a total of 10,000 Asgan Continent troops inside Berdk. However, compared to the number of players from Cairon Continent, they were just like a drop of water in an ocean.

“Stop them!!!!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

“Protect Berdk!!!”

The players of Asgan Continent were shouting frantically. Then, Genie raised her hand high and said, “Fire!!!”

Thousands of magic spells and arrows fell down from the ramparts the moment Genie lowered her hand and gave her order. She also sent her orders to the members of the Let’s Eat Sect Guild.

[Vice Guild Master Genie: Join in immediately.]

[Crow: Okay.]

[Ace: Roger!!!]

[Ascar: Alright.]

[Khan: Yepyep.]

The members of Let’s Eat Sect Guild were divided and stationed at three different places, Atlas, the Korean Defense Base, and here in Berdk. They were currently in a situation where they could not afford to lose even a single place in their hands.

Khan lightly tapped his feet on the ground and flew up. He was now ranked first in the Korean Fighter Rankings. In fact, he could be considered the fastest and swiftest among all of the players in Korea. He was also a fourth dan black belter in Taekwondo.

The players’ eyes were attracted by his figure that flew in the sky like a bird.

“Stop him!!!”

“Attack!!!”

“Archers!!!”

The players of Cairon Continent shot their arrows and used their long-distance attack skills. Just then, Khan’s body suddenly turned black.

[The Fighter’s Shield]

[Your physical and magical defense will increase by 500% for 5 seconds.]

The skill Fighter’s Shield was a skill that gave the player an advantage by allowing them to send out attacks, even while the defensive skill was still being expressed.

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

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!

A cloud of dust bloomed and rose in the sky, as arrows, skills, and magic spells slammed into Khan’s body. Once the dust settled, Khan, who was already high up in the sky, lifted his leg.

[Korea’s Best Fighter, Ranker Khan!!!]

[Khan’s foot is raised high up in the sky.]

Along with those words, Khan’s foot turned huge as it fell down on the ground.

[Giant’s Falling Press]

[Inflicts an additional 400% damage to an area of 10 meter radius.]

Baaaaaaaaaaaang!

It was like a bomb had fallen on the area. The enemies within a ten meter radius were instantly devoured by the attack and swept away.

Meanwhile, Crow took advantage of the gap and jumped into the fray.

[Tornado Spear]

[A huge rotating spear will drag your enemies and tear them apart while inflicting additional 340% damage.]

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—

Crow was both a bounty hunter and a spear master, and he was Let’s Eat Sect Guild’s true and strongest dealer. The enemy troops that were flocking towards them were sucked and dragged by the spear that Crow threw with all his might.

“Ke…keuaaaaaack!”

“Aaaaaaaaack!”

“Keheok!”

In a blink of an eye, more than 30 players had their bodies shredded apart and were forced to log out. Continuing their momentum, Ace stepped forward and shouted, “Red Flames’ Hell Chariot!!!”

This was Ace’s forte. Four gigantic hell horses covered in red blazing flames appeared, pulling a huge golden chariot.

“Neeeeeeeigh!”

“Neiiiiiigh!”

“Aaaaaaaaack!”

The burning hell horses and carriage advanced forward, sweeping away their enemies that were trying to push forward. By the end of the skill duration, the chariot exploded.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaang—

[Sure enough, they are Korea’s high rankers.]

[There are quite a lot of Korean rankers that have formed defense teams and are protecting Berdk.]

[Support, through long-distance attacks, are continuously being sent out from the ramparts.]

[However, they need to know that our Chinese rankers are just as great as their Korean rankers.]

Then, at that moment…

“Keuaaaaaack!”

…Ascar’s scream rang loudly. Khan, Crow, and Ace all looked towards her direction at the same time. There, they saw Cairon Continent high rankers pushing inside. The one that attacked Ascar was Dark Elf Sonia. Sonia was a ranker that mainly focused on using double swords. She was also a ranker that had changed her species and turned herself into a dark elf.

However, it was not only her, there were also plenty of other rankers surrounding her.

“Giant’s Quick Fists!!!”

Punch, punch, punch, punch!

Khan’s feet moved swiftly as he sent out a series of attacks, his huge fists aimed at the rankers that attacked Ascar. But…

Grab!

…a man suddenly appeared and grabbed his gigantic fist.

This was a Chinese Fighter Ranker, Liu Yuan. To be exact, he started out as a fighter. However, after practicing various Chinese martial arts, he had transferred classes and became a ‘warrior’. He was also well-known in reality for his martial art skills.

Liu Yuan moved gently, like a butterfly silently flapping its wings, and narrowed the distance between him and Khan in a single step. Then, he struck Khan’s abdomen strongly with his fist.

Punch!

“Keheok!”

[Hundred Step Divine Fist]

[Hundreds of powerful fists stretch out from behind and attack your enemies.]

The Hundred Step Divine Fist dug deep into the pit of Khan’s stomach, despite his high defense and impressive armor. That was not the end. A young girl suddenly moved forward and blocked Ace’s path when he tried to move and join the battle. She was the Ice Sorceress Zhao Jiamin.

Zhao Jiamin might be young, but she was a ranker among the top 30 players in China. And she looked extremely similar to the young ‘Nico Nobin’, a character in the manhwa One Diss that Ace loved.

“Ni… Nico Nobin…? You, you are my ideal type!!!”

“…?”

Zhao Jiamin looked at Ace incredulously as she showed off her skills as an Ice Sorceress.

[Ice Flower]

[Hundreds of flowers made of ice will bloom and attack your enemies.]

Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink—

Hundreds of sharp and deadly ice flowers bloomed beneath Ace’s feet. However, Ace was also a top ranker. He reacted quickly as flames appeared and covered his entire body.

“Uwoooooooooooh! Nico Nobin! I’m Fire Fist Ace!!!”

Crackle!

The blazing flames that erupted from his body spread out and melted the ice flowers that bloomed on the ground. An ice sword appeared in Zhao Jiamin’s hand, as fire bloomed on Ace’s fist. Ace looked extremely excited as they began to move.

“Nico Nobin! I’m Eunpyong Elementary’s Fire Fist Ace. Let’s have a cup of milk together if I win, alright?”

Ace looked completely serious. However, his words were so greasy that it seemed like he had swallowed an entire stick of butter in one gulp.

“Shut up!” Zhao Jiamin shouted as she swung her ice sword wildly. However, the truth was…

‘A… Ace…! He’s my ideal type in the One Diss manhwa!!! Oh my god. What milk will we drink? He’s so cool!!!’

Zhao Jiamin’s eyes were filled with mist.

‘Fate is so cruel, we can’t be together… Ace…!’

Ace saw the sadness that suddenly sprung up in her eyes.

‘Nico Nobin…!!!’

Then, the two people clashed against each other.

[Aaaah! The Korean and Chinese rankers’ clash!]

[Ice Sorceress Zhao Jiamin and Fire Fist Ace have crossed blades!!!]

[Korea’s Ranker Khan and Warrior Liu Yuan are also fighting a fierce battle!!!]

At first, it seemed like both sides were on par with each other.

[Korea’s rankers are getting pushed back.]

[As expected. There’s nothing that they can do to fight the Chinese players off.]

This was war, not a one-on-one fair duel. Other Chinese rankers would attack the Korean rankers that were already fighting in a battle. Simply put, the Korean rankers were being pushed back from the sheer number of their enemies. Plenty of Korean rankers, including Crow, Khan, Ace and Ascar, had already started to retreat.

“Damn! Dammit! Goddammit!”

“If only it were a 1:1…!”

They had lost the battle against people whose classes and skills were similar to them. It happened the moment the others intruded in their fight. All of the Korean rankers that lost their own battles had expressions that were crumpled and distorted in frustration.

On the other hand, Zhao Jiamin watched Ace running away.

‘Ace, go… quickly…!’

Zhao Jiamin even went the extra mile and froze the ground, causing the Chinese rankers that were secretly following behind Ace, to lose their balance and fall down on the ground.

“Urk!”

“What… what the hell?”

“Zhao Jiamin?!!!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Zhao Jiamin kept on bowing, pretending that what she did was a mistake. Then, she made eye contact with the escaping Ace, who looked back at her.

“…!!!”

Ace could see her heart and thoughts. And thanks to Zhao Jiamin’s ‘mistake’, Ace was able to enter through the castle’s small opening safely.

“…If only I was a bit stronger.”

Khan looked despondently down at his fists. They were defeated in a war of numbers. However, he thought that it was just an excuse. Everything would have been different if they had overwhelming power and strength. And everyone standing on the same height and position as him all thought the same.

‘If only I was stronger…’

They might have won. At that moment, all of the players that were fighting on the battlefield suddenly stopped. They either stopped swinging their weapons, or unknowingly stopped. This was because of a very shocking message.

[A player that has created something that transcends the Human Realm has been born for the first time in Athenae.]

[This message resonates loudly throughout the entire continent.]

Just this short message was enough to bring confusion to all of the players present.

“Transcends the Human Realm…?”

“Who? Who transcended the Human Realm?”

“What did they make that transcended the Human Realm?”

The players were all murmuring. Among them, Genie murmured to herself, “Transcends the Human Realm…? God class…?”

The first God class item had made its appearance.

***

Ruth was counting the days. It had already been several days since Minhyuk entered the Imperial Kitchen. He was aware that Minhyuk had not slept all this time. From what he saw, Minhyuk did not have any time to sleep nor rest, as he did his best to cook the marrow bone. According to the most recent report, Minhyuk was already reeling from exhaustion after reaching the limits of his mental strength.

‘You can stop now.’

Ruth already knew that it was impossible to save Ellie. The words that he said to Minhyuk were just him grasping at last straws, trying to find a sliver of ‘hope’. But now, Ruth already knew that there was no ‘hope’. Ellie’s illness had already reached the middle stages and was rushing towards the late stages. He was actually hoping that Minhyuk would stop to see her before she died.

‘I will never forget your efforts and hard work.’

Minhyuk was already Eivelis Empire’s benefactor. Ruth commended his efforts and hardwork, but it was now time to stop. Ruth stood in front of the Imperial Kitchen and slowly opened the door. At that moment…

Flash—

Mysterious pillars of light suddenly fell down from the sky and pierced through the ceiling of Eivelis Empire’s Imperial Palace. Amidst all of these lights was a man holding an earthen pot filled with thick ox bone soup. The pillars of light slowly thinned out, as they got sucked into the pot of ox bone soup.

Minhyuk smiled broadly at the ox bone soup and said, “Mister Ruth.”

Ruth was left speechless after seeing the amazing sight that unfolded in front of him. Then, Minhyuk continued to say, “We can save Noona.”