V51C1P3 – The Star of Palrangka

– Break through the enemy ranks!

In no time, Van Hawk took control of the Death Knights and initiated a forward march.

– a.s.saulting Footsteps of the Dead!

The Death Knights brutally tore down the defense formation of the Bromba Kingdom’s army.

Torido grabbed one of the soldiers and bit him in the neck, sucking the blood deeply as if to quench his thirst. With ma.s.sively increased Life Force and Mana reserves, he then began to cast vampiric magic.

“Blood Storm!”

Drops of blood swept through the whole area, killing the soldiers one by one.

“You evil creature!”

One of the knights raised his sword and swung it down on him, but Torido blocked it with his long claws and sank his teeth into his neck as well.

“We have to save Landerk!”

“Petrification!”

The other knights who were rus.h.i.+ng in to rescue their comrade instantly turned into stone statues, unable to move. Until now, Weed had only summoned Van Hawk and Torido to use their help in his quests. He had kept a tight rein on them while frequently calling them for difficult missions and arduous hunts. Although their abilities had grown along with Weed’s as a result, Death Knights and Vampires were inherently evil creatures.

The knights that had their blood drained by Torido became his faithful slaves.

“Go fight them.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

It was not as easy as summoning undead, but Vampires also had a mean to multiply their thralls.

“So many living souls here. I never expected to see such a marvelous place!”

Torido seized domination over units of archers through his charming spell and made them shoot arrows at the other troops of the Royal Army.

“An ambus.h.!.+”

“Some of our own troops are shooting arrows at us.”

“They are betraying us!”

The Bromba Kingdom’s royal army soon fell apart into a chaotic mess.

Since the Palrangka War was an event that had already taken place in the past, those soldiers were given a temporary existence due to the quest.

For this event, Weed lifted any restrictions he had put on Van Hawk and Torido, allowing them to run amok as much as they wanted.

“S-Sir Knight?”

Weed could feel the s.h.i.+ver from Princess Remi’s body on his back. How could she have known… the knight that she had thought that she could rely upon to protect her in the middle of the battlefield actually turned out to be a commander of an evil undead horde!

“How come you are able to use the Summon Undead spell?”

“This is just one of the few cheap parlor tricks I’ve come to learn as I lived.”

“But… what about your honor as a knight?”

“I’ve always been a sculptor, actually.”

“…”

****

About two days before.

The story of the forgotten one.

“Hmm, this is not good.”

Python was under a difficult predicament. He was left alone on the Path of Struggle after Weed had entered the Gate of Trial alone.

“Well, now that things have turned out like this, I guess I should also go in.”

Python was feeling a little hesitant, but walked up and opened the Gate of Trial.

A lone challenger!

The Advanced Training Hall summoned a great amount of new enemies in the Path of Struggle.

“Kughhhh…”

He put down his greatsword after killing all the enemies. A greatsword consumed a lot of stamina to wield, but had a great attack power and was very useful for defense as well.

Truthfully, he enjoyed exerting himself with all his might as he fought a strong enemy. Dealing with a large number of enemies over a long period of time was not really to his taste, but as a warrior, he knew that he shouldn’t be picky about the opponents he fought against.

“I’m not stopping here.”

He continued forward, narrowly beating the monsters on the way. While he was taking a short break, he sent a private message to Weed:

“This is quite a…fun place.”

He did not give away any hint of his current exhaustion, as befitting a man who never backs away from a combat.

– Weed: It’s not so fun to me.

For just a moment, Python was filled with happiness by the thought that this time, he was doing better than Weed. Even if he failed to clear the advanced training hall, he had still won the victory in the contest against Weed as real men.

“Huhu. But isn’t it fun to fight against a constant stream of enemies that are actually worthy of your strength? Challenging the more powerful monsters is quite exciting, too.

– Weed: Really? You think this is that difficult?

“Huh?”

– Weed: I mean, what kind of “Gate of Trial” doesn’t even have any traps or any mechanism to stab you in the back? And all the monsters appearing here can be taken down really easily by simply beating them up; they can’t even use any of those annoying tricks like cursing or restraining skills.

This was before Weed had received the blessing of the G.o.d of Fighting, Batalli. Even so, he was already overwhelming the monsters using only his sense of combat and his experience! On top of that, with his incredibly high stats relative to his current level, he was powering through the Path of Struggle while dealing with all the monsters on the way.

– Weed: Still, I guess this hunting ground is worth the effort in terms of payoffs, albeit just barely.

“He’s referring to the advanced training hall as hunting ground…”

Python put his brain to work.

‘Maybe he is just talking big? It wouldn’t be a complete bluff, considering Weed’s capacity in combat. But he’s most likely still tired.’

Because they took up the challenge individually, they could not meet until they had completely cleared the Gate of Trial. But as they entered the path almost simultaneously, they could compare who survived for a longer time and slew more enemies.

‘I pride myself on being a true warrior. I will never lose.’

Python continued fighting.

As a greatsword burned one’s stamina quickly, weak warriors would not be able to hold out for long.

He didn’t have any choice but to rest occasionally and continue on with the forced march, several times more rigorously than usual.

10 hours pa.s.sed by like that, and Python was proud of himself.

‘I think I did enough. Quite excellent. I fought well.’

He was feeling that he should take a moment to compliment himself. He needed a short rest anyway, as presently he was quite low on stamina. He knew it would become increasingly difficult to recover his condition as time pa.s.sed since he couldn’t consume any food, but he still wanted to let his tired body relax a little. Python sent a private message to Weed, another challenger like him.

“Haha. I must say, it’s a little tough.”

He expected Weed to start speaking more honestly and at least apologize for going in alone at the Gate of Trial.

‘I shouldn’t forgive him so easily. Maybe I could ask him for some useful items? Perhaps some sculptures… He would be willing to give me a few as souvenirs, right?’

– Weed: You are joking, right? This is way too easy.

“Did you say easy?”

– Weed: I had high expectations for this… But this place is just subpar. It’s disappointing.

“Disappointing…”

– Weed: You’ll receive a blessing as you stroll through, doing some fighting. It’s really simple.

“…?”

Weed, who was ahead of Python, started explaining as what he must have thought was a piece of advice for the fellow challenger.

– Weed: Once you get the blessing as you fight, everything will work out from there.

This was simple but there had been no one else who knew how to exploit this trick properly. Batalli the G.o.d of Fighting only bestowed his blessing to those who challenged the path alone and led a difficult battle to victory through hard fight. The G.o.d’s blessing helped relieve the hunger, enhanced one’s attack power or restored some Life Force.

It was as good as a cure-all medicine, allowing one to maintain an above-average body condition for the whole venture through the Path of Struggle and to continue having high-quality combats against strong enemies. It was just as the name suggested: a path to struggle on, not a place to starve until you collapse and die.

‘But how come I didn’t receive much of anything?’

The problem was that in order to receive a really nice blessing, you had to push yourself to the absolute limit. This meant that until now, Python had still left some reserve strength as he fought.

‘I see… I should fight more.’

Python got up and walked toward the next enemies.

Stamina was a second thing to worry about; he was getting mentally tired of seeing the endless waves of monsters after fighting for more than 10 hours.

‘This is such a difficult place to clear… Even if I know the solution to break through, it’s still horrible.’

– Weed: You don’t even need to rest. If you have strength to hold a sword, then just fight. It will work out somehow so long as you continue pus.h.i.+ng on.

‘This is a brutal trial. If I pa.s.s this, I won’t ever be coming back anywhere near here even for just a trip.’

He also learned how to use the Heraim Fencing skill.

It wasn’t easy to make continuous attacks using a greatsword, but the technique could still be applied in various ways such as pus.h.i.+ng off the enemy’s weapon and then landing a blow.

– Weed: Now that I’ve got the knack, it keeps getting easier and easier.

After much struggle, Python was also granted the blessing that relieved his hunger. Weed might have told him it was very easy to get, but he had earned this blessing as a result of a lot of efforts. He was so happy… Until he received yet another private message.

– Weed: I received the blessing again. Now I’m almost feeling full.

“…”

He was about to take some rest after 16 hours of straight fighting; he was only human, and thoroughly sick and tired of seeing more monsters coming at him. They weren’t even some simple enemies that could easily be overwhelmed: he had to use all of his might and skill in every single encounter.

– Weed: Now I’m getting warmed up. I believe you’re having fun?

Each monster Python saw made him feel weary and tormented, but Weed’s private messages were starting to feel just as unbearable to him.

‘That guy… is not human.’

He had always thought of Weed as a rival, but during this adventure he had fully realized that he was something entirely different.

‘At least I’ve found out what kind of place this Path of Struggle is. I can still clear this by going slowly, without trying to compete with Weed.’

Python decided to take short breaks and continue to pa.s.s through more patiently.

He probably would not receive the G.o.d of Fighting’s Blessing as often as it was possible, but he decided to put up with a small loss like that. He knew that he would already be gaining an incredibly large amount of blessings, such that other users who were not Weed could not even compare.

‘That’s good enough for me. I’m only human, after all.’

****

Geomchi as well as the instructors and disciples had arrived at the Garnav Plain a few days before.

“Master! Here, try this food.”

“Hmm. It’s delicious.”

Geomchi and the instructors were having chicken skewers as a snack between breakfast and lunch. As there were all sorts of delicious cuisines from all over the continent, they had been stuffing themselves with eight meals per day.

In the giant crystal globe, they could see the video of Weed’s battles in the advanced training hall, which was being broadcast.

– Hooray!

– Weed-nim won again!

– Gra.s.s Porridge, Gra.s.s Porridge, Gra.s.s Porridge!

The Garnav Plain was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with the excited hysteria of the cheering crowd.

“Our Little One is doing well, isn’t he?”

“The timing with which he pierces through enemy defense is indeed sharp.”

“He’s also doing a good job at creating a chance to strike. He deliberately exposed an opening that he could easily have blocked. It would have been hard not to take that bait.”

Even as they were eating, Geomchi and the trainers discussed the topic of Weed’s combat as a side dish. Other common users would take a look at the battle and simply think it was quite epic, but they had a better understanding of the hidden meanings behind those exchanges of swords.

It was difficult to use the Heraim Fencing skill properly without being able to see at least three or four moves ahead of time. One had to have full awareness of the traits and attack patterns of the monsters, steering the combat to their advantage.

Geomchi was feeling quite proud as he observed Weed’s movements.

“He is properly using what I taught him.”

“Leaping up off the opponent’s leg as he hit the head, and making 4 attacks in midair. It looks like he had taken into consideration the change of direction and the remaining Life Force of the enemy.”

“Well he is doing adequately. I see he used some larger movement for the viewers.”

“I wish he was a little more aggressive… but this is still quite excellent.”

It was extremely rare for Geomchi and the trainers to compliment a pupil.

Weed’s combat style was clean yet bold; he would make some intentional tricks but he never made a mistake. If his overall fighting ability was 100, not only was he able to exert all of it in any situations, but he knew how to make use of his power so that it felt as if it was 200 or 300 while the opponent only had about 80 or 90.

Geomchi2 put three chicken skewers into his mouth.

“Our sword technique is one that is used to duel against other people. *Yum Yum*. Our Little Brother’s abilities have been optimized for Royal Road, it would be difficult to match him in terms of his use of skills.”

Geomchi3 agreed.

“Yes, since he even considers things like the enemy’s morale and other various characteristics when he fights..”

Weed had grown so strong that now the video of him in combat was making a great impression on them. He was rough, fast, and flashy, yet the theoretical aspects of martial arts hidden beneath that combat style were incredibly profound, which accounted for his continuous series of Super-Moves that would simply astound any ordinary user while hiding the firm foundation of basic skills behind them.

Geomchi put down his beer.

“Our Little One went to such a fun place all by himself…”

“I’m jealous.”

Geomchi2 agreed.

But they had their own mission to accomplish.

60,000 Desert Warriors!

The trainers had to take charge of the elite troops from the Southern desert region.

Some disciples had also been appointed with conducting squads of the Gra.s.s Porridge Cult, and for this task they even had to study a few books which they so rarely read.

– A Stamina-based Knight: the Standard Procedure of Charging

– Introductory Workbook to Warfare in Royal Road

– Beginning of Party Hunting

– Leaders.h.i.+p Skills for Customer Satisfaction

Most of the books they had brought were the ones they had picked up half-heartedly from the best sellers sections of bookstores.

****

The Death Knights were the central force, and the skeletons were supporting them.

Weed raised a large number of zombies from the field full of cadavers.

“Kkkkkkweeeeek!”

“Pupupum!”

In terms of basic combat abilities, those zombies swinging the hands of the deceased were quite weak. However, they were useful for increasing the number of undead in a short time.

“Z-zombies!”

“Glory to the Bromba Kingdom. Repel those zombies!”

The horde of zombies quickly swooped upon the Bromba Kingdom’s royal army.

An a.s.sorted set of 17 different types of zombies, including the infected, the corrupted, and the half-rotten!

As the skeleton legion that formed the central shaft of the undead army fought against the main forces of the other kingdoms, more zombies rose up in bulks from the ground in the nearby areas.

The raised corpses were also an excellent tool for bringing up chaos and confusion.

“Do not be perturbed by the zombies. Just kill them!”

During the Warring Age, the Bromba Kingdom was famous for their heavy infantry. Knights and soldiers were putting their strength together, halting the advance of the zombies.

Having noticed this, Van Hawk raised his sword and commanded the Death Knights.

“Formation!”

At his order, the Death Knights riding on the phantom horses lined up in one straight line.

“Bring death upon this land!”

< A March of Death!

Life Force will be consumed at the rate of 796 points every 10 seconds.

The combat capacity of the Death Knights will become temporarily enhanced, and they will gain immunity against all types of interruption skills. >

Death Knights rode their ghost horses forward.

Their duty was to fight against the enemies up until the very moment they fell to their death.

“Rotten Cloud, Sweeping Fear, The Alliance of the Long Dark Shadows.”

Weed happily bombarded the battlefield with area-of-effect cursing spells, the specialty of Necromancers.

“Corpse Explosion!”

It was also a basic practice to cast Corpse Explosion occasionally in the places dense with troops, to make good use of the skill’s destructive power!

The Bromba Kingdom’s royal soldiers were able to hold out against the undead, but their defense was beginning to be shaken little by little by the fierce attacks from the Death Knights led by Van Hawk…

“This should be enough. We will head North.”

He summoned additional Death Knights and Skeleton Soldiers to initiate a fight against the Kelton Kingdom’s army.

“Honorable soldiers from the Kelton Kingdom, an undead horde is coming toward us.”

“Let us fight. Till the end. Our chivalry and swords will never bend.”

The Kelton Kingdom’s royal knights cried out. As their swords shone in bright light, the soldiers’ morale and stamina were restored.

As humans fought to stop the undead, an incredibly intense battle was taking place.

The Palrangka War, where 7 kingdoms fought among themselves!

Weed was sending his undead troops here and there, trapping every nearby area in chaotic fights. His purpose, of course, was to obtain as much loot as possible…

“You! Necromancer! A creature feeding on maggot-infested corpses! This shall be the place where you die and burn in h.e.l.lfire!”

Heroes from the royal army of the Bromba Kingdom were all swarming in towards him without Weed having to lure them.

“For Justice!”

“Together we will kill!”

“The Necromancer!

“Go, Bromba Kingdom’s swords!”

The fabulous shouts from the knight commanders of the Kelton Kingdom and the heroes of the Bromba Kingdom! They had come to stop the Necromancer, rather than meeting their demise while fighting in the Palrangka War.

(Continued on next part…)