Encounter (1)

Sixty days after the Battle of Merent Karl Gate, finally, the Kaldris-Mado Allied Forces moved on.

Regent Garhan, the Thunder King, moved with 6,000 troops, and Genovia, the Queen of the Rune Kingdom, headed to the north with 8,000 troops.

Later, they joined the main camp and marched with a large army to the Allendia border, reaching 33,000 troops.

It was an all-out reckless war.

In Latna, no single farmer was chosen as a soldier like in the Middle Ages.

The difference in individual force was so great that ordinary people couldn’t even be used as arrow bait. Rather, they would only waste supplies unnecessarily.

Hence, that number was indeed a collection of all the forces that could be mobilized.

Even if they won the war, the aftermath would be serious, and if defeated, their nation’s existence would be at stake.

They would lose their status as part of the Three Continental Powers and fall into a small country.

But neither Garhan nor Genovia cared about that.

“It’s all just a normal war for us.”

In a four-wheel carriage without a roof, Genovia laughed.

‘Post-war fallout? What’s the point of worrying about such a thing?’

It would have been after she and Garhan had already acquired the divinity.

That power was enough to take care of the people. The Kaldris and Mado Kingdoms would become countries directly protected by a god and a goddess.

Small countries in the countryside couldn’t have posed a threat. They would have disappeared by then.

Human threats could not exist, and this invasion of the world could be prevented by faith.

There would be no problem.

‘Of course, if we lose, it’ll all be over…’

It had also been a long time since they came down from the sanctuary to the world. They wouldn’t last long.

She slipped her head out of the wagon, and she asked a middle-aged man driving a Golem Steed.

“Garhan, how long do you have left?”

She sounded as if she were going to have something for breakfast tomorrow.

Garhan replied with a smile.

“A little less than two years. You?”

“Two years, two months, and 19 days.”

“Were you calculating it daily?”

“It’s a Mage’s occupational disease.”

Yeah, war or not, death was just around the corner anyway.

“Two years, a ridiculous lack of time to clean up the rest of my life…”

Genovia stared bitterly to the west.

“Enough time to rise to the throne of the goddess, though.”

The red sunset was fading away.

* * *

Inner castle of Fort Fieldrocks.

Two men were engaged in a confrontation in a strictly restricted smoke field.

The red Blade Aura and the milky blast collided continuously, tearing the atmosphere and creating shockwaves.

Ryu Han-bin used only a part of Aura, and Leon Hart was doing his best.

It would make each other’s capabilities similar, allowing them to compete purely in terms of skills.

In the next workshop, Han-bin’s eyes shone.

The opportunity had finally come!

-Vertical Cut!

The red light blazed.

Leon Hart quickly turned his hands and pulled up all of his Prana, spilling over Han-bin’s Blade Aura.

“Taaaaah!”

Their roars clashed as the air distorted. At that moment, the wind pressure burst.

Boom!

Leon Hart stepped back and smoothed both hands.

Both arms were numb even though he properly defended himself and attacked.

“Um…”

It was such a shock that he couldn’t move his fingers.

It was proof that he hit the target at the right timing.

“That’s great.”

In admiration, Leon Hart gave a compliment.

“The Swordsmanship of the Sword King and the Dog-Beating Swordsmanship is in perfect harmony.”

“Are you sure it’s perfect?”

Ryu Han-bin looked at him suspiciously while holding his Gigant back.

“Leon Hart, you get it wrong quite often.”

Back then, he would often say his Aura and body were balanced. Afterward, he would then change his words belatedly, saying, ‘I’m sorry, it turns out it’s not balanced.’

Even after that, he had to push ahead with simple, ignorant swordsmanship. After the battle with Hollien, he said, ‘Sorry, it turns out you’re good at slaying dogs. I’ll let you slay people with using dog-slaying tactics.’

“Well, how can I believe you?”

Of course, it was just a joke.

Han-bin became stronger after meeting Leon Hart and the other Templar Lords.

No matter how good his physical condition was, he couldn’t develop without a proper teacher. He felt nothing but gratitude towards them.

Leon Hart smirked as he loosened his numb hands.

“I can’t help it, can I? I’m just an imperfect human being. Everyone makes mistakes.”

Looking at Kibie, who was watching from the side, Ryu Han-bin seemed convinced.

“Well, there’s a Goddess who made a huge mistake.”

“Why are you shooting at me when I’m doing so well?”

Grumbling, Kibie approached the two, then asked Leon Hart.

“What do you think? Is there a chance of winning the battle against the Thunder King or the Archmage?”

“I didn’t go through this hard enough to affirm it.”

Neither of them found it easy to dare guess Leon Hart’s real skills.

“But I can assure you of one thing.”

Pointing to Han-bin, he continued.

“The odds were stacked against us in the past.”

But now, it was different.

“He’s finally back to his original style.”

Everyone was mistaken because of his overwhelming physical abilities and tactics.

Ryu Han-bin’s main skill was powerful swordsmanship.

But in his days at the Rocky Mountains, he never hunted Demon Dogs by force.

He couldn’t do it like that in the first place.

There were monsters on a similar level with him, after all.

The Demon Dogs on the Rocky Mountains were more like monsters than intellectual beings. Rather than fighting with wisdom and skill, they fought with instinct.

In other words, their physical ability was slightly higher than Ryu Han-bin’s.

For 22 years, he survived in such a world.

“The real specialty of this guy was that he overcame his physical backlog with skill and delivered a powerful counter.”

Until now, the specialty could only be used against large Demon-Dog-shaped monsters, but by learning the Dog-Beating Swordsmanship, it could finally be used for other opponents.

“Fortunately, a physical attack won’t work for the Thunder King.”

The Thunder King Garhan, a level 152 Magic Swordsman, would never fall behind Ryu Han-bin in terms of physical ability or amount of the four major powers.

No, maybe Garhan was a little bit higher than Han-bin.

“The thing is, in terms of skill, it’s hard to expect him to be ahead of the Thunder King who had been honing himself for decades.”

However, there was no other way.

They had no choice but to lead the situation strategically and increase the odds.

“If it goes well, we’ll win. If it doesn’t, we’ll all be ruined.”

Kibie sighed.

They had all grown incredibly strong in her eyes in a very short period.

“But you still have to walk a single line?”

“Things in the world depend on what you think. Let’s say we’re lucky we’re strong enough to walk a single line.”

Leon Hart looked back at Han-bin, soothing Kibie.

“How complete is your Valtara’s Fighting Spirit.”

After a brief assessment, Ryu Han-bin replied.

“I think it’s about 90 percent.”

Kibie raised an eyebrow.

“Still?”

“I haven’t made any progress since. I can’t help but keep getting stuck.”

It was normal.

All martial arts were like that.

The start was always easy. However, completion was often a far-fetched dream.

She smiled as if she understood.

“No wonder it’s similar to a diet. It’s like you lose weight easily in the beginning, but you don’t lose the last few kilograms.”

“Uh, was there a concept of diet in Latna? There’s no food left in this world like the modern Earth.”

“Han-bin, I said it that way to make it easier for you to understand. And in our world, ladies and gentlemen are sensitive to weight.”

“Well, even in the Middle Ages, ladies and gentlemen did everything they could to make themselves look slim.”

In any case, 90 percent completion of the Valtara’s Fighting Spirit was, in fact, not much of a problem in combat.

The injuries caused by self-destruction weren’t that serious, although he suffered from physical exhaustion.

However, it was not complete.

The Heavenly Sword, Diastima.

It took a fully mastered fighting spirit to grasp that inexplicable blow that touched the sky.

“Well, we’ll have to do something about it. Didn’t Leon Hart tell you?”

Han-bin calmly replied, holding his Gigant in his hand.

“If it works out, we win. If it doesn’t work out, we’re doomed.”

* * *

The 30,000 Kaldris-Mado forces marched westward with majesty in their steps.

Since they had suffered a series of defeats, the morale should have been watered down. Unexpectedly, however, the soldiers’ morale was quite high.

“Now we have two of the Top Four on our side!”

“No matter how strong they are, in front of Garhan and Genovia…”

The old members of the Top Four would be more reliable than newcomers.

Those who had ruled the world for many years stepped up to the plate, and even the Allendia troops, who had been on the winning streak, would no longer stand a chance!

It didn’t mean that Allendia’s morale had been lowered, however.

“Huh! Who are the Top Four?”

“We have the new members of the Top Four!”

The Sword King and the Spiritual Boxer had shown themselves to be powerful enough. With a series of victories, their strategy proved to be outstanding as well.

All the soldiers had to do was trust and follow!

“We will win!”

Based on the high morale, the Allendia troops had completed their preparations over three strongholds: Fieldrocks, Alseed and Poltaron.

Both sides remained in a tight position.

Of course, not everyone was just swept up in that atmosphere.

Old Hunters with thick bones in battle, the senior soldiers were afraid of what was to come.

“The Thunder King and the Archmage…”

“The Top Four will fight each other?”

“Oh, my God, tons of innocent bystanders will get hurt in that fight.”

“… Why would an innocent bystander get hurt in a fight?”

“I don’t know. Aliens used to talk about it. When I was a kid, I knew some Aliens.”

The Allied march of the Kaldris-Mado Kingdoms stopped immediately in front of the Triangle defense line of Allendia.

Afterward, they set up their base on the nearby plains and set up 8,000 detached forces to head to Poltaron in the south.

The meeting room at Fort Fieldrocks of Allendia border.

Leon Hart received that report.

“The plan is to pressure Poltaron separately and cut off all reinforcements from Fieldrocks and Alseed with 22,000 troops from the base.”

Lord Lacrell nodded.

“It’s a common move. Anyone would have done that n this situation.”

Han-bin’s party had already expected them to come out like that.

Artis replied, “The detached force is under the command of the Thunder King and the Archmage.”

Effir stood up, warming up.

“I’ll get ready for the flight.”

Ryu Han-bin also looked around with the Gigant on his back.

“Let’s go, Artis and Leon Hart.”