Chapter 590: Knight (1)

Knight.

A dream many on the battlefield long to reach.

From ordinary soldiers to hundred-man commanders and thousand-man commanders, they admire the knights of the battlefield.

But a knight is not something just anyone can become.

One in ten thousand talented soldiers.

Only one such person could rise to the position of knight, and that was why, in Ares, knights were called the flowers of the battlefield.

*****

[The Parion Empire Army blocks whispers.]

[Party chat, guild chat, and whispers can now only be used with those within a 500-meter radius.]

As time passed, Hyunsoo came to understand just how precious the Myriad-Mile Bird he had named Kkokko truly was.

The NPCs knew outsiders could use transmissions like “whispers” and “party chat,” and they also possessed a way to block them.

At times like this, Kkokko, who could neither be killed nor caught, was exceptional.

Also—

[Kkokko clashes with roughly 200 hawks.]

Shared vision.

Through Kkokko’s eyes, he surveyed the situation.

Watching Kkokko’s speed as it refused to give the 200 hawks its back was awe-inspiring.

FWOOOOSH—

He was startled as he watched the hawks go up in flames, and then he was startled once more by Kkokko’s subsequent growth.

[Kkokko’s Burn Up levels up.]

[Kkokko’s flight speed increases.]

And through Kkokko, as he surveyed every corner of the battlefield, Hyunsoo kept being amazed.

Tai.

After this battlefield was over, it seemed like it would be good to send a whisper to Thailand’s No. 1 ranker and build a connection.

And while I’m at it, it’d be good to coax him over to the nation of Hyun.

Lund.

He had formed a connection with Hyunsoo in the past. He still jokingly called him “big brother,” but Lund was someone who moved only when he could gain something for himself.

The vast light of level-ups surging from his body after he slaughtered 70,000 showed exactly why he had joined the battle.

Mio.

She was just broken.

Possessing strengths different from Hyeji’s, she was reminiscent of a sniper.

Firing seven silent arrows per second across a single bridge, she could not even be found by the enemy, and slowly but steadily, she eliminated them.

Of course, Hyunsoo was also moving busily.

The more than 100,000 residents of Verd Territory.

He safely brought those who had now become people of the nation of Hyun to the nation of Hyun.

And Dmitri.

Knowing just how despairing Dmitri’s story had been, Hyunsoo had needed to give him the compensation he could offer faster than anyone else.

Hyunsoo wanted Dmitri not to give up on the game, and as a result, Dmitri decided to belong to the nation of Hyun and establish a temple there.

Even in the middle of this chaos, busy enough that he had no time to breathe, Hyunsoo stood at one side of the battlefield and kept reading the flow.

In the end, Tai, who had been roaming the battlefield alone, was killed by the combined efforts of the enemy knights.

Triple Fire Storm.

Lund, who manifested absolute magic even Hyunsoo had never seen before, was also killed after failing to withstand the two knights who endured Fire Storm with their entire bodies and charged him.

Hyunsoo closed his eyes and surveyed the battlefield, reading the flow: the current total number of enemies annihilated was 160,000.

100,000 have been isolated.

Mio would not be broken through.

Then the remaining force numbered 240,000.

Hyunsoo’s chest swelled.

The “nameless soldiers” created through Rollo and Nell’s collaboration had annihilated 100,000.

Soldier 1, Soldier 2, and Soldier 3, whom he had established, had wiped out 70,000.

However, it was too early to rejoice.

KYEEEEEE—

Through Kkokko, who cut across the sky, he looked down and saw the 30,000 survivors from those Lund had fought, and the 100,000 whose commanders Tai had slaughtered, rapidly moving to join the 1st Army.

The Verd Territory Army, already numbering only 15,000, had no way of holding out once they joined up.

Hyunsoo handed a letter to Kkokko after it descended.

[Knight deployment.]

They were beings superior to soldiers.

Even Dmitri had asked Hyunsoo, “Who are the knights?”

The reason Hyunsoo had not singled out the knights and told Nell about them was that recruiting knights had to be even more covert than recruiting soldiers.

Information could not be allowed to leak by mistake.

Also, the knights would be stronger than the soldiers, and though Hyunsoo had not told Nell, she would have noticed.

By now, she should have succeeded.

Who could be called in as a knight?

Only two people existed.

One was Kabel.

Kabel, who was several levels above Lund, Mio, and Tai, would assassinate all the knights while in the position of a soldier.

Next was Valhalla.

Hyunsoo knew Valhalla also had lingering resentment he had to repay against the Parion Empire.

Also—

50,000 Massacrer.

He knew one of Valhalla’s titles was 30,000 Massacrer.

Then 50,000 must also exist, and there was no way Valhalla would miss the chance to seize that title.

Hyunsoo closed his eyes and continued sharing vision with Kkokko as he moved to join the Verd Territory Army.

The surviving forces rapidly drew close to the vicinity of Verd Territory.

Two kilometers.

Even Hyunsoo found himself short of breath at the sight of the enormous army advancing in a procession like a wave.

One and a half kilometers.

Watching the approaching enemy army, he waited for the two knights to be deployed.

However—

One kilometer...?

Hyunsoo, sensing something strange, sent Kkokko flying.

A short while later, Kkokko returned.

—Lord Hyunsoo, I know you must have wanted me to persuade the knights. Because of that, I immediately contacted Lord Kabel and Lord Valhalla.

Of course.

A smile bloomed on Hyunsoo’s lips.

One gesture was enough. One look was enough for them to understand each other.

Yes, let’s deploy the knights already, Nell.

As Hyunsoo read on through the letter, his face twisted.

—Both Lord Valhalla and Lord Kabel say it is impossible.

What...?

Hyunsoo’s face crumpled.

—First, in Lord Valhalla’s case, I’m told he consumed Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng. Unfortunately, although Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng can grant tremendous power when consumed, it makes it impossible to move at all for two days afterward.

—In Lord Kabel’s case, they entered the Tyrant’s Dungeon. When someone enters a dungeon connected to their class, they cannot use scrolls as they please. We were only able to contact them because it was Kkokko. Otherwise, contact would not have gone through at all.

In other words.

Both of them were unable to join the battle due to their circumstances.

I’m screwed...

Hyunsoo sank into self-loathing.

He carefully thought back over what had gone wrong, but strictly speaking, none of this was Hyunsoo’s fault.

Musashi’s Verd Territory had been destined to fall into a hopeless situation one way or another from the very beginning.

Hyunsoo had been the one to lower a lifeline into that place, and resisting this far alone was already a job well done... Hyunsoo consoled himself, then shook his head.

They’re all excuses.

The Verd Territory Army was about to be helplessly slaughtered.

And he had one more thought.

If there were no knights...

I’ll become the knight.

Hyunsoo increased his speed to correct the current situation.

*****

Bellaim Kingdom.

It was the largest nation on the Japanese server.

Finances, population, military strength, territory. Everything about it was superior.

The reason Bellaim Kingdom had been able to establish itself as such a great nation lay in its bloodsucking king.

That king had passed away not long ago, and Ruma, his only son, had ascended the throne.

Ruma was different from his father.

He was a king who knew how to cherish his people.

And so, he brought change to Bellaim, a nation that had grown by sucking blood.

The moment he took office, he lowered the tax rate to the level of an ordinary nation.

He was also an upright man.

He arrested the corrupt officials entrenched throughout the kingdom, confiscated their property, and ordered it to be distributed to the people.

Even after doing that, Bellaim Kingdom prospered.

Why?

Because its finances overflowed.

Bellaim Kingdom was the second wealthiest nation after the Parion Empire.

Yet even King Ruma feared the Parion Empire.

That Ruma was now moving urgently.

Where had he arrived with only a single escort knight?

It was a place overlooking Verd Territory.

“Why are they fighting?”

Muun, his escort knight, answered.

“They must be fighting so it will not be taken from them.”

“What are they trying not to have taken?”

“Verd Territory. And this continent.”

“......”

Although Ruma knew all the facts, he had denied them.

The fact that he had come here with only Muun, his escort knight, was proof of that.

If Verd Territory was seized, the entire Japanese server would be swallowed.

The Parion Empire Army that began stationing itself in Verd Territory would increase its numbers from 100,000 at first, to one million, then three million.

And then it would take control of one place after another.

The reason the Japanese server had still been safe was nothing more than “luck,” the fact that it was far away.

Ruma remembered the man named Musashi, the lord who had made Verd Territory independent.

He was fighting fiercely on the battlefield.

But the tide of battle seemed to be turning against them.

“Let us go closer.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The two of them drew closer.

Muun maximized his hearing and listened to what was happening.

“...They say there are no knights.”

“???”

Ruma could not understand exactly what that meant, and Muun continued relaying it.

“They say the ones who should have stopped them were originally supposed to be knights, but because there are no knights, they cannot stop them. Even so, they are impressive.”

Verd Territory was beginning to be pushed back, but it seemed to be giving everything it had.

Musashi, whom Ruma had seen before, swept through the Parion Empire Army and shouted,

“Rise! If there are no knights, then we will be the knights!”

“Do not make excuses! Hyunsoo has done everything he could. Without him, we would not even have made it this far!”

Those who had been pushed back behind Musashi squeezed out their strength.

The symbol of the Japanese server.

Thousands of Japanese swords raised high into the sky made King Ruma’s chest burn hot.

“What should I give them? Should I grant them titles?”

However, Muun at his side understood reality.

If Verd fell, titles would be worthless, and Muun was someone who could sometimes view reality more practically than Ruma.

“Give them money, Your Majesty. If Bellaim Kingdom falls, what use would titles be?”

“......”

It was an obvious truth.

If Bellaim Kingdom fell, titles would become utterly useless.

But money was not the same.

Even if a nation fell, even if the entire continent fell, money was something that still had use.

“Give 30 gold to anyone who kills a member of the Parion Empire Army.”

[A new story begins.]

[Kingdom Quest: Final Battle has been created!]

DING!

[Kingdom Quest: Final Battle]

Grade: A

Restriction: All those fighting for Verd.

Reward: 30 gold for killing 1 member of the Parion Empire Army, 10,000 gold for killing a knight.

Penalty upon failure: Fall of Verd Territory.

Description: Ruma, master of Bellaim Kingdom, which originally possessed Verd Territory, is supporting the will of the warriors fighting until the very end. You will receive rewards according to the number of enemies you defeat.

It was the moment when “Kingdom Quest: Final Battle” was created for every participant.

A war that had held no real reward now had a fairly large reward attached to it.

“Thirty gold per person?”

“That’s huge!”

“What’s the point of getting rewards now? We’re all about to die!”

However, the battlefield they saw was slowly tilting.

DOOOOM!

DOOOOOOM!

DOOOOOOOOM!

DOOOOOOOOOOM!

The sound of drums echoing across all of Verd Territory announced that the Parion Empire Army was swarming in.

“...Your Majesty, you must leave.”

Muun urged him to move.

Before taking a step, Ruma turned back and looked at the Verd Territory Army.

Of the 14,000, 5,000 had been killed in action.

It was no different from 5,000 people who had once been his own people being killed in action, and soon, the rest would also be unable to avoid annihilation.

Verd Territory, and perhaps even this entire continent, might no longer have any hope left.

It was right then.

“Knight appearing.”

“???”

A deep voice sounded from behind them.

The one Verd Territory Army was looking for...

A knight...?

Soon, the man whose eyes met theirs said,

“...You are not the Parion Empire Army. This place is dangerous, so please hurry and flee.”

Then the man shot forward.

BAAAAAANG—!!

Ruma and Muun stared at the place where the man who had vanished like a ghost had been standing.

They could only feel puzzled by the man’s baffling appearance.

“You must leave at once.”

Muun soon urged him.

Because 120,000 troops of the Parion Empire Army were pouring down from the mountain on the opposite side.

Ruma staggered with sorrow.

“That knight... was only one person?”

Tears flowed from Ruma’s eyes.

It grieved him that the one Verd Territory had been counting on was nothing more than a single man.

“They are fighting with so little hope that they were waiting for just one knight!”

It was true that the “knight they thought did not exist” had ultimately arrived on the battlefield.

But Ruma remembered the army of 120,000 approaching from the other side, and his heart felt as if it were being torn apart.

Separate from that, however, Muun hurriedly urged him on and moved.

“You must leave at once!”

Muun moved in the direction the man had come from.

And Ruma, who had thought it was only one man, was startled.

Because of what he saw as they entered the forest path the man had passed through.

“What in the world...?”

Sixty thousand soldiers of the Parion Empire Army had been annihilated.