Chapter 420

Chapter 420

Cha Jin-Hyeok grabbed Miri’s handle.

-I’m growing. Bigger! Bigger!

Miri became enormous. Usually, oversized weapons were impractical and useless, but this was different. In this situation, where Jin-Hyeok’s goal was not to kill the enemy but to create a more spectacular attack, Miri’s intimidating size made for quite an impressive display. The giant golden hammer grew large enough to cover Jin-Hyeok’s entire mansion and then some.

“Crush the enemy, O weapon born from the law that destroys rules,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Whoosh!

With a chilling sound of tearing space, the massive hammer struck Kyle.

“Urgh!” Kyle gritted his teeth and glared at Jin-Hyeok. “Kim Chul-Soo!!”

His expression looked incredibly grave and intense. Suspended in the air, Kyle coughed up blood. Until that moment, the Sword Emperor Unit’s members believed their captain had a hidden trump card.

‘He must have something up his sleeve.’

‘He’s not the kind of person to fall to an attack like that!’

Thud!

Kyle fell to the ground.

“C-Captain!”

“Captain!”

The soldiers were not the only ones who felt a sense of crisis. Jin-Hyeok was also deeply alarmed.

‘No way! Is he dead?’ Jin-Hyeok rushed over to Kyle. Kyle didn’t seem to be breathing. ‘Why is the Sword Emperor Unit’s captain so weak?!’

Jin-Hyeok had only meant to execute a dramatic attack; this was not his intention. He had tried to control his strength because of the Garbinu incident, but he had failed.

“Chul-Soo, you bastard!”

“We will avenge our captain...Argh!”

Jin-Hyeok swiftly swung his hammer, and a powerful gust of wind swept over the Sword Emperor Unit’s members. This attack wasn’t lethal, but it immobilized them for a few seconds.

“Don’t die, Kyle!”

Jin-Hyeok poured a potion into Kyle’s mouth. It was a potion made from Jin-Hyeok’s blood.

***

The entire universe’s online communities were buzzing with excitement.

-How the hell did Chul-Soo defeat Kyle in one hit?

-Chul-Soo has become so powerful!

-How is this even possible?

People were starting to catch on.

-This must be because Chul-Soo is Level 500, right?

-The Level 500 advantage seems insane!

That was the only explanation for this phenomenon.

-Could Garbinu really be dead?

└That’s a bit much...

└He was the greatest Demon King in history. People who know nothing always exaggerate like this.

└The academic consensus is that Garbinu had not fully recovered his strength since he had just awakened.

In any case, word spread that Jin-Hyeok possessed abnormally strong power compared to other Players and that the source of this power was his high Level.

However, some keen observers analyzed the situation from a different angle.

-This must be staged.

-Kyle’s attack style is completely different from usual.

This conspiracy theory was far more convincing than [Could Garbinu really be dead?].

-Kyle and Chul-Soo must be in cahoots.

Deliark proposed to cover one issue with a bigger issue. He was suggesting to use his death as a sacrifice to frame Chul-Soo as a Demon.

The emperor pondered this plan for a long time. He had to decide between his beloved son and the fate of the empire.

“If we leave Chul-Soo alone, he will eventually devour the empire, Your Majesty. Please accept my proposal.”

“No, I can’t do that.”

The emperor chose his son. Even if Chul-Soo could become a threat to the empire in the future, losing his son to eliminate him was unacceptable.

Deliark knelt as he trembled slightly. “...Father.”

The emperor thought his son looked like a rain-soaked fawn. He could not remain still when his son, who always called him Your Majesty, now called him Father.

‘You were afraid too,’ the emperor thought. He had thought his son had no fear because he spoke so boldly, that he had iron in his veins. However, that was not the case. ‘You must have been so scared...’

The emperor approached his son and embraced him.

‘Has it been ten years?’

It was the first time the emperor had hugged Deliark since the latter’s childhood. The emperor had never expressed his feelings to his son because he had been too busy with state affairs, felt a bit awkward, and worried about softening his son’s heart.

Thud!

Suddenly, a dagger coated with the White Snake King’s poison pierced the emperor’s heart.

“You have worked hard all this time, Your Majesty.”

“Deli...ark...”

Deliark looked at the fallen emperor with eyes devoid of emotion. He then seated the emperor on the throne and issued an order.

“By decree of His Majesty the Emperor, as soon as Chul-Soo enters the palace, launch a full-scale attack and kill him.”

Today would be recorded as a terrible day—the day a monster descended from Demon blood murdered the emperor. And history would sing of a new hero.

“A beautiful day will soon arrive,” Deliark said.

The heroic tale of a child who lost his father to a Demon finally achieving bloody revenge would surely ignite the hearts of the empire’s people.

***

Jin-Hyeok entered the Swedeen Empire’s Imperial Palace under Kyle’s guidance.

“Oh... I think this is the first time we’re livestreaming from inside the Imperial Palace!”

[First Ever: Swedeen’s Imperial Palace Revealed!]

This content was incredibly compelling. Jin-Hyeok could not believe he could broadcast the Imperial Palace live.

‘Huh?’ Jin-Hyeok felt that something was a bit off.

[Livestream transmission is unstable.]

The livestream had not completely cut off, but the transmission was stuttering. Of the two billion viewers, a whopping one billion were kicked out from the livestream.

‘Is it because there are too many viewers?’ However, that did not seem to be the case. Broadcaster’s Insight detected something artificial. ‘Ah... Could it be...?’

It was a familiar tactic to interfere with the livestream. They seemed to have deployed an EMP barrier inside the Imperial Palace. Jin-Hyeok, who rarely got angry, turned red with rage. “Isn’t this crossing the line?”

Then the members of the Sword Emperor Unit collapsed one by one. A fishy smell filled the air as a dense poisonous fog rolled in, making it impossible to see ahead. Kyle covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve. “Kim Chul-Soo!”

The members of the Sword Emperor Unit were immune to most poisons, yet they still fell to the ground. This had to be an incredibly potent poison. It had to be the Snake King level, or perhaps even beyond.

‘I need to get Chul-Soo out of here first!’ Kyle thought.

Something had gone wrong in the palace, though Kyle was not sure what. However, Jin-Hyeok showed no intention of moving. Instead, it felt like he wanted to go further inside.

“Chul-Soo! This is no time to be stubborn!” Kyle yelled. His stomach was already churning. Though he was resisting with his mana, it was truly a terrifying poison. “We need to retrea—”

But retreat was not an option either. An invisible barrier blocked their escape route. There wasn’t time to break through it. The poisonous fog was right in front of them.

“Activate Absolute Barrier,” Jin-Hyeok said.

The Absolute Barrier enveloped Kyle. Kyle bit his lip. ‘Is he trying to buy me time? Even if it’s just a few seconds?’

Undoubtedly, even at the cost of his defense, Chul-Soo had used the barrier on Kyle to give him time to break through the outer barrier.

‘Chul-Soo, you...!’ Kyle gritted his teeth. He had to make good use of the time Chul-Soo had bought him. At the very least, he needed to save the Sword Emperor Unit members. ‘Huh?’

But then, something unexpected unfolded.