Chapter 1018

Chapter 1018

Goosebumps rose all over Cardin’s body.

“Herakel’s club. Endure it eight times,” Previously smiling, the young man now spoke with a chilling expression.

“Noodles?! Soup?!”

“Herakel and Conir can also switch your head with your hands,” the young man said as he punched the huge stone beside him.

Crack, crack, crack–!

“...”

Cardin’s eyes grew wide from the ridiculous display of power. It looked like a light punch, but the colossal stone shattered into tiny pieces. Cardin realized that his words were wrong when he saw the two acting like hooligans(?) and glaring at him.

‘Hoo. What do I have with me right now?’

There was a very precious potion that he had obtained before. The potion, Becoming Hero Elixir, could increase the person’s stats upon consumption.

Cardin slipped the potion to them. The boy quickly grabbed it. Then, with blazing eyes, he said, “Noodles or soup?!! Answer!!!”

“N, no. If you won’t take it as payment, please give it ba...”

“Noodles?! Soup?!”

“Herakel is angry.”

Cardin was rendered speechless. Did that mean that he gave out his potion for nothing? That potion was worth a hundred million times more than what he had eaten. But their faces had grown uglier than before.

Conir placed one of his hands in his pockets. Then, he shook his leg as if impatient before raising his head and saying, “You. Do you really want to do it this way?”

At the same time, Herakel tapped his club on the palm of his hands once again. Gét latest novel chapters on nov(e)lbj/n(.)c/om

“Ptew!” Herakel pretended to spit as he copied Conir by placing his hand in his pocket and shaking his leg.

‘This– Are they really hooligans?’

Cardin had already taken out and given them a very precious potion.

‘But it’s true that I did something wrong, too.’

He ate food in a restaurant, but he did not have any money, so he tried to skip paying for his meal. After pondering deeply, an idea struck his mind. He said, “Please wait a moment.”

Then, Cardin hurriedly rushed off. And the loud roars of monsters rang in the direction where he went. In the world of Athenae, both NPCs and players alike could get gold by hunting monsters.

Cardin picked up the gold the monsters dropped and gave it to the two brothers. Herakel excitedly accepted the gold. He said, “He– Herakel! This is Herakel’s first time making money in Herakel’s life!”

“Wow. Herakel! Herakel is very amazing! Conir took three months before Conir made his first money in his business!”

“He- Herakel is a cool man! A manly man!”

Cardin could not help but give a bitter smile when he saw the scene before him. He said, “Since I’ve got a lot of gold, I’m giving you more. Consider this an apology for earlier.”

Then, he gave the two brothers all the gold he acquired. The two immediately bowed and rubbed their hands together.

“Hehe, customer. Did you like our dishes?”

“Fufu, customer. Please visit us again next time!”

“Alright. Then, about the potion that I gave you earlier...”

“Hehe, customer. Would you like to have another bowl?”

“We can also give you another roll of kimbap.”

“No, I’m talking about the potion I gave you earlier...”

“???”

“???”

The two brothers looked at Cardin as if they could not understand what he was saying. They even tilted their heads cutely and showed him an innocent expression! At this moment, Cardin realized that the two hooligan(?) brothers had played him for a fool! When he tried to say something, he saw Herakel’s muscles twitch.

‘This- this is a threat...’

Cardin gulped dryly. “F- fine.”

There was something far more important than the potion. Since the two brothers could come here, there was a high chance that they knew how to get out of this place.

“By any chance, do you guys know how to get out of this place?”

Minhyuk had concluded this. Now that he knew Balaman was going to attack them, he could prepare in advance.

Nerva completely understood. If he were in Minhyuk’s place, he would also turn down the offer that he had made.

Nerva’s aide turned to look at him. He thought, ‘What are you trying to do?’

Now that Nerva had come down from his position, he was left with no supporters. Even so, Nerva still felt he had a mission to protect the Luvien Empire. And he wanted to start by appointing an upright emperor.

At that moment, the aide heard the words that Nerva always murmured.

“The only emperor that I have and will acknowledge...”

The aide thought that Nerva was murmuring these words because he regretted that he could not let the prince sit on the emperor’s throne.

On the other hand, Minhyuk frowned and said, “Are you trying to praise the prince, who I do not wish to help, in front of me right now...”

“...is Brod.”

“...?!”

The eyes of both Minhyuk and the aide grew wide from shock when they heard those words. Nerva had just mentioned a person's name that should have never come out of his mouth. Only at this moment did the aide understand.

‘The only emperor that His Highness Nerva has ever and will ever acknowledge is not His Highness Prince Cardin, but Brod?!’

Nerva’s words might be brief, but they had very heavy meanings.

Nerva was the type of person who had never clung to his flesh and blood. He believed that only an outstanding person was qualified to become the true master of the Luvien Empire.

And who would that be? Was it the still young yet intelligent prince? No. It was the fallen emperor. He was the one who should have been the true master of the Luvien Empire. Nerva wanted Cardin to become the emperor so he could ultimately give the Luvien Empire back to its rightful owner.

“Do you understand now?” A grim smile flashed on Nerva’s face. “This is the second step toward that goal.”

The first step was for Nerva to step down from his position.

Minhyuk knew that even though the Beyond the Heavens Empire could grow large enough to rival the Luvien Empire and win against them in war, there was something he could not do.

‘I can never be the emperor of the Luvien Empire.’

No, even if possible, Minhyuk was not confident he could lead the Luvien Empire. But thanks to Nerva’s words, Minhyuk realized another path was open for them.

‘It might be impossible for me, but that’s not the case for Brod.’

Even if the Luvien Empire of today would grow bigger and stronger, Brod might still become its emperor. And to top it off, Brod was Minhyuk’s beloved and faithful vassal. Even if Brod became the emperor of the Luvien Emperor, that fact would remain the same. Minhyuk shuddered at the thought of Brod wearing his crown and standing in front of the tens of millions of troops of the Luvien Imperial Army as its emperor.

Minhyuk finally nodded. “Alright. I’ll accept your offer.”

Then, he immediately stood up. Since he had made a decision, they had to make a move quickly. And since they were going to move secretly, he had to minimize the number of troops he had to deploy.

‘It’s okay for me to move alone for now.’

He could just use the Almond of Subordinates whenever he wanted.

“What’s his estimated location?”

“Training Land. That’s the only information that we have as of the moment.”

Minhyuk’s face grew ugly. Not only could Nerva not make any hasty moves, but there was also the chance that Balaman, already running rampant, had gotten to the information first.

“What if Balaman had already located him and disposed of him?”

“Then, there’s a high chance that all the work I have done will be for nothing,” Nerva said.

Minhyuk immediately headed toward the Training Land after his conversation with Nerva.

***

At the same time.

Gulp–

Prince Cardin gulped dryly. Everything was going smoothly. He could leave where he got caught and got lost with the help of the hooligan brothers. But when he thanked them and tried to rush to where his comrades were waiting for him, more than 100,000 soldiers suddenly appeared around them. And there were skulls painted on the back of their cloaks.

‘Why do I feel like the air around them has changed?’

The young boy standing in front of the wreckage of their ramyeon handcart looked at the 100,000 troops. There was killing intent evident in those eyes.

“Hey. Do you put the noodles first or the soup first?”

Then, with his huge and sturdy build, the young man looked at the army with a cold and frigid gaze and said, “Herakel will switch all of your heads with your feet.”