CH 210

67. Ancient Gods! (1)

The two masters immediately attacked Iron at the same time, the powers they received from the ancient gods on full display. 

They had already seen the combat records from the battle in the southeast, and had even watched videos of the battle. Iron’s powers were so freakish that he was able to face both the manticore that had wiped the floor with Master Yolke, and the imoogi. [1]

Of course, Master Yolke had become stronger than he was then, but it still did not negate how strong the Manticore was. They too would have found it difficult to fight the Manticore one-on-one. 

But Iron had fought both the manticore and the Imoogi at the same time…

“……this monster.”

“Hoo……”

The two masters exchanged several blows with Iron, confirming the rumours they had heard about him. In fact, he seemed to have become even stronger than the rumours said. He didn’t even look tired despite fighting the both of them without the help of the divine beasts. 

Even though they were using the powers of the ancient gods, they found it difficult to break through Iron’s defences. Iron was a master now, and his swordsmanship had become even more exceptional than they’d thought, but the most difficult thing was his holy power. 

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Not a single crack was made on the shield of light, even as Muradin struck it endlessly. Carlos watched for a chance to attack, but still couldn’t make a dent in Iron’s steel-like defence. It was clear that they were the ones who would be disadvantaged if things continued that way.

Just then, the earth rose suddenly, creating a giant that struck Iron with both its arms. 

Boom!

The shield of light blocked the blows, but the rock giant did not stop striking. Despite seeing that its attacks were failing, the giant continued, battle qi billowing off of it’s body.

“This power……”

He had seen this power before, sometime in the past. He had seen it when Rovanov came to the southeast to receive recognition as a master. 

As soon as Iron recognised that power, he saw an enormous water dragon forming in the sky. 

“Kim Jungtae……”

The water dragon was much bigger than the last time he had seen it. Not only was its size greater, but he could also feel great spirit power coming from it as it watched him. 

‘Did he fuse his spirit with the water dragon?’

He had no idea how it had been done, but the water dragon, an ancient creature, had been fused with spirit. It now possessed strength that could not be taken lightly. 

Following behind was Rovanov, who had fused with the rock giant and was emitting an immense amount of battle qi. It seemed that, while he had been stabilising the southeast and working in the Empire’s capital, they all advanced tremendously. 

Added to all this was a surprise attack from Al Assad. Having been on the receiving end of his attack before, Iron could block it. But the problem was what came afterwards. 

Harry Williams’ attacks came at him without ceasing, while Jamie’s magic containing wave power rained down on him. And what took the cake were the countless animals Hikardu had with him, and the constant bombardment with spirit power. 

Boooom!

Bombarded from every side, Iron was attacked by the power of the other-worlders. Even if he had apostle-level divine power, with all these powers focused on him, he would definitely be injured, especially as they had also received powers from the ancient gods. 

The six strongest other-worlders joined forces to catch Iron, and the two masters who were in the running for the title of strongest in the south were trying to do the same as well. There was no way Iron could endure the wave of attacks. In the end, he decided to use all his power. He covered his aura blade in lightning and cold qi, and recalled all the divine beasts he had sent to deal with the incarnations of the ancient gods. 

“Now…… you are planning to use all your strength?”

Muradin fiercely scowled, as if his pride had been trampled on. Carlos had the same look on his face. Both of them had lived in Southern Kingdoms’ Confederation enjoying immense power, enough that they were almost on par with kings. Although they had been judged to be one level lower compared to masters from the Empire, no matter how one looked at it, they were still two of the very few masters on the continent. Despite joining hands to attack one person, they had been unable to make him use all his strength. It had taken six other-worlders coming forward and joining forces for them to see this young master’s full powers. 

But if one thought about it carefully, there was no reason for their pride to be hurt. 

[Unofficially known as the continent’s strongest]

This was the rumour circulating around the Empire, especially around the young people who saw Iron’s exceptional performance. 

However, the elderly and middle-aged people felt different. They had endless faith in the family heads of the Lion and Godly Sword clans, the two pillars that had supported the empire in the past. As such, they would not admit that Iron, who was still in his early 20s, had surpassed the two clan heads. Of course, they could see his accomplishments; it was clear to all that he was a hero who had made great contributions to saving the Empire. But they felt that at best he had reached the same level as the two clan heads, and in no way could he surpass them. After all, the two clan heads also had a huge part in solving the crisis the Empire faced. 

But at some point, those Grand Masters began to lose their central position on the stage of power in the Empire. And the only one whose power could compare to theirs was Iron. 

[The Empire’s top 3!]

It was clear that Iron’s power at present had long surpassed that of other masters, so much so that the Empire’s newspapers wrote about it openly. 

Therefore, it was preposterous for those two masters from the south to think that they could catch him.

“No matter how much we struggle to be the continent’s strongest……”

The two masters fought him hard, using the powers they had received from the ancient gods, but his defence was still as firm as ever. This was the same for the other-worlders who attacked him. Even though the six of them attacked, they were repeatedly blocked by the divine beasts. Thunderbird faced the water dragon and the rock giant, while the wave magic and the numerous spirits and druid animals could not get past Two Moons. Meanwhile, Al Assad’s darkness and Harry Williams’ light sword were caught up in trying to stop Phoenix’s flames. 

“Is this all they’ve got?”

Iron said as he stretched his neck. Compared to when he fought the manticore and Imoogi, this battle was much more relaxed. Of course at that time, he had overstretched himself while fighting them, and the two monsters had been extremely strong. But it was undeniable that the other-worlders’ strengths did not match the level he expected. They were at a level where he could deal with them even if he only deployed the divine beasts. Moreover, Iron had advanced one more level after that last bloody battle, so it was natural for him to feel relaxed when facing the other-worlders. 

‘Still, they have indeed gotten a lot stronger.’

Iron thought to himself, as he faced the two masters who were attacking him frantically. 

His feeling that the battle was easier meant that he had reached a level that surpassed those of the two clan heads that were in the running for the title of the Empire’s strongest. In a way, it made him relieved, and somewhat happy. 

Iron used the unexpected breathing space to look around at other places. As expected, he could see fierce battles happening in other places. The overall level of the south’s army, including the other-worlders, was quite strong. Still, the Mobile Field Army had the experience from the battle in the southeast, and so could handle them. The problem was the several incarnations that had appeared suddenly. 

They could handle most of the incarnations, but a few very strong incarnations were causing the Mobile Field Army considerable damage. Among them, was an incarnation that was particularly focused on Iron. The army could fend off the other incarnations, one way or the other, but this particular incarnation was terrorising the Mobile Field Army. 

As Iron watched the overall progress of the battle, he wondered if he would need to send one of the divine beasts to fight that one incarnation. That incarnation bothered Iron especially. It was crisscrossing the battlefield at a high speed, like light itself, its body made of lightning. 

-Die! You dogs of the Lord God!

The incarnation was wielding a lance made of lightning, and trifling with the Mobile Field Army’s knights. Although the knights had gone past their human limitations using mana, and had become much stronger, there was still a clear difference between them and the incarnation. 

That incarnation was around the same size as a human, but it was difficult to deal with. Not only was it moving as fast as lightning to attack the knights, it also forced tens of knights to retreat with each swing of its lance. Its strength could almost be taken for a master’s, overwhelming the knights. 

“Stand back.”

“Co… commander.”

Ariel swung her sword to block the lance that was aimed at a knight. 

“I will deal with him myself.”

“But… but……”

“Spread out and go help your comrades.”

The knights clenched their teeth and quickly dispersed. Because of the incarnation, things were not going favourably for the Mobile Field Army. The Commander had stopped the six other-worlders and the two masters from the Confederation’s army but they did not retreat. 

-What a delectable prey. 

The incarnation looked at Ariel, its tongue darting in and out. But Ariel did not respond to its provocations, raising her sword instead. 

-You are pretty fast…… then let’s go a few rounds!

As the lightning-formed incarnation swung its lance and charged at Ariel, she stabbed at it with all her might. 

Clang!

Ariel returned the attack coming at her from the lightning lance. 

-You blocked my attack?

The incarnation looked at Ariel with surprise. Regardless of how low its rank had become, it had no idea that humans who were not masters could respond to his attacks. It had been planning to toy around with Ariel, but she seemed much stronger than it had thought. This time, it was out for blood. 

-This one will be different. 

As it said that, it struck faster and stronger than it had before. It rapidly unleashed flashes of lightning to quickly break through Ariel’s sword defence. Thinking that she would not be able to hold up against the incarnation’s rapid speed, Ariel raised her head and began fighting back. 

Clang!

-What the……

“It seems you are nothing special.”

Once she said that, Ariel charged to attack first this time. As if to show that she had been playing all the while, her sword flashed through the air, attacking from all sides so that that incarnation was unable to escape. 

-How dare you!

The incarnation, enraged that she was suppressing it, revealed its full strength. Lightning flashed in every direction, as its body turned into pure lightning. 

But this time too, Ariel fought back and fended off its attack. 

The lightning lance and Ariel’s sword clashed in the air, exchanging countless blows at a speed that was invisible to the eye. 

“Hoo……”

As if they had agreed on it, both Ariel and the incarnation jumped back a step, taking deep breaths as they looked for cracks in each other’s defence. 

Just then, Ariel heard the sound of a notification. 

Ding!

[Win the battle against the ancient god’s spear. The victor will receive a huge reward!]

The notification she heard brought a smile to her face. She had been given a quest, with an enemy that she had to defeat, which made her motivation to win even more fervent. The enemy that had been toying with the knights was not that strong. When she had seen it from afar, it had seemed to possess master-level strength. But when she went head to head with it, as it turned out, it was not all that. 

‘Is this some sort of contempt for the weak?’

Strong before the weak, and weak before the strong.[2] That was the perfect description for the actions of the incarnation in front of her. 

‘I can win!

Ariel’s eyes sparkled as she thought. 

Notes: 

[1] Master Yolke shows up in later chapters (in about 10). 

[2] ‘Strong before the weak,…’: 강약약강; an interesting four-character idiom that was coined quite recently and is often used on the internet. It describes someone who is weak when facing people who are strong, and strong in front of weaker people; someone who likes to throw their weight around for no reason