Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 571: Battle of the Thrones (Middle)

Who was the strongest person in the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom? There was a lot of discussion about this. Lesser Demon Diablo, who was now called Elpis, and Food God Minhyuk, the holder of a god class and the Beyond the Heavens King, would be the strongest. Most of the debates went on like that.

However, for those in Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, there was nothing to discuss about. If you asked the members of the kingdom, all of them would answer one person and one person alone with great confidence and certainty.

The Mercenary King, previous escort of Rocard Kingdom’s Queen Iris, and the only livestock farmer in the kingdom: Beyond the Heavens’ Sword Brod.

The members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom were confident that he was the strongest in their kingdom. In fact, even though Ghost Spear Ben had become a Spear God now, there was no certainty that he would win against Brod in a fight.

Many of the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom were curious about Brod’s identity. This was because Brod was declared as the Mercenary King that roamed the continent but none of his past deeds and records were known to the world. But now, it was finally revealed. He was someone that stood toe to toe with the emperor, Nerva Sephiroth, of the Luvien Empire, that would lead Athenae’s second era.

Although he did not take the position of the ‘Battle God’s Sword’ and rose to the throne to become the Emperor, he was still the most powerful God’s Sword that could exert tremendous power. Of course he was the ‘God’s Sword’ of the past but the fact that he was the strongest and most powerful Sword among all of the God’s Swords present in the Battle of Thrones remained unchanged.

Brod had left Minhyuk and Beyond the Heavens Kingdom on his own for everyone’s sake. But an unknown force suddenly dragged him here. Brod was able to analyze the situation quickly the moment he arrived.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Brod’s figure finally appeared once the thick cloud of dust settled down. He was still as tall as ever, with his height of two meters, and his piercing glare was still enough to make everyone that tried to approach him falter in their steps.

[B, Brod… has come back!]

[Absolute God’s Sword Brod! His identity as Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s livestock farmer has been revealed!]

[I have heard rumors about Brod being ‘dead’. But surprisingly enough, he’s very much alive and not a tad bit dead!]

Indeed, Brod’s figure had not been seen in the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom recently. Rumors about Brod not being able to withstand the power coursing through his veins and ended up dying because of it started to spread in public. And because Beyond the Heavens Kingdom never took a solid stance and explained this matter, everyone believed this to be the truth.

But then, Brod returned as the ‘Absolute God’s Sword’.

Then, the gates of the kingdom opened as the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom and Korea’s top rankers rushed out. Brod was, in fact, Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s Commander-in-chief. Elpis was temporarily holding this position but Beyond the Heavens’ Sword Brod’s teachings and influence were so great that all of the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom still remembered them. On top of that, Brod had a force that was equal to ten thousand forces. No one would be afraid as long as he was on the battlefield with them. The members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, a mere 1,000-strong force, stood in a line behind Brod and forced the 100,000-strong troops to take a step back.

Then, Calauhel shouted, “Morons!!! All of you are rankers, prominent rankers from all over the world! Yet you’re afraid of just those numbers?”

The rankers immediately came back to their senses. They were not a hundred thousand ordinary troops fighting in this war; they were like a hundred thousand top-ranking knights. It did not matter how strong a person was, as long as enough numbers ganged up on him, they would still win.

However, there was something that they had overlooked. As of the moment, the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s rankers’ stats and skill damage had dramatically increased from their continuous victories. On top of that, they received the effects of Kimaris’ ‘Unparalleled Bravery’. They had also received a ‘special privilege’ after the system recognized that they were being attacked by an alliance, which allowed them to receive special rewards in the form of stat increases, potions, or ‘skill cooldown reset parchments’ every time they won.

Brod took a deep breath as he looked at the people lined up on both of his sides. He had missed all of them dearly as he continued to fight his lonely battle to protect Minhyuk and his kingdom. It was a pity that he could not see His Majesty right now.

Still, ‘Commander-in-chief’ Brod uttered the words that Minhyuk always said whenever they were faced with many enemies, “Wipe them out.”

Clank, clank, clank, clank, clank—

The moment Brod gave his orders, Great Pirate Gorfido’s Ten Thousand Chain immediately lengthened and stretched out. The elongated Ten Thousand Chain formed a loop and captured around 1,000 of the rankers at the vanguard.

Crack—

The moment Gorfido clenched his fists, the chains tightened and cracked the enemies’ bones. Then, Brod and Elpis immediately took the vanguard and stepped forward. Brod and Elpis, the Sword and Shield of Beyond the Heavens; the combination of these two people were so overpowered that no ordinary ranker could match against them. The Devil Judge’s Sword slaughtered several enemies in one slash, as hundreds of wolves jumped out from Brod’s sword and tore several more apart.

Then, there was Kimaris…

Baaaaaaaaaaaang—

…whose gigantic axe split his enemies heads with every swing. Following their lead, the rankers of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom cast their skills one after the other.

“Hell’s Flaming Red Carriage!!!”

When Ace, who beat Dongsan Elementary School’s Shanks, punched out, as a gigantic carriage covered with blazing flames suddenly shot out. However, despite the shocking display of attack, the enemy troops just snickered at him.

“We’re also rankers.”

“We can easily defend against an attack like that.”

But things went differently from what they thought.

Craaaaackle—

The carriage covered in blazing flames charged on and received plenty of attacks from the enemies, but the attack itself was not offset. After all, all of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s guild members and the South Korean rankers temporarily had higher stats and skill damage than their enemies.

Baaaaaaaaaang—

Just like that, Hell’s Flaming Red Carriage exploded in the midst of the enemy troops. Meanwhile, two men jumped high above the enemy troops. These two were the strongest fighters in the South Korean ranking board. These two were none other than Master of Kicks Ares and Master of Fists Khan. Khan used his ‘Giant’s Punch’ and punched down toward the ground.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

At the same time, several attacks bombarded Khan’s body.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

“Ughh!”

It did not matter how much stronger they became compared to their enemies, the moment they got hit by a one-shot kill attack, their HP would eventually fall. At the same time, a kick from Ares, who jumped together with Khan, came slamming into the ground.

“Dragon’s Dive.”

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang—

The strike was like a death sentence to the people below. The Dragon’s Dive struck the same place where Khan’s Giant’s Punch fell down, causing a short earthquake and a fissure to spread out. Hundreds of their enemies died with their combo. Then, Genie’s whip extended and wrapped around the two people, who were still in the air under the constant attacks of the enemies, and dragged them back.

“Haaa… Why do the two of you always like to show off?” Genie clicked her tongue as she swung her whip around. With a swing of her whip, all of the attacks that came toward the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom were all offset. Of course, the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom did not stop and quickly cast the skills that they used before once again.

“Dragon’s Dive!!!”

“Giant’s Punch!!!”

“…?!”

“…?!”

“…?!”

The players could not understand the situation. This was because they did not know about the items that the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had received as a special privilege. Yes, what Beyond the Heavens Kingdom was aiming for was now clearly revealed here. The risks in facing countless enemies would increase as time went by, but the more they fought, the stronger they got and the better privileges they would receive. This would then allow them to widen the gap between them and the other players. In the end, a ranker at Level 500 would be no match against rankers at Level 600 or Level 700.

The guild members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom continued to fight like that. On top of that, they also had Mercenary King Brod, Lesser Demon Elpis, Great Pirate Gorfido, Demon Kimaris, and even Spear God Ben. Each and every single one of them were stronger than a named boss-rank existence. Eventually, the 100,000-strong troops started to lose their momentum.

“This is impossible…” Calauhel muttered, his face twisting into an ugly expression after witnessing a completely ridiculous scene in front of him. Over 40,000 rankers that had died under their hands.

In the midst of all this, notifications still kept on ringing in Genie’s ears.

.

[You have hunted 5,000 rankers.]

[You have achieved an astounding record during the Battle of Thrones.]

[Additional items have been added to your special rewards.]

[You can now use the consumable items in your possession.]

[…10,000 rankers.]

Genie’s face turned brighter at the continuous notifications that rang in her ears. The more enemies came at them, the more things they gained, which would allow them to become stronger and finally prepare for a counter attack. The moment that happened, they would immediately strike another kingdom and take away their throne.

But then, notifications suddenly started to pop up one after the other.

[Japan’s Defense has ended.]

The defense event was slowly coming to an end. This meant that Brod would also disappear soon. And Brod was also aware that he would soon be whisked away from this place too. So, he began doing his final spurt. At the same time, a shocking notification rang for the rest of the world.

[America has been the first to successfully hunt a God’s Sword!]

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

It was very shocking. Even Joy Co. Ltd. found it shocking and unexpected that a country that could hunt a God’s Sword would appear at this point. Of course, amazing special rewards would be bestowed to the country that succeeded in hunting a God’s Sword.

Finally, Brod began to disappear. He said, “Please tell His Majesty that I will come back soon.”

The huge alliance army was relieved to see Brod finally disappear. Things would improve now with his absence. However, Brod had also received several special privileges after hunting so many of them.

“Final Chapter,” Brod uttered, killing 5,000 rankers in one go with the Mercenary’s Pinnacle Swordsmanship’s final chapter, “Wolf’s Death.”

In that instant, a thousand wolves, not a hundred, shot out from Brod’s sword and devoured the enemies.

“Mercenary’s Massacre.”

“Wolf’s Howl.”

“Slaughtering Wolf.”

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh—

The Slaughtering Wolf was a skill with a system that could immediately recognize the twelve strongest and most threatening people from the bunch and target them, devouring and slaughtering them all in one go. When Brod finally disappeared, only 20,000 people were left in the allied troops.

“…”

“…”

Everyone turned silent at the intense and lingering fear and emotions that Brod left them before he disappeared. Meanwhile, the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom slowly started to retreat, trying to get back inside the safety of their castle once again. But then, Calauhel, who only had 40% of his HP left after being hit by Brod’s Slaughterer Wolf, heard a surprising, but welcome, notification.

[Ariot Kingdom has joined the alliance!]

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

Ariot Kingdom was none other than ‘America’. That was not all.

[Mt. Fuji Kingdom has joined the alliance!]

[Velveno Kingdom has joined the alliance!]

[Kaynon Kingdom has joined…!]

All of the countries that have not joined the alliance yet immediately joined them. This was to capture and defeat the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom because the contributions that they had accumulated had reached an unprecedented level to the point that they could not chase after them anymore. With America’s initiative, everyone immediately united. And…

“F*ck.”

…Genie’s face turned ugly. Far in the distance, 26 kings rode on horseback and charged toward where they were. At the vanguard was ‘America’s Strongest’, Alexander.

Everyone wondered who would win if the Food God and Alexander did a 1:1 PVP. None of them was sure. Alexander’s fame and greatness in Athenae was true in name and in reality. He was actually the most favored ‘King’ in this event. Also, he was 1.5x stronger than usual. And the same went for the other kings.

The kings immediately made a decision, they would begin the second round today. And Alexander, who was riding upfront on his horse, shouted, “Cataclysm.”

Baaaaaaaaaang—

Everyone watched in surprise as Alexander’s sword became hundreds of times larger than normal, hacking down at the huge walls and devouring the Korean rankers that were trying to retreat. The walls began to crack. However, the most important fact here was…

“America has received a special privilege after hunting the God’s Sword…” Genie murmured.

“Retreat! Hurry…!”

The Korean rankers dashed at full speed and retreated away from the bridge. But Alexander, still sitting atop his horse, muttered again, “Cataclysm.”

Once again, the walls were hit by Alexander’s ridiculously OP skill, Cataclysm. This was the strongest skill in Alexander’s arsenal, a skill that he had obtained after overcoming the humiliation that he received from Athenae: World War. It was an unknown Absolute God’s Secret. With its power, the walls of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom were split in half. And…

Thud, thud—

Even the castle seemed to have been split in half. A thick cloud of dust rose and obscured everything from view, even the current status of the retreating Korean rankers.

The entire world was brought into a turmoil. And Alexander? He smiled wryly and thought, ‘In the end, Beyond the Heavens Kingdom will be defeated, Minhyuk.’

***

The entire world was in a buzz. Beyond the Heavens Kingdom was the strongest and most prominent kingdom in the world. But it took just two strikes from Alexander’s sword and the castle seemed to be split in half. While everyone watched with anticipation, Joy Co. Ltd. sighed and lamented.

“In the end, our country still can’t fight against America.”

“Alexander is truly a ranker standing at the summit. He just received a King’s Special Privilege yet he was able to split the walls in half with his sword alone?”

Sitting among them was President Kang Taehoon with a grin plastered on his face.

“President?”

At the call of one of the board members, Kang Taehoon gestured and said, “It’s not over yet.”

The board members sitting with him right now were only responsible for the management and operation of Joy Co. Ltd. That was why they did not know about the details inside the game. However, there was something that they did know.

“Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had received a special privilege for creating the best castle.”

“Yes.”

“That’s right.”

“I bet you’re all thinking that the castle has already collapsed, right?”

All of them wondered why Kang Taehoon suddenly asked this. But then, the thick cloud of dust finally settled down. Suddenly, one of the board members jumped up from their seat and shouted, “Im, impossible…!”

And what appeared in front of everyone was another wall behind the wall.

“A, a double rampart?!!!”

That was right. Amidst the settling dust, the broken and collapsed wall fell down, only to reveal another thick and sturdy wall.