Chapter 3: Great Villain"s Dream

TL Note: I’ve made a slight change to the skill description of Time Sculpting in Volume 48 chapter 1 and forgot to mention it last chapter. I’ll copy it below with the changed parts bolded.

A blacksmith master!

Rivals Fabio and Herman both reached the master level and were unable to control their joy.

"Finally at last…"

"Hu. You did it."

They looked at each other with complex emotions.

“In the meantime, all my pa.s.sion and effort went into the sword."

He made a sword using the best material, helium, to the best of his abilities and became a blacksmith master.

"I"m not ashamed if it is this much."

Fabio and Herman celebrated by having a drink together.

“In the end, you became a master after a few days but I reached it first."

"Congratulations."

"My accomplishments weren"t in vain. Anyway, Herman. You have arrived at the master level so the difference in dates doesn"t matter."

Fabio and Herman started as dwarven blacksmiths in Royal Road by picking up rusty coppers and constantly melting them.

They competed to make the best sword while living in Thor, the city of blacksmiths.

“It was fun when I started this. Millions of users ran to try the enhanced weapons that we created."

“I remember not being able to resist the Hermes Guild"s order."

“My memories. We just made metals. Justice depends on the person using it. It might seem irresponsible to say this but it is true."

“Yes. There is no need for a blacksmith to get involved."

Herman poured wine into Fabio"s empty gla.s.s. It was good quality red wine that came from Morata.

“I miss my days in Thor."

“There is a mess. The true blacksmiths are rare and the city only sells expensive tickets to tourists."

“I became a master but I won"t stop making swords."

"We must be more devoted. Sometimes we should go on adventures."

“I don’t know how to move around the continent… I"ve only produced things in front of a fire. If I hadn"t traveled around to meet Weed then I might have become a master sooner."

“It could be. I was thinking the same thing. I didn"t know the world and only hammered in front of a fire."

Fabio and Herman were overflowing with emotions.

Unlike combat professions, blacksmiths were constantly making money. They could have wandered and gone on adventures with the money they acc.u.mulated.

Both of them were looking forward to life in the Arpen Kingdom away from fire.

* * *

Heint, Fractal and Bodmir.

They were dubbed the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin and once brought orcs to the Arpen Kingdom.

After that, they settled in Varna Harbour as it developed.

“Let"s do bad things around here!"

“Yes. Our bad actions will start from now on."

"Kukuku. The users here will taste h.e.l.l."

3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin rejoiced as they imagined their unscrupulous behaviour in the future.

“Looting.”

"Kill!"

“Sinking boats."

They saw users start to sail in the sea around Varna Harbour without any fear.

“Those people."

"Kulkul. Hunting.”

“Sailors. Sail. Sail!”

By the time the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin led the pirate s.h.i.+p to chase them, the users had already sunk and were floating in the water.

“Please give us a ride. Hyung-nims."

“Ahuh. We… I came to do bad things. Don"t you see the rusty knives and bones on our flag?"

“Pirates. Wah. I"ve always admired them. Don"t tell me…"

“What?”

“Aren"t you the people who went on an adventure with Weed to the JIgolaths?"

“Kuhut. You recognize us. I guess we are a little famous."

"Of course, I came to the sea dreaming of becoming a pirate!"

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin tried to threaten the novice users at Varna Harbour.

"This isn"t the guns of a naval s.h.i.+p."

“Don"t you know what bad things we can do?"

"If a s.h.i.+p tries to cross us then we will sink it."

Heint, Fractal and Bodmir were three people trying to be vicious pirates in Royal Road.

The fishermen and starter captains at Varna Harbour stared at the pirate s.h.i.+p with envy.

“Look over there. It has so many sails."

“The wood of that hull… Isn"t it teak?"

“Look at the way it slices through the waves. That s.h.i.+p can go so fast."

More popular than celebrities!

“I"m tired. Give me a break."

“Let’s have a drink."

When they were not out at sea, they drank lime juice at a tavern in Varna Harbour.

A cute girl came up to them.

“Excuse me."

"Huh?"

“I heard you were pirates."

“Hut. It is a secret so how…"

“You disembarked from the pirate s.h.i.+p."

"What… That"s right."

Heint shrugged. His eyes were full of pride.

"Huhuhu. The security of this area is in our hands. You have to be careful not to robbed by pirates.

“Can you take us to Jordan Island?"

“Hrmm?”

“We will follow once you depart first. We are scared of sea monsters."

"We are pirates."

“We will give you two gold per s.h.i.+p."

Jordan Island was approximately a day and a half away from Varna Harbour. Exploration, trade and foraging was possible on the island. It took less than a day if there was a good wind so it was a course that starter captains liked.

"Only two gold?"

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin didn"t want to go even if it would only take a day.

"Young lady. I"m sorry but the labour cost is a bit expensive.”

“It is a small amount of money but we worked really hard to collect it. We are going to pick seaweed and oysters. All the people from Korea University"s dance department has decided to partic.i.p.ate in the island exploration.

"Gulp. D…ance department?"

"Yes. All the juniours and seniors decided to partic.i.p.ate. But we don"t have more than 300 gold… Can"t you take us?"

Heint glanced at his companions. Despite not whispering to each other, Fractal and Bodmir"s eyes were talking.

"Do you even need to ask? Take the quest. Dude."

"Hey. Accept before we miss the chance!"

Heint replied after swallowing his saliva.

“It is annoying if it is Jordan Island but we will go once. However, we are expensive."

Thus, they spend a day going to Jordan Island.

The departure was refres.h.i.+ng due to the salty sea breeze and it was also fun taking care of the small sailboats following the pirate s.h.i.+p.

"This is Royal Road… Dreams and romance. This is crazy good!"

They chatted with the female students while gathering seaweed and clams on Jordan Island.

Fractal jumped into the sea and caught a large shrimp that was roasted in the evening.

“Are you hungry? Take it slowly."

“Omo. This shrimp is valuable."

“I was bored so I caught it."

The female students ate the shrimp ravenously.

Fractal and Bodmir plunged into the sea.

They swam 30-40 metres underwater where there were shrimps and lobsters.

“Seafood is our specialty.”

“Wasn"t it hard to catch?"

“Did you really catch all of them by hand?"

The next day, the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin had a serious meeting.

"Hey. We have to do it."

“I know. The words you are saying. I am strongly in favor of it."

“Phew. I feel alive. This is life. It is the first time I"ve felt like this."

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin made regular scheduled trips to Jordan Island.

If the users of Varna Harbour paid two gold then they would be escorted.

At first, it was only a few hundred vessels. But as rumours spread, this number grew into the thousands.

The sailors joked about the vessels following after the pirate s.h.i.+p.

It was like a mother duck and her ducklings.

The avians also joined as they flew above the ma.s.sive fleet in the sky.

It was a wonderful sight. As the eastern sea of the Arpen Kingdom was pioneered, island and trade routes were secured.

“Beware of rough waves!”

“There is a big catch here. Try to get your fis.h.i.+ng line as close to the bottom as possible."

Small boats that covered the sea!

The northern users grew rapidly as they moved away from Varna Harbour.

Long-distance voyages were successful because the sailing technology grew quickly, leading to s.h.i.+ps that could carry a considerable number of baggage.

As the charm of the sea attracted users, the s.h.i.+ps became bigger and faster.

-The pirates of Varna Harbour!

-The pioneers of the sea.

Compliments towards them were posted on the Royal Road bulletin boards.

Since then, the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin felt their bodies tingling.

“Our duty is to do bad things.”

“These days, I haven"t been doing anything bad so I"ve been feeling tired."

"Hey. I was asked to give a signature at the harbour. Are we truly supposed to live like this?"

They wanted to do something bad.

There were many northern users growing quickly that they could target.

"Hrmm… But there is something nice about this."

"Aren"t we popular?"

"No. To be honest, it isn"t good to hit a place that belongs to Weed."

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin recognized Weed as the true villain!

"Weed"s revenge?"

“Indeed… If we eat the Arpen Kingdom then he will chase us for revenge."

“Aren"t we supposed to be doing bad things? Have courage. We are the bad guys! If we go far out to see then he won"t be able to easily catch us."

"No. Such a thing… Hu. I"ve been thinking about Weed every night. It wouldn"t be good to do bad things here."

“What is it?"

"I don"t know."

The mad sharks were distressed and decided to consult someone through their inbox. The person was Weed, the object of their worries. Weed lifted the limit on whispering in order to explain the matter.

-Weed: So… You want to loot the users of Varna Harbour?

"Yes. In the past, we wouldn"t hesitate. We would just loot and burn everything… It is really fun but we are hesitant to put it into action."

Heint explained the facts. Anyway, they would die if they were caught by Weed afterwards so it didn"t matter if he knew about it now. They were trying to follow in Weed"s footsteps so they wanted to seek advice from the true villain.

“It isn"t due to righteousness or compa.s.sion for the northern users. There is nothing compared to the freshness of betrayal. So why can"t we move?"

There was a period of silence before a reply came.

-Weed: It looks like your eyes have become a little worse.

"Huh?"

-Weed: It is complex but to put it simply… Let me give you an example. What do you think when you see a thief being caught stealing 10,000-30,000 won?

"Um…"

The mad sharks exchanged glances but an answer didn"t easily emerge.

-Weed: It is just pathetic. Don"t you feel that way?

"Ah. That’s right.”

“I think so as well.”

"There should be a story behind stealing."

-Weed: But 10 trillion. Or what about the thieves who steal 20 trillion?

"Wah…"

“Jackpot!”

"The real deal. Respect. Respect."

The mouths of the mad sharks dropped open as they imagined it.

-Weed: That is ability. They are smart. Not an ordinary person. Don"t you get those feelings?

"That"s right. A person with that much ability. It is really great."

“Really."

The description from Weed entered their heads.

Stealing a few trillion won!

-Weed: That is the bad thing about being a great villain. It is hard for others to imitate despite knowing the methods. Grow more. s.p.a.cious and wide. In children"s cartoons, don"t you wonder why the villains are always trying to conquer the world?

"Let"s see?

“That"s right. Why are they always trying to conquer the world?"

-Weed: The villains are dreaming big. The Hermes Guild also aims to conquer the continent.

“That’s right. That"s right."

-Weed: Steer clear of their example. The world is wide and there are many bad things that you can do. A bad man without a dream can"t succeed.

“Kuooh… This isn"t the time to relax. I will do my best."

The mad sharks faithfully followed his teachings.

Raise their skills and increase the scale of their pirate s.h.i.+p. Hunt in the area where the ghost s.h.i.+p appears. They received Weed"s advice every now and then.

-Weed: Pallos Kingdom. Go to the southern desert area.

"I understand."

It was a long-distance voyage around the east of the Versailles Continent.

The trading team consisted of Mapan"s Trading Company, several other large trading companies and merchants from the north.

The trading team survived the tough waves, whirlpools and threats from marine monsters and arrived in the desert area while following the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin.

“Kuah. Come.”

“Strike the drums. Go to land!"

Thousands of s.h.i.+ps arrived at the desert area.

They made it through typhoons and reefs.

The sails of smaller s.h.i.+ps were tattered like rags but the captains screamed with joy.

“Hooray!”

“How much land is this?"

There was no proper harbour in the desert area, so the large sailboats stopped at a distance and transported their goods using small boats.

Heint wanted to do something bad as soon as he arrived at the desert.

“Isn"t the south ignorant? Their development is lower than ours."

“Yes. They live in the sunlight and are territorial."

"I"m in favour of it. I agree."

"Oh. Here comes some people. We should give a bad impression to the local users."

“We"re not playing around. Kilkilkil."

The mad sharks laughed as they went out to meet the desert warriors, only to have their shoulders shrink and their heads bow. Their eyes automatically avoided the other people. Geomchi-5!

He punched the mad sharks in the shoulders.

“You must have had a hard time getting here."

"That… No. I"m okay."

Geomchi-5 held out his hand for a handshake and the trembling Fractal grabbed it.

They had a little bit of combat power outside the sea. But there were humans that ignored the combat power of Royal Road.

Weed had told Geomchi-5 about them in advance.

“They are good guys. Treat them comfortably."

“Comfortably?"

"Yes. Like they are your little brothers."

Geomchi-5 thought of Weed"s words and said fondly. It was in a thick and low voice.

"It is hot. Would you like a gla.s.s of cold beer?"

"No… We have to quickly go back…"

“You don"t want to?"

“Y-yes? N-no."

The mad sharks wanted to go back to their s.h.i.+p but they decided to wait until Geomchi-5 brought them beer.

-Heint: Let"s just drink it roughly and go. We can"t refuse.

-Bodmir: Yes. It doesn"t take a long time to drink beer.

-Fractal: Hey. Just drink a gla.s.s. It is all right.

They whispered to maintain their pride!

Geomchi-5 looked at them with a frown.

"What are you doing? Bring out the beer."

"Beer… Us?"

"Eh… Weren"t you bringing the beer?"

Geomchi-5 hesitated. He thought for a moment but he couldn"t prevent his facial muscles from distorting.

Their survival instincts were triggered in that moment!

"T-this. Beer!"

Do you want to have a drink with us?"

“We have a lot. I will give some to you."

The mad sharks were extremely fortunate to have a s.h.i.+p full of beer.

* * *

"Wah. This treat is a local specialty.”

“Morata"s wines are selling well. The drinking culture is different.

“This fruit is the best. We can eat a lot while having clothing that protects us from the sunlight."

The northern users brought a lot of supplies to the desert.

Simple clothes, cooking essentials and horse saddles were sold at a price that was several times more expensive.

“Buying items here… Would you like to take carpets or camel leather to the north?"

“Alcohol as well. The price is meaningless once it becomes a trend."

“This knife production technology is excellent. A general knife is useless but it is okay when made by a desert craftsman."

The northern users sold the items they brought to the desert cities and bought new ones.

After that, the s.h.i.+ps filled up and departed for the Arpen Kingdom.

The active trading in the desert meant their s.h.i.+ps were piled up with goods and orders.

Geomchi-5 saw off the trading team but two days later, a new team showed up.

“Why did you come again?"

“Me? I am Lump of Money from the Mapan Trading Company and I am dedicated to smuggling and maritime trade."

* * *

“Are you really going?"

“Yes!”

“Do you have to?"

“I"m going right now."

“So you are thinking of leaving?"

“I"ll go."

"Hu… I"m really sorry to say goodbye."

"I understand. Then I won"t go."

Weed had a conversation with Irene and convinced her not to leave.

“Ugh, she has been persuaded."

"N-no."

Her other colleagues were tired of hunting and wanted to escape. However, they couldn"t leave Irene alone.

‘I tried from the beginning."

"Awful."

"Ah. I’m a combat slave. I can never leave."

Travel Sculpting.

Weed was able to go to any period, so it was possible to travel leisurely while enjoying the culture of the developed cities. Of course, he wasn"t thinking of doing that!

"Hrmm. Where to go?”

In Weed"s head, travel packages sold at travel agencies were being set up.

Dangerous packages offered at a price lower than an airplane ticket and allowed them to shop at least three times a day!

"Travel is like that."

The trip would naturally need to cater to high expectations.

"Anyway, after finis.h.i.+ng the next hunt then I will be out of contact for a while. So this time, I should suck up all the sweetness."

The combat ability and composition of Pale and the others were excellent. That"s why he chose to take them to the battlefield despite taking some of his share.

‘There… Hrmm. I didn"t want to go there immediately. But historically the achievements there are good."

Weed had studied the history of the Versailles Continent and found many obscure places.

In the case of Kallapik Castle, he experienced war when founding the Pallos Empire and was able to gauge the level of the knights and soldiers.

It was hard but he was rewarded for his suffering. A place that his senses could endure.

However, it was difficult to measure the difficulty when the whole area or army was destroyed.

‘I want to go to a place where I will struggle. I"m not going to be alone."

Even if he had a hard time, someone else should know the suffering.

Weed laughed brightly like an elementary school student stealing pocket money from his mother.

“This time we are only going for a little bit."

"Huh?"

“What?”

The eyes of his companions filled with disbelief.

Python and Seasoned Crab were still thinking of running away but realistically, it couldn"t be helped.

"How can I return to the original world?"

‘Um. High… It will take a while to fall.’

They were still floating in the sky using the levitation magic.

Kallapik Castle that existed on the ground, was submerged in the sea.

They had the simple a.s.sa.s.sin and warrior profession so they couldn"t go down to the ground nor return to their original time zone.

"We can"t go until he sends us back."

"If it hadn"t been for the levitation magic then we would be destroyed instead of watching the scene. No. He probably didn"t think that much."

Seasoned Crab only had slight faith in Weed.

‘It is his design. Once we"re caught, we can"t get out."

Pale knew everything so he just stayed quiet. Arguing was silly.

‘After becoming Weed"s companion, my growth rate is much faster. I became a lord and I am famous among users. I had a hard time but it has been rewarding."

They wanted to die while tagging along with Weed, but then he looked back on the memories with strange emotions.

Fighting endlessly against an infinite number of monsters and eating delicious food, it was the best he ever felt.

"There is a good side to being a combat slave.’

Weed licked his lips and said.

“This time it is fine to go leisurely. Everyone is tired so this time it won"t be a long hunt. How about a day?"

"A day?"

“If it is just a day…"

The strain on the group"s shoulders were relieved.

They had gone through a lot so they would be able to hold on for one day.

Irene and Romuna"s eyes met.

"Not bad."

‘Weed-nim won"t let us die. Surely we can use magic for one more day?"

The preparations for the next destination were simple.

Maylon and Python even felt disappointed that it was just for one day.

"It would be good if we go to a bigger battlefield. Hyu, But I can"t tell him to go to a difficult place on purpose."

"It is pretty hard but the experience gained from fighting another day… It is fine to relax afterwards."

Once Weed created a portal, they were able to jump in comfortably.

* * *

Syuuuuuh!

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Python emerged from the portal first after Weed. He thought they would be fighting against monsters but the earth was shaking.

“What is going on here?”

Python lowered his body and opened his eyes.

Thousands of drakes flying in the sky were spewing flames towards the ground.

"Advance. Advance!"

“Brave soldiers of the Mapon Kingdom. This place is where you die. Go. Go."

“Hang on. Don"t think that we can"t kill them. Bring it on!"

"Forward. Jump forward."

Large sailboats filled the horizon of the sea as they arrived on sh.o.r.e.

Knights and soldiers either landed on the sandy beach or jumped into the sea and swam to the land.

It was to stop the ones advancing.

Humans who sold their soul to demons to gain strength were leading the monsters and blocking the soldiers.

"No. This is… Isn"t this worse than Kallapik Castle?"

Ddiring!

"A S cla.s.s difficulty quest."

Aside from the difficulty, there was no reason to read the long explanation.

There were five types of monsters that looked great in Python"s eyes.

"They look normal but their combat power isn"t."

They were a type of ground dragon.

They were 10 metres long and had a fat body like a toad.

It run on its hind legs and used its strength to break through the knights and soldiers.

The sky drakes spat fire towards the ground and burned the soldiers.

‘Where the h.e.l.l is this place?"

Python couldn"t leave so he hid behind a rock.

"Uwack. Progress!"

“The Keltun Kingdom. Sweep through the demon tribe."

Knights and soldiers through themselves at the demon tribe and the monsters.

Python wanted to fight but his body was so huge that he couldn"t move easily on the battlefield.

"It seems like more than 100,000 troops are partic.i.p.ating in this battle."

Once he added all the dead and those coming from the s.h.i.+p, he could see that a fierce battle was going to occur. Python"s face became hot from the heat of the drake"s flames.

"A coastal battle… Umm. The quest involved a fight between three allies and the demon tribes, so perhaps this is the Jackson Island Landing."

Jackson Island Landing!

Approximately 10 years before the warring era, the Mapon, Keltun and Bromba kingdoms allied together to fight the Gulden Demon Tribe.

The three kingdoms mobilizing a great deal of their army for the Jackson Island Landing operation and most of them were killed.

The aftermath broke the military balance on the continent and led to the warring period.

“Heeok. We came to this battlefield?"

Python asked anxiously.

"No. Even if we did come, there is no need for an explanation."

He hadn"t believed it was a simple hunt and ambitiously entered first.

They had arrived at the battlefield where the history of the Versailles Continent could be overturned!

“Kuheom. I need some sober judgement."

He hid his body behind a rock and waited until Surka arrived.

Python quickly rushed out from the rock where he had been hiding.

"Wah. The scale of this battle is huge. It is similar to when the Haven Empire invaded Earth Palace."

“Looking at the quest, it seems like we have to pick a side…."

"What do we do? A lot of people seem to be injured."

Romuna, Surka and Irene said as they glanced at the battlefield.

They had quite a lot of experience with hunting hundreds of monsters in dungeon.

They also wandered around the Arpen Kingdom taking care of monsters when the kingdom"s security was bad.

"What are Weed-nim"s thoughts?"

Irene and the others turned their gazes towards Weed.

There were level 500 users in the party but they a.n.a.lyzed the situation and believed they could trust Weed"s judgement.

"You have to queue up in long lines in your life."

Weed considered the power of the allies and the demon tribe.

Human soldiers were coming from the landing boats. But the demon tribe summoned fearsome monsters to prevent this.

The demon tribe sold their souls to demons in order to gain strength. Those who learnt curse magic and black magic were watching from behind them.

"Weed-nim will probably stand on the side of the demon tribe…"

"Umm. Is it okay to ask?"

"He will get an evil idea. There is no doubt."

Weed watched the allied soldiers dying and declared.

"Join the side of the humans."

Surka, who was a curious person, asked for the reason why.

"Why?"

“The flags.h.i.+p of the three kingdoms has arrived. In history, there was a great battle and they were almost wiped out but… We can vary it a little bit."

“Will we survive and win if we join the human side?"

“We have to make it that way. It is better to talk with humans than to collaborate with evil demons. A price needs to be paid for the body strengthening."

"Um. I see."

The party was convinced.

Standing on the side of the demon tribe was burdensome, even if their abilities could be raised.

"I can regain some honour."

Weed didn"t tell a lie this time.

There was a separate reason why he had to join the side of the humans.

As a necromancer, he kept losing stats such as faith, dignity, luck, honour and courage.

If humans fought the demon tribe and won, then he would be able to gain a considerable number of stats as compensation.

If he destroyed the demon tribe then he could secure some points in faith.

"Raise my achievements."

Weed and the others started to accept the quest.

“I will join the alliance to beat the demon tribe."

"I will help the alliance."

“On the side of the alliance…"

There was no one who joined the side of the demon tribe even as a joke.

At that moment, a demon tribe member watching Weed"s group screamed sharply.

“I can feel animosity from them. The enemy. Kill them all!"

The demon tribe were using the monsters to prevent the landing.

Unless they got close enough, a battle on ground rarely happened but the drake troops in the sky received a command.

-Kuwaaaack!

The drake flew from the sky and aimed fire at Weed"s party.

"Incoming!"

“It is starting right away."

They were already full of hot excitement before the drakes came.

The drakes wore thick blue armour and had been created by the demon tribe.

"It is crazy. They seem much stronger than normal drakes."

“This battle is tricky.”

No matter how awesome Python and Seasoned Crab were in battle, flying creatures were a great burden to them.

Even though they were relatively weak level 300 flying creatures, they were difficult existences for average users on the ground to deal with.

Archers and magicians didn"t want to fight the drakes since they flew quickly.

"These ones are over level 400. I think they won"t be defeated when compared to the wyverns of Arpen Kingdom."

‘Weed-nim will do it somehow."

"Should I throw a fis.h.i.+ng net into the sky? No. Don"t think. I just have to fight."

The party thought that Weed would do something.

Even if it was a complicated battlefield, there couldn"t imagine a scene where Weed"s hands were tied!

"Yes… So."

Weed could feel the gaze of the party.

Thousands of drakes in the sky were coming down to attack them.

A necromancer would normally ignore the drakes and hide among their allies.

It was normal to turn the human corpses into undead in order to gradually suppress the monsters!

"It won"t be fun that way. In addition, this battlefield is a fight against time."

Weed gazed at his colleagues one by one.

They had spent a considerable amount of time as his combat slaves.

If he hadn"t met them in Rosenheim Kingdom then there was a good chance they would be regular users.

Users who enjoyed travelling and recreation made up an overwhelmingly large number of people in Royal Road.

His companions were affected by Weed and grew stronger at a dreadful rate.

"I can trust them. Yes. I"ve made a decision. Fight properly."

Weed used a spell.

“Summon Ghosts!"

Drakes were approaching and surrounding them in the air.

Weed climbed onto a ghost first before explaining the operation.

“The operation name is Heart."

“Heart?”

Python asked while looking at the drakes. As soon as they heard this word, a tactic popped into their heads.

‘There is a story about the heart of the enemy. The demon tribe? It is a bold and dangerous tactic. If it succeeds, it will be effective but…"

‘He seems to have found a gap. Indeed!"

The demon tribe can be seen as magician types."

‘Hitting the enemy"s heart on such a battlefield? Wah… Shall I try it once?"

The group all thought similar things about the operation.

“Do as your heart says. That is all."

Weed explained before riding the ghost into the sky.

* * *

The flames of the drakes wrapped around his body as he flew up.

“Fly higher."

Weed"s ghost soared up towards the sky.

The battlefield on the ground was far away. Instead, he welcomed the drakes in the vast s.p.a.ce of the sky.

-Kuooooh!

The eyes of a countless number of drakes shone as they watched the prey in their domain.

The distance between the two sides narrows instantly as the drakes opened their mouths to pour out flames.

“This much… Break through the front!"

Weed pulled out the Loa Sword and cut the drake while pa.s.sing through the flames.

-Kuoeeeek!

The drake that lost its wing fell to the ground and died.

At present, he used Sculptural Destruction with all his art stats put into strength. Even if the drake survived the fall, it was killed by the soldiers of the three kingdoms.

Weed and the ghost"s bodies were covered in flames.

Barkhan"s full set had excellent protection magic but Weed"s expression wasn"t that great.

“I can"t pick up any loot."

The wounded drake hadn"t died and crashed into the ground.

It would be hard to go to the ground to collect items every time he killed one.

His discomfort index was rapidly rising!

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar.

"I"ll deal with you as much as you like. I encourage you to come!"

The tremendous sound shook the landing spot where the alliance and demon tribe were fighting.

"Oh. People have come to help us."

“Reinforcements!"

The allied troops, who were in low spirits due to the demon tribe, shouted loudly.

“A human who can"t be tolerated on the side of humans."

The demon tribe gave instructions for more drakes to go after Weed.

Although he had tried to run away, the enemies recognized Weed.

One hundred drakes aimed fire at him from all sides.

In general, it was a situation requiring him to flee immediately. However, his risk of dying lessened due to Moment Sculpting.

"Moonlight Sculpting Blade!"

A long ray of light emerged from Weed"s sword.

The beautiful light from the Loa Sword hit the drakes.

He used skills gained when all his art stats were placed into strength!

Weed"s sword wreaked havoc on five drakes around him.

“Sword-cloning!”

He avoided the other drakes" attacks and used mana to create clones.

Weed and the ghost fought in the sky covered with flames!

The allied knights shouted.

"Look at the one who came to defeat the demon tribe. His strength will lead us!"

"Charge. Today is the day when the Gulden Demon Tribe will be punished!"

“Ohhhh!”

The landing army moved faster after seeing Weed and the drakes.

Weed"s status was rapidly deteriorating.

Even if he destroyed the flames with the Loa Sword, the fire attacks were basically wide area attacks.

His health was quickly decreasing.

The speed and movements of the ghost horse couldn"t keep up with the drakes!

A sly smile appeared on Weed"s mouth.

"This is fun!"

He didn"t want a stable hunting. Although he could estimate the power of the opponent, he couldn"t win the fight simply on that.

The stronger the enemy, the more alive he felt when fighting.

The G.o.d of War.

Weed was a legend called this on Continent of Magic.

* * *

“That is a sculptor. No. Now he is a necromancer. Anyway, he is great."

Python stared up at the sky before turning to his colleagues.

He was mostly hunting alone, but the people in Weed"s group were as reliable as before.

“I’ll fight!”

Surka was touched by Weed"s words about the heart.

"But I"m afraid of heights… I will fight with the allies on the ground."

Surka fought on the ground.

The vicious looking monsters were much less scary!

Pale immediately boarded the ghost horse that Weed had summoned.

"I will go. I will aim for the head and heart."

Drakes were very demanding targets for archers. Nevertheless, it was a reasonable choice to shoot enemies on the ground from the sky.

“I’ll go with you.”

His girlfriend Maylon followed while Zephyr took out his fis.h.i.+ng rod.

“The sky. A real fisherman can catch them. There is a place for a fisherman everywhere."

It was popular for both men and women in Royal Road so Zephyr"s blood was normal.

"Unni?"

“It will be difficult to fight the monsters directly. We will only disturb Weed-nim. Let"s go to the knights."

“I’ll treat the injured."

Bellot, Hwaryeong and Irene decided to head to the alliance.

When taking into account their occupations, it was a choice that could increase the combat power of many troops.

“I"ll burn the monsters."

Romuna decided to fight on the ground because the drakes were equipped with fire magic.

Maylon watched the decisions with s.h.i.+ning eyes.

“But didn"t we have one more?"

"Eh… That. When did he disappear? Seasoned Crab-nim! Seasoned Crab-nim!"

Surka looked around but Seasoned Crab was gone.

An a.s.sa.s.sin’s instinct!

He concealed himself in the shadows of the allies and advanced towards the monsters and demon tribe.

"I like to fight like this."

Python grinned.

He primarily hunted alone so he didn"t have any trustworthy colleagues.

He would run away if there were strong monsters and if he succeeded in the hunt then he would monopolize the loot.

There was no need for heated discussions over hunting grounds or quests. He was more comfortable being alone.

‘I will take my share. These people are good."

Python thought that the colleagues were a good configuration, but in fact, they had been trained by Weed.

“Let"s begin.

"Good. We will overturn a historic battlefield."

"Wah!"

* * *

The battle on Jackson Island!

Hundreds of drakes were chasing after Weed.

“They are persistent."

Weed wanted to break through a gap in the drakes.

The drakes spewed fire into the sky like a spider web.

The ghost horse was slow and changing directions wasn"t easy, so things were getting worse over time.

Weed"s health was falling but it wasn"t a big worry yet.

The tension wasn"t enough!

"My health is still over 100,000."

It was more than the maximum health he had as a sculptor.

“Out of the pieces I"ve sculpted… I need something that can hit them."

Going around sculpting on a historical battlefield wasn"t the ultimate romance.

Weed took out a sculpture.

He could select the battlefield with Travel Sculpting so it was something he prepared in advance.

He deliberately didn"t prepare any fine pieces or masterpieces for this disaster. It would become a mess if all the allied troops were swept away.

“The power is weak but… Eh. I don"t know. Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!"

Weed told his colleagues in the hunting channel.

-Weed: Is it hard to hunt?

-Surka: Here… It is a lot of trouble!

-Zephyr: I haven"t died. They"re persistent. These guys!

His colleagues were struggling in their respective positions.

Pale and Maylon tried to climb up to a high place but gave up because there were too many drakes.

Python and Seasoned Crab were fighting to kill a large number of enemies.

The monsters summoned by the demon tribe had high defense and there were many of them.

The demon tribe even used various curses so the alliance"s advance wasn"t easy.

-Weed: This battle is dangerous. In fact, it is a fight against time.

-Hwaryeong: Fighting against time?

-Weed: It should end as soon as possible. Therefore, I"ve just caused a disaster. Be prepared.

-Pale: What disaster?

Pale asked quickly.

It depended on what type of disaster it was. They could be washed away by the disaster so of course they were nervous.

-Weed: Um… It’s nothing. Just a bit of rain and being hit by waves.

-Romuna: Hit by waves? This is an island but aren"t we on land?

-Weed: The waves will push forward from the sea.

-Surka: Keeek.

-Irene: There is no way we can avoid such a thing!

The idea of a large wave dozens of metres in height pa.s.sed through their heads.

The strength of the disaster became stronger every time Weed used the skill.

The reason for this was because his Affinity to Nature was much higher.

-Weed: It might be weak because it is just an ordinary sculpture.

-Pale: What is the extent?

-Weed: I don’t know. You will live if you don"t get hit by the waves.

-Bellot: How do we avoid being swept away?

-Weed: That is what you should think about from now on.

There were a few moments of silence in the hunting channel.

They wanted to curse but nothing escaped their mouths because they were nice people.

They only cursed in their heads to relieve stress!

-Pale: Those who are on the ground. You will have to move locations.

-Maylon: Run. Go to a high place.

Pale and Maylon, who were riding the ghost horses, moved to save their colleagues.

The others also tried to find a safe place for themselves.

Python cut apart the monsters and headed towards the interior of the island while Seasoned Crab penetrated deeply.

A disaster needed some time to activate depending on the circ.u.mstances.

‘Natural disasters such as rain and waves… It won"t start straight away. Rain clouds need to be created first so I"m sure it won"t be severe."

Weed used the high elf"s bow and fired towards the drakes.

“Piercing Arrows!”

His archery skills were crude but had a lot of power behind them.

The rotating arrow shot did at least 40,000 damage! A drake chasing him was. .h.i.t by the arrow and instantly died.

The drakes saw the ferocious strength and started avoiding them.

-Ggeug ggeug ggeug!

-Are you trying to avoid it?

-You can"t run away because you are slow. The sky was the entire territory of the drakes.

The demon tribe on the ground were controlling the drakes.

Weed ran away while covered in flames.

As the drakes chased Weed, the battle on the ground became beneficial to the landing power. However, the situation wasn"t changed.

The demon tribe kept summoning monsters while the bigger ones stood firmly and spat acid.

"Constantly attack."

“Knights of the Mapon Kingdom. Charge!”

The allied forces attacked the monsters as a group.

Little by little, there started to be a change in the environment. It started raining from the sky.

“Rain all of a sudden…"

“It is tough to advance due to the rain."

“Somehow we have broken through. We have secured this area! In order to root out the demon tribe, more troops must land."

Some people couldn"t see properly in front of them so the alliance"s plan suffered a big hitch. However, the demon tribe and monsters also couldn"t move around freely.

The rain pouring from the sky was enough to halt the fighting.

The rain disaster!

There wasn"t any damage but it was difficult to continue fighting.

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar.

“Continue to advance to higher ground. And the remaining troops on the s.h.i.+ps, be prepared for an impact!"

The alliance also had a command system made of leaders of the units, commanders in chiefs or high level knights.

"What is this?"

“I don’t know.”

“How dare he command the army of the Mapon Kingdom."

The alliance didn"t heed Weed"s warning but his colleagues were different. They found any safe place and crouched down.

Swaaaah.

The drake"s flames lost power due to the intense rain while the sandy ground where the demon tribe and monsters were standing sank down.

And high waves coming from the distant sea!

"Captain-nim! A big wave!"

"Turn to the left. Go over the waves in front!"

"Avoid it! Avoid it!"

“Beware of conflicts with the other battle lines…"

The large sailboats waiting for the landing were being rocked by the waves.

It was catastrophic as experienced captains were surpa.s.sed by the dozens of metres high waves. However, the sailboats waiting in the distant waters were pushed to sh.o.r.e and arrived at Jackson Island.

"This… The land…"

“Down. It is an attack!"

The troops desperately moved through the reefs and sandy beach in an effort to live.

The high waves swept through the sea.

“Kukik?"

A sailboat discovered a group of Gulden Demon Tribe members hiding in a cave.

The hidden card of the demon tribe!

In history, they were the devastating force that sank more than half the s.h.i.+ps before the allies landed on Jackson Island.

Weed knew of this ahead of time and prevented it with the disaster.

“An ambush."

“Attack. Attack!"

The battle in the rain.

After the waves reached land, they quickly lost power but swept people away to the coast.

The big waves forced the alliance soldiers to throw themselves at the monsters.

Humans and monsters were tangled up in a swirl.

By the time the disaster and rain cleared, he had received huge infamy.

The power of the disaster wasn"t high but many landing s.h.i.+ps were sunk, causing many victims.

Still, the alliance had received reinforcements and the drakes" flames were prevented. Therefore, the alliance quickly took control of the waterfront.

The alliance barely had their numbers reduced compared to the battle in the original history.

The waves washed the sailboats onto the sh.o.r.es of Jackson Island in the centre of the monsters, and the battle became fierce.

The landing army led by the knights conquered the coast and advanced to the centre of the island.

The drakes who controlled the skies couldn"t descend easily due to the placement of archers and magicians.

The battle on Jackson Island became more intense as Weed"s group actively got involved.

"Come back to the land you used to live in. This is a dark place. It is a black and corrupt land. Help spread the laws of darkness. Undead Rise!”

The summoning of an army of undead!

A large number of undead were created from the corpses of the alliance, the monsters and the demon tribe.

"Daring to do such a thing…"

“Making undead with the soldiers of our kingdom!"

“Chief Palloda has become a dullahan."

Necromancers that were hated everywhere!

“I caused some damage with the disaster and summoned the undead. I think that the result is good."

He ignored it because he wouldn"t see them in the future anyway!

Weed advanced with the undead.

“Sweep away the monsters. Save the humans for later… No. Just don"t fight the humans!"

Weed"s targets for the undead were the demon tribe and monsters.

An advantage of a necromancer was that they didn"t have to worry about the losses of their allies.

It was enough to summon Van Hawk and give them command.

"Van Hawk. Advanced rapidly."

“Understood. Master.”

"Torido. Hunt the demon tribe."

“Confusion will cover my nails and teeth."

The vampire lord Torido attacked the demon tribe.

He recovered his health and mana as the undead fought.

It was a chance to restore the health reduced by the drakes and replenish his mana.

“Attack!”

Weed kept using mana to summon undead to join Van Hawk.

He built up a huge amount of experience for Summon Undead!

He didn"t use Corpse Explosion and repeatedly used his gathered mana to summon golems.

He also strengthened the undead by giving them weapons and armour.

In the middle of all of this, he was training his skills.

Dark Rule, Death Aura, Absolute Magic Defense!

There were some limitations to Dark Rule so he needed to learn the constraints.

It required high knowledge and wisdom stats, Undead Summon being above advanced level 5 and knowledge about darkness.

In fact, one of the basics of this profession was to learn Dark Rule.

"Retreat."

The demon tribe abandoned the coastline and retreated to the mountain regions.

After a few hours, a siege took place at a temple built in the mountains.

"Waaaah. Destroy them for the continent."

"We have defeated the demon tribe."

“We fought here without any regrets to allow our children to feel peace and happiness."

Before the warring period, the knights contained a naive and innocent att.i.tude similar to those seen in children" books.

"Hyu. Finally the last gateway."

“It is really fast compared to the scale of the battle."

"Kuk. Following Weed-nim is really different from watching him."

Weed"s colleagues also experienced a terrible struggle.

Irene gained high fame and four faith stats from healing the wounded but her mana was completely exhausted.

A ma.s.sive battle was a great opportunity for a priest to use holy magic on a large scale.

Hwaryeong and Bellot also improved that fame and charm by dancing and playing.

Zephyr, Pale, Maylon and the others all fought until they were on the verge of collapsing. Sometimes they were in a crisis but managed to escape with the help of the allied knights.

"More than this… Humans won"t survive on this island."

“It is incomplete but it can"t be helped."

In the final battle, the Gulden Demon Tribe summoned the demon Delam.

-I will eat all of you!

A demon gained power through eating!

Delam was a 2-metre-high barbarian with dark skin.

"Demon."

“Take care of the demon."

All the allied forces rushed towards Delam. However, their bodies froze the moment they neared Delam.

"Kukukuk!"

Delam opened his mouth wide and ate the knights.

Kwadududuk.

“The demons are carnivores. Don"t hesitate!"

“We shall sacrifice ourselves.”

The knights lost their power only when they were in the vicinity of Delam. Furthermore, they couldn"t even attack a few times. "The demon is so strong…!"

“This is impossible!"

Delam devoured knights and nearby monsters and in less than a minute, he grew to 20 metres and were firing magic power all over the place.

Kurururung!

Lightning struck everywhere around Delam.

The pure magic struck the allied soldiers who fell in shock and dug deeper into the ground.

His weapons were a huge sword and trident!

Delam used them to throw knights into his mouth.

Surka"s fists shook.

"Ah… It is hard to fight such a monster."

The fate of a swordsman and kung fu artist was death since they fought in close combat!

Weed"s eyes sharpened.

‘Defeat the demon. That is the goal."

The demon hunting plan that would supplement the stats and fame lost as a necromancer!

Zephyr stared at Weed.

“From what I"ve seen so far… Did you know he would come out?"

“Yes.”

“The demon?"

“My sword will go in."

The shoulders of his colleagues straightened after hearing his confidence.

The demons in various books had a strong reputation.

However, demons lost considerable power after being summoned to the Versailles Continent, as they couldn"t exert their true power after being sealed for so long.

Weed had managed to take out Montus so they asked hopefully.

"Weed-nim! Last time you resurrected Roderick. Who are you going to resurrect this time?"

“Omo. Hestiger!"

Romuna"s face brightened.

If the very handsome Hestiger was resurrected, then all the hearts of the females would become warm.

The desert warriors with firm abs who wielded a scimitar!

Weed shook his head.

"That guy can"t live again. Hestiger is gone forever."

"Ahh."

“Besides, it is illogical to use Sculpture Resurrection for every hunt."

No matter how great a demon was, it wasn"t enough to use a skill that reduced three levels just to catch one boss grade monster.

Sculpture Resurrection also had very tricky conditions. There were no guarantees that the resurrected person would even fight the demon.

"I have forgotten the name of the strongest man in history so they must have died in vain. Or they will get rid of the demon alone and disappear."

It was a difficult skill to choose because he had to take into account the personality of the revived person.

Python asked in a heavy tone.

“But what level is he?"

“The low-grade demon Montus was in the 600s. This demon should belong to the intermediate level."

"Then… He is even stronger? Aren"t demons difficult not just for their level, but because of their skills as characteristics?

“It has just been summoned so even an intermediate demon is weak."

“Then it won"t be as hard as I think?"

“If he regains strength by eating then his level will be in the 800-900s."

“A level 800 monster?"

"Yes. He will be like that after a few hours of eating."

A strength so high they felt like it didn"t exist.

"Did we come to this place to die?"

Weed added some words towards his blank colleagues.

“Just like a dragon has its breath weapon, demons have powers or characteristics a.s.sociated with their appearance of name."

"This demon has something to do with eating."

"Yes. According to the history books, if he invokes his unique skill then he can swallow all creatures within a 2 kilometre radius.

"…"

Python and the others stared at Weed.

“Can we win against something like that? No. Then shouldn"t we hurry and fight him before he gets stronger?"

"We must wait. Delam has a crucial weakness. When he eats, he can"t move his body in order to digest it so his defense becomes weak. Then it will be an opportunity."

"How many does he need to eat?"

“It isn"t exact but around 10,000?"

There was a chance if the demon of gluttony ate around 10,000 allies or monsters. The party felt hope but Python asked one more question.

"I"m just asking but… If we miss the opportunity, then what do we do?"

“Run."

“Huh?"

"If you don"t run away then you will be eaten."