6) Van Hawk’s Dignity

Darkness and fear swept through the battlefield.

A countless number of soldiers and knights had collapsed on the plains. He couldn’t tell but he guessed that the number of dead and injured had crossed 100,000. The battle between the army and the defense had only occurred for a short time but there were casualties everywhere.

It was a situation where they unconditionally attacked without worrying if they were the enemy or defense. The complete darkness made it impossible for the priests to give treatment.

“Hmm, is it finally over?”

“It hurts, my whole body hurts.”

“No. I’m scared. I want to go home.”

The morale of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms had hit the ground. They didn’t know if the soldiers beside them were colleagues or not. The darkness was cleared and they stopped fighting among themselves.

“This knight dares strike me….”

“Spare me, Knight-nim.”

“I didn’t know it was you. Forgive me.”

“Shut up! Hand me your neck.”

“Huck! Please spare me life….!”

“Dammit! This knight? If I’m going to die then I will burn all of this away!”

“Ah.e.l.l, why did I stab my friend from my hometown?”

“It was a mistake but I originally hated you. You married my first love so I will kill you.”

Even after the darkness cleared, the bad sentiments continued. The knights took command quickly but there were still many who were undisciplined.

The battle against the slaves and undead army took place again. The skeletons in the middle of enemy territory couldn’t last for long against the concentrated attacks.

The power of the Mapon Kingdom was badly damaged while the Beiner Kingdom’s leaders were temporarily paralysed. The desert warriors who had retreated started approaching again while furiously shooting arrows.

The soldiers collapsed under the skilled attacks of the desert warriors. They swept through the enemy like they were monsters in the desert. They had originally been circling the outskirts of the disaster to prevent anyone from leaving. Any knights that exited would be killed. And they went back to shooting their bows. This petty and despicable method was the effect of Weed!

And the slaves were a.s.saulted by cavalry. The battle had reached the climax.

Meanwhile, Weed used the darkness to arrive at the magician unit that called themselves Wisdom of Thunder.

He used the darkness to breach their stronghold. The magicians were shocked as they saw Weed who had already penetrated through their escorts.

“I’ll tell you in advance but I personally don’t have any bad feelings towards you.”

“Coward!”

“That is original.”

The magicians close to him died from the Undulating Flame Mark. It was sudden so they hadn’t been able to deploy their magic s.h.i.+elds.

Weed swung his sword towards a senior magician. He was a well-known magician with a level of 400.

Andre, the wind magic master was next to the king. But Weed could take Andre’s life at any time. The magician was very scary but he was confident about taking care of him.

It was hard to overcome such a significant difference in level, no matter how excellent the magician. The magic would cause considerable damage but it wasn’t enough to take his life.

“End of the Day!”

The Wisdom of Thunder unit tried to wipe him out with a thunder storm. As he closed in on another magician, the escort knights belatedly ran up to him.

“You are 15 years too early. Even my subordinates don’t dare.”

He used the Black Knight’s Strike on the escorts. He took care of the knights and magicians. The frugal life he learnt even took hold in this battle.

He pinpointed the vital spots of the magicians and knights but didn’t use his full power. Weed wielded his sword with maximum efficiency in order to conserve vitality. Just one light blow would kill the enemy! The magicians tried to get away but they eventually turned into grey light.

Even the knights couldn’t help feeling envious of Weed’s great performance. The magicians and archers capable of long ranged attacks were brutally killed.

“Try to block him. Get rid of him no matter what it takes!”

The Beiner King became terrified and issued the command. Weed was approaching the king and n.o.bles so they wildly looked for a place to retreat.

The Mapon Kingdom was mainly battling the slaves and undead while the Beiner Kingdom’s army was kept busy by the desert warriors.

And magical attacks were focused on Weed! The magician Andre waved his hands and blades of wind would fly.

“This isn’t good enough.”

According to Weed’s judgement, being hit by it wouldn’t be a huge hindrance to his life. His level, equipment and techniques meant he was bullying everyone. Weed moved quickly through enemy territory and the Beiner Kingdom knights became the victims of the wind blades.

But Andre’s attack was just a prelude. He had completed a spell that caused four huge whirlwinds to start appearing in the sky! Weed and 1,000 other people were damaged but Andre didn’t care.

He didn’t pay much attention to other human lives on the path he walked on. He was a senior n.o.ble in the Beiner Kingdom so he had the power to silence his victims.

“That looks a little bit dangerous.”

Weed searched around the perimeter and found magicians before they could complete a spell. He hadn’t viewed it directly but he knew a lot about magic spells through the history books.

The magic wasn’ completed yet but wind was blowing arrows in crazy directions. The universal formula was that the longer a spell took to prepare, the stronger it was.

“I don’t need to go that way. Phoenix’s Health!”

Weed cast a spell.

This was a Sun Warrior skill obtained when crossing the desert! When under the sunlight, for 3 minutes his health wouldn’t drop from any attacks. Of course, the penalty was that the recovery of his health, vitality, mana and movement speed was so slow that it was impossible to run. Simply put, it was a skill that would allow him to stand firm against any big attack.

The problem was that he could only use it once a week. Weed fought the enemy in the vicinity and waited for Andre to complete the magic spell.

“This is taking longer than giving birth. I’m sure it will be effective.”

Soon the spell was completed. Heavy winds blew the bodies of soldiers into the sky. The wind lodged arrows into trees, caused soil to fly up and soldiers to drop their swords and s.h.i.+elds.

It was possible for a sword to cut the wind but the magic power was too strong. The faster and most thorough way to catch a boss cla.s.s monster was to just magicians to carve away at their health. Weed was pushed back 100 metres from the power of the wind but he still remained calm.

“I’m going to start.”

It was like a scene from a new Hollywood blockbuster movie.

“No, I need to get out.”

“Spare me, spare me just once!”

The Beiner Kingdom soldiers and cowardly knights started pleading to Andre. In fact, a knight typically didn’t have a good relations.h.i.+p with magicians. Weed saw magicians busily trying to perform protection magic in order to live. And finally, whirlwinds appeared in the sky from four directions. Bows, arrows, swords, exes and clamouring men started floating into the sky. Weed wasn’t fully affected by the wind so he only floated a few metres.

“Waaaaack!”

The heavily armoured knights on horseback pa.s.sed by on the left and right. And they were smashed into rocks and died. Screams could be heard from everywhere. The parties involved naturally felt a strong fear of death. The people swept away by the magic lost their fighting power.

It was like being scared when sleeping outdoors in rural areas. Weed thought about it from a different angle.

He washed things by hand for a year. And he felt much easier using a 12 year old was.h.i.+ng machine bought at a discount store. He cleaned his clothes, towels and underwear with detergent but felt cheated when he needed to hang it on the rack.

But the station officials had given him a high-capacity laundry machine for his house. The price was more expensive, there were special motors and he could wash his duvet! The rapid rotation of the water caused boundless excitement. There was no happier feeling then turning on the was.h.i.+ng machine on a sunny day.

“The capacity of the was.h.i.+ng machine is important but it also needs power.”

This wind storm was like a was.h.i.+ng machine. Weed was scratched by the whirlwinds but his health didn’t decrease at all.

The durability of his equipment had fallen but he could get the blacksmiths in Jonas Castle to repair it later.

“Cool. It is the summer so this wind should blow well.”

Relaxing while eating jajangmyeong and drinking a gla.s.s of coffee. The spell Phoenix’s Health still had 1 minute and 20 seconds remaining. Maybe the spell would last longer than that but by that time, it would already be weak enough that he could handle it. The desert warriors weren’t agitated or damaged by the great magic. Warrior-1 said yesterday.

“You shouldn’t die in minutes. Persistently survive in tough situations.”

Warrior-2 also agreed.

“It doesn’t matter if it is a poison trap or a fearsome attack from a monster.”

The desert raised their survival potential. Weed relaxed and waited for the magic to end. Once again, there was some waiting time on the battlefield. The Beiner Kingdom used that time to form dozens of layers of encirclement around him. More than 10 knights and cavalry surrounded him. The magicians were preparing to cast a spell again. Weed was the strongest human but no matter his power, he couldn’t ignore the armed forces of the Beiner Kingdom.

The reason for his confidence was that he had created a sculpture of a Beiner Kingdom soldier. If he needed to then he would use Sculpture Transformation and escape.

“I’ll eat well.”

The wind storm had reached its culmination. And there was an unexpected additional effect.

Weed’s Undulating Flame Mark was still active.

It was an unquenchable fire that wouldn’t disappear until the mana was gone. Weed’s fire mingled with the wind and ended up being sucked in by it. The wind storm spread the caught flames in every direction. Flowers made of fire and fireb.a.l.l.s blew through the air and hit the kingdoms. The fire spread uncontrollably and caused an unexpected scene of destruction among the ground troops.

“I also need to be careful of the fire. Looking at the fire… Always lock your gas valve when going to sleep.”

Andre of the Beiner Kingdom collapsed as a result of the spell. The morale of the soldiers had fallen while Andre who had exhausted his mana was escorted away by the knights.

Weed stood on the ground and the undead army gave a great shout. It was closely followed by the sound of humans screaming and undead laughing.

“Hihihihit.”

“Kyahahahahat!”

Weed investigated the situation and found that Van Hawk was giving a great performance. Van Hawk was surrounded by Doom Knights and the Mapon Kingdom. The sword master Rohadram of the Mapon Kingdom had come out to deal with him.

“Human knight, I am Van Hawk who came back from the abyss.”

“It is surprising that an undead has its sanity intact. However, I won’t allow the undead to besmirch hallowed ground.”

Van Hawk and Rohadram had a one-on-one confrontation.

The two who rode a ghost mount and a white horse competed. Both thrust their swords at each other. It was the wonderful scene of a close duel on horseback. Sparks flew as the swords were parried and they maintained their exquisite balance.

Van Hawk’s level was higher but Rohadram was superior when it came to techniques.

The duel wasn’t easily finished so Rohadram became impatient. He was the best knight of the Mapon Kingdom and was used to blowing away enemies quickly. Van Hawk skilfully parried and counterattacked, causing a serious injury while Rohadram fell from his horse. The knight was obviously defeated. The knight that came to save the Mapon Kingdom was killed so the morale of the army fell extremely low.

“Rohadram-nim was defeated… As expected, it was too much.”

“Hik, the Abyss Knight will turn us into skeletons.”

The NPC soldiers received a huge impact to their morale. Morale could increase power as high as 200% but sometimes low morale could cause them to be entirely wiped out. In fact, this didn’t just apply to NPCs as sometimes human also won wars based on morale.

“Hooray Abyss Knight Van Hawk!”

“Undead Army Commander Van Hawk!”

The combat slaves and even the Embinyu fanatics gave frenzied cheers. And Weed’s eyes shook slowly. While he had been suffering damage in the middle of the Beiner Kingdom’s military camp, Van Hawk had been putting on a glorious performance.

“This guy made of bones, I refuse to believe in him.”

Weed was deeply grieved without being jealous. The battle wasn’t over yet.

“I have to eat a lot from now on. The magicians also exhausted their mana so they are in bad shape. This is a chance for a truly outstanding performance.”

The true G.o.d of War would now descend to sweep through the enemies. Weed touched his hands to the ground.

He accepted the energy of the earth and quickly recovered. The regular soldiers and knights didn’t dare attack him for fear of death. The moment his body was prepared!

“This is a war that can’t be won. Everybody retreat.”

“This is His Majesty’s command. Retreat to Dulmore Fortress.”

The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms who suffered enormous damage abruptly retreated.

When the dead and wounded soldiers were added up, they lost 150,000 soldiers. That was in contrast to the desert warriors who were almost all alive and the undead that hadn’t seemed to be reduced at all.

More than half of the combat slaves had died but that didn’t have a great significance.

“No! I absolutely won’t let you retreat.”

It was easiest to raise achievements when the army was retreating. Many materials were left behind while the Mapon and Beiner Kingdom rapidly tried to escape the battlefield. The cavalry fled while the infantry threw away their s.h.i.+elds to retreat. They weren’t concerned at all about defense while running away.

“Attack, undead troops!”

“Kuhihihit!”

Abyss Knight Van Hawk led the undead army to chase them. During the battle, it was common for many Doom Knights and Death Knights to be generated. It was the best combination to cause damage to enemies when chasing.

“Spirits of the desert, let’s show the weak fellows of the continent a bitter taste!”

“Wahhhh!”

Warrior-1 drove the desert cavalry after the enemies. They shot arrows and threw their axes to literally slaughter the infantry.

“All my suffering… This can’t be!”

Weed quickly chased after the undead knights and desert warriors. However, he couldn’t catch up and stop them. Weed found a horse that lost its owner.

“Run right now!”

The horse followed the knights.

He entered the military camp of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms and chopped up many knights and n.o.bles. The enemies were too busy trying to flee to fight back so a one-sided slaughter took place.

But then he heard a cry!

“Warrior-7 has captured the heir to the Beiner Kingdom!”

“Unbelievable.”

“Warrior-2 has sliced the leader of the magician unit!”

“No. That is mine!”

Weed was in an area that only contained ordinary soldiers and knights. He was in a bad mood despite gaining easy victories.

But tens of thousands of soldiers appeared on the road where the Beiner and Mapon Kingdoms were retreating.

“Are they here to support the army or were they pretending to escape to set up an ambush? Then this will be war!”

Weed’s body was still in good condition and he liked that he could continue fighting. However, the army that appeared didn’t belong to the Mapon or Beiner Kingdoms.

“Wahhh, Hestiger is back!”

“Hestiger-nim has returned after destroying Opus Castle and he has blocked those guys!”

The odious Hestiger who always had good luck follow him!

Every time Weed thought Hestiger would die, he always returned with almost no loss of troops. Weed grew during the Nodulle’s Growth quest but he wasn’t the only strong one. The NPC subordinates had grown together with him and earned great achievements in battle.

Weed had no choice but to envy the NPCs.

??????????????????????????

The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms trying to retreat suffered a crus.h.i.+ng defeat!

The remnants withdrew to Dulmore Fortress that had several layers of defensive magic. There was a river mixed with silver flowing through the fortress. The holy property of silver meant that the undead couldn’t invade the grounds.

But only half of the troops managed to reach the fortress alive. The Beiner and Mapon Kingdoms had ordered a retreat because they were scared of Weed. He had caused great damage and overwhelmed them with his power.

“I’m still hungry despite winning so it hurts.”

Weed led the army that chased them and took prisoners from nearby cities.

Civilians and soldiers were secured. The soldiers weren’t much help in the war but they could be used to maintain the size of the undead troops.

The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms had a firm military policy. Dulmore Fortress was a gateway to the capital. The southern barbarians and undead could not be allowed to pa.s.s through.

In the end, the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms abandoned half their cities.

“The military should prepare for the next battle.”

The kingdoms in this warring period was just a starting battle!

The real challenge was facing the Embinyu Church. The biggest war in this era hadn’t occurred yet! A war with the Embinyu Church didn’t even exist in the history books. Weed gave a command to Warrior-1.

“Prepare armour and weapons for the prisoners.”

The amount of prisoners this time was 100,000 people. The soldiers that tried to escape ended up surrendering.

“How is it?”

The regular residents were different from trained soldiers. There was no chance of them revolting.

“Okay. They realize that they have to face the Embinyu Church in order to survive.”

The Embinyu Church was leading a great army that surpa.s.sed imagination. Even if the best soldiers surrendered, it would be difficult to survive.

??????????????????????????

Korea University.

Lee Hye-yeon was very famous because of her brother. Weed’s little sister! People gazed at her from far away.

“I can’t believe it. Is she really orc Karichwi’s sister?”

“You have a strange orc mania but she really is Weed’s sister.”

“How can the appearance of a brother and sister be so different?”

Lee Hye-yeon was known around her university to be cute and pretty. Seniors had a crush on her even when she was simply dressed in blue jeans and a t-s.h.i.+rt.

“h.e.l.lo, Hye-yeon. Do you have time?”

“I’m sorry. Sunbae-nim. I have a task in the library.”

“What is it? If I can help….”

“I should do it alone so that my capabilities increase. See you next time.”

She spent a lot of time in the library. She steadily attended the lectures at university, obtained A in most of her cla.s.ses and received a variety of scholars.h.i.+ps.

When she arrived at the school cafeteria, she only needed to look around once.

“Sunbae-nim!”

“Hye-yeon, do you want some of this rice?”

“Yes!”

“Do you want to have a meal together?”

“Yes, sunbae-nim!”

Her charm was deployed when it came to the school cafeteria!

“Sunbae-nim, did you learn foreign and diplomatic studies last year? I don’t remember which textbook… Where can I buy it?”

“You are taking it this semester? I have the textbook.”

“Wah, thank you very much!”

Food, tuition and books were all free. She always kept a record of her schedule on her phone.

“Kim Jin-sik sunbae fed me two days ago and Ho-joon sunbae two weeks ago. This can’t be missed.”

She had a special system for the seniors who bought her food. However, she didn’t go to MTs or drinking parties.

“I’m sorry. I need to study.”

“You can gather people to do the a.s.signment afterwards. It is just one drink.”

“My brother told me not to drink with men. Man are animals that absolutely can’t be trusted.”

She thoroughly avoided drinking. She had heard many stories of university students so she was wary of drinking. But she also encountered a crisis.

“Why are you always rus.h.i.+ng off? The professor is attending this time.”

The president of her a.s.sociation forced her.

“Hyu, this time it is hard to refuse.”

Lee Hye-yeon followed her department to a meeting at a bar. The story of her attendance had spread so many juniors and seniors were there.

“Now, drink!”

The professor handed her a beer.

In fact, drinking until the person was drunk was more common in the older generation. Nowadays, it was common to drink in moderation and finish early. Of course, there were still plenty of stories and confessions when drinking.

Lee Hye-yeon drank beer and soju. Her features when holding the cup was like a professional.

“Give me that? Sunbae seems weak to alcohol.”

“No. I’m going to drink.”

And coolly downed the shot.

“Kyah, so good.”

“H-Hae-yeon, I thought you couldn’t drink alcohol?”

“Drink? It isn’t because I can’t drink. I just think it is expensive and a waste of money.”

Successive cups of alcohol entered her mouth.

“Eat snacks while drinking.”

“I don’t like the taste of wine.”

Lee Hye-yeon strictly stuck to drinking. The professor of the department also paid attention to her.

“Hye-yeon, have you drank some alcohol before?”

“Yes, I used to play around a little when I was younger.”

“Haha, did you chew some gum as well?”

“No, I used to go drinking with my friends and chewed on razor blades.”

“……”

Lee Hye-yeon was drinking alcohol after a long time so she felt talkative.

“I acted thoughtlessly when I was young. I drank all night and fought with teenagers pa.s.sing by.”

“You played dangerously. Hasn’t an accident ever occurred?”

“There’s nothing much. One time my friend got into a motorcycle accident and fell into a coma? Ah, that’s right! I heard she woke up some time ago and I’ve been planning to contact her. I should call her now.”

“…….”

“I played and was caught by my brother.”

“Did your brother get angry a lot?”

“Yes. The first time I broke my leg. I had a thought when lying down in a room for 3 months. I was caught and my limb broken. I couldn’t do that to my brother… My spirit has woken up since then.”

Her older brother was the one who derailed Lee Hye-yeon’s violent youth.

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