6) Nodulle’s Ending

Weed rushed towards Heuller after coming down from the sky.

He was the most important and dangerous person on the battlefield so the Embinyu Church poured magic attacks towards him.

The armour of G.o.d spread its wings and turned him upside down or moved backwards to avoid the attacks. He was flying through the sky almost as an afterthought and arrived near Heuller before the desert warriors.

Heuller spoke to a fellow priest called Notangte standing next to him.

“Kuhuhu, they are getting closer…. Will we die in this place?”

“Hyung-nim, shouldn’t you escape now?”

Notangte and his sworn brothers.

The meaning of the name wasn’t a big deal but Notangte was born in a small village and committed all types of bad actions. He made a huge name as a swordsman in the warring period.

With an armed troop of 100 people, he did outrageous things like trafficking, stealing and oppressing others. They hit the Central Continent and were won over by the Embinyu Church. Of course, the strength of these 100 people were only confined to the Central Continent!

In the southern desert, it was difficult to top the hierarchy unless they were strong. The Red Knife unit was the best elite troops of the desert and they could easily slay knights of the Central Continent!

Currently, Notangte was just like a goblin to Weed.

“End of the Day!”

Weed used one of the most powerful skills he had. The aura of red flames covered the priests and Heuller like a tsunami.

Notangte and his sworn brothers were just destroyed in vain!

“A fire attack. It isn’t enough. Embinyu will not allow it. Protection of the World.”

The priests chanted a spell in order to resist. The tsunami of fire hesitated before the powerful s.h.i.+eld.

The flames that could even burn mountains, forests and city walls stopped before the divine power. But End of the Day raised its power. The greedy flames grew larger and rose over the protective barrier.

It was because the power of the sword significantly strengthened attack skills.

“I-I can’t bear it….”

“This attack…..”

The bodies of the priests were covered with flames from End of the Day. The s.h.i.+eld only blocked direct attacks and couldn’t withstand the head.

The flames of End of the Day leapt over the s.h.i.+eld. The health of the priests kept dropping. Even the ground and rocks were dissolved by the ultra-high heat.

The s.h.i.+eld was weakened as the flames engulfed the priests, knights and all enemies within range.

“Stop him. The Embinyu Church can continue on this earth if I’m alive.”

Heuller thought the situation was turning bad and started running away. Using his subordinates as s.h.i.+elds while escaping!

Ddiring!

Weed plunged towards the escort knights.

They were different from the other Embinyu knights and had a high level of 500~600. Nodulle had struggled with them but Weed was the ruler of the desert.

“Summon Another Sword, Black Knight’s Strike!”

He used the sword skills that he had mastered. Attacks with locked with the summoned sword while Black Knight’s Strike was a wide area attack skill.

“Kuuuk!”

The Embinyu followers that Weed pa.s.sed through collapsed. An efficient way of using his combat power. It didn’t matter to Weed if they kept their lives or not.

His only goal was Heuller. Heuller was a priest wearing long robes that couldn’t run quickly so Weed was catching up.

“Listen all faithful believers! If you stop him from coming after me then Embinyu will give you a generous reward!”

“Follow the command!”

The escort knights flocked towards Weed like vultures. Even the priests that lost their divine power threw their bodies to stop Weed.

“We will handle this. Great Emperor-nim, go ahead and take care of the bigger fis.h.!.+”

Warrior-1 and Warrior-2 rushed up with their scimitars. Weed and Hestiger maintained their running speed. Heuller moved between the heavily fighting monsters.

Kuowooooh!

Beyond the monsters was the wide entrance to an underground pa.s.sage.

“I will take care of these ones.”

“Understood.”

Hestiger dealt with the monsters as Weed broke through!

However, even jumping over monsters reduced his time by a few seconds. Weed was an incomparable warrior but Heuller used divine magic to increase his speed to that of an athlete.

“An enemy of the Embinyu Church! The dream to destroy the world isn’t over yet. I will return all of you to the abyss of despair.”

It was unknown what would happen if Heuller entered the underground pa.s.sage.

“No!”

Weed ran with all his power.

He quickly broke through the enemies that were approaching but couldn’t block the pa.s.sage.

Weed was approximately 40 metres away while Heuller only needed 2~3 more metres to reach the entrance of the pa.s.sage. To make matters worse, there were a group of Embinyu knights standing at the entrance.

“Block him!”

“Yes!”

The knights moved to stop Weed from entering the underground pa.s.sage!

Sururung.

An Embinyu knight pulled out a sword and the situation suddenly reversed. Heuller was cut down by a fellow knight.

“Kueeok! How did this….”

“I’ve been waiting for this time! Great Emperor-nim, I knew you would come so I’ve been waiting.”

The Embinyu knight removed his helmet to reveal the face of Warrior-3. After infiltrating the Embinyu Church, he had been placed to guard the area of retreat.

“This is a sword of the desert. Hot Sandy Wind Sword!”

Warrior-3’s sword rotated like a windmill while cutting Heuller.

The proficiency of Hot Sandy Wind Sword was still growing but it was a success. The desert warriors had basically mastered the sword.

Heuller was. .h.i.t more than twenty times before Warrior-3 ended up being surrounded by the Embinyu knights. But Weed also arrived before the Embinyu knights could attack.

“Undulating Flame Mark!”

Fierce flames rose from Weed’s body onto the knights.

It was a technique that acted as a defense but could also destroy weak enemies! The Embinyu knights were fairly strong but were still affected. The knights in a cursed state were just like moving j.a.ptem in Weed’s eyes.

The knights couldn’t even resist and their bodies turned into fireb.a.l.l.s. The attacks aimed at Weed were overwhelmed by the fire. And Heuller!

“Today, you won’t last even 1 minute longer!”

Weed couldn’t make any concessions at this moment. He was in his best state after dealing with the dragon.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Heuller might use a defense skill but Moonlight Sculpting Blade neutralized any resistance.

Weed’s long sword spun round and round like a toy. He slashed dozens of times in a row.

“Kuweeek! The pain is gnawing at my soul!”

Unlike the dragon, a large amount of concentration was needed to hit Heuller.

“You’re not a zombie!”

Weed cut him with the sword but Heuller’s health was being filled again at a rapid pace. A red line connected him to the Embinyu followers that he was extracting health from. This was why a priest boss was one of the hardest to kill without the help of others.

“I won’t take this lying down. You shall be split apart and distorted. Rupture of the Sacrifice!”

His resistance was high so Heuller’s attacks weren’t enough to damage Weed.

“He recovered just now. It looks like the last few minutes have been wasted. I have to beat you until you die!”

Weed cut Heuller with his sword. Heuller retreated whenever he was. .h.i.t by the continuous swings. Weed alternated between small, large and wide area attacks. His aim was to resolve it all.

The scene where the brilliant light of the sword sparkled with every swing was beautiful.

“All knights, rescue High Priest-nim.”

“No way! We will stop it! Great Emperor-nim, we will handle this!”

Warrior-1, Warrior-2 and Hestiger blocked the attempts of the Embinyu knights to rescue Heuller.

“Gus.h.i.+ng Lava Column!”

Weed caused lava to surround his body, preventing the knights from reaching them. He succeeded in keeping Heuller away from the entrance of the underground pa.s.sage.

“Euuuk, for my grand dream to end like this….”

“Touching my rice bowl was your mistake.”

Weed’s attack caused ma.s.sive damage. Heuller’s health was steadily recovering but he couldn’t escape being damaged.

And the sky was turning red. The ground started to vibrate.

“The world is moving even though I am standing still.”

“This enormous flow of mana…. It is over! We are all going to die!”

“Ahhh, Penny! I couldn’t see you before I died.”

The ground started flowing like a river. A building suddenly pa.s.sed by.

Weed felt that Eons of Erosion was causing a change in this area. Of course, he couldn’t miss killing Heuller even if Eons of Erosion was occurring.

“It is time to finish this.”

“This…it can’t end this way!”

Despite the ongoing Life Absorption, Heuller’s health continued to decline.

The Embinyu knights in the area were dying due to Weed’s subordinates. The injured knights offering their health to Heuller were dying. Thus Heuller was rapidly collapsing under Weed’s powerful offensive.

The end of a long, long quest was finally ending. Tens of millions of people were watching on the screen while Weed relentlessly struck.

“Spare me. I will give you all the worth I’ve collected so far and my enormous troops.”

“I don’t want to. It isn’t worth it!”

He wasn’t shaken at all by the temptation. If cash was pulled out in front of him then Weed might hesitate but only using words was Heuller’s mistake.

Heuller’s enormous health was sharply reduced over time. He was. .h.i.t despite trying to avoid it. Weed unleashed all the difficulties he experienced in the meantime on Heuller.

“Kuweeek! The hundreds of years I lived is in vain. I wanted to get rid of all the imbalances and distortions in this world….”

“High Priest-nim!”

The Embinyu knights continued to struggle to reach Weed but were blocked by the column of lava.

And finally, a black energy started to pour out from Heuller’s body. The protective ability and health had reached its limit. The body couldn’t endure it and collapsed.

Heuller’s face rapidly aged as it became filled with deep wrinkles and age spots. After a while, the black energy popped and Heuller’s soul escaped from the body.

-It won’t end like this. If I have a chance…I will come back and achieve my unfulfilled dream. Kuhwahwahwahwa!

“This is really….”

Weed hadn’t been able to say that for a while. So far, he didn’t believe himself that he would complete the quest.

A sculptor who started off carving wood was finally going to obtain the final secret sculpting technique.

The history of the Versailles Continent had been reversed by Weed.

“The leader of the enemy is dead!”

“We won. Hooray!”

The prisoners started cheering.

The colossal army of Embinyu knights, priests and monsters lost all strength and fell to the ground. The monsters that came running from the outskirts continued trying to eat them.

Weed looked down at the ground while this complicated situation was going on. There were ants, c.o.c.kroaches and other insects moving. The earth was crumpling up like paper. The ebb and flow of the ground was moving the people and buildings.

“It is time to leave.”

It was imperceptible when fighting Heuller but now the ground was moving.

“If this continues then it is the end.”

He had saved the continent from the evil Embinyu Church. Weed couldn’t enjoy the afterglow.

Of course, his subordinates were also worthy of praise. If it wasn’t for the desert warriors then it would have been impossible for him to conquer the Central Continent. Weed’s affection towards them had piled up in the process.

‘I need to look after my own survival!’

Weed was just about to run off.

“a.s.semble everyone here. The dark power that the enemy wrapped around here has weakened. This place is risky so we will escape from here.”

Saint Ah.e.l.lun spoke. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the brave warriors could save their lives.

Ah.e.l.lun spread both arms wide as a pure white divine light spread out. It felt like when they were heading towards the Barren Howling Ruins.

The elves, dwarves and surviving prisoners came closer to Ah.e.l.lun. Weed had worked hard and reached the top position.

The prisoners directed their praise towards Weed.

“Great Emperor-nim, thanks for the good work.”

“A miraculous victory. I’m honoured to fight together with a warrior like you.”

“Evane, I finally got revenge for you.”

Zahab, Hestiger and his loyal subordinates all gathered together.

However, Weed’s face wasn’t very welcoming.

It was because he felt complex emotions seeing three high elves attached closely to Hestiger. His charm was increased even more by the attractive elves!

“Now I’m finally leaving!”

“Let’s go back home.”

“Huk huk, I can finally g back after living in a place like this….”

The light burst out from Ah.e.l.lun and surrounded Weed, his subordinates and the hundreds of survivors.

After a while, they all disappeared from the spot while the remaining Embinyu troops continued fighting with the monsters attacking them.

Kurururung!

In a short amount of time, the buildings started collapsing.

Weed leaving didn’t stop the battle between the Embinyu Church and the monsters. But the ground started to be sucked in and formed a whirlpool. All the buildings and existences in that area were gone and only a huge hole was left behind.

Weed grabbed his sword tightly as Ah.e.l.lun teleported him somewhere. The resolute will not to let go of the G.o.d’s sword!

Splash.

Caw. Caw caw.

Weed appeared in a place where he could hear the seagulls and the peaceful sound of the waves.

‘This is….’

Weed didn’t feel his body land.

Instead of stepping on the ground, he was flying in the air like a ghost. The armour and sword from G.o.d had disappeared without him noticing. But the sun was warm and the white sand grains looked like jewellery so he couldn’t feel any tension.

Weed floated around until he found a small wooden house. A middle-aged couple was eating a fish dish.

“This is delicious. As expected from Hilderun, your cooking is amazing.”

“Thank you.”

They were Nodulle and Hilderun, the protagonists of the quest.

‘What the h.e.l.l, am I just supposed to watch like a movie?’

They had suffered a huge hards.h.i.+p in the warring period and the fight against the Embinyu Church.

Since then, Nodulle and Hilderun settled in their home near the beach.

‘Well, that grilled fish is shocking. At first I thought it was sweet potato burned black….’

The grilled fish made a sound like a cookie every time they chewed on it. It was a situation where he could grumble about the food but Nodulle indeed found it delicious.

Once the two of them finished eating, they leisurely headed to the beach with fis.h.i.+ng rods. Meanwhile, stone was stacked around a small field behind the house to protect the garden from strong winds.

‘When looking at the sea, it seems to be the coastline on the eastern side of the continent. It is close to the north-east coast.’

It was the instinctive need to understand the terrain developed from quests! There were monsters and beasts nearby but they didn’t wander around so it was a peaceful beast.

He roamed for 10 minutes before he suddenly had a question.

‘Strange. It was just noon a little while ago.’

Nodulle and Hilderun were turning off the power of their house.

Awoooo!

The sound of wolves howling could be heard from far away.

‘Something like this….’

He watched the stars in the night sky quickly change to the sun rising. A majestic sunrise! The sea was being shrouded by fog.

Weed was quite familiar with seeing a sunrise.

In the old days, he would see the sun rise during his milk and newspaper deliveries and when he stayed up all night hunting before heading back to the cities on the Versailles Continent. He was full of pride from a backpack full of j.a.ptem and would sell it at an overpriced value to customers despite the acc.u.mulated fatigue.

And the sunny beach day began again.

Nodulle and Hilderun gathered seafood or caught animals such as rabbits for food. The s.h.i.+ning sun gleamed on the endless waves like a jewel.

It once again became an evening sky full of starts before the sun rose the next day.

This tranquil routine was repeated.

‘What am I supposed to do?’

Weed watched idly as ten days pa.s.sed. All this time had only taken 30 minutes.

In the beginning, he looked around for dangerous presences or even hidden treasures. Maybe Nodulle and Hilderun had a reason to live here so there might be treasures concealed!

Weed’s thoughts were like that. But the days just kept pa.s.sing.

They weren’t interested in hidden treasure nor did they covet power. Weed knew that Nodulle’s sword skills could conquer any kingdom. If he was a little more ambitious then he could become the king.

“I didn’t expect this day to come.”

“I am very happy now.”

The time they spent together was more valuable after facing all types of adversity again. They looked like they most loving couple in the world as they laughed together.

One day, two days, one month, two months.

The pa.s.sage of time was even faster. It was like the daily routine was being repeated. The final stage of the quest just required watching Nodulle and Hilderun live comfortably.

‘Does that mean I can’t miss any of the scenes? They might hide Time Sculpting somewhere here and then I will have to come find it again later. And I would be able to find it if the excavation is successful.’

Weed was filled with doubt so he memorized and a.n.a.lysed their behaviour.

Spring, summer, autumn, winter.

Seasons changed and years pa.s.sed as Nodulle and Hilderun became older.

They had been teenagers when fleeing from Borota Island but after living in the desert and crossing the continent, they were already old.

Nodulle’s face that had been handsome when he was younger was now filled with scars. They were young at one time but now that was just their precious memories.

Time flowed faster and they turned into elderly people. Sometimes 1 month or 6 months would pa.s.s in an instant and other times it was a few seasons.

Nodulle became increasingly decrepit as he carried firewood and Hilderun’s waist was also bent.

Weed started to feel something when looking at the changes. Nodulle and Hilderun’s happiness.

‘The view looks good. Don’t tell me that Nodulle and Hilderun lived happily ever after like an old children’s book after defeating the Embinyu Church?’

Storms and snowfall also occurred on the beach. The scenery was the best but he actually felt uncomfortable. Nodulle and Hilderun went on living with each other until they were elderly people.

Weed couldn’t help feeling impressed.

‘That is love.’

His parents had died early so he couldn’t remember them well.

There were many things he didn’t know but he could see his parent’s love. Rather than feeling joy at the love, he felt scared by the enormous sense of responsibility.

He wasn’t an official couple with Seo-yoon but he knew her mind after suffering so much together. Therefore, he decided it was time to accept.

‘Can I really have a happy family? There really are many complex things in this world. I just want to live an ordinary and loving life with my family. It is indeed hard.’

Time continued to pa.s.s but it felt like more time was being given. Enough time pa.s.sed that the two elderly people should be dead already.

Hilderun was the first one to close her eyes. She wore a pretty dress like she knew she was dying and closed her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I’ll go first.”

She had no regrets so she died calmly!

Nodulle buried her in a grave behind the house.

And time flowed on once again.

Nodulle cleaned fish and ate rice alone. He was lonely but he went on living life as usual. The very lonely Nodulle occasionally muttered to himself.

“It was a really interesting life.”

He had lost many things after choosing Hilderun. His wealth and status on Borota Island was discard and he experienced many things that threatened his life.

Nevertheless, Nodulle was happy because it was the life he chose for himself. He was a man who achieved everything he wanted!

Nodulle sat next to Hilderun’s grave and quietly closed his eyes. He knew this was the end.

Nodulle’s little finger touched Hilderun’s grave and lights emerged and tangled around each other like lovers before shooting up into the sky.

The light soared deep into the night sky and were difficult to distinguish from each other. Nodulle and Hilderun’s stars!

The meaning of the two stars were now revealed. The stars symbolized time, fortune and love. They enjoyed eternity together even after death.

Weed felt appreciation after watching their story.

‘This could be called a happy ending. Although I would have preferred becoming rich from successful land speculation.’

Ddiring!

“Hah.”

The poignant scene of the quest being completed made Weed want to cry but the tears seemed to be stuck.

A man’s tears were very precious. In particular, the scene would be broadcast later so he couldn’t be seen crying.

“Ahahaaam.”

He neatly yawned to hide the tears.

“Time Sculpting skill window!”

The final secret sculpting technique! Depending on the proficiency, various attributes of Time Sculpting could be produced.

Weed looked at Moment Sculpting first.

“I can stop the world and move myself, huhuhuhu.”

There was a warm smile on his face.

Time Sculpting could lead to many beautiful moments but he was only thinking about how he could profit from it.

“If time really stops…I can steal money from others. And it is also very useful in battle.”

An invincible technology that could stop the fight! If the situation was dangerous then he could use it to avoid deadly attacks.

“But I still don’t know how effective it is.”

It was common sense that a price needed to be paid for such a colossal skill.

Currently the broadcasters had promised not to relay this scene. It was a measure intended to stop Bardray and the Hermes Guild from knowing the information.

“Wait a bit. I will return!”

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