Chapter 600: 1 vs. 500,000 (2)

For the first time.

The spirit of the soldiers who had shouted, “Why the hell do we have to do this shit?!” began to change.

One against five hundred thousand.

Once again, a king fighting the soldiers of his own nation looked absurd beyond measure.

But Luxiu’s cry had made even the deputy commanders realize what mattered most to them.

What mattered most to soldiers?

Victory?

Slaying the greatest number of enemies?

No.

Survival.

Hyunsoo had carved a new legend into the continent.

The tale of a man who had cut down one hundred thousand made countless hearts race.

But was Hyunsoo the only one who had cut down a hundred thousand?

The King of Stories had survived alone against hundreds of thousands of monsters and Great Archdemons.

The Overlord had defeated an army of more than one hundred thousand alone, frightening armies in the hundreds of thousands so badly that they could not invade.

The Tyrant could raise hundreds of thousands of dead in an instant and make them fight.

Like them.

There were countless tales of those who had fought more than one hundred thousand enemies.

Yet in those great legends, no one mourned the lives of the hundred thousand.

They thought only of the one person strong enough to face them.

Hyunsoo, however, had seen what mattered most.

A way for the five hundred thousand soldiers of his nation to survive...

Bella shuddered from head to toe.

What kind of situation is this?

Bengers, Akao, and the others exchanged glances as they watched.

CLANG—!!!

Hyunsoo sent three soldiers flying with a single wooden sword.

His Majesty was teaching the soldiers what mattered most.

He was showing them what even they had failed to realize, risking injury to his own body to do so.

Your Majesty...

When did you grow so much?

I’m ashamed before Your Majesty’s example.

We won’t stand by either.

They began making rules.

“Anyone struck directly by a wooden sword will be ruled dead. Fall back!”

“Soldiers, take up your main weapons. This must be treated as a real battle. Fight believing that the enemy truly intends to kill you. I will punish anyone who does not give their all.”

Bella’s commands engraved themselves upon the soldiers, word for word.

“What matters most is real battle! Neither the Parion Empire nor any of the hundreds of kingdoms on this continent has ever accumulated actual combat experience with hundreds of thousands fighting a single individual! Do not waste this opportunity!”

Her words began to reach them.

The difference between soldiers who had experienced real battle and those who had not was enormous.

Battle was like a blade. The more it was hammered, the sharper and fiercer it became.

The more often this was repeated, the more their skill would rise, and the more their chances of survival would increase.

And they could feel it firsthand.

“Parm, weren’t you just married? Didn’t you say you wanted to live happily for a long time without dying on the battlefield?!”

BOOM—!!

Hyunsoo’s furious voice was for them.

Following his lead, the soldiers completed their formation and began advancing on Hyunsoo.

Each gripped their weapon tightly, and at last, a sword strike reached Hyunsoo.

THRUST—

[You have taken 543 damage.]

Hyunsoo was startled by the attack.

What was that?

Only a few days ago, Hyunsoo had cut down nearly one hundred twenty thousand enemies alone.

They were Parion’s elite soldiers, skilled in subjugation and massacre.

Naturally, the soldiers of the nation of Hyun had overwhelmingly lower base levels than them.

So why?

Why did that hurt so much?

The soldiers of the nation of Hyun were, on average, thirty levels lower. Yet their attacks hurt far more than those of the Parion Empire Army.

For a moment, Hyunsoo was startled enough to nearly draw a real sword.

Then he noticed something remarkable about the soldier who had struck him.

—Brand Hyun Longsword.

—Brand Hyun Leather Armor.

Hyunsoo looked at every soldier surrounding him.

Brand Hyun Bow.

Brand Hyun Spear.

Brand Hyun Boots.

The nation of Hyun was a nation of blacksmiths.

That was why the entire world had laughed at it.

What could a country built around blacksmiths possibly do?

Yet that one man’s attack had been around twenty percent stronger than an ordinary Parion soldier’s.

Even though he was thirty levels lower!

We did it.

Hyunsoo’s chest tightened.

He felt grateful and happy that he had been the one to build this nation.

The artifacts of the {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} “Hyun” series borne by the soldiers proved the path they had walked together.

And then—

“Luxiu’s Swordsmanship.”

“Bella’s Swordsmanship.”

“Akao’s Swordsmanship.”

“Bengers’s Riding Technique.”

“...!!!”

The invocations rising from every direction made Hyunsoo tense.

There isn’t just one kind of swordsmanship!

In the Parion Empire, everyone used the same swordsmanship.

The same flow. The same movements. Only the strength differed according to each soldier’s skill.

But Hyunsoo had personally experienced the Parion Empire’s single-pattern swordsmanship. Seeing several separate sword arts and riding techniques unfold at once left him far more flustered.

When they erupted simultaneously, he could not instantly recall the flow of each sword art or how to respond to each riding technique.

Then—

“Demon Slash!”

BOOOOM—!!!

More than three hundred soldiers, merely imitating Luxiu’s technique, leaped into the air and brought their swords down.

Hyunsoo blocked their attacks or struck them aside.

BAM! CRASH! BOOM!

At that very moment, a sword art resembling Bella’s unfolded beside him.

“Wolf Pack!”

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM—!

If Barad’s Wolf Pack was like a powerful, steadfast giant wolf, Bella’s was different.

It was agile, like a wolf targeting the throat to make up for its lack of brute strength.

Five hundred attacks shot toward his vital points at once. Hyunsoo broke into a cold sweat and reacted in a flash.

The next attack was Akao’s swordsmanship.

What is this?

It was chaotic.

It felt like fighting people who were skilled at street brawls.

That made it impossible to predict, and even harder to deflect.

Akao.

As the Pirate King, he had not taught them a system. He had taught them how to break the systems of orderly enemies.

BOOMBOOMBOOM—!!!

But six times per second, the wooden sword—lighter and therefore faster—hammered at them relentlessly, opening a path through the soldiers.

Then—

“Cavalry Lances!”

A thousand soldiers of the nation of Hyun raised their spears and charged in unison, like an impregnable iron fortress.

How am I supposed to break through this?

Hyunsoo was startled at the sight of a thousand soldiers rushing him with sharp spears.

Yet he also felt how much he had grown.

I can break through by force.

BOOM—!

Hyunsoo drove strength into both legs and burst forward. Only around twenty spearheads inflicted damage on him.

Even so, the riding technique reduced Hyunsoo’s HP by only 3%.

On the other hand—

BOOMBOOMBOOM—!!!

Spears with long reach were difficult to maneuver when an enemy came close.

Especially when there was only one enemy. They hesitated, worried they might stab their allies, and that hesitation became their undoing.

Hyunsoo exploited it and knocked them all aside.

Whew...

He pretended to be unfazed, but Hyunsoo was short of breath.

This isn’t easy.

Then Hyunsoo was surprised.

[You are training in a new way.]

[You have gained 1 Strength.]

[You have gained 1 Health.]

This was certainly different from his usual training.

Unlike simply fighting, this was unmistakably training.

The soldiers of the nation of Hyun were coming at him with wildly varied sword arts and artifacts—and Hyunsoo was growing.

A smile spread across his lips.

There were nearly five hundred thousand soldiers under Hyunsoo’s command.

Would he receive a notification every time one of them grew stronger?

No.

If every soldier’s growth reached Hyunsoo, his notification window would be paralyzed.

He could not hear it, but if he looked closely, he could see it.

[Soldier Aruo grows by gaining new real-battle experience.]

[Soldier Kemin grows by gaining new real-battle experience.]

[Soldier Brock grows by gaining new real-battle experience.]

Everyone fighting here was growing like this.

And these appeared as combined notifications.

[The nation of Hyun’s soldiers’ chance of surviving against someone with transcendent strength has increased by a total of 3%.]

“...”

Their chances of living had risen by another 3%.

And—

“Maybe we can do this?”

“I think we could pull it off if we all rush him at once.”

They were beginning to gain confidence.

But Hyunsoo judged that they were still far too lacking.

This was exactly the moment when one person could massacre them all after they let their guard down.

To teach them that, Hyunsoo drew something he had not used until now.

[Unique grade. Training Wooden Sword.]

“It has 1 attack power, but it’s a wooden sword unlike an ordinary wooden sword.”

Attack power: 1.

It suited the current situation.

If even one of Hyunsoo’s attacks connected, it was no different from the soldiers being ruled dead.

But what made this Training Wooden Sword different?

“It can use every skill effect of the swords I currently possess.”

“...”

“...?”

“...?”

The soldiers, who had been growing bold just moments ago, began to realize something.

The soldier who had said they might be able to pull it off stammered.

“Why are we only realizing this now...?”

“His Majesty...”

His Majesty had never used a skill even once.

Not one of the skills that had shown their power when he cut down more than one hundred thousand soldiers had been used.

And Hyunsoo.

He had bought this absurd wooden sword for five million won.

Why had he bought it?

It was an occupational reflex.

This was quite a rare find.

Attack power 1 meant that, in essence, it relied on the wielder’s physical damage.

And when most characters unequipped their main weapon, their damage dropped by an average of fifty to seventy percent.

That was how important a main weapon was.

In other words—

even if the Overlord held it, it would be difficult to kill someone with this.

Or would it? Could the Overlord pull it off?

One thing was certain: there was nothing better for training people under conditions this close to real combat.

Just as I thought...

Remembering that every artifact had its use, Hyunsoo sneered.

“Twenty thousand.”

“...”

“Twenty thousand people fell to my attacks. And after that, you’re happy to say this looks doable?”

CREAK—

“Want to know what’s funny?”

Provoked by Hyunsoo, the soldiers gripped their weapons even tighter.

“The Parion Empire Army probably fought harder than you did.”

It was true that they had been frightened in advance and swept away, but they had still fought more desperately than these soldiers.

“I’ll break that arrogance.”

With that—

BOOM—!!!

[Longing rises!!]

A massive swirling force swept through dozens of soldiers.

It activated only at low odds, but with steady frequency. Even when they were not killed, the soldiers experienced the shockwave firsthand.

If this were a real battle...

Fifteen or so would be dead?

And Hyunsoo truly had a great many titles.

CRASHCRASHCRASH—!

The soldiers blanched as a single cut struck them multiple times.

And then—

“Absolute Invincibility.”

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG—!

The moment he became invincible while moving alone through hundreds of thousands of soldiers, he swept away another five hundred.

And—

“Grout Summon.”

He unleashed every advantage at his disposal.

Of course—

“Master. Should I kill them?”

“...No. Just let yourself get hit by me.”

“...?”

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

Because Grout could not attack the soldiers, Hyunsoo merely took advantage of its MP and cooldowns.

His speed is much faster than before.

It’s nearly three times faster.

In a flash, another twenty thousand were counted as dead.

Luxiu, watching the scene, spoke.

“He’s tiring?”

Seeing Hyunsoo grow tired, Luxiu realized something.

“If he only cuts down around fifty thousand, won’t the soldiers become arrogant?”

Bella and the deputy commanders all understood what he meant.

Hyunsoo had cut down one hundred thousand Parion soldiers, while the nation of Hyun had only lost fifty thousand.

With their artifacts and their many commanders, that would plant the belief that the nation of Hyun’s soldiers were stronger than the Parion Empire Army.

Yet if that became arrogance, it could keep them from growing stronger.

Because that’s simply what humans are like.

Relief.

That was the greatest problem.

So just as they decided this had become pointless and might instead become poison, Nell arrived after hearing the news.

“We mustn’t stop.”

“What?”

Nell said,

“Now is where the real beginning starts. Soon, that title will reveal its power.”

The real beginning?

Luxiu frowned in confusion.

Was Hyunsoo not clearly growing tired?

Then Luxiu froze.

How can this be?

Luxiu’s eyes, locked on Hyunsoo, shook.

His Majesty is getting stronger and stronger?!