Part 2, Episode 188.
The Empress and the Sword Saint, comrades who have been together since the days of Demrok.
My younger sister, Hyun-a.
And the friends I hang out with in real life, and the Shield-Best group, whom I met for the first time in God of Savior.
They are a group that doesn’t engage in the slightest close fight.
That is understandable, considering they had all met in different places and maintained their friendship, and even Dohyeon hadn’t seen Bangpaechoe’s group in a very long time.
A relationship so unrelated that it is awkward to introduce them, even if you wanted to.
That was their relationship.
If that is certainly the case…
“Wow, did Brother Kaiser really do that? It’s different from the way I’ve seen him, but… thinking that you did that makes him look cool.”
“I admit it…… Wait, but why is Kaiser your older brother, Migantakdae?”
“Hmph, we are the subordinates who shared Brother Kaiser’s great first journey. Once a brother, always a brother. We have served you as our brother ever since we didn’t know your true identity, so naturally…”
“Hmm… but I don’t think Lord Kaiser ever said he would regard you as his younger brother.”
“Ah, no! That’s… Yubin. Weren’t you on our side?”
… … They were gathered together, chatting happily.
As if very happy.
What the…
It’s an unimaginable combination, but is it just me, or does it feel like the entire topic of their chatter is me?
No, what I understand even less than that is… … .
“……Kuku, Sword Emperor. Why are you two here?”
Even if they didn’t avoid it as much as I hated the guild, weren’t those guys also not very interested in it?
They were the kind of guys who wouldn’t even look at their colleague, Bora, even when he begged him to join the guild.
Even though in God of Savior, you would likely suffer a lot of damage if you didn’t have a guild.
“Heh heh, look at your expression. Who wouldn’t be interested when it turns out you, of all people, have become the guild leader? Of course I came to watch.”
“Think about it the other way around, Kaiser. Wouldn’t you be surprised if this guy or I joined the Guild? If it’s the leader, that says it all.”
“hmm…….”
Dohyeon readily admitted it as he pictured those guys becoming the guild leaders.
“……That’s true.”
I couldn’t bring myself to say a rebuttal.
These guys haven’t joined a guild for a whopping six years, ever since the days of Demrok.
Guys like that suddenly join a guild one day, and it turns out to be one of the top 10 guilds?
He’s even the leader of that guild?
How can I endure this?
As soon as I heard the news, I was confident I could storm into the guild building and tease them with all my might.
If that’s the case even for myself, would those guys be any different?
Moreover, even though the period may have been shorter, I am the one who did not join a guild despite being in worse conditions than those guys.
Rather, I should have given him high marks for his patience in the fact that he only came to tease(?) me now.
“What are you talking about? Teasing me? I just came to watch. Why is this bastard blurting out his true feelings?”
“To think you thought of us that way, I’m disappointed, Kaiser.”
“Wow, that’s really too much. Right?”
“Did you say Hyuna? I’ve been feeling this for a while now, but I really like you.”
“Hehe. I like you too, unnie. Don’t you look seriously so cool? Honestly, you must have a lot of female fans, right?”
“Don’t you know? Because no one approaches me saying they’re a fan.”
“……That’s probably because you try to kill them just by making eye contact. Try to tone down your temper a bit.”
“What are you talking about? He’s probably the one who killed more.”
Interfering with my training was clearly a deliberate attempt to approach me. I am different from you, who starts by beating me up the moment our eyes meet.
“No, I’m telling you, it’s not like we just ran into each other. You know, there’s a feeling. If I don’t strike first, I might be the one getting hit.”
“……I don’t think you’re going to get beaten.”
“That’s not the point. If I’m going to attack, I have to be the one to do it first. Getting hit first ruins the mood.”
“Wow, that’s cool…….”
Just as I was thinking that in my own way, the conversations suddenly took a strange turn.
In the midst of that, Hyuna, who kept looking at Kuku with sparkling eyes while constantly marveling, was very annoying.
Isn’t that going to catch something?
He was a tomboy and quite mischievous, but he didn’t go around picking fights, so I’m worried for some reason.
One time bomb is enough.
While I was lost in thought, Hyuna, whom I suddenly ran into, subtly averted her gaze.
I know that I am at fault myself.
Tsk. I guess I’ll have to talk about this when I get home.
There are many eyes watching now, and above all, there is even the Empress and the Sword Saint.
Hyun-a lets out a sigh of relief as she clicks her tongue and turns her gaze away.
Watching Yubin-kyung, Migan-ttakdae, and her friends chattering beside her gave me a strange feeling.
Those guys are just the same here.
It is understandable that he would feel awkward since there are many people he is seeing for the first time.
True to their energetic nature, they are getting along really well.
It was a pleasant sight, except for the fact that he kept looking at me with that usual disgusting look of envy every now and then.
It was when I was quietly watching like that.
“…Hey. Don’t you have anything to say?”
“? What do you mean?”
Dohyeon blinked at the Empress’s sudden, abrupt remark.
But that was only for a moment.
“You’ve gotten really strong, haven’t you? I heard rumors that you became even stronger after getting the reward this time. Isn’t that right?”
“ah.”
Her words, as she cracked her hands open as if she were itching to move, resonated differently with Dohyeon.
Instead of ‘You’ve gotten really strong, haven’t you?’, say ‘Let’s have a match.’
If it were before, I wouldn’t have bothered to put up with that ill-tempered guy.
For him, sparring was practically a real fight.
Since he is a man of no middle ground whether the opponent is weaker or stronger than him, the moment he starts sparring, he must go all the way no matter what.
but.
Smirk.
The situation is different now.
It is a car I was curious about anyway. How far does one’s strength extend right now?
I wonder if Annihilation will work on that guy, too.
There is no one better than Kuku to properly figure things out.
One-man army.
The player with the best physique in God of Savior and the strongest female player.
If it is her, she can pour all her energy into it.
“Hoho, so that seems to be the atmosphere. I was going to suggest a sword duel, but I’ll let it slide this time.”
For once, this bitch is saying the right thing.
The Empress looked with satisfaction at the Sword Saint, who stepped back as if intrigued, and took a step forward.
Before she knew it, a weapon was in her hand.
Right, a weapon.
I had no choice but to describe it as a deadly weapon rather than a weapon.
Saaa-
Something in the shape of a glove worn on the hand.
There wasn’t a single blade, but the energy surging like blood was beyond ferocity, chilling like that of a murderer.
“I got a good reward this time. But there wasn’t a suitable place to test it out. So I haven’t been able to properly assess its performance yet.”
“Really? I’ll take this opportunity to test it out.”
Yeah, that’s it.
She laughed fiercely like a wild beast and spoke as if spat it out.
“Don’t collapse right away. You won’t be able to control your strength.”
Dohyeon chuckled at her bold remark.
“Control what? You just have to hang in there. We’re both in the same boat when it comes to not being able to control ourselves.”
The Empress’s eyes lit up at the sight of Dohyeon calmly deflecting the provocation.
A look that seemed to say, “Look at this?”
And soon, his eyes filled with deep anticipation and excitement.
“You bastard, you’re back. As the Kaiser I knew.”
“well.”
Could it be that I was assimilated by her appearance?
Dohyeon’s lips also curled slightly upward, and a faint light flickered in his eyes.
I wonder if I’ll have a similar expression to hers.
I think it would be strange at that time.
Thinking that, Dohyeon continued speaking provocatively,
“Something unusual during the time of Demrok…”
She also answered, curling the corners of her mouth.
“I’m really looking forward to that.”
The two grinned at each other, turned their backs at the same time as if by prearrangement, and left through the door.
It has been about 8 months since I reunited with Kuku.
Finally, the time came to compete with her.
* * *
The place the two arrived at was the sparring room.
Of course, it was the sparring room inside the guild building… … .
It looked somewhat bare, perhaps because the interior design had not been completely finished yet.
“…I am deeply sorry. We are accelerating interior construction in preparation for the Guild War, but it has not yet been completed as we have been paying more attention to other matters.”
“It’s fine. As long as we have a place to spar, that’s enough.”
However…
Dohyeon glanced around, telling Ana, who was looking around cautiously as if Myeonok wasn’t there, that he was fine once again.
Saying it was okay was not just to comfort her.
It has only been a week since the guild was established, so wouldn’t it be natural to have this many flaws?
And… honestly, it was hard to even call it a defect.
“Wow, the sparring room here is nice, too.”
“I know.”
A vast sparring room the size of a school playground.
Befitting its overwhelming size, the training ground occupying the center also boasted a considerable size.
If the sparring room is the sports field, then the sparring arena that will serve as the stage is like an auditorium.
And a translucent membrane enveloped the vast training ground like Doom, which was the crowning glory of this training room.
[The Legendary-grade Magic Engineering crafted item ‘The White Tower Master’s Triple Barrier’ is installed.]
[Blocks the aftermath of all attacks attempting to escape the sparring arena.]
‘The White Tower Master’s magical engineering creation… wasn’t this supposed to be worth whatever price was asked?’
The White Tower Master, boasting the most outstanding magic crafting skills among all NPCs and users in God of Savior.
Her creations, which were also the Seven Great Masters of the Empire, were so rare that even NPCs possessed them.
That was because all of her creations were limited editions with only a few units produced.
The old man used to brag about it a lot.
Even the middle-aged man who owned several of those limited editions praised this barrier so highly.
To think I’d see this in my guild’s dueling room.
Dohyeon suddenly became curious about Ana’s true identity, but he suppressed the curiosity that was peeking out.
Now wasn’t the time to worry about such things.
BANG!!!
“Eek!?”
“W-what is this!”
A scream burst out at the sudden, explosive sound.
They were people who had come to watch at the sound of their guild leader and the Empress sparring.
The members were, of course, the people who were in the lounge.
So, it was my younger sister, her friends, and Shield Best’s party.
And the one who surprised them was none other than the Empress.
“Oh, it’s sturdy. At this rate, I could run it at full power.”
She, who had gathered a sinister energy surging like blood into her gloves, and the large scar that stretched long across the floor in front of her.
It was definitely a technique I had never seen before.
Because she didn’t have such a powerful area-of-effect skill until now.
It looks like his claim that he has definitely gotten stronger wasn’t a lie.
but…….
[Activating the Unchanging One.]
[Please select a weapon effect to apply to the current weapon, the White Lion’s Snow Flower Sword.]
[Applicable Weapons]
Kayana’s Dagger
– The archer’s bow that pierced the rock wall
– Astra’s Arrow
– Scythe of Terrible Nightmares
… …
– Special silver shield made in a special workshop
That sounds fun.
It was the same for both sides.
[Casting Heavenly King Tremor Qi.]
[Knight King manifests the spirit of the Heavenly King True Qi utilizing the Qi manipulation method of ‘Ruslein Valemont’.]
—-!!
Ruslein, the Knight King who, in ancient times, exuded an overwhelming aura that reached the heavens.
The aura he exuded through his mastery of energy manipulation looked just like that of a hegemon who ruled the world.
Those of lower rank or weaker mental strength are susceptible to debuffs just from being directly hit by the momentum.
[Currently, the level of Heavenly King’s Tremor Qi is 2nd Star.]
[It exists up to a maximum of 5 stars, and upon reaching the 5-star level, it evolves into ‘True Heavenly King Tremor Qi’.]
This is only 2 stars… … .
At first, it was not easy to even manifest a single star, but it is a level reached after using it tenaciously for a week.
To think that it is showing this kind of momentum when it has barely taken its first steps.
I can’t even imagine what Ruslein must have been like.
Empress Hana was also a formidable woman.
“Look at this little brat?”
Judging by the way he is loosening his fists as if his body is itching, far from being surprised by the fierce energy rising from Dohyeon’s body.
Eventually, unable to hold back any longer, she assumed a position and opened her mouth.
It looks like you’re ready, so shall we get started right away?
That’s good.
The figures of the two people who nodded disappeared, and
Bang!!!
Almost simultaneously, a sword and a gauntlet clashed, echoing with a crisp sound.
It was the sound signaling the start of the duel.
