Clang!

“Haah!”

“Yah!”

The spacious outdoor training ground was filled with the sound of swords and fighting spirit clashing.

“Rize, I wonder how that child is doing. I hope she doesn’t do anything reckless.”

The Duke of Dios, a noble of the Holy Kingdom, was helping the knights with their training. But his mind was not as calm as usual.

‘Lord Galeus said he would spare her, but she would never leave the prince’s side…’

The duke had heard a shocking news from Galeus, who had returned to the Holy Kingdom a while ago. It was something like this:

‘I had no choice but to subdue your daughter because she refused to give up the divine seal. She should be alive, so please call her back to the Holy Kingdom if possible.’

“…”

Since then, the duke had been suffering from stomachache.

Beatrice was not the type to come back just because he called her.

And the most critical problem was the suspicious wind that had been blowing in the Holy Kingdom lately.

‘No matter how they call it a divine mandate, isn’t it strange that the pope and his followers have taken over the palace with the knights? ’

The ideal of the Holy Kingdom, founded by Saint Dimiana, was peace and love. But how could the Holy Kingdom attack the palace and seize power?

‘I don’t like this divine mandate, but I can’t refuse it.’

The duke felt a lot of reluctance, so he didn’t go to the palace and only took charge of the training of the knights in the Holy Kingdom.

The popes also tacitly approved it, as they were not in need of more manpower.

“…”

“Your Grace, it’s noon.”

“Huh? Is it already that time?”

The sun had risen to the zenith while he was worrying.

It was not suitable to train in armor in broad daylight, as the sun was too hot.

“Then let’s end today’s morning training here.”

The duke sent back the knights and started to walk towards his mansion.

His frustration was still unresolved.

‘Maybe I should sweat a little for a change?’

He headed for the training ground inside his mansion.

He thought of swinging his sword to calm his shaken mind.

“Huh?”

But at the door of the training ground, the duke tilted his head.

‘Someone seems to be inside?’

But after Beatrice left home, there was no one else who could enter this place except for him.

But a familiar voice reached his ears.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. Come in.”

“…!?”

The duke flung open the door and rushed into the training ground.

And he looked at the person inside with a surprised expression.

“Your Highness…”

“How have you been?”

The duke had a complicated expression on his face and Eurius smiled outwardly, but he was also quite nervous.

He was the most difficult person to persuade among those he had to meet.

‘He is a man of integrity, but he is also a man of the Holy Kingdom. Will he listen to my request?’

Eurius decided to go straight to the point.

A person like him would not be swayed by any tricks.

“I won’t beat around the bush. Please help me.”

“…”

The duke was silent for a moment and then said with difficulty.

“Is Rize doing well?”

“She has recovered completely. She seems to be angry that she couldn’t do anything and suffered, so she trains hard these days.”

“Haha! That’s like her. It won’t be hard for me to help you.”

The duke laughed heartily and surprisingly agreed easily. Now it was Eurius’s turn to be surprised.

“Don’t you want to ask why? I’m wanted by the Holy Kingdom.”

“I trust your character that I have seen.”

The Duke of Dios was a noble of the Holy Kingdom, but unlike Galeus, he was not a clergyman.

He was more like a knight, so he didn’t like what the Holy Kingdom did this time.

“But! There is one condition before that.”

“A condition?”

The duke stopped laughing and said with a serious expression.

“You seem to have reached an unreachable level already. You have changed a lot since you trained here in this mansion.”

“…!?”

Eurius made a puzzled expression at his sudden compliment.Why did he bring that up?

The duke opened his mouth again with a heavy tone.

“But… I don’t think you are enough to beat him who is called divine by the popes.”

“Huh…”

Eurius groaned.

‘He has sharp eyes indeed. Does he have an idea of how strong Lee Cheongmun is?’

The duke then threw him a bone-chilling question.

“I can help you with what I can. But do you really have a chance against him right now?”

“…”

Eurius was silent for a moment. It was not that he did not have an answer ready. It seemed that the duke was willing to listen to him even if he had no chance.

‘How should I explain it to satisfy him?’

He did not want to disappoint the duke here. Eurius soon made a decision.

‘Fine, I’ll show him that, even if it’s incomplete.’

“I’ll answer you with this.”

“Hmm?”

Eurius drew his sword and pointed it at the duke with a cautious expression.

“This is what I obtained to defeat him this time. See for yourself and make your decision.”

“Huh?”

The duke’s face became interested. What could Eurius possibly show him?

Swish.

Eurius’s presence disappeared at once. He was supposed to be standing in front of him, but he felt nothing.

‘This is his secret technique! I’ve seen it before.’

The duke opened his eyes wide and stared at where Eurius should be. It was a great opportunity to observe the secret technique of a master who had reached a higher realm.

Meanwhile, Eurius was concentrating hard to activate his incomplete technique.

‘If I fail, it will be humiliating. I have to succeed in one try.’

What he was trying to show now was what he realized after seeing the player’s flashback. Until then, Eurius thought he was stuck at the fifth stage.

‘But this could still be half-baked.’

The reason he thought so was after seeing Lee Cheongmun’s secret technique.

According to his explanation, the stages above the fourth were like this.

[At the fourth stage, you realize your own attribute. And at the fifth stage, it becomes enhanced and at the sixth stage, you awaken even more absurd abilities depending on your training.]

In fact, Lee Cheongmun needed time to reach the end of martial arts. He desired immortality so much that his technique of spatial transfer evolved into a technique of soul transfer.

Eurius was dumbfounded.

‘Wait, then what is my fourth stage secret technique?’

He practically had no use for his secret technique after a certain point.

He had a powerful weapon called the player’s legacy.

What he got were Lee Cheongmun’s martial arts and Emperor Scharnos’s swordsmanship!

And Emperor Scharnos’s secret technique, ‘the swordsmanship that manipulates space’. Emperor Scharnos, who had reached the sixth stage, could use this technique to jump over tens or hundreds of kilometers of space.

‘I made a mistake. I should have paid attention to my original secret technique as well as finding the legacy.’

The player’s legacy that he learned by acquisition was not his own ability anyway.

There had to be a limit to its growth.

He would not be able to do things like cutting mountains and jumping over space like Emperor Scharnos.

And as soon as he realized that, his secret technique evolved by one stage.

It advanced from simply hiding his presence.

The ability he gained at the fifth stage was to hide not only himself but also a certain range of presence perfectly!

He was able to rescue Mareus from the palace by using this secret technique.

“Hey! If that bastard Lee Cheongmun has such a sense, how can you rescue him even if you’re in the capital?”

Emperor Scharnos also tried to dissuade him at first, but he nodded his head with an admiring expression after seeing Eurius’s ability.

“That’s an unusual ability. As long as you don’t get too close, there won’t be any problem.”

Of course, it was not very useful against a master of the sixth stage, but at least it was possible to hide his presence when the distance was quite far.

He sneaked Mareus out without anyone knowing.

Then Eurius felt the need to advance one more step.

‘I can’t win like this even if it’s a one-on-one fight.’

He could not even withstand one punch from Lee Cheongmun before. How could he bite something that he couldn’t even chew? He had to stand on an equal line with him for a fight to be possible.

‘But how can I reach the sixth stage?’

From then on, Eurius had one more thing to worry about. Emperor Scharnos gave him a vague answer when he asked him.

“I just trained and it happened.”

“…”

He chose the wrong person to ask. Emperor Scharnos was a kind of mutant who had an abnormally high player aptitude. He was someone who reached there by the power of talent alone, not by normal training.

‘Then what about the second one?’

The second one was Lee Cheongmun.

He was very old.

He must have gone through bone-grinding training to reach that realm.And according to him, the characteristic of the sixth stage was desire!

He obtained the ability he wanted because he wished for it desperately.

.

.

.

.

Here Eurius recalled when he reached the fourth stage.

‘I had no talent.’

‘I wanted to get out of the position of emperor.’

He realized his attribute and obtained the ability to hide his presence. But what about now? What was his desire?

He was traveling across the continent to find someone who could help him. He had changed many things by going back to the past. He didn’t want to end up in vain like before.

Then?

‘What do I really want?’

When that became clear.

He finally crossed the wall.

***

The practice ground of the duke’s house was as usual.

There was no sign of tremendous momentum or destruction.

“Huff…”

But the Duke of Dios looked satisfied and bowed his head.

“Thank you for your teachings. This old man feels greatly enlightened today.”

“I’m sorry to show you something incomplete.”

Eurius scratched his head shyly and asked.

“What is your answer?”

“I honestly had some doubts, but I was relieved to see your majesty’s appearance today.”

The duke stroked his chest. He felt a little relieved from the stomachache.

“I will fulfill your majesty’s request even if I have to stake my life on it.”

He made a confident vow and bowed his head as a knight.

“Then this unworthy old man will wait for your majesty’s victory in the holy kingdom.”

***

Lee Cheongmun listened to the report with a rather amused expression.

“Hehe… So you’re saying that you’re surrounded by north and south on the continent, right?”

“Yes, your great majesty.”

“What should we do about this?”

The popes were crying and making a fuss, but it wasn’t a big problem for Lee Cheongmun.

‘Are you trying to play a game of land grabbing? Interesting guy.’

In fact, he had erased the person named Eurius from his mind.

He had been knocked out in one shot when they first met, and he judged that he wouldn’t be his match even if he improved his skills.

What piqued his interest was that he came into the palace where his senses were crazy and took someone out.

‘I don’t know what kind of ability it is, but it’s peculiar. He avoided my attention.’

A slight curiosity arose in Lee Cheongmun’s heart.

It was an area that he couldn’t help but be interested in as a natural-born tyrant.

‘But it would be troublesome if I get pushed out of the continent.’

Lee Cheongmun’s goal was to become a living god by dominating the continent.

That way, it would be easier for him to get bodies and deal with those who interfered with him.

It would be troublesome for him if the holy kingdom’s power was completely destroyed and the empire’s capital was also captured.

“Gather the remaining imperial troops and the elites of the holy kingdom. I’ll go out myself.”

“Ooh…”

“Yes.”

He finally decided to go out himself.

He had postponed going out because he thought he still had a lot of troops left, but now the situation looked quite bad.

Tap tap tap!

But his decision was too late.

A hurried sound of footsteps was heard, and the door of the hall opened wide.

“Your Holiness! There is an urgent message!”

“Hey! How rude are you to interrupt me when I’m talking to His Majesty!”

The popes showed their anger, but the messenger bowed his head and apologized before delivering the urgent news.

“It’s a big deal!”

“…!?”

The popes sensed that something else had happened and stomped their feet.

“What is it this time!”

“That is…”

The messenger also opened his mouth with an unbelievable face.

“It’s the east coast.”

“The coast?”