Chapter 340: Chapter 340 - Hero Maker (3)

Whoosh!

Oh Kang-Woo and his party sped toward the canyon as soon as Kang-Woo was contacted by Lilith. It would result in a massive hiccup in their plan if the princess were to die.

‘Shit!’

Kang-Woo frowned.

‘An actual rebel army?’

There could not have been a worse coincidence.

‘What are the fucking chances?’

Probability seemed to be nonexistent in this world. Rage surged within Kang-Woo, but only momentarily. He recalled what he needed to do first and foremost. He closed his eyes and gave Lilith a command.

- Protect the princess so that she doesn’t die.

- Yes, my king. However, I don’t think you need to worry about that. The princess’s knights are doing their part.

- Really?

That was the only good news among all this. Kang-Woo expressed slight relief and sped up even more using the Authority of Haste.

Clang! Clang—!

“Kuh! Maintain formation!”

“Protect the princess!”

As soon as Kang-Woo arrived, he could hear the sound of clashing metal and smell the metallic scent of blood filling the canyon. He turned around.

‘I think I’m too early.’

He had ended up getting separated from his party members after running with all his might; there was no one in the party that could keep up with Kang-Woo running at full speed.

“Lilith, what’s the situation?”

“It’s still under control.”

Kang-Woo looked down at the battle between the knights in silver armor and the masked men in the narrow canyon.

‘They’re severely outnumbered.’

There were only about thirty silver knights while there were easily over five hundred masked men.

“Aren’t there way too few of them for escorting an imperial princess?” Kang-Woo mentioned as he watched over the battlefield.

Not only were the silver knights lacking in number, their skills also were not up to par for a group in charge of protecting an imperial process.

Lilith nodded. “I agree. Well... They’re not completely incompetent, but they certainly are lacking in skill.”

“Hm.”

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. Even though the empire was nearing its impending doom, such incompetence seemed highly unlikely.

‘I’ll leave that for later.’

He needed to focus on the current situation.

“Death to the witch!”

“We do not need an incompetent princess!”

Desperation could be felt from the voices of the masked men. They were charging to their deaths at the knights while gripping a diverse array of weapons. Kang-Woo frowned as he looked down at the battle.

“This is...”

Something about the rebel army’s desperation bothered him, as if a cog in a machine had been misplaced. Kang-Woo fell into thought while tapping on the bridge of his nose with his finger.

‘The pieces are coming together.’

However, the hypothesis in his head was nowhere near a level for him to consider complete. He lacked far too much information.

‘But still... Just in case.’

Kang-Woo closed his eyes and contacted Vernaak.

- Vernaak.

- Yes, Master.

- I have a favor to ask.

Kang-Woo relayed a command to Vernaak while watching over the battle that was getting fiercer.

“Hyung-nim!”

Kim Si-Hun arrived as soon as Kang-Woo’s conversation with Vernaak was over. His expression stiffened as he looked down at the battle between the rebel army and the silver knights.

“Kuh, I can’t believe something like this happened...”

Si-Hun summoned Ludwig while biting his lip. He grasped the sword that was shining brilliantly.

“Hyung-nim, let’s g—”

“No, wait.” Kang-Woo grabbed Si-Hun’s shoulder. “... Not yet.”

“Pardon?”

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

Kang-Woo looked down at the battlefield calmly. Although the knights were being pushed back, they were holding on well.

‘We need to appear when they’re on the verge of death.’

They needed a better timing to amplify the effect of a hero appearing in a crisis.

“Si-Hun. Now that things have ended up like this, we’re gonna have to move up the plan.”

“Are you referring to the hero plan that you mentioned before?”

Kang-Woo nodded. “Go down there at the perfect time and save the princess.”

Kang-Woo had been planning on giving Si-Hun this spiel after the Undead attack commenced, but the timing had gone slightly awry due to the sudden appearance of the rebel army.

‘Either way, it doesn’t really matter.’

After all, telling this to Si-Hun had always been the plan.

“Si-Hun, what do you think is the most important component that makes a hero?” Kang-Woo asked in all seriousness.

Whatever the case, the hero-making operation needed to begin now. Si-Hun was left bewildered by Kang-Woo’s sudden question.

He folded his fingers one by one and answered, “I’m not sure... Righteousness? Courage?”

“No, no, no! Listen, Si-Hun.” Kang-Woo grabbed Si-Hun’s shoulders. “The most important component of a hero is...”

“Yes?” Si-Hun swallowed his saliva in anxiety.

Kang-Woo continued, “Style.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You know, like how cool they look. Style makes a hero.

“Just think about it. If a 150 kg ugly bastard goes down there to save the princess and her knights, do you think he would become a hero? I guarantee you that the son of a bitch would be framed as the mastermind of this entire incident.”

It was sad, but it was an undeniable truth. One’s looks were more important than what people thought.

“But of course, that’s of no concern to you,” Kang-Woo added.

‘Since you’re handsome as fuck. Jeez, you’re even more handsome up close. Why the fuck are you so handsome, goddammit?’

Kang-Woo was getting irritated just thinking about it. He shook his head to disperse the rage that was gradually rising as he stared at Si-Hun.

“Well, anyway, I’m saying that style is important.”

“Oh... I see.”

“So, what do you think you should do?”

“Uhhh...” Si-Hun slurred blankly.

Kang-Woo pounded his chest in frustration. “Since you don’t need to care about looks, you just need to focus on your performance!”

“My... performance?”

“Yeah, man!” Kang-Woo nodded while smirking.

A hero’s entrance needed to be paired with the right performance, and Kang-Woo had the perfect one in mind.

‘At times like this...’

The gears in Kang-Woo’s head went into overdrive.

***

“Pant! Pant!”

“Th-This way, Your Highness!”

There was a woman in the narrow canyon filled with the thick stench of blood. She was blindingly beautiful, had glamorous wavy blonde hair, and was wearing a dress with laces hanging on it. She was Iris von Arnan, the woman who had become the highest authority of the empire after the emperor had fallen ill and was now bedridden.

“Kyaah!”

However, it was no simple feat to run in a narrow canyon in a dress and heels. She fell down shortly after.

“Your Highness!”

The maids that had been taking care of her quickly ran toward her. They tried to help Iris up, but she could not stay on her feet because she had rolled her ankle as she fell.

“Huff, huff.”

Iris put her hand on her swollen ankle while panting heavily. Sharp pain shot up her leg, and tears flowed down from her eyes.

“Why... What did I do so wrong to deserve this?!” she screamed in anger.

She picked up a rock on the ground and threw it to vent her rage.

“Y-Your Highness... We have to hur—”

“Shut up!!”

Iris slapped away the hand of one of the maids. She lowered her head while crying. She was not stupid enough to not have realized that it was far too late to escape.

“Sniff... Why... Why...”

All that she could do was to lament in vain.

“Your Highness...”

Iris’s maids looked at her in pity.

Iris said sorrowfully, “If only... If only Brother[1] were here...”

Tears flowed down her cheeks. She clenched her fists while biting her lip.

“There she is!”

“The witch!”

The masked members of the rebel army had reached the place where Iris and her maids were.

Schwing

. Light reflected on the sharp sword.

“Kyaaah!”

Iris screamed with her eyes shut tight. The masked men with swords in hand snorted.

“Hah! The witch that brought the empire to ruin sure can scream!”

“I guess she cares about her own life, at the very least.”

Their words were filled with clear malice.

“It’s because of greedy and incompetent members of the imperial family like you that the great Prime Minister Fidelio has such a hard time.”

“The empire wouldn’t have turned out like this if he were the one to lead it.”

Iris flinched. She glared at the masked men while biting her lip.

“You’re wrong...”

Her lips fluttered. Countless words that she wanted to say were on the verge of leaving her mouth, but she couldn’t let them.

‘Besides...’

There was no one in this world that would listen to her.

“Yeah,” Iris muttered, having given up.

‘Rather than living like this...’

If she had to keep wandering within the inescapable valley of despair for the rest of her days... n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

‘It’s better to just die.’

No one knew what she was going through; the only person that had always protected her was gone. What remained after his death was nothing but hell.

“Kill me. Just kill me already!” Iris yelled madly.

The masked men only snorted at her screams of desperation.

“As you wish, we’ll kill you!”

“For the revolutionary army! For a new empire!”

The masked men raised their swords.

“Ah...” Iris expressed.

She trembled subtly as she shut her eyes tight. Only one thing was on her mind; the appearance of a blond man enveloped in golden light.

‘Brother...’

Tears flowed down Iris’s cheeks. The sword of one of the masked men swung down on her neck. Just then...

Clang—!

“Kurgh!!”

A young man fell down from the sky and parried the masked man’s sword. He landed on the ground crouched with one knee and hand on the ground. At the same time, great winds blew, and flower petals fluttered across the bloody battlefield out of nowhere.

“Wh-Who are you?!” a masked man yelled in bewilderment.

The young man who had fallen from the sky slowly lifted himself up. He ignored the masked man and stretched his hand out toward Iris, who was on the ground.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Kim Si-Hun had made his appearance.

***

“Shiiiet, that’s it!” expressed Kang-Woo, who was watching the situation unfold from above. He clapped while snickering. “Nothing better than a superhero landing on the first appearance!”

There was nothing more stylish than blocking an attack while falling from the sky. Kang-Woo jumped in place while pulling up a hologram of Si-Hun and Iris by using an Authority.

“Man, too bad I don’t have any popcorn to go with this.”

He should have brought that with him to Aernor as well. Kang-Woo watched the hologram while clicking his tongue.

- Are you hurt anywhere?

“Dayum, nice line delivery.”

Kang-Woo smiled as he stared at Iris, who was hazily looking up at Si-Hun.

“Alright.”

It was time to make a hero.

1. Brother isn’t really used to address someone in English, but since the author is trying not to use the name of the person, I’ll just have it like this. ?