Brod and Nerva declared they would each kill more than ten million monsters. It was easy to say, but the truth was it was impossible. Why? Because the Lord of the Monsters, Barbarian, was still there and could interfere at any moment.
The best way to deal with all of the monsters was to kill Barbarian. So, the two cooperated and acted(?) to the best of their abilities to narrow the distance between them and Barbarian. Because of that, Brod successfully hit Barbarian with the Wolf Kingâs Hunt, a skill equivalent to a one-shot kill skill.
âUghâ¦â Nerva glared at Brod.
âAh. Did I cut too deep? But⦠Iâm not really sorry.â
Nerva held himself back. This was not the time to go mad. They had to focus all of their attention on Barbarian now.
Meanwhile, the now bleeding Barbarian was staring at them. But the two had perfectly calculated the time.
[You have survived inside the Monster Field for four minutes.]
[Your HP, MP, and Skill Cooldown has been reset.]
Barbarianâs eyes grew bloodshot. He might have lost his qualifications to become one of the Eight Pillars, but that was only because of the brutal experiments that he had done on monsters and other races. His power was still the same and never lagged behind the Eight Pillars.
And now? He suffered humiliation at the hands of these bugs, these humans!
âBASTARDS!!!â Barbarian shouted, his saliva flying in his range.
Nerva and Brod glared coldly at him.
âOpening that trap of yours again?â
âI told you to shut it. It stinks.â
Nerva and Brod were both brilliant individuals. They exhausted most of their skills to hunt as many monsters as possible in less than four minutes. They deliberately inched toward Barbarianâs range by the three-minute and forty-second mark and unleashed their final skills. And when the four minutes were up, they recovered everything.
âCast Hunting.â
âDeath Wolf.â
The two unleashed one skill after another, hacking and slashing at Barbarian with their mighty sword lights non-stop.
It has to be known that the Fallen Wretched Emperor and the Retired Emperor were both the best NPCs of the current era. A single light shot from their swords could easily force many players to log out.
âWolf Kingâs Hunt.â
âHunting Time.â
Everyone could see Barbarianâs ridiculously high HP dwindle quickly, thanks to the continuous attacks of the two strong men. Nerva and Brod, having exhausted most of their skills, swung their swords toward Barbarian when they saw his HP drop below 2%.
Shwaaaaâ!
Slashâ!
The entire world cheered when they saw Barbarian collapse. As his body tilted backward, they all believed that he would soon fall to the ground. But something completely unexpected happened.
Twitch, twitch, twitchâ
Barbarianâs body suddenly turned into a disgusting clump of blood. Then, the clump of blood shot out and attached itself to the body of a nearby monster.
Suck, suckâ!
The clump of blood sucked the monster in and gradually grew in size.
Slashâ!
Although Nerva and Brod attacked the clump of blood, they could not stop it from doing what it was doing.
Fwooshâ!
The monster, which now looked like a mummy with only its skins and bones left, crashed and collapsed on the ground as the clump of blood thickened and turned into what seemed to be a bugâs egg. Soon after, an old manâs arms popped out of the egg.
Barbarian tore down the egg around him and made his appearance once again. Although he had appeared once again, he could only recover 50% of his HP.
âHohoâ¦â
Brod and Nerva werenât too surprised with the development before them. They had already expected that Barbarian possessed a skill that allowed him to recover.
âHe absorbs the monstersâ HP to recover.â
âHow should we deal with this?â
In the end, recovery abilities had limits. Of course, there would always be a way to target and deal with it.
The thoughts in the heads of both men spun fast. Brod suddenly turned to look at Helenia, who was still doing her best to recover her mana.
âIf Helenia recovers all her mana, the coming battle will become difficult.â
âWe have to get rid of Barbarian quickly.â
Of course, since he had been beaten once, the same method would not work on Barbarian again. The two cringed at the same time at Barbarianâs sudden movement during this tense moment.
âHohohoâ¦â Barbarian chuckled.
[The Monster Field has been released.]
Barbarian understood that the Monster Field was meaningless in the face of the two men.
âI must admit that I have ignored and disregarded the strong men of the current era.â
In Barbarianâs eyes, Nerva and Brod were the leading powerhouses of their era. He did not expect that two powerhouses of their caliber existed in the same era.
Brod and Nerva both grew tense.
âIf thatâs the case, my treatment toward you should be adjusted accordingly.â
Barbarian cast his net once again. Every time Barbarian cast his net, something disastrous and difficult for the allied forces to deal with would happen.
Shwaaaâ!
As the net spread, a shocking notification rang in everyoneâs ears, leaving them dumbfounded.
[Monster Creator Eggnal has been summoned.]
[Monster Creator Eggnal will spit out 100,000 monsters every 10 seconds.]
[Monster Creator Eggnal. Level 913.]
A lone monster fell from Barbarianâs net. The beast looked very disgusting, so much so that one would feel like throwing up just by looking at it.
The monster was a gigantic eyeball attached to a human body and stood three meters high. The most shocking part was that it spit out a hundred thousand monsters every ten seconds.
A flash of light appeared in Eggnal, the gigantic eyeball with no eyelid or eyelashes. Then, a hundred thousand monsters appeared right in front of it.
âI feel like throwing upâ¦â
âUghâ¦â
Similar words rang from all over the allied forces. Many of them sported looks of disgust on their faces. This was because the monsters all looked identical to Eggnal. They were all gigantic eyeballs with the body of a human. The only difference was that they were two meters tall. They were carrying different weapons, like swords, spears, and bows. There were even some eyeballs holding staves as if they were mages.
[Eggnalâs Soldier. Level 832.]
The disgusted allied forces were left unable to breathe when they saw the details of the monsters.
âThe level of the monsters summoned every ten seconds is at least Level 800?!â
Brod quickly understood the situation. He shouted, âFocus all of your attacks on Eggnal!!!â
âWe have to kill Eggnal right away!â
If they let Eggnal be, six million monsters would be in front of them in ten minutes. They would have to face thirty-six million monsters if they prolonged the time and let him be for an hour. As long as Eggnal was alive, there was a chance that they would face hundreds of millions of monsters. Then, the entire world would be filled with Eggnalâs Soldiers.
âHngggghh!â
âHngh! Hngh! Hnghhhh!â
âHnghhhh!â
Eggnalâs Soldiers charged toward the allied forces while releasing a strange noise.
âDonât spare anything!â
âWe have to kill Eggnal in just under a minute!â
âHnghhhhh!â
The hundred thousand monsters that Eggnal summoned charged fiercely at them. The knight, who was running at the vanguard, stabbed the massive eye of Eggnalâs Soldier.
âUweeeeck!â Eggnalâs Soldier cried strangely.
When the knight heard it, his expression grew ugly. Thenâ¦
Bangâ!
âHnghhh! Kekekeke!â
Eggnalâs Soldier swelled, then exploded.
â...â
â...â
Brod and Nerva looked at each other.
âThey will explode if they get attacked?â
âWhat kind of nonsense is thisâ¦?â
Four of the knights in the vicinity were devoured by the explosion. Every time the troops of the allied forces clashed with Eggnalâs Soldiers, an explosion would erupt. This instantly killed hundreds of thousands of allied forces.
Meanwhile, Brod and Nerva charged at Eggnal. At that moment, Barbarian cast his net and protected Eggnal within. The two stretched their sword toward the gap in the net. The moment Nervaâs arm reached the netâ¦
Swooshâ
An intense flame rivaling lava's heat burned his left arm.
Crackleâ!
âUgh!â Nerva groaned, his brows frowning as he watched his magic arm melt.
âIf we try to enter the net, we will burn to our deaths. And it will only take less than twenty seconds for it to happen.â
The net closed once again just right after Nerva pulled away. The problem was that Eggnal was still spitting out a hundred thousand soldiers every ten seconds, even if it was inside the net.
âHohoho! Come, catch me!â Barbarian shouted as he slung the net on his back. Then, he stepped into the air and ran away swiftly. Brod and Nerva were quick to chase after him.
It had only been a few minutes, but Eggnalâs Soldiers were already wreaking havoc among the allied forces. And the worst part?
âHohohoho!â Barbarian laughed playfully as he spread the net above them. Then, the hundreds of thousands of monsters Eggnal spat out fell from the sky and landed among them.
Slash, slash, slashâ!
At the same time, massive explosions erupted.
âHuh? This is why you wonât be able to stop me. Understand? Huh?â Barbarian pointed at Eggnal.
[Eggnalâs speed at creating monsters has tripled.]
[Eggnal will spit out 300,000 monsters every 10 seconds.]
The notification brought hopelessness and despair among the allied forces. They all knew Eggnalâs soldiers would wipe out the entire force in an hour.
At that moment, Nerva thought of a way. He said, âBrod, I will hold the net through the gaps so that it will not close.â
âAre you doing that bullshit sacrifice thing so you can pay off your debt or something again?â Brod growled.
But Nerva shook his head. âIâll be able to live again, anyway. Once thereâs a gap in the net, all allied forces' troops should focus their attacks inside the net. Iâm sure the Beyond the Heavens Empire must have a huge surplus of bombs created by Bichor, no? Use that too.â
This meant that Nerva would be right inside the blast radius. However, there was one thing that Brod had doubts about.
âCan Regress be used on someone if their body shape and form could no longer be recognized?â Brod thought as he glanced at Akhan.
As one of the high-rankers, Akhan could tell what was happening immediately. As if responding to Brodâs doubts, Akhan shook his head.
â...â
Be that as it may, Brod was not sad about Nervaâs choice to sacrifice himself. This was mainly because he had yet to show Nerva the same hellish pain that he suffered.
Even so, Nerva did not allow anyone to interfere. He already moved to take advantage of Barbarianâs attempt to open the net.
The number of Eggnalâs Soldiers that Eggnal has spat out has already exceeded four million. The tens of thousands of monsters falling almost crushed Nerva, who leaped to the sky.
âHohoho. Do you think this old man is stupid?ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âKghhk!â
Nerva, caught between the monsters, could no longer control his movements.
Brod immediately made a move. âAt this rate, everyone from Beyond the Heavens Empire will die.â
Brod was the Beyond the Heavensâ Sword. He could not let that happen. He immediately tried to replace Nerva and do what he wanted to do.
âTake advantage of the gap while I grab the net!â
The problem was the monsters had also blocked Brodâs path. The number of Eggnalâs Soldiers that surrounded him was far too many.
Bang, bang, bangâ!
Brodâs body received the brunt of the effects of the explosion of the Eggnalâs Soldiers around him.
âUrk!â
In the end, he vomited a mouthful of blood. Brod tried to take out a potion to drink, but he could not. Suddenly, before he could die, the explosions stopped.
âEven if I die here, we can regress.â
Brod looked around him. There were now more than ten million Eggnalâs Soldiers dominating the battlefield. At that moment, Brod thought he should open a path and create a gap between the net when he returned from death.
Thudâ
Thudâ
Thudâ
Eggnalâs Soldiers grabbed hold of Brod.
â...!â
They stopped Brod from killing himself and trying to regress. In the first place, Regress followed the concept of âresurrectionâ skills. If they did not die, then they would not regress. And Barbarian took advantage of this fact.
Meanwhile, Eggnalâs soldiers continued to increase in number.
âUwaaaaaaack!â Brod screamed as he tried to shake off the hold of Eggnalâs Soldiers on him.
Then, at that moment, one of the rankers soared to the sky and drew everyoneâs attention. He was none other than Alexander and a ranker on par with Minhyuk. Alexander triggered Weapon Explosion and sent hundreds of weapons toward Eggnal.
Slash, slash, slashâ!
The monsters blocked Eggnal and protected her from the weapons.
âAccelerate.â
Boomâ!
Alexander charged through the gaps and broke through their defenses.
âHohoho. Youâre quite strong for a foreigner.â
Barbarian spread the net, knowing that Alexander was almost near Eggnal. Alexanderâs thoughts changed upon seeing the net closing in.
âEven if we can keep the net open, we cannot focus all our attacks here.â
Alexander switched targets and focused his attacks on Barbarian.
Boomâ!
Alexander kicked Barbarian and forced him to fall on the ground with the net in his hands.
âYouâve got a lot of tricks up your sleeves, huh?â Barbarian chuckled as he gently landed on the ground.
The net was already almost closed.
âI will let loose a hundred million Eggnalâs Soldiers inside this net.â
The explosion created by those monsters would be massive enough to wipe out the entire allied forces. Everyone fell into despair when they saw Eggnal through the slowly closing gap of the net.
Swoosh, swoosh, swooshâ!
At that moment, a man dashed through the monsters at an unprecedented speed. The man gulped down the potion that the woman had given him.
[Transcending the Limits Potion.]
[You will transcend all your limits for three minutes. All of your HP, MP, and stats will double.]
The man, who was running bare-chested, had skin as pale as a vampireâs. He was once called⦠Duke Balaman. With his bulging muscles out on display and a waist fitted with several of Bichorâs bombs, he grabbed the net with both hands. Then, his muscles bulged even more.
âGraaaaaaaaaa!!!â
His roars reverberated all over the world.
Duke Balaman was not doing this for the Beyond the Heavens Empire. He did it after pondering the words of the woman named Haze. Since he had lived his life as a crazy lunatic, why shouldnât he live for the people once? He would die anyway, so why not leave a name that the masses would remember at the end of their lives?
Crackleâ!
Lava-like flames burst out from the net and devoured Balamanâs body. Meanwhile, the troops of the allied forces were frozen stiff.
âGraaaaaaaa!â Balaman roared as he began to open the closing net with all his might.
Balaman looked back. He saw rankers from all over the world and the empiresâ strong men. All of them were looking at him, who once reigned as a tyrant and a lunatic. Although he lived the life of a murdered man, he wanted to live the last moments of his life and fight for the sake of humanity.
âA⦠ttack!!!â
The cries of Balaman, the man who was not dead yet also not alive, awakened the minds of the frozen troops.
âAttack me!!!â
Everyone knew Balaman would be swept away by their attacks if they attacked right now.
âWe have received the dukeâs orders!â
âWe have received the dukeâs orders!â
While everyone else hesitated, the Black Skull Knight Order, who had now become the slaves of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, charged forward. They had participated in this war as cannon fodders. But none of them would even dare to break Balamanâs orders.
Thousands of sword lights stretched from their swords and filled the sky. Like a signal, the others followed. The powers of the millions of rankers and the strong men flew together with their attacks.
Balaman, who watched them attack, exerted more power.
âGraaaaaaa!!!â
He opened the net as wide as possible as the sword lights almost reached his back. Not long after, the sword lights and the power of the rankers and the strong men pierced through his back and into the net.
Eggnal, who was hiding inside the net, was hit by the attacks. It shrieked loudly from the pain. âHnghhh! Uweeeeeeeck!â
Balaman let go of the net and looked back once again. He looked at the Black Skull Knight Order with a small smile before entering the net with Bichorâs bombs.
Crackleâ!
The blazing flames slowly melted Balamanâs body, which also triggered the explosion of Bichorâs bombs hanging on his waist.
BOOMâ!