Chapter 125: 23rd Floor, World of Faith (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 125: 23rd Floor, World of Faith (4)
Messi’s eyes trembled.
“...By that, you mean you intend to kill the King?”
“Something like that.”
Messi gasped.
He was a subject of Luktosan. To him, Kang Jun-hyeok’s words were nothing short of high treason. Kang Jun-hyeok spoke leisurely.
“It’s not like you have any loyalty or faith left anyway, right?”
In truth, Messi felt a deep sense of skepticism regarding the current state of the world—a war being waged solely so the kings could become gods that didn't even exist.
“As you’ve seen, the kings are fighting this war for their own apotheosis. They don't care about the people or the country.”
All that mattered was their own greed. For the sake of that desire, a peaceful world had been thrown into chaos, and countless people were dying meaningless deaths.
Kang Jun-hyeok gave a quiet laugh.
“The King has abandoned you, Messi.”
The voice slithered into Messi’s ears like a venomous serpent.
“Now that you’ve realized the truth, what would be the best possible revenge?”
Messi’s shaking eyes slowly grew still.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t tell me. I can find my own way. But if you do, it’ll certainly save me a lot of time.”
Kang Jun-hyeok lightly tapped Messi’s shoulder, as if jump-starting an engine.
“So, what’s it going to be?”
Messi slowly opened his mouth.
* * *
Late at night.
Kang Jun-hyeok arrived before the capital of Luktosan. He could see the towering castle walls and the royal palace looming beyond them.
It’s been a long time.
A nostalgic expression drifted across Kang Jun-hyeok’s face. The king he had killed in his past life—that was the ruler of Luktosan.
“Thanks for the directions. You did well.”
Messi bit his lip and stepped back. Kang Jun-hyeok slowly approached the capital. Messi was startled by his bold, unhidden movements.
“I-if you approach like that, the guards will—”
“It’s fine.”
Kang Jun-hyeok looked up at the castle walls.
This was the royal palace. Naturally, it was heavily fortified. Not only did guards rotate shifts without rest, but all sorts of magical barriers were active.
In my past life, I almost died trying to mess with this place half-heartedly.
He had struggled immensely just to enter the palace back then. He’d had to seek out the thieves' guild in the back alleys to find gaps in the guard rotations, figure out how to dispel the magical barriers, and analyze the layout. That process alone had taken over a week.
Even after finally managing to infiltrate the interior, various variables had cropped up, leading to his eventual discovery. He’d had to survive numerous brushes with death.
But now, there was no need for any of that.
[Vision Expansion]
Kang Jun-hyeok looked toward the top of the palace. He identified a sharp, protruding crevice at the very peak.
[Rift Movement]
Flash!
Kang Jun-hyeok’s body traveled through the rift.
“Huh?”
Behind him, Messi’s eyes went wide. Kang Jun-hyeok had literally vanished.
Having moved to the top of the palace, Kang Jun-hyeok immediately stepped forward.
[Wall Climbing]
Tap, tap.
He moved along the structure, carefully pried open a window, and landed inside.
It had taken less than ten seconds to enter the royal palace.
Kang Jun-hyeok looked down the hallway. This was no ordinary corridor; it was filled with all kinds of traps and magical alarms. Without meticulous movement, detection was inevitable.
He solved that problem as well.
[Observation]
The skill, which had reached Rank B, provided the answers. The location of the traps. The activation conditions and bypass methods for the magical alarms. Everything flowed into his mind. The palace infiltration that had been so agonizing in his past life was now resolved with ease.
All that suffering back then was worth it.
Kang Jun-hyeok walked down the hallway with a pleasant smile. He took down the guards who appeared occasionally without making a sound. Eventually, he arrived in front of the King’s bedroom.
The door was firmly locked. It wasn't just a physical lock; there was a magical seal as well, making it impossible to breach easily.
Thus, Kang Jun-hyeok pulled out a key.
[Near-Omnipotent Key]
Rumble!
Every lock disengaged. The door swung open, and Kang Jun-hyeok stepped into the bedroom.
The King was asleep on a massive bed.
Kang Jun-hyeok rapped on the wall as if knocking. Hearing the sound, the King slowly woke up.
“...!”
The moment he opened his eyes, the King realized something was wrong. He scrambled out of bed and pressed his back against the wall. His eyes were filled with shock as he stared at Kang Jun-hyeok.
“You! Who are you?! How did you get in here?!”
“I have my ways,” Kang Jun-hyeok said leisurely.
The King asked in a trembling voice, “...Who are you?”
“An assassin.”
The King gasped.
“Did another king send you?! Those bastards! To think they’d break the promise not to target each other directly!”
“So there was a promise like that? No, I wasn't sent by another king.”
Kang Jun-hyeok shook his head. Confusion clouded the King’s eyes. Kang Jun-hyeok answered him.
“The one who sent me is a being from the Demonic Realm. The Sphere of Divinity.”
The King’s eyes widened.
“I made a deal with that being. It said if I kill all five of you kings, it would grant me that power.”
“W-what?!”
“Since I am an assassin with the proper qualifications...”
A dagger appeared in Kang Jun-hyeok’s hand.
“And since you all are waging war for that very same reason, you can’t really complain, can you?”
“G-guards...!”
The King tried to call for his guards in a panic, but the dagger had already pierced his throat. The King collapsed with a look of disbelief.
After confirming the King was dead, Kang Jun-hyeok searched the palace and found a map showing the locations of the other kingdoms.
When he returned outside, Messi was waiting.
“Y-you’ve returned.”
“It’s done. You don’t need to guide me for the rest. I can find my way using the map.”
“...You really intend to kill them all,” Messi asked with a hollow expression. “What will happen to this world?”
“I don’t know,” Kang Jun-hyeok replied casually. “It was a broken world to begin with, so it’ll be one of two things: it’ll return to normal, or it’ll break even further. Take care, Messi.”
Kang Jun-hyeok bid him farewell and moved on. Left alone, Messi slumped to the ground.
* * *
He headed straight for the next kingdom.
The kingdom with the blue angel emblem: Harete.
The King of Harete died just like the King of Luktosan, unable to mount any defense.
Next was the Yellow Flag Kingdom. Things were a bit different here. Perhaps news of the kings' deaths had spread, as the security had been significantly tightened. The number of guards had doubled, and magical wards were layered one over another.
Of course, it meant nothing to Kang Jun-hyeok. With [Rift Movement], the [Near-Omnipotent Key], and the power of [Observation], he bypassed all security and entered the King’s bedroom.
“Impossible! How could you get in here without a sound...!”
Those were the final words of the King of the Yellow Flag Kingdom.
Next was the White Dove Kingdom.
Like the Yellow Flag Kingdom, its security had been bolstered. He broke through without issue and entered the King’s bedroom, but there was a difference this time.
The moment he opened the bedroom door, a fierce sword strike and magic came hurtling toward him. Kang Jun-hyeok quickly pulled out his shield. The surging power was swallowed by the shield and vanished.
“What?!”
“He’s using a strange artifact!”
Beyond the shield, he saw a middle-aged knight and a wizard draped in a robe. The King, lying in bed, shouted hysterically.
“Knight Commander! Court Wizard! Kill that intruder!”
“Yes, Sire!”
“By the King’s will!”
The knight and wizard attacked Kang Jun-hyeok. Kang Jun-hyeok nodded as if he understood.
“This time, they were smart enough to station people inside the bedroom.”
Until now, the kings had protected the perimeter of their bedrooms. But that was meaningless against Kang Jun-hyeok. It seemed they had placed elite forces inside the room after hearing the news of the consecutive assassinations.
“Hmph!”
A sharp greatsword aimed for Kang Jun-hyeok’s neck. When he parried the blade with his own sword, a shower of ice shards rained down from behind it.
Tap.
He kicked off the ground and threw himself forward. The Knight Commander immediately followed, thrusting his greatsword.
Clang!
As he struck away the sword shimmering with Aura, he felt a powerful recoil. Flames exploded behind his back.
Boom!
The fire engulfed Kang Jun-hyeok. The wizard’s face brightened.
“Got him!”
However, that expression was soon replaced by shock. As the flames subsided, Kang Jun-hyeok emerged without a single scratch. It was the power of his fire resistance.
“How?! Even with a resistance artifact, to block my magic so perfectly...!”
“Hmm.”
The Knight Commander and the Court Wizard. Both were strong. They weren't opponents he could just ignore.
Which meant he had to be a bit more serious. Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes grew cold.
The Knight Commander pressed his attack with his Aura-clad sword. Kang Jun-hyeok moved his body to block. The wizard aimed for an opening and fired off a spell.
As always, the wizard had to die first. Kang Jun-hyeok raised his sword.
[Sword Ki and Sword Wind]
K-boom!
“Gah!”
The explosion of Sword Ki swept over the Knight Commander. Shock was written all over the knight's face as he barely managed to defend himself.
“H-how can you manifest Sword Ki so easily?!”
Manifesting Sword Ki was by no means easy. Even the Knight Commander, who had reached a high level of mastery, required a moment of preparation to gather his strength, yet Kang Jun-hyeok had fired it instantly without any preamble.
But that wasn't the end.
[Thrust]
Clang!
A powerful thrust aimed for the Knight Commander’s throat. The knight drew upon his Aura to defend.
The difference in power between one who could wield Aura and one who couldn't was immense. It was common knowledge that the gap was insurmountable.
However...
Clang!
The Knight Commander, despite unleashing his Aura, was pushed back helplessly by a simple thrust. It was the power of skills and stats.
“Cough!”
Taking advantage of the Knight Commander being neutralized, Kang Jun-hyeok lunged at the wizard.
[Stealth]
[Charge]
Kang Jun-hyeok vanished. The wizard, about to attack, flinched. He hurriedly tried to activate a defensive barrier, but it was already too late.
“B-barrier, protect m—”
Crunch.
The sword pierced the wizard’s throat.
The wizard’s twitching body went limp. The King screamed.
“Court Wizard!”
“You bastard!”
The Knight Commander regained his stance and charged again. Kang Jun-hyeok gathered his internal energy. He swung his blade with immense force.
K-boom!
“Guh-hack!”
The Knight Commander was slammed into the wall.
Kang Jun-hyeok lightly flicked his finger.
[Spear Throw]
Whoosh!
The knight, who never expected a spear to fly toward him in a curved trajectory, failed to react. The flying spear pierced the knight’s chest. The Knight Commander’s body jerked once and then went still.
[The proficiency of your Divine Art has increased slightly.]
[The proficiency of Sword Ki and Sword Wind has increased.]
[The proficiency of Thrust has increased.]
The Knight Commander and the Court Wizard. Both were superior to Kang Jun-hyeok in their respective fields.
But that was all. He was a Player.
“...This is impossible!” the King cried out in denial.
His proud Knight Commander and Court Wizard had been defeated by the intruder before his very eyes.
Kang Jun-hyeok flicked the blood off his sword.
“It’ll be a pain if the others show up. So, I’ll wrap this up quickly.”
“A-aaaaah!”
The King screamed. By the time the soldiers arrived, Kang Jun-hyeok was already long gone.
One king left.
It was finally the end. Kang Jun-hyeok moved toward the last remaining kingdom.