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Thud! Thud! Thud!
The army of the dead and the army of the earth advanced toward each other. Their perfectly synchronized footsteps made the very ground tremble.
"Attack!"
"The assault has begun."
Before either side realized it, the two armies had closed to striking distance. Their commanders issued the order as one.
Whoosh! Crunch! Crunch!
Spears and blades swung without hesitation. In an instant, wounded began to pile up on both sides.
…
…
The fighting was ferocious beyond measure. Yet across the entire battlefield, the screams and battle cries that should have accompanied the clash of weapons never came. Stripped of any fear of death, the soldiers of both armies simply continued their silent assault even as limbs were crushed and severed. Even when their bodies were shattered and they toppled, they regenerated almost at once and rejoined the fray.
Truly immortal armies. Against any ordinary force the sight would have inspired despair or broken morale. But because both sides were equally undying, the field remained locked in perfect stalemate.
That deadlock was shattered by a single angel with a single swing.
"Uryaaaaa!!!"
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
Every time she brought her hammer down, a monstrous boom of displaced air rolled out and enemies were swept away like leaves. Knights hastily raised shields and locked into defensive formation, only for the entire line to collapse under one contemptuous blow. She demonstrated, beyond any doubt, exactly why the enemy had once named her the Slaughter Demon.
Jun watched in pure admiration. The Solo King, on the other hand, convulsed as though PTSD had seized him.
"I will! I will make certain that woman—!"
The Solo King’s crown flared once more. Knights who had been struggling to regenerate under Fortuna’s holy power recovered in a rush, and the front line that the earth army had been pushing back began to reclaim its original ground.
Clatter! Clatter! Heh-heh-heh!
Worse, every undead wandering near the battlefield flocked toward the light like moths to flame.
"Out of my way, you’re in the way!"
Of course, stronger knights and extra fodder still could not stop Fortuna. Armed to the teeth with her Trait—Strength Enhancement and Specialization—Buff, she was an unstoppable juggernaut. Her advance slowed, yet the sheer presence she radiated was so overwhelming that even undead whose capacity for fear had long since faded found themselves involuntarily stepping back.
"Light!"
Radiant brilliance descended upon the field. Every eye turned toward her of its own accord. The moment for the runaway ninja had arrived.
From within the deep shadow cast by that brilliant light, Jun—who had been erasing his presence—finally moved.
Magic — Blink
He crossed space in an instant. When he reappeared it was directly behind the Solo King, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his knights trying to hold Fortuna at bay. Jun’s merciless dagger flashed toward the unprotected back.
Clang!
"Do you think this is the first time We have dealt with cowardly little rats like you?"
The Solo King twisted with the practiced ease of a man who had earned the second name Conqueror King across countless battlefields, as though he had known the assassination attempt was coming. The strike missed cleanly.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
"Die, rat."
At the Solo King’s calm command the knights moved as one, surrounding Jun in a formation so tight it drew involuntary admiration.
"…Heh."
Spear points and blades locked onto his throat and heart. Jun felt not the slightest fear. To someone who could step through space, a surrounding net was no more real than mist. The instant the weapons lunged he Blinked again, slipping free, then drew a loaded crossbow from Dowonhyang and loosed it at the Solo King.
Whoosh! Ting!
"You little rat—!"
The Solo King hastily swatted the bolt aside with his sword and prepared to retaliate, only to find Jun already gone once more. Relentless, Jun appeared in front, behind, left, right, even from the sky, hammering the Solo King without pause. The king’s uncanny mobility, reminiscent of the legendary Hong Gildong, forced him into pure defense. Guarding against assassination after assassination drained his strength and scattered his concentration; gaps opened in his command.
Jun’s two wives did not miss those gaps.
"Uryaaa!!!"
"All forces, follow Big Sister!"
Crrraaack!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Fortuna transformed her hammer into a cavalry lance, leveled it, and charged. The earth soldiers instantly seized the space she carved, preventing the enemy from closing around her.
"Guh! Fall back! You lot, hold them—!"
"Who said we’d just let you go!"
"Skull-face, stay right there! Today I’m smashing that empty head of yours for good!"
Sensing real danger, the Solo King tried to sacrifice his subordinates and flee. Jun clung to his coattails with vicious persistence, refusing to let him escape under his nose, while Fortuna briefly shifted into angel mode and swept aside every obstacle in a single radiant wave.
"Damn it all! Come to Us!"
Realizing flight was impossible, the Solo King made one last desperate gamble. He raised his beautiful sword high. Flames erupted from the bodies of the knights and lesser undead, streaming into the blade. The sword shuddered as though digesting something, then yellow fire bloomed along its length and raced up the Solo King’s body. His aura, previously Green-rank, surged to Yellow.
Clang!
Back in human form, Fortuna returned the lance to hammer shape and brought it down with all her might toward the Solo King’s skull. Still locked in the process of fusing the hastily gathered power, he could not dodge; he was forced to catch the crushing blow on his sword.
"Heh-heh. So you cannot maintain an angel’s stature for long."
"Hmph! And how long do you think you can hold that state? Looks to me like it’s about to fall apart any second."
"Do not worry. It will last long enough to take your life."
"Unfortunately for you, that’s not happening. Before then my husband and little sister are going to teach you a lesson. Right, Junie? Dohwa?"
"Absolutely."
"Your words are most correct."
Answering Fortuna’s call, Jun and Dohwa pressed the attack. Firumus, crackling with electricity and aura, and the pink birds’ multi-element barrages forced the Solo King onto the defensive.
"You cheap bastards! Have you no shame? Face Us fairly!"
"Why should we!"
"Why!"
"Why must we do so!"
The Solo King rolled desperately across the ground to avoid the twin assault and spat his ridiculous demand. Anyone who prized honor might have risen to the bait. Unfortunately for him, Jun and his two wives had long since traded honor for pragmatism. The other side had been the first to try overwhelming them with numbers; complaining about it now was simply laughable.
"Hup!"
Fortuna drew a deep breath and prepared another hammer swing. Even with her monstrous strength, the weapon’s sheer bulk left inevitable openings between strikes. In angel form she could cover those gaps with luck; doing so now would overheat her core, so she held back.
"Hahaha! So in that state you cannot use that famous luck of yours!"
Having recovered an aura matching his true color and with his physical abilities enhanced, the Solo King lunged into the opening. A blue-white blade carved a horizontal arc aimed at her neck.
In that life-or-death instant Fortuna did not despair. She simply grinned.
Magic — Distortion
Space warped. The blue-white blade was forcibly bent by the distorted space and skimmed harmlessly over Fortuna’s head. The Solo King’s stance collapsed. Jun was already swinging Firumus into the opening.
Slash!
"Gaaah!"
"Tch!"
Jun clicked his tongue in mild regret. The blade had cut, but only halfway through the forearm bone. He discarded the disappointment at once and Blinked clear of the spot.
What? Why did he stop?
The Solo King, braced for a follow-up that never came, fell into a dazed grogginess. Continuing the attack would have inflicted far worse injury; abandoning it and fleeing made no sense. Then a chill ran down the back of his neck and understanding struck: Jun’s only role had been to create an opening for someone else.
Whoooom!
A hammer the size of a human torso howled through the air, aimed with murderous precision at the Solo King’s skull, determined to end the battle in one blow.
I have to dodge—
Clunk!
What—!
He tried to throw himself backward, but the earth suddenly surged up and seized his ankles.
What in the world…
Boom!
Even in panic the Solo King used the unnatural flexibility of long undeath, bending his joints at angles no living body could manage, and slipped past Fortuna’s strike. Before he could feel relief, Jun’s next attack was already flying in.
How is this possible?
They had not exchanged a single word, not even a glance, yet the three of them moved in perfect, seamless coordination. Even decades of joint practice could not produce such fluid teamwork. Of course it could not. Though the Solo King had no way of knowing, the three were linked by soul-threads, communicating constantly. And more than that—
Dohwa, harass him with elements again.
Understood.
Fort, aim for the torso this time.
Got it!
Jun’s accelerated thoughts fed them the next moves so rapidly that any break in the chain would have been the stranger thing.
In the end the Solo King could only snarl,
"Do not think this is the end! Next time We will—!"
Crunch!
"Shut up!"
"Nice one, Fort. You never need to listen to the whole speech from guys like that."
"I concur. Listening only hurts the ears."
Even after forcing a power-up, he had been overwhelmed by the married couple’s coordination without ever getting to use his full strength. His skull simply shattered. For all the noise of his entrance, the end was almost pitifully anticlimactic.
Bang!
Inside a gloomy stone chamber, the lid of one among many coffins was violently flung open. The figure who had thrown it sat up, staring blankly into empty air for a moment—
"Gaaaaah! Those dog-shit bastards! How dare they cut Us off mid-sentence!"
—then unleashed a roar of pure rage that shook the chamber. After a long string of curses finally cooled his fury, the Solo King reached up with trembling fingers and touched his head. What he felt was not the shabby crown his avatar had worn, but an ornate one. He exhaled in relief, almost like a living man, and peered into the coffin with a flicker of hope. No matter how thoroughly he searched, the thing he wanted was nowhere to be found.
"Damn it! Goddamn it!"
"Keh-keh-keh. Pathetic."
Fresh curses spilled from the Solo King. From nearby came a mocking laugh.
"Do not mock Us!"
"How can one not mock? You yourself paid the price with your own hand, yet you still foolishly search for it."
"Guh…!"
"And on top of that you let greed cost you your very rank. Tsk tsk tsk."
The owner of the laughter clicked his tongue while regarding the Solo King’s core light, now reduced to green.
"Fool. Never again call yourself king. We will not watch His name be sullied because of the likes of you. Ignore this warning and We will erase you with Our own hands."
The words were quiet, yet heavy with cold fury.
…
For the Solo King, whose entire reason for existence had become the title of Conqueror King, the warning was utterly unacceptable. Yet even as he ground his teeth in humiliation he could not ignore it. The gulf in power between himself and the being before him was simply too vast.
"Fool. Until your rank recovers, go to the upper floors and play gatekeeper against the weaklings."
"…Our position was decided by the Demon King. You have no authority to change it."
A timid show of defiance. The owner of the laughter answered at once.
"We are Damon, one of the Four Heavenly Kings who uphold the Demon King’s army and master of every undead. You think We lack even that much authority? Enough talk. Go."
Damon’s orange eyes flared like twin torches, crushing the resistance flat. In the end the Solo King, still half-dazed, led his equally groggy knights and trudged weakly toward the upper floors.