Reinforcement (6)

Hye-in checked the viewer count and let out a gasp of admiration.

'These viewers will convert into subscribers for Hyun's Forge.'

That was the order Hyun-soo had given.

This wasn't the situation they had wanted.

The usual Nel would have advised against it, saying it was still too soon.

But Nel assessed the current situation coolly.

'Even if we try to hide, the broadcasts are already airing.'

The BJ streamers had ignored legal issues like portrait rights and kept streaming.

But if an influential figure issued an official notice and forced the platforms to shut them down, that would be that.

All the BJ streams had now ended, replaced by feeds from the perspectives of Hyun's Forge guild members.

'If it's going to be broadcast anyway, better that we profit from it.'

It was a wise choice.

Once the immediate fire was out, they'd negotiate with AJ Internet Broadcasting Station.

'Monopolizing millions of viewers.'

It would translate into massive revenue, most of which would go ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to their guild.

Nel also wore a puzzled expression.

'What does that mean?'

A sword arriving faster than her?

Nel hadn't heard Hyun-soo's response before the guild chat cut off.

'I trust Hyun-soo.'

She was the same as always.

Nel logged back into Ares.

The experts watching the broadcast chattered excitedly.

"We're saved!"

"We just have to hold out until His Highness arrives!"

The elites sighed in relief across the barrier.

And there was one woman who hadn't yet shown herself.

She was observing the battlefield from the fortress's third floor.

It was Bella.

'They wouldn't come without that level of preparation.'

Bella wasn't hiding here for no reason.

Sometimes, concealing one's full strength and hunkering down was the strategy to strike the enemy's vitals.

And as Bella predicted.

"You thought this petty trick would work on me?"

Black tendrils extended from Helinya's long, elegant fingers.

The moment they touched the barrier, it began melting away rapidly from that point.

"Hiiiik!"

"Gasp!"

"U, uwaaaah!"

The nobles fell into panic.

Hyun's Forge guild members, knowing their roles, gestured protectively around Marquis Constantinu and the nobles.

The problem was the knights and soldiers from prestigious families across the kingdom.

Knights from famed swordsmanship houses were undoubtedly strong.

But after witnessing the recent slaughter of their troops, fear gripped them—they lacked real combat experience.

They'd become the kingdom's best in ten years, but not now.

And the soldiers couldn't resist the Calamities' status ailments either.

"Gathering in one spot like this makes it so easy to kill you."

They had clustered behind the barrier ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like ants for the picking.

'I need to change the flow.'

Bella, who had been holding her breath, sprang into action.

"Y-you bastards, what are you doing? Block them now!"

One terrified noble shoved his knights toward the oncoming giant ants.

But it was futile.

Their solid carapaces wouldn't pierce.

Then.

Shuwaaak—

Bella's sword from the sky cleanly bisected a giant ant.

She then charged into a swarm of over a hundred ants.

Shuk, puuk, kwajik.

Bella's movements were ghostly.

She cleaved through what even Hyun's Forge guild members couldn't take down in one hit, advancing relentlessly.

In that instant, a soldier ant snatched her into the air.

"Kuh…."

Soldier ants were beasts that even took two or three Hyun's Forge members to hunt.

And there were four of them.

She slashed the one grabbing her.

Then stepped on the next one's spear shaft, advancing a few steps.

Whirick.

Spinning once, she bisected the one rising from below.

"Gasp!"

"A-as expected of Lady Bella!"

The viewers watching the broadcast cheered in awe.

The knights felt the same.

"L-Lady Bella has come!"

"The kingdom's greatest swordswoman!"

The flow shifted.

The knights, cowering in fear, cheered at the arrival of a single swordswoman.

Bella was already soaring into the sky.

"Ho, not bad?"

Helinya expressed admiration. They had erected the barrier to block Barad.

To them, Barad was an object of terror.

But Vice Knight Commander Bella—she was confident they could kill her.

As the airborne Bella approached, Helinya's hand moved.

A dozen giant ants stacked in layers, forming a defensive wall.

Bella possessed a power no one else could match—comparable to Barad's sword frenzy, if not quite.

Kiiiiing—

Her sword gleamed in the sunlight.

From the massive sword resonance, sword ki swirled fiercely.

Dozens of sword ki strands.

All aimed at one target.

Ku-ku-ku-ku-ku-kwang—!

They struck the giant ants dead-on.

The hit ants' bodies shredded apart.

"……!"

The level gap between Helinya and Bella was enormous.

Helinya had judged that Bella couldn't pierce the defensive formation of ten giant ants with 30% boosted defense.

But she was wrong.

Skuh-kuh-kuhk—!

The sword ki strands tore through the ants in one go and bore down on Helinya.

Kwajaaak—

"Kyaaaak!"

Helinya panicked from a single sword ki slash.

'What is this impact…!'

She hadn't pegged Bella as this dangerous.

Skaaaak—

Her HP plummeted sharply.

Some strands targeted her head, one her throat.

'Dangerous…!'

Too fast to counter.

Then.

Karaak—

A man who had merely watched intervened.

It was the second Calamity, Rogal.

Rogal's wavy greatsword blocked the throat-bound ki.

"Kuh…."

He then parried the head strike upward.

Puak—!

Rogal was stunned.

'Insane….'

Bella was already thrusting her sword down in perfect form.

Kaaaang—!

Rogal, batting her away with his greatsword, marveled at the shock traveling up his arm.

'How can a woman….'

Produce such monstrous power?

But Helinya and Rogal regained composure.

"Haa, haa."

Bella, who had rapidly depleted her stamina.

She was deep in enemy territory.

"Don't you value your life?"

Bella didn't answer.

This was her best.

She felt immense pressure from Rogal.

Kihehek—!

At Helinya's gesture, thirty more soldier ants crawled from the ground.

Bella gripped her sword tightly amid the encircling foes.

"You're prepared to die."

Looking up at Rogal's mountain-like frame, she said nothing.

"……."

Her grip tightened further after a long silence.

It was strange.

Oddly, words from the Second Sun echoed in her ears.

She gritted her teeth and clashed.

Cha, chachaeng! Kwaruk—!

Rogal was impressed.

Their level gap was at least 30.

Plus, the second Calamity Rogal was known unbeatable in close quarters.

Yet Bella was pushing him back.

Shukakakaka, kwajaga, kwak—

Rogal's HP dropped rapidly.

Slashes across his body spurted blood; Bella moved eerily.

But soon.

Ddaengkang—

Rogal's sword cleaved Bella's in two.

As she panicked staring at the broken blade, Rogal prepared to finish her.

But.

"Break but do not yield."

Like the words of her Second Sun, she would not break.

Puhwaaak—

With the bisected sword, Bella slashed Rogal.

"You bitch!"

Enraged by the unexpected blow, Rogal unleashed his peak power.

Shugarararak—!

His sword tore at her twelve times a second.

Kurururur—

Bella's body ripped apart.

Bella's body was a mangled wreck.

Yet even in a situation where she should collapse, she didn't.

Even unable to move, she refused to fall before them.

"……."

Bella turned to the nobles and knights.

Her parched lips parted.

It was her final words.

"Fight. Even unto death."

"……La, Lady Bella."

"Vice Commander!!!"

Hyun's Forge guild and the knights tried to reach her but couldn't.

Innumerable insect swarms blocked them.

"Devour her."

Rogal seized her throat and hurled her skyward.

Thirty soldier ants leaped at her.

'Was it hopeless from the start?'

Rogal and Helinya's levels were too high.

Rage boiled.

No matter how she charged and slashed, she couldn't fell them.

Goyad was about to lose even its vice commander there.

Thirty soldier ants.

The lead one targeted Bella's abdomen mid-leap.

Then.

The commentators uttered puzzled sounds.

Viewers reacted the same.

Something unidentified floated in the sky.

All cameras zoomed in instantly.

The greatsword hovering perpendicularly was magnificent.

It was a form familiar to any Korean.

And the patterns engraved on the skyborne blade.

On the hilt: Hyun

One commentator read the massive inscription on one face of the over-three-foot blade.

The sword lost to history a century ago.

The legend that saved a small nation.

Even if one didn't know the Twin Dragon Swords, every Korean knew of Chungmugong.

Then.

Flash—!

The Twin Dragon Swords vanished from their sight.

Viewers fell into chaos at the commentators' words.

They scanned for the sword's location.

Then.

The commentators who spotted the sword gasped in shock.

Bella was softly landing from the sky.

Woo woo woong—

The Twin Dragon Swords halted before her, resonating.

Bella envied them.

The sword blessed by the Sword King.

The spear obtained by Spear Heaven.

The weapons held by Gwangmyeong guild members.

If asked why she feared death, it was because she couldn't walk alongside her Second Sun, her lord.

She had dreamed.

'Someday, I'll receive a weapon too.'

Failing that terrified her.

Yet from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the sword labeled Twin Dragon Swords before her, she felt it.

'Stronger than the Sword King's blade.'

'Greater than Spear Heaven's spear.'

Greater than any weapon in this world.

In that moment, Bella felt it.

The power of the Twin Dragon Swords.

Hyun-soo had forged this sword not merely as a strong blade, but for all.

Bella grasped the massive hilt with both hands.

In that instant, her Second Sun's voice rang out.