The Generous Emperor

"I get it, I get it."

Contrary to Carbanog's worries, Kim Tae-hyun was keeping a sharp eye on Uipoatl even while deep in thought. Rankers were, by default, masters of multitasking. And Tae-hyun, who had grown up beating those very rankers, was practically a master among masters.

He was the kind of guy who could cook with one hand, plan how to exploit Cain with the other, map out his class quest, and manage his territory all at the same time! A little dilemma like this was barely a distraction.

Swish!

Ultimately, Tae-hyun swapped his weapon. He would save the silver sword for later!

Carbanog beat his chest in despair. There was a limit to being laid-back!

But Tae-hyun had already switched weapons. And as it turned out, that choice saved his life.

"By the Emperor's Authority!"

"Huh?"

A powerful energy erupted from Uipoatl's hand, and the sword Tae-hyun was holding flew straight into Uipoatl's grasp.

An absurdly cheap skill that literally stole the opponent's weapon!

"How can you use such a dirty skill?!" Tae-hyun cried out in disbelief.

Tae-hyun possessed a similar authority skill, but Uipoatl's was on a whole different level.

"I don't want to hear that from a lowlife scoundrel like you!"

"Ugh. I can't even argue with that!"

Uipoatl gloated at Tae-hyun's reaction. A weapon was a warrior's soul and heart. Stealing it meant cutting any warrior's combat power in half. His saved authority had paid off beautifully...

"Whew. Guess I have no choice."

Tae-hyun immediately pulled another Dae-man-bul-gang-geom from his bag. Although its durability was low, Tae-hyun had rarely broken a Dae-man-bul-gang-geom due to actual durability issues.

With his absurd Luck, insanely high Blacksmithing Skill, swordsmanship, and god-tier control...

Actually, Tae-hyun had probably blown up far more of them himself.

"????"

Uipoatl blinked. What was with this guy?

"Th-This sword..."

"Die!"

"You crazy bastard!"

Flustered, Uipoatl swung the stolen sword. The exact same sword Tae-hyun had been holding flashed and shattered into pieces.

Crack!

"..."

Tae-hyun almost yelled out a thank you to Uipoatl.

Seriously... you are such a generous emperor!

Who dared call Uipoatl a tyrant? Where else could you find an emperor who gave so selflessly! Normally, this was an achievement that could never be unlocked through conventional means. But thanks to Uipoatl stealing his weapon, he had cleared it effortlessly.

"What kind of weapon does this lowlife even use?!" Uipoatl screamed in utter bewilderment.

What kind of sword shattered after a single swing?

"Critical Explosion!"

In that brief opening, Tae-hyun drove his Dae-man-bul-gang-geom deep into Uipoatl. The accumulated critical stacks exploded, dealing astronomical damage to Uipoatl.

"Aaaargh!"

"Archysis's Third Attack!"

Seizing the momentum, Tae-hyun didn't stop. He unleashed every skill at his disposal, raining down a relentless flurry of strikes to finish him off. Uipoatl's weaknesses were exposed, and Tae-hyun exploited them instantly, triggering additional status effects.

He pushed. He pushed relentlessly!

Witnessing this overwhelming display, the rankers watching from a distance finally realized: Tae-hyun might actually take down Uipoatl!

'Is he really going to kill him?'

'He's actually going to do it??'

Not every player who came to the fortress was confident. Many believed that simply stopping Nevuchadnezzar's army or preventing his resurrection would be a massive success. But slaying Uipoatl, the Emperor of the Asbian Empire? They hadn't even dared to dream of it. No matter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠how fast Pan-On rankers cleared boss monsters, Uipoatl was on an entirely different level.

Yet, Tae-hyun was dismantling him right before their eyes.

"Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun!"

"I believed in him from the start!"

The broadcast streams were on the verge of exploding!

Sensing the shift, the hesitant rankers began to charge in as well. And yet... amidst all this chaos, Tae-hyun was the only one who remained completely calm. Even as he battered Uipoatl, he was meticulously observing his opponent.

His intuition screamed. Danger!

"Get back!"

At Tae-hyun's shout, the players who had been rushing in like fanatics hesitated and retreated. What immense charisma! Of course, the greedy rankers ignored the warning. They suspected Tae-hyun was trying to monopolize the experience points.

The consequences of their greed arrived instantly.

"Call of Wrath!"

Uipoatl, who had been beaten senseless, unleashed a desperate skill in a final struggle.

"Archisus's Charge!"

An application of his offensive authority skill! Tae-hyun blinked away, instantly widening the distance.

The ground around Uipoatl collapsed, swallowing the rankers whole. It was a terrifying skill that bypassed all defense and evasion, dragging them straight beneath the earth! The rankers screamed, trying to escape, but the skill actively hindered their retreat. They paid dearly for underestimating the boss.

Uipoatl panted heavily, leaning on his spear for support. He had wiped out hundreds of players, yet... they still swarmed around him. How did things end up like this?

Getting involved with that guy—that Avatar of Archisus—was the beginning of all his mistakes!

"Die!!"

Uipoatl initiated his final charge. His target, naturally, was Tae-hyun. Of course, Tae-hyun had no intention of taking the hit.

"Circle of Counterattack!"

Uipoatl's spear was deflected, slamming right back into his own chest. Tae-hyun gripped his sword with both hands, aiming directly for Uipoatl's neck.

"Impossible! This is impossible!"

"A lowlife like you... defeating me, Uipoatl..."

"Archisus's First Strike!"

"Critical Explosion!"

With a deafening roar, a brilliant light erupted from Uipoatl's body.

"..."

Tae-hyun and Carbanog's faces soured simultaneously.

'Ah...'

Come to think of it, if Uipoatl died, the next in line for power was Lee Se-yeon!

'Oh.'

Tae-hyun paused. Was the game basically pushing him to fight Lee Se-yeon?

'Well... there's no real need to fight Se-yeon right now.'

With Uipoatl, clashing had been inevitable, but there was no reason to fight Lee Se-yeon. They could compromise, make concessions, and get along just fine.

[???]

'What? Why are you looking at me like that?'

Uipoatl's Infamy must have been incredibly high, because items flooded in.

'A spear, some armor... and a necklace! Nice!'

Tae-hyun quickly checked the loot in that brief moment. He had secured all the important stuff!

Even with the heavily reduced experience, he still gained five levels at once! If he had soloed the boss, there was no telling how many levels he would have gained.

'Five levels at once... is this a first? Gaining this many levels in one go...'

"M-My level went up by over twenty in one go!"

"I only hit him once...!"

"..."

Tae-hyun clenched his fists. Don't get mad!

'Anyway, I'm curious about what this quest is.'

[Carbanog warns that a quest that cannot be rejected is always a bad omen.]

'N-No way. It's not set in stone yet.'

But deep down, Tae-hyun felt it too. Quests that couldn't be rejected usually existed solely to screw the player over!

Nevuchadnezzar was truly a formidable boss monster.

A joint assault by the holy knights and high priests of every order! Normally, an undead boss monster would melt under this alone. It was only natural; no undead monster could easily withstand a coordinated beatdown from NPCs over level 400 and 500.

But it didn't end there.

There were the mages from the Magic Tower Tae-hyun had brought along, high-level mage parties, the Archisus Artillery, and even the vampire warriors of the Blood Archipelago.

Listing them all out, it was a force powerful enough to steamroll an entire kingdom!

And Nevuchadnezzar had been holding his ground against this army all by himself with an incomplete body.

However, once that precarious balance shattered, it was not easily restored.

The opening created while dealing with Uipoatl!

Taking advantage of that gap, the Expedition launched their assault, forcing Nevuchadnezzar onto the defensive without any room to counterattack.

"In the name of God! Charge!"

"We must end this demon once and for all!"

"Huh?"

[Carbanog points out that they aren't talking about the Avatar of Archisus.]

'Ah. Force of habit.'

Tae-hyun breathed a sigh of relief. A sad habit of wondering, Are they talking about me? whenever people started cursing!

"Lord Tae-hyun! Please come and help us!"

"Got it. I'm coming!"

The players desperately called out to Tae-hyun.

Even though Nevuchadnezzar was on the defensive, his massive undead army remained. Holding them back was the players' job!

'The fire tornado is still far away.'

Tae-hyun felt relieved. The fire tornado was doing its job beautifully, sweeping through the undead in the distance. At this rate, it had more than earned its summoning cost!

"I'm here! Party 8, to the left! Party 12, fall back! Establish a defensive line and batter Nevuchadnezzar!"

Tae-hyun used his Tactics skill to reorganize the players' scattered formation. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠To hold out against the waves of undead, formation was key.

The temporarily disrupted line was quickly restored. The undead trying to slip through the gaps were repelled, unable to breach the defense.

"Aki-sus's Divine Territory!"

Tae-hyun hastily deployed his domain. The death energy Nevuchadnezzar was emitting was no joke. It carried an oppressive weight that felt like it would wipe out the players the moment it touched them!

Fortunately, his judgment was spot-on.

The unfortunate players who happened to be outside the divine territory screamed and were logged out the instant the energy brushed past them.

"C-Crazy!"

"What kind of skill is that?!"

An absurd skill that shaved off HP by percentages upon contact!

The players, who had been under the illusion that they were pushing Nevuchadnezzar to the brink, swallowed hard and tensed up once more. This was the strongest boss monster to appear yet. A single mistake meant instant death.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

"All spells have been broken!"

Even the charging holy knights retreated. The death energy surrounding Nevuchadnezzar had grown so dense that they could no longer approach.

"Your Holiness! We cannot allow Nevuchadnezzar time to recover!"

"We must charge through that dreadful death energy!"

"So, are you telling me to go in there?"

"N-No. Not exactly, but..."

"Your Holiness's abilities... should be unaffected even in there..."

The holy knights stammered.

To be honest, since no one but Tae-hyun could enter that zone unscathed, they had indeed come to ask him to go. But saying it outright felt like they might get killed by Tae-hyun before Nevuchadnezzar could even get to them!

Fresh off beating Uipoatl, Tae-hyun was practically radiating an overwhelming aura of intimidation.