Having Had His Fill, Yujun Summons Him Back

Having enjoyed himself to his heart's content, Yujun summoned Tapagol back — the golem he had dismissed.

"Tapagol. Go wild for me."

"Yes!"

As if he had been waiting for this moment alone, Tapagol activated Gigantification.

In an instant he swelled to the height of a skyscraper and charged across the battlefield, trampling every undead that got underfoot. A single leap from the golem shattered or disabled hundreds, even thousands of them.

Boom! Crash!

Dirt exploded skyward with the sound of detonating bombs, and mushroom clouds billowed up as if a nuclear blast had gone off.

"Wh-what is that thing?"

"Isn't that... far too big?"

"Even a dragon would look small next to that."

The liches panicked and sprayed magic in every direction, but Tapagol's endurance exceeded anything they had expected. Undead he felled could still be revived by the liches, yet he killed them far faster than they could be brought back.

"......Should I have summoned him sooner?"

Watching how quickly his Peace Contribution climbed, the thought came unbidden. He had gotten a proper look at Barbarism's effect. He was faster and stronger than before, of course, and no matter how violently he moved, his body took no strain. Sword strikes that once would have left a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠faint ache in his wrist now left him perfectly fine.

Maybe......

Yujun activated Sword Unity. He had had his fun moving his own body. Now it was time to experiment. Plenty of undead still remained.

With Sword Unity he casually formed thirty swords. It had been difficult before, but after several insights into Swordsmanship and a rise in rank, this much was effortless. The question was whether he could wield all thirty at once — and when he actually moved them, there wasn't even a throb in his head.

I could push it further.

Even so, he didn't rush. Once he was perfectly adapted to handling thirty, it wouldn't be too late to add more.

Thirty Planet Destroyer's Swords, generated through Sword Unity — blades with attack power so high that destroying a planet, true to the name, would hardly be strange. They streaked through the air and pierced the undead. Before that mercilessness the undead legion could offer no resistance at all. Blocking was impossible. Dodging was impossible. The swords were so sharp that raising a shield was meaningless; they punched through the undead as easily as sinking into a sheet of paper.

This is it.

Yujun stood in the middle of the battlefield and guided the swords at his leisure. No undead attacked him. They were pierced and disabled before they could even draw near.

Better than casting most magic, isn't it?

In speed and in power alike, operating thirty swords seemed superior. Magic covered a wide area, so mana was often wasted on empty space, but Sword Unity had no such waste. Exactly the enemy he wanted, exactly the destination he wanted — reaching it and dropping the foe was more efficient than magic.

Of course, Sword Unity's mana consumption was enormous. It was the same feat as sword-flight in a martial arts tale, and he had to handle thirty blades at once. No matter how much the skill valued insight and technique, the growing mana drain was unavoidable. By an ordinary player's standards it was a great deal, but Yujun held enough mana to keep it up for a long time. It was on an entirely different level from when he had been a barbarian.

Wow. I don't know how I even breathed back then, as stifled as it was.

Now that he had his body back, he could feel it — mana filling him to the brim. That alone was refreshingly good. Perhaps it felt even better because he knew that old suffocation.

......

They're really climbing fast.

Tapagol smashing the undead was the main reason, of course......

A little hollow, though.

To think Tapagol simply walking around hunted more efficiently than Yujun carefully piloting swords with Sword Unity. He truly envied the golem's bulk. Even a giant or a titan would look like a dwarf standing before Tapagol. When facing a great number of enemies, nothing was as effective as Tapagol's Gigantification.

Yujun hunted the undead legion while moving at a moderate pace, and in the end he eliminated even the last lich lord. The legion ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that had been advancing on the kingdom in high spirits was annihilated to the last at a pass not far from the kingdom itself.

Kamtan, the scout charged with reporting the legion's position in real time, saw the scene and his mouth fell open.

"Insane. What did I just see?"

At first it had looked like a small fight breaking out in the very center of the undead formation. Then, at some point, a golem of absurd size appeared and began, quite literally, to pulverize the legion.

How am I supposed to report this......

He couldn't believe it even after seeing it with his own eyes. Could he explain it in words? It was a true mercy that he had started recording with an image orb partway through.

That's Shin Yujun, isn't it? I heard he handles a giant golem as a summon.

When he even saw a breath erupting from around Shin Yujun's shoulder midway through, he was nearly certain.

It was Shin Yujun. Of course.

Among everyone he knew, no other player could do something like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this. This was the first time he had seen it in person, but he had encountered the man often enough in footage to recognize him.

Kamtan, an orc mage, was himself quite famous in the kingdom, but Shin Yujun was in a different league. He was the most famous person on the Continent — especially as a human. With his exotic, striking looks and overwhelming strength, there was no way he could fail to be popular. He possessed every positive quality all by himself, and beautiful companions stood at his side besides.

A hero straight out of a book, and then some.

Honestly, he had been jealous at first, but as he kept watching the man's martial might on video, he slowly fell for him.

I never thought I'd end up Jun-soaked over Shin Yujun.

In his kingdom a coinage was all the rage — Jun-soaked, blending the last syllable of Shin Yujun's name with the word for seeping in. That was how wildly popular and famous Shin Yujun was.

Seeing him fight the undead legion alone, Kamtan was so moved that the rims of his eyes grew hot.

"I've got to brag about this......"

It was footage he absolutely had to show his superior, but before that he meant to use another image orb to copy it and show his family and friends as well.

Yujun and Tapagol set out once more toward their destination. Killing undead granted a great deal of experience, but the drawback was an abysmally low item drop rate. Not a single thing worth using had dropped. Dozens of equipment items had come out, yet by Yujun's standards they were trash — gear he would feel bad even handing to his companions. Still, he didn't throw them away. He tucked them into his inventory, on the chance that a day might come to sell them off in bulk.

Yujun didn't spare Barbarism, and he raced onward at speed. As Tapagol had said, the Demon God Worshippers' branch was indeed far away. Even at his speed it would take a full half day. In truth, set against the three days Tapagol had originally estimated, it was an extremely short time. There were moments when the scenery blurred past so fast that Tapagol only belatedly called out the direction.

Having finished the violent exertion, Yujun drew a deep breath and spoke.

"That's the branch, right?"

"Yes."

He had called it a branch, but there was no building — only a massive waterfall. Following the water upward, strange crags and layered rock rose in tiers, forming a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠vista so fine it drew a sigh of admiration. It was like a living painting, a single panel come to life.

"There is a space behind the cliff waterfall. The Demon God Worshippers appear to dwell there."

"I know. I can feel them too."

A barrier was spread to block their presence, but when had Yujun ever been ordinarily sensitive? His senses were stopped by the barrier, yet he caught with precision the faint aura of the Demon God Worshippers leaking through.

"It's been a while."

He, who could well be called the natural enemy of the Demon God Worshippers, revealed himself without hiding his identity. One Worshipper who had been watching the outside from within went wide-eyed, then bolted deeper inside — to carry the news, no doubt. Soon, perhaps to buy time, four more Demon God Worshippers came out.

"Shin Yujun!"

"How did you—"

At Yujun's appearance the Demon God Worshippers trembled with panic and anxiety. It showed on their faces alone.

"Why is it that no matter how different they look, the atmosphere and the aura are always the same?"

That distinctive dank aura unique to the Demon God Worshippers was flowing from these ones as well. A good sign. Thanks to it, there was no chance he would mistake an enemy and kill the wrong person. There was nothing to gain by giving the cult time. There was no telling what they would pull, and he couldn't let things drag on the way they wanted.

Yujun kicked off the ground, and the four Demon God Worshippers' heads were severed in a single stroke. He had finished adapting to the Swordsmanship whose rank had risen while he fought the undead. The Demon God Worshippers could never follow where the tip of his sword pointed.

Compared to the undead, they barely give any experience at all.

The gap between those who received an experience buff and those who inflicted a debuff was vast.

Yujun and Tapagol immediately leapt into the cliff waterfall. Running as if treading on the water, he found a large cave mouth.

"Master! There is a trap!"

"I know."

Yujun released mana outward and tampered with the trap magic.

Just smashing it would be boring.

He set it so the trap would trigger only for Demon God Worshippers. It was possible because his magic far outstripped that of the mage who had laid the trap.

Tapagol clapped from behind.

"What are you doing?"

"To alter the formula of a magical trap another person installed — it is remarkable."

"So you know a bit of magic too?"

"That is not the case. But I know how difficult it is."

"And here I thought you were well-versed in magic as well."

"The King of the Undying knows how to wield magic. I stole a little of his knowledge. My mana is too scant, so I can scarcely use magic."

"Is that so?"

If he later fully absorbed the King of the Undying's power, he might be able to use magic as well.

The cave served as a passage to the branch, and the passage was not long. Emerging at the exit in an instant, Yujun found a tower rising high — as tall as Tapagol when he gigantified. He hadn't thought a space this wide could be hidden behind the cliff. Judging by the fact that it could house a tower of that height, the barrier had likely expanded the space. A barrier that expanded space required considerably high-level magical knowledge.

Yujun was impressed.

I'd thought about trying it myself once.

He had only thought about it. It required too many materials, so he had never actually attempted it.

Dozens of Demon God Worshippers were waiting in front of the tower. They looked as if they had only just heard of his arrival and weren't properly prepared. Yujun, of course, did not wait. He closed in as if teleporting, right up to their faces.

Shhk! Shhk!

His sword moved so fast its trajectory couldn't be seen, slaughtering dozens of Demon God Worshippers. They gave less experience than the undead, but if he thought of it as erasing, one by one, the germs eating away at the world, no achievement could feel higher.