Chapter 242: The Weight of the Name 'Reinhardt' (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 242: The Weight of the Name 'Reinhardt' (1)
"This is..."
Jinhyuk's gaze turned toward the entrance.
He sensed multiple presences.
"Kang Jinhyuk!"
"Jinhyuk!"
Shring!
Clank!
Cheon Yu-seong and Teresa drew their respective weapons.
They instinctively realized that those approaching harbored no goodwill.
Reinhardt bit his lip, his face hardening.
A moment later.
Step.
Along with the sound of footsteps, a large crowd of familiar faces appeared.
It was Duke Veinstern, the nobles who followed him, battle-hardened Sword Masters, and the court mages.
Every single one of them was a heavyweight who held the real power of the Empire in their hands.
Furthermore, the guards escorting them were equally formidable.
I've heard that the throne is a lonely place, but at this rate, it must feel like being on a completely deserted island.
Just as Reinhardt had said, the fall of the imperial authority was palpable.
Especially after failing to stop the demons and helplessly watching the borders be ravaged, even more nobles had sided with Veinstern.
And.
This was the result.
"It was quite troublesome tracking you all the way here. To think you would make me mobilize even the court mages just to break through the barriers and magic circles."
A sinister smile played on Veinstern's lips.
"Why pretend it was difficult? Shouldn't you be thanking me instead for walking right into a perfect, sealed room for you to commit your crime?"
"Hehe. Please, do not speak so sarcastically. Your body is already sick and exhausted. I will soon allow you to find eternal rest inside this tomb."
A chilling declaration of regicide.
Yet, even as treason was being committed right before their eyes, there was no one who could stop Veinstern.
"You must have coveted the emperor's throne dearly. If you truly believe you can bear the weight of this crown, you are gravely mistaken."
"Oh, no, not at all. Even I cannot simply swallow the Empire whole right away. The neighboring kingdoms are watching, and doing so would risk tearing the Empire to pieces."
Gaining legitimacy required time and procedure.
"Once Your Majesty passes away, I will support the foolish and profligate Second Prince instead of the clever and bright Third Prince. Of course, I will be the one wielding the real power from behind the scenes. And as more time passes, the Third Prince will also quietly disappear. I suppose a scenario like 'falling off a horse during a hunt' would be fitting."
Hmm.
He had laid out an incredibly thorough plan.
It was enough to make one think, If real villains exist, they must look exactly like this guy.
However.
"With your capabilities, it's impossible."
Jinhyuk shrugged.
"What?"
"I'm saying your vessel is far too small to contain an emperor."
"I lack the qualifications? Me, Veinstern, the most powerful man in the Empire?!"
Veinstern's face flushed red as the veins in his neck bulged.
They say you lose the moment you lose your temper.
This middle-aged guy is starting off with a loss.
"The most powerful man... Pfft! Is it something to be proud of, clinging to the Murim faction to drive out an elderly emperor and take the regency, all while calling yourself the most powerful man in the Empire? No, if you were so confident in the first place, you should have taken the throne with your own strength. Instead, you've borrowed help from here and there, and you can't actually do a single thing on your own, can you?"
"T-that is..."
Veinstern looked as if he had been struck on the head with a hammer.
But it was only for a brief moment.
"I am the one who oversees everything. All of this is only possible because of my existence."
"You just got lucky and were born into a great family."
If being born with a silver spoon in one's mouth is a skill, then sure, it's a skill.
But in that case, you should have at least worked a bit harder.
"Y-you bastard! Just because everyone praises you as a hero, do you truly delude yourself into thinking you are one? What is everyone doing?! Cut out that wicked bastard's tongue this instant!"
"See? If you're that angry, you should step up yourself. But you don't even have the strength to hold a sword, so you just order others around. Honestly, if that old man next to you cast a single 1st-Circle Fireball, you'd probably end up crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, yet you act so tough even a Demon King would shake his head."
A rapid-fire barrage of insults poured from Jinhyuk's mouth.
Every single word hit right where it hurt.
It was so bad that Cheon Yu-seong was pressing his temples, wearing an expression that said, We're completely doomed.
Just as expected, Veinstern was practically foaming at the mouth.
"Y-you...!"
"You? At best, you're a Won Gyun."
"Running amok in your own self-importance, only to die a miserable death."
"Kill him!"
The order was given.
Simultaneously.
Rumble!
The waiting mages chanted their spells in unison.
The field of vision was dyed pure white.
* * *
Vroooom!
Countless magic circles expanded across the air.
Soon, a storm of brilliant magic swept forward.
They were all high-level spells of the 5th-Circle or above.
However.
[Lv10 'Primordial Flame' has been activated!]
Crimson flames erupted.
Bang! Bang!
Boom!
The spells shattered into pieces, blocked by a wall of fire.
Incredible.
Jinhyuk swallowed hard as he looked at his newly acquired skill.
Its destructive power was incomparable to when he used 'Fire Element'.
Indeed, the eyes of the court mages in front of him looked ready to pop out of their sockets.
"How... can this be?"
"To cast such high-level magic without a chant..."
"Is... is that man a monster?"
Since they stood no chance in close combat, they had tried to settle it from a distance.
Yet, the spells they had painstakingly prepared were neutralized so easily with a simple wave of his hand.
Low-circle magic was useless.
To have any effect, they needed a spear of an even higher circle that could pierce through that shield of fire.
[8th-Circle Multiple Incantation 'Lightning Spear' is manifested!]
A multi-cast of the 8th-Circle.
The lightning magic created by twenty mages revealed its majestic form.
Crackle!
Sparks flew, dazzling the eyes.
A massive spear, nearly four meters long, shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
Speed and weight.
It was a lethal, single-strike attack.
However.
Just before the spear could pierce Jinhyuk, a shield made of fire and ice formed in front of him.
A brilliant pattern spread out widely around his body.
With a barrier added on top, its sturdiness rose to a level that transcended circles.
Kabaaaang!
A tremendous impact resonated, but not even a tiny crack appeared on the shield.
Once again, the result was the same.
Their decisive blow had been blocked all too easily.
"H-he blocked this too?"
"Pant, pant. I... I poured all my mana into that..."
"I can't believe it. Is he a polymorphed dragon...?"
...They were in completely different leagues.
At this rate, repeating it would only waste their mana.
It was then.
"There is no need to be afraid. We already knew our opponent was strong. Is that not why we brought this many knights and mages with us?"
Veinstern slowly raised his right hand.
At that, the knights lined up on both sides moved in unison.
"Sir Abraham. You deal with him personally. With the support of the mages, you should be able to subdue him without much difficulty."
At Veinstern's command, Abraham's body flinched.
Unquestionably...
If a knight who had reached the realm of a Grand Sword Master was backed by high-circle mages, they would exert power beyond imagination.
It was said that this combination alone was enough to hunt a dragon.
No matter how skilled a veteran player was, they would struggle against such odds.
"I guess we have no choice but to be enemies after all."
Jinhyuk pulled 'Fang' out of his dimensional subspace inventory.
To fight Abraham, he had to go all out as well.
However.
Abraham made no move to draw his sword even after seeing Fang.
Instead, he posed a question to the Duke.
"Your Grace. Do you happen to remember? The question I asked the day I first decided to join you."
"Why do you ask that now?"
"Please. I must hear it before we fight."
Sensing the sincerity in his voice, Veinstern recalled the past.
"...You said you chose me for the future of the Empire."
"For the future of the Empire... Yes, I certainly said that. And those words were not a lie."
Shring!
Abraham drew his sword.
A dazzling sword light scattered across the tomb.
Yet, the sword was not pointed at Jinhyuk.
As if to protect Reinhardt, Abraham stood before him like an immovable mountain.
"Are you planning to betray me? Now of all times?"
"I agonized over it in my own way. I believed that under the current Emperor's incompetence and helplessness, the Empire would walk the path of ruin."
But.
"Now that he is cornered, the Emperor's actions have defied my expectations. Of course, Kang Jinhyuk played a significant role in that change."
The reason the Emperor had come to his senses. The reason Abraham, one of their greatest assets, had betrayed them.
It was all because of one person.
"You really are of no help to my life. You make my skin crawl, like a brain-eating parasite."
"Is it a crime that I'm a charming guy who changes people's hearts? More importantly, doesn't this completely turn the tables?"
The knights and mages alone could not win against this lineup.
Even if they had the numbers, the difference in individual quality was incomparably vast.
Above all, the biggest factor was Cheon Yu-seong and Teresa holding the perimeter firmly.
Though the knights swarmed them seven to one, they didn't dare dream of breaking through the two of them.
"Indeed, it seems we are at a disadvantage. In our current state, that is."
Veinstern nodded as if in agreement.
Yet, he showed no sign of giving up.
As if to say it wasn't over yet.
"It seems I must ask for your assistance as well. I must express my deepest gratitude to the Murim faction for anticipating even this."
With those final words.
"Indeed. It's a good thing we came after all."
Another variable intervened.
* * *
Those who had not set foot in the tomb until now answered Veinstern's call.
Step. Step.
Appearing alongside the footsteps were powerhouses who could easily be considered rankers of their respective guilds.
The most eye-catching among them was the woman at the front.
"Nice to meet you."
She had healthy, copper-toned skin and long black hair that fell all the way to her waist, making for an impressive appearance.
Even without her introducing herself, one could easily guess her identity.
Gandhara...
To be precise, it was Nirasha, the leader of Gandhara.
Zing! Zing!
A heavy pressure rippled across his skin.
Just from her walking, it felt as if the very air inside the tomb was tightening.
So this was India's strongest.
The rumors of her defeating Valmariel were by no means an exaggeration.
Leaving aside the sheer quantity and quality of her strength or mana...
She's different.
Something was different about her.
And there was only one way to find out what it was.
Jinhyuk activated 'Gluttony's Eye'.
However.
Throb!
"Ugh!"
An intense pain flared through his eyes.
['Gluttony's Eye' has failed to analyze the target!]
[The target is currently under the protection of 'Mandala (SSS)'.]
A highest-grade Mandala.
For Nirasha to possess that at this point meant...
It means a deity of India is directly protecting her.
Although there would surely be limits due to system constraints, if he couldn't identify which deity it was, he stood no chance.
Even with Abraham on their side.
Is there only one way?
To pierce through that, he had to prepare something of equal caliber.
Jinhyuk's gaze flickered toward the Heaven's Selection Stone behind him.
The power of a deity.
Only by obtaining that could he defeat Nirasha—or more accurately, the deity sponsoring her.
While Jinhyuk's mind raced, Nirasha smiled brightly.
"You have quite a unique set of eyes. Honestly, I'm surprised. This is the first time I've met a player with eyes superior to mine."
"It's also my first time meeting a player who already has the backing of deities. I guess the standards over in India are pretty generous? Or maybe you were just exceptionally good at kissing up to them."
"If you know that much, then you must also know that a mere human cannot oppose a god."
"I'm sorry, but giving up isn't really my style."
Jinhyuk slowly moved his hand, searching for a way to buy some time.
Although he had never been here in person before...
He recalled reading a few things about the secrets of this place in ancient texts.
"Since all the lead actors are here, let's get this party started."
Jinhyuk subtly picked up a golden ring lying nearby.
Even though the barriers and defensive magic had been shut down by Veinstern, there were still deadly traps remaining.
Namely...
Rumble!
[The trap for grave robbers has been activated!]
...Things like this.