Chapter 222
Chapter 222
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 222
>Chapter Title: Rapid Breakthrough
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Meanwhile, at that very moment, quite a crowd had gathered in front of the monument at Hayden Castle.
It was only about thirty people, but that was double the number from the start.
"Why are so many people showing up?"
"It's the first trial in half a year, so of course."
"And the one taking it is Kaiser... that says it all. Lucky we grabbed the front spots."
It was thanks to the folks who'd already heard the rumors and rushed over.
People were still streaming in real-time, so it was obvious the place would be packed soon.
Those who'd been at the castle from the beginning were lucky to snag the front row so comfortably.
It had been such a drag bashing nothing but ironwood puppets in a ghost-town Hayden Castle, but times like this made it worthwhile.
"They've entered, so it should start soon, right?"
"Yeah. Limit trials begin right after entry."
"Man, after that Berje smackdown stream, he's gotten so popular it's hard to even approach him... wild seeing him up close like this."
"And coming to our Knight Citadel of all places. Insane."
Naturally, their conversation revolved around Kaiser.
Kaiser was already the hottest topic around, and now he'd come to their Knight Citadel to take the Great Lion King's trial.
The timing was perfect.
As they buzzed excitedly about the bizarre coincidence, one person glanced around cautiously before speaking up.
"So... what do you think will happen?"
"What do you mean?"
"What else? Come on, man."
"Oh."
The other trainees, who'd responded indifferently at first, turned serious.
They knew exactly what he meant.
"Hmm..."
After a moment of careful thought, the answer came quickly.
"Well... even for Kaiser, this might be tough."
"He's only in the low 70s level. Experts say even top pros are around 73 at best."
"Even for Kaiser, this feels rushed. No real reason to go in now. Hitting 100 stably, Transcending, then entering would've been ideal."
"Pass... doubtful. Red light's out of reach. Maybe 85, but this gap's too big."
No matter how they sliced it, only negative opinions came up.
Of course, there were counterarguments.
"The trial adjusts to your level anyway, so does it matter?"
"It does. There are system perks after max level that aren't factored in. Hitting max is always better."
"True... even ignoring Transcendence, skill slots alone make a difference."
"Nah, but it's Kaiser. He crushed Transcended Berje. What's he can't do?"
"Sword Emperor's score is insane, skip that. But as a Sword God, couldn't he hit red with good performance?"
"Hearing it like that, maybe?"
They figured since Kaiser had shown such feats, and he'd entered so confidently, he must have something up his sleeve.
Opinions varied, but they all agreed on one thing.
It felt like Kaiser had rushed in too soon.
Why burn a one-shot chance this fast?
"Main quest maybe?"
"Or he got guide?"
"Where's a for the Lion King's trial? Even perfect clears get yellow if he doesn't like your style."
"Yeah, since it's about process, not results... Huh? What's that?"
"What? Why... Whoa!?"
That was when they were racking their brains.
A trainee turned at his comrade's shocked mid-sentence reaction, only to mirror it.
That sparked it.
"Whoa... what the hell?"
"No way, for real?"
"I'm not seeing this wrong, right?"
Users waiting behind them yelped in surprise.
New arrivals filing in were just as stunned.
The cause of their collective shock was the monument.
Flash-
"...Why's it glowing already?"
The lion-shaped magic circle effect at the monument's base.
And the brilliant light not just enveloping the stone, but rising above it.
A light that shouldn't appear yet was shining.
It meant reaching the second-grade score just ten minutes into the Lion King's Tower.
"It's only been about ten minutes since entry!?"
"No, ten minutes is barely stage one of the limit trial. What the...?"
"And it's not green—it's yellow!?"
"Impossible!"
The time alone was shocking enough, but it was yellow, not green.
Unbelievable.
Not hyperbole—literally impossible.
"Plenty get yellow after full clears, and he hits it in ten minutes?"
"Means perfect scores on at least two trials."
"Crazy..."
Green, yellow, silver, gold, red.
The five-tier grading was based purely on perfect trial clears.
The monument's current yellow light meant Kaiser had aced two Lion King trials in ten minutes...
"...But is that even possible?"
"Limit trials take at least four hours minimum."
"Even high rankers need two. Time-wise, no way."
Even for Kaiser, this defied physics.
An hour, maybe believable. Ten minutes?
Even Grandpa Kaiser couldn't pull that off.
Only one assumption left.
"The Lion King's recognition..."
The tower's resident Lion King spirit acknowledging the knight.
Lumped as "recognition" for simplicity, it included anything impressing, surprising, or earning approval from the spirit—reflected in the score.
Exceed thresholds, and you get early passes on some trials.
Early pass equals perfect score, naturally.
"My god..."
"He did it? In ten minutes?"
Official lore, but invoking "Lion King's recognition" hit them hard.
"Even high rankers like Annihilation or Empress only got one."
"And that took hours..."
"Who cleared in under an hour? This a first?"
"...No, someone did."
That's when an NPC name dropped.
"...Sword Emperor."
The sword of the Seven Rivers.
Sword Emperor, Garfield Drew.
"Sword Emperor's the only one who nabbed two early passes before thirty minutes."
"...Wait, so Kaiser's faster than Sword Emperor?"
"Crazy... not even thirty—ten minutes..."
"Damn, gotta post this to comms? Nah, hold it. They won't believe anyway."
The Sword Emperor's unrivaled record was broken for the first time.
Talk naturally shifted to comparing Sword Emperor and Kaiser.
"This means Kaiser's topping Sword Emperor's record, right?"
"Whoa, first user to clear hidden trial?"
"Nah, Seven Rivers ain't trash."
"True. Sword Emperor got three early passes. No matter what, he's not comparable yet..."
That's when it happened.
Flash-!
"Eek!?"
"Shit, scared me."
"W-What's that?"
They recoiled from the massive light surging ahead, instinctively looking.
Then went blank.
"...Silver?"
"Third early pass?"
Dazzling silver light poured from the monument.
Silver meant a third perfect score.
Forget post-launch—by lore, first since Sword Emperor.
Gulp.
Dry swallow echoed from somewhere amid the disbelief.
No one cared.
Everyone was in the same boat.
As they stared blankly at the silver-glowing monument, someone muttered low.
"...What the hell's going on in there?"
Unimaginable, but one thing was clear.
Everything happening inside would be historic.
'No way he actually breaks Sword Emperor's score?'
'H-Huge... gotta record this.'
'Whatever it is, insane... hands shaking for real.'
Kaiser was about to make waves again.
* * *
[The Lion King's spirit is astonished.]
[Reflected in score.]
[The Lion King's spirit can't hide its surprise.]
[Reflected in score.]
[The Lion King's spirit protests this is cheating.]
....
[The Lion King's spirit clutches its head, sensing something's wrong.]
[Reflected in score.]
The Lion King's spirit reeled dizzily.
'This... this can't be right.'
All because of that one knight who'd entered the tower.
A knight showing up like a tamer, festooned with guardians.
So he'd dismissed him inwardly as skillless, leaning on guardians.
'What the hell are all those!?'
An absurd scene unfolded.
Boom! Crunch-!
Bang! Slash- Stab!
A mere graze from him shattered skeleton soldiers' skulls; twice, and they were done.
Even hordes charging en masse couldn't land a clean hit—his moves were too swift.
More ridiculous: rare hits barely scratched him.
'No way my scan's off?'
Impossible.
The Lion King's eyes pierced targets' realms.
In apostle terms, level-check eyes.
Perfectly gauged even this era's Sword Emperor; no way it'd fail some apostle?
'Apostles at same realm often had huge gaps, sure...'
Hence limit trials.
Eyeballing alone couldn't gauge a knight's limits.
Gaps existed, but roughly similar; most crumbled before even clearing limits.
[Stage 1 cleared with utter perfection.]
[Stage 2 begins.]
....
[Stage 2 cleared with utter perfection.]
....
[Stage 4 cleared with utter perfection.]
'...How to even describe that. Like a Transcendent swatting goblins.'
But this guy?
Power, toughness, speed far beyond his supposed realm.
Not just that—mana circuits abnormally robust.
Nor merely brute physicals.
Swish- Crunch!
-Wow, check that head snap. Goosebumps.
-Hmm! Always so fluid, like flowing water... My lord's combat is art every time.
-Liza! LizaLiza!
Every motion calculated, precise distance mastery overwhelming foes.
'Even my era's knights couldn't match. That's... leagues above other apostles?'
One figure flashed in the Lion King's spirit: a man from a year ago.
He who conquered all with one sword.
This era's strongest swordsman, realm so vast he'd crave a bout if alive.
'...Sword Emperor.'
For some reason, that man came to mind.