Red Dragon Brigade leader Kuhn.

He was watching everything unfold from a hill overlooking the prisoner camp.

When the five unknown soldiers with great strength were on the brink of death, Kuhn spotted Hyun walking in wearing a brown coat.

The decisive factor that would allow the two countries to reach peace.

When Hyun controlled twenty—no, the entire Red Dragon Brigade of seventy—with telekinesis, Kuhn let out a small note of admiration.

But Kuhn mocked him.

“He’s struggling.”

Endlessly foolish.

Was it because he was a blacksmith that he didn’t know the fundamentals of combat?

That grape he put in his mouth. It had to be a precious grape grown from the Small World Tree.

“He should’ve applied it to an attack.”

As he thought that, a single pitiful arrow was created near him.

Still watching his subordinates, he saw Hyun whip his coat and sharply aim into the sky as he set the arrow on the bowstring.

“End.”

That arrogant, absurd voice.

After firing the arrow, he turned his body and walked toward his subordinates.

In that moment, Kuhn saw it.

One arrow became over seventy arrows and struck the Red Dragon Brigade members.

But the damage from those arrows was far too paltry.

And then, as if a 1,000kg weight had been fastened to their ankles—

like bombs, they plummeted into the ground.

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG—!

Around Hyunsoo, who was walking toward his subordinates, over seventy Red Dragon Brigade members slammed down from all directions.

Each time they struck, the earth caved in deeply, and dust billowed thickly.

That dust briefly blocked Kuhn’s view, and when it finally cleared, Kuhn recoiled in shock.

All seventy Red Dragon Brigade members were embedded in the ground, writhing.

“Uuugh...!”

“Guhhh...!”

“Ugh...!”

Fortunately, not a single one was dead.

But Kuhn could tell their HP had dropped by at least close to 40% from that single attack.

And even if they didn’t die, taking such a heavy impact all at once usually led to fainting.

Some were foaming at the mouth and had passed out.

“...!”

Kuhn was stunned.

“Did he find the most efficient way to attack in that short time?”

He was no ordinary man.

But Kuhn soon saw Red Dragon Brigade members forcing themselves up with tremendous willpower.

Even so, Hyun would die here.

Other than him, most of their forces were effectively unable to fight.

“1 to 70?”

Kuhn ended up laughing.

“No. Soon it becomes 1 to 110.”

Red Dragon Brigade leader Kuhn was meticulous.

He always built contingency plans in advance.

Seventy Red Dragon Brigade members.

He didn’t think that number was lacking.

But if—truly if—something happened, he had prepared for that too.

Among the outsiders in this land, there was a group that would do anything for money.

The Murderer Guild.

Among them, the Red Hood Guild was a group of high-level toxic guild members, and around 90% of them were archers.

They were mainly deployed in massacres.

In massacre battles, by drawing bows quickly, they could kill the greatest number of people in the shortest time.

Kuhn had hired them with money, and soon they would arrive here.

Of course, Kuhn expected Hyun and those soldiers would all be dead before they arrived.

And the Red Dragon Brigade members were his precious subordinates.

Kuhn descended the hill and moved quickly toward the camp.

*****

Kan and the Storm Brigade members couldn’t believe the scene before them.

Seventy assassins were embedded in the ground.

And their liege gave each of them a potion.

After drinking it, they recovered only 15%.

It was nothing more than blowing a breath into them while they were dying.

Assassins with something broken or ruined somewhere in their bodies forced themselves up from the ground.

CREAK

CRACK-CRACK

They set their misaligned bones back into place themselves.

Then more than seventy charged at once.

From all directions, they came crashing in, aiming only for Hyunsoo.

SPLAT-SPLAT, SPLAT-SPLAT-SPLAT-SPLAT—!

Wounds multiplied rapidly across Hyunsoo’s body.

Kan and the others barged in to reduce his damage as much as they could.

And Kan knew.

If it was the liege he remembered, he wouldn’t last long.

In that moment, eight assassins rushed Hyunsoo from all directions.

“Liege...!”

Kan’s vision swam.

He knew that if his liege was struck in eight places, it would be instant death.

“What is this...!?”

A sudden chill ran down his spine.

Only then did Kan realize.

It had been nearly a month since he had seen his liege’s strength.

Aside from when they fought giants in the Araham Territory, he hadn’t seen it.

But that month-long stretch was nothing more than a brief instant.

And yet—

“Ghost Steps.”

In the blink of an eye, Hyunsoo moved like a ghost toward the assassins converging around him.

Each time he moved, his afterimage etched itself into the air.

RIIIP

THUD!

SSSHK!

BAM!

FWOOSH

BOOM

CRACK

BOOM—!

Exactly eight.

In a span of 1.4 seconds, eight assassins were cut, snapped, butchered, and fell.

And then—

KIIIIIIING—!

The sword in his hand cried out, and from the bodies of assassins surging up elsewhere—

FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH—!

blood sprayed.

FLAP—

With his coat whipping, Hyunsoo tore across the battlefield.

At times he was like Sword King Barad, and at times he was like Sky King Ben.

FWHAAK—!

As he cut down an assassin, he wore arrogant eyes.

In that moment, Kan °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° and the Storm Brigade realized it.

“...Even in the moments we couldn’t see, he kept growing without end?”

That was when—

“Extreme Kill.”

In a flash—

Kuhn appeared, leaving behind a black current, and drove a dagger hard into Hyunsoo’s solar plexus.

[Extreme Kill]

[HP is reduced by 80% without exception.]

[You are afflicted with Bleeding.]

“Kgh!”

Hyunsoo staggered.

He saw Kuhn drive the dagger into his solar plexus, then pull it out.

[Red Dragon Brigade Leader Kuhn Lv.351]

“This is all because of you. I’ll kill you last, together with your subordinates.”

After pulling the dagger out, Kuhn vanished in an instant.

He appeared just 12m away and began massacring the camp’s soldiers.

In the blink of an eye, he killed the soldiers one after another, and then began killing the Cradle of Hell soldiers too.

[All camp soldiers have fallen in battle.]

[A significant number of Cradle of Hell soldiers have fallen in battle.]

Hyunsoo felt like his mind was going blank.

“Dropping HP by 80% in one hit?”

It was hard to even keep his eyes open because of the status effect.

With a body trembling intermittently, Hyunsoo hurriedly put a Small World Tree grape into his mouth.

[HP and MP recover by approximately 60% at once.]

His HP surged back up, but Hyunsoo realized.

“There’s no chance.”

Out of over seventy, he had only killed ten.

Hyunsoo recalled the notifications that rang out each time he killed an assassin.

[Negotiation Progress increases.]

[Negotiation Progress increases.]

[Negotiation Progress...]

Assassins’ deaths were connected to doubled Negotiation Progress.

But something mattered more than that.

“I’ll lose the entire Storm Brigade.”

Hyunsoo looked at them, struggling desperately against the Red Dragon Brigade pressing in from all sides.

They might be NPCs, but they were precious people Radiance absolutely needed.

Then Kan, nearly dying, came up to him.

“Hurry and tear the return scroll.”

“...If I die, I come back to life.”

Hyunsoo looked at Kan with eyes he couldn’t understand.

Kan knew he would come back to life.

So why did he want Hyunsoo’s safety this badly?

And Hyunsoo had heard notifications on his way here.

[Vassal Kan overcomes his limits.]

[Vassal Berm overcomes his limits.]

[Vassal Pello overcomes his limits.]

They had crossed their physical and mental limits again and again.

It wouldn’t be strange if they died.

And their performance in the Cradle of Hell—Hyunsoo knew they had done their best.

Kan’s voice shook.

“Liege, even if we die, we want to protect you. What’s saddest right now is that we couldn’t protect you.”

Hyunsoo’s lips parted.

And Hyunsoo didn’t understand, but a flash of the grace he’d shown Kan and the Storm Brigade swept through them.

The first day the Storm Brigade members came to Hyun’s Forge, Nell had said,

“I found a room at an inn. For now, stay together there.”

Her words, spoken like someone doing a chancellor’s work, were cold.

But every Storm Brigade member was satisfied.

A life raised by the state, abandoned by nobles. A life that had never known warmth.

And for people like them—treated as dead while still alive—even that was more than enough.

But Hyunsoo, working at blacksmithing, had said,

“I’ll give you money, so please find a big house for them to live in.”

“Hyunsoo, you still haven’t paid off all your hospital bills, so going that far...”

“Please do it. I’m confident now. Confident that I can at least protect my people.”

And Hyunsoo had smiled at them as he said it.

“It’s infuriating. We want to protect you, but we can’t—this is so hopeless. Our damned bodies!”

Hyunsoo knew.

They were born with bodies that rejected mana.

And even at the moment of death, in a situation where they had no choice but to lose, they burned with will.

Suddenly, something brushed through Hyunsoo’s mind.

“Thank you, Kan.”

[All Cradle of Hell soldiers have fallen in battle.]

All allies were dead except the five.

Leaving the Storm Brigade, everyone else had fallen.

Hyunsoo looked again at Kuhn and the assassins coming for them.

Kan couldn’t understand.

“Thank you?”

Hyunsoo gave a small smile and patted his shoulder.

“You gave me inspiration.”

Minerals surged up beside Hyunsoo.

Kan and the Storm Brigade staggered and stepped in front of him.

Kuhn stood at the center of around sixty assassins.

He crooked a finger.

Kan could see around sixty coming at once.

Then, above Hyunsoo’s head, a giant blade took shape.

A blade heated red.

That giant blade fused with a single grip.

Hyunsoo passed them and faced the enemies as he spoke.

“In a small country, there was a great general.”

Kan and the Storm Brigade fixed their eyes on the weapon he had made.

At some point, an unknown great saber had descended to him.

“The enemy nation was far stronger, and the king felt he had lost the war.”

Hyunsoo gripped the vertically lowered blade with both hands.

CLANK—

He presented the blade’s face to the enemies, as if daring them to look.

“The king of the small country knew.”

Characters filled across the blade’s surface.

[If you seek death, you live]

[If you seek life, you die]

“He knew we had lost. But the small country’s great general said.”

Hyunsoo pulled the blade hard back behind him.

In that moment—

THUMP

THUMP

THUMP

All five Storm Brigade members felt an unknown power surge up from within their bodies.

A power warm like a mother, yet at times violently roiling. And the great general Hyunsoo liked so much.

“To the gods, we still have....”

Hyunsoo swung the blade he had drawn back, bringing it down with all his strength.

SSSHAAAAK—!

“...five subordinates left.”

[If you seek death, you live activates.]

[Applies to vassals.]

[Mana surges from your bodies.]

[HP recovers to 50%.]

[You transcend your limits.]

[You transcend your limits.]

[You transcend l...]

[The Storm Brigade members are comparable to knights, but cannot use mana.]

[Mana takes root within them, who possess named NPC-level skill.]

[Measuring level.]

[Cannot be measured.]

[Cannot be measured.]

[System completes measurement.]

Ding!

[Kan Lv.341]

[Berm Lv.336]

[Pello Lv.339]

[Ganya Lv.330]

[Pon Lv.338]

Blue mana swirled from Kan and the Storm Brigade members’ bodies.

By the time the rampaging five came to their senses, fifty assassins were turning into ash.