[Kabel: ...Still, I think it would be better if you came. Strictly speaking, I’ve practically become the hero of the Parkro Kingdom.]

[Hyunsoo: Yeah, actually, I thought so too, so I kept coming anyway. Just imagine how good it’d taste if I swooped in and snatched the achievement you earned?]

[Kabel: ...Were you a thief in your past life?]

A thief in a past life.

Cheered by that, Hyunsoo was entering the capital of the Parkro Kingdom.

The capital of the Parkro Kingdom had been devastated beyond words.

Lines of refugees stretched on, and one child was crying as they looked at their dead mother.

“...”

It was utter chaos.

Hyunsoo put the crying child into the arms of one of the fleeing refugees, and strength went into his hand.

That son of a bitch.

Tyrant Jebar and his followers had only needed a battlefield where they could drag Kabel in and force him to submit.

It just so happened that that battlefield was the Parkro Kingdom.

And because they needed nothing more than a battlefield,

far too many people had been sacrificed.

Also.

...Because of you, I feel responsible.

As a Monarch, he felt the heavy responsibility that Atlas had to grow strong enough to make sure it never ended up like this.

At that moment.

“...”

The sky changed.

The blue, soaring sky became covered in black storm clouds.

The nose that had smelled only the stench of burning and blood now felt a sticky, unpleasant foulness.

His hair stood on end.

“...!”

His senses, which had grown markedly sharper with his rising level, warned him of danger.

And with that—

“Friend, help me!!!!”

“...!”

Those were very familiar words to Hyunsoo.

Friend, help me.

In the past, Kabel had asked Hyunsoo,

How were you able to hunt the demon Grout? That was before you even became the legendary class Master Blacksmith.

Friend, help me. It was only a Unique skill, but its effect was to notify and summon those with close ties to me whenever I was in danger. Sword King Barad and Azure Heaven Ben, Bella, who was then the commander of the knights, and the members of Hyun’s Forge Guild all answered.

Sword King and Azure Heaven came?

Back then, Kabel had worn a look that said those words had lodged themselves in his mind.

And so Hyunsoo knew.

It’s a flare signal, and the prelude to the ultimate move Kabel forged.

Kabel knew an enormous amount of information.

And Hyunsoo had also seen him manifest his own version of Awaken and rouse the 140,000 Parkro troops as undead.

Like that, he was certain Kabel was creating a “skill” through some combination—

and that he was trying to summon the transcendent beings they had encountered until now.

Perhaps I don’t even deserve to be compared to them.

His chest boiled madly.

There were still many hidden powerhouses in this land.

Transcendent NPCs.

And this Jebar, too, was clearly one of those transcendent NPCs.

Beings the current users cannot handle.

Kabel was trying to call in such beings.

However, Hyunsoo knew that doing even that would take time.

“Kkoko!”

FWOOOOSH—

Fortunately, this time Kkoko responded immediately.

[Blade of Longing]

[The blades that protect six kings attack with ordinary strike damage.]

Blade of Longing was ordinary, yet not ordinary.

It ceased to be ordinary

when all six Blades of Longing attacked the enemy at the same time.

Receiving the command of the one who had descended from the sky, the six blades struck Jebar in the side, catching him off guard.

KRRRRRRAAAAASH—!

Then came the sight of Hyunsoo looking down with lofty, cold eyes at Jebar, who had been flung far away and was rolling on the ground.

“Friend has arrived.”

It was a declaration that, soon enough, Kabel’s friends would be appearing one after another.

And before that confidence,

they could see Tyrant Jebar collapsed on the ground, laughing madly.

“Kuhah, kuhahahahaha!”

And Hyunsoo sensed his surroundings.

Soon, he could feel the presence of those who would hunt the many Tyrant Jebars, and just like on that day for Hyunsoo, everyone would gather around Kabel.

First, Hyunsoo strode proudly to Kabel’s side.

But then—

Why don’t I sense anything?

Hyunsoo frowned in confusion.

Jebar, who had been laughing like a madman, was brushing back his disheveled hair as he rose to his feet.

Hyunsoo spoke urgently.

“When are your friends getting here?”

Kabel stared blankly.

“I have no friends besides you.”

“...?”

“???”

“???”

“???”

Kabel seemed to realize what had happened, and perhaps embarrassed, said,

“They say a friend’s friend is my friend.”

“...You think that works?”

Hyunsoo’s confusion deepened, while Kabel remained expressionless, though there was a distinct sense of dejection from him.

No, I can’t exactly say anything to someone who doesn’t have friends...!

By now, Jebar had fully risen.

And Jebar was someone unaccustomed to pain.

The pain from the blades that had struck him moments ago, pain he had not felt in a long while.

And, on top of that, the Kabel he had tried to force into submission had not submitted and instead shouted, Friend, help me, and that enraged him to the very end.

As he rose and straightened his disheveled hair, the darkness-stained sky responded.

KRRRRRRRUMBLE—!

In his hand was a Transcendent staff.

More precisely, it was the Staff of Creation he had once obtained from a great archdemon, and it sent up an enormous surge of demonic energy.

The Staff of Creation was a prison that could confine beings already created, and a signal sent to his army.

And among the things he had forged within that prison, there were those that required a medium.

And the place where a Necromancer and creator of creations exerted the greatest power—

was among corpses.

“Kuhahahaha! Kuhahahahaha!”

At the sight of him laughing madly, the whole world fell into shock.

“So now we understand why Valon and the followers fought specifically in the kingdom capital.”

“The kingdom capital has the highest population density, which means it contains a great many of the ‘media’ Necromancers need.”

“Is he mad, or is he not mad? To me, it looks much closer to the latter.”

The 140,000 Parkro troops who had become undead were drawn by the wind, making grinding sounds as they entered the storm.

The blood from the corpses of ten thousand civilians who had not died long ago rose into the air as droplets and was sucked into that storm.

KRRRRRRRRAAAAAASH—!

From within the storm, one of the two Transcendent species he possessed began to reveal itself.

First, that which had been made from bone.

“B-Bone Dragon!?”

“Is that a Bone Dragon!?”

“How can a human make a Bone Dragon...!”

But it was not.

Tyrant Jebar had wanted Balladra’s Bone Dragon.

Because Balladra’s Bone Dragon was not a creation, but a being that had once existed in the world, and so it required no medium.

What he was forging now was his own creation,

a being modeled after himself.

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

Disgusting flesh filled the empty spaces.

Looking at that foul, filthy thing, with human heads embedded here and there all over it, Jebar laughed.

TAP—

With a single backward step, he sprang up and landed atop its head, announcing to the world

that demons weakened under penalties in the human world,

but he was no demon, and as a half-human, half-lich, no such penalty meant anything to him.

[A Transcendent monster has appeared!]

[Warning.]

[Warning.]

[Danger.]

[Chimera Dragon Lv.604]

An endlessly flashing red screen, and a monster with a terrifyingly high level.

[Tyrant Jebar’s level increases!]

[Tyrant Jebar Lv.643]

Standing atop the Chimera Dragon, revealing his full power only when one with his creation, he looked down at the two of them with lofty eyes.

...He’s strong.

It looked like using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken, but the instant he had been struck by Blade of Longing, he had realized it.

“You will become the legendary Death Knight that forges Titans, and at times, a weapon for me as well.”

That Master Blacksmith Hyun was stronger than expected.

And that made him even happier.

Then, looking at Kabel, he snickered with the arrogant leisure of the strong and asked wickedly, to break their spirit,

“Well? Which one of you shall I turn into my servant first?”

Jebar knew.

He knew that those two, bound by that dirty, ugly, sticky thing called friendship, would each try to step forward first.

To the one who delighted in trampling that bond—

the two of them pointed at each other with their fingers.

“Him first.”

“Let’s start with him.”

“???”

The expressions on the faces of the commentators around the world were the same as Tyrant Jebar’s at that moment.

“It’s truly a friendship that brings tears to the eyes. Ah, of course, if I were with a close friend, I’d probably say kill that one first too.”

But then the viewers around the world saw the two of them point at each other and laugh.

WHIRRRRR—

To Kabel, spinning the dagger in his hand several times, Hyunsoo asked,

“Can you fight?”

“As much as you want.”

Then, gripping Longing tightly, Hyunsoo looked not only at the Chimera Dragon, but at Valon and his more than one thousand followers, all mounted on flying undead as they flew to join the Chimera Dragon, and asked,

“Left? Right?”

“I’ll take left.”

“Then I’ll take right.”

BOOOOOOOOOOM—!

And with that, the two of them moved at the same time.

Watching the two figures dash forward at tremendous speed, viewers all over the world felt heat rising in their chests.

Flying monsters.

Mounted atop a Death Wyvern, Valon had died at Kabel’s hands countless times, and because of that, he burned with vast hatred for him.

Left.

As he watched Kabel rushing toward him, he felt joy amid the hundreds of flying undead.

But at that moment—

SLASH—!

Twisting off the ball of his foot, Kabel leaped upward as he was and stabbed into the Chimera Dragon’s body.

THRUST—!

At the same time—

“You said you were taking right!!!”

Hyunsoo appeared from behind Kabel, where he had been hidden as he ran, and now, having already swapped to the Hero’s Twin Dragon Sword—

“You believed that?”

He looked at the hundreds of undead flying like a pack of dogs.

“Combo, Gathering.”

KRAAAASH—!

Putting power into the balls of his feet, the playful expression he had worn when he said Him first changed.

“When someone messes with a close friend, it’s normal for people to see red.”

SHHHHRAAAAK—

Looking at Valon and the followers gathered before him, he pronounced judgment on them.

“Cut them in two.”

SLAAAAASH—!

Execution.

Hyunsoo’s eyes gleamed strangely as he watched them get sliced apart in an instant and scatter into ash.

[For the Tyrant.]

[They do not die.]

Seeing them revive as they turned back into undead, he hurriedly swapped to the Sword for the One Who Follows the King.

“What is that sword?”

“...It’s a sword I’ve never seen before. But in a situation like this, can that sword really replace the Twin Dragon Sword?”

“It seems the situation is so urgent that his controls got tangled.”

With that sword, revealed before the public for the first time, he swung once through the gaps among the revived enemies.

[Longing arises!!]

BOOOOOOOM—!

Driven by the Longing that rose with the highest probability, a huge gust one-shot one of them, and as thousands of undead fell, he walked through them with Ghost Step, setting off nine explosions in succession.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!

“The user Hyunsoo is showing movements no less than Kabel’s!”

“At first, watching this, we wondered whether he could possibly keep up with Kabel’s tempo, but that concern was misplaced!”

Instead, Hyunsoo was already burrowing through the thousands of fallen undead and pressing onward.

Then—

“Khk!”

[You fall into Stun!]

He saw Kabel, who had been caught by Jebar in the sky, and the Chimera Dragon opening its mouth toward him.

TAP, TAP-!

Hyunsoo jumped and triggered Longing at the creature’s jaws.

BOOOOM—!

And with that, seeing Kabel falling, Hyunsoo felt relieved and instantly turned his body, about to summon the White Tiger Sword with the power of Half, when—

the Transcendent staff swung once.

[All skills are temporarily restricted from use!]

[You cannot resist!]

“...”

Faced with disaster, Hyunsoo was thrown into confusion, and he immediately struck the Chimera Dragon.

BOOM, BOOM-BOOM, BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH—!

However, seeing that the creature was left without even a scratch, he realized it.

That there was no chance of victory in this battle.

The problem was that the situation was about to become even worse.

KRRRK—!

Black demonic energy pouring from Jebar’s outstretched hand wrapped around Hyunsoo.

[Warning.]

[Warning.]

[The system warns of danger.]

[You are turning into a Death Knight.]

[If you are turned into a Death Knight, you will live as a servant of Tyrant Jebar.]

“...”

Ares had no such thing as user protection.

Because of its high degree of freedom.

His flesh slowly began to melt away, and half his body began turning to bone.

And little by little, that spread even over his face, while Jebar’s mad laughter rang out.

“Kuhahaha! Work under me forever like a dog as undead!”

And Hyunsoo came to understand just how strong and terrifying a true Tyrant was, and darkness tried to settle over him.

He knew that this single moment would ruin and shatter everything he had.

Right then,

the Overlord’s Armor that Hyunsoo had obtained in the Tower of Honor in the past emitted a brilliant light.

[Danger detected.]

[A special power meant only for true blacksmiths protects you.]

Then something unexpected happened.

[The Overlord descends.]