Gourmet Gaming

Sleep had left Brod since Minhyuk led a group of foreigners and left for Beauden Fortress.

Minhyuk had met with his vassals. He ordered, “I am leaving for Beauden Fortress. None of you are allowed to follow me there. This is an imperial decree. If any of you defies this order, it is the same as ignoring my will.”

Minhyuk had spoken to them with an uncharacteristically harsh attitude. However, everyone knew that he gave this order for their sake—the Beyond the Heavens Empire had accepted and embraced a variety of NPCs. Of course, just like Brod, there must be quite a lot of them who had lost sleep in anxiety.

The anxious Brod looked at the stars before moving on to find Haze for a chat. But when he came to find her, he heard something extremely shocking.

“There’s a problem! Helenia’s Fragments did not come from her. They belong to her disciple, Arumbe.”

The fragments they believed belonged to Helenia were not hers but someone else’s. If one thought about it a bit more carefully, one would understand what this meant.

“Then, does that mean Arumbe has another way to awaken Helenia?”

Haze nodded quickly, anxiety filling her face. “Perhaps he’s the owner of the set of footprints that we discovered in the Beauden Fortress not too long ago.”

Brod immediately jumped to his feet. However, Haze shook her head at him.

“No, Sir Brod. You can’t go.” Haze sounded so resolute. “Do you want to disobey His Majesty’s orders right now?”

The bond between the emperor and his vassal was a two-way street. They both had to have trust, care, and respect for each other. Of course, this bond also included that the vassals had to obey their emperor’s orders. A faithful vassal would abide by their liege’s orders. Minhyuk only gave them this order because he was extremely concerned about them.

“You clearly understand why His Majesty gave this order, right? His Majesty and the others are all immortal beings. They would be resurrected even if they died there. But”– Haze’s lips trembled–“that’s not the case for us. If something goes wrong, then we will die.”

She was apprehensive about Minhyuk and the others but stopped Brod. However, even though she stopped him, her body was trembling and shaking from anxiety.

They will come back to life even if they die there. If it were put like that, then their worries would be useless. However, even after knowing he would return to life, all the NPCs related to Minhyuk were not at ease. The pain that Minhyuk would suffer mentally from his death was enough to break the hearts of all of the NPCs who cared for him.

Brod said, “Lady Haze. Today will be my first time breaking His Majesty’s orders.”

“...”

Brod was a fool. To him, seeing even a minor injury on Minhyuk could make his heart ache. To him, such a trivial injury was more painful than his death. Besides, the only reason he lived there was because of Minhyuk. Brod thought he would receive a severe punishment from Minhyuk this time. But it was fine.

Just as he was leaving, Haze said, “Please come back alive.”

Brod just chuckled in response.

***

Arumbe’s Shards, whose level increased to Level 660 and had received a 1.5x increase in defensive power and double AGI, madly charged toward the fortress. It was already problematic for the rankers–no, for Athenae’s greatest–to deal with them before, but now it was impossible to kill them. However, for the most excellent NPC standing at the peak of Athenae? That should not be the case.

This NPC was once hailed as the Fallen Wretched Emperor. He was once the ruler of all of the mercenaries. And he was once the escort knight of a queen. And right now? He lived solely for the sake of one emperor and one emperor alone.

“Death Wolf.”

The hundreds of charging shards were torn apart by the wolf-like sword lights that shot out from his sword. It was an incredibly shocking sight to see. After all, these shards were the same shards that the rankers were barely able to stop and the ones that the Swords of the Gods had a hard time dealing with.

The pieces of the shards shot to the sky. But that was not the end of it. He, who decided to block the entrance to the fortress alone, cut down the frantic shards charging toward him with his sword. The people present were rendered mute by his overwhelming display of power.

And the Swords of the Gods? Some rumors had been circulating lately that Brod, the vassal of the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor, once competed with Nerva for the position of the emperor. There was also a rumor that Nerva used underhanded and vicious methods to push him out of the competition.

It did not matter if the rumors were true or not. The Swords of the Gods still watched the man in admiration.

‘That’s crazy...’

‘Is he a human?’

‘Unbelievable...’

If Duke Ruffiso was alive, would he be able to win against this man? That was just how outstanding Brod’s performance was. He did not even give the shards a chance to enter the fortress.

However, although Brod performed exceptionally well, Minhyuk’s face was distorted. “Brod!!!”

Of course, Minhyuk was thankful to him. He knew Brod fully well; he was someone who knew what this considerable man was feeling at this very moment. However, he was also worried about Brod. After all, Brod was the type of person who would push forward despite knowing how reckless his actions were.

Minhyuk had already thought that there was a chance that Brod would come here despite his orders. But he was highly conflicted when it truly happened. He felt both happy and angry at the same time.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I will graciously accept whatever punishment you deem fit once we return.”

Brod was fully aware that he had done something he shouldn’t have done. That was why he was prepared to receive whatever punishment Minhyuk would give him.

Minhyuk understood that getting angry right now would not make any difference. To be honest, they could only escape this crisis because Brod came here.

Brod continued to stand by the entrance to the fortress and disposed of the shards that were charging in.

The players and the Swords of the Gods rushed forward and began to help him deal with the thousands of shards gathered around the entrance. However, everyone was left in a daze.

‘We’re not dealing any damage...?’

‘What the hell is this...?’

The high-rankers all turned to look at Brod in disbelief. This man used to joke and laugh around with them while herding the pigs and cattle in the empire. But while this man tore apart the shards into tens of thousands of fragments, they could not even deal the slightest damage.

As for the Swords of the Gods? They were in a much better position than the players. However, it was still tough for them to take down a single shard. But Brod dealt with the madly charging shards in front of the entrance alone.

Just when they were in a daze between shock and amazement, notifications occurred.

[Arumbe, the master of the shards, gives the order to attack!]

[Arumbe, the master of the shards, activated his magic!]

Everyone grew tense. At that moment, thousands of bloody red spears fell from the skies.

“...”

“...”

Everyone could tell that Arumbe, Helenia’s only disciple, was here somewhere.

“VALENTINOOOO!!!”

Valentino immediately dashed forward at Minhyuk’s shout. The place that he was tasked to protect? He was not ordered to raise his shield to the sky. He immediately went past Brod and entered the fortress.

The players did not come here to level up. It would be great if they were not forced to log out here, but their most important task was to prevent Helenia from absorbing the fragments.

Valentino moved to ensure the best possible outcome. He immediately stood before the slumbering Helenia and slammed his huge square shield down.

Shortly after becoming a god, the God of Shields bestowed upon him a unique artifact. This artifact was none other than the Guardian’s Shield that was in his hands right now. The Guardian’s Shield was an artifact that belonged to the most incredible God of Shields, Bentino. And it was a gift that the God of Shields gave him who chose to defy Nerva’s order to protect the other descendants.

“Shield Fortress!”

Of course, this shield also has an exceptional skill attached to it. The shiny square shield stretched until it circled itself and caged Valentino and Helenia inside the transparent wall. Before the shield closed off, Valentino and Minhyuk made eye contact.

“...”

Minhyuk nodded at him. In the first place, Minhyuk wanted Valentino to do this. So, there were no regrets.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang–!

Thousands of Disses fell upon the players.

“Dispel! Dispel! Dispel! Dis– Keuheuk!”

One of the shards pierced through the chest of Ali, who was busy dispelling the Disses that were falling upon them.

“Urk!” Ali vomited a mouthful of blood. However, he opened his mouth and muttered shakily, “Dis... pel...!”

A Diss fell from the sky and tried to force Ali to log out. However, Minhyuk was one step faster. He hurriedly grabbed Ali by the collar and threw him inside the fortress. After saving Ali, Minhyuk looked around. Just as he expected, it was a tough battle to fight.

Death fought alongside his death knights and ran toward the shards. He had already reached the limits of his HP and MP. And, of course, the same was true for his death knights. Fortunately, he could still summon his death knights even if they were utterly broken and torn apart. So, everything was fine.

“Explode.”

Death and his death knights exploded all at once. The resulting explosion engulfed the shards in their vicinity.

[Death has been forced to log out.]

The falling Disses instantly made almost two-thirds of the players disappear. However, Minhyuk still saw hope. Brod killed a fourth of the thousands of the charging shards, shocking even Minhyuk, who had been around him the longest.

Before long, the surviving players pulled themselves out desperately. Meanwhile, the Swords of the Gods had already pulled back and watched the situation.

Minhyuk cast his greatest and most powerful skill toward the shards crowded before Brod.

“Calamity.”

[Calamity.]

[All of your stats have decreased by 15.]

[Your level will go down by one.]

[Your total HP and MP volume will decrease by 1% permanently.]

Thousands of swords covered with blazing flames fell from the sky. Flames surged and devoured a vast area when the swords struck the ground. Minhyuk had been hiding this power to use it in an emergency. But now, he deemed it the right time to use it.

The swords constantly fell from the sky, their blazing flames devouring the shards in the area. Melting. This word best described what was happening around them.

But Minhyuk continued. He moved with the thought that he would give it his all and pour everything he had. He said, “Thousand Sw...”

[Dispel.]

When Minhyuk activated the skill, a bright red light flashed and spread from the sky above them. Surprisingly enough, this red light also devoured Minhyuk’s Calamity. Even the Thousand Swords that Minhyuk had just activated was easily offset and disappeared into nothingness.

There were still around 3,000 shards left. The worst part? The shards were attacking the players and reducing their numbers rapidly. Minhyuk was left flustered and in a rush.

‘It seems like we still have to use the bomb in the end...’ Minhyuk thought as his gaze drifted toward Brod, guarding the entrance firmly.

Although Brod looked a bit exhausted, he was still standing strong. Minhyuk hurriedly rushed to Brod’s side and triggered his Dual Sword Technique. Standing right next to Minhyuk was Alexander.

At this point, most of the Beyond the Heavens Empire players had already been forced to log out. At the very least, two players should support this one NPC in blocking the entrance to the fortress.

“Let’s do this.”

“Right.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

There were only three of them, but they could keep the madly rushing shards at bay with the swing of their swords.

As they watched this scene, many viewers felt their blood boil. The commentators were also left in awe.

[Crazy.]

[The three are not being pushed back despite fighting against almost 3,000 shards.]

[We can see that Arumbe’s magic is constantly being sent toward the three of them.]

[Minhyuk has removed his mixer and bowl and canceled some of the magic.]

[Alexander has split some of the magic in two.]

[Brod also offsets the magic while blocking the shards with a swing of his sword.]

Sweat pooled in the hands of all of the viewers. Everyone could see that the magic was moving shrewdly and targeting Brod, the strongest among the three. Even so, the three did not let a single shard past them.

At that moment, one man could be seen moving toward them. The commentators were very excited when they saw the man.

[It seems like Duke Vlad will also be joining them.]

[Based on their performances, Duke Vlad seems much stronger than Brod. If Duke Vlad fights alongside them, they might be able to defend the fortress even with Arumbe, who has yet to show himself.]

[Look at Duke Vlad’s momentum! He’s moving alone without the Swords of the Gods. Maybe it’s because he believes that they would only be a nuisance to him!]

The viewers smiled when they realized the Duke of the Great Luvien Empire would fight alongside the three people. Then, Duke Vlad stood before Brod and swung his sword as hard as possible.

Slash–!

“Urk...!”

Red blood spurted out from the chest of the one that Duke Vlad cut down. However, the one that Duke Vlad cut down was not the shards but Brod.

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