[The Spirit Familiar has successfully evolved. The knight of death, Death Knight, has been created.]

[You have achieved…]

[…]

[Death Knight has pledged allegiance to you. Bound to the Despair of the Black King, it will become your trusted sword and shield.]

[Will you assign it a name?]

“Shanon.”

[The name ‘Shanon’ has been assigned to the Death Knight.]

[Allegiance has increased by 15 points.]

[Authority has increased by 5 points.]

「Greetings to my new master.」

Wearing black armor and a black helmet, the Death Knight went down on one knee to Yeon-woo, Sword Breaker embedded in the ground in front of him.

“Thank you for…”

「Please don’t be so formal with me anymore. I am your subordinate and your knight. A master doesn’t speak formally to their servant.」 Shanon raised his head as he spoke firmly. The dark helmet only revealed shadows, but Yeon-woo had a feeling that Shanon was laughing.

「Of course, I, too, will be speaking informally to you at times.」

Yeon-woo grinned at the Death Knight’s sense of humor. He was going to be a different set of limbs compared to Boo. Yeon-woo’s army was increasing one by one.

***

“So I can only find focal points through my senses?” The first thing Yeon-woo did after completing Shanon was ask about the focal points.

「Correct. You have to choose one among many possibilities. Unless you can see the future, you must rely on your sixth sense—obviously it is different from the five physical ones.」

The sixth sense dealt with intangible things, and Yeon-woo had felt it a few times in Africa. His back would grow cold for no reason, or he’d have migraines. It usually meant that danger was close by. Because of this, Yeon-woo thought his sixth sense was quite developed, but Shanon was speaking of something even sharper. It was a way to make decisions using his sixth sense, and it seemed quite close to predicting the future.

「This is normally easy for people at your level to understand, but it looks like you’re having a hard time. I was quite surprised to find out that you’ve only started learning martial arts recently. 」 Shanon nodded like he understood. From his viewpoint, Yeon-woo’s growth and direction was different from those who created their own path with a foundation. In contrast, Yeon-woo was building from the top down. Usually, this kind of growth was bound to fail, but Yeon-woo’s had continued steadily.

「The more you climb, the more skilled players you meet. There’s a greater chance you’ll meet people who use focal points, so I recommend that you learn it quickly.」

“Is there a way to learn it faster?”

「There is.」

Yeon-woo’s eyes shone. “What is it?”

Shanon nodded like it was obvious. 「Fight more battles so you can experience it more often.」

“Well, that’s obvious…”

「And memorize all the patterns.」

Yeon-woo exclaimed in amazement. Shanon’s words made sense. If he couldn’t learn it, then he could simply memorize it. It was a method he used frequently anyway.

「Memorization is best in this type of situation. If you manage to commit a lot of patterns to memory, you’ll be able to apply them as needed.」

Yeon-woo laughed along with Shanon, understanding his point. “And you can teach me those patterns?”

「Right. You’re clever, Master. Subordinates are meant to be useful in these situations.」 Shanon slowly got up, gripping the dark Sword Breaker. 「Let’s get to it then. You don’t seem to have much time.」

***

Unfortunately, Yeon-woo’s training session with Shanon didn’t last long as the command to assemble arrived. Yeon-woo, Phante, Edora, and the Foreign Legion moved to the square. At that moment, Yeon-woo suddenly grabbed his chest. Thump. Thump. His heart had suddenly begun to beat faster. His eyes hardened. Mana was spinning around and he was circulating his Magic Circuit wildly. He opened his Draconic Eyes and looked at the sky. It was only then that he understood why his body was reacting that way.

A heavy atmosphere was filling the air as a thirty-meter-long creature with red scales, a strong chin, and vertical pupils appeared, as though the sky and the ground had been created just for it.

‘Dragon.’ The Summer Queen—the eponymous Red Dragon and the second-oldest creature in the entire Tower after Allforone—had returned to her original form, releasing Dragon Fear. It was a draconic skill that bent players to the ground.

Yeon-woo tried to regain his composure. His heart was beating so quickly likely because the dragon in him had reacted to another dragon’s presence. However, it wasn’t the time to reveal this, and he did his best to calm down. Thankfully, the Draconic Eyes settled down, and his Magic Circuit became quiet.

It was difficult to endure Dragon Fear, but fortunately, the Summer Queen wasn’t looking in his direction. Instead, her vertical pupils were looking up at the pitch-black sky, as though she were trying to figure something out about the shining moon. She slowly raised her body and spread her wings open.

『It’s opening.』 At the Summer Queen’s voice, a large green portal opened.

***

“There’s nothing you’ll get from helping me. In fact, you’ll even be labeled traitors. This is your last chance to leave. After this moment, I won’t allow anyone to go.” The Saber God spoke to his subordinates. Along with Madodan, there were nine other troops, including Shindodan and Jindodan. They were about to cross the bridge of no return, and the Saber God wanted to be sure that they all knew what the stakes were. He still retained his reason, and his struggle to keep his reason despite his desire to save his son moved his subordinates even more. None left. They all looked at the Saber God with firm eyes.

The Saber God clenched his teeth, feeling in his bones that he hadn’t lived his life in vain. “I gladly accept your lives.” His eyes began to glimmer. “Let’s go.”

**

Madodan, Shindodan, and Jindodan first attacked the Hogumdan, who was watching over the Saber God.

“You...guys...!” The team leader of Hogumdan’s lips trembled at the blade under his chin. His eyes asked them if they understood what they were doing.

“If we didn’t know, we wouldn’t have started.” The team leader of Madodan swung his sword without any hesitation and the head of the team leader of Hogumdan rolled on the floor. Just a few hours ago, they had been comrades drinking together. He expected to feel a bit guilty, but surprisingly, he didn’t feel anything. Perhaps it was because he expected to die, but that kind of death wasn’t too bad either. He lived and died by his sword. If he was going to fall anyway, at least it would be for his master’s sake.

The team leader of Madodan looked around. Except for a few members, the rest of the team was gathered around him, their clothes stained with blood.

“The location of the target?” He meant Leonte.

“Currently the honorable Sword God...I mean, the Sword God is protecting him in his office.”

“Any possibility of separating them?”

“None at the moment. I don’t know what they’re talking about, but it’s been a while.”

Madodan’s team leader clucked his tongue. “So the only thing we can do is attack the Sword God? It’ll be difficult.” It would have been easy just taking Leonte out, but with the Sword God involved, it had become a hundred times more difficult. The Sword God had the ability to take on all the other Martial Gods on his own, and no one could guess what he was thinking. He represented fear to the rest of the Cheonghwado, but of course, that wouldn’t stop them. “Send the signal.”

The deputy leader lit the signal. Boom! Red fireworks spread across the sky. It was the signal to begin now that everything was ready. As they had planned, the other legions got up from their positions.

Clang!

“Fire!”

“Bomb! Fire in the supply attic!”

“Red Dragon has attacked!”

Their strategy was simple: create chaos in the base. While everyone was busy thinking it was an attack from Red Dragon, Saber God and Madodan would find Leonte. The first stage was going smoothly.

As flames soared high over the base, players shouted for water and that Red Dragon was attacking. The troops planned on running around to create even more confusion. It would take a lot of time before people realized the truth.

In the meantime, the Saber God slowly walked out of his room, his iron box in hand. His eyes were cold, and his aura created a whirlwind around him. The Neidan he had taken from the Four Legendary Beasts spun around him. He had regained his old strength—in fact, he was even stronger now.

He had activated his secret weapon, just in case, and it pulled his magic power to its fullest strength. This method was only used in suicide missions or during times of extreme danger, but the Saber God didn’t care. His body was already breaking apart from the departure of magic power and he would do whatever it took to kill the Sword God.

Magic power filled his body, and the energy of the Four Legendary Beasts, which he hadn’t been able to digest, mixed with it to strengthen his magic power. He felt like he could destroy anything that came his way. He not only felt like he could destroy the Sword God, but all the other Martial Gods as well, including Leonte. But he knew if he let his instincts take over, he would burn up, and so he tried to retain his reason as he walked. His senses, which had grown much more sensitive, told him where Leonte was hiding.

Without any hesitation, the Saber God began walking in that direction, Madodan at his heels even though he walked at a fast pace. The people they encountered along the way quickly fell to the Saber God. Soon, they arrived at a location where Leonte’s mana wafted around.

“Saber God-nim!”

“You can’t come inside!”

Security around the Sword God’s residence was more lax than normal thanks to the sudden chaos. The guards were surprised at the sudden visitors, but before they could act, the Saber God swung his sword and crushed them with his new power. Dozens of players collapsed into dust. Only Leonte and the Sword God were left. Leonte barely blocked the attack by putting his arms up. His clothes turned to rags, and his eyes were filled with fire. “Saber God! To the end!"

“Just hand over the stone. I’ll spare your life.”

“How many times do I have to say it? I don’t have it! I don’t!” Leonte felt wronged since he really didn’t have the stone. However, he couldn’t speak because Sword God extended his hand and cut him off. Still wearing his lion mask, the Sword God looked at the Saber God, his forehead wrinkling over the mask. 『Do you really have to go this far?』

The Sword God noticed the Saber God’s condition right away. With the digestion of the Four Legendary Beasts’ Neidan and his strengthened magic power, the Saber God wasn’t the Saber God he knew. His aura wasn’t any lesser than the Sword God’s.

“I have a question too. Hand over the stone now. I’ll give my life in exchange if you tell me to.”

『As I’ve always said, the Martial Gods are equal. You must volunteer to give your life up; another Martial God can’t ask for it.』

The Sword God reminded him about their rules, but the Saber God only snorted. “That’s not it. Don’t try to cover it up. You need the stone as well, don’t you? You were just talking about it with him. Am I right?”

Leonte’s eyes shook. The Saber God had correctly guessed the truth.

『So, you’ll fight for it till the end.』

“I’m already here, there’s no point in turning back. Hand over the traitor.”

『If you keep being so stubborn, there’s nothing I can do.』 The Sword God’s eyes narrowed behind his lion mask. When he lifted his hand, his swords swirled around him.

The atmosphere shook and became blurry, the defense mechanism broke and a new scene appeared. Thousands of players surrounded the Sword God and the Saber God, holding their swords up. 『Will you continue even like this?』 the Sword God asked with icy eyes.