Chapter 34

Chapter 34 – Chapter 5: Entry

The hammer hit the anvil .

The Thunder Light Anvil, that had been sleeping for thousands of years, woke up with a loud roar .

There was a surge of magic power . The wave roared through the atmosphere and woke up the servants of the Great Enkidu that had been sleeping for many years .

They opened their eyes and obeyed .

The trivial magic of the orc shamans that had been deceiving the eyes and ears of the swamp mammoths didn’t last . The swamp mammoths were released from the delusions and obeyed the right command .

The first one who noticed was Vandal .

He wielded metal bars in both hands and smashed them against an orc’s bones . Vandal recognized it . He wasn’t a magician but he sensed it instinctively .

At this moment, the flow of the battlefield was changing .

There was no logic or rationale to it . Vandal just felt it and acted without hesitation .

"Ararararai!”

The ogre’s unique battle cry caught the attention of everyone in the vicinity . Vandal, who had been acting as a barrier to protect his allies, became a tank . He trampled on the orcs of the Red Lightning tribe and rushed .

"Ararararai!”

"Ararararai!”

Vandal’s ogre warriors acted in the same manner . The ogre warriors rushing forward destroyed the entire formation of the expedition army, but they didn’t hesitate to run after Vandal .

The Red Lightning tribe warriors at the front were confused by the sudden rush . However, Yakuzan smiled from where he was observing in the rear . Vandal’s charge was like a fleeting moment . Due to the broken formation, the damage to the expedition would only become larger .

However, Yakuzan’s judgement was wrong . The swamp mammoths started trampling on the Red Lightning tribe instead of the expedition army . A few of them rolled over on the ground and crushed dozens of orcs .

Confusion spread like wildfire . There was a crack in the formation of the Red Lightning tribe .

Vandal plunged in through the gap and the explosive rush of the ogre warriors split the battlefield in half .

Now, even the soldiers felt it . Chris, whose body was tired and bloody, looked up towards the sky and shouted,

“The prince and princesses did it!”

It was enough . Chris, who grasped the situation, smiled like a demon . He gave a signal to the lycanthropes .

"Bushiberyeo!”

More than one hundred lycanthropes roared in unison and a magic blessing appeared over the heads of the expedition army .

It was magic contained in the Thunder Light Spear .

The magic spread through the swamp mammoths and aroused the strength of courage of the expedition army . The orcs belonging to the expedition force forgot their fatigue, suffering and fear .

It was the exact opposite situation for the Red Lightning tribe as a curse of confusion spread over them . Fear grabbed onto their feet and the unbearable sense of defeat made them unable to extend their weapons . The chiefs yelled at them but it was no use .

An army that had lost its enthusiasm was just a set of individuals . The confused and frightened Red Lightning tribe panicked and crumbled .

“We must flee!”

A shaman standing next to Yakuzan cried out urgently . As a magician, he could read the flow of mana from the swamp mammoths . This situation absolutely wasn’t a coincidence . It was something that someone created .

This battle couldn’t be won . The situation was so confusing that even a retreat couldn’t be done properly . The only thing left was the annihilation of the Red Lightning tribe .

So, they had to give up . They had to run away, even at the expense of this battle .

"Tribe Chief must live! If Tribe Chief survives, we can stand up again!”

Yakuzan understood what the shaman was saying . He knew that fleeing was the best choice but he also knew that he couldn’t .

He turned and looked at the centre of the battlefield . The orcs of the Red Lightning tribe were being trampled on .

“Ya-ku-zan-!”

The bodies of the shamans shook involuntarily at the thunderous shout . Yakuzan stared straight into Vandal’s face . There were still more than a hundred warriors between Vandal and Yakuzan but that was meaningless .

"It seems like it is up to here . ”

Yakuzan laughed hysterically . The chief of the Red Lightning tribe raised the great iron sword that had been his lifetime companion .

"Tribe Chief?”

Yakuzan didn’t respond to the call of the shaman . Vandal laughed wildly as he kept narrowing the distance .

&

“It is over . ”

In-gong said with a sigh . He could see the battlefield through the eyes of the swamp mammoths thanks to the anvil .

Vandal had killed Yakuzan, the leader of the Red Lightning tribe . Kairam and a few chiefs of the Red Lightning tribe still lived but they couldn’t become Yakuzan .

Yakuzan’s death broke the heart of the Red Lightning tribe . The orcs gave up fighting and either escaped or surrendered . The lizardmen, who had entered the battle as mercenaries in the first place, left early and traces of them couldn’t be seen on the battlefield .

In-gong put the hammer down as Chris, who was bathed in the blood of the orcs, shouted with victory . His gazed moved naturally to the two people leaning on the anvil .

"We won . ”

Felicia laughed despite her nosebleed . Caitlin, whose cheek was pressed again the anvil, spoke with a blank expression .

“We won . ”

It seemed like she wanted to express her feelings more intensely but her strength was so weak that her shoulders sank . In fact, Caitlin needed to lean on the anvil . It wasn’t a choice she’d made .

Felicia was in a better condition and she spoke after wiping the blood off her face .

"Shutra, put the swamp mammoths to sleep for now . ”

Currently, Shutra was the only one who could use the Thunder Light Anvil to control the swamp mammoths . They had caused trouble to the expedition army, so it was a good idea to put them to sleep for now .

However, In-gong didn’t raise the hammer again .

"I already did it . That was the last command that I gave . "

"Okay, then I will be able to sleep for the next few hours . ”

“Huh?”

Instead of answering, Felicia turned her gaze toward Caitlin . She tried to grab Caitlin’s shoulder but her shoulders were shaking and she couldn’t even lift it .

“It is too much . We’ll speak later . Good night . ”

Felicia spoke to Caitlin, who was behind her, before falling unconscious . Caitlin glanced from Felicia toward In-gong .

“Sorry . ”

Caitlin said one word before closing her eyes as well .

'I’m sorry .

In-gong remained silent . Now that the tension was released, the fatigue overcame him and he found it hard to keep his eyes open .

‘I should stretch out . ’

The moment that In-gong thought so . . .

[Your level has risen . ]

[Your level has risen . ]

“Huh?”

In-gong made a surprised sound as he levelled up . White light shone around him and his stamina and strength, that had been exhausted by the Thunder Light Anvil, quickly recovered .

‘Is this the achievement experience?’

There were occasions in Knight Saga when finding artifacts or achievements would give experience .

'Well, at first I levelled up just by running . ’

The anvil was an artifact belonging to Enkidu, one of the six elder dragons, so it was natural to get a lot of experience .

He had gained one level during the battle they had lost, so In-gong was now level 13 . However, this wasn’t the end .

[The level of Conquest has risen . ]

“What?”

In-gong cried out unintentionally and hastily activated his skills window . The level really had increased .

[Conquest Lv2]

[Below the King’s Flag Lv2]

[The King's Knights Lv1]

‘The level of Below the King’s Flag also rose . What is the effect? Is the effect stronger? Maybe the number of people I can buff has increased . ’

He wanted to try it out right now . However, there was something more important than that .

The King's Knights Lv1 .

There was also a skill . It wasn’t a passive skill like the skills related to Protagonist Correction . It was an active skill like Below the King’s Flag .

‘Just by the name . . . Is it a summoning skill?’

He briefly saw knights in shining armour flashing in front of him .

After the brief delusion, In-gong sighed and leaned against the anvil . Thanks to the level up effect, both his physical strength and magic power had been restored . However, the mental fatigue still remained . It felt like when he had used Below the King’s Flag .

'Punishment, obedience, governance . ’

It was the golden-crowned female with white hair .

This time he didn’t simply see her . It was just for a moment but they shared senses .

It was probably the influence of Conquest’s level .

Who was she? Was she In-gong’s power of Conquest itself?

His head, that had become lighter due to the level up effect, started becoming heavy again . His eyes could barely stay open any longer and he was on the verge of collapsing .

This was his limit . In-gong’s body slumped slightly and he turned to look at Carack .

“Carack . ”

"Prince! Did you see? We won!”

Carack exclaimed as he stared up at the windows of light showing the image of the expedition army . In-gong sat down in front of the anvil .

“Please . ”

And he fainted . He was knocked out fast enough to be called a skill .

"Heok? Prince? Prince?”

The confused Carack rushed over to In-gong but he had already fainted . Seira approached Carack and said,

"Warrior Carack, I will take care of the princesses . You should deal with the prince and the dark elves . ”

Delia and Katuin were also collapsed around the anvil . Carack and Seira were the only ones who hadn’t fainted .

“Understood . ”

Carack answered quickly and hugged In-gong .

&

The white-haired woman was smiling softly .

Her red and blue eyes stared at In-gong as she whispered .

"Conquest Knight, you are my-”

She kept speaking but her voice was out of reach . The white woman licked her lips and smiled again .

It wasn’t the time yet .

Darkness twisted around the white woman .

“Oh, Prince . Have you regained consciousness?”

As soon as he opened his eyes, he heard Carack’s voice above him . Just like most people, In-gong sat up and rubbed his eyes .

“Carack . ”

“Drink some water . ”

Carack extended a canteen filled with cold water . He took a sip and asked,

“My sisters?”

"They are next to each other . ”

Carack grinned and pointed to an area . Caitlin and Felicia were lying side by side .

'Did I wake up first?’

He thought that Caitlin, the most physically superior, would be the first to wake up .

‘Ah, the level up effect . ’

It was probably because his level had gone up . In-gong’s body had been restored, so it was normal for him to wake up first .

‘It has only been two hours . ’

In-gong looked away from the mini-map and towards Caitlin and Felicia . Seira was sitting next to them and she said to him,

"The princesses seem to be tired . They need to take a break for a while . ”

"The dark elves are in a similar state . Still, there doesn’t seem to be any risk to their lives . ”

Carack pointed to the dark elves lying on In-gong’s left side . Just like Carack said, their lives weren’t at risk but they were making pained expressions .

Anyway, no one had died . The mission had been completed successfully .

"You have obtained a decisive victory . Congratulations . "

Seira recognized In-gong’s merits . Carack glanced at him and imitated her words .

"Congratulations . "

“Thank you . It is also thanks to Caitlin noona and Felicia noona . ”

Seira smiled at his reply . She seemed more agreeable after hearing his words about Caitlin .

In-gong then spoke to Carack,

“It was also thanks to you . ”

"Hoho, you know it already . ”

Carack laughed .

Delia and Katuin would have frowned at Carack’s rudeness, but Seira was already accustomed to orcs . She spoke in a slightly more friendly tone than before .

"It seems like more time is required for the princesses to wake up . Prince should take a break as well . ”

Caitlin and Felicia seemed like they would be unconscious for three or four more hours, so In-gong nodded .

“Yes, yes . . . Wait a minute . ”

“Huh?”

Instead of answering, In-gong looked around . The light from the Thunder Light Anvil had disappeared and there was a door beyond it .

‘This place is a ruin . ’

It was a ruin related to the wyrm, Enkidu . When he had arrived here while playing the game, he had skipped the intermediate process, so there was no change in the room .

Exploring the ruins .

It wasn’t easy . There were various traps and powerful guardians .

‘But what if I am the ruler?’

The dungeon was originally intended to defend the anvil and In-gong controlled the anvil .

"Carack, carry the bag and follow me . ”

“Huh? Prince?”

In-gong didn’t reply to Carack and got up . He was looking at the door beyond the altar .