Chapter 208: The Blood-Iron Guardian of the ‘Empire’ (2)
Before Jinhyuk’s eyes, the blue status window blinked incessantly.
[You have chosen the Empire, a colossal power in the mid-floors, among the martial forces of Murim.]
[Gain the trust of the Empire’s Emperor ‘Reinhardt the Third’ and lead the Empire to the path of complete prosperity.]
[If successful, the third privilege for ‘the First to Conquer the Tower’ will be unlocked.]
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart pounded wildly.
The third privilege!
‘I was wondering why it’s been so quiet. It seems like a significant event needs to happen for it to be activated.’
Greedy flames flickered in Jinhyuk’s eyes, but only for a brief moment.
‘There’s no time to enjoy this new event.’
Boom!
Clank!
The imperial knights, who had entered the conference room unnoticed, surrounded Jinhyuk in a circle.
All the knights were capable of handling aura.
Among them, there was even a high-ranking knight with a solar phlebotomy standing pronounced.
The figure engraved with the body of a gold dragon in the armor.
There was no mistake.
This was the Imperial Guard, known as the heart of the Empire.
Sshwick!
The captain of the guard drew his sword.
“How dare you enter here! With your black hair, you must be a spy sent from Murim. Confess how you broke through the palace’s spatial distortion magic to teleport here.”
Actually.
That artifact was given by the one sitting over there, wasn’t it?
Jinhyuk gestured for help to Penheimer, but…
Penheimer continued to watch with a mix of anticipation and slyness in his expression.
Damn.
Believing in that old man could cost even a cat with nine lives.
If there were any of the iron chancellors or such from the Empire at the masquerade ball, perhaps the misunderstanding could be resolved.
Sadly, none of those figures from that time were present at this meeting.
‘Could even this have been calculated?’
If that’s the case…
Quickly, Jinhyuk activated ‘Gluttonous Eyes’ towards the Emperor.
Name: Reinhardt the Third
Gender: Male
Age: 58
Level: 37
Strength 23 Agility 25 Stamina 26 Magic Power 11 Charisma 275
Remaining Stat Points: 0
Occupation: The Iron-Blooded Sovereign
Unique Ability: Firm Leadership
Skills: Lv25 ‘Emperor Studies’, Lv23 ‘Keen Senses’, Lv23 ‘Iron Fist Rule’, Lv22 ‘Diplomacy’, Lv22 ‘Robust Vitality’
[Detailed Information: The first Emperor Reinhardt founded the great Empire by unifying seventeen kingdoms. He established an absolute position with overwhelming charisma and military strength. However, as time passed, the imperial authority weakened, while the nobles grew stronger each day. Reinhardt the Third spent his lifetime trying to rebuild the imperial power… but it seems unlikely there will be a Reinhardt the Fourth to wear the crown.]
[Copy Conditions: If you earn the Emperor’s trust, you may copy one of his skills.]
“……”
The Emperor’s eyes were dead.
It must be a feeling of self-loathing for not changing the path to ruin despite a lifetime of effort.
A life burnt to ashes, sacrificing his own body as fuel.
Now, he needed to reignite the embers in the old man’s dwindling heart.
Jinhyuk pulled out ‘Fang’ from his subspace inventory.
“Are you trying to resist?”
The guard captain sneered as if amused.
“Should I stay still when I’m being wrongly accused of being a Murim spy?”
“Ho! You’re not from Murim? Then where in the world did you come from?”
“From outside the Tower. A ‘player’… would you understand that?”
At the word ‘player’, the attentions were once again concentrated.
“……!”
“He’s saying he’s a player?”
“Now that I think about it, I heard from intelligence that there are black-haired people outside the Tower.”
“Is he one of them? But as far as I know, players haven’t yet breached the lower 10 floors, so how did he get here?”
Most players still remained in the lower levels of the Tower, but the potential and value players held could not be ignored.
Of course they mattered.
Residents bound to the Tower had to pay a considerable price if they wanted to go to the lower floors or outside.
In contrast, players were free from such constraints and could climb the floors freely, and their growth rate was much faster than the residents.
In this war and certainly for climbing to the upper floors of the Tower, players were key resources that had to be secured.
“Lord Penheimer. Is what he says true? Player affairs fall under your jurisdiction, do they not?”
The guard captain immediately sought confirmation from Penheimer.
“Well. I’ve never seen this man before.”
Penheimer denied any association with Jinhyuk, as expected.
With that, certainty settled in.
Penheimer was, in essence, demanding that Jinhyuk deal with the situation himself.
‘Precisely by force… to show the Emperor exactly who I am.’
The stimulant needed to awaken the lethargic Emperor.
And to prove to the Empire that there’s hope for its future, that such a player exists.
It must be proven right here and now.
“I was hoping for a leisurely tour… but I’ll be billing you dearly for this incident later.”
Muttering, Jinhyuk immediately infused his sword with magic power.
Fzzt, fzzt, fzzt…
Blue energy spread along the blade.
“Nice. So you can handle aura? You seem to have at least gotten the basics down. But coming here with just that was a mistake.”
The guard captain chuckled.
And immediately shouted at a knight beside him.
“Makan!”
“Yes!”
The knight called Makan stepped forward, holding his sword with both hands.
“Oh!”
“We’ll finally witness a spectacle from an imperial knight.”
“The anticipation is thrilling. Just crush that insolent intruder already!”
The watching nobility waited with eager eyes for the scene to unfold.
After all, the outcome seemed certain.
What was exciting was the progression towards that result.
The Empire’s grandeur and the pitiful downfall of the intruder, as they thought, elicited cheers from everyone’s lips.
“Do not kill. But it’s fine to cut off an arm or a leg.”
“Leave it to me.”
Makan took his stance.
His robust physique and the basic skills honed through harsh training spoke of the Empire’s pride in its knights.
Thud!
With agile steps, Makan closed in on Jinhyuk in an instant.
In that moment, as quickly as lightning, the sword slashed horizontally toward Jinhyuk’s thigh.
But then…
Whoosh!
The perfect attack swung at nothing but air.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Strike after strike, he launched attacks, but to no avail.
Instead, Jinhyuk appeared behind Makan, grabbing him by the nape of his neck.
“Cats usually quiet down when grabbed by the nape. Does it not work the same with humans?”
“How dare you!”
An enraged Makan tried to shake off Jinhyuk’s grip in a flash.
However, contrary to expectation, his body refused to respond.
＊＊＊
Jujutsu.
Jinhyuk cleverly disrupted Makan’s balance while clutching his nape.
Boom!
Makan bit the dust in an undignified heap, flailing his arms and legs on the ground, albeit briefly.
Crack!
An unmerciful kick shattered his jaw.
Suddenly, silence enveloped the room as if doused in ice water.
The ridicule and jesting…
…vanished altogether.
Jinhyuk shrugged.
“Surely, this isn’t the best the Empire has to offer? That would be quite disappointing.”
A clear provocation followed.
Amid the presence of countless nobles and the Emperor himself, such disgrace was unfathomable.
If they could not rectify this immediately, decapitation would be too kind a punishment for them all.
“Shane! Bayern!”
The guard captain bellowed once more.
Thump!
Tak!
This time, two knights sprang into action simultaneously.
A precise, coordinated attack unfolded.
But even that seemed painfully slow in Jinhyuk’s eyes.
Sending just two men…
“They still haven’t caught on.”
With movements too swift to see, Jinhyuk evaded the blades by the breadth of a sheet of paper, then struck with his hand.
Thump!
Thud!
The pommel of the dagger struck the backs of their heads.
With precision, force, and speed combined, the knights couldn’t attempt to dodge or defend themselves.
Shane and Bayern collapsed left and right, consciousness severed, all in a matter of seconds.
“This cannot be…”
The guard captain’s mouth hung agape in disbelief.
Only now did the reality of the situation, its gravity, begin to dawn on them.
‘This agility is extraordinary.’
The way he toyed with knights like children, left no doubt of the intruder’s extensive training.
But no matter how agile he was, it was just that—agility.
Acrobatics would never surpass true martial skill.
“I shall personally deal with you now.”
The knight captain extended his sword forward.
Vrrrr!
A thirty-centimeter-long blue glow enshrouded the sword—an aura not merely coating the blade but materializing into form, a hallmark of mastery.
It indicated only one thing: a master who could wield a fully-realized aura blade.
In other words…
‘A Sword Master.’
“Behold, this is an aura blade. The level is wholly different from what you used. To underestimate the Imperial Guard will be a regret until your last breath… Urk!?”
The guard captain’s eyes bulged, hand nearly dropping his sword from shock.
He couldn’t help it.
He had proudly displayed his aura, touted as the ultimate skill.
Yet the opponent had summoned the exact same power.
Vrrrrrr!
A pure light, scorching the air, dominated the entire council chamber.
Not a mere thirty-centimeter aura.
A two-meter aura surged, its black hue resembling an abyss.
It was an aura blade, unquestionably—and unlike his, it was perfect.
Trembling!
He couldn’t stop his trembling limbs, dignity be damned.
No noble dared criticize.
A rabbit quailing before a tiger is but natural.
“It’s so vivid… that aura blade.”
“Is he… a Sword Master? That man?”
“No.”
It was the Empire’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, ‘Merton,’ who rejected the idea outright.
Having interacted with various forces in Murim and even the Tower, he had encountered countless powerful individuals over decades.
With that experience, Merton was certain;
“It’s beyond that.”
Above the Sword Master.
A realm that even the Empire only saw in dreams, achievable by two at most.
The Grand Sword Master.
Only when excruciating training becomes more familiar than crawling and exceptional talent arises once in a hundred years… No, only when accompanied by innate fortune, does it become attainable.
And he…
A foreigner they had never seen before, had achieved it.
