The wagon traveling along the trade route came to a halt.
A woman who appeared to be in charge shouted, eyes wide open.
“Please wait here for a moment!”
Hearing the commotion outside the wagon, Evan and Rolten stepped out.
Rolten approached the person in charge and asked, “What’s going on?”
“We received a messenger bird from the Duchy branch. Some parts of the duchy are under attack by unknown monsters. We’re going to wait here until the situation calms down, then decide whether to proceed or take a detour.”
Evan felt a bad omen at those words.
The dark knights they faced in Belbaton were only a small group.
They could barely hold them off because they fought alongside the Order.
‘And you’re telling me there are this many of those guys?’
This was already close to a disaster.
Moreover, the dark knights only grow stronger through battle.
‘How are we supposed to stop them?’
They would probably need to mobilize almost the entire Knights of Kerten.
‘And they said these creatures appeared all over the duchy, not just here.’
The scale was unimaginable.
Rolten said to Evan, “This is going to be dangerous. Let’s retreat and come back later.”
“Wait a moment. If possible, let’s gather as much intel on them as we can before leaving.”
Rolten shook his head as if horrified by Evan’s words.
“…You’re really a ruthless one.”
He had never seen anyone more driven about work than Evan.
“If that’s the case, then we should go.”
Evan turned and spoke to the person in charge.
“We’ll leave separately. Please convey our thanks to the Andor Marquis.”
The woman, flustered, tried to stop them.
“That’s not allowed. You want to go into danger on your own? Aren’t you afraid?”
Rolten showed her his identification badge instead of answering.
“Deputy Lord of Kerten County…?”
Her eyes widened, and her lips trembled.
“I- I’m sorry! How dare I—”
Rolten cut her off with a wave of his hand.
“No, it’s fine. We’ll be going now.”
“B- But still!”
“Is there a problem?”
“It’s dangerous…”
“Don’t worry. We’re only scouting.”
Rolten smirked and turned away.
“Evan, let’s go.”
He led Evan toward the castle.
Ever Castle of the Roheim Duchy.
It was a key point along the trade route connecting the duchy to the kingdom.
But now, the place was engulfed in continuous explosions and thick, acrid black smoke.
“Hold the line! Hold it!”
“We need reinforcements!”
“Mages, what are you waiting for? Unleash your spells!”
The garrison, composed of knights and mages, was desperately defending Ever Castle.
Mages cast spells relentlessly toward the ground, while the others fired arrows and cannonballs to take down the dark knights.
No, it felt like the dark knights simply couldn’t be defeated.
All magic and firepower were concentrated on them.
There was no way they could survive such overwhelming force.
Besides, defenders always had the advantage in a siege.
Since the attackers charged recklessly without siege weapons, the outcome seemed decided.
Everyone was confident of victory.
But as time passed, the situation gradually changed.
“C-Captain, something’s wrong.”
No matter how many attacks landed, the fallen enemies stood back up and pressed forward.
This cycle repeated endlessly.
From then on, the morale of the guards broke, and fear slowly crept into their hearts.
Undying soldiers.
No one could watch such a sight without being overwhelmed.
A senior officer asked his subordinates, “Why now, during regular troop training? Any requests for reinforcements?”
“Other regions are also struggling with surprise attacks.”
He grew anxious and shifted his gaze to the dark knights.
‘Where did these monsters even come from?’
As he carefully observed the fallen foes, he made a shocking realization.
‘They’re all Lamakria people.’
He could tell by the fragments of their shattered armor.
“Those guys…”
His anxiety deepened.
There were many Lamakria people within the duchy itself.
Evan frowned as he watched the battle unfold.
Rolten, observing from the side, muttered in disdain.
“The commander seems stupid. Just blindly throwing everything into attack without a plan. They’re just exhausting themselves.”
Evan partly agreed and partly disagreed.
‘The situation is different from when we faced them.’
The average level of the dark knights seemed higher.
You could tell just by looking at their armor.
‘That means their Living Armor must have much faster regeneration. They can probably withstand most strikes.’
The fact that they endured despite all the magic and attacks proved this.
‘To counter them, we’d need stronger magic or divine power.’
But no one of that caliber was present.
There were some mages, but only around 1st to 2nd circle level.
“They can probably hold out a while, but if this continues, the castle will fall.”
Evan shared his analysis with Rolten.
Rolten nodded in agreement.
“We should leave now. This isn’t a place for us to intervene.”
Evan watched quietly for a moment, then spoke.
“This might be an opportunity. If we can help, we could bring the Roheim Duke into this.”
“You’re not seriously planning to fight in there, are you?”
“I won’t overdo it. I’ll try to find a way first. Meanwhile, send a messenger bird. Father needs to know about this quickly.”
“Honestly, no matter how many there are, it was impossible to take them on when they numbered over a hundred.”
“No. They could have been defeated. If we strike hard enough to surpass their armor’s regeneration, they can be countered.”
Rolten probably didn’t know this method, which is why he fought a war of attrition.
“Easier said than done. I’ll scout from here. Do what you can. Take a look around and come back when it’s time.”
“Yes. I’ll finish this as soon as possible.”
Evan smiled faintly and turned away.
He had planned to return with Rolten, but
[Permission to use Mythic Power has been granted.]
[Use of Conqueror’s Scorn is allowed.]
[Usage time permitted: (00:01:00).]
Permission for Mythic Power use was granted.
One minute was quite generous.
Seeing this, Evan immediately changed his mind.
‘This isn’t something to let slide. The permission wasn’t given lightly. It means I should make the most of this chance.’
It was basically handing him an opportunity on a silver platter.
Ah!
‘Last time, I was too pressed for time to check, but now’s a good chance to gather some intel.’
Evan moved toward the dark knights.
He opened the system window.
Ding!
A notification sounded in his ear, and a hologram appeared before his eyes.
[Lee Han Lv.999]
(Empty)
(Empty)
……
Lee Han’s image was inside the system window.
Without hesitation, Evan selected Lee Han.
[Conqueror Lee Han has been selected.]
[Applying the power of Conqueror Lee Han now.]
At that moment, a colorless aura began to emanate from Evan’s body.
An indescribable, profound power filled him.
It felt like regaining the original strength of his past world.
‘No, combined with this body’s power, it’s even more than that.’
Evan walked slowly toward the dark knights, stopping at a certain distance.
He pulled out a mask from his inventory.
An equipment item bought in advance to hide his face.
It wasn’t yet time to reveal his trump card.
You never knew what cards they might hold.
‘I’ll reveal my identity not as Evan, but as an adventurer.’
Of course, when meeting the Roheim Duke, he would remove the mask and receive public credit as their benefactor.
Then, a dazzling light appeared in Evan’s eyes.
[Conqueror Lee Han activation started. (00:00:59)]
One second passed.
Boom!
A shockwave exploded outward, and Evan vanished from the spot.
[Leap has been used.]
[Leap height scales with level and allows free movement.]
In the midst of the dark knights gathered in a crowd.
Kraaaang!
A massive, unexplained explosion occurred.
The dark knights caught in the blast flew in all directions.
A huge crater, like a meteor impact on the ground, appeared.
And in the center of it all stood Evan, masked.
The Lamakria people armed with Living Armor.
The commander here was Vengor, a veteran of the Roheim Duke’s regular army who survived many battles.
Now a senior Estia officer, he led the troops.
Crossing his arms, he observed the battle’s progress.
‘This mission is simply to attack Ever Castle in the Roheim Duchy.’
He had some doubts.
They weren’t trying to capture the castle, just attack it.
If it became too dangerous, they retreated immediately.
The oracle had predicted their complete annihilation here.
But he did not believe it.
‘Nonsense.’
‘Could the undying soldiers really be wiped out?’
In reality, their attacks were laughably weak.
‘There was no need to launch a surprise attack during regular troop training.’
For the first time, he felt exhilaration at the thought of repaying the suffering they endured.
The Lamakria people had long been oppressed by the Order, often without their awareness.
Especially in Roheim Duchy, where the Order’s influence was strong, the Lamakria were discriminated against.
They had contributed much to the duchy, but never received proper recognition, eventually reduced to mercenaries.
The thought of that humiliation and disgrace only fueled his rage.
‘If we can conquer, even better. We’ll wipe everything out.’
He vowed to destroy everything in the Roheim Duchy by pushing forward.
“Captain, it looks like we can take this place.”
“After capturing the castle, we’ll burn everything down and march to the capital.”
“Captain, are you sure about this?”
“I told you to act freely. From now on, I make the rules. I’ll take responsibility.”
“But the prophecy said we’d all die.”
“I don’t believe in that kind of god.”
Vengor felt a fire within that he could not quell.
Unless they slaughtered everyone after taking the castle, this grudge would never be settled.
Just as he dreamed of revenge,
Boom!
Suddenly, a powerful energy wave struck him.
“Ugh! What is that?!”
Struggling to withstand the shockwave, he turned his head.
Then, Kraaaaaang!
A massive explosion turned the area into ruin.
Fortunately, he was standing in the rear and was not swept away, but he couldn’t stay upright.
The shockwave knocked him to the ground.
“Ugh!”
‘What kind of lightning strike was this?’
Slowly lifting his head, he looked ahead.
There was a giant crater.
All the Lamakria people had been blown out of it.
“How… how is this possible?”
Vengor’s heart sank.
More than half of his troops were destroyed in just seconds.
But he seemed to know the cause.
In the middle of the crater stood a mysterious man with blond hair and a mask.
Swallowing dryly, Vengor stared at him.
Just looking at him was enough to feel overwhelmed.
Goosebumps covered his entire body as his instincts screamed to flee.
It felt like facing a supreme being.
And before Vengor could blink,
“ ”
The man suddenly appeared right in front of him.