[The High Apostle of the Black Dragon God has declared war.]
[The battle will proceed as a Total War.]
As the message appeared before my eyes, the High Apostle summoned his forces into this world.
Dozens of black portals opened, and monsters began to step out. These beings exuded a thick, viscous demonic power. My gaze was drawn to those with particularly intense presences—the ones with black halos above their heads.
‘Is it a Demon King level?’
They were at a similar level to the Demon King I had encountered in the dimension I visited for Ropenheim’s Awakening Quest. In terms of rank, they were likely SSS-rank.
“Khehehe, fresh air.”
“Is this the world we are to destroy this time?”
“There are many strange buildings here.”
My Guardians moved toward the High Apostle’s subordinates as they licked their lips in anticipation. The High Apostle possessed five SSS-rank monsters.
‘He’s serious.’
There were two more than I had originally anticipated. He had come fully prepared to kill me. The reason he had stalled for time was likely to secure these SSS-rank monsters while ensuring I had no time to prepare myself.
“There are more than you expected, aren’t there?”
“…”
“I’m sure you heard from your Administrator that there were only three.”
Watching the High Apostle sneer, I offered a smile of my own.
“You should have brought more if you wanted to kill me.”
“What?”
Boom!
The Guardians and monsters charged and collided. Powerful forces clashed everywhere, sending shockwaves through the air. Nearby buildings were blasted apart.
Watching the Guardians and monsters begin their fierce struggle, I used Fly magic to gaze at the High Apostle. He seemed slightly flustered by the unexpected situation. His emotions were fully visible on the face peeking out from beneath his hood.
I sent a mocking sneer his way.
“What’s the matter? Are you surprised I prepared more than three?”
Currently, I possessed four SSS-rank Guardians.
The Hero King, Ropenheim.
The King of the Demon Realm, Turkan.
The Saint of the Sword, Artina.
The Child of the World Tree, Fryra.
Originally, there were three, but Fryra had reached SSS-rank thanks to the recently acquired Heart of Mother Nature and the Blessing of the World Tree. Furthermore, if the Four Lords of the Forest worked together, they were more than capable of handling SSS-rank monsters.
Unless he produced some other variable, those five SSS-rank monsters could be hunted without much difficulty.
“Impressive. Truly impressive. To think you created four SSS-rank Guardians in such a short amount of time.”
“How’s my skill?”
“I thought you were just some arrogant brat who thought he was strong because the first guy messed up. It seems you’re the same type as that woman.”
Was he referring to the woman I saw at the tavern? The white-haired beauty in Eastern-style clothing with horns came to mind. She was a being who radiated strength just by looking at her. She was known as the person closest to becoming the Successor of the Dragon Lord and was currently active on the front lines.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It is a declaration that I will kill you no matter what.”
“I haven’t seen anyone worth their salt despite those big words. Will you be any different?”
“Hahahaha! I shall show you the power of a High Apostle!”
His eyes flashing, the High Apostle reached a hand toward the sky. Black clouds began to gather. Since there was no need to sit and watch his power unfold, I used the mana within my Dragon Heart to manifest a spell.
Vwoom!
A rapidly formed fire spear shot toward him.
Boom!
Crash!
The fire spear struck him and exploded.
‘He blocked it.’
It seemed difficult to leave a scratch with just that level of power, so I moved my body. Creating a sword imbued with wind, I swung it wide toward him. An extremely compressed gale flew out in a semicircular arc.
Clang! Clang!
It began to gnaw away at the High Apostle’s barrier, digging inside. One wasn’t enough, so I sent two more sword strikes.
Clang!
Screeech!
The three gale strikes shattered the High Apostle’s barrier.
“…Hmph.”
The High Apostle stopped whatever he was preparing and swatted away the gale strikes, dispersing them. He glared at me with eyes that had narrowed further.
“Have you already mastered nature magic? This only adds to the reasons why I must kill you.”
I felt a slight sense of urgency coming from my opponent.
To take advantage of that urgency, I prepared another spell.
Holding nature magic in both hands, I fired it at him. A fire spear from my left hand and a wind blade from my right surged toward him.
Boom!
The fire and wind met, creating a firestorm. A pillar of fire rose, sweeping through the spot where he had been standing. He wasn’t the type to die from just this. I sharpened my senses to find the High Apostle.
‘He’s gone?’
When I extinguished the nature magic and cleared the pillar of fire, the sky was empty. The High Apostle, who had been standing there just moments ago, had vanished. He had completely hidden his presence. I spread my sensory perception in all directions.
I even used detection magic. I scanned the surroundings thoroughly and gradually expanded the range, but not even a faint trace of the High Apostle could be found.
‘Is he hiding?’
There was only one reason to hide: to finish whatever it was I had interrupted. He wouldn’t show himself until it was complete. I had to find and stop him before then.
“Seolha. The relic.”
I received the Eye of Bluecat from Yoo Seolha, who was fighting while supporting the Guardians. I then used nature magic to sweep away a crowd of S-rank Guardians. After offering a sacrifice to use the relic’s power, I used the second Eye of Bluecat to track the High Apostle.
Shhh!
In the blackened world, the Apostle’s presence was traced by a white line. He was hiding somewhere in the gaps of the barrier where the Total War was taking place.
‘Now that I know the location…’
I prepared a spell to drag the hidden Apostle out. I had gained Administrator Authority while climbing the Labyrinth. Although my authority was blocked by higher beings, simply having it allowed me to see things that were previously invisible—for example, things regarding this space where the Guardian War was occurring.
What kind of barrier was set up, and what effects were in motion; I understood all these miscellaneous details. That was why it was possible for me to target the High Apostle hiding in a crack of the barrier.
“…I might as well land a critical hit.”
He was an Apostle of the Black Dragon God who used the power of darkness. His most fatal weakness was divine power.
Using the divine power that had naturally grown alongside Artina, I created a powerful sword.
Vwoom!
Divine light gathered and took the form of a sword. It was a potent divine power filled with the faith and trust of the people who followed Artina. Holding the brilliantly shining sword, I moved.
As if they were watching my movements, the SSS-rank monsters moved quickly. Seeing the SSS-rank monsters gathering around the spot where the High Apostle was hidden, I gave instructions to my Guardians.
“Clear a path.”
At my command, the Guardians charged toward the SSS-rank monsters with all their might. Ropenheim’s sword, blessed by Artina, aimed for an SSS-rank monster’s heart. The monster reflexively took a defensive stance against the sharp strike.
Right behind it, Turkan’s fist, filled with powerful fighting spirit and demonic power, blew the SSS-rank monster’s head apart. With one cleared, a gap appeared. Fryra’s plants blocked the other SSS-rank monsters trying to fill that gap. The rapidly growing flora held them back, preventing them from closing in.
Once again, Ropenheim’s sword and Turkan’s fist targeted them. Under the heavy pressure, the SSS-rank monsters were unable to carry out their orders properly. Thanks to that, the path was completely exposed, and I charged straight through. I swung the sword made of divine power.
It wasn’t a simple swing. It was a strike containing everything I had realized about the sword after becoming one with nature.
Slash!
The downward strike sliced through the barrier and cut off the arm of the High Apostle hiding inside. Black blood sprayed out, and the High Apostle’s face twisted in pain.
Because of the divine power, his arm did not recover and was instead obliterated.
“Ugh! You possess this much divine power?”
“Where do you think you’re hiding?”
“How did you find me?”
“Would you tell me if you were in my shoes?”
“Khehehe. Then I’ll just kill you and ask your ghost.”
With that, the sky turned pitch black.
Vwoooom!
Black light fell from the dark clouds in the sky. The light landed accurately on the heads of the SSS-rank monsters. It was a demonic power that radiated profound terror. The black halos absorbed the demonic power and grew even larger, and black tattoos etched themselves onto the monsters’ bodies.
‘Is it an awakening of some sort?’
Using my Golden Dragon Eye, I saw the monsters’ ranks changing in real-time. They shifted from SSS-rank to SSS+ rank. It wasn’t just the addition of a plus sign; they were more than twice as strong as before. Simultaneously, tens, no, hundreds of thousands of black soldiers appeared behind them.
“This is what Total War is. Using everything I have. This is the essence I have gathered while becoming a High Apostle.”
“Is that so? This is everything you’ve gathered?”
If the essence the High Apostle had gathered was only this much, there wouldn’t be much of a problem. This was more than manageable. I still had plenty of things I hadn’t used yet.
“Since you’ve shown me what you prepared, I’ll show you mine. Everything I’ve gathered until now.”
I opened portals connected to the Dragon Lair and Ropenheim’s dimension. Through the portals, a massive force crossed over into the real-world.
Knights and soldiers of the Lopes Kingdom.
The Goblin Rider Legion.
The Elves and the Goblin tribe.
Forces armed with equipment created by Dwarf smiths gathered around the Guardians. Then, I handed out specialized gear. The stats of SSS-rank Guardians wearing specialized gear made from the highest quality materials would be comparable to the awakened monsters.
But I wasn’t finished.
Flash!
At Yoo Seolha’s call, all the Wizards of the Golden Tower appeared. Tens of thousands of mages surrounded the battlefield, ready for combat. Their numbers were not inferior to the enemy’s in the slightest.
Furthermore, realizing the lack of combat relics for total wars back at the Advanced Arena, I activated the sacred relics I had prepared to compensate. These were buffs that increased our total combat power by at least 1.5 times.
‘The Revival I obtained from the Advanced Arena.’
With my current mana, I could revive about half of this army. This was enough to finish the High Apostle once and for all.
“How is it? Not bad, right?”
“…”
My opponent wore an expression of complete disbelief. Now, it was truly time to end this. There was nothing more to be gained from him by dragging this out.
“Let’s end it.”
As I gave the order, the entire army moved toward the enemy. Under the command of the Guardians, they defeated the enemy with overwhelming strategy. The Guardians, further empowered by their specialized equipment, dealt with the SSS-rank monsters.
It was a grand and brilliant battle. It didn’t take long for everything the High Apostle had gathered to vanish from this world.
Having lost everything, the High Apostle bit his lip hard. I prepared a spell to finish him off. However, despite his defeat, the High Apostle wore a greasy smile.
“I admit you are strong enough to catch me. But the being who comes after me… will be more than you can handle.”
“We’ll see. Isn’t that something we’ll only know after we fight?”
“Hehehe, I’ll be waiting in the afterlife.”
I sliced the neck of the High Apostle as he closed his eyes.
Slash!
[You have killed the High Apostle.]
[You have won the war.]
[Rewards are being distributed.]
[Dimensional Tavern Pass, Arena Usage Ticket…]
[You have obtained authority over the Labyrinth of Bahart.]