Leveling Up through Eating

Conir and Herakel were clearly two of the strongest people in the Beyond the Heavens Empire. But from the most ordinary wives down to the pot-bellied uncles and the old men, they all viewed Conir and Herakel as people they needed to protect.

Perhaps because the two of them had intellectual disabilities, they did not possess the greed that ordinary humans did. The two would greet each and every single one of the people of the empire who passed by the ramyeon shop that they were running. People would often look at them with motherly and fatherly smiles.

Of course, the same was true for the most prominent figures of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

“How dare you hurt my babies, the apple of my eyes…”

The Spear God cared for them as if they were truly his grandchildren.

“Balaman. I will take your neck.”

The Fallen Emperor Brod was their ever-dependable uncle. Like the two, the countless people who appeared around Minhyuk were overcome with fury.

“Their hyung is the Battle God.”

Of course, the same was true for Minhyuk. He felt highly furious.

Minhyuk met the escorts, who were supposed to guide Prince Cardin safely back to the Luvien Empire. He had been talking to them when he heard the Vassal’s Voice’s notification telling him Conir was in danger. Minhyuk did not waste any time. He immediately warped to where Conir was.

When he appeared, he saw Balaman and his knights mocking and trampling on his beloved brothers.

[Duke Balaman. Level 831.]

[Red Skull First Knight Vaghanen. Level 778.]

[Red Skull Second Knight Achaner. Level 754.]

[Red Skull Third Knight Praenon. Level 732.]

[Red Skull…]

Minhyuk glared coldly at everyone around him, including Duke Balaman and his Red Skull knights. He could tell their basic level was slightly higher than the Swords of the Gods. There was also the Black Skull Knight Order. The average level of their members was at Level 620, which proved that they were no easy opponents.

Duke Balaman looked slightly flustered when the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor and executives appeared before him. However, he soon laughed.

“The Beyond the Heavens Empire has gotten involved with Prince Cardin. Once I become the emperor, I will take down the Beyond the Heavens Empire in my first week on the throne.”

This was how confident Balaman was of his powers. He even thought that this situation was better.

“It’s better like this. I can wipe you all out in one go,” Balaman arrogantly declared.

Balaman had been training the Black Skull Knight Order members for a very long time because he was preparing to become the emperor in the future. Their training was far more intense than the training that the Swords of the Gods received.

‘The outstanding and brilliant names of the Beyond the Heavens Empire vassals are no match against my Red Skull knights. After all, my knights have overcome countless hardships and adversities.’

Balaman was confident about this matter.

Boom–!

At that moment, the Red Skull First Knight Vaghanen leaped toward them. As if on signal, the rest of the Red Skull knights lead the Black Skull knights and charge toward the people that appeared.

Vaghanen wanted to exchange blows with Spear God Ben. He thought, ‘He’s the one who became the Spear God because he received the recognition of the Gods.’

Vaghanen’s assessment of Spear God Ben was just like that. He believed that the only reason Spear God Ben was able to become the Spear God was that he inherited the power of the previous generation's Spear God.

‘I have trained with Duke Balaman for a long time and had many brushes with death during the process.’

But that was not all. He had also gone to find several world-renowned spear masters to compete with the spear. The result? He knocked all of them down in one strike. He was even powerful enough to be comparable to Don, the previous commander of the Swords of the Gods.

When his spear clashed with Ben, he felt power not strong enough to lift a pair of chopsticks.

‘As expected. My assumptions were correct. His spear doesn't even feel heav…’

The moment he thought so, Vaghanen had the illusion that his spear was being sucked somewhere.

“You believed too much in your strength and grew conceited. Fufu.”

In the first place, Ben did not respond to his attack. He just gently let it slip past him.

Clang– Clang, clang!

Vaghanen frantically thrust his spear, but Ben evaded every single one of his attacks with ease. Ben even avoided his attacks by applying minimal force to his ankles.

Unfortunately for Vaghanen, his preconceived thoughts about the hardships and adversities that Ben had experienced were utterly different from reality. This was mainly because Ben did not tell anyone in the Beyond the Heavens Empire about how he became the Spear God. Ben, an old veteran, had experienced hundreds of deaths to the point that his soul was left on the verge of extermination during the Spear God’s trial.

Slash, slash, slash–!

Ben’s spear easily pierced through Vaghanen’s body. Immediately after that, a rain of blood fell as Ben used his spear to pierce the necks of the Black Skull knights charging at him.

Red Skull Praenon was flustered when he saw Vaghanen, the first knight of their order, get beaten so easily. But he quickly came back to his senses.

‘Asura and Elizabeth.’

Asura Ascar was a woman widely discussed in the Luvien Empire. But in the end, she was nothing but a mere foreigner. If they were fighting based on brute force, then perhaps his chances were a bit tilted. But since she was a stranger, her skills fell far behind his own.

Bang–!

Asura and Praenon’s swords collided.

‘The Beyond the Heavens Empire’s foreigners could not even hold a candle against the Luvien Empire’s Sword of the Gods First Knight Order.’

Because of that, Praenon concluded that she was no match for him. He began to put heavier pressure on Ascar and her bloody greatsword. A greatsword had a stronger destructive power compared to other swords. The problem was it was heavy and could reduce one’s speed significantly.

Clang, clang, clang–!

However, the only data they had in their hands was from the past. Because of that, there was something that they did not know. And that was the fact that Asura Ascar had continued to grow.

“Asura’s Two-Sword Style.”

Boom–!

Blood, which seemed like it would flow on the ground, gathered and turned into swords in Ascar’s hands.

“How dare you do that to those two cuties(?)...” Ascar said, her wrath almost reaching the heavens.

Slash, slash, slash–!

When Ascar was still known as the Ghost of the Battlefield, her primary weapons were twin swords.

With two swords in her hands, Ascar began to push back Praenon. Praenon was taken aback when he saw her flashy two-sword style swordsmanship. Even so, he remained calm. He tried to release his sword light to create a gap and counter.

[Mana Control.]

[Your mana has been controlled and restricted by Elizabeth’s power.]

“...!”

On the other hand, Ascar remained free of the restriction.

“Blood Storm.”

Slash, slash, slash–!

A massive storm of blood engulfed Praenon and made him scream.

“Keuaaaaaack!”

Meanwhile, Great Demon Elpis, Gorfido, Love, Hope and Happiness, Sword of the Gods Luo, and the rest dealt with the more than 350,000 strong troops of the Black Skull Knight Order at a rapid pace.

“...”

Balaman was somewhat shocked by the unexpectedly good performance of the Beyond the Heavens Empire during the battle.

There was one thing that he did not know of. It was the fact that he and his Black Skull Knight Order were just a mere part of the Luvien Empire, while the people of the Beyond the Heavens Empire that had gathered here were their best elites. At this moment, Balaman realized that the Beyond the Heavens Empire was not behind the Luvien Empire.

‘This is getting a bit dangerous.’

The warmongering Balaman saw Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor Minhyuk and Brod charging straight at him.

Bang–!

He swung his sword at Minhyuk, who was rapidly approaching him and went ahead to clash swords with Brod.

Brod was quite impressed when he clashed swords with Balaman. He thought, ‘So there were still talents like him in the Luvien Empire?’

The extent of Balaman’s power was beyond imagination. And the fact that Brod could not get the advantage and overwhelm him was proof of this. Balaman quickly changed his plans.

As mentioned before, Balaman was an ordinary human being, yet he was also not. One of the reasons for this was that he signed a contract with the God of Death even though he was not the God of Death’s successor. The only downside to this was that the price that he had to pay was his soul. And this price was far too steep. The contract stipulated that he would become the God of Death’s slave for eternity once he died and went to hell.

This just went to show how much Balaman wanted to become an emperor. He desired it so much that he even willingly sold his soul. After signing the contract, Balaman was able to gain several unusual powers. And this was one of those powers.

[Song of the Black Skull.]

[The Song of the Black Skull restricts the movement of all but one person.]

[Those who have received the restriction will be unable to move while the song is playing.]

[The Song of the Black Skull’s duration is thirty minutes.]

Ttiriririri~

Everyone in the area froze on the spot when the flute's strange and eerie sound rang. Even Ben, who had leaped into the air to stab the neck of one soldier, was left frozen in mid-air. The soldiers, who Elpis stabbed in the abdomen, were also frozen mid-scream. The only thing that everyone could move was their eyes.

[Those who have received the restriction of the Song of the Black Skull will not receive any damage.]

[Only those the skill caster has chosen can move freely while the Song of the Black Skull is still playing.]

And the one chosen by Duke Balaman was none other than Minhyuk. Balaman could not help but cackle when Brod, fighting with him, stopped moving.

“Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor. This battlefield is yours and mine alone.”

Duke Balaman was a lunatic. But on the battlefield, he was the most rational and wise. And he had judged that killing Minhyuk was of the utmost priority.

“You are nothing without the protection of the Spear God, Brod and Luo.”

[Red Skull’s Coliseum.]

Crack, crack, crack–!

This time, thousands of red skeletons broke out from the ground. Minhyuk tried to move away from his current position, but one of the red skeletons had already held him tight and forced him to remain where he was. The skeletons gradually piled up and turned into massive walls, creating a space for Balaman and Minhyuk to fight.

[Balaman’s attack power will increase by 7% inside the walls of Red Skeletons.]

The skeletons even created a ceiling and closed off the entire space. Finally, Minhyuk and Balaman disappeared from everyone’s view.

Silence engulfed the entire area. The noise inside the coliseum seemed to have been cut off from the rest of the world. Even the sound of weapons clashing against each other had also disappeared. Everyone was frozen because of the Song of the Black Skull.

But one thing was obvious. The people from the Beyond the Heavens Empire were anxiously calling out to Minhyuk, who was trapped inside the Red Skull Coliseum, in their hearts.

‘Your Majesty…!’

‘Your Majeeeeesty!’

‘How- How can this be! This ridiculous power…!’

There was worry for Minhyuk in everyone’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Prince Cardin was also left unable to move. He had been away for a long time and did not know the exact story. But he had heard some stories about the Beyond the Heavens Empire and the Luvien Empire.

The Luvien Empire had grown increasingly large under the rule of Nerva. The Beyond the Heavens Empire, an emerging nation, became a threat to the Luvien Empire. But what was surprising was the fact that the Beyond the Heavens Empire was only 1/20th, perhaps even less, of the Luvien Empire. There was one reason why the Beyond the Heavens Empire could be on par with Luvien.

‘It’s because of his outstanding vassals.’

Cardin had heard that the emperor was very competent. But the fact that his vassals held power beyond this world remained. But what about Duke Balaman?

‘He possesses an extreme power.’

Cardin had also heard of Duke Balaman’s reputation.

‘He killed ten million troops by himself.’

It was quite a ridiculous story. In fact, it was something that could only be heard in legends. But it was also possible. Cardin had heard that he fought the war for two months when he killed the ten million troops. That was right. The story about Duke Balaman single-handedly killing ten million soldiers and overthrowing an empire was a legend.

Because of that, Prince Cardin believed that the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor would not be able to defeat Duke Balaman.

Time kept flowing just like that. Even so, there was no sign that the Song of the Black Skull would end anytime soon.

Drip, drip, drip–!

Blood slowly started to flow through the walls made from red skeletons.

“Du– Duke Balaman!”

“Your Majesty Minhyuk!”

And along with this grotesque scene, the song finally ended.

The Black Skull and Red Skull knights all erupted in cheers.

“Duke Balaman has killed the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor!”

“This is an achievement that will go down in history!”

“The new emperor of the Great Luvien Empire has brought punishment upon the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor!”

Crack, crack, crack–!

Then, the Red Skull Coliseum began to crumble and fall apart at that moment. The Red Skull knights looked beyond the crumbling walls with bright smiles. And Prince Cardin? His face grew ugly.

Finally, they saw the scene hidden from their view.

“What bullshit are you saying?”

It was the scene of Minhyuk standing tall while Duke Balaman lay on the ground with blood all over his body.

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