Compared to other people, Nerva was more knowledgeable about the Origin Authority. The reason was simple: He longed for it and wanted it more than anybody else. In the past, Nerva had the opportunity to obtain the Battle God’s Origin Authoritya power that belonged only to the three greatest Absolute Gods.

Back then, the Battle God had told him to stand before his statue, and he would bestow it upon him. However, a bizarre and absurd situation unfolded. The Battle God suddenly told him he had lost his Origin Authority. Nerva remembered feeling indescribably lost at the time. From what he heard, the Battle God’s Origin Authority was incredible.

It was completely different from the power that could help strengthen someone else. From what he had heard, it had the power to allow whoever used it to recruit new and strong subordinates.

And from what Nerva knew, the effects of the authority were shocking enough, even if it only experienced the first development.

The One Who Breaks Through Limits was the power that the Battle God had given him since he lost the Origin Authority. To break through one’s limits, the only thing that they needed to do was to break down their walls. Since the Battle God could not give him the Origin Authority, he opted to provide Nerva with the power to develop and obtain a strong knight.

Just recalling that time was enough to make Nerva feel highly regretful. It had always been running around his head since that time. He often thought,

But now, the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor Minhyuk smirked and asked him, “By any chance, do you know about the Origin Authority?”

“...”

Nerva’s anxiety soared when he heard the question. He thought that perhaps Minhyuk knew about it because he was friendly with the Absolute Gods or learned about it from Obren. But then, a thought flashed in Nerva’s head that made everything blank.

But Minhyuk opted to remain silent at this moment. He did not say anything anymore.

The Battle God also realized that something very unusual was happening. He had been completely unaware of the location of the God and Knight since the day he lost it.

Not long after, the Battle God said, “Tell me your chosen ability.”

Nerva, who was unable to hide his anxiety, said, “Please allow The One Who Breaks Through Limits to grow.”

The Battle God nodded before turning to look at Minhyuk. Minhyuk smiled faintly and said, “Battle God, based on what you said, the only thing that you can help me grow is the power you own. Am I right?”

“That’s right.”

Minhyuk’s grin widened. When Nerva saw the smile that almost ripped Minhyuk’s face, he realized,

Nerva had promised to give Minhyuk two million platinum in exchange for his agreement to the Battle God’s proposal. He also pledged to turn over the authority over a territory that was probably worth millions, perhaps even tens of millions, of platinum. But was that all? Of course not. He also approved the recruitment of talents from his empire, except for the Swords of the Gods. All of these would deal a massive blow to the Luvien Empire.

Even so, Nerva still promised without any hesitation. This was because he knew that he would be able to obtain a much better than Minhyuk. But all of his assumptions were wrong.

“Then, please allow the Origin Authority: God and Knight to grow.”

“...!”

Nerva’s eyes almost rolled when the thing he had dreaded turned into reality. He could tell Minhyuk had already finished setting up the board for him when he heard the Battle God’s proposal. Between Nerva and Minhyuk, the one who should not have agreed and accepted the Battle God’s offer should have been him, not Minhyuk.

Even the Battle God was quite shocked. Why was the Origin Authority: God and Knight, which he had lost before, suddenly appearing here? But Minhyuk just shrugged his shoulders in answer.

Just like that, the rewards for both Minhyuk and Nerva were given out.

***

Joy Co. Ltd.’s Special Players Management Team.

Team Leader Park Minggyu’s pupils were shaking, while Lee Minhwa was slack-jawed from shock. They stared at the dozens of monitors that flashed red from the warning.

At that moment, the doors to the Special Players Management Team’s office slammed open as President Kang Taehoon rushed in.

“What’s going on?!”

President Kang Taehoon’s phone had an app that connected him to Joy Co. Ltd.’s various teams. This app would immediately notify Taehoon if a warning were issued and which department it came from.

Team Leader Park turned to look at him and said, “God and Knight’s level has increased by two.”

“What?!” President Kang Taehoon, who was not easily shocked, was left astonished when he heard this.

They had expected the Origin Authority: God and Knight to only increase by two levels in two and a half years, and this was already an adjusted assumption. They had advanced their assumptions since the one who obtained the authority was Player Minhyuk. They judged this power impossible to level up for at least four years, perhaps even forever. Why did they judge it to be that way? The reason was simple: the God and Knight’s condition for growth was utterly absurd.

The God and Knight would be at Level 1 and could experience five level-ups. If one went from Level 1 to Level 2, the God and Knight would become slightly better. For example, the current God and Knight in Minhyuk’s possession would be triggered randomly. Even if he did not want to, this skill would trigger by itself. But once it grew? Then, he would be given the control over it. But the conditions for this simple level-up were completely and utterly ridiculous.

“He needs to have five God-rank and twenty Legendary-rank NPCs just to increase its level by one…”

President Kang Taehoon had deliberately set the difficulty of the Origin Authority’s condition for growth to be the worst. He made it so it would be unable to be leveled up forever. Most people could not achieve the conditions to increase the Origin Authority above Level 1. Of course, Minhyuk was the only exception to this rule.But the following condition for leveling up was far more shocking than the first.

It was utterly impossible. Even though these conditions were harsh, Minhyuk had already reached the point where he was about to increase its level by one. But he went above and beyond their expectations. He ignored these conditions and jumped two levels, reaching Level 3 in one go.

Then, they saw Minhyuk checking the Origin Authority: God and Knight on the screen.

“Open the information window…” President Kang Taehoon sighed in defeat while Team Leader Park hurriedly opened the skill’s information window.

“Haa…” President Kang Taehoon could only sigh when he saw the newly reborn God and Knight. When he looked at it again, he realized how crazy of an authority it was.

Team Leader Park Minggyu smiled bitterly. “This is like another version of Player Minhyuk’sIngredient Trackingskill. This time, it’s a Talent Tracking skill.”Minggyu also thought,

Simply put, Minhyuk had obtained the most powerful weapon that would allow him to chase and catch up to Nerva.

***

Minhyuk was amazed by the changes in the God and Knight.

It was pretty sweet. Minhyuk felt that the rewards that he obtained were extremely sweet. After all, he was able to one-up the arrogant Nerva, who had declared that he would be able to get a much greater Battle God’s power.

“Emperor Nerva, thank you for willingly agreeing and accepting this offer!”

“...”

Unlike Nerva, who looked like he had eaten shit, Minhyuk was laughing cheerfully and happily. Seeing this, the Battle God hurriedly ended the Succession Ceremony and sent everyone back. He felt something might happen if he left the two as they were.

Everyone present turned to light and disappeared. After the Succession Ceremony ended, Minhyuk, who had returned to the Beyond the Heavens Empire, logged out for a moment to sleep.

After resting, he quickly returned and began to cook his samgyetang using his cauldron.

When he lifted the cauldron lid, he was greeted by the boiling samgyetang with oil floating on top of it. After turning off the fire, Minhyuk quickly grabbed the huge chicken leg and tore it off the chicken from the cauldron.

“Hot!”

He hurriedly removed the chicken leg from the freshly boiled samgyetang and transferred it to a plate. Then, he blew on it briefly before dipping it in sauce and taking a huge bite.

The light yet chewy meat made him smile in satisfaction when it entered his mouth. This time, he added some of the sour, well-ripened kimchi after taking another massive bite of the chicken leg.

The sourness of the kimchi washed away the greasiness of the samgyetang. It was indeed the perfect combination of flavors! Minhyuk finished the meat instantly, but he was not yet done cooking.

He immediately poured sliced carrots, onions, scallions, and glutinous rice into the samgyetang’s soup and left it to boil. It did not take too long for him to finish cooking a delicious and savory chicken porridge. Minhyuk quickly blew on the chicken porridge filled with colorful vegetables and took a huge bite.

“Kghhhk…!”

The thick yet lightly flavored chicken porridge delighted his mouth. Then, he added some chopped kimchi to his porridge before eating again.

Minhyuk smiled happily.

The notifications immediately came after that.

Although Minhyuk failed to inherit the Battle God’s position as his descendant this time, he felt that the rewards he received were still reasonably satisfactory, mainly because his God and Knight’s level had increased by two.

At that moment, Haze said, “Your Majesty, the Luvien Empire has sent over two million platinum and a contract transferring the ownership of the Aveid Territory.”

Minhyuk nodded and thought,

There was one talent in Minhyuk’s mind. This man was none other than the commander of the Swords of the Gods’ First Knight Order, Commander Don.

At the same time.

Valentino, who was covered in blood, was dragged by the ropes that tied his wrists and sent floating above the Luvien Empire’s plaza.

Valentino was now being publicly executed. He had already been prepared for this. After all, he had chosen to become the God of Shields instead of obeying Nerva’s orders.

Valentino chose to obey Minhyuk’s order. He used Bentino’s Wall to prevent damage from reaching many people, which was far more beneficial than protecting only Nerva. If the emperor he served was a proper and righteous one, they might have said that their judgment was wrong and that what Valentino did was right. But this was Nerva. And Nerva chose to execute him for this reason. In Nerva’s eyes, even the Swords of the Gods were expendable.

Since becoming a god, Valentino’s dreams had grown bigger. But then, Nerva’s aide stepped forward and said, “This man, Valentino, is guilty of disobeying His Majesty Nerva’s orders!”

Valentino listened to the crowd's murmurs and waited for his judgment with closed eyes.

“He is guilty of treason!”

“...?”

That was when he realized that something was wrong.

“He is guilty of exchanging secret information with the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor!”

“...!”

Valentino’s eyes snapped open.

That was right. Nerva was trying to cut Valentino’s path of survival and trampling on him so he could not become the true God of Shields“You will be executed for your crimes. And since you are a foreigner, you are sentenced to prison and will be left inside the Luvien Empire’s Prison of Indolence for one year!”

“...!!!”

The Prison of Indolence was considered hell for both players and NPCs alike. One’s HP would slowly be eaten away once they were sent inside that place. Being sentenced to this prison was a punishment given to traitors and felons.

“Proceed with the execution!!!”

God of Shields Valentino, the greatest tanker in existence, seemed to be set to disappear from Athenae forever.