Inside the Infinite Battlefield, the rising rookie, Captain Rice, did a spectacular job of fending off his opponents. However, his performance significantly dropped when Alexander summoned his Weapon Corps.
But then, at that moment, Captain Rice murmured, and someone with long hair fluttering behind him fell from the sky.
This man was a very famous NPC that everyone in Athenae knew of. Some even people declared that this NPC was much stronger than the players they called Supremes. And this NPC was the vassal of a player, which in turn made that player the envy of the masses.
“Absolute Pinnacle Spear.”
Hundreds of spears appeared to punish and slaughter those who tried the NPC’s master.
A massive explosion erupted and wiped out almost 20,000 of the players gathered in one place as Vassal Ben appeared in front of Captain Rice, or to be more exact, Minhyuk.
Meanwhile, comments began to pour out from the viewers tuned in on the broadcast.
The people were impressed. Many players believed that they could not deal with rankers because they were at a different level from them. But Minhyuk completely broke their preconceived thoughts and broke through the mold. He showed them that the Supreme’s skills were beyond their imaginations.
On the other side, Alexander, who was also engaged in an infinite battle, gulped dryly.
That was right. Minhyuk possessed a skill that allowed him to summon his vassal, Ben.
Minhyuk received this skill after the bond between him and Ben reached the extreme. But that was not all.
Food God Minhyuk’s cooking buffs, akin to assassin’s buffs, gave Ben a boost in power. Spear God Ben’s level might have been lowered to match Minhyuk and Alexander’s, but his skills and abilities easily overwhelmed the two.
Ben had wielded his spear since he was young to survive. He had always held and trained in his spear for a few hours daily, without fail. Just because Minhyuk was a genius in kendo and had learned MUSAT or just because Alexander ventured and learned various martial arts did not mean they could win against Ben.
And now, with the most outstanding skills and abilities in Athenae, Ben jumped among the enemies. His addition caused the players to fall rapidly.
This was Alexander's honest evaluation.
Alexander had summoned hundreds of weapons with the same power level as Ben. However, none of his weapons could catch up with Ben. Why? Because their ego was only at the most basic level.
Minhyuk, whose pace increased once again, quickly caught up with Alexander. Within a five-minute difference, the notifications rang in his ears again.
Now, the number of their opponents has exceeded 60,000. Even so, they did not back down. Alexander’s Weapon Corps had attack and defensive power on par with the enemies. And Minhyuk? He overcame more than 60,000 opponents just by having Ben by his side.
“Next.”
The entire battlefield was crowded, and all players were speechless. The performance of the two was proof.
It was just as the comments said. Minhyuk and Alexander could deal with more than 100,000 enemies by themselves because of the artifacts they had equipped, their skills, and the various title effects that boosted their power. Compared to the general population, they have many more skills. Also, most of the artifacts that they have equipped were God-rank artifacts.
Still, the more than 130,000 enemies were too much for Minhyuk and Alexander. Even though Ben was by Minhyuk’s side, he was already fatigued.
Minhyuk was saving one skill for this very moment. He stared at the 130,000 enemies before charging toward them. Minhyuk had a skill that resulted in the worst penalty. Using the skill would immediately force his level to drop by one and destroy 1% of his HP and MP. It was indeed a ridiculously horrible penalty.
That was right. This was because the Infinite Battles was an event.
Although the skill had the worst penalty, its power was on par with the overwhelming power of the Eight Pillars and could easily surpass the Absolute Gods’ Secrets. Of course, Minhyuk still could not fully display the true extent of the power since his level was still low, but just as its rank–Ninth Disaster–suggested, its power was the epitome of the word “disaster.” This skill was none other than Calamity.
“Assassin’s Massacre.”
Although triggered under a different name, the effects remained the same. Its power could cover an entire area within a four-kilometer radius.
Countless throwing daggers covered with blazing flames flew over the heads of the more than 130,000 players.
The moment one of the throwing daggers stabbed one of the players, a massive explosion of flames erupted and devoured an area within a five-meter radius. It was immediately followed by the other throwing daggers engulfed in fire that fell from the sky and slaughtered the more than 130,000 players standing before Minhyuk.
Minhyuk was delighted. He thought,
He had conquered everything, even Alexander. However, it was not just him. Alexander also hid at least one of his powers.
“Corps Charge.”
The hundreds of weapons of the Weapon Corps might only have the most basic level of ego, but they could unleash one powerful skill, including his own. They could also use AOE attack skills!
The power pouring out of the weapons slaughtered the players at a speed on par with Calamity.
An exhausted breath escaped the mouths of both Minhyuk and Alexander simultaneously.
“Haaaaa…”
“Hoo…”
***
Minhyuk and Alexander slowly reduced the more than 260,000 opponents standing before them. They either used the skills they could still trigger or fought head-on to eliminate the players before them. However, the fact that the two of them had reached their limits remained the same.
Comparing the two sides, Minhyuk and Ben were exhausted. This was because Alexander’s Weapon Corps did not grow tired—they weren’t humans in the first place. On the other hand, Minhyuk and Ben, dealing with the enemies nonstop, were bound to grow increasingly exhausted.
Thankfully, the number of players they defeated was similar to Alexander.
The Divine Will skill’s name was changed to the Assassin’s Tenacity. But even though the skill was triggered, Minhyuk was still left struggling. Minhyuk was even left facing a crisis when the players continued to send their pinnacle skills flying toward him.
Minhyuk wanted to be the sky. He wanted to be everyone’s icon, not only because he was the ruler of an empire. This was natural, innate.
The players watched Minhyuk in awe as he continued to stand and move forward even though he had stumbled and collapsed several times.
However, Minhyuk did not know that the players and the viewers watching the broadcast had already recognized him as the
Then, Minhyuk collapsed on the ground after being hit by one of the players’ pinnacle skills. Ben also collapsed on his knee right next to him.
“Haa… Haa… Haa… Haa…”
Minhyuk’s loud and harsh breathing resounded in the area. Even though he fell a hundred times, he continued to stand up. But when his staggering body was about to stand up, hundreds of pinnacle skills rained upon him and Ben.
Not long after that, Alexander, who was right next to Minhyuk, succeeded in killing around 110,000 players before being forced to log out.
As the viewers watched the two figures disappear from their screens, they felt this lingering feeling digging into the corners of their hearts.
At the same time, Minhyuk and Alexander reappeared in the same place where they were fighting their match in the Infinite Battlefield. Of course, the challengers disappeared at that moment, too.
The two looked at each other silently. Even though they did not speak, Minhyuk already knew who would be the MVP of the Infinite Battles.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Alexander answered. But he knew he had only a slight advantage over Minhyuk when it came to lasting longer on the field.
Just when the two thought that everything was over, notifications rang.
Alexander sighed when he listened to the notifications.
Their surroundings changed once again. Ten people with the highest score stood on a long, wide bridge this time.
Almost 600,000 challengers appeared before them and flooded the bridge with a flash of light. The already exhausted defenders sighed. Thankfully, there was a silver lining for them.
Their conditions were restored, and they recovered back to their peak. However, Alexander, who was standing among them, was left speechless when he saw that the enemies that they had to face were still not yet done being summoned.
Alexander turned to look back at Minhyuk and tried to say, “They did not even give us any time to res…” But Minhyuk was no longer behind him.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
One player charged alone, daggers in hand, and ran toward the millions of players charging on the long and wide bridge. It looked like a scene from the movies.
Minhyuk's face was painted with a faint smile as he thought,
***
Joy Co. Ltd.’s conference room.
President Kang Taehoon remained silent as he looked at the monitor before him. He had watched how the ten defenders fought against the millions of players, who charged like crazy and moved like a machine.
Surprisingly enough, Player Minhyuk achieved the highest score after the battle, which lasted more than an hour. Since the events had ended, the players were all warped to the awards ceremony hall.
Taehoon looked at Minhyuk and Alexander standing together and said honestly, “It was really…”
The entire conference room turned their attention to him.“...fun.”
They had all watched the thrilling battle and competition between the two individuals and could only nod in agreement with Taehoon’s words. After all, it was the truth.
***
At the same time.
Carron watched the footage of the Battle of the Stars and smiled as he looked at the video that would become the highlight of his gift for Minhyuk. The highlight of his gift was the video of Minhyuk running on the long and wide bridge and charging alone toward the millions of enemy players.