Chapter 44 – Participation In The War (2)

Once upon a time, people of the Orthodox factions said, “The Heavenly Demon is always present at the vanguard of the Demonic Sect. If we can stop his attack at least once, we can stop the attack of those demons who follow him from behind like waves, but even that is impossible for us. The Orthodox Sects have no hope left. The people of Murim should know this for sure—The Heavenly Demon is invincible, and confronting him head-on is equivalent to having a death wish.”

During the Murim Unification, Baek Joong-hyuk led the demons by being at the vanguard. He stood in front of them and confronted their enemies, and on the path Baek Joong-hyuk laid out, the demons ran wild.

People asked—Why? Why take the most dangerous role for yourself?

The reason was the same now and even back then.

‘The strongest man should always be at the vanguard and completely destroy the morale of the enemies.’

In a battle, that was the important thing. Just as he had risen to the unreachable position by defeating those bigger than him, Baek Joong-hyuk knew how important it was to gain momentum on one’s side.

The role of the strong isn’t to wait in the back while time passes and the battle continues. If one has enough strength to not back down even after facing numerous enemies, the only way to win overwhelmingly is to actively use that strength.

That’s right—just like now.

Slash!

“Kuaaak!”

A soldier’s arm flew away due to Roman’s attack. The screaming soldier tried to run away, but Roman cut his head off.

Slash!

Blood splattered due to the force of Roman’s attack. And Roman, who received the rain of blood from the sky, moved ahead toward the soldiers forming a wall in front of him.

In an instant, their solid formation collapsed. In the presence of Roman, who appeared like lighting in a dry sky, the soldiers wielded their spears with shocked faces.

However,

Kang!

Chang!

Their attacks didn’t work—Roman deflected their attacks aimed at him and took a step ahead to cut their heads.

Carnage—No other word could explain the current situation on the battlefield. Roman was facing dozens of soldiers all alone, but he didn’t retreat even a single inch. Instead, he was overwhelming the opponents in front of him, and by each second, they were being taken down. The soldiers who followed him were shocked. They didn’t expect such a bizarre sight when they heard Roman would take the lead.

“Follow the liege!”

“Attack!”

Kevin was the first to shout that out. As Kevin and Chris followed, Roman continued to attack their enemies. The other soldiers, as well, swung their weapons with angry eyes.

Puak!

“Ugh.”

Due to their attacks, the enemies were constantly being stabbed in their throats, and they would fall down with blood gushing out. Kevin swung his sword straight at the other enemy, not caring about the one he had previously killed. Chris, obviously, was the same. Knowing that Roman would move further away if they hesitated to act, they both tried to catch up to him as much as possible.

“T-this.”

“Stop that monster!’

Roman had opened the path. The shield wall made by the enemies had already lost its meaning. Moreover, the soldiers of Barco didn’t dare to rush into the mess due to the terrifying screams they were constantly hearing.

They understood it, as well—Understanding that the person who rushed toward Roman ended up dying, they were constantly stepping back and pushing their colleagues ahead, hoping that someone would create a miracle.

However, a miracle didn’t occur. Those who moved ahead would instantly die at the hands of Roman, who was taking them down with just one step.

Blood, more blood, and even more blood—Everything around him was now dyed crimson. Thousands had died, and even though the blood was already flowing like a river, Roman continued slaughtering them one after another.

Alright.

‘Flare.’—The target of his plan. Finally, the appearance of the siege weapon was getting close. The captain of Berge mercenaries was bewildered at the presence that overwhelmed the surroundings.

“….Uh, what is this?”

The opponent—It was Roman Dmitry. While taking the mission of Barco, he learned the faces of all those who were interesting, but he could never imagine in his wildest dreams that Roman Dmitry was this strong.

Nevertheless, it didn’t matter why he was there. The problem was that Roman’s personal army was slaughtering dozens of his soldiers, and if he was left alone, the war between Lawrence and Barco would lead to unexpected results.

‘That cannot happen.’

This mission—He had taken an enormous sum of money for it. As the fate of the Berge Mercenaries was at stake, Berge drew his sword and rushed toward Roman.

‘I need to take care of him.’

Berge—An A-class mercenary recognized by the entire kingdom. Unlike the B-class status, which can be simply obtained from doing chores, to achieve A-class, one must be able to use unique abilities like Aura. Berge was a 2-Star Aura Swordsman. He was already 40 years old, so he didn’t wish for more, but a 2-Star Aura was enough to defeat Roman.

Srrng.

Rumble.

Aura rose—Mana exploded from his body and expressed through the sword, and Berge swung his sword towards Roman.

One-shot kill—Promised victory. Even if the opponent was a 3-Star Aura Swordsman, his special move wasn’t an attack that could be blocked easily.

However,

Kang!

Kaang!

Roman blocked the attack as if nothing had happened. Seeing that sight, Berge’s eyes widened as if they would tear apart.

‘This is bad!’

A full-fledged attack had to break the opponent’s sword and cut the body, as well. However, the repulsive force felt from the sword shook his insides. It was a different situation from what he expected. The moment Berge was about to hurriedly step back at the warning sign ringing in his head, Roman immediately followed and attacked.

Kang!

Kakang!

Due to the continuous chain of attacks, it felt like his consciousness was fading.

Suddenly, an Aura was born from the sword of Roman, and Berge was cornered by attacks from all directions. Roman and Berge—The size of their Auras was different. From an outsider’s perspective, it was normal if Berge’s huge Aura overwhelmed Roman, but whenever Roman and his sword collided, Berge’s Aura shrunk further.

And it was then that Berge found out. According to the rumors, the existence in front of him was known as Dmitry’s Fool.

‘He is too strong!’

Nevertheless, it was too late for regrets. This mission—He thought it was easy money. However, the variable, Roman, who suddenly appeared and whom they didn’t expect to come, was causing a different result to emerge.

Slash!

The brilliant sword created a line of blood on Berge’s neck, and eventually, his body fell to his knees.

Thud.

Berge—An A-class mercenary recognized by the entire kingdom could only last less than 10 seconds against Roman. Truly, it was a fleeting moment.

Berge’s death was an outstanding achievement. Roman took down an A-class mercenary. However, it wasn’t much of a surprise to those who knew the truth about him.

‘I am not the Heavenly Demon in this world.’

When he was the Heavenly Demon, not even the most talented people in Murim would dare to face him. From a single attack of Baek Joong-hyuk, even the sect leaders would collapse. And in this way, Baek Joong-hyuk managed to unify Murim.

However, this world was a different one. In this world, Roman is weak. Although he developed rapidly and grew to a level that overwhelmed Berge this soon, it wasn’t nearly enough to fill his quench.

Srrng.

His Aura burned from the vertex to the bottom. In a situation where normal people would feel a sense of shock, Roman was ready to take on a new challenge.

A new world, a new strength—If he could conquer all that with this small body, it would be really cool.

Roman moved ahead. Seeing that he didn’t stop even for a while after defeating Berge, Viscount Barco groaned, “Kill! Kill that man!!”

Berge’s death—He couldn’t believe it at all. It wasn’t that the two of them were fighting equally. It was more like Berge, who tried to make a surprise attack, got killed without even being able to do anything. Moreover, that wasn’t the end of it—Even though Roman had slaughtered several soldiers before that, his breathing was still calm.

A monster—He was an overwhelming monster.

A path had opened due to Roman’s actions, and if things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before the siege weapon would be destroyed. Thus, he had to be stopped.

He shouted at the soldiers to stop him, but contrary to Viscount Berco’s intentions, he was being pulled back.

“It’s too dangerous, Viscount!”

“We need to get you to shelter!”

The knights of Barco eventually took Viscount Barco away with them. At first, they had planned to subdue Roman, as well, but after seeing the mercenaries’ captain’s death, they changed their minds. It was still a fight where Barco had the advantage. Thus, they didn’t want to risk their life by fighting Roman because retreating the troops attacking the wall would give them an edge.

The path was finally open. No one was rushing toward Roman anymore. He humbly moved ahead, and before he knew it, the Flare was in front of him.

‘Flare.’

It’s a magic device not found in Murim. Aside from the bullets fired, which cost a lot of gold, the body itself is specially crafted to fire magic bullets.

Thus, the goal of this plan is the Flare. If this thing is destroyed, even Barco wouldn’t think of attacking Lawrence’s wall.

‘Heavenly Demon God Art.’

Srrng!

Mana rose up from within his body. The Flare’s body is protected with magic. As it cannot be taken down with a normal hit, the mana which had been sleeping in Roman’s dantian was awakened and manifested on his sword. It was a black Aura—The power of the Heavenly Demon.

‘Heavenly Demon Sword Technique; First Move.’

With one attack, and a single move,

Kwang!

Rumble!

There was a roar, and the massive body of the Flare instantly split in two. Seeing the overwhelming sight, for a moment, everyone on the battlefield held their breath.

At that moment, Roman shouted with mana raising his voice, “Listen, Lawrence! I, Roman Dmitry, have destroyed Barco’s siege weapon!”

Hearing those words, the atmosphere on the battlefield changed completely. Barco’s soldiers—The ones fighting with their lives on the frontlines, who didn’t know what was happening behind, were shocked.

Roman’s words were true.

Hearing that their siege weapon was destroyed, they all looked shockingly at the enemies in front of them.

“W-what?”

“T-the Flare was destroyed?’

It was embarrassing. The destruction of Flare could be interpreted to mean that Barco’s rear was in danger. And thus, the steps that were earlier hurrying toward the gate stopped. Barco’s knights, who grasped the situation, saw that the Flare was really broken and ordered a retreat.

“Retreat!”

“Everyone step back!”

Their feet moved hurriedly. Viscount Barco—Their lord must be in danger now. It was more important to protect Viscount Barco now, rather than capturing Lawrence.

The situation developed quickly. At Barco’s retreat, Lawrence’s soldiers who survived the desperate crisis looked at each other bewildered, unable to understand the current circumstances.

Also, standing on the fortress wall, Flora looked at Roman, startled.

“…He really did it?”

A situation she thought was impossible—This time, as well, Roman had done something beyond Flora’s common sense.