Chapter 497: The Raiders


    Ghost Spear Ben was once the eighth-ranked Pinnacle Strong Man. He was also famous for hunting the legendary snake, Ouroboros. All of the spearmen of the continent shaped their dreams after listening to stories of him. In fact, some were still training in their spearmanship after dering that they would surpass his achievements.


    Initially, Ghost Spear Ben was just a man that held amon legendary title. Perhaps, his name was just one among the many legends whenpared to the God sses. But right now, Ghost Spear Ben had be a legend among legends. He was able to rapidly grow after spending a long time with Minhyuk. It was even safe to say that Ghost Spear Ben was now one of the Supreme NPCs.


    Arca unknowingly staggered back after feeling the fierce momentum emanating from Ben.


    Knights of the Land of Warriors, Lumae Kingdom, were distinctly different from ordinary knights. Years ago, a ‘Knight’s Great War’ erupted in the continent. It was a festival that happened across the entire Asgan Continent wherein all of the empires and kingdoms would send their selected knights to fight a duel in order to select the nation with the strongest knights. All of the kingdoms believed that the knights of Eivelis Empire, the empire that housed Sword Emperor Ellie, would overwhelm the other participating knights.


    However, contrary to their expectations, the knights of Lumae Kingdom were the ones that overwhelmed the knights of Eivelis Empire. Since then, the other kingdoms were banned from making a move on the knights of Lumae. That was right. They were the knights of Lumae Kingdom, and each and every single one of them dreamt of that new realm, a realm above the realm that they had already achieved. That was the case for the elite knights that apanied Arca. Quite a few of them could even deal with three to five imperial knights by themselves.


    <em>‘He killed six of them…?’</em>


    Plenty of effort had been put into raising them! Each and every single one of those knights represented the majesty of Lumae Kingdom.


    ‘<em>But they actually lost to an old man?! </em><em>Even I’m</em><em> struggling?!</em>’


    Arca was the man said to be closest to the Sword Saint. He wiped the blood dripping from his mouth andughed grimly and said, “So it wasn’t all lies.”


    He still did not believe that all of the rumors were true. However, all he knew was that Ghost Spear Ben would disappear into the annals of history today. This was because he was confident that he and the more than forty knights remaining would be able to deal with a single old man.


    A powerful force shot out of Arca’s sword and straight toward Ghost Spear Ben. Seeing himunch an attack, the other knights also jumped toward Ben. But Ghost Spear Ben just stood still despite the knights’ swords and spears aiming for his neck, waist, forehead, and chest. Then, as if the y button had been pressed to resume a paused scene, Ben first released his left hand that was resting behind him and gently redirected the huge swordlight that Arca sent out to the sides.


    <em>Baaaaaaang—</em>


    Then, Ben stabbed one of the knights in the neck with his spear, before turning once and mming his spear to the ground to give him momentum to reach the skies.


    <em>Shwaaaaaaa—</em>


    Using his ghost-like footwork, he moved in the air and stabbed another knight in the chest all the while dragging another one from the side toward the stabbed knight. Then, Ben threw something in the air.


    <em>Swoooosh—</em>


    <em>‘Gold?’</em>


    The things that Ghost Spear Ben threw were a few pieces of gold. He used the gold as a springboard to fly even higher in the skies. And the gold that he stepped on…


    <em>Thwack—</em>


    “Keuhaaaaack!”


    “Ack!”


    “Keok!”


    “Ugh!”


    …urately struck the eyes of four knights, who he stabbed with his spear right after. His appearance was almost like the descent of the Spear God!


    “Do you think I’ll leave you as you are?!” Arca chased the running Ghost Spear Ben. Unfortunately, it was useless.


    <em>Stab, stab, stab, stab—</em>


    “K, Keuaaaaaack!”


    “Aaaack! My eyes! My eyeeeees!”


    “Keuaack! Aaaack!”


    Ben’s movements were ghost-like as he evaded Arca’s attacks, while cutting and stabbing the necks of the knights that blocked him. His bulging muscles and beautiful spear movements made it seem like he was one with his spear. The scene was beautiful, to the point that it could bewitch anyone watching him.


    <em>Stab—</em>


    One of the knights sessfullynded a blow on Ghost Spear Ben’s back. Seeing this, Arca, with a deep smile on his face, hurriedly rushed in to attack too.


    <em>‘He’s slowly starting to fall apart.’</em>


    However, that was aplete miscalction on their part. As if he did not feel any pain, Ben twisted around to blow off the head of the knight behind him. A knight’s sword shed at his leg while a knight’s spear stabbed at his abdomen. But instead of Ben dying, the screams and deaths of Arca’s allies were what greeted him.


    “Hiiiiiiiik! G, ghost… it’s a ghost…!”


    “Ugh. Aaaaaaaah! Don’t, don’te here! Please, I’m begging you not toe here!!!”


    The knights stepped back as Ben continued to cut down theirrades. Their actions were even immediately followed by a ridiculous notification.


    <em>[The morale is dropping rapidly.]</em>


    <em>[Your allies are losing their will to fight.]</em>


    <em>[All of your allies’ stats will decrease by 25%. Their sessful attack rate will also decrease by 35%.]</em>


    The knights that had been training since a young age to forget their fears, the very same knights that were braver than anyone else in the battlefield, were now terrified. Fear clouded their minds as Ben approached them. Some even peed their pants while some knelt down to beg for their lives. The same was true for Arca. He felt goosebumps rising on his skin as a chill crept up from the base of his spine.


    Ben was relentless. Despite bleeding all over, he continued to cut down the knights in front of him, whether they peed themselves or knelt down to beg for their lives. He even sneered at them deep within his heart.


    “S, stop…” Arca finally realized that he provoked someone that he should not have. He also knew that there was a chance that they could kill the man in front of them if he and the remaining knights joined forces. However, doing so would result in plenty more casualties from their ranks.


    “We, we’ll retreat. We’ll leave so stop!”


    Arca did not want to carry this disgrace on his back. However, he believed that the lives of the knights that their kingdom had raised were far more precious than any treasure or gold.


    “Wh, why is someone like you staying in such a small nation like Beyond the Heavens Kingdom?!”


    Arca could not understand at all. If this man went to Eivelis Empire then he could easily be the Knight Commander of the Spear Knight Order under Ellie. He might even be able to be the Commander-in-chief if he went to Collodis Empire.


    So why?


    ‘<em>Wait, perhaps he’s the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s Hidden Troops’mander…!</em>’


    Themander that hid secretly to protect the territory. If it was that, then it was worthy of a man of his stature. Perhaps, it was even an opportunity for Arca’s kingdom.


    “Come,e to our kingdom! You’re probably the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s Hidden Troops’ Commander right now. If youe to our Lumae Kingdom, you can be themander-in-chief of hundreds of thousands of strong troops!”


    Lumae Kingdom was definitely a better choice than Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. But Ghost Spear Ben just tilted his head at him and…


    “…?”


    …twisted the neck of one of the knights near him.


    “Wh, what…?!”


    Ghost Spear Ben looked at the remaining knights with a cold expression on his face, “I have no intention of sparing the lives of those that intended to bring harm to Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. Also…”


    Arca realized that their battle was not yet over when he saw Ben take one step closer to them. He could also tell that Ben was also about to reveal his original position in the kingdom.


    Then, Ben continued, “I’m His Majesty’s personal barista.”


    “…?”


    Arca was shocked when the words registered in his head, <em>‘Wh, what the hell?! How many strong people does Beyond the Heavens Kingdom have to make a man of his stature a barista?!’</em>


    Arca developed a deep fear toward the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom as their ‘barista’ moved to ughter them.


    ***


    Count Forlo was themander of the tamers of the Lumae Kingdom. Since Lumae Kingdom was hailed as the warriors’ nation, Count Forlo, despite being a tamer, was far stronger and better than the other tamermanders from a decent kingdom or empire. He was even able to tame the Drake Lord, a ferocious monster that no one in the continent had ever tamed before.


    This very same Count Forlo was extremely excited, <em>‘I can’t believe I’ll be able to manage a dragon in my entire life…!’</em>


    Crazy Tyrant Akhan and Prince Votto were secretly working together. They were preparing to make a move with their troops. But before their troops and the dragons joined forces, there were a few people selected to carry a secret mission. They were none other than the undefeated Knights, which included Arca, the kingdom’s elite knights, and Count Forlo and the dragons as support.


    The dragon that was partnered with Count Forlo was at the bottom of the rankings of the dragons. The dragon was also someone that had received the punishment of the previous Dragon Lord for the crimes that hemitted in the past. From what he knew, the dragon could only exert 90% of his powers and abilities. On top of that…


    <em>‘From what I heard, restrictions will be forced upon the dragons that crossed the continents and their power would be reduced by 30%.’</em>


    …the dragons had received huge penalties for crossing to a different continent. However, even if that was the case, the dragon in front of Count Forlo was still extremely powerful. The dragon was also very high-leveled.


    <em>[Cursed Dragon Arcana. Level 684.]</em>


    <em>‘Amazing…’</em>


    They were tasked to do two things in Valencia. One was to cut off the guardians that protected Valencia Capital. And two, was to steal the existence that hatched from the Dragon Lord’s egg. During this process, Cursed Dragon Arcana would shower the capital with magic bombs to help the ones that sneaked in to escape safely. A dragon’s bombardment of magic was more than enough to bring down buildings, burn all of the humans on the ground and bring the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s capital to ashes. Just when Count Forlo was vibrating with excitement…


    “I’m hungry.”


    “Ah. Is that so? Haha. Please hang in there a bit more. Those that went to the capital will send their signal soon. Once we finish our job, we will immediately serve you a delicious meal.”


    Although Count Forlo was a tamer, he was actually turned into Dragon Arcana’s servant. Most of Dragon Arcana’s magic had been restricted after receiving his punishment so he could not polymorph into a human form. That was why he was curled up in a forest near the beaches of Beyond the Heavens’ Kingdom hiding from everyone’s view.


    “Didn’t you hear me say that I’m hungry?”


    Count Forlo trembled when Arcana focused his yellow eyes on him. The reason why Arcana was punished was because he ate up thousands of humans without any rhyme or reason.


    <em>Gulp—</em>


    Count Forlo gulped dryly as he tried to find a solution to this problem and avoid bing Arcana’s prey. That was when a solution appeared in front of them.


    A handsome man sat in front of a huge wagon. The man was wearing a pair of boots and a jacket to protect him from the cold. The jacket carried the symbol of a fork and knife at the back. The man was looking at his notebook while mumbling, “This idiot. Moron. Poopy… Uhm… cursing should leave a savory taste in your mouth. Do I really have to do something like this?”


    The man was obviously a fisherman from Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. From what it looked like, the fisherman was trying to abandon the harsh and infuriating curses and actions in lieu of beautiful swear words and manners. The wagon that he was driving was filled with dragon fishes.


    <em>‘That, that’s it…!’</em>


    Count Forlo had never seen a dragon fish in his life so he did not know that such a fish was a legendary one. All he knew was that he could just take away the things of a mere fisherman from the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.


    “Lord Arcana. How about the fishes in that fisherman’s wagon?”


    “Ho?” Arcana mumbled, eyes glinting sharply as he looked at the fish. Dragon fishes were fishes native to Asgan Continent. That was why Arcana did not know what kind of fish it was. He was just feeling delighted at the thought of tasting a new variety of fish. Arcana had already moved before he could even discuss it with Count Forlo. It was a part that showed his ferocity and viciousness. Arcana spread his wings as he flew swiftly to where the fisherman was.


    Forlo silently mourned,<em> ‘I’m sorry. I know that we should never touch the lives of civilians in a war but this is for my own safety too. Consider this as offering yourself as a sacrifice, fisherman.’</em>


    In the end, Count Forlo was a noble, a count that also viewed the lives ofmon people lightly. Forlo clicked his tongue as he watched Arcana send a fireball toward the man on the wagon.


    <em>Shwaaaaaaaaaaa—</em>


    Count Forlo squinted through the thickyer of dust. It seemed like Arcana was wolfing down the fish to fill his stomach as quickly as he could. It looked like he was wagging his tail in delight.


    <em>Baaaaaang—</em>


    But then, the ground shook as an unexpected bang rang out.


    “…?!”


    Count Forlo, with a cigar sandwiched in his lips, turned around stiffly. The scene in front of him once the dust settled down made him drop the cigar.


    <em>Thump—</em>


    A dragon was hailed as the strongest existence on earth. Even though the dragon Arcana was the weakest among the dragons, he was still a ferocious and outstanding being. But this very same Arcana was being trampled on by the fisherman. The fisherman even stepped on Arcana’s head with his boot with one of his hands in his pockets.


    The fisherman looked at Arcana as if Arcana was an insignificant existence. He spat out, “B*tch. F*cking ***-sized lizard.”


    “…!”


    Count Forlo trembled at the sight.