Game of Divine Thrones

Upon exiting the temple, Woohyuk took Leifina and headed straight for the Valley of Kings.

Due to Isaac and Colton’s death, their faction had now been considerably weakened. Things might spiral out of his control if he didn’t quickly restore the balance between the two opposing sides.

‘It’s finally time.’

This was the true battlefield, not the hunting grounds that served more the role of appetizers.

A fierce battle would soon erupt. For that reason, he had to hunt the first Fossil Dragon and keep their faction’s advantage.

‘There are also other things to take care of.’

In order to later hunt the Griffons that inhabited the Mountain ranges, it was necessary to first create an army of undead Gargoyles.

Other than the monsters found in the Twilight Tower, the Griffons were basically the most powerful monsters in this stage. Dealing with them while also having to traverse the mountainous terrain was simply too demanding.

As the sand was blown by the shifting winds, Woohyuk stared at the scene of the valley from up high.

A desolate area, not one where you’d want to stay too long.

“Lord, I can’t see anything.”

Leifina said as she looked around. She was still wearing the Banshee’s Cloak, since Woohyuk always prioritized her safety.

“We will need to look elsewhere.”

It was a large area since it connected to the three paths on either side. Also, the Fossil Dragon didn’t stay in a fixed location, so it wasn’t easy to find right away.

Whiriic!

The Vampiric dagger sunk into a Desert Eagle that had flown a bit too close. Turning into an undead, he then had it fly low near the canyon cliffs in order to activate the sleeping Gargoyles.

“Krrrk!”

Those ugly looking Gargoyles quickly gave chase, flapping their dark stone wings in an attempt to catch the eagle.

Although they used their petrification magic, it wasn’t that effective because Undead were innately resistant to Curse magic.

Using the Desert Eagle as bait, Woohyuk hunted the Gargoyles down one by one.

Swooosh!

The stone creature was cut cleanly in two, as Grandia had just ranked up in Grade.

Its attack power and sharpness had increased noticeably, and there was now a faint light aura covering the sword.

A weapon that was especially powerful against creatures of Darkness.

Considering the many battles to come against the Demons, it was a weapon worth nurturing until the very end.

Landing safely back on the ground with the use of his Airwalker Boots, Woohyuk stood among a pile of rubble consisting of broken Gargoyles.

Leifina, who had been watching from the side asked curiously.

“Is it still possible to raise them as undead?”

“That depends on the Necromancer’s ability.”

If the corpse had become mutilated to the point that it was barely recognizable, then its stats would suffer as a result of that.

If only he could combine the parts of different monsters to create a Frankenstein-like being.

“Although it is a powerful ability, I worry that the Lord’s reputation will suffer as a result of it.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Either way the Eeth continent had long been engulfed in chaos. A place where people would sell their souls to the Demon Kings, and your fellow man couldn’t be trusted.

In such a situation, a thing like reputation was basically worthless. The only exception were certain classes such as a Saint.

After reverse summoning the Desert Eagle that had begun to turn to stone, Woohyuk kept advancing.

* * *

[Chun Woohyuk from the Red Faction has killed the Fossil Dragon.]

[10 Copper coins are awarded to every player in your Faction]

[Health and Mana Regeneration is increased by 15% for the next 24 hours.]

The death of a Fossil Dragon would result in a stage wide system message.

The sandstorm that had previously been raging, also calmed down. Looking down at the three gold coins that had appeared in his right hand, Woohyuk finally exhaled.

‘It wasn’t at all easy.’

Normally you would have to gather a team of 300 just to hunt such an Epic Monster.

It could summon the sand soldiers wielding spears, as well as its Dragon’s Breath which was very deadly.

His secret behind this success was the Ancient Ring he had acquired from the Naga’s Chief. It gave him the ability to teleport 100m in any direction, ignoring all obstacles in his path.

It was absolutely necessary in order to dodge the Dragon’s flame breath which had the added ability to stun him, after which he would suffer at the hands of its Sand Spearmen.

Still, because he had relied on it so heavily, his Mana was now extremely low. Because he had only recently switched to the Necromancer Class, his Stats weren’t ideally distributed and he didn’t have enough Mana to fully utilize all his items.

‘I need to rest.’

There was an Oasis located not too far from him. As Woohyuk began walking towards it, a small creature popped its head up from a whole in the sand.

It was a young Desert Fox pup.

“Lord, that’s…”

“Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous.”

Desert Foxes were very timid creatures, and would rarely attack unless provoked.

As Woohyuk blew his Golden Goat’s Horn, the young Desert Fox cautiously approached, its long ears twitching.

The magical sound which worked to attract the Golden Goats, also seemed to interest it.

Leifina’s eyes sparkled seeing its cute appearance.

“Are you going to tame it?”

“Yeah”

Desert Foxes would fetch a pretty penny on the Eeth Continent. They were the pet of choice among aristocratic women, so it was definitely worth capturing.

“You seem to have a way with animals.”

“I just practiced a bit.”

While having heavily researched everything there was to know about taming Dragons, he had naturally picked up some taming skills.

The most important thing was to build a relationship with it.. 

The taming would easily fail if he tried to command it without first trying to understand it.

Woohyuk thought back to the past as he leisurely stroked the fox’s fur.

‘There was that woman that put her life on the line when it came to taming.’

[Monster Trainer, Choi Kayoon]

She had accidently picked up a Jabber Wok’s within the Primordial Forest, and had received the Monster Trainer class upon arriving at the Eeth continent.

Later, as she tried to tame countless kinds of monsters, she even managed to promote her class to the second tier.

Although it was a Unique class, it wasn’t one that Woohyuk was interested in. It was simply absurd to think that he could challenge the Gods by relying on monsters he had tamed.

Not to mention that now that he was a Necromancer, it would be very difficult to become a Monster Trainer unless he put countless hours into it.

The requirements for obtaining a secondary class were far more demanding than the first.

It was much more difficult than simply completing an easy quest or speaking to an instructor.

“Can I hug it?”

“Sure”

Leifina carefully placed her arms around the young fox. A look of maternal love filled her face.

“Don’t get too attached to it since we will be selling it eventually.”

“Don’t we still need to give it a name though?”

She indeed had a point that naming it would be useful when he had to order it around. Thinking about it for a moment, Woohyuk finally decided.

“Let’s call it Ahri.”

“Ahri?”

“In my country that is what we call the Nine Tailed Fox.”

He vaguely remembered it being from some kind of game he had played. As he made his way to the Oasis, Woohyuk thought back to those college student days all those years ago.

* * * 

“Shit…”

Sitting on the rubble remains of a Bronze Golem, Na Sangyun let out a sigh.

Nothing had gone well since Lee Shinwoo’s disappearance.

‘If only he hadn’t sent him….’

Considering how long it had been, he was surely dead by now.

He didn’t know who Chun Woohyuk was, but his name had resounded time and time again.

It was one thing to obtain First Blood due to an early invasion of the enemy's side, but quite another to hunt a Fossil Dragon.

‘We are on the backfoot now.’

Although he had never seen a Fossil Dragon, just by its name alone he could easily guess that it was a powerful monster.

No doubt it was found in the map’s center.

The idea of losing to another player made Na Sangyun restless.

“Huuu…”

Stay calm, you need to keep your cool.

In such a hectic battlefield, one wouldn’t be able to survive if their judgement was impaired. 

First things first he had to gather together his forces which had been scattered. After that it still wouldn’t be too late to come up with a suitable plan. Thinking back to the harsh training he had undergone in the Special Forces, Na Sanghyun was able to stay focused.

“Boss! Big news!”

A skinny, middle aged man ran towards him while screaming excitedly.

“What is it?”

“We’ve spotted a Ghost ship!:

Ghost ship? Na Sanghyun couldn’t help but be puzzled. Although they had encountered several of those strange bronze birds, they had never seen a ship here in the Stymphalion Lake.

“Bring me there.”

His curiosity had been piqued. Just where did that Ghost ship come from, and could he obtain it.

‘There might be some Hidden treasure inside it as well.’

In such a game world, basically anything was possible. Since he had to capitalize on any opportunities that came his way, Na Sangyun hastily made his way to the lake’s shore.

Pung Pung

He arrived in time to see the Ship using its cannons to bombard his troops

‘Oh my god.’

He unconsciously took a step back as he noticed the huge difference in strength between the two sides.

His Base Camp had basically been razed to the ground, and his men were for the most part  already dead.

‘What should I do?’

Faced with such a hellish scenario, Na Sangyun couldn’t help but worry.

Clearly retreating was the right move, but he wanted to at least know who it was he was facing. That way he could at least come up with some countermeasures for then next time they met.

“Ca..Captain, let’s escape as soon as possible!”

A guy next him exclaimed nervously 

“Let’s just wait a little bit.”

The crew from the Ghost ship disembarked on the island. Hidden behind some rocks, Na Sangyun gripped tightly the Return Stone in his hand.

‘With this I can always escape.’

They weren’t all that expensive, priced at just a single silver coin, and could be purchased without limit at the Grocery store back at the Fortress.

The only question was the timing of when to use it, and how much risk he was willing to take.

‘It’s probably some kind of monster.

They must outnumber his men since they were the first to engage.

Na Sangyun gulped as he stared at the sailboat covered in a black mist.

Soon, black shapes began to appear as the cannons stopped firing.

Tubuk. Tubuk.

The Na Sangyun’s scout became pale upon getting a better look at their opponents.

[Don’t be afraid, you only need to go see what is going on.]

[Ah… okay.]

Na Sangyun couldn’t help but sigh as he looked at the man who couldn’t stay calm.

This  subordinate was truly trash. It was the result of accepting just about anyone since he needed to replenish his troop after so many losses.

‘There’s nothing I can do about it.’

There were so many unexpected situations that popped up, that he could always use extra meat shields.

In order to maintain his core strength, some sacrifices on the frontline were necessary. The ability to weigh the value of people’s lives and send subordinates to their death was one of the most important parts of being a leader.

The person who had taught him this was Lee Shinwoo. He had insisted that everyone had their own role to play, and he couldn’t have agreed more with him.

It was what had led him to become a Silver Crown Leader, as well as the Commander in Chief for the Blue Faction.

‘I should use him as cannon fodder.’

A man who was easily frightened and didn’t have any outstanding fighting capabilities. Just the right candidate for such a situation.

‘He probably won’t choose to escape either.’

Currently, the man’s daughter was being enjoyed by some of his subordinates back at the Fortress. The same was true for any woman in their alliance. Everyone had their own role to play, and any disobedience wasn’t tolerated since it could lead to disharmony.

Na Sangyun licked his lips as he recalled her soft skin and painful moans.

Just as he was about to instruct the man to go forward and scout…

Puuk!

Na Sanghyun’s heart was pierced from behind.

“Kuhuk…”

It had all happened far too quickly, as he fell down to the ground, blood leaking from his mouth.

[Red Faction’s Chun Woohyuk had defeated the enemy Commander!]

A system message was broadcasted in everyone’s mind. 

A pleasant surprise to those on the red team, and terrifying new to anyone on the blue side.

Wudddk.

The other man quickly used his Return Stone.

He knew that there was no longer any point in sticking around now that Na Sanghyun was dead.

‘He ran away just as I expected.’

Woohyuk removed Grandia from Na Sangyun’s corpse.

He needed to leave one alive in order to spread the news about the way he had easily killed Na Sanghyun.

If even before fighting, your opponent was filled with fear, the battle was already half won.

‘They probably won’t be back here any time soon.’

By blocking the central path, it would make it difficult for the other side to make any progress.

As he led his Undead army to the other side’s Guard Tower, Woohyuk thought back to Na Sangyun’s past deeds.

‘He was really dangerous.’

Because he had been trained in the Special Forces, his ability to command his men was excellent. When paired with Lee Shinwoo who was an excellent strategist, the two of them had been formidable foes.

The most notable time had been that battle in the Blue Misty Forest.

Those two along with Jang Taesuk, had led a party deep into  the opposing territory, causing mayhem behind enemy lines.

A person that was sure to bring him trouble if he were to be left alone.

“Lord, how long are you planning on staying here?”

“About one or two days.”

In order to make any progress in Nakron’s Grimoire, he had to invest at least that much time.

As Woohyuk captured the enemy tower, a system announcement once again rang out.

[Red Faction’s Chun Woohyuk had occupied an enemy Guard Tower!]

[The Guard Tower cannot change hands within the next hour!]

‘This should be enough.’

There wasn’t any need to go into the opposing side’s swamp and engage in reckless slaughter.

He could always step in if his side was at a disadvantage, but it was more difficult to stop his own alliance if they were to gain too much momentum.

After assigning his two newly obtained Leadership Points into Call to Arms and Command, Woohyuk summoned Triton.

“Go catch enough fish for three people.”

“...”

This time he wasn’t even handed a fishing rod and had to jump into the lake while restraining his temper.

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