At Su-ho’s provocation, Bahram scowled and spoke.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking? Kingdom army.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Su-ho’s current appearance was still that of the Palace Soldier #1—the form he’d used while fighting fake-Su-ho.
He looked ragged and low-ranking, but the armor design clearly differed from that of the invaders. Anyone with eyes would know he wasn’t one of them.
Bahram narrowed his eyes further at Su-ho’s mockery.
“You’re an idiot. If you were lucky enough to survive, you should’ve stayed down. Why go begging for death now?”
“So that’s how you are when things turn—run away. Is that your idea of chivalry?”
Su-ho’s retort made Bahram’s face flush red.
Few professions prized honor more than knights.
And Su-ho had just stabbed straight into that pride.
But Bahram, being a seasoned knight, forced a calm smile back onto his face.
“Pathetic. Whatever little trick you’ve got—it ends here. What are you waiting for? Kill him.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Kill him!”
“Let’s go!”
“Waaagh!!”
At Bahram’s order, the invading soldiers charged Su-ho.
Su-ho raised his sword and swung it broadly, his face utterly expressionless.
Slash!
Not just the charging soldiers—everyone in the room was struck by a crimson arc of light.
[Cloud Severance is activated.]
Splurt!
Blood geysers erupted.
They’d all been decapitated simultaneously.
One particularly tall soldier didn’t even lose just his head—his entire chest had been sliced through.
But not everyone died.
One survived.
Bahram.
Though the crimson arc of Cloud Severance had definitely swept over him, unlike the others, Bahram drew his sword and blocked it.
Su-ho looked at him in mild surprise, eyes flicking to the na tag.
– Bahram Lv. ???
All the other soldiers were labeled just Invader, but he had a proper na.
That ant he was, at the very least, a nad monster.
And with his level hidden, odds were high that he was a custom-tuned monster based on the challenger.
‘So that’s how he blocked Cloud Severance.’
No matter.
Nad or tuned—he just had to take him down.
Su-ho was confident.
No matter the difficulty, the system never threw in monsters that a player couldn’t possibly beat.
‘Well, by the system’s standards, anyway.’
Bahram lowered his sword slowly and said,
“You’re... not normal, are you.”
“Took you that long?”
“What? ...Ha!”
Bahram burst into laughter.
Then, his expression turned ice-cold.
“I swear—you won’t die easy.”
“Confident, huh.”
“Let’s see how long that smug face lasts. You’re just trying to protect the princess, right? But here’s the thing...”
Bahram snapped his fingers.
More invaders poured in from the hallway, replacing the fallen.
“We’ve got more soldiers than we know what to do with. Not only that, we know every secret path in this castle. We’ve even got specialists who can stop high-level teleportation. And you? What do you have? A few cheap tricks?”
Bahram’s taunt was bold—and not without rit.
But Su-ho didn’t care.
“God, you talk a lot. So what?”
“Heh. Let’s see how long you can keep acting tough.”
Bahram raised his hand.
Archers in the back row nocked arrows.
“Try blocking this.”
With that, he lowered his hand.
And the arrows flew.
Fwsh-fwsh-fwsh!
A volley of arrows rained down.
Su-ho didn’t flinch. He stepped in front of the princess and started batting them away with his sword.
More arrows ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) kept coming.
But Su-ho stood his ground and kept deflecting everything that ca near the princess.
So even struck him.
But—
Clang! Clang!
The arrows bounced right off him.
[Dragon Body is activated.]
[Iron Cannon Three is activated.]
Thanks to Dragon Body and Iron Cannon Three.
Watching the arrows clatter off, Su-ho grinned.
‘This is the sa body that tanked the Subji Divine Guardian’s hits. These are nothing.’
After a while, the arrows stopped.
The soldiers had run out.
They hesitated, confused.
Su-ho smiled brightly.
“What, that’s it? No more?”
“Why you bastard—!”
Su-ho answered by swinging his sword.
Slash!
Another Cloud Severance.
And once again, the entire room was cleared.
Except for Bahram.
He’d blocked it again.
Su-ho clicked his tongue.
“Seriously, how many more of your n have to die because of one useless commander?”
“Shut your mouth!!”
That was the last straw.
Bahram couldn’t hold back any longer and charged at Su-ho himself.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
He was a skilled knight.
He hadn’t just studied tactics—he’d honed his swordsmanship too.
But as ti went on, Bahram’s face lost its composure.
No, it wasn’t just composure—he started getting pushed back, panic creeping in.
Bahram was indeed a strong knight.
But his opponent was Su-ho.
Su-ho had spent a lifeti perfecting the sword—reaching the highest peaks of mastery.
“Let’s end this.”
Su-ho, after toying with him for a while, finally swung his sword with full force.
The red blade shimred and exploded with radiant light.
[Steel Severance is activated.]
[Enhancent applied.]
[Steel Severance’s power has increased.]
Slash!
A clean, resonant cut.
Bahram tried to block.
He got into a defensive stance, tracked the trajectory—
But his sword and mana weren’t enough to withstand the blow.
Splatter!
Bahram’s blood sprayed.
[You have defeated Bahram.]
Su-ho had won.
He imdiately activated Eye of the Blacksmith to inspect the corpse.
But no collection window appeared.
‘Hmph.’
So... no loot?
Maybe because he wasn’t technically a monster?
Disappointing, but it didn’t matter.
His goal wasn’t loot—it was completing the quest.
He turned his gaze to the entrance—where more invaders were starting to pour in.
Su-ho activated a skill.
[Army Tactics is activated.]
He summoned his clone soldiers and sent them charging toward the door.
The clones fought like mad, perfectly following Su-ho’s will.
The quest objective was to defend the palace.
To do that, he had to keep the princess alive and eliminate the invaders.
So, it was ti to move.
No matter how strong he was, fighting to protect the princess in such a confined space was full of risks.
Just then, the princess stirred.
“Mmm...”
“You’re awake?”
“Where... is this?”
“We’re still in the palace. Princess, the remaining soldiers are holding off the invaders and resisting to the end.”
“W-Where’s my mother? Sir Aren? Sir Sotron?”
“They’re gone. You’re all that’s left now. So at the very least...”
“Aaaah!! Aaaaagh!!”
They were dead?
She thought it had been a nightmare—but it was real.
Overwheld by cold reality, the princess began to cry out in near-hysterical agony.
‘Crap, not again.’
Su-ho quickly used an item skill.
[The Ring of Joy and Sorrow responds to the subject’s dominant emotion.]
[Absorbing emotion: Black]
[Absorbing negative emotion...]
Shuaaah!
This wasn’t about the princess.
It was about the quest.
So Su-ho drained her negative energy with the ring.
Her eyes, which had started to cloud over, quickly regained clarity.
With her sanity back, Su-ho spoke firmly.
“Princess, please compose yourself! You are the last hope of the kingdom! If even you falter, there is no future for our people!”
The princess stared at him blankly for a mont.
Then slowly nodded, her face steadying.
“...You’re right. If even I fall apart, then it’s truly over. Thank you. You helped co to my senses. But... I’m sorry—who are you? I don’t recognize you.”
“My na is...”
What should he say?
He hadn’t thought that far.
After a brief pause, he gave the English na he’d once used at the Association.
“Henry.”
“Very well, Sir Henry. Are you a knight?”
“Just a re soldier.”
“Then I’ll grant you knighthood. Sir Henry, from this mont on, you are a knight of this kingdom. Will you continue to fight as our knight until the kingdom’s end? If you do, I swear—I will never give up.”
Her eyes glead with conviction.
It was a good sign.
Su-ho answered at once.
“Understood. I will.”
Just then—
[The Princess has appointed you as a Knight of the Kingdom.]
[The Princess’s trust in you has grown significantly.]
Oh?
This was new.
Su-ho widened his eyes slightly at the notification.
He’d never heard anything like this from players in his past life.
But in any case, things were clearly progressing more positively than before.
A very good sign.
Su-ho quickly followed up.
“This place is dangerous. I’ll escort you sowhere safer. Do you know of any hidden location in the palace the invaders might not be aware of? That commander we just killed said they’ve discovered all the secret passages and prepared counterasures against teleportation.”
“A place the enemy wouldn’t know...”
The princess hesitated for a mont, then answered.
“There is one. A place only the royal family knows of. We’ll go there. It should be safe.”
“Understood.”
“Co here.”
The princess suddenly grabbed Su-ho’s collar and pressed her forehead to his.
And then—
A surge of knowledge filled Su-ho’s mind, showing the route to the royal family’s hidden chamber.
And with it—
[The Princess has shared her mory with you.]
[A linked quest has been generated.]
Su-ho’s eyes widened.
For the first ti since returning—
A linked quest had appeared.
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