Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 568: Battle of the Thrones (Middle)

Lion King Benrod was left speechless after witnessing the ridiculous scene in front of him. He could not even return to his senses after receiving such a huge shock. With the notification that rang in his ears, he finally realized that the scene that he witnessed was true.

[The God of Beasts has died.]

[You can summon the God of Beasts again only after the Battle of Thrones has ended.]

It was not only Lion King Benrod who reacted this way. For a moment, everyone was speechless. They all silently watched the old man walk on the bridge and pass through the God of Beasts. The viewers from all over the world watched the scene through the hundreds of cameras filming the scene. The summoners, the necromancers and the Rankers Above Rankers that just arrived. Even the Korean rankers that saw this on the walls of the castles.

All of them remained silent as another question popped in their heads: ‘Who is he?’

While everyone was busy trying to see the old man’s face, Genie, who was being shown at a close-up on one of the screens, mumbled, “Grandpa Ben…”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

Ben was the closest retainer to Beyond the Heavens’ King Minhyuk. Despite his strength, he worked as a barista in the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. Ghost Spear Ben had become famous after he created the legend of breaking through hundreds of thousands of troops during the war between the Lumae Kingdom and the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. There was even that one video that shook the hearts of many people all over the world, the video where he died and turned into black ashes that disappeared in the wind.

So, why was Ben here? And how did the God of Beasts die?

[Isn’t the God of Beasts too weak? He did not seem as mighty as how he looked.]

One of the viewers tried to deny the truth. But someone else quickly made a rebuttal.

[You won’t be able to say that at all if you have watched the video of the fight between the God of Beasts and an American PK guild.]

Player-Kill guilds existed in each and every country. And the PK guild in America had a huge influence in their country. In fact, they even have several unofficial Rankers Above Rankers in their ranks.

[If you watched that video, you will be able to see how the God of Beasts devoured and killed five Rankers Above Rankers and hundreds of rankers.]

[Then, how in the world are you going to explain the situation right now?]

Only a few of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s executives, including Minhyuk, knew that Ghost Spear Ben was undergoing the Absolute Gods’ trial. That was why everyone found the situation to be incomprehensible. Especially because this happened long before the Battle of Thrones started.

The Rankers Above Rankers that arrived at the scene saw how everyone was left speechless.

“Miáo, what in the world happened here?” One of the Greek players asked Miáo, who witnessed everything. But Miáo could not say anything.

“Miáo! Miáo!!!”

“Ah. Yes…”

Miáo was the only one that sat on the throne in this place. However, even she was left speechless at Spear God Ben’s overwhelming aura and momentum. Still, they held some hope.

“That attack was a lethal skill, right?”

“Y, yes. That might be the case.”

“That’s a possibility.”

Of course, that rhetoric was truly possible. It was probably a lethal skill, a trick by the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. He was most likely trying to make the enemies confused and forced them to retreat by showing his power with a light swing of his spear.

“That’s most likely the case.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

The rankers nodded in agreement. After all, this was the most credible explanation. But then, Miáo, with a somber look on her face, said, “But, if that’s not the case, then…” Her face turned pale as she continued, “The winds will change in the Battle of Thrones.”

Gulp—

Someone gulped loudly. A single NPC would be able to change the flow of the Battle of Thrones? It would be something that was practically impossible. No one would believe that to be a possibility.

In just an instant, they began to flock to the bridge again. The monsters, the undead, and the rankers that flocked to the bridge were almost at 30,000. But Spear God Ben just walked forward silently.

‘Your Majesty.’

Spear God Ben continued to walk forward, a small smile on his lips. He could only come back because of him. He was able to endure everything because of him. And now that he was here, he would make a stronger kingdom for him. That was right. That was what Ben intended to do.

“Kill him!!!”

Meanwhile, the Absolute Supreme NPC, the strongest NPC in the world, the Lion King was furious. As his anger rose, dozens of named monsters appeared. The Death Knights that blocked Ghost Spear Ben’s path all flew out.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—

The Death Knights’ bodies were split in half, turning into ashes and disappearing into the wind. This was the first shot of the fierce battle ahead of them. To be exact, this was the beginning of a slaughter.

Shwaaaaaa—

Shwaaaaaaaaa—

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

With every step that Ben took, the enemies would turn to ash. Dozens of Death Knights and monsters threw themselves in his path but none of them was able to even reach his vicinity. All of them disappeared into ash with the swing of Ben’s spear.

The spear arts that Ben used was none other than ‘Shadowless Spear’. In the past, Spear God Ben had borrowed the power of Aerdes. But it was just that, borrowing. Now, Spear God Ben had defeated Aerdes. This meant that all of Ben’s powers and skills had reached the level of the gods. Hundreds of monsters and undead disappeared with every step that Spear God Ben took. One of the gigantic bone dragons tried to take advantage of a gap and dived down to bite off Spear God Ben.

“Kihyaaaaaaaaaaaack!”

But Spear God Ben ignored the attack as he continued to knock down the enemies in front of him silently. All he did was raise one of his hands and grab the maw of the gigantic bone dragon, stopping it easily.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

The scene where Ben blocked a bone dragon, which was several tens of times larger than himself, with just one of his hands was already shocking. But then, he suddenly put some strength in that hand and…

Crack, crack, crack—

The bone dragon, starting with its maw, cracked. Its hard and thick bones started to crack, until its entire body collapsed into pieces. Spear God Ben looked at it for a while before finally moving in earnest. He put some strength in his legs and started running.

“Uwooooooooh!”

More monsters and undead turned to ashes that scattered in the wind as Ben swung his spear fiercely.

Flaaaaaaash—

With his spear shrouded in a black light, Spear God Ben jumped to the skies and cast a skill. There was a skill named ‘Exploding Spear’ in the chapters of the Ghost Spearmanship. This skill was an AOE attack skill that could pierce through and make tens and hundreds of enemies explode with a single stab. And now, this strengthened skill, the Spear God’s Exploding Spear, descended upon thousands of the enemy troops.

Slaaaaaash—

When Ben’s spear pierced through one of the monsters’ heads, the black light that covered it began to flow to the ground. Then…

Rumble, rumble, rumble—

…an explosion so loud, as if a nuclear bomb had exploded, occurred on the bridge, devouring the monsters on the bridge and turning them to ashes. With just this Exploding Spear, the 10,000 monsters that filled the bridge disappeared without a trace. Everyone felt their breath stop, their bodies trembling. All would be equal in the face of the descending Spear God. It was like he was telling them: I am the lion, you are the ants.

“Kill him!!!”

The Rankers Above Rankers, whose combined numbers reached around fifty after all eighteen countries sent them, were looking for an opportunity. Although smaller in number compared to the entirety of their troops, their numbers could already support an entire kingdom.

First was America’s Spear Saint, Arendor. He was second in the official global spearmen rankings. He was also the one that could invoke ‘The One like Light’, a power that could instantly double his movement speed and attack speed. Arendor used that power and charged at Ben with fierce momentum. Ben took a step back, easily blocking Arendor’s spear with one hand.

‘We can do it…!’

‘He’s not necessarily the strongest yet…!’

With Arendor at the lead, the Rankers Above Rankers began to attack Ben.

“Sword’s Cry!!!”

Baaaaaaaaaaang!

A sword fell from the skies and exploded on Ben.

“Death Dagger!!!”

This was a one-shot kill skill that added 6,000% additional attack to the world’s top assassin’s dagger, which was aimed towards Ben’s abdomen.

“Magic Explosion!!!”

The ‘Theoretical Mage’, a mage that specialized in ‘stored’ magic, sent his magic explosion in one place and let it explode.

Baaaaaaaaaaaang!

One of the tanker rankers slammed his square shield on Ben’s body. All fifty rankers gave it their all, as if they were raiding a monster that was above their power and strength. They went one step, two steps closer to where Ben was.

Even the Lion King jumped in and joined the fray with his dozens of named monsters, believing that this was their opportunity. The thin cloth that covered the Lion King’s body was torn to shreds as his body grew bigger. The reason why the Lion King was given his namesake was because he could turn into a lion. Upon transformation, all of the Lion King’s stats would increase by 50%, while his attack would increase by 2,000%.

Baaaaaaaaaaang—

The Lion King transformed and turned into a lion and slammed into Ben with all his might.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaang—

Ben’s feet dug fifty centimeters deeper into the ground the moment he raised his spear and blocked the Lion King’s attack.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

The Lion King kept on slamming into Ben, just like a hammer pounding on a nail. When Ben’s feet dug deeper by another twenty centimeters, another round of attacks rained down on him. The enemies surrounded him but they really could not see him clearly because of the dust that flew up from the onslaught of their attacks.

“Haaa… Haaa…”

“Heok… Heok…”

Their ragged breaths rang loudly in the area. But just when all of them thought, ‘Is it finally over?’ while squinting at the place in front of them, something moved from the right side behind them.

“Foolish. You can’t even see me when I’m already in front of you.”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

This was Spear God Ben’s new power. The Ghost Steps, a skill that he had in the past, was a skill that allowed him to do instantaneous movements. But now, this skill has been divided into two parts. One was ‘Ghostly Movements’ and the other was ‘Ghostly Apparition’. And what he used just now was ‘Ghostly Apparition’.

As he looked at the terrified rankers, Ben coldly spat, “Absolute Pinnacle Spear.”

The Absolute Pinnacle Spear was Ben’s strongest lethal skill. It was a skill that he could only use at the expense of his life. But after becoming the Spear God, his Absolute Pinnacle Spear had completely changed. In the skies above them, a spear of light, one that could deal the damage of the Absolute Pinnacle Spear, fell down like a lightning bolt and pierced through the head of the Lion King before stabbing deep into the ground.

Stab—

Baaaaaaaaaaaang—

Then, it exploded.

Spear Master Arendor cried out in shock as he watched the Lion King explode, “It’s, it’s a trap…!”

That was right. It was a trap. They all thought that Ben was not as strong as they thought him to be. Well, to be exact, Ben deliberately showed them gaps in his movements and allowed them to attack him. Like moths to a flame, all of them flocked to him. And it had to be known that the Absolute Pinnacle Spear was a skill that showed greater power when the distance between Ben and his opponents was shortened. A perfect example was the situation that they were in now.

Before Arendor could finish his words, a spear of light had already pierced through his head. Immediately after, dozens of spears of lights fell down from the skies.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab!

The Rankers Above Rankers exploded one after the other and disappeared into ashes! There were only dozens of spears but the damage that it could deal against Ben’s enemies was far higher than the Absolute Pinnacle Spear of the past.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaa—

Around fifty rankers disappeared without a trace. And while he was there, Spear God Ben also made sure to cut down the monsters and enemies that were near him.

“…”

“…”

The entire world held its breath. Even the commentators felt like they would be killed if they so much as dared to breathe.

Then, Spear God Ben walked towards the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s castle, dozens of drones trailing after him. Countless cameras zoomed in on Ben’s face and broadcasted each and every single one of his movements.

The one that became a Spear God. The very same one that killed his enemies with just a single spear. He had created a legend. What would he do after such a feat?

Creaaaaaaaaaak—

The gates of the castles opened and welcomed the arrival of Spear God Ben. Ben continued to walk forward, stopping only in front of the statue of his king.

In the Battle of Thrones, once the king’s statue was destroyed or the king had died, all contributions would be disregarded and they would be marked as the defeated.

As he stood in front of the king’s statue, Spear God Ben stabbed his spear on the ground and looked up. The one that became the Spear God had tears trickling down his cheeks as he said, “Your Majesty, this lowly servant of yours has returned.”

Ben lowered his head, tears still trickling down his cheeks.

‘I’m finally back. I missed you. I missed you so much, my king.’

At that moment, the notifications rang in his ears.

[The Absolute Gods are in awe after hearing the story of the king and his retainer!]

[The Absolute Gods are very ashamed of themselves after tricking and playing around with Ben.]

[The Absolute Gods are giving you their blessings now.]

Then, a bright light burst out and showed the translucent figure of a man. The man looked like he could not understand what was happening for a moment. But when he saw the crying Ben, the man stepped back and slowly knelt down in front of Ben. He reached his hand out and wiped the tears on Ben’s face, saying, “Thank you for coming back, Grandpa.”

“Ah… Ah… Ah…!!!”

The man that appeared was none other than Minhyuk. The Absolute Gods’ blessings lasted for a short while, and Minhyuk’s figure once again turned into light, disappearing as quickly as it appeared.