Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 572: Battle of the Thrones (Middle)

Alexander was the strongest ranker in Athenae, famous and well-loved by everyone both in the game and in reality. There were even rumors that Alexander had changed from his legendary class: Ghost of the Battlefield, to the God class: God of the Battlefield’s Descendant. This was actually the truth.

At first, America intended to occupy one country after another, unlike what the other countries had planned. However, they changed their minds. America had to win the Battle of the Thrones. They had no need for the honor of second place. If things continued at this rate, the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom would sit on the Supreme Throne. So, America decided to join the alliance. Was it cowardly?

‘In the face of life and death, cowardice is just an excuse that the weak use.’

That was right. To many, fighting inside Athenae was a matter of life and death. Accusing someone of being cowardly when they were fighting for their survival was just plain foolish.

Alexander used his ultimate skill to put a crack on the walls of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. Just like its name, a cataclysm had fallen upon the walls when Alexander swung his sword. After creating the first crack, Alexander used ‘Cataclysm’ once again and finally split the walls in half.

There was no such thing as a castle with indestructible walls. This was especially true when the strongest ‘kings’ of each country had gathered together. All of the kings watched in rapt attention as the dust settled down, waiting for the right moment to slaughter the enemies that were definitely overcome with fear.

But when the dust cleared out, what appeared in front of them was a wall that looked more solid and sturdier than the one before.

“…!”

“…!”

The kings present were all shocked. And it was not just them, even the viewers and commentators from all over the world were also shocked.

“What?”

“H, how…”

“A wall behind a wall?”

They might not know this, but Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had already predicted all of the situations that they would most likely face. The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom was aware that they would be receiving intense attacks from most, if not all, of the participating countries, so they designed a castle with complete defense in mind. The construction of the castle had been led by Olger, Golden Hammer Dwarf Lant’s disciple and one of the best architects in Athenae.

Immediately after the reveal of another wall…

Thud, thud, thud, thud—

Atlas, the City in the Skies, began to descend to the castle. Once the territory settled down, there was only a small gap left on the upper part of the castle walls. The City in the Skies descended to protect the inside of the castle.

“What an extremely grand view.”

“As expected, we should definitely nip Beyond the Heavens Kingdom in the bud before it could even sprout.”

“…So, they knew all along?”

Among the shocked and amazed players, a man was looking around the kings with his mouth twitching. When the kings looked back at him, he said, “I’m close with the Food God.”

“…”

“…”

‘What the hell is wrong with this f*cking bastard…?’

The man’s name was Kentaro. And although Kentaro was smiling, his hands were already soaked with sweat.

‘As expected, your kingdom is strong.’?

Kentaro actually did not have any ill feelings toward Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. He simply joined the alliance to win.

Despite the steadfastness that the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had displayed, the kings did not show a hint of agitation. After all, they were the best rankers in the world and the leaders of their own country.

“All we have to do is take that down, right?”

A Qigong Master used the ‘qi’ or the energy in their body to attack. Not many people chose to become a Qigong Master, since it was very difficult to control and use. However, there was one person that chose to use his ‘qi’ as if he was ‘one with his body’. This person was none other than Greece’s King, Disaster Qigong Master Demetrys.

Rumbleeeeeeee—

The kings were 1.5x stronger than usual. Their skill levels increased too. Just like that, the best Qigong Master, Demetrys, began to gather the qi in the surroundings. The air vibrated fiercely as small debris and stone began to float. The tremendous amount of qi…

“Thunder’s Roar.”

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaang—

…slammed straight into the walls of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, shaking the castle and everything within it.

[Cr, crazy.]

[As expected of Demetrys, the number one in the Qigong Master Rankings.]

On top of that, many of the rankers inside the castle suffered from bleeding ears. But Qigong Master Demetrys did not stop there; he drew the water from the lake surrounding the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom and created a tsunami.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaa—

Thud, thud, thud, thud—

Then, some of the kings stepped forward too.

“Since they’re not going to come out on their own, then let’s just destroy them all together.”

The kings that stepped forward included Vietnam’s King, Master Archer Miào. This time, it was the real body and not the clone. There was also Germany’s Infighter Anton, the strongest in the Global Fighter Rankings. Alexander, who transferred and became the God of the Battlefield. Kentaro, Japan’s Musashi. There was also China’s Master Reflector Xu Jiaqi and other kings from all over the world.

Miào stood at the edge of the bridge and drew the strings of her bow. The moment she released the strings of the bow that were almost the size of her body…

[Great Shot.]

[Hundreds of arrows target the enemies’ vital points with an additional 3,500% attack.]

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

Loud bangs accompanied the hundreds of arrows as they shot at the gaps in the walls. Anyone would be shocked if they were told that this was not the sound of a spear hitting its target. Immediately after, Musashi Kentaro, God of Battlefield Alexander, and Infighter Anton dashed on the bridge. This bridge was not a hindrance to these kings. Hundreds of arrows and magic attacks poured out of the small gaps, so small that not even a head could stick through, on the walls. With a ‘poof!’, Kentaro disappeared and emerged somewhere else, completely escaping the onslaught of attacks. Alexander used acceleration and gained a speed four times faster than usual and broke through the siege of attacks. On the other hand, Infighter Anton, whose defense was four times higher than ordinary players, just dashed straight ahead, as if the damage on his body was nothing at all.

Then, a white light formed on Infighter Anton’s fists. Not long after, Anton twisted his waist as he punched the wall.

[Breaking the Mountains.]

[A 5,500% attack will be added to your base attack, allowing you to break anything on your way.]

Thud, thud, thud, thud—

Just one punch and the towering walls shook. On top of that, a crater was formed on the wall where Anton punched. It was as if a meteor had crashed into it, with how deep the crater was.

“Stop them!!!”

“Stop them all!!!”

Not long after, God of Battlefield Alexander stepped on the walls and rushed toward the skies. Despite the countless arrows and magical attacks raining down from above, none of them touched his body. Even Ali’s Diss was cut in half as Alexander sat on the railings of the walls.

“…”

Ali and Alexander’s eyes met. Then…

[Ghost of the Battlefield.]

[Inside your designated battlefield, you will have a 4x increase in AGI and a 1.5x attack for three minutes.]

…the top of the walls turned into Alexander’s battlefield. Alexander passed by Elpis, Gorfido, and Kimaris, who were trying to restrain him, and only left an afterimage.

“Too, too fast…” Genie mumbled in shock.

Even the Named NPCs could not chase after Alexander as he flitted through the rankers. Although they could not see him there, the rankers were falling one after the other. After cutting down 200 rankers in one go, Alexander jumped down the walls, landed gently on the floor and began to climb up the other end of the walls.

Meanwhile, Kentaro had already sneaked inside the castle.

Fall—

The rankers began to fall and collapse silently.

“What the hell? Keok!”

One of the rankers collapsed, blood spurting out of his neck. Although they tried to roam around and looked for the culprit, they could not find a trace of any intruder at all. Instead of finding the intruder, another of their comrades fell down covered in blood again.

Kentaro silently pulled his katanas from behind him and cast his skill, “Cutting Hay.”

The skill was very simple, yet the effect was beyond imagination.

Piiiiiing—

All of the rankers within twenty meters of Kentaro were cut down by his blade, his movements as swift as light.

“What, what should we do?!!”

“Give us your orders!!!”

“All of the rankers are dying!!!”

“Beyond the Heavens!!!”

“What are we going to do?!!!”

Genie was thrown into confusion. There were only 27 people, yet once these kings stepped forward and attacked the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom in earnest, the entire kingdom was left in chaos. The situation right now was something that completely proved how strength was relative and how, despite thousands of members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom attacking their small number, they could not fight back.

[389 South Korean Rankers have expired.]

[556 South Korean Rankers have expired.]

[South Korea’s NPC Corr has expired.]

[861 South Korean Rankers have expired.]

What was more, Infighter Anton had already broken through the walls and was already starting a mass slaughter of the South Korean rankers, while Master Archer Miào shot down the archers and the mages standing on top of the walls. It was literally a massacre. From what it looked like, the 27 kings were moving around and trampling on ants.

But then, Genie’s gaze turned toward Ares and Khan.

“Uwooooooooo!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaa!”

The two of them charged forward at the same time, Khan going for Infighter Anton and grabbing both of the man’s fists. Meanwhile, Ares grabbed Anton by the waist and dragged him down the walls. Khan immediately jumped down and followed after them.

Baaaaaaaaaang—

Then, another bang resounded from somewhere near. When Genie turned around, she saw Elpis stabbing God of the Battlefield Alexander, grabbing him by the collar, then slamming him down on the ground. On the other side, Gorfido had been stabbed by Kentaro’s sword. But instead of a groan, a smile adorned his lips. Gorfido tied himself and Kentaro together with his chain and pushed themselves onto the ground. One by one, the thousands of members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom hugged and grabbed their opponents and dragged them on the ground. The South Korean rankers all gnawed their lips.

“They dragged them down to minimize the damage…?”

“Why…”

“Wh, why…”

All of them could not understand. The most natural course of action was to survive longer to get more rewards. At the very least, they had to try their best to stay away from the enemies and lengthen the time that they could stay on the battlefield. But instead of doing that, the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom all dragged their enemies down to the ground.

Meanwhile, on the ground beneath the walls, Khan and Ares were fighting against Infighter Anton after separating from him.

“Giant’s Pun…”

Baaaaaaaaaaang—

Khan aimed his fist and punched strongly toward Infighter Anton but Anton struck against Khan’s fist.

Craaack—

“Keuaaaaaaack!” Khan screamed, his other hand immediately holding his now broken wrist.

“Khan…!” Ares shouted, flying up as hard as he could to kick Anton on the face. But Anton immediately grabbed Ares’ feet and slammed his back on his knees.

Crack—

“Keeeeooooook!”

[Your spine has received damage. You will not be able to move.]

Ares, whose back had been cracked and bent, tried to move but to no avail. Realizing that his attempts were futile, he turned to look at God of Battlefield Alexander, who was pressuring Elpis. NPCs were generally stronger than players and Elpis was the strongest. However, the strongest of all the players, Alexander, was now 1.5x stronger than usual. On top of that, Elpis was already exhausted from the long battle from before. Every time Alexander grazed Elpis’ body, he would leave an afterimage and a trail of blood.

“Urghh!”

As for Gorfido, he was under the attack of three kings. His body had been trapped on the ground by the arrows that Miào shot, while Qigong Master Demetrys had immobilized his Ten Thousand Chains and Ten Thousand Sword by manipulating the qigong in the air as Kentaro’s sword stabbed his abdomen.

“Keuhaaaack!”

The members of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom were being thoroughly trampled on the ground below the walls.

‘This is the difference in levels…’

‘Impossible…’

The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom was the pride of South Korean rankers. They had shown their might and dignity by stopping countless invasions and attacks from large armies. But now, they were flailing around, helpless like children.

Khan punched the ground near Ares, who could only twitch his fingers, in frustration, “Damn it! Damn it!” He wanted to believe that they were the best. But with the server integration, they were shown the reality that many people all over the world were far stronger than them. Just like what they were seeing in front of them. The only thought flashing in their minds was, ‘I want to get stronger. I want to protect the kingdom. I want to trample on those arrogant and strong bastards.’

But before that, Khan could only turn to Genie and say, “Genie. Close the gates… Urk!”

Genie, who was standing on top of the walls, made eye contact with Khan. This castle was a defensive castle and it had a special ability. In case of an emergency, the entire castle would be covered with a thick, huge iron armor, and form a perfect defense. Of course, seeing the might of the opponents, there was no chance that it would last long. Genie turned to look at the Korean rankers. The Korean rankers looked at her and nodded, a firm determination flashing in their eyes. Then, she gave her orders, “Open the gates!!!”

“Yes!!!”

Creak, creak, creak, creak—!

Contrary to Khan’s wishes, the closed gates slowly began to open. And when the gates opened, they saw Genie standing in front of tens of thousands of rankers.

“Save the injured and the wounded and crush those damn kings!!!”

Everyone knew that going to the battlefield was tantamount to suicide. But Genie and the Korean rankers already decided. Since it was a losing battle, they should at least fight fiercely and trample their enemies as much as they could. The surviving 35,000 Korean rankers charged forward.

“Wh, what…”

Alexander took a few steps back. They never expected that the Koreans would make such a move. Even Kentaro could not hide his surprise. The 27 kings began to step back from the bridge and pull away from the frontlines.

Even in the past, the unity of the small nation of Korea was strong beyond anyone’s imagination. Finally, the 27 kings and the 35,000 Korean rankers collided.