Chapter 94_ The Truth (2)
"This rudeness!"
"Who are you? Talking like this to the great bloodline that has reigned for hundreds of years!"
The Red Knights immediately became furious while Dulandal remained silent. The imperial prince was interested. He wanted to see how high the great the new Undefeated King evaluated himself.
'I can't deny that he was great just from the pressure around him. He is definitely stronger than Mercedes. However, what could he do alone?'
If the prince compared the power of the Eternal Kingdom and the Saharan Empire, only Lexus had a strength great enough to resist the empire. The empire's overall power was completely dominating. How could this Undefeated King go against the empire that dominated the continent? Didn't he have the power of an individual at best?
'If so… He is a flying bird who can't grasp his enemy. Unlike His Majesty's concern, the emergence of the Undefeated King he was so afraid of isn't someone to be wary of.'
He was an inconsequential opponent who could be easily trampled on. Then Lexus said ridiculous words to Prince Dulandal.
"The Red Knights and the Dukes? I'm looking forward to it. On the day that the empire aims their weapon at me, although I don't want to kill people, that will be the time that you guys will die by my blade."
The Saharan Empire was a huge nation. One city in the empire was equal to the full size of any kingdom but Lexus had never been afraid of them. Dulandal had never been this irritated. Discovering that Lexus looked down towards the empire, it extremely pissed him off.
He was a firm believer that only those who inherited a strong bloodline were destined to reach the peak.
He viewed the world as an aristocrat.
He firmly believed that commoners had no place in this world, and only nobles could rule the world. For Durandal who has the bloodline of the emperor, Lexus who only inherited the bloodline of a small kingdom is an eyesore to him.
The world was just not fair.
With veins on his forehead, Dulandal snapped and angrily said towards Lexus as he unsheathed his sword at his waist after he took off his gloves and threw them at Lexus.
"I challenge you to a duel. You better accept or I'll kill you."
He was furious now. The relaxed and cheesy impression he had a while ago was no longer present. He stared at Lexus with spiteful eyes, but he took a step back from him.
It was essential to hide our emotions, no matter if we were upset or happy for royalty and aristocrats. Such was the life and responsibility of the noble blood.
"Prince Dulandal! Enough with your impertinence!"
Chucksley then began to shout furiously. Although he didn't want to mess with the prince of the Saharan Empire, as a knight, he couldn't let someone have this attitude towards his king.
"Stay out of this! A mere servant dared to talk back to me? This has to do with my honor as a royalty!"
"If you were really finding your honor, you would understand the magnitude of your impertinence right now!"
At Chucksley's retaliation, Prince Dulahan clenched his jaw. Then, he shouted while vigorously shaking his head, "Dammit! Shut up!" After being severely humiliated, it seemed like he was going to stop at nothing.
Lexus raised his hand as he stopped Chucksley while he glanced at the gloves on the floor and looked at him coldly. Dulandal's outrageous attitude isn't out of his expectations.
"I can't hear you clearly but let's decide on the rule first."
Dulahan trembled with a red-hot face, as if he was going to run away at any minute. But Lexus couldn't just let him go like this. Once this opportunity was lost, that would be the end of it and people from the empire would continue to look down on him.
Though he didn't mind being looked down on as he didn't care about it, the annoying attitude of Dulandal of being like this didn't sit well for Lexus.
"Rule?"
"I don't want any rumors of me bullying the weak to spread. So as long as you cry and apologize, I'll spare your life."
Lexus called forth a weapon from his arsenal as Dulandal assumed a stance with his sword. Everyone in the crowd was surprised when the object finally appeared in his hand because it was clearly not a weapon in any way.
"That's the rule."
"How dare you belittle me?"
Yes, it wasn't a sword, spear or any weapon but a wooden stick. Seeing it, Dulandal became incredibly enraged.
"Belittling you? No, I'm not. It's just… This is more than enough."
Lexus calmly replied with a smile, causing Dulandal to release his murderous intent.
[Prince Dulandal is emitting a killing intent.]
[The bloodline of the Saharan Empire that has ruled the West Continent for many years is beyond superior. You are feeling an 'irresistible' fear. Your actions will be restricted for five seconds. Defense and magic resistance has decreased by 23%. Some skills and spells can't be used.]
Seeing the system message and his killing intent, Lexus scoffed.
"How cute."
[You have resisted.]
The crowd also looked at Lexus, some with curiosity and others with worry. Then, there was a single person staring at him with a cold expression that suggested she had different thoughts on the matter.
Prince Dulandal, who confidently raised his sword toward Lexus, shouted, "Raise your sword, not that stick! I will engrave the depth of swordsmanship here today!"
Hearing, Lexus smiled with ease. "It's been a while, this kind of thing." With a tree branch in hand, Lexus mockingly smashed his face with it.
[You have dealt 25,000 damage to the target.]
[You have dealt 25,000 damage to the target.]
[...]
[...]
'Why is his speed so fast?'
Every 1,000 points in agility increased attack speed by 0.1 per second, and maximum movement speed is increased by 30 at 3,000 but Lexus managed to swing his sword sixteen times a second. It was a basic attack. There were no precursors to using a buff or skills.
Every basic strike that he aimed at him was as powerful as an assassin. Lexus combined the attack speed of an assassin and the attack power of a swordsman! Because of this, Dulandal momentarily forgot that he was attacked using a tree branch.
He probably thought that he could never lose. It was natural, since in his mid-teens at the academy in the empire. Everyone gathered there was skilled enough to be selected as the nation's future leaders, since reaching the 'Sword Expert' during early and mid-teenage years was difficult unless they were very talented.
"You are aware that your absurd actions can become a problem between countries, right?"
He looked like he could plant Lexus's face into the ground at any moment if no one was watching.
"Huh? What are you talking about? I thought you challenged me to a duel?"
Lexus became confused for a moment. He was challenged to a duel and when he attacked, Dulandal brought up the matter between the two nations.
"Well it doesn't really matter."
Normally, Lexus would completely destroy his enemy so that he could never hold a sword again. However, Lexus didn't want to scare them too much that could lead them to avoid waging war towards his kingdom.
There were many thoughts that went through his head, but he simply ignored them. There was one way to beat the opponent while completely hiding his skills, and still lead to his enemy having a meltdown.
Thwack!!
It was right then.
Dulandal's body was knocked up in the air, shoved away, and rolled on the floor.
"What happened?"
Silence quickly lurked around because of the hit. The red knights couldn't accept what a tree branch has done towards the imperial prince.
"Ugh?!"
Dulandal's swordsmanship was definitely sharp. His postures were well established, and his sword's movements were quite accurate. However, because Lexus was stronger by immeasurable margin, his actions were too predictable.
With the tree branch down, Lexus took a step toward him and raised his weapon. From the axis of the legs to the shoulders and the waist, it seemed almost impossible to restrain him because it was a sloppy posture that was swung without being properly supported.
In an instant, the blade Dulandal swung up and was deflected away by a tree branch. Lexus heard the sound of gasps from all sides. They still couldn't believe what they were witnessing.
Even those who were proud of knowing the situation seemed to think that Lexus just accidentally struck Dulandal's sword and that such a coincidence would never happen again.
Well.
Paang!
Seemingly unable to let it slide, he lifted his sword towards Lexus. In retaliation, Lexus straightened his legs and hit his forehead that time.
•~×~•
In the S.A. Group's headquarters, the operations team monitoring Lexus as the S.A. Group had been concentrating on one thing.
It was the special event that Pagma's Descendant should experience when they make the 5th legendary item. The monitor changed to Lexus's viewpoint. They were able to see the list of notification windows that were being updated.
[You have proven your potential by making five legendary items.]
[The penalty that occurs when an item's usage conditions isn't met has disappeared.]
[All future items you make will be engraved with your initial 'L.']
However Lexus was no longer just Pagma's Descendant. Just like Sword Saint and all the legendary classes except for the growth type were now just a part of him.
Now that his Undefeated King class became a myth, it was obvious that even greater benefits would be received at the 5th legendary item compared to the special event designed for Pagma's Descendant.
However, the S.A. Group weren't allowed to intervene in the game in principle. It was impossible systematically as well. Not even Chairman Lim Cheolho could do it. All control was placed in the hands of the supercomputer Morpheus in case of unintentional manipulation.
[Your growth has deteriorated due to the blossoming of your potential.]
[The amount of stats acquired when making items will drop.]
[You won't acquire any additional stats in the future when making items with a rare and epic rating.]
[When unique rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +4.]
[When legendary rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +10.]
[When myth rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +25.]
So far, Lexus was awarded +2 to all stats when making a rare rated item, +4 to all stats for an epic item, +12 to all stats for a unique item and +25 to all stats when making a legendary item.
"He now acquires less stats and reputation when making an item. But, isn't this too delayed?" Yoon Sangmin grimly thought. At this point, not even the named NPCs in the empire could compete in terms of stats against Lexus.
According to supercomputer Morpheus' predictions, Lexus should've made five legendary items 8 months ago and not gained as many stats but the fellow deliberately avoided creating legendary items like he was aware of this event.
Yoon Nahee nodded, "That's right. Along with his marvelous amount of stats, his myth class, Undefeated King has a combat ability that is more than thousand times superior to other legendary classes."
[The skill 'Item Upgrade' has been generated.]
At this moment. The monitors of the operating team as well as the development teams started flashing red. It was the signal that a big issue had occurred in the game.
•~×~•
[Item Upgrade]
* Your can increase the rating of your own item by one.
* Can't be used for items that are older than 5 minutes.
* An item can only be upgraded once.
* The amount of times it was possible to use Item Upgrade increases by three every time the skill level of the Ultimate Craftsmanship skill increases.
Number of available uses: 100 / 100.]