Chapter 48_ Cork Island

Considering that the basic performance of growth type items were superior to that of general items, this was reasonable.

Every time a growth type item raised its rating, its stats would increase significantly and new options would be added. The contents of the options were determined according to the characteristics of the user, so it was very good for the user. In other words, the lower the rating, the higher the potential of the growth items—from normal to rare, rare to epic, epic to unique, unique to legend, and legend to myth.

If the God Hand increases its rating, it will become dramatically stronger and eventually surpass Greed's myth-rated God Hands in the novel. Also, unlike the first God Hands that Greed had produced in the novel which only receive 30% of their master's strength and dexterity, Lexus' version allows it to produce 100% of Lexus' abilities.

Knock! Knock!

Snapping him out of his daze, Lexus quickly opened the door to see a middle-aged man standing outside. It was Chucksley, one of the knights who guarded the Eternal's royal family.

"Your majesty, there's something that needs your attention."

Lexus wondered what was going on; he followed Chucksley's lead until they reached the royal castle's gate.

"Oh, he's finally here. I can't really stand if it's just a brat who sits on the throne."

The master of the Golden Guild, Seuron.

The Golden Guild.

They were the largest guild after the Snake and Giant Guilds. Their self-esteem had recently soared into the sky. The guild master Seuron had acquired a unique hidden class. He was 70th on the unified rankings during the National Competition, and was now ranked 23rd.

The possibilities for further development in the future were endless. He even prided himself on being able to say that the fighting ability of his class, Soul Predator, was much higher than Pagma's Descendant, who had dominated the rankers in the National Competition before. The Golden Guild had 211 people. As he looked at the people gathered at the gate and the one leading them, Lexus slightly raised his brows.

"Hey Brat. How much more time should I waste? Although your kingdom is wonderful, you're so young to be the king. I guess you should hand it to me. What do you say?"

Listening to his nonsense, Lexus turned his attention to Chucksley.

"Your Majesty, as you can see, they are challenging you to take your rightful place. While we could easily handle these foolish, cursed immortals, I fear that doing so would only make them believe you are a coward who relies on our protection."

Hearing his explanation, Lexus understood the words behind his reasoning. Since he had exposed himself as the Sword Saint, his people believed that he had become too strong.

"You did the great decision of informing me about this."

Lexus said as he stepped forward. "If I ever let the royal knights handle this matter, many people will think that I'm a pushover because I became the king from a young age." Being the youngest king in history throughout the entire West Continent, and having become king at the age of 17, many people saw this as an opportunity to take his throne.

Knowing very well of how opportunistic the players were since most of them has the ambition to be the first player to become a king. If Lexus didn't do anything about it, things like this would just keep happening and make things very annoying for him.

"I don't care who you guys are but all I had to do was fight you, right?"

Lexus spoke nonchalantly toward Seuron. Seeing how he had treated him, Lexus didn't have the slightest liking for him at all.

'I don't have either Blight of Misery or Brilliance since I gave Igris both of them, but luckily I knew I would have the chance to use this.'

Lexus internally thought as he took out an item from his inventory and held it in his left hand.

[Tree Branch]

Rating: Normal

[Durability: 1/1

A normal branch of a tree that can be found anywhere. No special uses.

Condition of Use: None.]

"You're very welcome to challenge me but....Well, this is more than enough."

Knowing that some were recording this or even streaming it on the forum, Lexus decided to show the players that he could not be messed with at all and should not even try to. Seeing the ordinary tree branch, the players thought Lexus was mocking them, but looking at his expression, which was devoid of any emotion, they were left beyond speechless.

A tree branch, not any weapon at all. As a guild leader and someone who ranks in the Unified Rankings, it made Seuron furious to be treated like this.

"Get lost."

The unique skill, Soul Spears, had the ability to deal a deadly blow. It was difficult for even top-ranking players to deal with its attack power, and many foes had been killed instantly. However, Lexus simply swung the tree branch in his hand and destroyed the soul spears with a very bored expression. The eyes of Seuron and the 211 Golden Guild members widened.

Then, Lexus appeared in front of Seuron in an instant. His speed greatly surprised him; he wasn't able to notice or react to it. He didn't even realize that Lexus had stabbed him in the heart with the twig.

[You have dealt 1,800 damage to the target.]

'Hmmm...This level system.'

Seuron's stats were high and the level difference of 100 was too much. The difference between the first advancement and second advancement classes was like the difference between the sky and earth. If a level 99 user was compared to a level 100 user, it seemed like there was just a difference of one level. But the actual difference was 50 levels.

And the difference between the second advancement and third advancement was more than that. The third advancement classes had a skill tree that was comparable to a few hidden classes. The third advancement classes were deliberately set up to be stronger, in order to minimize the sense of deprivation for regular users who didn't have hidden classes.

But he didn't feel discouraged. He had the power to transcend that level difference. Seeing the damage, Seuron's expression paled. The damage that players could deal to him was at 1,500 - 2,800 and they were already equipped with the best weapons they had yet, the tree branch in Lexus' hand dealing more than 1,800 damage.

The difference in damage was huge, and this was just from a tree branch! No, in the first place, how could a tree branch be used as a weapon? This only served to confuse him more. As a Sword Saint, Lexus had the ability to cut anything he saw, even without a sword in his hand, and this ability allowed him to cut Seuron's soul spears with a mere tree branch.

Lexus simply used and enveloped the tree branch with sword energy, allowing him to maximize the attack power by injecting it into an object. In his hands, even a feather could become a sword. However, since it wasn't a sword, the tree branch did not receive the increased attack power if Lexus was wielding a sword from his class, skills, and title effects. Seeing the damage that Lexus had dealt with just a tree branch, Seuron was able to realize this.

'H-He is on a different dimension.'

A named NPC. It wasn't easy to meet them, and it was known to the players that they were impossible to capture. They had a huge influence on Satisfy's world, so it was virtually impossible for a user to win against them. Seuron sensed something and urgently shouted. But it was too late. The ominous prediction was true.

Kwakakakang!

A small twig that was less than 40 centimeters long. Lexus blocked the sneak attacks of the other players from the Golden Guild who came at him from three different directions with a single swipe of the tree branch. He predicted where the opponents would attack and easily responded. The Golden Guild members were baffled. It felt like their minds were being read.

"Hmmmm....Interrupting the fight of your guild master with underhanded tactics....Well it doesn't matter anyway."

Chaaeng!

Lexus pushed away the weapon that made contact with the tree branch and had both arms to be thrown into the air, exposing a gap. The vanguard members that attacked Lexus were level 230. They were higher than the average level of the guild members and yet, Lexus overwhelmed the strength of the players with a stick alone.

No, it wasn't just that. This was just a trick. He maximized his strength by exerting the enemies' original strength. With the stick in hand, Lexus went on a rampage. He narrowed the gap and killed the players at the back before they realized.

"This bastard!"

Having seen their colleagues killed by a tree branch, they experienced fear rather than anger, and could not move due to their shaking legs, which were smeared with the blood of their fallen comrades.

Seuron cursed. He couldn't understand it at all. What the hell was this person? Why was the stick so strong in the hands of his opponent? It was frustrating. He had lost his sense of reason and began to shout curses.

"How rotten! What is this stick? Dammit! Does this make sense?"

His eyes became bloodshot as he couldn't accept that he was one sidedly beaten with just a tree branch.

"Come, I will kill you myself."

He took the souls of the dead guild member with Soul Exploitation, and summoned Soul Arrows.

Pepepeng!

Three soul arrows emanated a green light and were fired. It was a formidable speed however it wasn't at a level that could threaten Lexus. He simply moved his head to avoid the arrows.

Sueron didn't panic. Rather, he smiled.

"Soul Explosion!"

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The three soul arrows that passed by Lexus exploded. It was the moment when a unique skill that inflicted damage in proportion to the caster's attack power and magic power was activated.

Sueron anticipated that the young king would be torn to rags. However, the smoke from the explosion dispersed and the Lexus didn't suffer even a minor damage but instead spoke with an advice to Seuron, "Your skill linkage is delayed. So it's easy to react. Would you like to practice so you can link it faster?"

"Nonsense!"

It was impossible to speed up the linkage of skills. It was fast enough right now. And the timing was perfect. The other opponents normally died from this combo.

'You are the strange one!'

Seuron's pride was wounded. He summoned a weapon from the inventory.

[Brutal Heavy Sword]

It was the weapon he obtained after clearing Vasco's labyrinth with his guild members. It was a legendary one-handed sword that increased the wearer's strength and intelligence simultaneously. It was good since a Soul Predator's skills were affected by both attack power and magic power.

Sueron wielded the sword firmly.

Sparks flew as the sword and stick that Lexus coated with his sword energy collided.

[The durability of Brutal Heavy Sword has been reduced by 46.]

'What?'

Seuron was bewildered seeing that a legendary sword's durability was reduced by a mere wooden stick. Lexus on the other hand,

'He is a good swordsman and his Sword Mastery level is high.'

Soul Predator. The skill tree seemed like a magician type, but it was closer to a magic swordsman type. Seuron strengthened himself with Soul Transference.

Chaaeng!

The enhanced attack power increased Seuron's momentum. The sword became much heavier than before. Nevertheless, he couldn't overwhelm Lexus who moved gently and calmly like water and subdued Seuron.

"Eek!"

Seuron became angry as the fight didn't proceed the way he wanted. But it was a basic thing to not lose consciousness during a battle. He tried to be calm as possible. There was a conflict between reason and emotion. In that moment, reason barely triumphed.

Seuron's sword regained its tranquility.

"I will win! Soul Plundering!"

[Soul Plundering]

Takes away some of the soul of the living target. The opponent who lost a part of their soul will find their body hard to control for a certain period of time.

'A good skill.'

But it's a powerless skill if used against a legend that could resist abnormal status conditions. A transparent green armor was laid over Seuron's armor. Seuron was prepared for the attack that he knew he would face.

Jjeejeeeong!

"Ku...heok!"

'I thought I was stronger...!"

Soul Predator was a combat specialized class that had a variety of useful combat skills. If he was compared to the current Overgeared members and Greed, Seuron was convinced that he was the strongest. But now he realized he still had a long way to go. An NPC was grabbing at his ankles. Maybe he was weaker than he thought.

'I need to focus on levelling up for a while.'

Sueron decided and the guild members also quickly grasped the situation.

'We can't beat him.'

Lexus was an absolute existence. The perfect combat ability combined with high stats was a wall that couldn't be crossed with the users' current level. Seuron bet that even if the 1st ranked Kraugel was in this place, he wouldn't be able to hurt Lexus.

'The user's level must be at least 360 in order to compete with him. Then...'

He gave up on killing Lexus but the decision to end the match was not his. In his despair, he didn't notice that a white flash penetrated his chest.

Magic Missile.

Sueron received a strong pressure from an unseen place. He would've been dealt a more fatal blow if it wasn't for Soul Armor. He barely withstood the offensive and started sweating.

'My Soul Armor was destroyed!'

The damage that Soul Armor Lv. 2 could absorb was 17,300 damage. It was destroyed with one blow and he was also damaged.

[You have suffered fatal damage!]

[You have died.]

"This monster! Keook! How can Magic Missile deal so much damage?"

The astonished Seuron turned his gaze in the direction that the magic came from. There's a golden red hand.

"What is that?"

Hand that could move on its own and fire magic? Even as he started to turn into grey lights after his death, he couldn't understand the golden hand.

"Amazing!"

"His majesty is invincible..."

Chucksley and the knights, and the soldiers were thrilled. The foolish cursed immortals were being one-sidedly with just a tree branch. Lexus truly seemed to transcend human limits.

As soon as he killed Seuron, he received a little amount of experience points from him but as it was added from the experience points he gained from being the master of Igris and Ainz, system prompts appeared.

[Your level has risen.]

[You have reached level 200!]

[Your stats have awakened and the unique features of all stats will improve.]