Chapter 69_ Sword Saint Biban

Duke Lucilliv had royal blood flowing through him. He was the younger brother of the late King Wiesbaden and the uncle of the current King Lexus. His lineage was the most noble in the Eternal Kingdom. Even without mentioning it, he was still the most powerful man in the kingdom. He was even treated well by the prestigious nobles of the Saharan Empire.

Duke Luciliv then remembered when King Lexus had given him a royal decree. It was to serve as a lowly soldier in the upcoming war with the rebel Viscount Barn, who had over 300,000 men under his command. For Duke Luciliv, it was unacceptable. He was a duke, the one who possessed the highest authority after the king, and yet his nephew had forced him to move.

He could not do anything about it; he did not even have time to react before he was suppressed by a teenager. He was greatly shocked. A person who was several decades younger than him easily overpowered him. His head was boiling with rage at that moment, as his nephew hadn't even given him face and yet, he had become a soldier for the war, unable to resist the power of a legend.

What he didn't know at that time was, all the fifty soldiers that Lexus mobilized were all nobles and knights who all had command roles in the kingdom's military force. Since all of them wore heavy helmets that concealed their identities, none of them recognized each other.

Duke Luciliv clearly remembered the war. Thousands of archers fired simultaneously. Thousands of arrows flew in a curve. All the arrows shot by the rebels simultaneously gained the fire attribute and accelerated. The people who had been suddenly demoted as soldiers panicked as the arrows poured down like meteors.

"Hiik...! B-Block!"

"Raise your shields!"

"If you want to live, hurry!"

The idea of surviving raised the concentration of the soldiers. Thanks to the harsh training they experienced to rise to their former positions, the soldiers moved into rows and succeeded in blocking most of the arrows with their shields. However, there were some people who were unlucky.

"Ack!"

"Ugh!"

The arrows penetrated through the gaps in the shields and struck the soldiers. Some would have been crippled for life if not for the Whitefall Peach that Lexus introduced when he ascended in the throne. The soldiers cried out at the sight of their bleeding comrades. Desire to live once again filled their faces as they used the shields to block the enemy's arrows.

Chaaeng!

Puk!

"Kyak!"

The battlefield filled with sharp screams and the sound of metal clashing was fierce and terrible. It was a pit of grief and anger. Duke Luciliv held a shield and moved among the soldiers.

'This is what soldiers on the battlefield sees...'

He was born a royalty. He received a command role as soon as he entered the military. He always treated his soldiers with great care, despite the desire to win. However, this was the first time he had been in the position of a soldier. Did he enjoy it? No, it was very awful. He didn't know that war was so horrendous in the days when he was the commander who held tens of thousands of lives in his hand.

It was only survival. They were the weak who were afraid of even one arrow. He was avoiding the flying arrows when he was hit by a shield that a soldier was setting up. His eyes widened as his nose became bloody. Beyond the shields, a large rock fired from the enemy's catapult was falling.

"Uwaaaack!"

"R-Run away!"

The screams of the soldiers echoed as they tried to escape from the rock. They pushed other people away as they started to run, including Duke Luciliv.

'So far, I have only experienced a fraction of war.'

Now he knew.

'My nephew, the current king ordered me to be a soldier so that I could experience the life of one.'

All of this happened while Lexus disappeared from the battlefield and fought in the depths of hell. Though none of them perished, the soldiers who had never experienced being one, now knew the difficulties of becoming a soldier that they once ordered to sacrifice their lives as the vanguard.

Although they were stronger than the rebels, they still didn't possess the transcendent strength that could overcome the difference in numbers. They believed that only legends were capable of performing such miracles.

Duke Lucilliv didn't know of this before.

The position of soldiers wasn't something that could be understood by nobles like him. A noble wouldn't think that such a marvelous march could put pressure on the soldiers. In the first place, they believed that people would give thanks just by receiving food.

It was hard to call them incompetent. It was a very aristocratic way of thinking.

'Was I really like that in the past?'

As they were fighting more than thousands of rebels with their lives in the line, Duke Luciliv contemplated his past. As a duke of the kingdom, he had experienced many wars and battles but this is the first time that he had this extreme experience.

As he was remembering the event that happened on that day, Duke Luciliv swore to himself.

'I will be a commander who knows the heart of the soldiers. I won't forcibly sacrifice the soldiers. I will come up with a strategy to win the war with a minimum of sacrifices.'

It's not just him. All the knights and nobles that participated in the war against the rebels pledged to themselves. Of course, they all witnessed the massacre that their ruler has created. Every step he took made him seem like he teleported a few meters.

Until finally he passed all the men and got to the area he was standing in. Yet that wasn't the most shocking part, the most shocking part was the moment he passed them by. The heads of the rebels that he passed by suddenly detached from their bodies.

•~~~•

In the throne room, Lexus was leisurely seated on the throne after his return from annihilating the rebels. In front of him, stood the knight who held the position of the first knight under his command.

"How's the situation with the criminals?"

Hearing Lexus' calm voice, Dovie who was currently kneeling in front of him, respectfully answered him. Even though she was wearing a knight's armor, you could still somehow see her wonderful figure.

"Thanks to you, your majesty. The crime rate in Reinhardt is zero."

Lexus smiled. Not even a single criminal activity remained in the capital city of his kingdom. Even the status panel of the kingdom said so. Now that was left were the other fiefdoms.

"How about the involvement of the corrupt nobles?"

While he allowed 50 people who held command roles in the kingdom's military forces to experience what it felt like being a consumable soldier, Lexus let Dovie lead the operation to eliminate the evil doers of the kingdom. Knowing Dovie's rumored personality, there was no need to include her among the 50 people, as her personality wouldn't allow even a single soldier to be sacrificed.

"With the united efforts of both royal knights and soldiers, along with the leads you provided, we were able to track them down and sentence them to death without any casualties on our side."

Dovie spoke firmly. There was a hint of pride in her voice, as they had struggled quite a bit to carry out his commands, given that the corrupt nobles had thoroughly hidden themselves within the eyes of the royal family for centuries. Lexus' eyes held a cold glint; the nobles he mentioned were the ones who had ordered some bandit groups to burn and plunder numerous rural villages, and sell the people they kidnapped as slaves.

Lexus did not like their methods and had forbidden slavery throughout the kingdom. He didn't care about the greedy nobles who benefited from human trafficking through politics. He just used a bit of tyranny to force them. Some also had connections with numerous criminal organizations that they utilized for their personal gain, while thoroughly harming the peaceful lives of his kingdom's civilians.

In his eyes, they were just weak and pathetic people who didn't know their place. Trashes that didn't value human life in the slightest. For these bunch of fools, he had no intention of showing them any mercy. For his soon-to-be Kingdom of Heroes, all filth needed to be filtered out. The king needed to cut down those nobles who were leeching off the kingdom.

"Good work."

Hearing Lexus, who was seated on his throne, praising her, Dovie smiled beautifully. The joy of being acknowledged for her hard work brought satisfaction deep within her.

"I alone is not worthy of your praise, your majesty."

Dovie said. She didn't handle the tasks alone; she had collaborated with her comrades. Although she was happy to receive her king's compliment, her conscience couldn't tolerate it knowing that she was only the representative reporting their combined and collaborative hard work.

During the process of executing those orders from their benevolent king, the royal knights and royal soldiers experienced dozens of life-and-death battles because the corrupted nobles who were found guilty in their crimes resisted to the extreme. That's why she felt unfit to be praised as if she had executed it all by herself.

"Kuahahaha!"

Suddenly, Lexus heart fully laughs.

"Your majesty?"

Dovie was confused as to why he suddenly laughed; she could sense that he was somehow in a good mood.

"Pardon me. I just found it cute that you're being humble."

"Eh~?"

Hearing him, Dovie made a meek voice. She was caught off guard when Lexus mentioned that she's being cute. Although she still had her stoic expression, trying to maintain her dignity as the 1st knight, she couldn't hide her ears that were slightly red.

'No, I am a knight. How dare I be receiving this treatment from his majesty...'

Despite being flustered internally, Dovie decided to finish her report. She didn't know why she felt so embarrassed at the moment.

"I'll take my leave, your majesty. Well..... anyway. That's everything from my side, your majesty."

She couldn't take it anymore. For the meantime, she wanted to hide herself from the corner, not wanting her king to see her embarrassed self.

"Heh, go on."

Seeing her retreating in panic, which was very unlike her, Lexus smiled. Receiving his consent, Dovie elegantly stood up and respectfully bowed, then left the throne room, returning back to her other duties. The moment he was left alone, the teasing smile on his face disappeared. It was replaced by an emotionless expression.

「 Hey, kid. 」 ²*

「 My liege. 」 ²*

He then heard four different voices through Sage Link from Braham, Madra, Elder Lich Mumud and Death Knight Pagma.

"I know."

In a certain distance, Lexus could feel an incoming transcendent presence. Although he wasn't certain, his Keen Intuition detected it. Just then, his expression stiffens. An unidentified, suspicious person was suddenly standing right beside him.

"Hmmm. I'm surprised."

Lexus widened his eyes in surprise. Before he could notice anything even his heightened senses due to his super sensitivity, the voice already entered his ears.

"To think that a Sword Saint like me had already appeared after hundreds of years. It's a shame though that you're still at the basic level of transcendence but considering your age, I'll consider you a talent that emerges once in a thousand years."

The mysterious man suddenly showed interest in him and pointed his finger at a specific part of Lexus' body.

"Hoh, you had a great foundation."

Then...

[You have been affected by the "silence" state!]

[Usage of all skills will be restricted.]

[You are unique among the legends. You have resisted.]

As the notifications were appearing in his vision, the man spoke.

"Don't think about anything else. I just want to measure the pioneer of this era."

When he mentions the word pioneer, Lexus now had a slight idea of the man's identity. Good thing was that his Keen Intuition has alarmed him with this man's presence in advance which gave him a reason to make Dovie leave the throne room in a poor and immature way.

A member of the Tower of Wisdom!

"Can I even win against you?"

Lexus questioned. He was certain. The forceful attitude from this man, no, the Sword Saint in front of him was more than hundreds of levels above his current level. But level wasn't the problem; both his stats and items meant that he had already transcended the limits of his level.

"Well, I'm might be senile already but no. My skills aren't rusty yet."

The man said certainly. There's no doubt in his voice.

"Fine. I'll try to entertain you!"

Despite being tensed, Lexus had a smile on his face. The man in front of him was a monster. Someone who's battle prowess was immeasurable but still, he was looking forward to fighting this man.