< Chapter 70 - Guardian of the Nation #2 >
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“Patriotic hero, patriotic hero.”
The third king was not a very good-natured man.
“Your Majesty, you are in a place like this.”
He had no talent for swordsmanship either. He wasn’t particularly smart, nor did he have good judgment or decision-making skills.
“Your Majesty, what should I do?”
But that doesn’t mean he was incompetent.
He may not have been mean, but he wasn’t mean either.
Although he had no talent for swordsmanship, he did not become lazy. He smiled and trained even though he was annoyed that his skills were not improving.
I couldn’t make a decision right away, but I wasn’t indecisive. I just took a long time to think and ponder before making a decision.
Of course, it couldn’t be helped that my judgment was bad.
But the third king, as if he were a substitute, had no useless stubbornness. He listened to those who were better than him when they spoke, and he did not ignore their advice.
“Gong Ho-guk, can I confess to her?”
The third king also had blessings.
My first wife, my childhood friend, lifelong companion, and strong advisor.
“Gong Ho-guk, I became a father. I became a father.”
1. A clever crown princess who resembles the queen and a loyal prince who has no intention of betraying his sister.
“Your Majesty, my father······ my father······.”
On the day the second king met his fate, the third king burst into tears like a child.
The separation from his father was a separation, but he was also afraid of becoming king.
“I would like to hand it over to Daphne right away since she is smart, but… I guess that would be impossible, right?”
The third king, having grown up seeing the second king, knew very well what a king was.
A place where you can do whatever you want.
A position where one can freely wield absolute power.
It wasn’t like that.
The king was the one who led the country.
It was a position that carried great responsibility as well as great power.
“But that’s fortunate. I have a queen… the smart Daphne and Dion… and most of all, the Duke of Glory.”
Even though he was nearly forty years old, the third king always had a bright smile.
Like a child.
Just like the day we first met.
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Kwagagagagaga-!
It was a sword forged through actual combat on the black battlefield of the Guardian King.
So, it was rough and rugged, but at the same time, it was terrifyingly specialized in killing.
‘It’s different from the first sword.’
It’s not that smooth.
It wasn’t even a sword that was so sharp that it reminded me of light.
‘Dirty.’
It’s dirty to avoid and dirty to block.
It’s so difficult to deal with.
That’s why Yuder decided to put it down. It was a fight against a much stronger opponent from the start.
Complete avoidance is abandoned. Some degree of injury is accepted.
“ha!”
With a roar, he wrapped his entire body in the power of the Ultimate Sun God. He activated the power of the life sphere absorbed by the Nine Heavenly Gates, strengthening his entire body’s regenerative power.
‘The ground is crowded.’
The skills of the Guardian King were far superior. His attack power was also terrifying, so if you approached him clumsily, you would end up losing both your regenerative power and everything.
Uder held his breath. He kicked the ground with a golden whirlwind, and pushed the Guardian with his mobility.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The roar of the first wind of trust became a wall of force. The black dragon’s energy was released to the point of being almost wasteful, and the Guardian King cut them down. Princess Daphne couldn’t even think of passing because she couldn’t keep up with Yuder’s mobility, but she didn’t just watch. Every time Yuder’s attack was cut off, she stretched out her sword energy to attract the Guardian King’s attention.
But that only lasted a moment.
The Guardian has adapted to Yuder’s speed.
I started reading Yuder’s attacks and limited Yuder’s movement path with sword strikes, making his attacks simpler.
Blood spurted out.
Uder’s entire body began to turn red.
In contrast to the Guardian King who didn’t have a single scratch, Yuder was covered in blood.
“Uderu …
And at that moment Cordelia cried out.
It was a signal, and without hesitation, Uder pulled out his treasured card.
“Solar sphere!”
An endless light emanated from Uther’s fist.
The Guardian King, who had been expecting an attack, quickly retreated and closed his eyes, and Princess Daphne’s eyesight was momentarily paralyzed and she stepped back.
And Uther flew towards Cordelia. Although Uther couldn’t see ahead either, he had a precise map in his head and he didn’t make a mistake in direction or distance.
It only takes a few seconds to paralyze the Guardian with light.
There was not enough time.
But Cordelia went ahead with the plan she had planned.
“Ahhhh!”
Cordelia absorbed the power of the Holy Sword, and Claude Solas absorbed the divinity of the sun god Solari.
It was a crowd.
Cordelia’s two arms, which were holding the holy sword, were engulfed in pure white flames, and she screamed in pain as if her body and soul were burning.
But Cordelia did not give up. She stayed in her seat even though the pain felt like every nerve in her body was being twisted. She held the hand of Uther, who was sitting right next to her.
“Life Drain, Reverse!”
The magic was activated. The immense divinity of the Holy Sword was transformed into life force within Cordelia and passed on to Uther.
It was absolutely crazy.
The burden and pain placed on Cordelia were multiplied as she had to simultaneously transform divinity into life force and release it.
But Cordelia still didn’t stop.
He continued to transmit his power by spreading his pure white wings wide.
What Cordelia thought.
If the difference in basic specifications is the problem, match the specifications.
Just like we did in the wild lands.
Just as Yuder opened a new gate in the Nine Heavens by absorbing the power of the dragon vein rising from the ground.
In the Temple of Life, Uther opened the gate.
Since the power contained in the Orb of Life was not enough to open the Six Gates, it was impossible to go from the Four Gates to the Six Gates in one go, so Yuder almost died with his body and soul destroyed.
But now.
Now that you are familiar with the Omun, and can absorb the divine power of the Holy Sword, which is far more immense than the Orb of Life, into your life force through Cordelia herself!
“Ahhhh!”
Cordelia cried out. Uther let his consciousness dive deep into his own mind.
It was even more forced than when I first opened the door.
But I had to do it.
If you didn’t do it, the next one wouldn’t exist.
And at that very moment, the Duke of Hoguk opened his eyes. Although his vision had not yet fully recovered, he saw Uder and Cordelia through the blur.
I felt a sense of crisis due to the immense power coming from the Holy Sword.
“ha!”
The Guardian kicked the ground, intending to cut down Uder and Cordelia at once.
At most, the distance of about ten meters was a gap that the Guardian King could close with a single blink of an eye.
But I couldn’t reach it.
Because space has been manipulated.
Because a distance of hundreds or thousands of meters was created between the Guardian and Yuder.
Summer Fairy Queen.
As soon as the battle started, she hid in a corner, but she didn’t just crouch and tremble.
She watched the fight and realized what she had to do.
It was none other than the Fairy Queen’s spatial manipulation.
It was closer to a supernatural power than magic, and the Guardian King was unable to respond as he had before.
“Ahhhh!”
Cordelia continued to scream, and at that moment, a black flame-like energy burst out from all over Uther’s body as if it were exploding.
The Guardian had to make a decision. That was why he turned his gaze away from Uder and Cordelia. He flew towards Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, who were barely keeping their eyes open.
“no!”
The Fairy Queen shouted urgently and tried to perform a new spatial manipulation, but it was impossible. She had poured too much energy into manipulating the distance between Yuder and the Guardian King.
The Duke of Hoguk narrowed the distance between himself and Princess Daphne.
Prince Dion screamed as he opened his eyes with difficulty, and Princess Daphne clumsily swung her sword.
And then blood spurted out.
Princess Daphne’s right wrist, which had been holding the sword, was roughly cut off as if it were being torn off and lifted into the air.
The second sword unfolded in succession.
The second slash by the Guardian Prince, aimed at Princess Daphne’s neck.
The moment it was about to explode, Cordelia took her hand off the holy sword. She collapsed on the floor, and a green light flashed wildly from Uther’s eyes, which were covered in black flames.
But time was running out.
The Duke of Guk-gong’s sword struck Princess Daphne’s long, white neck.
“Protect the country, oh my!”
Moment.
It’s literally a gap in time.
A scream – no, a howl – stopped the Guardian’s movements.
The Guardian, who reflexively stopped his sword, unconsciously turned around with a blank expression on his face and looked in the direction from which the sound had come.
“Patriotic hero, patriotic hero, patriotic hero.”
There was a man there, repeating the same words with his face covered in tears and snot.
He must have been running in a hurry, so his breathing was out of control and his speech was slurred. His knees were shaking as if he might collapse at any moment, but he looked this way and cried like a child, and the Guardian King couldn’t help but look away from him.
“Patriotic hero.”
He said while crying.
He just kept repeating his call as if he were really stupid, but the Guardian could tell. His voice echoed in his head.
Are you lying?
A patriotic person is a betrayer.
You killed the royal family.
It’s all a lie, right?
Right? This time, Justia is wrong?
Yes? Patriot.
Is that so?
Please protect the country.
please.
Please say something, say no. Patriot. Patriot. Please!
The third king.
A guy who has always had a bright smile since we first met.
A guy who gave a tracker to someone who would kill him without even knowing it, and said that he would feel safe if he had a guardian angel.
Henry II sank to the floor, panting and looking pleading.
He wasn’t competent, but he wasn’t stupid either.
When I first came to my senses, the first queen said:
The patriot betrayed him.
That he had become an enemy of the kingdom. That he had killed all the royal family members who had remained in the Great Hall.
Henry II never doubted his queen’s words throughout his life.
But for the first time, I denied her words. I shook off her attempts to explain and ran away.
Because I was scared.
Because if I listened to her, I felt like I would admit that the Duke of Hoguk had betrayed me.
But it was no use.
Because I already knew.
1 The queen knew better than anyone that Justia never spoke nonsense.
But still I couldn’t stop.
But I still couldn’t admit it.
“Your Majesty the Guardian······.”
I burst into tears. I howled like a baby.
And at the sight of Henry II, the third king, the Duke of Gukje felt himself slightly shaken.
Even though I had already made up my mind, my fingertips trembled. For a moment, I felt like I wanted to hide somewhere.
But I didn’t do that.
Because I already drew my sword.
If it had been the third king, Henry II, he would have said he would forgive everything right now, and he actually would have, but it was already too late.
‘No, it’s not a matter of being late or being late.’
It’s not a question of whether it can be reversed or not.
The Duke of Hoguk himself had no intention of returning.
‘I’m getting old.’
He was already in his sixties, close to seventy. No, I don’t know his exact date of birth, so he might have already been seventy.
There are wrinkles on my face.
The tips of my fingers became rough and I felt my energy gradually weakening as if sand was slipping through my fingers.
Since he first returned from the battlefield, he has not neglected his training even for a single day.
But at some point a turning point occurred.
No matter how much I practiced, I didn’t get any stronger. Instead, I just got weaker day by day.
When the sword energy that could be naturally spread can no longer be spread.
When the natural chain of events is now suddenly interrupted and no longer forms a single flow.
I felt more fear than despair.
Because I realized that I was not living, but dying.
‘I don’t want to die.’
A wind that had been forgotten for a while after the war.
He was called the Guardian of the Nation, wore nice clothes, and was trusted by the king, but his fundamentals did not change.
I don’t want to die.
I want to live.
I want to become stronger.
I don’t want to be weak.
A long-legged man who died after being shot in the head with an arrow.
The guy’s eyes were pitch black, as if there was nothing in them.
He spent his entire life on the battlefield, bringing death to countless people.
In the process, I faced death dozens of times.
But it was different then.
It was a completely different situation from back then, when you could survive by killing the enemy first.
It is unavoidable.
No matter what you do, you cannot escape the promised death.
Every day we move towards death, where we cannot see anything, cannot feel anything, and can only be described as nothing.
‘So helpless.’
Like a slave with a leash on.
The Guardian faced reality again.
Now, he was barely twenty years old, and although he had considerable talent for swordsmanship, he was unable to cut down the crown princess with a single sword, as she had not devoted herself to training every day.
Despite all our efforts, we were unable to help a few children.
It got weaker.
It has become so weak.
And even at this very moment, it was getting weaker, just a little bit.
I couldn’t stand it.
I was scared.
I hated this feeling of promised death squeezing my neck.
So, I’m cutting it off.
Shake off shallow relationships.
Kill all the royal family members, destroy the guardian angel, and in return achieve unity with the Great Demon.
Become a mine and escape the promised death.
Break the leash and free yourself from the curse of aging!
“National Defense Minister!”
He didn’t listen any longer. He ignored the cries of the third king, Henry II, and looked at Princess Daphne. He tried to swing his sword again at her as she backed away, glaring as if she was going to kill him.
But that couldn’t be done.
His experience and instinct as a patriot led him to swing his sword in a different direction.
Boom!
He cut down the powerful energy that was rushing in with his sword.
And then I realized. What I just cut down was just an aftermath. It wasn’t an attack or anything.
The advent of Henry II created time.
His screams prevented the death of Princess Daphne, and gave Uther and Cordelia at least enough time to force their way to the finish line.
Cordelia swallowed a groan. She clenched her teeth as she prostrated herself before the holy sword, and even though her body was trembling with pain and agony, she forced herself to raise her head and look at the Guardian. She flashed her fangs as she met his bewildered face.
‘Take control.’
Her voice wouldn’t come out. She didn’t even have the energy to do so.
But the answer came back.
As always, Uther answered Cordelia’s call.
Trust twelve steps ahead of thunder.
Second step.
That which summons lightning is the call of the god of thunder.
And the one force that makes it possible.
The ninth gate of the nine heavens and the sixth gate.
Black sun.
The Ultimate Sun Divine Art became completely one with the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates, thus creating the pitch-black sun.
Yuder raised his head and looked at the Guardian.
I clenched my fist and took a step forward.
And at that moment.
Right then.
A thunderous roar shook the heavens and the earth, and pitch-black lightning struck.
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< Chapter 70 - Guardian of the Nation #2 > End
