Chapter 2021

The mental world was a field skill that provided a favorable environment for the caster and suppressed the enemy. It was particularly useful and prevailed even among the field skills that were exceptionally powerful. The space provided by the mental world was completely isolated from reality. Here, common sense was not applicable. The will of the caster was too strong. Plus, it was impossible to predict the characteristics of the space.

Why?

The mental world was created by reflecting the caster's personality, past, achievements, and aspirations. In other words, it was difficult for enemies to grasp the strengths and weaknesses of the mental world if they didn't know the caster.

[Hmm.]

The cultivators, who were locked in a small room and struggled with Valhalla's army, gradually expressed their displeasure. They were constantly injured and the pain was too vivid. The number of enemies showed no signs of decreasing. The mortals the cultivators thought they had killed before now reappeared and swung their swords.

Ares hid behind the throne and said, "I heard from Grid that no one knows the conditions for opening the mental world."

One day, Grid visited Valhalla to show Ares a dragon weapon. The blacksmith had said that it would be difficult to make a dedicated weapon unless he could peek into the Ares' mental world. He handed over a dragon weapon that had been crafted in advance.

"I told Grid that I have already accessed my mental world. When I said that, Grid's eyes widened in surprise."

The mental world wasn't an ability that one could unlock depending on their class or status. Grid's Apostles, for example... Braham had a mental world when he used to be simply a legend. This was before he even attained the status of a Transcendent, let alone become an Absolute. This was completely different from Piaro, who hadn't been able to unlock his mental world for a long time even after becoming a legend.

"I think the mental world can only be opened if you endure complete solitude or if you shoulder your people's responsibilities."

Most players, including the Overgeared members and Valhalla's elites, were unable to unlock their mental world because it was hard for players to experience complete solitude like Braham, Zik, Mir, and others had done. Their ego and beliefs, which had been formed only by enduring true solitude, would become the core materials of the mental world.

Of course, there were other cases, like Grid and Ares. They were used to shouldering everyone else's responsibilities. This was different from mere sacrifices. It was a prerequisite to protect others and to protect one's own duty thoroughly.

After steadily shouldering the responsibilities that had come with his duties for so long, Ares finally unlocked his mental world while he was in the middle of communicating with the people of Valhalla.

"You cultivators are so selfish that you step on others like bugs. Your obsession with eternal life is so great that you will never be able to create a space like this given your lowly thoughts."

What started as a hasty statement ended with a surprising accusation. The cultivators, who were a bit nervous, reacted sensitively.

[You hide like a rat yet you speak so shamelessly!]

The cultivator who just spoke spat a jade ball from his mouth which struck Luck in the solar plexus. It tore through Luck's armor and flesh and hit the throne behind him.

"An Absolute is launching a surprise attack?"

Luck could've flinched from the terrible pain, but he did no such thing. The moment he was attacked, he gathered his strength and fought back immediately.

[Hngh...]

The multitude of wounds and their anxiety were wearing down even the Absolute-level cultivators. The cultivator who attacked Luck couldn't fully withstand his counterattack and was pushed back one step. He hadn't rested in a long time. This was a huge issue for him. He had to block the swords and spears coming from all directions with his Treasures and didn't have time to retaliate against Luck. His shield shattered immediately.

In a seemingly endless battle of attrition, keeping the shield up at all times was a shortcut to self-destruction.

Luck laughed heartily after landing another attack. He saw how disheveled the Absolute-level cultivator was and gained confidence.

"Haha, this is the power of the fist that punched the sky above the sky!"

"How long are you going to think about what happened when Kraugel's level was reset...?" Ares scolded from where he was hiding behind the throne.

Luck ignored him.

Ares' mental world, Infinite Military Strength, granted his allies one extra life. Contrary to its exaggerated name, he couldn't grant them infinite lives. Plus, Luck had already died once. He could only be resurrected one more time until the system locked him out of the game, so he had to carefully use his remaining life.

As always, Luck ignored the criticism of the carefree old man and concentrated.

Baaaaang!

Luck's ultimate skills hit the isolated cultivator in the face one after another. Several of the generals who died in the battle weren't resurrected. Before they knew it, three of the generals were gone.

[...Oh?]

The cultivators picked up on the generals' dwindling number. They gained confidence and brutally slaughtered their enemies. They became increasingly more wounded the more enemies they beheaded, but they didn't care. They knew that their opponents didn't have infinite lives so they didn't hold back.

The cultivators gradually approached the throne. A green and blue sword cut the throne in half, slashing three cultivators' chests in the process.

This was Ares' ultimate skill. It fully utilized the power of the dragon weapon and the passive skill Great King's Command, which increased his stats depending on the number and level of the allies on the battlefield. Since it took a long time to cast, Ares had no choice but to use it while taking advantage of the cover of the throne. It was a very powerful skill. The three Absolute-level cultivators flinched as blood spilled from their mouths and noses.

"I can't let them get any closer. If they break through here, we will have to sacrifice our soldiers for real..."

The only exit behind Ares wasn't an escape from the mental world. Beyond it was a narrow battlefield where the soldiers who had died earlier were waiting in rows.

Ares sensed their tension and fear since he was the creator of this world.

In that sense...

'This doesn't look too good.'

The situation wasn't very promising.

Cultivators in the realm of great ascension were clearly weaker than immortals, but they were still Absolutes. The difference between them and Transcendents was greater than Ares had imagined. Basically, his ultimate skill didn't do that much. It ended up dealing about 50% of its damage to them.

Ares was equipped with a dedicated weapon that Grid had crafted in the Infinite Military Strength mental world. This meant that the other generals, who were using ordinary dragon weapons, were having an even harder time.

'...Wait, is this really that bad of a situation?'

Ares suddenly thought of a question and looked back on Grid's life.

Just as evidenced by some of the ranking items that could be found on Satisfy's homepage, the method Grid had used to level up was strange. He'd hunted monsters way less than other players. This meant that he had become stronger mainly through raids. Yet he had the highest level in the game and no one was even coming close to him. This was proof that most of the enemies Grid had raided were much higher-level than him.

Yes, Grid had always fought and won against beings stronger than him. Ares didn't know what Grid relied on nowadays, but back then, Grid could do anything because he was overgeared.

Overgeared. Valhalla drew its strength from its connections with Grid.

"Aren't we also overgeared?"

"Huh?"

Ares' voice was very deep and loud. Even if he spoke quietly, his voice echoed everywhere around him. Not even all the noise of the fierce battle could drown out his voice.

Some generals seemed skeptical. Ares sincerely asked them, "Should we lose here?"

His big, round eyes resembling a calf's seemed distant. The innocence given off by his eyes contrasted his imposing physique. The generals sensed a certain type of madness emanating from Ares. They couldn't argue with Ares in this state...

There was only one thing that the generals could say.

"We have to keep fighting since this is an order. We understand."

They regained their will to fight. Gloominess left their faces as the generals organized their ranks and prepared their skills.

[Persistent bastards...]

The cultivators trembled when they realized this was going to be a long battle.

At the same time, on the outside of Infinite Military Strength.

"What is that round thing...?"

The members of the Chivalrous Robbers became agitated as they fought against low-level cultivators when they saw a very large golden dome suddenly devour the battlefield where Valhalla's army of one hundred thousands soldiers were. They couldn't discern what was going on inside the dome.

"Someone released their mental world there."

The intelligence network of the Chivalrous Robbers was excellent. They were able to observe the events occurring on the East Continent without almost any delay. However, there were only a few members who knew about the mental world that only appeared in legends.

Hwang Gildong's expression was very dark as he kindly explained it to everyone else. The Valhalla army was dealing with as many as three Absolute-level cultivators. A horrific massacre was surely occurring inside that dome. Soon, the dome would disappear and it would most likely reveal that there were no survivors.

Old Sword Demon, who just decapitated a Transcendent-level cultivator, said, "Don't worry about that. Just mind your own business. Do you think a mortal who obtained the nickname of God could be easily defeated?"

It was extremely rare for a player to have the nickname God. Except for Grid, who became a real god, there were only Death God Faker, Bow God Jishuka, and God of War Ares.

Old Sword Demon believed in Ares' abilities. Most importantly, he and the rest didn't have time to worry about others right now. The cultivator's blow that grazed the back of Old Sword Demon's head in a moment of distraction sent a shiver down his spine.

In the distance, all types of mystical characters were emerging on the surface of the Full Moon Fortress, which emitted a jade light. This was a sign that the second bombardment was about to begin.

"Already...! Everyone, scatter!!" Old Sword Demon shouted, but it was too late.

The systems activated by the mystical characters had already fired dozens of artillery rounds.

Bang bang bang bang baaang!!

It was hard for Old Sword Demon to keep his eyes open since clusters of light with immense energy lit up in his field of view. But he also couldn't close his eyes.

The cultivators had talismans that made them immune to the bombardment of the formation so they could chase after enemies relentlessly with their Treasures. Even though Old Sword Demon got hit a few times, he didn't counterattack. He ran to protect his allies from the cultivators while swinging his sword.

"O-Old Sword Demon!"

"Get out of the way."

He didn't have the energy to respond to the soldiers who thanked him for his support. There were only around twenty minutes left until he would be forced to log out. Up to this point, he had been fighting tirelessly on the battlefield.

The cultivators focused on Old Sword Demon. They were determined to kill him while the bombardment was still on the way.

'This is my limit.'

Old Sword Demon knew that he was going to die. He suddenly heard someone's voice.

"Heroes must survive no matter what. That way, they can help everyone else."

Old Sword Demon looked up in surprise and saw a blood-red aura staining the world red. This crimson energy was coming from only one person. A white-haired old man was standing with his back to Old Sword Demon. He was the former emperor of the Saharan Empire.

"Juan... der..."

Old Sword Demon recited the name showing above the old man's head.

Juander's energy unraveled like a skein of thread, creating tens of thousands of red threads.

"What...?"

The cultivators screamed. Those red threads cut their arteries. The cultivators tried breaking them with their swords or pulling them out by hand, but that didn't work.

"How can you bear the tyranny of a ruler? Just surrender to it."

By the time Juander had reached adulthood, he was already the ruler of the people. The old man, who had been destined to be an emperor, waved his hand.

The cultivators couldn't fight back. The talismans they had equipped in preparation for the Full Moon Fortress's bombardment were now gone. Juander pushed the cultivators into the sky using the red threads. It just so happened that the bombardment of the Full Moon Fortress had reached the battlefield at that very moment.

"N-No...!"

Baaaaaaang!!

Thousands of cultivators were used as human shields and killed by the bombardment.