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Chapter 265: Eastern Conquest Plan 6

Roll. Roll.

Hermion’s elite cavalry troops broke toward Woohyuk’s position.

The hammer and anvil.

The tactic utilized heavy infantry with long spears ranging from 4 to 5 meters in length to press against the enemy’s center formation. By doing this, the more mobile cavalry units would flank and dig into the gap on the opponent’s sides and rear to slowly whittle away at the opponent’s forces.

It was a great tactic, but there was no way Woohyuk, who was an overlord the last time he entered this world, would not know of this strategy.

Furthermore, he had no intention of playing a pure strategy game of cat-and-mouse against Hermion.

‘This isn’t for an empire’s throne, it’s a game for a Divine Throne.’

In order to prove that one could go beyond one’s human limits and transcend, one had to stand firm and overcome a seemingly insurmountable situation as if it was natural.

This was why Woohyuk left Hermion to dig deeper into his camp.

Additionally, he could reduce the overall damage to his allies by directly confronting Hermion.

“Are you the Hero King?” Hermion asked.

“Yes. Who are you?” Woohyuk replied and asked in return.

“I am Hermion Castus, general of the Ancient Aperian Empire!”

Hermion, who had approached Woohyuk’s location, rushed toward Woohyuk with his cavalry.

Seeing this, Leifina stepped forward and tried to stop Hermion.

“Lord, I will stop them!” Leifina shouted out.

“No, I will deal with them directly,” Woohyuk calmly answered.

It wasn’t that Leifina’s skills were lacking, but considering the opponent, it was better if he resolved the situation quickly with minimal loss.

When Woohyuk came out to meet the rushing cavalry with only a few horsemen in tow, Hermion made an interested yet surprised expression.

‘Oh, were you waiting for me on purpose?’

Usually in such a situation, one would try to flee or rush to gather soldiers, but this was the first time his opponent rushed to meet him head-on.

‘If you accept my challenge, I’m more than welcome to oblige.’

Now was the perfect opportunity to overturn the Theresian side’s power inferiority. If all went well, the whole war could be resolved with this single battle.

Thinking up to here, Hermion adjusted his spear and easily cleared the opponent’s incoming cavalry troops.

Slice!

Slice!

Indeed, he was a martial arts legendary master!

However, his cool movements and attacks were easily blocked by Woohyuk.

Ka-Rang!

Blood spilled from Hermion’s mouth after their initial clash.

“Keuk…!”

Even though it was just one meeting of weapons, the overwhelming feeling of pressure that he received from Woohyuk’s attack rippled throughout his whole body.

Even if Marcus’ potential physical abilities were lagging behind the Hero King, this was an unbelievably large gap.

‘Wait a minute, has this guy already reached the power level of a Divine Throne god?’

From Woohyuk’s first appearance, when Hermion saw Woohyuk’s pitch-black wings, he had a strange feeling.

But when he actually met and clashed with him, he could feel the deeper meaning and power that resided in his opponent.

Woohyuk’s power didn’t seem to originate from a contract with the demons or Valkyrie. His power seemed to point towards a higher level of power hierarchy that was acquired by surpassing human limits by himself.

Since Woohyuk wasn’t a god, Hermion surmised that Woohyuk had already reached the level of a demigod.

While Hermion was momentarily thrown into confusion, Woohyuk pushed him back and said aloud, “Are you surprised? Can you hear me, Marcus? I’ve already reached a higher level than your mentor.”

“Your power is definitely great, but I have no intention of backing down,” Hermion, who had taken over Marcus’ physical body and was speaking for him, replied.

Hermion knew that if he lost here, there was no chance of winning the war.

He was like a rat who ate poison, just wasting its time before its eventual death.

In the north, Frost Giants were marching southward.

In the east, the 72 Demon Kings and their armies were quickly gobbling up territory.

In the south, a Vampires Clan was running rampant, raising its forces every second while marching northward.

Thus, Hermion decided that the only option to bring victory was to directly confront the eastward-moving Eastern Conquest forces in the western part of the Theresian Empire.

Recognizing Hermion’s intention to fight to the end, Woohyuk summoned Fenrir, the Frost-Fire Wolf.

“Grrrr!”

“Bite him to pieces, Fenrir.”

If he could cut the enemy’s head right now, he could reduce the damage on his allies in turn.

There were no specific quest restrictions for this battle, nor was there a need for a one-on-one duel like when he faced legendary Paladin Reinhard or Demigod Atreus.

Woohyuk’s main objective was to save time by overpowering his opponent with a swift attack.

When Woohyuk rushed alongside Fenrir for a two-pronged attack, Hermion injected magic power into his spear with a resolute expression.

‘I still have one last card to play.’

Tetratos’ Spear, a mystical weapon Hermion obtained from a ruin while wandering around the continent conducting wars of conquest.

Hermion’s weapon had an unusual ability.

The spear would block all of the opponent’s abilities for 10 minutes if pierced once by the spear.

No matter if he reached the Demigod hierarchy, Woohyuk would lose his advantage against Hermion if all his abilities were blocked.

‘All I need to do is succeed in just one attack.’

Hermion narrowed his eyes and blocked Fenrir’s attack.

Currently, Woohyuk was quickly narrowing the distance while holding Verserios with both hands.

Considering his posture and the position of the sword, Hermion had a rough estimation of how Woohyuk would attack.

Ka-Rang!

Once again, Woohyuk’s sword and Hermion’s spear clashed, causing a tremendous upward current.

Hermion immediately drew back his spear and thrust towards a location that he expected Woohyuk to move to.

However…

Pu-Wook!

Contrary to his expectations, Woohyuk moved in the opposite direction, and as a result, Verserios came out from Hermion’s abdomen region with a blunt, penetrating sound.

“Ugh…!”

“Have you ever heard of Battle Foresight?”

The Bhilante Dagger.

By clearing the quest that started with it, Woohyuk had acquired a Battle Foresight.

It was an ability that allowed one to read and respond to the opponent’s movement in advance.

Of course, in the case of Hermion, Woohyuk could only read a fraction of a second ahead, but that difference was enough for Woohyuk.

“… This is the first time I’ve been so thoroughly defeated and humiliated on the battlefield,” Hermion managed to say through gritted teeth.

“Your strategy was very good. You just met the wrong person.”

The length of the battle may have dragged if Hermion had possessed the body of one of the seven paladins or Eleanora.

With Marcus’s body, who had not yet awakened his true qualities as the Lightlord, there was little to no chance of defeating Woohyuk, even if they had fought a hundred times over.

As a result of his defeat, Hermion’s higher spirit disappeared and Marcus regained full consciousness and control over his body.

“Fuck… Hermion was defeated…”

“You must disappear for the peace of the continent, Marcus.”

Marcus’ atrocities in Woohyuk’s previous life were terrible.

He deified himself, behaved like a tyrant, and slaughtered many innocent people under the guise of a cleansing movement. Essentially, he had practiced genocide and legitimated it through illogical reasons.

Therefore, allowing Marcus to live would bite Woohyuk in the behind later on.

Slice!

As Verserios was swung horizontally, Marcus’ head flew into the air.

Woohyuk picked up the head and announced that the battle was over.

“Waaaa~!”

“The Hero King has cut off the enemy leader’s head!”

The momentum of the Eastern Conquest force exploded.

Meanwhile, the remaining Theresian Imperial forces began to flee with horror.

“Take captive of those who surrender and kill those who resist,” Woohyuk ordered.

The enemy forces they were currently facing were essentially the remaining military force of the Theresian Empire.

In other words, with this victory, the East would soon collapse.

The dream, from his previous life, he had of unifying the Eeth Continent was right in front of him.

Overwhelmed with a sense of purpose and joy, Woohyuk ran with the Eastern Conquest forces toward the capital of the Theresian Empire.

***

After the battle, the Theresian Empire rapidly collapsed.

Emperor-in-line Isakaha III and Emperor Ahar II were poisoned and controlled by Marcus, so they were quickly unseated. Their poisoned status was already beyond recovery. Those loyal to Marcus were later purged or fled to other countries.

Once they heard the news of Marcus’ defeat, the other vassals weren’t willing to give up their lives for the empire. They easily submitted to Woohyuk.

So, after finally conquering the Theresian capital…

“Now, time to divide the spoils.”

Woohyuk decided to give away the things he gained from this war to the Eastern Conquest forces.

Those who fought valiantly and made great strides were rewarded. He also allowed them to remain and settle in the Theresian Empire if they wished.

Meanwhile, Woohyuk decided to take the throne and rebuild the Theresian Empire for a while.

‘Since I have full control over the Eeth Continent, it wouldn’t be bad to become an Emperor for a bit.’

Of course, there were still some minor eastern kingdoms and territories left, but it was only a matter of time before they were subjugated and his sovereignty recognized.

Woohyuk had a coronation ceremony and then summoned the vassals that had served him thus far.

“The world is in my hands,” Woohyuk stated.

There was a conqueror-like spirit in his voice. The vassals took a pose of listening with their heads bowed.

“I subjugated the 72 Demon Kings into Lemegeton, and the Dragon race and Frost Giants are under my control. Of course, there are some Lilith witches running around here and there, but you don’t need to pay much attention to them right now,” Woohyuk continued to explain.

“You are truly marvelous, Your Majesty,” Archmage Allen, standing next to Elven Archer Reina, said aloud.

Now, he recognized Woohyuk as a true monarch king and willing to follow him without doubt.

“But there is still one problem. The epic dungeons,” Woohyuk stated.

“Then, are you thinking about attacking the epic dungeons now?” Irene, who was blankly standing with a pitch-black scythe at her side, asked with a curious expression.

Woohyuk nodded his head.

“Yes. Currently, there are two epic dungeons located in the east. One in the Lioness Kingdom and the other in the Vulcan Kingdom,” Woohyuk explained.

“That’s east and south of the Theresian Empire. Which one do you plan to start with?” Leifina asked.

“I’d like to start with the one in the Lioness Kingdom, which is a little closer in distance,” he replied.

The Lioness Kingdom was a popular retreat area for martial artists who wanted to develop their inner chi.

Hwarin was also one of those martial artists in the past. She had chosen Empress Eleanora as her disciple.

However, he didn’t have to concern himself with this detail right now. He just had to focus on the epic dungeon.

“But, I am afraid that a rebellion may occur within the Theresian Empire if His Majesty is gone. It hasn’t been long since the war ended…” Black Knight Bailey mentioned.

“So, I’ve decided to designate a regent who will administer rule on my behalf. I won’t be taking all of you who are gathered here as well.”

As Black Knight Bailey said, the Theresia Empire had not yet been stabilized.

Although Marcus had poisoned or executed most of the former imperial people, there were many who would seek the emperor position if they had the chance.

Woohyuk’s answer to solving this problem was…

“Teehee, I didn’t know I’d be the one managing the entire Theresian Empire? Anyway, thank you for trusting me,” Agares answered coquettishly.

“Wait… are you going to appoint that woman as regent?” Helena asked with sheer terror written all over her face.

Agares, the representative demon of the moderate Demon Kings.

Helena, who had been silent throughout the proceeding, began to get angry as Agares emerged inside the meeting room.

As a member of Etheria Rodinus, Helena inherently didn’t trust demons.

“What’s wrong with her? The Demon Kings subjugated by Lemegeton are no different from my vassals,” Woohyuk remarked in an annoyed voice.

“But…” Helena stuttered, unable to refute his remark.

“Someday, I will sit atop the Demon Lord throne. The power of the 72 Demon Kings will help a lot at that time,” he said, concluding the argument.

If it were the past him, Woohyuk wouldn’t have minded getting rid of the Demon Kings altogether. However, knowing what he knew now and under the current situation, he had no reason to reject the 72 Demon Kings.

Rather, they would be a helpful resource of manpower. He planned to exploit this as much as possible.

Helena gave up after hearing Woohyuk’s argument.

“… Phew, do whatever you want. If anything goes wrong, I’m not responsible,” Helena responded in a tired voice.

“Let your Etheria Rodinus gang focus on stopping the remaining catastrophe,” Woohyuk shot back.

There were still two impending catastrophes to resolve, the Flood and Blood Death.

After hammering in the final nail in the argument, Woohyuk selected the people he would take to the epic dungeon.

“I’m only going to take five of you. It’s on a first-come-first-served basis, so raise your hands quickly.”

“I will go!”

“Me too!”

“Can I go?”

“Please let me go!”

The gathered vassals raised their hands and chattered like little kids at a candy shop.