He was sliced into two pieces, but it was not him. It was an illusion of him.

S… stone?

Looking at a small stone on the floor, she realized what it was.

It was a cheap item with a simple function of playing pre-recorded visuals under a timer.

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He had already prepared the Illusion Stone, knowing he would have this kind of a conversation with her.

If… If he already knew… and prepared this… that means...

It was all a trick to make her stand on the one "safe" spot in the collapsing temple.

In reality, that was...

Sungjin smiled outside of the temple.

"That is the worst spot."

She could have survived with her level 7 power if she was standing anywhere else, but not on the spot she was standing on.

A normal person wouldn't have been tricked into that spot. Not many people could think like that in a moment of panic.

But she was not a normal person; she was the greatest general of the four kingdoms. But that is also why she was tricked into the spot. ­

They murmured the same words at the same time.

"If your opponent can read three moves ahead, get them on the fourth move."

All Eustasia could see was a gigantic rock covering her sight.

So that is what he is.

She was strong, that was true. But she lost because of only one reason.

He was stronger.

It was as simple as that.

He was level 0, but his intelligence defeated her even in a duel.

This was a great man.

Her head knew that when he defeated the Blood Ruler, but now she was experiencing it and feeling it with her heart.

This man is a great man.

This was the first defeat in her life.

She smiled.

"Ha. It was more thrilling than I expected."

* * *

Chapter 5

The fight was over.

Sungjin confidently strolled back to the waiting room.

"Sungjin."

Ereka calmly walked toward him with a smile and slightly bowed to him.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you for cheering me on," Sungjin answered with a smile.

"Wow! Sungjin Oppa, congratulations!"

Jenna hugged him while flapping her knife tail around.

"Congratulations, Master Sungjin."

Rittier made a deep bow.

"It was an interesting fight."

Sungjin was satisfied. It was more interesting than the other fights where he could win with one or two tricks.

"Well, should we go and find her?"

"Yes. We should cheer her up."

"I don't think she would need cheering up, but yeah let's find her."

They left the waiting room to see Eustasia.

...

Sungjin and Eustasia faced each other outside of the temple while the others stepped back for them and waited.

This was not a real battle approved by the G.o.ds with land at stake. This was a duel that took the form of a mock battle, so the Valkyrie wouldn't come out to give rewards to the winner.

But those material benefits were not the point of this fight. They fought for much more important things: the rights of the people, who didn't have any privileges, to have dreams and pursue their dreams in this world where extras had no right to even hope.

The qualification of Sungjin to pursue his dream of being an Arc Master.

The greatest general of the four kingdoms challenged him, and Sungjin proved his abilities.

"You won."

Eustasia accepted her defeat without any hard feelings

"You fought well."

Sungjin admitted it was not an easy fight.

Beyond the fight, they had a strong connection. They both found the greatest opponent out of the four kingdoms. It was a good fight.

"Here, my sword as promised."

Eustasia handed her artifact, the Sword of Heaven's Will.

It had a golden sheath and a sapphire on the handle. It was a sword of legends decorated by a platinum thread, and it was handed to Sungjin.

An artifact couldn't be handed over or stolen without the consent of the owner. The only way was to kill the owner.

But she just handed it to Sungjin.

"This is the greatest artifact of the four kingdoms as a sword..."

Apart from the sealed magical sword of the Blood Ruler.

"Please take care of it."

"I promise."

Sungjin took the sword.

The sapphire started to s.h.i.+ne with blue light, and the mechanical voice of the Valkyrie echoed in his head.

"Now the G.o.ds have approved you to be the new owner of the Sword of Heaven's Will. Do you want to check the status of the sword?"

Sure.

The capacity of the sword was shown in front of Sungjin.

[Nickname: Sword of Heaven's Will

Crystals needed to activate: 3300

Striking power: 200

Real name: Condition doesn't fit. Can't be disclosed.

Skill: Condition doesn't fit. Can't be disclosed.

Character 1: Condition doesn't fit. Can't be disclosed.

Character 2: Reduce skill reloading time by 40%]

"So this is it."

Sungjin understood why it was called the best sword of the four kingdoms.

It had more striking power compared to other magical swords using the same amount of crystals.

He slashed a bronze statue standing next to the temple.

The statue was cut effortlessly.

"So this is an artifact. It is a different level."

He was sure that it would be even more special if he could unseal the hidden power. Sungjin was curious, but he knew there was no way to know for now because it was clear that the condition was connected to his level.

But only with its dominant striking power, it was already a good weapon for him to fight against other high-level heroes.

Sungjin was compensating his lack of skill with his intelligence and his low physical abilities with his swordsmans.h.i.+p. Having a strong sword with high striking power would make his swordsmans.h.i.+p more efficient.

It was a low price compared to what Eustasia demanded, but the absolute value of it was not low at all.

"Wow, Sungjin Oppa...!"

"Congratulations."

Jenna and Rittier were excited while Ereka was deeply impressed by him.

"It is a great sword."

Ereka felt bad that her friend lost such a nice sword, but she changed her mind realizing it was Eustasia who started the duel, asking Sungjin to give up his dream.

But a true friend should tell her what is right and what is wrong.

It is good that thanks to this fight, Eustasia will throw out her prejudice and approve of Sungjin's abilities and his dream.

"So you will stop telling Sungjin to give up his dream?"

"No. That's a different matter," Eustasia denied. "He has defeated me, but that does not mean he changed the opinions of the other kings and heroes. The alliance of the three kingdoms will make a move soon."

She stared directly at Sungjin.

"I won't talk anymore, as I lost, but do try to stop them."

Her sharp eyes were telling him that he couldn't win anyways.

Sungjin laughed it away and told her, "Clearly the war has not begun. So here's my offer."

"An offer?"

"Join my team."

"Haven't I already told you that I made an oath to my country?"

"I know. But I'm asking you to fight for your people, not for your king."

"I told you to be mine, and now you want me to be yours. Ha. You really want me on your side?"

"Yes."

Sungjin gave a straightforward answer to her cynical question.

"You are an ideal fighter… an archer that can attack from a distance."

On earth, he used to organize his team with different players of different abilities. A distance DPS was one of the key positions.

In this world, there was no ideal team structure since there was a variety of maps and members, but having an excellent archer would be a game-changer.

"The wall of reality is harsh. Don't drown in your dreams and think of how to make moves in reality. Your advice is valid, but if you join me, I can overcome that harsh wall much faster. What do you think? Don't you want to create a world where the lowest person can also live like a human?"

He was saying that he would rather be on a team with her rather than her enemy.

Eustasia stayed in silence for a while after his sincere offer.

Teaming up with this guy... would be great.

She just learned in her fight with him that he was much better than her soldiers. They were all saturated in elitism and proud of their level while they knew nothing about battles.

By having each other's backs and trusting each other, they would understand each other without words. And then they would be able to build up a country… with a Merciful Rulers.h.i.+p for sure.

But that was an impossible dream.

"I admit you defeated me. But don't be ridiculous. Your dream will end up being destroyed the four kingdoms."

"Too bad."

"Next time we meet on the battlefield, we are enemies. Don't forget that," said Eustasia as she turned around.

She walked away as her silver hair moved across her back.

It's okay. I lost, but it was from a successful strategic point of view.

She had to give her sword as a price, but now she knew who Sungjin was. Now she understood what kind of tactics he used to win his battles.

That information was more valuable than her precious sword.

She left in an imposing manner.

Sungjin couldn't take his eyes off of her for a while.

Too bad.

Her abilities and personality, her fit and beautiful body as well—there were many reasons he wanted her to join him.

Oh. No. Not the last one.

Sungjin had a bitter smile. He was a man, and sometimes his lower body part took over his thoughts.

But I won't give up.

He needed more strong members to fight against the alliance of the three kingdoms and to fight the Holy Nation and the Golden Wise King later.

I will win this war before I offer you to join me again.

He thought she left thinking her precious sword was not a huge price to pay to learn about his abilities, but it didn't matter.

While she was studying him, he was also studying her.