“Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Beside the desolate forest, smoke and gunfire filled the air.
Countless silhouettes packed the entire cliff.
An unending horde of barbarian warriors, riding fine horses and wielding crystal-powered rifles, launched a ferocious assault on the Imperial army.
Bang! Bang!
Several well-trained Imperial soldiers raised their long guns, took aim, and with a bang, shot down one of the barbarians.
Peng…
A barbarian warrior, blood blossoming on his chest, toppled from his horse and crashed heavily onto the turf, raising a cloud of dust as his blood soaked the young grass.
Yet, for every barbarian that fell, more fearless warriors surged forward, undaunted by death.
Some wielded cleavers, some raised crystal rifles, and they surged in wave after wave, like a tide, toward the encirclement Colonel Ryan had carefully planned.
Against the human wave tactics, Colonel Ryan’s small force of Elite Troops could barely hold their ground.
“Regroup, regroup!” Colonel Ryan shouted, raising his longsword and charging into the midst of the barbarian horde like a whirlwind, ruthlessly cutting down his enemies.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
In an instant, Ryan was drenched in blood—his enemies’ blood.
His fierce momentum instantly cowed several barbarian warriors trying to break into the formation, halting the first wave of attack.
But that was all.
An eighty-fourth-level professional was strong—capable of standing alone against a hundred.
But before tens of thousands of barbarian warriors, his personal strength was no more than a pebble tossed into a lake, raising a few seconds of splash before sinking beneath the surface.
Since the invention of magitech, those below the Legendary rank could do little in the army.
“This is bad, Colonel—we’re surrounded.” A soldier stumbled to Ryan’s side. “Commander, and the death squads…”
At these words, Colonel Ryan looked back in haste, only to see the Barbarian Supreme King, his Crown Prince, attendants, and countless figures pouring in from all sides, swiftly sealing off all paths around Teresa.
No hope at all.
“No—there’s still hope.” For some reason, a face Ryan had once looked down upon, always wearing a faint, infuriating smile, flashed through his mind. “Green…yes, we still have a chance!”
Boom!
Amid thunderous artillery fire, Colonel Ryan straightened his cap and once more led his men into the fray.
I’m counting on you, Green.
Create a miracle!
All I can do is buy you time.
Before charging the enemy, Ryan looked back one last time at the silhouettes flickering through the dense smoke.
“Hahaha, Lord of the fortress.”
In the very heart of the battlefield, upon the blood-soaked grass shrouded in acrid smoke, the Barbarian Supreme King spoke with calm.
Yet the certainty of victory in his words was heavier than a thousand insults, pressing upon everyone’s hearts.
“Your army is utterly hopeless now.” The Barbarian Supreme King’s gaze fell upon Teresa, his voice as cold and merciless as a judge’s. “Dismount and surrender. Become my son’s wife. Otherwise…”
His eyes focused on the slight figure standing before Teresa like a shield, blocking all malice from the outside world.
“I’ll make this little one’s head into a goblet.”
The Barbarian Supreme King’s words struck Teresa’s heart like a hammer.
Kill Green?
Though they hadn’t known each other long, Green had left a deep mark on Teresa’s heart.
Her Highness the Princess could not bear for the “Bard” who had rescued her from despair and numbness with his healing songs, restored her authority over the fortress in just a few hours, and rekindled hope amid ruin, to die before her eyes.
Thus, Teresa made her decision.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Green…” she murmured, “it seems I can’t keep my promise to name you Grand Chancellor after all.”
Thud, thud.
She leapt down from her mount, and with solemn dignity, walked step by step to stand before the Barbarian Supreme King, raising her head. “Let the others go. As for me…do with me as you please!”
A wave of tragic resolve swept forth.
“Good! Very good!”
The Barbarian Supreme King shouted in satisfaction, his eyes approving as he looked upon his chosen daughter-in-law, apparently pleased with the courage she showed in the face of death.
“Chris, cease the attack.”
The Barbarian Crown Prince raised his horn at the order, but did not blow it. Instead, he locked his gaze on Green, then glanced at Teresa, his eyes flickering, deep in thought.
“Father, before stopping the attack, let me kill this brat!”
Chris hefted his warhammer and pointed it straight at Green.
“You little pretty boy, you’ve been eyeing my woman all along, haven’t you!” Chris swaggered up between Green and Teresa, glaring viciously as he cursed. “Pretty boys like you—useless cowards who just hide behind women’s skirts—are what I hate most!”
Green met the Crown Prince’s provocation with silence.
His eyes turned, quietly calculating the relationship between the Barbarian Supreme King and his son.
Use this guy as a bargaining chip?
From what the king had shown, he seemed to value his heir greatly.
Should I try it?
Though Green was confident he could take down the Barbarian King in one move, and even resolve the entire barbarian army, he couldn’t ignore the casualties it might cause to Colonel Ryan and the precious Elite Troops.
“Hah! Why aren’t you talking, pretty boy? Cat got your tongue, or are you scared stiff?” Taking Green’s silence for fear, Chris sneered, “Want to live? Fine. As long as you kneel before me and chop off your own thing down there, maybe I’ll let you serve as…what do you city folks call it? An eunuch, haha!”
“After all, a spineless waste like you has no use for it, right?”
The Crown Prince’s jeers rippled through the crowd. The Supreme King’s personal guards burst into raucous laughter, and for a moment, the echoes of scorn drowned out the brutal sounds of battle.
“Mr. Green…” Teresa looked at Green in deep worry, her heart heavy.
She understood the barbarians were only provoking Green, but the dignity of a Legendary was not to be trampled.
It’s all because of me!
With a princess’s insight, Teresa knew that for a Legendary, breaking out of an encirclement—even against a professional army—was not hard, especially since the enemy was unaware of his true strength.
So why was Green willing to endure the insults of these barbarians so far beneath him?
It was all for her.
“Could it be…just as that magician foretold? Am I truly a Starborn Calamity, destined from birth to bring misfortune to those close to me?”
Teresa thought of her mother, who died young after being weakened by childbirth.
Of Martin, once promising in the Ministry of Military Affairs in the capital, who was exiled to the border fortress as deputy commander for standing by her side.
And so many others—each with a different fate, but all persecuted because of her.
Finally, Teresa looked at Green’s steadfast face.
“No more, Mr. Green.” Holding back her tears, Teresa resolved to face her fate with courage.
“So…am I just going to give up?”
Just as Teresa was about to step before the Barbarian Supreme King and beg for mercy for the others, Green, silent for so long, finally spoke.
“Commander…Your Highness.” Green’s voice was clear, like sweet rain after a drought, instantly washing away the burden in Teresa’s heart. “As the future emperor, how can you waver from your purpose over such a trifling matter?”
Waver?
But…
Even knowing Green was comforting her, Teresa’s heart, sunk in despair, began to beat again.
She remembered Green’s words about bards crafting miracles.
To make the impossible possible…
“Enough!” Before Teresa could speak, Chris, furious at seeing his ‘fiancée’ talking intimately with another, could bear it no longer. He roared in rage and swung his warhammer straight for Green’s head.
Let’s see how I smash that pretty face to bits!
Chris’s eyes gleamed, eager to see Green crushed by his overwhelming strength, and could already imagine Teresa’s look of shock and awe as she witnessed his might.
Strength is justice!
“Wahahaha!”
The warhammer howled through the air, empowered by magic, exuding a terrifying might that seemed enough to destroy all beauty in the world.
BOOM!!!
White light flashed, completely engulfing Green.
“No—it can’t be?!” Teresa’s eyes widened, her mouth agape. Wasn’t Mr. Green a Legendary? How could he fail to dodge?
Or had she been wrong all along—was he just an ordinary man?!
“Nothing’s impossible, my dear fiancée.” The Barbarian Crown Prince paid it no mind, retrieving his warhammer and stepping toward Teresa. “Come with me, and I’ll show you my might.”
Whoosh—
A chill wind blew, the gloomy weather sending a shiver through Teresa.
If…if Green really was just an ordinary person…
“Then I’d be his killer, wouldn’t I?” Tears welled in Teresa’s eyes, her body trembling. Yet her sorrow only aroused the Crown Prince’s excitement.
“Heh heh, don’t worry, Princess Teresa. I’ll take good ‘care’ of you.”
Chris was about to reach Teresa.
“Cough, cough.”
A fit of coughing.
“Hm?” Chris turned in confusion. Was it his imagination, or did that sound just now…sound like the pretty boy he’d just smashed to ash?
Ash?
Chris rubbed his eyes.
Whoosh—
A cold wind blew, and all was as before.
Green stood there, perfectly unharmed, gently stroking his harp and leisurely plucking its strings.
Ding~~~
“Brave soldiers of the Empire, do not panic. The time for counterattack has come, for as the Barbarian King said earlier, the cleverest hunter always appears as prey.”
Bang!
Green didn’t even lift a finger—just a glance, and the Barbarian Crown Prince was pinned to the ground, unable to move.
“Your Highness, is that any way to treat a guest?” Green stepped on the prince’s head with distaste. The prince’s massive, muscular body and the intricate shamanic runes covering him now meant nothing at all.
Absolute dominance.
“Legendary?!” The Barbarian Supreme King’s eyes turned red at his heir’s plight, and a powerful aura surged from his body. “Despicable city dweller, you have no honor! Attacking my son like a coward—do you mean to threaten me with his life?”
He looked at Chris, trapped in a pit, red-eyed with hatred, unable even to stand—stripped of all princely dignity.
“Well, I did think of it—there’s no such thing as too much cunning in war—but then…”
Green gently plucked the strings.
Zheng~
The melody suddenly shifted, turning from gentle to fierce.
Puh—
The Crown Prince beneath Green’s foot spat blood, his face instantly turning wan.
“You…you…”
Bang.
Even the Barbarian Supreme King, about to curse, lost all his kingly bearing, suddenly feeling a crushing weight on his shoulders that forced him to his knees.
Bang, bang, bang.
It wasn’t just the Supreme King. Countless barbarian warriors, poised to attack the central position, all felt their bodies grow unbearably heavy, as if invisible walls barred their advance.
“Even a Legendary couldn’t…” The Supreme King’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Unless…
Suddenly, the Supreme King remembered an ancient story from his tribe.
Legendary was already the pinnacle of the world—but among the strong, there were even stronger. The Legends among Legends, who stood just beneath the God, and could wield their own Domains—
Legendary Pinnacle!
“Damn it.” A Legendary could only protect themselves against tens of thousands, but a Legendary Pinnacle—those terrifying beings who could bend laws and unleash domains—could create miracles with ease, just as a God could bestow miracles.
What now? Admit defeat?
No, no, no!
The Supreme King refused to give up his dreams.
Suddenly, he remembered the “magitech” gifted to him not long ago by that Cloaked Man, said to break the shackles of the Legendary rank.
He didn’t trust the Cloaked Man, but…
Crunch.
With all his might, the Supreme King drew out a Blood-red Pill and bit down hard.
A surge of overwhelming power threatened to tear him apart, and agony like burning fire wracked his body. Yet his strength soared ever higher.
Legendary…Legendary!
The long-unseen Gate of Gold appeared before him.
“Oohh—OHHH!” The Supreme King stomped his feet and, with difficulty, stood up. “I feel it—I feel it!”
The God of the Hunt, patron of the barbarians for generations, Lord of the Sea of Blood who rules over war, victory, and honor!
Bang—
Blood-red light radiated from the Supreme King. “Despicable city dwellers…”
His eyes burned red. “The real hunt begins now! Men, sacrifice them to honor our ancestors!”
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” Countless barbarians screamed, launching an even more frenzied assault.
As the tide turned, Green frowned.
“Ah.” He didn’t care how the Supreme King had suddenly broken through Legendary—or that the faint aura of a God now lingered on him.
What Green cared about was…
“That fleeting presence just now.” He sighed. “Why does it feel so familiar? Just like…that pollution from beyond the stars?”
Well, looks like I’ll be busy again.