The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 270

"...How absurd."

Chwaaaak-!

Liam, who was leading the way, muttered so and drew the sword from his waist, swinging it into the empty air.

The trees in the path of the sword ki that spread as the sword was swung were cut down.

Thud-

Kuk-thud-

The trees with their trunks severed fell to the ground with a heavy sound.

Then, as if a thick fog had lifted, their field of vision widened.

What first came into their widened view was not the demonic beasts that had been continuously attacking them since they entered the forest, nor the purple vines that had clung to them whenever they smelled blood.

"Who are they?"

"Are they the unbelievers?"

"No, that armor... Don't tell me those guys are..."

What came into their eyes was the sight of knights wearing similar attire and similar armor to them.

Of course, there were differences.

The armor worn by the knights who appeared before them had fewer angular parts and more rounded parts than the armor of the Earth's holy knights.

On top of that, the color of the armor was decisively different.

The color of the armor worn by the Earth's holy knights was ocher, symbolizing the earth, but the color of the armor worn by those who had now appeared was a blue that symbolized the sea.

At the sight of the unexpected guests, the Earth's holy knights quietly frowned, clicked their tongues, and brought their hands to the hilts of their swords at their waists.

"That, that blue armor, isn't that the armor worn by the holy knights belonging to the Sea?"

"I heard that the relationship between the holy knights of the Earth and the Sea is bad, but was it bad enough to fight like this?"

"Shh! Hey, you idiots! Don't you have any sense?! Everyone just shut up right now!"

The knights and soldiers, not knowing the situation, watched the confrontation between the two forces with bated breath, their faces tense as they rolled their eyes, trying to piece together their own deductions.

Although their methods differed slightly, such as feigning a strong appearance or conversing with each other, it was clear that they were all agitated by the current situation.

"Quiet."

Seeing this, Liam quietly released the presence he had been hiding and uttered a single low word.

At Liam's words, which spread with heavy internal energy, the confused Earth's holy knights reflexively pulled their hands back from their weapons, and the knights and soldiers straightened their backs and stood at attention.

Cheol-geureok- Cheol-geureok-

Liam, who had suppressed the unrest spreading among his subordinates with a single short word, walked a few steps toward the direction of the Sea's holy knight order.

As Liam walked forward, a person from the Sea's side also walked out, as if they had been waiting.

The two stopped, facing each other, and with them at the center, the two knight orders spread out slightly, creating a small space between them.

"He told us about the tricks you have been playing since he was at the church. So we already knew that you would attack."

The first to speak between the two was Liam.

"But even so, I did not expect you to reveal yourselves so openly and attack."

Liam said so and looked at the man standing in front of him with puzzled eyes.

If the holy knights of the Earth were boars that destroyed everything as they moved forward, then the holy knights of the Sea were sharks that moved without a sound according to the flow of the sea and hunted their prey.

As fast, stealthy, and ever-changing attacks were their specialty, it was naturally more advantageous for them to attack by surprise rather than revealing themselves from the front like this.

But they had chosen not to do so and to reveal themselves from the front.

When Liam questioned this, the man spoke.

"It is not an action with great meaning. It is simply my way of showing you the utmost courtesy I can, within my means, before this battle."

His words were short, but they implied many things.

That this was not an attack carried out of his own will, and that even if it was not his intention, he had no thought of backing down now that the situation had come to this.

At that answer, Liam clicked his tongue.

"This territory is managed by our Earth side. And yet, you, the grand commander of the Sea, have invaded like this, leading holy knights led by a commander-level holy knight... How on earth do you plan to handle the aftermath of this?"

"You must have a good idea already, so I don't know why you're asking."

The man said so and pointed to one side with his finger.

It was the direction Liam had been repeatedly turning his head to look at for some time.

"You feel it too, don't you? What is happening over there right now?"

Liam did not answer and remained silent, but in the current situation, silence was no different from an affirmation.

"Isn't it tremendous? A realm we can't even dare to imagine."

"Seeing that, don't you think we were all mistaken? That we are just workers doing small jobs, and that they are the ones who truly carry the names of Earth and Sea."

At those words, Liam realized what they were thinking and quietly frowned.

"So you're saying that if we deal with the Sword of the Earth here, we will become scarecrows."

At Liam's shocking words, a small stir spread not only among the Earth's side but also among the holy knights on the Sea's side.

"Your understanding is quick."

He did not bother to deny Liam's words.

No, rather, he affirmed them and smiled.

"This time, the Sword of the Sea will kill the Sword of the Earth. If that happens, your Earth faction will become largely nominal, and..."

Grip-

"Then, reaching the power that the Sky monopolizes will not be a dream."

At those words, Liam clicked his tongue as if it were pathetic.

"Of course, as you say, if we lose those in the positions of the Sword of the Earth and the Sword of the Sea, whether it's you or us, our power will be greatly reduced, and we might gain the power to reach the sky."

Liam, having said that, paused for a moment and took a breath.

"But!!!!!"

"Keuk!"

"Ugh!"

He did not imbue it with internal energy.

But Liam's roar spread like an arrow and pierced their hearts.

"Do we look foolish enough to be trampled on meekly in this situation?"

"Any fault can be covered by a meritorious deed."

The man chuckled with a reply that could sound absurd.

"You know it too, don't you? That the situation that has unfolded this time is not ordinary."

"The plan is so flimsy it makes me sigh."

"There is no need for me to explain our plan in detail here, so I won't, but you should probably refrain from sighing."

The man said so and smiled mockingly.

"Don't you think it's too sad for one's last breath in this world to be a sigh?"

As if that were a signal, the two, who had been quietly raising their presence, quickly swung their swords at each other.

In a fleeting moment, the two's swords clashed several times, gnawing at each other.

It was a short exchange, but Liam realized that the skill of the man in front of him was by no means inferior to his own and clicked his tongue quietly.

Although he had spoken proudly, the situation itself was actually very disadvantageous for them.

They had just entered this forest, and although they had moved while preserving their stamina as much as possible, they had gone through several battles.

'On top of that, since we dealt with the traitor, there's a possibility that we are also at a numerical disadvantage.'

To turn the current situation around, he had to cut off the head of the Sea's grand commander in front of him as quickly as possible.

'If not that, then I'll have to hope that the unbelievers will throw this situation into chaos.'

But in Liam's opinion, the unbelievers lacked the power to overturn the current situation, so that seemed unlikely.

Liam slightly distanced himself from him and glanced at the place where the Sword of the Earth and the Sword of the Sea seemed to be fighting.

"Haha! What, are you hoping that the Sword of the Earth will come to save you?"

"Be quiet."

Liam answered so and thought.

'As expected, this idiot doesn't seem to have noticed.'

The fight happening over there was certainly a high-level fight that they couldn't dare to interfere in.

But for a while now, Liam's senses had felt as if there was one more being in that fierce storm.

Something deep and crimson-black, like a bloodstain engraved through countless hours of condensed blood.

As Liam was swinging his sword, feeling an unidentifiable sense of unease, the man laughed inwardly.

They had brought as many troops as possible here with the intention of killing everyone present.

It was no exaggeration to say that this forest was now the den of a huge school of sharks.

But he did not know now.

That above the space they occupied.

"What are these blue guys?"

"Unlike the ocher guys we've seen so far, they're suddenly popping out and attacking."

There were two young dragons with the power to eat sharks.

"I don't know, I'm upset right now, so don't talk to me."

And a giant hawk with the power to hunt even sharks.

"Preparations?"

"Smoothly, sir."

"Good, then we will execute the operation in a moment."

"Yes, sir!"

And that they were not the only uninvited guests who had entered this forest.

(End of Chapter)