Chapter 285: Chapter 285

However, Su-ho once again raised his sword and blocked Ablain’s attack.

Ablain frowned as he swung his weapon and spoke.

“I’ve ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ traveled through countless nations and seen many knights protecting their lords... but I’ve never seen someone do it in such a ridiculous manner as you.”

“Well, now you have.”

“You saw it just now. Isn’t that enough?”

“Do you have no sense of honor at all?”

“You keep going on about honor, honor... Do you even know what honor is?”

“There’s a saying in food reviews—‘Even if it looks bad, as long as it tastes good, it’s fine.’ In that sense, protecting your lord is true honor. It’s better than abandoning your master and running away. Oh, right—maybe the honor of an invading nation has a different definition?”

“You son of a bitch—!”

Ablain swung his weapon again.

But this time, instead of blocking, Su-ho chose to evade.

He had instinctively blocked earlier, but now he realized even blocking caused damage.

“Physical defense causes damage no matter what.”

Even though his Sacrifice skill had been upgraded to S-rank and the damage was now equalized, mathematically speaking, Su-ho was still taking both his and the princess’s damage—double the accumulation.

So, avoiding attacks was always better when possible.

“What’s even better is ending the fight as quickly as possible.”

So as soon as he created distance, Su-ho didn’t hesitate to use a weakening skill.

[Weakening has been activated.]

It consumed 70% of his mana—but that was fine.

Rather than dragging the fight out trying to be efficient, it was far better to burn his mana to reduce incoming damage.

As the weakening effect took hold, Ablain felt something shift within his body.

Someone of Ablain’s caliber would of course sense such a change.

Su-ho dashed in the moment Weakening was activated and swung his sword.

Ablain, sensing danger, instinctively pulled back his weapon to defend himself.

Their movements aligned perfectly—Su-ho's slash and Ablain’s parry collided in the same moment.

[Steel Severance has been activated.]

[Enhancement is applied.]

[The power of Steel Severance increases further.]

Su-ho’s blood sword, imbued with Enhancement, Holy Enchant, and all other buffs, radiated with energy as it came crashing down on Ablain.

But Ablain was a bit faster.

His weapon was raised perfectly in the path of Su-ho’s blade.

That smug look that said: “No matter how hard you try, you’re still beneath me.”

He was already preparing his next move.

And then—Su-ho’s sword touched Ablain’s weapon.

Ablain’s eyes widened.

What he thought he had blocked was now cutting through his weapon.

But by the time he realized it—

Su-ho’s sword left a long, clean arc across Ablain’s body.

[You have defeated Ablain.]

Su-ho had succeeded in killing Ablain with a single strike.

Ablain’s massive body, cleaved in half, crashed to the ground in two pieces.

The thud was deafening due to his sheer size.

“Finally quiet again.”

Su-ho clicked his tongue.

Then he activated Blacksmith’s Eye to inspect Ablain.

Just like with Bahram, there was no loot field.

His corpse vanished quickly.

Su-ho exhaled deeply.

Then he checked again to make sure the princess was properly secured and began casting his buffs.

[Blessing has been activated.]

[Holy Enchant has been activated.]

[Mana Sense has been activated.]

[Endurance has been activated.]

[Enhancement has been activated.]

[Blacksmith’s Eye has been activated.]

Reapplying buffs frequently as mana allows is always wise.

With his preparations complete, Su-ho gripped his blood sword tightly.

Then he looked up at the enemy soldiers hesitating near the entrance.

“What are you looking at? Not going to come at me?”

But after watching Ablain die right in front of them, none of them dared to move.

Of course they didn’t.

To them, Ablain had been a monster.

And that monster had been slain with a single strike.

Of course they were afraid.

But Su-ho wasn’t about to wait around for them.

He charged toward them, shouting.

“If you won’t come, I’ll come to you!”

“Shield wall! SHIELD WAAALL!!”

The soldiers panicked.

Like they’d just seen a bull charge at them.

But to them, Su-ho was more terrifying than a bull.

His swings made explosive sounds.

After cutting down the first few men near the entrance, he enlarged his sword and began swinging like he was beating them into the ground.

Why enlarge the sword?

To carve a path forward.

If he simply slashed, the pile of corpses would quickly block his path.

“Even if you have to throw your bodies, stop him!!”

“Are you insane?! He’s just one man! You’re scared of one man?!”

Even facing death, they moved.

Was it professionalism?

But the real reason was that they had no choice.

“Do not retreat! Anyone who flees will face severe punishment!”

They had no options—because of the commanders standing behind them.

Their job was to drive the soldiers forward.

Even if it meant cutting down their own men, they had to force the army into the jaws of death.

That was the only way to control such a brutal group.

One of those commanders had his face pierced through.

By the Guiyeong Spear.

Su-ho summoned a new Guiyeong Spear and muttered.

“People babble about honor...”

In any organization, what matters most is the leadership and the rules.

And most of the time, it’s the leaders who make and enforce the rules.

Which means—take out the head, and you break the rules and the system.

That commander? Just a small head.

An army has many heads.

It’s not a single mass, but a collection of squads, platoons, companies, battalions...

But just like you can untangle even the most complex knot if you stay calm, if you take down the heads one by one, eventually the whole organization collapses.

“L-Lord Ailsha is down!”

“Commander Tuhuran too!”

As expected, once the commanders were assassinated, the terrified soldiers began to flee without even looking back. This update ıs available on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒·𝗇𝗲𝘁

Su-ho kept the momentum going.

CRAAASHCRASHCRASHCRASH!!

Su-ho unleashed Bulgasari on the fleeing troops.

Among its skills, Hyper Roll—where it curled into a massive roller and bulldozed enemies—was perfect for pursuit and annihilation.

Bulgasari’s Hyper Roll was like a rampaging train.

Who could possibly stop it?

Thanks to it, Su-ho was able to descend several floors.

Eventually, after passing through a long hallway, he reached the entrance to a massive hall.

The hall was packed with soldiers.

And not just regular infantry.

Archers, spearmen, shield bearers... even a fair number of mages were mixed in.

Su-ho narrowed his eyes.

The royal family’s secret location lay beneath the palace.

And to reach it, he had to pass through here.

Su-ho let out a long breath.

He had to break through.

But his mana was running low.

He checked what he had left.

Barely enough to scrape together.

He’d spent 70% of his total mana on Weakening to kill Ablain, and the rest had been draining constantly from his sustained buff skills.

“Can I break through with this much mana?”

The goal wasn’t slaughter.

But trying to push through with his current mana wasn’t realistic.

Su-ho had to make a decision.

“Didn’t think I’d have to use this so soon.”

He had prepared many tools for this jackpot gate—Forest of the Full Moon.

First, he drank the mana potion he’d brought with him.

[You’ve consumed a Mana Recovery Potion.]

His mana rapidly replenished.

But even so, 15% was the cap.

He wanted to drink more, but he couldn’t.

Even though the world had become game-like after the Great Cataclysm, it wasn’t a literal game.

Take potions, for example.

In online games, characters could guzzle infinite potions and become pseudo-immortal.

Reality wasn’t like that.

“Even aside from getting full, there’s the risk of mana poisoning.”

Even sleeping pills kill people if taken all at once.

Potions weren’t that deadly, but still—if their concentration in the body surpassed a certain threshold, they’d backfire.

The world called it “mana poisoning” or “potion poisoning.”

So recovery potions could only be used once or twice a day at most.

Su-ho had just used that one precious opportunity.

“Not even my real hidden card.”

No way he’d call a potion his trump card. He was too experienced for that.

Su-ho opened his subspace house.

Then pulled out one of the clone soldiers he’d stored inside and activated a skill on it.

[True Blood Drain has been activated.]

He recalled the info for True Blood Drain.

A more advanced version of blood drain.

Separately extracts blood, mana, and innate abilities from the target.

True Blood Drain could extract blood, mana, and innate abilities separately.

In this case, Su-ho extracted mana from the clone soldier.

And it was more than enough.

Clone soldiers were created based on the summoner’s condition at the time of summoning.

Meaning: a clone made while Su-ho was in peak condition was vastly superior to one created while he was near death.

Of course, even then, the clone didn’t perfectly copy Su-ho’s stats.

If Su-ho’s current stat level was 10, the clone would be roughly a 5.

Su-ho had prepared multiple Level 5 clones in advance and stored them in the subspace house.

Codename: “Backup Battery.”

That was Su-ho’s hidden card for the Forest of the Full Moon gate.

Not something he could use often.

The preparation was complex, and the clones consumed massive amounts of mana to summon and maintain.

After draining one clone’s mana entirely, Su-ho had restored over 70% of his mana alongside the potion.

Su-ho spoke to Bulgasari.

“Let’s go, Bulgasari.”

From the high vantage point overlooking the hall, Su-ho leapt with Bulgasari.

[Army Tactics has been activated.]

He activated Army Tactics midair.

Summoning dozens of clone soldiers.

[Hundred Pounds Throw has been activated.]

Hundred Pounds Throw added 60kg of weight.

That weight increased his acceleration.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!

Like a human meteor, Su-ho slammed into the horde of soldiers below, raining destruction across the hall.