Chapter 24 - Welcome, Heroes! (3)

4

There’s a saying.

Above the man who runs is the man who flies.

There’s also this saying.

Beside the hunter who wields a sword is the hunter who wields soldiers.

Words of wisdom from Lord Gongja.

“Hey, what’s that!”

“Huh? Judging by his clothes, he’s a hunter like us...?”

On the battlefield, hunters stopped swinging their swords to turn their heads. Letting their attention wander amid howling monsters was dangerous. Fortunately, though, they had enough breathing room to look away for a moment.

I had personally given them that breathing room.

“O hero!”

The general glanced back and shouted.

“Are you certain this is the right direction!”

The general swayed. So did I. Naturally—we were riding the same horse. He held the reins and drove the horse while I sat behind him.

The ride was awful, but I felt fantastic.

“Absolutely. Keep going straight, then turn right, and you’ll find the Demon King’s corps commander. There are a few monsters around him, but that’s fine. Sweep them away.”

“Oh! Understood!”

Because right now, a thousand soldiers were following behind the general and me.

“All troops, follow me!”

The general raised his command baton.

“The goddess’s hero watches over us!”

“Raaah!”

The soldiers followed him with a roar. A concentrated breakthrough! The troops, who had done nothing but defend until now, pushed back the monster army. Goblins and orcs blocked their path, only to fall helplessly.

“Heh heh.”

That was the minimap at work.

I was advising the general to target only places where the monsters’ forces were thin.

“Ah. Turn right here.”

“Understood, O hero of the goddess!”

Of course, the minimap alone hadn’t earned me the general’s trust. You could say it was thanks to repeating this day. I’d needed to make several preparations.

I’d also witnessed the general’s trauma when I acquired his skill... but let’s talk about that later.

'Status window.'

Right now, I needed to concentrate on the battle before me.

First, the skills. Here was what I’d acquired.

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Name: Kim Gongja

Rank: E

Skills (5/5)

1. I Want to Be Like You (S+)

2. Regressor's Clockwork Watch (EX)

3. Sword Constellation (A+)

4. Goblin High Society (F)

5. Battlefield Insight (B)

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'My new skill is war-related.'

[Battlefield Insight] was, as its name suggested, an ability to read the battlefield. Whether our forces had the advantage or not. Where to strike the enemy to break through. I could sense such things instinctively.

In short, it let me pass for a reasonably competent expert.

'Though the skill isn’t everything.'

Grinning, I raised my sword.

It wasn’t an ordinary sword, nor was it the dagger I’d used to kill myself. Its blade shone with a soft, sacred light. A lion with its mouth open was carved into the hilt. As its silver light pierced the air, soldiers here and there gaped.

“It’s the light bestowed by the goddess!”

“The founder’s holy sword... Ah, our god hasn’t abandoned the empire!”

“Long live the Aegim Empire!”

That’s right.

This sword was the final piece of the puzzle that would let me command an army.

It was the item I’d selected through the God of Commerce’s Protection.

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[Lefanta Aegim’s Holy Guardian Sword]

Rarity: Legendary

Description: ‘Whoever seizes the holy sword shall seize the continent.’ Thus speaks the tale of the founder’s holy sword. Legend says the goddess bestowed it upon the founder of the Aegim Empire. ‘Whoever seizes the continent shall be seized by fate.’

The founder chose a successor and departed. Was it suicide? Was he the victim of treason? In an age when legend and history had yet to part ways, his whereabouts became unknown, and the holy sword vanished as well. Only a single line of prophecy remained as a signpost.

‘On the day fate arrives, so too shall the one who has seized the holy sword.’

The owner of the Holy Guardian Sword receives the absolute support and trust of those from the Aegim Empire.

+

The legendary item’s effect was incredible.

“Long live the empire! Long live the hero!”

“O goddess, protect us!”

“Attack! Sweep away those filthy monsters!”

Their courage multiplied, the soldiers charged.

“Ahh.”

With this skill, I was a hero straight out of legend in the soldiers’ eyes. The NPC general was the one actually commanding, and I was merely an adviser... but it felt as though I personally reigned over the troops.

I felt like I was soaring.

'This is nice. Oh, so nice. Just seeing this makes clearing the hidden stage feel worthwhile, you know?'

—That item is utter crap!

While I soared, the attendant spirit flew into a fit.

—It’s just a slightly sturdy, shiny sword!

'Tsk, tsk. Is being a ghost what makes you so dead inside? It’s a slightly sturdy, shiny sword that makes the NPCs on floors eleven through twenty swoon over me. Understand? NPCs aren’t just tools that hand out quests.'

It was a simple shift in perspective.

'They’re beings you use to clear quests!'

And that idea actually worked.

While other hunters fought and sweated like foot soldiers, I raced across the battlefield with the general, enjoying the breeze.

“Wh-what is that...?”

Whenever we passed near hunters, someone would stare in disbelief. Some were positively horrified.

“Why is he the only one riding with the general?”

“Isn’t he an NPC?”

“Whoa, wait. It looks like he’s actually giving the general orders...”

“No, look at his clothes. He’s a hunter!”

“Who is that guy...?”

Voices of surprise. Voices of suspicion. Voices of envy and jealousy.

The usual reactions when one human looked up at another.

'Ah.'

I was intoxicated.

'This is it. This right here. Ahh, fantastic.'

—... I taught this lunatic aura, and instead of practicing his swordsmanship, he’s enhancing his hearing to eavesdrop on gossip. Zombie, you’re amazing. You really are a zombie...

'What can I do? Honestly, I love it!'

The charge was succeeding. The monster forces fell one after another.

There were signs of a frantic attempt to stop us, but...

“Hup!”

On the left flank, skilled hunters led by the Sword Star were slaughtering orcs.

“Ahaha! Ah, what a moving day! A new battle! A new era! How very...”

“Shut up! If you have time to flap your mouth, kill another goblin!”

On the right flank, members of the major guilds, including the Inquisitor and Viper, were in action.

Both wings of the enemy army crumbled. There were no spare troops anywhere to stop our breakthrough.

CLIP-CLOP! CLIP-CLOP!

Goblins’ skulls cracked beneath the cavalry’s hooves, and soldiers’ spears pierced orcs’ lungs.

“We can win!”

“Follow the general! Follow the hero!”

A charge. Then another charge!

Before long, we had punched a hole in the enemy formation. We were right on the doorstep of the Demon King’s corps commander. He was marked on the minimap by a particularly red dot.

—Go-gorrr.

Looking ahead over the general’s shoulder, I saw a Great Goblin dithering in the distance.

'Hah.'

I scoffed inwardly.

'I wondered what kind of monster the enemy commander would be, and it’s a Great Goblin?'

Of course, it would be stronger than the Great Goblin I’d killed on the fifth floor. It commanded an army of thousands of monsters, after all. But no matter how strong a goblin was, wasn’t it still just a goblin? It couldn’t possibly withstand a cavalry charge that swept everything away at once.

Above all...

[Activating skill.]

I had a skill specifically suited to goblins.

—Gorrrk! Gor!

The Great Goblin raised its staff, urging on the monsters around it. Translated into human language, it probably meant something like, “Stop them, you idiots!”

I bellowed at that Great Goblin.

“Gorrrrk!”

In absolutely flawless Goblin!

—Go-gork?

“Gorrrr!”

—Gorrrk?

The Great Goblin was visibly flustered. With their leader bewildered, the nearby monsters fell into confusion too. Naturally, our troops kept charging all the while. The last hope that might have stopped our charge had vanished.

—Gorrrrk?

The Great Goblin panicked. It seemed to have realized it had been fooled.

But it was already too late, my friend.

I infused the Holy Guardian Sword with aura and swung hard.

“That was a good gorrrk!”

The holy sword cut through the goblin like tofu.

CHOP!

The hard bit the blade briefly caught on as it passed through was probably the monster’s neck bone. Its head flew off before it could even manage a proper scream.

“Oh!”

The general slowed the horse and shouted.

“The hero has slain the monster!”

He wasn’t speaking to me. He wanted the soldiers to hear. He infused his voice with aura, striving to make it carry even through the din of battle.

The aides riding alongside us immediately understood his intent.

“The monster has been slain!”

“The goddess’s hero has defeated the enemy commander!”

From the general to the aides, from the aides to the regimental commanders, and from the commanders to the soldiers under them. The voices rang out again and again, echoing, and those echoes thundered across the battlefield.

“Raaah!”

The regiments answered by waving their flags. Shouts, cheers. On a battlefield where comrades fell dead and monsters charged at them, the soldiers finally cheered.

“...”

I dismounted and suddenly looked around.

My eyes met a standard-bearer’s. He seemed to have lost his left arm in the fighting. With his remaining right arm, he was waving his flag. When our eyes met, the one-armed standard-bearer broke into a broad smile. Then he raised the flag even higher.

Sunlight poured over the grimy flag.

“Long live the Aegim Empire!”

We had won.

“Mop up the remnants!”

“Attack! Attack! Don’t let a single one escape alive!”

The tide of battle had turned completely.

—Kerk, kerrr...

—Grrr!

The monsters, once as fierce as wild beasts, began to flee.

“Huh?”

“Look at these bastards.”

The hunters’ eyes changed. A clash between armies was one thing, but chasing down scattered monsters was a hunter’s specialty. Baring their fangs, the hunters descended upon the goblins and orcs.

“Kill them all!”

The time for hunting had arrived.

The slaughter didn’t last long.

A little later, a voice as immense and clear as the battlefield’s echoes rang inside our heads.

[Stage clear!]

[Today, the eleventh-floor stage has been cleared.]

It was the voice of victory.

[Announcing once again to everyone.]

[Today, the eleventh-floor stage has been cleared.]

Cheers erupted.

“Wooo! Is this for real!”

“Aren’t we seriously way too strong?”

“Long live the Black Dragon Guild!”

This time, it was the hunters, not the soldiers, who cheered. Just as they had in the square a little earlier, some threw their hats in the air, while others embraced.

The eleventh floor, cleared in less than a single day!

It was a tremendous achievement, an advance like a raging wave.

[Counting participants... Count complete.]

[Participant limit exceeded.]

[Selecting the top ten contributors.]

The hunters looked up.

A gigantic list was being inscribed in light across the sky.

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[Clearance Contribution Rankings]

1st. Kim Gongja

2nd. Sword Star

3rd. Inquisitor

4th. Viper

5th. Paladin

6th. Black Witch

7th. Count

.

.

.

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Familiar names appeared one after another.

But as the list neared completion, the hunters began murmuring intensely.

“Huh? First place doesn’t have a title?”

“The Sword Star is second?”

“Kim Gongja... Isn’t that...”

It hadn’t been long since my name was released to the press. It was understandable that people were puzzled. But the confusion was brief. Someone in the crowd shouted.

“Ah, it’s the guy who cleared the tenth floor!”

“Right! They said his name was Gongja!”

“A hunter who hasn’t even received a title from the Tower is first again?”

“Could he be some kind of hidden master?”

Hearing their whispers, the attendant spirit looked sullen.

—Oh, please. Hidden master, my ass. He’s just a slippery little schemer...

'Ready to admit this is an awesome, skill-based game now?'

—I can’t! I won’t!

The attendant spirit turned away sharply. He seemed to be sulking because I still wasn’t practicing my swordsmanship. How should I put it...? This ghost strongly favored fundamental ability over skills.

I smiled wryly.

'I’ll practice swordsmanship before we finish the twentieth floor, so stop being angry.'

—Huh? Really?

The attendant spirit pricked up his ears.

'Yeees, of course. I’m traveling with the Sword Emperor. Would I really finish without learning anything? You made it through the ninety-ninth floor. I should be begging you to teach me the sword.'

—That’s right!

The attendant spirit spun around in the air as though he’d never been downcast.

—Ahh, you finally recognize my true worth, Zombie. You see, the stages were a little different from the Tower you’re climbing now, but in my world, I tore through the Tower like a hot knife through butter. The eleventh floor was just a light warm-up...!

Ah, so easy.

This ghost was so easy to please.

How could he be this easy?

“O hero of the goddess.”

As I watched the attendant spirit floating about, the general approached. His entire body was stained with monster blood. But he must have wiped his face, for a clean smile rested on it.

“We were able to win thanks to you. Truly, you have my heartfelt gratitude.”

“Oh, not at all. We won because everyone did their best.”

“Ahaha.”

The general scratched his cheek, looking somewhat sheepish.

“I worried for nothing.”

“Pardon?”

“Long ago, an oracle came from the temple. The Demon King’s army would arrive, but one day heroes from another world would also be summoned, so we need not worry... Yet I was skeptical. This isn’t their world. Would these so-called heroes truly fight hard for us?”

The general smiled.

“But those were merely needless fears. Allow me to thank you once more.”

He extended his hand.

A handshake. Despite the difference between our worlds, clasping each other’s hands carried a similar meaning. Was it because humans had two hands, in this world and ours alike?

“I look forward to your continued heroic deeds.”

“I’ll do my best.”

We shook hands.

[Calculating clearance rewards... Calculation complete.]

[Granting rewards to the top contributors.]

At that moment, light enveloped me along with the voice.

It wasn’t just me. Light rose from places all over the battlefield. One, two, three, four. Ten beams in all shot into the sky.

[The top contributors will enter the twelfth floor first.]

[The remaining participants cannot enter the twelfth floor until the top contributors have received their rewards.]

[Announcing once again to everyone. The top contributors...]

I see.

The ten who contributed most to the clear would receive their rewards first. I felt sorry for the hunters who had narrowly landed in eleventh or twelfth place, but it was a fairly reasonable system.

Just before the light enveloped me completely, the general spoke.

“Please, take good care of our empire.”

And we were summoned to the twelfth floor.