Leveling Up through Eating-Chapter 1267

Chapter 1267

It was a very delightful turn of events. These soldiers had been reborn under the careful guidance of Brod. They were once weak and became strong after he had hugged, cared for, and even shared his joys with them.

At that moment, the expressions of Brod’s Knights as they ran toward him had grown ugly. They watched as Nerva pulled out the sword that he had stabbed deep into Brod’s heart. Blood spurted out from their commander’s chest and dyed the ground red.

Tears flowed down from one of the soldiers’ eyes as he shouted, “NOOOOO!!!”

One of the soldiers fell as he cried out, “Commander!”

Many also fell on their knees, their expressions dazed and stunned. They could not bring themselves to believe the reality presented to them.

“C-Commander Brod…”

Thud!

Brod fell, yet they tried to deny what was happening before them.

[Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Brod has been killed in battle.]

Alas, they were forced to accept the reality of the matter.

Nerva touched Brod’s cooling body and turned to his army. Then, he gave his orders, “The injury is severe. We shall return.”

The light from the activation of Mass Teleport flashed. The soldiers tried to retrieve Brod’s body at least, but they were too late. The light had already disappeared. Brod had looked at his soldiers until his heart stopped beating.

***

Brod was also human. He was not exempt from feeling the fear of death, the feeling of being sucked into the endless dark and bottomless abyss. Nonetheless, before he could fall deeper, someone pulled him out.

Brod’s eyes snapped open. He was immediately handed the green danryeong[1] and gauze hat, the ensemble that an eunuch had to wear. He was also handed the very rare and valuable Disguise Elixir.

Brod did not even let the Disguise Elixir stay in his mouth; he immediately swallowed it. At that moment, his massive build of two meters shrank until he was only around 170 centimeters tall. Even his face had changed. The disguise was perfect, except for one thing.

“Why is my voice the only thing that did not change?”

“Uhm… Unfortunately, the Disguise Elixir cannot change your voice. Can you not do something about it?”

Brod sighed as he poured another potion on his body.

“Let’s just go with the whole Eunuch with Vocal Cord Nodules spiel.”

“...”

“Let’s see if you’re good at it.”

With the thinnest and sharpest voice he could muster, Brod said, “Your majestyyyyy…”

Nerva looked at him in disgust. “It would be good to keep your mouth shut as much as possible.”

Anyway, Brod became an eunuch just like that.

***

[Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Brod has been killed in battle.]

The battle between the largest troops of the Luvien Empire and the Beyond the Heavens Empire was ongoing in the Egad Plains. As for the one commanding the troops? It was none other than Minhyuk.

When the notification rang, a flash of confusion appeared on Minhyuk’s face. He even wondered if he was mishearing things.

With confusion plastered on his face, he mumbled, “That’s impossible… Brod… Brod is…”

Brod was one of the strongest NPCs in Athenae. Then, he recalled that the one Brod was fighting was Nerva, one of the two mountains that competed with him for the throne.

Kihyeeeeeeck!

A hawk flew down from the sky. It was carrying the parchment that wrote the same news the notification had told him about.

[Commander Brod has fallen in battle.]

“...”

Minhyuk was forced to face the fact that his friend, who had been by his side through thick and thin, had already died. Tears fell from his eyes as reality sunk in.

[Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Brod has died in battle.]

This single notification left the entire Egad Plains and the Beyond the Heavens Empire army shaking.

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[The soldiers are furious!]

[All of their attack power has increased by 11%.]

[Hate and anger are clouding their judgment and reasoning. They have now forgotten their fears.]

[All of their defensive power has decreased by 10%.]

Brod was the Beyond the Heavens’ Sword. He was both a symbol and an icon to the people of the empire. The news of his death almost drove the entire empire crazy. The soldiers, whose eyes were clouded with anger, raised their swords and stabbed the hearts of the Luvien Imperial Army soldiers blocking their path.

[Get back to your senses, Minhyuk.]

Meanwhile, Minhyuk gripped his sword tightly. His eyes had grown bloodshot, and he had lost his reasoning—to the point that he even wanted to go to the enemy camp.

“I will go and kill Nerva right now.”

[Wake up! Get back to your senses, Minhyuk!]

Guardian God Obren’s voice rang in Minhyuk’s ears but it seemed like it had fallen on deaf ears.

Swoosh!

Before Minhyuk could move, Obren appeared in a flash of light and immediately stopped him.

[If the emperor goes on a rampage, then the soldiers will also go on a rampage. Calm yourself and calm your soldiers down.]

[I understand that everyone’s angry because of Brod’s death.]

[This anger fueled everyone and has increased their attack power. For what? Your soldiers' defenses have weakened, and their judgment and reasoning are clouded. Even the executives are in the same state.]

[Yes, this can help us push the enemies back initially. But you know that it will bring us more damage and even lead us to our deaths.]

[I speak as the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s guardian deity.]

[Hand over the right to command the army to me.]

“...”

[Your thoughts are selfish. All human lives are equal. Yet what are you trying to do now? You want to bring death to hundreds of thousands or even millions of people just because a single person died?]

Of course, Obren fully understood their feelings, but that was also why he said those words.

At that moment, a series of notifications resonated all over the world.

[The Pillar Wars will start soon.]

[All of the Pillar Candidates have to join the Pillar Wars.]

[If you choose to decline the participation, then you will be automatically disqualified.]

[All of the Pillar Candidates have to participate in the Pillar Wars. This includes all those with the qualifications to become a Pillar Candidate.]

[Please tread carefully. The heavy attacks of the other Pillar Candidates might bombard participants who choose to participate in the middle.]

The world did not allow Minhyuk to grieve. He knew the burden he had to carry, and although it was painful, he knew what choice to make and what path to take.

[Let us grieve after the war and the Pillar Wars end.]

The trembling Minhyuk only had one choice and was forced to take it now.

[You have given Guardian God Obren the full authority to command your troops.]

Minhyuk immediately returned to the imperial palace, knowing he could not remain on this battlefield.

***

Chaos had judged that he could no longer put off the Pillar Wars.

Although it was called the Eight Pillars, many seats remained vacant. If this continued, the remaining Pillars would be forced to take on the burden of maintaining the world's balance. This was okay as a stopgap, but it would eventually lead to an imbalance. Athenae was currently filling most of the empty seats.

Of course, Chaos also knew that the Beyond the Heavens Empire and the Luvien Empire were at war. Regardless, he was not kind enough to care about a single person’s circumstances.

[The Pillar Candidates participating in the Pillar Wars will now appear.]

One by one, light flashed around Pillar Evaluator Ruba.

Master of Nature Verodun.

Pillar of Death Boleyn.

Strengthener Bragon.

Hegemon King Ellie.

Pillar of Gourmands Minhyuk.

Master of Beasts Harvard.

Paladins’ Pope Eris and many more appeared.

Pillar Evaluator Ruba frowned when he saw King of Races’ Reikan’s vacant position. In the end, he looked away. Nine people were sitting in the position of the current generation’s Pillar Candidates.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk had finally returned to his senses after a quick visit to his imperial palace. Of course, it was difficult for him to compose himself. Regardless, Minhyuk was fully aware that he could exert greater power and influence in the war against the Luvien Empire if he took this opportunity to become a pillar.

‘The moment I become a Pillar, I will be able to obtain the Eight Pillars’ power of Disaster related to the Pillar of Gourmands.’

He would never forget the white flames that bloomed under Helenia’s hands and devoured the 250 million allied troops during that battle. It was nothing short of catastrophic.

‘Perhaps I could create my own Eight Pillar Disaster too.’

That was why he forced himself to tamp down his sadness. He took a deep breath and pushed down any thought of Brod from his mind while he was here.

Ruba unfolded the scroll in his hands and began to enumerate the rules and description of the Pillar Wars.

[Each of the Pillars will be given 50,000 troops.]

[Please defeat two million troops with just your own 50,000 soldiers.]

[The faster you eliminate the designated number of troops, the higher your score will be.]

[The more ally deaths, the lower your score.]

[You can get a negative score. If you have a negative score by the time the Pillar Wars end, you will be deprived of your qualifications as a Pillar Candidate.]

[Pillar Candidates can form alliances.]

[If a group has more allies than the other, then the smaller group will obtain higher scores whenever they kill or defeat the enemy soldiers.]

[The strongest Pinnacle Skill that the Pillar Candidate possesses will be sealed.]

[The acquisition rate of the smaller group will increase depending on the number of allies in the opposing group.]

The sudden appearance of the term acquisition rate left everyone entirely confused. What were they supposed to acquire?

[Aside from the two million enemies you must eliminate, there are also monsters, boss monsters and dungeons available inside the war zone.]

[You can obtain items and unique items from those places yourself.]

[But if you delay killing the two million enemy troops to obtain these items first, your score will be significantly lowered.]

Each of the Pillar Candidates had their essential items. For example, Strengthener Bragon might need reinforcement stones. From what Minhyuk knew, Bragon could still reinforce items without the reinforcement stones. Of course, he still had to get his hands on reinforcement stones for better reinforcement.

Minhyuk could not exert any of his powers if he did not have any ingredients. That was not the case for others. For example, Master of Nature Verodun would have no restrictions like that whatsoever. After all, he did not need any items or ingredients to exert his power.

In other words…

‘I am at a disadvantage.’

Of course, there was always a way.

‘I will go and fight against two million enemies myself.’

On the other hand, Pillar of Death Boleyn and the others might think like this, ‘If they are ordinary soldiers, then it might take a very long time but it’s possible…’

[The average level of soldiers under your command will be at Level 660.]

[The average level of the two million enemy soldiers is at Level 710.]

It seemed like every loophole had been seen through. If the standards were like this, then it was not at a level where the enemies could be killed by the Pillar Candidates alone. The worst part was that the level of their soldiers was lower than that of the enemies.

‘It seems this is not a battle where we must kill two million enemies. Instead, we must endure for as long as we can.’

They were participating in an event with a crazy level of difficulty.

[Once the battle with the two million enemy soldiers ends, you will move on to the next stage of the Pillar Wars.]

[The Pillar Candidates will be warped alongside the surviving soldiers to the next stage. The soldiers will be strengthened at the next stage.]

[In the place where you will be warped next, the Pillar Candidates will have to fight in a war against the other Pillar Candidates with your surviving soldiers.]

[The person with the highest score in the first stage will receive a special privilege in the next stage.]

In other words, the first battle would play a significant role in the second battle.

Pillar Evaluator Ruba grinned like crazy as he looked at Minhyuk. Ruba had suffered a lot from Minhyuk and at this point, he hated the man. Of course, he had a lot of expectations for what was to unfold in this war.

“You can only create an alliance before entering the battlefield. In short, you have to decide who to ally with here. If two people ally, you can command 100,000 troops together. But you have to defeat four million enemy troops. If four people ally, you can command 200,000 troops and defeat eight million enemy troops. And as mentioned before, if an alliance has many people, then a special privilege will be given to the smaller group.”

Nevertheless, there was a reason why Ruba was grinning like a maniac. It was because he had already predicted how the situation would play out.

“Well then, let’s begin. Those who want to ally with someone, please go beside the person you want to ally with.”

At his words, the Pillar Candidates surrounding him began to move. The first to make a move was Master of Nature Verodun.

[Master of Nature Verodun allies with Pillar of Death Boleyn.]

Next was Paladins’ Pope Eris.

[Paladins’ Pope Eris allies with Pillar of Death Boleyn…]

[Master of Beasts Harvard… Pillar of Death…]

Ruba’s grin grew wider and wider by the second.

‘The candidates already know the extent of each other’s powers. Besides, it’s only natural for those who know they don’t have a shot at becoming Pillars to bow down and ally themselves to the one with the most power. Only through that will they be able to enjoy their life of power.’

On top of that, there was a high chance that Pillar of Death Boleyn had already struck a cooperation with all of these people.

In the end, everyone was a bundle of contradictions.

Strengthener Bragon had helped Minhyuk during the Advanced Polling in the past, but today, it was different.

[Strengthener Bragon allies with Pillar of Death Boleyn.]

Minhyuk and Ellie made eye contact at that moment. None of the people present saw how the two nodded at each other. Minhyuk, who had been with Ellie for a long time, understood what she meant.

‘Noona, you’re thinking what I’m thinking, right?’

Ruba and the other Pillar Candidates were surprised when Ellie stepped forward and stood beside Boleyn.

“Will you accept me as an ally?”

Everyone expected that Hegemon King Ellie would ally with Minhyuk. When everyone was confused, she continued, “I have to protect my people and my empire, you know?”

What would happen if Ellie stood firmly on Minhyuk’s side and Boleyn became a Pillar? Everyone knew the answer to that. Anyway, Boleyn welcomed her with both arms. After all, she made the right choice to side with him.

“With the Hegemon King by our side, there’s nothing for us to be worried about.”

All of the pieces of the board were now in place.

Meanwhile, Ruba cackled loudly at Minhyuk’s plight. Even though he did not know what the young man was thinking, he could not help but laugh at him. “Wahahahahhahahaha! Hahahahahahahahah!”

Ruba, who had suffered greatly under Mihyuk’s hands, could stop laughing when he saw that he was left all alone. All of the candidates, except for Ellie, also began to laugh at Minhyuk.

“Hahahahaha!”

“Fufufufufu!”

“You’re all alone? Alone?!”

“Eight of the candidates have allied together and you? You’re all alone!”

Minhyuk looked at all of the candidates laughing like crazy with a gaze filled with contempt and disgust. It was as if he was looking at bugs.

He sneered, “That’s better. Morons…”

“...”

“...”

1. also known as the round collar robe/yuanlingpao in China ☜