Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 1062

To ward off the fatigue and get rid of his sleepiness, Changwook went to get a shower. After leaving the shower, he thought, ‘Minhyuk seems to be sleeping well.’

Not long after, the hushed sounds from the TV caught Changwook’s attention.

[Hundreds of millions of players are decorating the world with the light of their access.]

[It’s not over yet.]

[Many players are logging back into the game to protect Athenae!]

[Breaking News! The many players who couldn’t get to the passageway opened by the Beyond the Heavens Empire are now gathering in the kingdom closest to where the fierce battlefield is being held.]

[Their number is much higher than the number gathered previously by the allied forces. However, given their average level is only at Level 580, they are infinitely weaker.]

[If it’s only up to me, I will also run there immediately.]

Changwook soon saw the man everyone was waiting for, sitting in front of the TV and trying to figure out the current situation.

***

We’ll still die anyway. This was the response of more than 90% of the players when they saw the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s announcement about creating a passageway connecting their empire to the battlefield.

One of the players asked his friend, who was standing next to him, “Hey, you already know that you’re going to die here, so why did you come? You just hit Level 500, right? If you’re forced to log out here, then you’ll suffer from a level down, no?”

The friend smiled faintly and said, “You’re at Level 600. Wouldn’t the damage you will receive be much greater than mine?”

“So, why did you come here?”

The friend looked at the breathtaking view of the battlefield before them. “I just… want to protect it.”

“Me too…”

I want to protect it.

What did they want to protect? Those words carried a lot of meaning.

Bathump– bathump–

Ellie, whose heart was beating fast, looked behind her. The people behind her were not wearing capes carrying the same symbols. They also weren’t standing in straight lines like well-trained soldiers. There were even some who came from another continent.

There was someone who came for the NPCs waiting for their family to go back home.

There was someone who came to protect this game, the game that became their only shelter and home.

Some came solely because they wanted to come.

She felt a fire burn in her heart when she saw these people standing there without anyone forcing them to. Ellie was fully aware that they would die more quickly than the allied forces that they had gathered. Why? because they were all from varying backgrounds and levels.

Even though they were holding their swords bravely right now, they might soon feel fear and frustration once they finally stood before the vast wall, and reality would slap them in the face later.

Nevertheless, a cry still welled out of Ellie’s mouth. “For the…”

Ellie squeezed the last of her strength as she raised her sword and pointed it at Helenia. Then, with bloodshot eyes, she shouted, “...future!!!”

At her cry, those who were prepared to die charged forward.

Anyway, we’re players. It’s okay to die, no?

This should be the thought running through their heads. But that was not the case at all. They thought and felt they were on a real battlefield.

Like a vast tidal wave, the players flocked toward the Sky Knights. Ellie felt grateful at the sight. Nonetheless, there were other problems. The more than a million monsters that Barbarian had sent to the summoning room before now reemerged.

Even though their numbers were constantly decreasing with every swing of the Sky Knight’s swords, they continued to fight. It did not matter if they fell. Someone behind them would step up and take their place. Even if they were trampled on like ants, they still fought. None of them had any regrets. Thanks to their efforts, the high-rankers could reach the Sky Knights.

Genie, Locke, Ares, Khan, Ascar, and the other high-rankers quickly approached the Sky Knights. One of the Sky Knights’ eyes released a flash of light that made Genie disappear without a trace. Despite the penalty, Genie appeared in the sky above them again. Her whip wrapped tightly around the Sky Knight that they were targeting.

“Now!!!”

The Sky Knight struggled fiercely. In its struggle, Khan was forced to log out. But Khan immediately appeared in the sky above them with his skill Giant’s Fist already being cast.

Bang–!

Khan hit the Sky Knight with all his might, its body forced to lean on one side from the impact of the blow. Just when the Sky Knight tried to swing its blade to counter and kill Khan, Ares appeared and swiftly kicked it on the chin.

“Ascending the Heavens.”

Shwaaaa–!

The players immediately held onto the body of the Sky Knight.

Slash–!

During that time, Ascar successfully cut the long tube hidden behind its neck.

Drip, drip, drip–

Green blood flowed out of the tube.

Flash–!

Despite the sparks coming off its body, the Sky Knight could still send a final attack. It cut Ascar down and fired a blinding ray of light that killed tens of thousands of people.

Bang–!

Finally, the Sky Knight broke into pieces and exploded.

Genie shook her head after breaking just another one of the Sky Knights. “We can no longer resurrect again.”

Their levels had been pushed back to the Level 600 threshold now. Each of their levels had a decrease of at least fifteen levels. If they fell below Level 600, the privileges that they obtained from Level 600 would disappear. This meant that they would weaken further. If that happened, then it would be meaningless for them to log back in. After all, they wouldn’t be able to fight against the Sky Knight at that level anymore.

[Akhan: My level has dropped to Level 357. I can only use Regress one last time.]

And now, even their NPCs could no longer be revived. Their situation had suddenly turned very dire.

Genie looked around. Fortunately, the other high-rankers could destroy five other Sky Knights just like they did.

‘But that doesn’t mean we have a chance at winning.’

Now, the death of the Beyond the Heavens’ vassals would be their actual death. Meanwhile, meteors fell from the sky, rapidly reducing the number of players.

“These bugs!” Barbarian shouted furiously when he saw that they had lost six Sky Knights.

The Sky Knights were the weapons they had prepared to kill the gods of the Land of the Gods. Helenia and Barbarian believed eleven were enough to deal with these bugs, but the situation told them that was not the case at all.

“Oh? Then, let’s try it one more time.”

Dozens of Sky Knights fell from the sky once again and dragged mankind to the depths of despair once again. Of course, Barbarian had prepared more Sky Knights. After all, they created them to deal with thousands of gods, no? There were a total of fifty Sky Knights in Barbarian’s hands.

[Light Festival]

[The Sky Knights will now hold a festival of light.]

Flash–!

Lights fell from the sky non-stop and burned down hundreds of millions of players.

Of course, the players would not just stand there and wait for their deaths. Athenae had various classes. There were even multiple types of “analysts” among them. Some analysts studied and analyzed dungeons. Others analyzed the nature of an artifact material. Some analyzed NPCs and monsters.

Hundreds of analysts had gathered and racked their brains, analyzing, studying, and trying to find a way to kill Barbarian. Finally, they came to a conclusion.

[Lehvak: At the end, the Sky Knights are connected to Barbarian. If they lose their connection to Barbarian, the Sky Knights will also stop and lose function.]

[Lehvak: We have found a way to kill Barbarian. Barbarian has resurrected thrice in total.]

Barbarian had died several times during the long and chaotic battle. Every time, he would devour and suck the monster and get resurrected.

[

Lehvak: We have found that the monsters Barbarian would use to revive himself have something in common. All of them had the number written on them.]

Barbarian’s monsters were all numbered. They were numbered from to , with the Sky Knights carrying the number . Because of that, they assumed that the numbers were written as a ranking or rating of the monsters he created.

[Lehvak: The numbers were put there to trick our eyes. This is done to hide the ones that could help him resurrect. But in all three events, Barbarian was resurrected with the help of a monster carrying the number on its body.]

The Sky Knights continued to fall from the sky. They had been killing the players at a very rapid pace. The mouths of the players that were just shouting loudly and passionately earlier were now groaning and moaning in pain.

[Alexander: Is this confirmed?]

[Lehvak: We have confirmed it. We’re sure.]

Five minutes had passed since the Sky Knights appeared once again. But during that short period, everyone felt that Helenia and the Sky Knights could kill most players.

Even now, Helenia unleashed countless AOE magic attacks per second using her near-infinite mana. The Sky Knights matched her pace and sped up.

We’re sure. That answer was more than enough for Alexander. The NPCs had also been briefed about the situation.

[Alexander: Now!]

Hundreds of people jumped to the sky while ignoring the beams of light. At the same time, Elizabeth, the woman who could control the system, restricted the movement of all the monsters carrying the number . Then, they began to slaughter the monsters at a rapid pace.

Meanwhile, Broad, Ben, and Alexander were weaving through the gaps and running forward.

“Please go! Keuhaaaaack!”

“A- aaaaack!”

Barbarian noticed the strange movements of the enemies and immediately controlled the Sky Knights. The Level 600 and higher players immediately threw themselves in the path of the Sky Knights and did their best to protect the three. The three could ignore the Sky Knights and continue forward thanks to them.

Five Sky Knights suddenly fell from the sky when they finally reached Barbarian. Brod immediately flew toward them. A gigantic wolf appeared and used its entire body to block the swords of the hunters trying to hunt them.

Ben was the one who reached Barbarian first. He raised his spear and stabbed the old man through the heart.

Stab–!

One Sky Knight grabbed Ben by the head and slammed him straight on the ground. After that, it broke his leg.

Still, there was Alexander. Hundreds of weapons appeared around Alexander.

“Weapon Explosion.”

Bang, bang, bang–!

Hundreds of weapons shot out and pierced through Barbarian.

‘Damn it. There’s not enough damage.’

Alexander frowned. The damage he could deal with was much lower than before because of the sharp decrease in his level. The only thing he could do to put pressure on Barbarian was to unleash all the skills he could use.

Barbarian was a summoner. As a summoner, it was only natural that his attack power was meager. Except for the low attack power, Barbarian was a monster that was beyond anyone’s imagination.

Alexander hurriedly signaled at the other rankers. At that moment, one of the rankers attacked him. After logging back in again, he repeated what he had done earlier. And he did it over and over again.

“Please just dieeeeee!!!”

Alexander squeezed all of the strength and power that he could muster.

At this point, Barbarian’s HP was less than 10%. But Alexander could no longer move.

[You will no longer be able to ignore the access penalty. You will no longer be able to log back in after this.]

Alexander begged and wished for just a tiny ray of hope. Brod was overwhelmed by dealing with five Sky Knights all at once. He could be seen falling from the sky.

“Urk!”

The Sky Knights charged after him, who was vomiting blood.

Meanwhile, Spear God Ben, whose legs had been crushed, was crawling to where Alexander and Barbarian were.

“Hoho. What a pitiful old man.”

“It’s alright. At least I’m not bald.”

“...”

Anyway, Alexander, who was breathing heavily, could only grab Barbarian’s collar.

‘If we kill this bastard, then we will be able to see a small glimmer of hope, no? If we do that, then I will be able to concentrate on Athenae again. Not only that, but the people of the Beyond the Heavens Empire and I will gain the admiration of the masses, and Athenae will continue to move forward.’

Alas, that hope was shattered by Barbarian’s increasing HP.

“Look. Isn’t it beautiful?”

Helenia, who had been casting low-level magic since earlier, had gathered enough mana and cast high-tiered magic in the sky above them.

[Warning!]

[Warning!]

[Warning!]

The warning notifications constantly flashed in front of Alexander.

Shwaaa–!

A crack opened in the sky as tens of thousands of Hellfires descended toward the ground. The heat emitted by these balls of flames was so hot that the HP of the players on the ground were already decreasing even though they were still far away from them.

The Beyond the Heavens Empire players sensed the danger and immediately ran. They decided to take at least one NPC from this place and escape.

“This is a fight that you can’t win.”

Alexander looked at the gradually approaching Hellfires.

Just one more. If he, Brod, or any powerhouse at the Spear God’s level were here, they might have been able to kill Barbarian right away.

In just a blink, the Hellfires had already almost reached them. Barbarian chuckled as he watched the tens of thousands of Hellfires falling to the ground.

Clench–

“This is our win.”

Alexander suddenly tightened his hold on Barbarian’s collar. Barbarian looked at the man in front of him in confusion. Then, something far more shocking and incomprehensible unfolded in the sky above them.

A light shield appeared above every person from the allied forces and protected them. What was more shocking was that the tens of thousands of Hellfires that appeared could not break the shields and disappeared just like that.

At the same time, a notification rang in all the players\' ears.

[Guild Master Minhyuk has logged in.]

[Allied Forces’ Commander Minhyuk has logged in.]

Shocked, Barbarian hurriedly pushed away Alexander. Unfortunately, he could not get away. The crawling Ben had already reached them and grabbed his legs tightly.

“...”

Goosebumps rose all over Barbarian’s body when he felt a presence appear right behind him. When he turned to look behind him, he saw the man everyone was waiting for. And he was in the middle of casting his skills.

Ben chuckled. “Goodbye, buzzcut.”

Barbarian’s face grew ugly.

“Ah. Was I too much…?”

“...”

At that moment, Ben, who related deeply to any balding man, thought, ‘Did I go too far?’