Once, the righteous sect of the martial world spoke, “At the forefront of the demonic sect, there always exists the Celestial Demon. If we could just block his attack even once, we might be able to halt the tidal wave of the demonic sect's assault. But that is an impossible task, and thus there is no hope for the righteous sect. The people of the righteous sect must remember: the Celestial Demon is invincible, and facing him head-on is an act of suicide.”
Martial Unity.
Baek Jung-hyeok led the charge against the demonic sect.
He was the first to clash swords with the enemy, and following the path he forged, the followers of the demonic sect went wild.
People wondered why he would take on the most dangerous role.
The reason, then and now, remained the same: “The strongest must stand at the forefront to completely shatter the enemy's morale.”
In battle, momentum is crucial.
Just as one rises to an unassailable position by toppling a larger child in a dark cave, Baek Jung-hyeok understood how vital it was to seize the momentum in life.
The role of the strong is not to wait in the rear.
If one possesses enough power to stand firm against countless foes, then actively utilizing that power is the only way to achieve victory.
Just like now.
Swoosh!
“Graaah!” A soldier's arm was severed by Roman's attack.
The screaming soldier tried to flee in panic, but Roman quickly followed, beheading him as well.
Splatter.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
Roman, drenched in the crimson rain falling from the sky, lunged toward the soldiers forming a wall in front of him.
The once solid formation crumbled in an instant.
The soldiers, seeing Roman appear like a bolt from the blue, thrust their spears at him with terrified faces.
However, clang! Clang! Clang! Their attacks were ineffective.
Roman deflected all the strikes aimed at him and stepped forward, decapitating their heads.
It was a massacre.
There was no other way to describe it.
Roman faced dozens of soldiers alone without retreating an inch, overwhelming them as he systematically eliminated the enemies before him.
The soldiers following him were taken aback.
They had not expected such a sight when they heard Roman would take the lead.
“Follow the lord!”
“Attack!”
Kevin was the first to shout, veins bulging in his neck.
As Kevin and Chris charged after Roman to strike the enemies, other soldiers swung their weapons with venomous glares.
Thud!
“Grrr!” A soldier from Barco knelt, choking on his own blood as Kevin pierced his throat.
Despite having killed a man, Kevin immediately swung his sword at another opponent.
Chris did the same.
Knowing that if they hesitated even for a moment, Roman would pull ahead, they tried their best to keep up.
“W-what?”
“Stop that monster!”
Roman forged a path.
The shield wall created by the enemies had long lost its meaning, and in the chaotic situation, Barco's soldiers dared not charge in, only shouting in fear.
They understood that anyone who rushed at Roman first would be a dead man, and they pushed their comrades forward, hoping someone would create a miracle.
But no miracle occurred.
Roman cut down every soldier that charged at him, and not a single person was able to withstand even one blow.
Blood, blood, blood.
The surroundings were drenched in red.
Countless lives were lost, and blood flowed like a river as Roman advanced, slaughtering the enemies step by step.
Then, “Flare.” The target of this plan, the siege weapon, was now right before him.
Roman's performance, his overwhelming presence, left Berge, the leader of the mercenary group, in shock.
“... W-what is this?”
The opponent was Roman Dmitri.
Berge had already identified the faces of those involved in the interests of Barco, but he had not anticipated that Roman Dmitri would be this strong.
It did not matter why he had appeared here.
The problem was that Roman's individual power was so overwhelming that it could slaughter dozens of soldiers, and if left unchecked, the war between Barco and Lawrence might end in an unforeseen outcome.
“That cannot happen.” This mission had a hefty price tag.
The fate of Berge's mercenary group was at stake, so Berge drew his sword and charged at Roman.
“I will handle this.”
Berge, an A-rank mercenary recognized by the kingdom.
Unlike the B-rank status that could be obtained simply by handling menial tasks, A-rank required one to possess special abilities such as using an aura.
Berge was a 2-star aura swordsman.
At the age of 40, he dared not aspire to a higher level, but a 2-star aura was sufficient to take down Roman.
Swish.
The aura surged.
Mana exploded from his entire body, manifesting through his sword, and Berge swung it toward Roman.
A single strike, a guaranteed victory.
Even if the opponent were a 3-star aura swordsman, his finishing move was not an attack that could be easily blocked.
But clang! It was blocked.
Roman effortlessly parried the attack.
Berge's eyes widened at the sight.
“What the hell!”
An all-out attack should have shattered the opponent's sword and torn through flesh, yet the recoil from the sword made him feel like he would vomit.
It was an unexpected situation.
As a warning bell rang urgently in his head, Berge hastily tried to step back, but Roman immediately followed up with an attack.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A series of attacks.
It felt like his mind was about to fly away.
Roman's sword was now engulfed in aura, and he cornered Berge with relentless strikes from all directions.
The sizes of their auras were different.
Visually, Berge's massive aura should have overwhelmed Roman, but every time their swords clashed, Berge's aura visibly diminished.
Only then did Berge realize.
The being before him, rumored to be the fool of the Dmitri family, was an opponent he could not dare to face.
“This is too much!”
Regret came too late.
He thought this mission would be easy.
However, the variable of Roman, which even veteran mercenaries had not anticipated, led to an outcome far from the original plan.
Swish!
A glimmering sword.
A line of blood appeared on Berge's neck, and his body crumpled to the ground.
Thud.
Berge, the A-rank mercenary, had barely lasted less than ten seconds against Roman.
It was truly a fleeting moment.
Berge's death was a remarkable achievement.
Roman had taken down an A-rank mercenary in just ten seconds, but those who knew the truth were not surprised.
“In this world, I am not the Celestial Demon.”
In the days when he was the Celestial Demon, there was no one who could exchange blows with him.
With a single strike from Baek Jung-hyeok, the masters of the righteous sect fell like leaves, and thus Baek Jung-hyeok achieved the feat of unifying the martial world.
However, in this world, it was different.
Roman was weak.
He had rapidly developed to the point of overwhelming Berge, but that was not enough to quench his thirst.
Flare!
The aura ignited.
From the peak to the bottom.
In a situation where ordinary people would feel despair, Roman instead felt a surge of ambition for new challenges.
A new world.
New strong opponents.
If he could conquer all of that with this body, it would truly be a magnificent feat.
Roman moved forward.
Not only had he killed Berge, but he showed no signs of stopping, causing Baron Barco to look as if he might faint.
“Kill him! I said to kill that guy!”
Berge's death was utterly unbelievable.
It was not simply that Berge and Roman had fought and one had died; rather, Berge had attempted a surprise attack and had been unilaterally killed.
Not only that, but Roman had also slaughtered numerous soldiers prior to this, and yet he showed no signs of fatigue from his fight with Berge.
A monster.
Overwhelming.
As Roman moved, a path opened up, and at this rate, it was only a matter of time before the siege weapon was destroyed.
It had to be stopped.
He shouted for them to do whatever it took to stop him, but contrary to Baron Barco's intentions, his body was gradually moving away from Roman.
“It’s dangerous, my lord!”
“You must take cover!”
Barco's knights pulled Baron Barco away.
Initially, they had tried to work together to subdue Roman, but the moment they saw Berge fall, they changed their minds.
For now, Barco was in a favorable position.
If they recalled the troops attacking the walls, they could gain an advantage in numbers, so they did not want to risk their lives fighting Roman.
A path opened.
No one charged at Roman.
Roman steadily advanced, and soon Flare was right in front of him.
“Flare.”
A magical creation that did not exist in the martial world.
Not only was the cost of firing the projectiles worth dozens of gold, but the specially crafted body to launch the magical projectiles was also of significant value.
Thus, the target of this plan was precisely that body.
If they could destroy it, Barco would lose the means to attack Lawrence's walls from a distance.
“Celestial Demon’s Divine Art.”
Flare!
Mana surged.
The body of Flare was protected by magic.
It could not be destroyed by ordinary attacks, so the mana that had been dormant in his dantian awakened and manifested from Roman's sword.
A dark aura.
It was the power of the Celestial Demon.
“Celestial Demon Sword Technique: First Strike.”
One attack.
One flash.
Boom!
The sword cleaved through Flare.
A tremendous sound erupted, and the massive body was split in two.
An overwhelming sight.
In that instant, everyone on the battlefield held their breath.
Then, Roman shouted with a voice filled with mana, “Lawrence, listen! I, Roman Dmitri, have destroyed Barco's siege weapon!”
At those words, the atmosphere of the battlefield shifted.
Barco's soldiers, who were fighting for their lives at the front lines, had no way of knowing what was happening in the rear.
Thus, Roman's declaration revealed the reality to them.
The siege weapon had been destroyed, and they showed signs of panic even with the enemy right before them.
“What, what did you say?”
“Flare has been destroyed?”
It was a moment of confusion.
The destruction of Flare not only meant the loss of the advantages of the siege weapon but also implied that Barco's rear was in danger.
As a result, the advance toward the city gates came to a halt.
The knights of Barco, realizing the true state of Flare's destruction, hastily commanded a retreat.
“Retreat!”
“Everyone fall back!”
The fire was at their feet.
Baron Barco.
Their lord was in danger.
Protecting Baron Barco took precedence over conquering Lawrence, and they quickly turned to flee.
The situation unfolded in an instant.
Barco's retreat.
The soldiers of Lawrence, who survived the dire crisis, looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what was happening.
And on the city wall, Flora also searched for Roman with a look of shock.
“... He really did it.”
A situation thought to be impossible.
Once again, Roman had defied Flora's expectations.