70. Bring them to me at once
It was the method I least wanted to use.
Unlike with the [Knight King], I had to utter words that concerned the entirety of the barbarians.
If I made a mistake, I could turn the entire barbarian tribe into enemies.
That meant the risk factor was significant.
But I couldn’t help it in this situation.
In the end, it was time for Joo-in to use that method.
“Hey, brothers! Is this your first time here?”
“……!”
A man with tanned, muscular arms blocked Jooyeon’s path.
He was a macho man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and lots of gold jewelry.
“Is this your first time here?”
“It’s my first time in this life.”
The macho man’s eyes grew wide, and he burst into laughter.
“hahahahaha. You’re a funny guy.”
Of course, Jooyeon wasn’t laughing.
‘What the heck? Is this punk a tourist?’
He looked exactly like a punk who would rip people off.
He even looked like an alcoholic with the bottles of alcohol in both hands.
Suddenly, the man put his arm around Haken’s neck.
“Hey, what are you doing! Let go of me!”
“Hey, everyone who comes to this town is like a friend.”
Haken struggled, but it was no use.
Jooyeon’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight.
‘What the heck?’
His face was clearly drunk.
He reeked of alcohol, and his pupils were dilated.
But Jooyeon wasn’t fooled.
‘Haken is a pushover, but he’s a master at dodging attacks.’
Even Haken couldn’t escape.
What did that mean?
‘Could he be…….’
Jooyeon soon saw Olson.
Knight Olson, who understood Jooyeon’s gaze, stepped forward.
“Let him go.”
“Oh? You look like you can put up a fight?”
Thud!
In an instant, the two men’s hands met.
They began to wrestle.
At first, it seemed like Knight Olson would overpower the macho man.
But his face gradually crumpled.
“This… guy!”
Olson’s arm was gradually twisted back.
No matter how hard he tried, the macho man’s arm wouldn’t budge.
“You’re pretty strong, but you’re no match for me.”
Creak!
As the macho man exerted his strength, Olson’s body was gradually pushed back.
It was an圧倒的な力 overwhelming power.
Even if he was a savage, he was overpowering Knight Olson with ease.
Juyeon’s eyes sparkled.
‘As expected.’
He could tell just by looking that this wasn’t a punk who was merely out to extort money.
‘But this is quite unexpected.’
[Great Warrior]
These were the ones just below the Great Chieftain in rank.
And they were the barbarian generals who were qualified to challenge the Great Chieftain at any time.
They were also the guardians of the barbarians, who were said to be unmatched in physical strength.
If his guess was correct, that macho man was definitely one of those Great Warriors.
But that made it even stranger.
‘Normally, Great Warriors are idiots who only know battle and honor?’
And yet he was walking around so casually?
Even if the lower-ranked ones were like that, those who were susceptible to outside influence like this should never have existed.
By this point, it was clear that something had happened to the barbarians.
If not, then the criteria for ‘Great Warriors’ that Juyeon knew had changed.
Just then, Olson’s eyes flashed.
“How dare you insult Lord Juyeon like this.”
＜Thou Shalt Obey Rightful Authority＞
His body glowed orange.
He was trying to invoke the Knighthood of ＜Obedience＞.
Even if Aydin wasn’t here, so he couldn’t use the same power as before.
‘I am now a knight who serves Lord Juyeon. I shall wield my power only for him.’
He had found a new lord to serve.
Usually, the power of ＜Obedience＞ was determined by the title of its master.
‘But what does a title matter? From now on, the one I serve has something greater than that.’
The man who had inherited the title of Sword King from the previous Duke Edmer.
The wielder of the one and only Holy Sword in the world.
‘The one I serve is a hero!’
[＜Obedience＞ has found its true object of loyalty]
[The light of ＜Obedience＞ grows stronger]
Olson’s body began to burn with an orange light.
This was the moment when he would unleash the true power of ＜Obedience＞.
At that moment, the macho man’s expression changed.
“Insult? We’re the ones who’ve been insulted.”
What?
The face that had been smiling and joking until now turned murderous.
“The Chieftain is our one and only sun. How dare you compare him to a dog who drinks from the village well!”
Boom!
Killing intent burst from the macho man’s eyes. The aura was too intense to ignore.
“Gaaah!”
“What’s with that killing intent… Gah!”
The others watching around them collapsed on the spot.
“P… Please spare me!”
“I don’t want to die!”
“M… Mom!”
Some even peed their pants.
In that situation, only Daedo was still standing. But even he seemed a little surprised.
“What the heck. I thought he was just a common hoodlum, but he’s a high-level warrior at this rate?”
He was strong enough to unleash killing intent capable of knocking everyone around him unconscious.
There were only a handful of such existences within the Barbarian tribe.
Daedo clicked his tongue as he looked at the still-standing Jooin.
“You must have known about this, didn’t you.”
“Well, I had a hunch.”
“Your instincts are sharp. Reminds me of someone…”
It was clear he was referring to one of the Hero’s former comrades.
But that wasn’t important right now.
“By the way, are you okay, old man? Your legs seem to be wobbling a bit?”
“What, they’re not wobbling?”
“My eyes don’t lie.”
“Tch! Then why are you still standing?”
Why, indeed.
‘Reflection.’
Well, I didn’t actually need to use to handle this level of killing intent.
With the Demon King’s heart, I could absorb some of the killing intent.
Unlike Daedo, who was just barely holding on with willpower.
‘He’s not a holy knight who can repel killing intent, so he should have just dodged it. Anyway, pride is…’
Daedo, who had interpreted Jooin’s pitiful gaze, suddenly snapped.
“Why! Is there some rule that says a thief should collapse and piss themselves when they’re exposed to killing intent like this?!”
Jooin nodded, but for a different reason.
‘Right. Daedo almost died a lot.’
Jooin could remember over a hundred instances.
Honestly, since he tended to prioritize saving the Hero or other fighters, there were many times when he couldn’t pay much attention to Daedo.
Or to put it more honestly, he just didn’t care.
As a result, Daedo had apparently grown into someone with incredible resilience and tenacity.
‘Well, I guess you could say I’m his benefactor in a way.’
Of course, that wasn’t important right now.
From Noble mtl dot com
The macho man’s expression changed.
“You withstood that?”
He must have been surprised by Jooin and Daedo’s composure.
Jooin raised an eyebrow.
“Where do you plan to try next?”
Then, the macho man laughed out loud.
“Kidding, kidding. New friends. You want to meet our chieftain? I can help with that.”
“How do we do that?”
“You can pay money. Or else-“
The macho man pointed upwards.
There was an enormous sign there that the party had failed to notice until now.
————————————————
[Krausen Colosseum]
＜Challengers Welcome!＞
＜No Money, No Life＞
＜Current Champion: Chieftain Karacen＞
—————————————————
The macho man chuckled and said,
“It’s the fastest way to meet our chieftain without money. Challenge the champion. Of course, you’ll need to win the tournament first.”
Dae-do flared up immediately.
“Alright, quickly tell Karacen that his old comrade has come to visit!”
He was telling him to hurry up and bring the chieftain without wasting time with useless talk since he was busy.
“It’s been a while since the elder has come, but the rules of the village have changed a bit. There are a lot of people who want to see our chieftain.”
Joo-yeon was dismayed.
Not only was the great warrior dressed like a street punk, but the chieftain was also acting as a mere champion.
However, that wasn’t the most serious issue.
“I was a comrade of that chieftain you serve! How dare you treat me like this!”
The macho man was even more delighted by Dae-do’s outburst.
“Oh? You were a comrade of the warrior? That makes it even better. You can meet the chieftain if you win a hundred matches.”
“How long will that take?”
“A date has been set, so if you can win them all, it’ll be about a year at the earliest? By then, you might be able to meet our chieftain in the finals.”
A year?
“Why? Isn’t that better than ten years?”
Joo-yeon knitted his brows.
‘The demons must be after other artifacts. So, we can’t waste time in a place like this.’
Joo-yeon’s expression changed.
However, the macho man shrugged. It was something they couldn’t help.
“Our chieftain is a king who ruled over the Northern Great Forest before he was a champion. It’s natural that not just anyone can meet him. And.”
And?
“Participating in the tournament might actually be advantageous to you guys?”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Our chieftain is different from the chieftain you knew.”
Dae-do furrowed his brows.
“What kind of nonsense is that? Karacen isn’t the chieftain he used to be?”
“After the last fight, you received a blessing from the God of War. The problem is that too many visitors have come to receive his blessing.”
“Blessing?”
What is this?
At Joo-yeon’s gaze, the macho man pointed around.
He pointed to the drunks that had collapsed on the floor from his aura just a moment ago.
But something surprising happened.
“This bastard!”
“Why did he suddenly start acting crazy?”
“Kill him! Kill them all!”
The drunks rose with immense momentum and started fighting those nearby.
The surprising thing was their strength.
They had incredible strength, throwing and blowing away opponents with one hand.
Joo-yeon noticed it right away.
‘They are like those under the Berserk spell.’
The difference was that they had their sanity and their strength was even greater.
The macho man let out a chuckle.
“They all received a portion of the blessing. Impressive, isn’t it?”
“Crazy…”
A curse escaped Dae-do’s mouth.
The blessing of the God of War was that powerful.
The method of receiving a portion of the blessing was easy.
“Just stay near the patriarch for a long time. Well, you will get stronger just by being in the village.”
“Just by staying in the village?”
“Oh, of course, just staying won’t do it.”
There was one condition.
“You must bet everything you have. God takes pity on devoted believers.”
The more you bet of your own possessions, the stronger you become.
You could even bet your life by challenging the arena.
You could gain strength every time you had a life-threatening duel.
“Of course, money is the best, but you don’t seem to have that much, so I recommend the tournament.”
“What tournament? You have to pay an entry fee for every match!”
“You can receive a blessing too. You will get the blessing after about 50 tournament matches.”
Joo-yeon scoffed at that.
The blessing of the God of War?
Joo-yeon wasn’t interested in that.
He had a rough idea. So he had to meet the patriarch and confirm the innocence.
“So, if I want to meet the patriarch right now?”
“What?”
“The patriarch likes money, right? How much should I show him to see his face?”
The macho man frowned as if he didn’t like that response.
“Heh, you seem to have some money. If you’re not bringing at least 100 million gold, don’t even bother to speak….”
“100 million? That’s nothing.”
Joo-yeon turned his own pocket inside out.
Clatter!
It was a truly enormous amount of gold coins and treasures.
The macho man could only gape at the dazzling sight.
“You want this? If you want it, that guy named Champion.”
Joo-yeon’s eyes gleamed.
“Bring him before me right now.”