Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 838

The Luvien Imperial Army was left to deal with a huge and incomprehensible loss after the Ten Thousand Swords came after their commander-level individuals, regardless of their distance from Minhyuk. Over 150,000 soldiers of the Luvien Imperial Army had either died or were gravely injured.

However, the pressing matter here was the state of the commander-level individuals. The Luvien Imperial Army’s squad leaders were around Level 480, their centurions at around Level 500, while their knights were at Level 540 or higher. Just like how players grow, these NPCs could also grow. Compared to before, their level had definitely become higher and were all stronger.

However, these commander-level individuals were collapsing one after the other after being hit by Minhyuk’s Ten Thousands Swords.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab—

Don’s face grew uglier as he watched the commanders die one after the other. These individuals were the main pillars of the Luvien Imperial Army and were the ones in charge of leading the 2.5 million troops under the emperor’s command.

The Swords of the Gods might be able to survive such an attack, but that was not the case for the commanders. These people all had great potential and were the ones that they had hoped to become the Luvien Empire’s future powerhouses.

At that moment, one of the ten thousand swords shot forward and pierced through Commander Don’s heart.

Staaaaaaab—

“Ugh...!” Don groaned from the intense pain that bloomed on his chest. Then, his eyes grew wide after realizing something. He clutched his chest tightly as he looked back at Nerva.

Staaaaaaaaab—

Don tried his hardest to stop the sword that flew in to attack Nerva. However, all that he did was get injured even further. He could not stop the sword and watched helplessly as it pierced through Nerva’s chest.

“Ughhh...”

Nerva’s closed lids snapped open when the sword pierced through his chest. However, the intense pain instantly knocked him out cold again. They were now in a very bad situation, with Nerva in a critical situation.

Knight Commander Don looked around.

—He’s really amazing.

This was what Commander Don thought when he first met Minhyuk during their expedition to win over Mandala. During that brief interaction, he was able to know what kind of a king the man was and even developed great fondness for him. Ever since Knight Commander Don had encountered Minhyuk, his memories of the past would often flash by his head.

However, it was impossible for him to cooperate or surrender to the Beyond the Heavens Empire. In the end, he was Nerva’s subordinate.

“Hiyaaaaaa!!!”

Don thought that it was best that he command the soldiers to retreat and leave this place to save as many as possible. But now, those thoughts changed. He had to save Nerva first and foremost. So, Don rushed his horse and rode at full speed.

Baaaaaaaaaang—

Spear God Ben tried to chase after them but Commander Don was able to swiftly block his attack, even though he had Nerva with him and was riding his horse.

“Commander!!! Go quickly!”

“Please go on ahead!!!”

Two of the Swords of the Gods appeared to block Spear God Ben. Most of them were just low ranking Swords of the Gods. However, they decided to sacrifice themselves for Nerva’s sake.

“I acknowledge your bravery.”

Spear God Ben looked bitterly at them. He was aware that it would be very difficult to reach Nerva now that there were people willing to sacrifice themselves to protect him. Of course, the others were well aware of this too. In the end, the horse that carried Don and Nerva rode further and further away from them.

After running like crazy, Don finally realized that there was no longer someone chasing after them. Before he knew it, he had reached the hills and the mountains. When he reached the top of one of the hills, he looked back over at the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

“...”

Commander Don stared at the Beyond the Heavens Empire for a very long time. He could see that the Beyond the Heavens Empire had already killed most of the retreating troops of the Luvien Imperial Army.

Don pulled the reins of his horse and turned around.

‘The Beyond the Heavens Empire will grow rapidly.’

This was what Commander Don personally thought.

***

The entire world was left in turmoil.

Everyone knew that Athenae’s second era would be under the rule of the Luvien Empire. They all thought that when Athenae’s third era began, they would all likely be dogs of the Luvien Empire.

However, the small and trivial Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had grown and became an Empire. They even decimated the Luvien Imperial Army’s troops.

[To be honest, it’s already very surprising that Food God Minhyuk has become an emperor.]

[If you have seen the war in Edea, you will know that Player Minhyuk had fought against the Jade Emperor’s Coalition Army alone and won the hearts of the people of Edea.]

[And that is the reason why he is able to obtain a huge foothold.]

[Player Minhyuk must have taken everything into consideration.]

[In the end, the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom has become the Beyond the Heavens Empire. On top of that, they have even defeated the 2.5 million retreating troops of the Luvien Imperial Army. This is going to be a huge scoop.]

[However, there are still a few small problems here and there. The Beyond the Heavens Empire were barely able to meet the requirements for establishing an empire. It was an extremely close call.]

[That’s right. While the Beyond the Heavens Empire was established successfully, they lost so many soldiers and residents today.]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

Loud and passionate cheers shook the Beyond the Heaven Empire. The people and the soldiers cried out and chanted Minhyuk’s name to celebrate their victory. Even Spear God Ben, Brod, Elpis, Luo, and many others approached Minhyuk to congratulate him.

However, they all shut their mouths not long after. Minhyuk’s expression did not look good. Of course, obtaining victory was a happy and good thing. However, Minhyuk could clearly see their losses through the notifications.

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire has lost 754,313 troops.]

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire has lost 210,003 residents.]

[You have won the war against the Luvien Empire.]

[The total amount of the spoils of war obtained from the war against the Luvien Empire will now be listed.]

[You have obtained 954,100 platinum.]

[You have obtained 1 God-rank Artifact.]

[You have obtained 3 God-grade Ingredients.]

[You have obtained 231 Legendary-rank Artifacts.]

[You have obtained 368 Legendary-grade Artifacts.]

[...Epic-rank...]

[You have gained 5,000 REP.]

[You have gained 200 CHA.]

Countless notifications about the rewards that they had obtained rang in Minhyuk’s ears. The total amount of the spoils of war that they had obtained was ridiculous. However, none of them entered Minhyuk’s eyes. The only thing that he could see were the deaths of more than 700,000 troops and 200,000 residents.

Minhyuk looked around. He could see the bereaved families crying loudly as they hugged the corpses of their loved ones, whose bodies had been torn beyond recognition, amidst the other cheering citizens.

Many of the victims of this war were soldiers. However, some of them were just ordinary citizens. There were parents crying loudly as they hugged the body of a young boy and even a man sobbing as he hugged the body of the woman that he had been set to marry. Almost a million of his people had been killed in this war.

Minhyuk approached the crying woman that held the body of her child tightly to her chest. He placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke heavily, “I promise you this. I will do my utmost to send them off peacefully and comfortably to the afterlife.”

“Your Majesty...!”

Minhyuk looked around once again as he declared an imperial decree, “Use a million platinum for their funerals. Also, bestow the bereaved families with the highest compensation and make sure to build proper graves for all of the victims of this war.”

[A— A million platinum!!!]

[...!]

The commentators were all shocked. A million platinum was worth hundreds of billions of won in cold, hard cash.

On the other hand, Haze looked at Minhyuk and thought, ‘Your Majesty. Please tell me that you have thought of a way, Your Majesty.’

Of course, Haze welcomed the establishment of the Beyond the Heavens Empire with open arms. The problem was that they lost almost a million people in this war.

Minhyuk had not yet led the residents of Edea to the newly established empire. He lacked the military troops to do so. Their military troops might seem to be numerous, but that was only the case when they were still a kingdom. Now that they had become an empire, they would have to face countless enemies. Their current military forces were only comparable to the military force of a large kingdom at most.

They also had to expect a decrease in the number of migrants. After all, many would hesitate to move to the Beyond the Heavens Empire, knowing that they would face huge dangers in the near future.

Although they had won the war against the Luvien Empire, they had become an empire that might collapse at any given moment. The Beyond the Heavens Empire now had to find a way to entice many migrants and establish friendly connections with many kingdoms and empires. Having the reputation of defeating the retreating Luvien Imperial Army was not enough.

Everyone, including the people and the troops, were aware of this fact. Rather than enjoying the fruits of their victory, they had to worry more about their future. If things continued at this rate, the Beyond the Heavens Empire would really be driven to collapse. If that happened, then there was a high chance that the Luvien Empire would send troops once again.

At that moment, Minhyuk murmured, “I will succeed.”

***

Everything happened in an instant. The people of the Beyond the Heavens were left in sorrow, worrying about what to do in the future. But then, millions of round lights the size of a fist slowly floated down from the sky. Everyone looked at the lights in doubt.

Among these round and bright lights, there was one light that looked brighter and sharper than the rest. This light slowly grew and took the shape of a little girl that looked to be around five years old or so.

The little girl, with wings similar to that of an angel, grabbed and threw flower petals from the basket in her hands. The petals split until there were tens of millions of them in the sky, slowly poured down upon the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

[You have seen the Battle God’s Angel.]

[The Battle God’s Angel is comforting your sad and grieving heart.]

After that, the Battle God’s Angel disappeared while millions of lights gathered around Minhyuk. Then, the round lights gathered together and formed a throne that he could sit on.

Both the people and the soldiers were forced to take a step back when the millions of lights suddenly brightened and each took on the form of a human carrying the symbol of the Beyond the Heavens Empire on their backs.

[The three million strong Battle God’s Army will stay by your side for a week!]

[The three million strong Battle God’s Army will be absolutely loyal to the new Battle God’s Descendant for a week!]

[Battle God’s Soldier. Level 503.]

[Battle God’s Knight. Level 561.]

The lights had now turned into knights wearing silver full-plate armor and soldiers wearing red armor. They all stood at attention and created a path.

Thud, thud, thud—

Minhyuk slowly walked to the throne.

[You have sat on the Battle God’s Throne.]

[You have met all of the requirements for the Absolute God Class: Battle God’s Descendant!]

[You possess the Food God Class.]

[Battle God’s Descendant will now be your subclass!]

[You have gained 5,000 REP.]

[You have gained 2,000 CHA.]

[Since you have had a subclass before, you will be able to retain your skills. The new Battle God’s Descendant’s skill will be added to your repertoire!]

[The new Battle God’s skills are now open!]

[The Battle God’s...]

[The Battle God’s...]

[The Battle God’s...]

Minhyuk’s gaze was filled with majesty and nobility as he looked at the Battle God’s Army amidst the constant notifications that rang in his ears. This army would be absolutely loyal and subservient to Minhyuk for an entire week. The subsequent notifications also informed Minhyuk that he had acquired several of the Battle God’s Descendant’s skills.

[The Battle God’s Blessings has been activated!]

[Everyone that belongs to the empire under the command of the Battle God’s Descendant will have a 15% increase in their EXP Acquisition Rate!]

[Everyone that belongs to the empire under the command of the Battle God’s Descendant will have a 15% increase in their Item Drop Rate!]

These notifications also applied to the players as well. The players that belonged to the Beyond the Heavens Empire quickly announced this fact to the world.

[The Absolute God’s Class: Battle God’s Descendant has been born to the world!]

This single notification that was sent out as a world message created a huge buzz.

At the same time, the three million strong Battle God’s Army knelt down on one knee and showed respect toward Minhyuk. Right behind them, the more than two million residents and troops of the Beyond the Heavens Empire also knelt down, before shouting.

“Congratulations on becoming the new Battle God!”

“Congratulations on becoming the new Battle God!”

At the same time, another world message rang.

[The Battle God has chosen Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Emperor Minhyuk, and not Luvien Empire’s Emperor Nerva, as the Battle God’s Descendant!]

Minhyuk, with his noble and lofty gaze, looked straight ahead and declared, “Come to the Beyond the Heavens Empire.”