Chapter 29

Chapter 29
## Chapter 29: True Glory

The title of the planet’s mightiest terrestrial warrior belonged to Gracia.

He was currently wandering through the streets of Eunpyeong-gu under the cover of a late night.

The neighborhood bore the scars of the Giant Mantis’s rampage, with several structures reduced to rubble.

This was the same location where the Hydragon had made its appearance.

—We aren’t acquainted.

During her formal statement, the journalist Kim Hana had been quick to respond. She claimed to possess no connection to the individual who commanded the Hydragon.

Ultimately, Gracia found himself with no choice but to inspect the area personally.

‘I have to track him down.’

It wasn’t Phantom he was hunting for at this moment.

He was on the trail of the player rumored to have held the Hydragon’s Soul within the world of Pangeniar in years past.

To be more specific, his true target was the Hydragon’s Soul itself.

‘I must locate it and reclaim the Hydragon’s Soul at any cost.’

Shuwaaa!

Suddenly, a golden radiance shimmered upward like a thermal haze.

As he moved downward, a thin vapor and arcs of electricity crackled across his frame.

In short order, thousands of blades manifested in the atmosphere, arranging themselves in meticulous formation.

Every single one was a legendary weapon, a masterpiece deserving the status of a relic.

Whoosh!

With a broad gesture of his arm, the thousands of blades whirled through the air.

Gracia reached out and caught one.

‘Advanced Sword of the Abyss Tracker.’

This was the result of a pinnacle title linked to mastery or limit-break traits, which pushed the unique capabilities of gear to their absolute limit.

The Sword of the Abyss Tracker was a weapon plundered from an Abyss Lord after its defeat. It had been forged to its maximum potential and ascended in rank.

Because of this, the blade could bypass even ‘safe zones’ to hunt down any mark.

Naturally, a physical link was required to initiate the hunt.

An item such as a strand of hair or a fragment of a nail.

The more intimate the connection, the more precise and long-range the tracking became.

‘Wish Jewel.’

An amber orb marked with a snowy star drifted into the sky.

This was another trophy, taken from an Imugi that had been slaughtered just as it was transitioning into a dragon.

It was a catalyst that turned the wielder’s desires into reality as tangibly as possible.

It was consistent when granting basic, linear requests, though it suffered from an inability to process convoluted wishes or those with secondary complications.

For instance, ending the life of a target under level 10 standing right before you.

Such an uncomplicated ‘wish’ was well within the relic’s capacity.

Restoring a single charge took an entire month, but this was no time for hesitation.

“Discover every trace in this vicinity connected to the individual in this image.”

Gracia produced a photograph from his coat—the suspected master of the Hydragon.

The strategy was to employ the Wish Jewel to uncover evidence, then fuse that data into the Adv Sword of the Abyss Tracker to pinpoint the location.

Momentarily, the Wish Jewel glowed a fierce crimson before fracturing.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A spark of light shot out from the Wish Jewel and began to orbit the site.

“Hmm…”

Despite the passing minutes, the spark detected nothing.

Yet this was the epicenter of the event.

Even the most microscopic hint should have surfaced. At the very least, a footprint from where he had trodden.

For a request so fundamentally simple, it was highly irregular that the Wish Jewel failed to produce any results.

‘He wasn’t in a state of transcending by consuming stars.’

If the subject of the wish was a transcendent entity, the Wish Jewel wouldn’t be able to manifest so much as a single follicle.

But Gracia possessed the ability to tell the difference between the transcendent and the mundane.

Based on the recorded footage, the master of the Hydragon had clearly not reached transcendence.

If he wasn’t transcendent but still resisted the Wish Jewel, it implied he was bypassing the search through alternative protections.

‘High-tier abilities that negate tracking, or authorities equivalent to Guardian Wall.’

The odds of such a thing were incredibly slim.

No one would expend the effort to max out skills just to dodge a potential tracker.

The same logic applied to authorities like Guardian Wall, which provided ‘invulnerability’ to anything below a specific threshold.

However, Guardian Wall typically capped at level 10.

To shrug off a Wish Jewel required transcendence, which was unattainable unless Guardian Wall reached level 11 or higher.

He had sacrificed his rare Wish Jewel, yet he hadn’t found a speck of dust.

‘…If I turn all of Eunpyeong-gu to ash, he’ll have to show himself.’

Gracia’s gaze grew freezing.

It was in that precise second.

[Main Quest 4’s Hall of Fame rankings have been updated.]

Gracia scowled.

This notification only triggered when the leaderboard shifted.

And lately, he had seen this four times already.

The person responsible was always the same.

[1st: ??? points. Randolph]

[2nd: 200 points. Gracia]

[3rd: 191 points. MintChocoDelicious]

[4th: 180 points. Dark Star]

[5th: 170 points. Balmuush]

……

“……Phantom.”

Randolph. He was undoubtedly Phantom.

No one else possessed the capability to repeatedly knock him down like this.

‘Question marks?’

But the tally was bizarre.

??? points. He had never witnessed a score presented in that format.

Was the number so vast it couldn’t be displayed?

Exactly how many points were required for the system to mask the total?

‘What on earth are you planning?’

Ding! Ding!

In that moment, the chime of bells echoed.

Shifting his focus, Gracia observed skeletal reapers draped in obsidian robes, wielding scythes and ringing dark bells as they glided through the sky.

“……Following me even beyond the borders of Pangeniar? It seems the ‘Rift’ is preparing to open.”

Reapers.

The relentless shadows that preyed upon ‘players.’

Up until now, they had only manifested within Pangeniar, but they had successfully breached reality.

It was likely a side effect of the approaching ‘Rift.’

Gracia brought his palms together.

Fwooooosh—!!

The thousands of blades fused, erupting into a colossal column of brilliance.

—

Serengeti closed her eyelids once more.

The foul affliction of the Demon King had begun to flare up again.

Hudson held Serengeti’s hand firmly until the end. Standing near them, Marquis Wyzer observed the pair with a look of extreme internal conflict.

“……Ha.”

It was a feeling he couldn’t put into words.

To hear straight from Serengeti that she had participated in a clandestine engagement ceremony with a man who seemed so insignificant. He had nearly fainted, grabbing the back of his neck for support.

“Marquis. It will require at least 5 million gold to reconstruct and secure the warp gate.”

Hudson’s eyes sparked.

They were backed into a corner anyway. There was no more room to retreat.

“Are you suggesting I trade Serengeti for 20 million gold?”

“Weren’t you already planning to sell her to Duke Saiyen?”

“That’s done. It can’t be taken back. If Duke Saiyen discovers the truth, you will be erased without a footprint.”

He had already given his word to Duke Saiyen.

Duke Saiyen, who governed three major metropolises, held a level of authority second only to the monarch.

A simple merchant with some wealth couldn’t hope to challenge Duke Saiyen.

And if the secret engagement came to light, neither Marquis Wyzer’s life nor the city’s safety could be guaranteed.

“Does the Duke count ‘Maxim’ among his subordinates?”

I cut into their dispute.

I brought up a completely unrelated subject.

Hudson replied.

“You mean Maxim, one of the Eight Heroes?”

“Yes.”

“He’s likely being groomed as a successor in one of Duke Saiyen’s provinces right now, undergoing leadership training.”

Maxim?

‘He’s certainly climbed the ladder.’

Regarded as one of the Eight Heroes and receiving mentorship from Duke Saiyen. Rising to become the lord of a major city—could there be a more significant achievement?

‘A common mercenary turned into a city lord.’

And he was a common mercenary at that.

Maxim had been the captain of the mercenary group I had hired during the Great Expedition. The coward who was the first to run away despite the massive payment.

To see that man posing as one of the Eight Heroes, catching the eye of Duke Saiyen, and ruling a major city—it was a farce.

‘I don’t understand the standard for the Eight Heroes.’

Surely it wasn’t ranked by who retreated the fastest?

But Gracia was part of the Eight Heroes as well.

Gracia hadn’t even taken part in the Great Expedition. I would have known—he was my primary target for recruitment.

I felt like cutting off my own hand for misidentifying a named NPC and extending an invitation.

Regardless, despite his absence, Gracia publicly proclaimed himself as one of the Eight Heroes.

Even in the real world.

Was he trying to bait me?

‘Or perhaps he’s waiting for me to emerge.’

There was no way I would trust his ridiculous claims of wanting ‘cooperation.’

While playing as Wilhelm, Gracia and I had never crossed paths once. It meant he had gone out of his way to avoid me.

Yet the moment Wilhelm perished, Gracia started talking nonsense.

He spoke of a partnership, but his words were heavy with the desire to dominate or eliminate a rookie player like me.

These men were stealing Wilhelm’s legacy—the honor that should have been shared with the noble knights.

Worse, it was coming from the coward who fled the Great Expedition and the one who didn’t even show up.

I could at least accept the 500 knights memorialized on the stone. If it were them, I could understand Wilhelm’s name being absent from that hall of fame.

‘They are people I will eventually have to break.’

No matter how I analyzed it, even giving them the benefit of the doubt a thousand times, they were targets that had to be taken down.

‘And the weakest link among them is Maxim.’

The most pathetic member of the Eight Heroes was Maxim.

I turned slowly and walked toward the exit.

Hudson asked, “Where are you headed?”

“To perform a legitimate remembrance.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“The 500 knights. Pay their families 10,000 gold each in restitution.”

“…Me?”

“The servant’s wealth belongs to the master.”

“That’s not… Excuse me?”

Was that how the world worked?

Hudson was stunned by my demeanor, acting as if I had just personally provided the capital.

But what could he really do?

“……”

He couldn’t argue with someone who had already walked out.

Besides, he had been the one to say it.

“……”

—

“……They fought with honor. Standing back-to-back against the savage demons, they never gave an inch.”

In front of the monument.

The residents of the city had assembled for the service.

I held up a weathered tome.

“This volume is the personal chronicle of the Knight King. It contains the details of the Great Expedition. The bravery of every single knight carved here is recorded without fail.”

The Knight King’s personal chronicle.

In reality, no such book existed.

“James, Noah, Lucas, Jacob……”

I spoke the 500 names in sequence.

Without skipping a single one, I committed them to memory and spoke them aloud.

“And Zion as well. Their legacy must be inherited by those who follow. The genuine heroes are not those labeled as the Eight Heroes. These are the true heroes who stood their ground in silence, unknown to the world.”

“Zion……!”

An elderly woman pressed her hand to her heart, weeping.

May. The woman I had carried to the bunker.

To her, who could not accept her son’s passing, I had delivered the harsh truth.

“As the successor to the Knight King, I offer my sympathies for their noble sacrifices. For the heroes who will never return, I will carry them within my soul forever.”

I gave a profound bow toward the monument.

And yet, why did my chest feel so heavy?

‘James, Noah, Lucas, Jacob, Zion……’

I whispered the 500 names once more, one by one.

Etching them permanently into my mind.

《The 500 Knights have moved into eternal rest.》

《Honor has increased by 50.》

《Achievement ‘True Glory’ has been unlocked.》

《The hatching speed of the ‘Heavenly Spirit Egg’ has increased.》

《’Knight’s Garden’ waypoint has been added to the ‘Teleport Book’.》

—

“It was a pleasure to see you again, comrade!”

“Next time, I’ll be the one to visit.”

“Haha! Comrades are always welcome!”

I gave a swift goodbye to the High Dryad and the other Dryads.

I had only been in the city for a single day, but they looked exhausted, as if they were on the brink of collapse.

The following day, after escorting the Dryads away via the Teleport Book, I finally turned my focus to the newly unlocked ‘privileges.’

《Secret Auction House》

《Golden Rule Shop》

Two options for commerce.

I selected the lower one, ‘Golden Rule Shop.’

《The Golden Rule Shop has been accessed.》

《Remaining Golden Rule time available for shopping: 140h 36m.》

《The quantity of visible ‘items’ is determined by Hall of Fame rank.》

《1st place receives 10 items, decreasing by one for each rank down to 5th. 6th to 10th: 5 items, 11th to 100th: 4 items, below 100th: 3 items.》

《The Golden Rule Shop rotates every 30 days; a manual refresh costs 10h of Golden Rule.》

《Utilizing 1st place privileges, 10 items are displayed.》

The marketplace where I could purchase goods using Fragments of the Broken Golden Rule!

‘140 hours.’

Due to the ‘Large Fragment’ I earned from finishing Main Quest 4, my available time was well over 100 hours.

I couldn’t spend it all at once, but it would be a lie to say I wasn’t thrilled about the potential purchases.

I focused my attention on the Golden Rule Shop inventory.

《Egg of Unknown Mythic Species 300h (Remaining: 1)》

《Blessing-Infused Supreme Elixir 30h (Remaining: 9)》

《Universal Core 50h (Remaining: 4)》

《Cataclysm Talisman 60h (Remaining: 5)》

《Moonlight Butterfly Talisman 40h (Remaining: 3)》

《Golden Bough 100h (Remaining: 10)》

《White King’s Fang 1,000h (Remaining: 1)》

《Eldritch’s Cursed Black Grimoire 600h (Remaining: 1)》

《Earth God’s Chalice 500h (Remaining: 1)》

《Dragon Heart 2,000h (Remaining: 1)》

“Cough! Hack!”

I nearly choked just looking at the inventory.

For a second, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

‘Why is this here……?’