Leveling Up through Eating

Chapter 1201

Hephaestus and Locke already had a conversation long before Minhyuk came. The one who broke the silence between the two was none other than Locke.

Locke looked at Hephaestus and said, “You look a lot like me when I was younger.”

Was Locke talking about their appearances? No, that was not the case at all. He believed that he looked much better than Hephaestus.

Seeing Hephaestus continue to look down at the ground without even being able to meet his gaze, Locke said, “Overly insecure and scared to the point that you can’t even make eye contact.”

“...”

Locke continued, “You’re afraid that the others will look at you with disgust and contempt or tell you that you’re ugly and dirty.”

The gods were among the most arrogant beings. Not only that, 99% of the gods were good-looking. Because of that, the disgust and contempt Hephaestus had experienced living among them was much more than what he would have experienced if he had lived among the ordinary people.

Locke was ugly—yes, he admitted that fact—but he was among the most loved people in the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

“Abandon that mindset.”

“...”

“The idea that someone will treat you with contempt and hate on you? Ignore it. We don’t need to care about people who judge others based on their appearances. Do you understand?” Locke smiled, his teeth flashing brightly.

Hephaestus pondered over his words.

‘We don’t need to care about the people who judge based on appearances.’

It made Hephaestus think of so many people–the woman who handed him the crutches he was using, the old man who gave him a cup of coffee, the man who hugged his shoulders. Yes, he only needed to care for and protect those people.

Then, Hephaestus looked at the smiling Locke and said, “But why are you speaking informally to me…?”

The air between the two suddenly turned extremely awkward.

***

A world message resonated all over the world.

[Master of Weapons Fabro’s Clone has awakened to the world.]

The sudden notification left many of the players stunned and confused.

Alexander was the current player with the Master of Weapons class, which swayed people’s assumptions and speculations in a positive direction.

[Do you think Alexander has awakened Fabro’s Clone to unseal the Master of Weapon’s power?]

[Oh. Maybe, maybe not? There’s also the chance that he has met the conditions for the quest, which is why this event has been triggered.]

[Wow. Isn’t Alexander growing too fast?]

The players did not have any information about Master of Weapons Fabro. Although it was just a clone, everyone was still looking forward to the appearance of one of the Eight Pillars, the Master of Weapons.

Meanwhile, the clone, which was in the form of a sword, was flying swiftly through the sky.

‘Fabro, you bastard!’

The clone was born of Fabro’s Ego Sword, which derived its ego and consciousness from Fabro. As the sword used by the legend, it achieved many achievements alongside Fabro. With every achievement, it felt delighted. However, its greed also grew. Hence, the sword’s ego crystallized Fabro’s greed and arrogance.

That was why it just could not understand why.

‘The current generation Master of Weapon acknowledges that person?!’

It was truly incomprehensible. At the same time, it raised the hackles of the arrogant clone and left it furious. The current generation Master of Weapons was still immature and unskilled. On the other hand, although it only had 80% of Fabro’s power, the clone was still very strong.

Why was Fabro hailed as the Master of Weapons?

Fabro possessed the power called Predatory Artifact. Of course, Alexander had not learned the skill. However, the Predatory Artifact would give the power of the victor and allow the skill user to bring out the ego of the weapons just like the clone.

Fabro possessed this power, along with a hundred artifacts with the same power and ego as a god and over a thousand weapons comparable to legends. In other words, he could command around a hundred weapons that could move and judge the situation independently.

Fabro himself was like a king or an emperor of his army. Compared to that, the power that the current Master of Weapons Alexander possessed was just the tip of the iceberg.

The flying clone finally arrived near the Beyond the Heavens Empire. There, it saw more than a million troops in joint training. Several allied nations had gathered and launched training in case of war.

Fabro’s Clone stopped for a moment. It had been in slumber for a very long time. So, it needed to ensure that it had not gone rusty over the years.

“What’s that?”

“Huh?”

The soldiers participating in the joint training looked up at the sky. They were all confused by the sight of a sword floating in the air.

Suddenly, the sword shot down from the sky. And along with it, tens of thousands of weapons appeared around it.

“...?!”

“P… prepare for battle!”

The news spread quickly. Those who had believed that Alexander was about to awaken new powers after hearing the appearance of Fabro’s Clone were all left shocked and confused when they learned that it had appeared in the Beyond the Heavens Empire and began attacking the soldiers taking part in the joint training.

Drone cameras were quickly launched and sent out to capture the scene.

One of the weapons, an iron mace, fell from the sky and grew large enough to cover thousands at once.

Bang–!

Thousands of soldiers exploded in an instant.

A spear, which seemed to have an ego of its own, moved on its own and pierced through the hearts of countless soldiers.

An axe fell and swung on its own, creating hundreds of afterimages and splitting the heads of hundreds of people all at once.

[OMG. What the hell is this?!]

[Did Fabro’s Clone awaken not to release Alexander’s powers but to slaughter everything?]

[Isn’t this too strong…?]

Even the weapons that appeared were nothing like those of ordinary people. They were much smaller than ordinary, but their movements were fast. The soldiers tried to fight back against the weapons, but the weapons could easily evade the attacks. If the soldiers tried to swing their swords or shoot arrows, the weapons would break them in half.

“C-catch it!”

One of the soldiers threw a rope to catch and drag the now gigantic iron mace. Unfortunately, the force that the iron mace possessed was far too heavy. It just tugged a bit, and the rope was cut off. A few times, the mages’ magic slammed into the weapons. However, the weapons seemed to have ridiculously high durability because there was not even a scratch on them.

Fabro’s Clone just looked at the army of rusty weapons and thought, ‘Fabro’s in deep slumber.’

That meant the current Master of Weapons was not Fabro but itself. What was more shocking was that Fabro’s Clone also had Predatory Artifact. Fabro’s Clone thought it might be able to obtain another Ego Sword if it killed the guy named Minhyuk.

Thirty minutes. That was the time it took for Fabro’s Clone to slaughter so many soldiers. When only a single soldier was left, it asked, “Where’s the Beyond the Heavens Empire?”

The terrified soldier raised a trembling finger and pointed in one direction toward the clone, who did not know the exact location of the place it wanted to go to. For a moment, he felt highly relieved that he had survived. However, Fabro’s Clone cut his head off without any hesitation.

Once again, the sword soared to the sky.

[Beyond the Heavens Empire?!]

[Fabro’s Clone is heading toward the Beyond the Heavens Empire?!]

The entire world was turned upside down.

***

The sudden outbreak prompted an emergency conference in Joy Co. Ltd.

President Kang Taehoon was out of the country, so Department Head Kim Dae-Il presided over the meeting.

One of the team leaders said, “In one minute, Fabro’s Clone will arrive in the Beyond the Heavens Empire.”

Everything was so sudden. Of course, they knew this happened because of Athenae’s high degree of freedom.

Nevertheless, the expression on Department Head Kim Dae-Il’s face remained serious. He said, “Is the reason why the weapons are a problem what I think it is?”

“That’s right. In the first place, weapons are different from people.”

Indeed. It was the question of who was more arduous, the sword or the man? And it was a question that was not worth pondering over. The sword was something made to kill. Furthermore, weapons did not even have the concept of pain.

“What about the Beyond the Heavens Empire?”

“It seems like Alexander has already informed Minhyuk immediately after Fabro’s Clone disappeared. I believe the Beyond the Heavens Empire is already prepared for battle.”

“How much damage will the Beyond the Heavens Empire suffer?”

“We expect at least 40% of their population to die.”

Department Head Kim Dae-Il sighed ruefully. The others also reacted the same way. They all knew how much effort Minhyuk had put into building Beyond the Heavens Empire. They did not expect it to be on the brink of collapse suddenly.

“How about the other empires? Are they going to send support…”

“This is the Beyond the Heavens Empire. The other empires would only welcome anything that could bring damage to them.”

Department Head Kim Dae-Il sighed sadly. However, there was nothing they could do in this situation.

“Perhaps this is the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s fate.”

It seemed like this would be the sudden fall of the most prosperous empire. Just then, at that moment, Team Leader Park entered the room. He sat on his seat and said, “I don’t know if it’s their fate. Ah, I’m sorry for being late.”

“...?”

Department Head Kim Dae-Il looked confused at the calm and composed Team Leader Park.

As if to dispel his doubts, Team Leader Park said, “It seems like all of you have already talked about the scenario without even including one person. The expected 40% death rate of the Beyond the Heavens Empire will not come to light.”

Did they exclude someone? At that moment, Department Head Kim Dae-Il recalled one person. He blurted, “Are you talking about the Supreme?”

The person possessing the powers of the Supreme was not yet known among the players. And, of course, the Supreme was strong. The problem was the Supreme had grown tremendously weak over time.

Team Leader Park shook his head. “I’m not talking about the Supreme. This person arrived in the Beyond the Heavens Empire just yesterday.”

Team Leader Park had been monitoring this person up until now.

“You said that it was their fate? Perhaps that’s correct. This must be their fate. Although weak, he shines the brightest and is the strongest regarding weapons. This is truly fate.”

***

BEEEEEEEEEEP–!

The blare of horns and sirens resonated above the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

The tranquil and peaceful soldiers immediately gathered in response. Even the old wife Niel, who owned the small shop in the market, hurriedly closed her store and evacuated under the guidance of the soldiers.

Niel, who was moving quickly among the other evacuees under the shouts and guidance of the soldiers, suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Thump, thump–

This was because she caught sight of Hephaestus, the man she had given the pair of crutches to, walking in the opposite direction. The crutches she had given him had fallen quite far from her. She thought that perhaps the crutches fell because he had bumped into the rushing crowd of evacuees. Niel hurriedly picked up the crutches.

Hephaestus, holding a massive hammer in his hands, looked very uncomfortable as he limped away. He looked like someone who was in his early thirties or so. His timid, dejected look and slumped back reminded Niel of her son, who had died on the battlefield. Of course, that was not why she had offered the pair of crutches to him. She just wanted to see if it would help the man.

Rumors spread fast in the Beyond the Heavens Empire. It had only been a day, but she had already heard stories about the arrival of an excellent blacksmith in the empire. When Hephaestus offered to do something in exchange for the crutches that Niel offered, she immediately knew who and what kind of person he was.

‘He believes that he has to do something to receive the recognition and love of others.’

Perhaps that was why he was moving forward in a situation like this, even though he was just a blacksmith. In Niel’s eyes, it seemed like he was being far too reckless. On top of that, he also looked very uncomfortable.

Niel ran through the gaps in the crowd and tried to give Hephaestus the crutches he had left behind. She shouted, “Wait!”

Alas, the throngs of people made it difficult for Niel to reach him.

Thump, thump–

Niel looked at Hephaestus’ desolate back as he limped against the crowd. She continued to run and run after him. Just when she was about to catch up with him, the warnings rang out.

[Fabro’s Clone has descended!]

[Warning.]

[Warning.]

[A Weapon Downpour has started to fall.]

Niel saw tens of thousands of weapons floating in the sky and falling like torrential rain. A spear was among them, and it was falling straight toward her.

Niel, who was holding onto the pair of crutches, suddenly felt her legs go soft. She screamed and snapped her eyes shut, waiting for the terrible pain that would wash over her body.

“Kyaaaaaaaaack!!!”

“Those crutches… I’ve already thrown them away…”

The voice of a man floated in Niel’s ears. The shaking Niel, still holding onto the crutches, still could not understand even in this situation. Was it because the crutches that she gave him made him feel useless?

Niel slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Hephaestus. Only then did she realize something. Hephaestus, who was limping toward her, was completely different from before. She finally realized that it was not the crutches that Hephaestus threw away.

Crutches helped people who were feeling discomfort with their legs. It could not be a substitute for a leg. After all, it was not real. And what the world’s most excellent blacksmith had discarded was his desire to yield and surrender to others, the fear that made him run away from everything and left him with such a desolate back and a pair of hunched shoulders, just like how he discarded this pair of crutches.

Hephaestus reached out to the terrified Niel and gently stroked the crutches in her hands. When Niel made contact with his pure and upright gaze, she could not help but shudder.

“Thank you. Thank you for helping me throw away my crutches. And I promise you…”

The Hephaestus, who had always bowed his head and could not make eye contact, was no more.

At the same time, Niel saw that the spear about to pierce through her head had completely stopped in its tracks. Looking around, she saw that all the weapons that fell upon the Beyond the Heavens Empire were suspended in midair.

[Blacksmith of Destruction’s Authority.]

[Every weapon that has abilities that are less than 60% of the greatest creations made by the Blacksmith of Destruction will fall under his control.]

[His command and control over the weapons are absolute.]

“I will protect the Beyond the Heavens Empire.”

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