Level 0 Master

Chapter 70: Vol. 3 - Episode 13

"That's how you kill everyone, although only one has to die," Sungjin said with a low voice thinking the battle was nearly over. On Earth, death was temporary in games; but here, an entire team could be killed while trying to defend one teammate.

The healing power of the great white priest covered the great black priest; the great blue priest defended against the second attack of the wolf's front paw. They each had a paw but were still trapped.

However, they weren't alone.

"Mjolnir!"

Jenna put the three priests in her attack range and activated Thor's hammer; next to her, Rachel was casting her prayer to reinforce the spell.

"Mother Earth, give us power."

"Ugh."

The priests realized they were in a critical situation; if they tried to avoid the spell, they would be crushed by the wolf's paws; if they remained in place, Thor's hammer would destroy them.

The great white priest cast his protection spell, but Eustasia's sword hit the white priest before he could finish.

"Not on my watch."

"Ugh."

But the great red priest shouted at Eustasia, "It's me you need to worry about!"

The great red priest activated his holy magic to stop Jenna.

"Pillar of Judgement!"

Burning pillars of fire hit every member of Sungjin's team with flames over a few meters high.

"Aegis!" Ereka shouted.

The burning flame was blocked by the light of protection, and Jenna was able to finalize her spell.

Kaboom.

Thor's hammer shook the ground, and lightning charred everything around it. It dried the river, demolished the rocks, and pulverized the trees.

Mjolnir's destructive power, augmented by Rachel's prayer, became an ultimate skill that was above level six or level seven. Under such strength, the defense of both the red and blue priest were useless, and they were crushed by the monster.

The black and white priests were then captured.

A light illuminated the battlefield. The Valkyrie came down to Sungjin's team.

To celebrate your victory, the gods grant nectar…

With this victory, everyone on Sungjin's team became stronger. Although no one had upgraded a level, they racked up more power, and the land that once belonged to the four priests now belonged to Sungjin's territory.

In the waiting room, the Valkyrie addressed the ruler of the force.

Sungjin, due to your team's victory, an equal amount of territory that you bet for this battle shall be yours…

Sungjin got another crest of land on his arm.

"Hmph, I'll take it."

It was not much compared to the size of Rupellion, but the symbolic meaning of having it was immense

People watching the battle were impressed.

"Our king is winner!"

"Those priests from Rupellion are running away!"

"I was a bit worried that the king's plan would fail and we'd all become prisoners before sundown."

"Well, you can stop worrying now!."

People's faith in Sungjin was building, and they cheered for his victory. The heroes, equally impressed by Sungjin's ability, were less excited about the win.

"This was a different kind of triumph."

"It was almost like a chess match, and we were just on the defense the whole time. It's like he left a few pieces on the board intentionally."

"When a master plays with a lower level player, they may leave a few pieces behind."

"But then, he won…"

"The four priests were nothing against Sungjin."

"Maybe the Holy Pope could be a suitable opponent for him?"

But then, the heroes stopped. Sungjin was undoubtedly powerful, but a lot of things about the Holy Pope were unknown; and they weren't so sure about Sungjin's ability against him.

"Well, the Holy Pope wouldn't move so easily."

"You're right, and Eldorado wouldn't just be there watching from the sidelines."

They were invincible, but they had to keep an eye on each other.

"Hey guys, let's stop talking about hypothetical situations and just celebrate the victory!"

"The truth is he defeated them, and now we're strong enough to fight against Rupellion."

No longer were they considered the weak country that had to stay neutral between Eldorado and Rupellion. Under the command of Sungjin, the ally of the four kingdoms had become the third largest power on the continent. This battle had made it clear that they could hold their own against the other two powerful nations.

Sir Todam was finishing his manuscript.

The young lion would heat up his ladies with passion and excitement from the conquest. That was Sungjin's life.

If Sungjin had read it, he would have told Sir Todam not to abuse his freedom of speech.

The four priests were deeply disappointed.

"We were…defeated."

"What will His Holiness say when he returns from fasting."

"It's too late."

On the surface, it appeared to be a four-on-four battle, but it was actually the fifth player, Sungjin, who had defeated them. They had no plan to stop the attack until Rachel was turned over, but it was they who had been defeated; and Sungjin hadn't even used any tricks.

The young lion king of the south; we've heard that his specialty was making traps using the geography of the battlefield…

So they had been prepared for that. Instead, Sungjin dominated them by force straight away. The only thing he had used was his meticulous command with frighteningly accurate predictions.

"Now when the Holy Pope comes out, we should follow his direction."

"It's our only choice."

The four priests had no other way to make up for their failures.

"Once he realizes the sacrifice for God is gone, we can only hope for redemption."

The defeated generals had nothing to say; their excuses would make them look even more miserable. They left the battlefield to report to the Holy Pope and follow his will.

Back at the kingdom, Sungjin's camp was in a festive mood. Everyone in the waiting room was excited.

"Hurray. We won again!"

"Hehehe. We won!"

Jenna and Rachel were spinning holding hands.

Huh.

Jenna suddenly stopped and thought, "What am I doing?" only to start spinning again with excitement.

Damn, whatever.

"We defeated them with our force."

Eustasia was more than just impressed.

"That's Sungjin." Ereka smiled as if she had foreseen this outcome.

Rachel stopped spinning with Jenna and ran to hold Sungjin's hands.

"Sungjin Oppa, we won!"

"Yes, well done," Sungjin stroked her head softly.

"Those bad guys can't take me away anymore, right?"

"Right, and if they do decide to come back, I'll just kick them out again," Sungjin promised, thinking a lovely child like Rachel has a right to sleep without fear.

"Thank you, Sungjin Oppa…thank you," said Rachel with tears in her eyes.

I'm so happy that you…are…here. If I wouldn't have met you, I'm sure I would have been captured and caged again.

But Sungjin wouldn't let that happen to her. With him, she was able to see the light and no longer had to fear knives. She was able to drink water when thirsty and sleep in a warm bed instead of on a cold stone floor. She was so happy that Sungjin was there.

Sunjing calmed Rachel down and thanked everyone else.

"Well done. It was a clean-cut victory, as planned."

"It was a miserable failure for the priests," said Eustasia with a smile.

"This feels different than other defeats," said Ereka.

In previous battles, Ereka had only felt like a small part of Sungin's plan, but this time, she felt like she had directly contributed to the victory.

When we have to face a strong enemy that requires more than just a plan, I'm sure I can fight again like today to support you. I will remember this feeling and work on my training. That's got to be why Sungjin decided to strategize the way he did.

"Let's go back to celebrate!" Sungjin suggested.

Everyone answered cheerfully: "Let's!"

Chapter 7

Upon arrival back to the castle, they decided baths were in order before the celebration.

"Huh, I've been working on my training so much, I've hardly had time for a proper soak," sighed Ereka touching her hair.

Although still gorgeous, she didn't look perfectly manicured after battle and didn't want Sungjin to see her so unpolished.

"You're right; I need to take a bath as well. Then we can enjoy the party!" Eustasia agreed.

She also didn't want to look messy when the guy she loved was standing right next to her.

But Rachel looked like a puppy that didn't want to touch the water..

"Ba…bath?"

"Yes, let's take a bath. I know the rivers and lakes outside are good, but we have too many nice facilities in this castle," Ereka suggested to Rachel with a smile.

"Oh, I…" But Rachel didn't answer and stepped back to hide.

"Is it too much work to take a bath?" Ereka smiled and added.

"No. Hygiene is important."

"I… well…" Rachel lost her voice for a moment but then, with a tiny voice, informed everyone:

"I don't…want to…show other people…other than Sungjin…I'm too shy…" Ereka's eyes became wide with surprise. Rachel's words could have many different interpretations.

What do you mean?

Sungjin remembered that Rachel had showed him the cursed tattoo on her back when they had first met.

I'm sure that's not something she wants to show everyone.

But if he tried to explain, that would reveal her secret as well.

"Then you can just take a bath with me."

"With you?"

"You would be okay with me, right?"

"It's okay!" Rachel was relieved.

Thank god…

She wasn't quite ready to show her tattoo to the others. So Rachel caught Sungjin's leg right away. When Jenna saw this, she took Sungjin's other leg.

"Then I will take a bath with you as well." Sungjin looked at Jenna and pushed her away.

"You were okay with taking your own bath before. What's wrong with you?" He looked at her as if he was begging her not to do this to him; Jenna decided to give up.

"Booo. This is a discrimination."

"You're right, this is discrimination," Eustasia complained and dragged Sungjin's arm toward her.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I want to take a bath with you."

Sungjin smiled.

"If we take a bath together, it wouldn't be just a bath."

When he politely refused, Eustasia answered:

"Of course, I'll serve your every need. I know how to serve a man for a bath. Do you think all I know is my sword and the battle?"

Ereka blushed.

"Oh my, Eustasia…"

But she was thinking about other things.

I can do it…but no…I don't really know how. How do you serve a guy for a bath? Why didn't I study it before and when did she learn about it? She's so talented. What I can do is whatever Sungjin asks me to do.

Ereka, clean my back with your breast.

Is… is this okay?

Her soft and toned breast contacted his back and started to move.

It's not the best I've had, but I will reward you for trying.

Sungjin suddenly pulled her towards him.

Now, I will wash you.

Then his hands started to…

With Ereka blushing even more and Eustasia looking like she was about to strip down, Sungjin told them clearly:

"Stop! I'm just going to wash this child. Stop being inappropriate and take your baths by yourselves. Grow up!"

Your joke was quite blunt, Eustasia. I would hope you wouldn't make such jokes in front of a child.

Not knowing how serious the two of them were being, he left with Rachel before they could say anything else.