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Minhyuk knew that Avak would use the Wolf Mercenaries to force Venteio to give up his qualifications during the Mercenary King’s inauguration. So, he pretended to be one of the Wolf Mercenaries and knelt with them.

Minhyuk had planned to join in the fight and help Venteio once he found the perfect opportunity. However, the notification that he received made him rethink his plans.

Ring!

[Sudden Quest: God of Mercenaries’ Descendant]

Rank: SSS

Requirements: The One Appointed by the God of Mercenaries

Rewards: ???

Penalty for Failure: Venteio’s Death

Description: The God of Mercenaries has chosen Venteio, the one that fights for the pride of the mercenaries, as his own successor. However, in order to become the God of Mercenaries, Venteio has to overcome several hardships and adversities. Become the God of Mercenaries’ envoy and deliver his will to the world.

The God of Mercenaries’ successor. In other words, if his qualifications were recognized in the future, Venteio would become the next God of Mercenaries.

‘He’s much more capable than I thought.’

It seemed like the God of Mercenaries loved and cherished Venteio, someone who fought fiercely to protect the pride and dignity of mercenaries, rather than for his talent and capabilities. However, there was a condition imposed upon him. He had to survive this place first. What would happen if Venteio survived here?

‘All mercenaries will follow him.’

Minhyuk had stepped in this place to help and build a relationship with only one person.

Venteio had betrayed the empire and was the reason why the Luvien Empire wanted to start the Mercenary Hunt. There was no way that the mercenaries would follow Venteio even if he became their king in that situation. In fact, they would most definitely bring him down.

That was the reason why Minhyuk chose to reach out to the individual named Venteio, instead of all of them. But what would happen if Venteio became the successor of the God of Mercenaries?

‘The mercenaries will worship Venteio and will have the courage to stand up against the empire.’

That would most definitely become a reality. Their current Mercenary King was about to change and become the God of Mercenaries? That was something that had never happened in their long history of thousands of years. That was how much influence and power Venteio would have once he became the successor and the king of all of the mercenaries. Perhaps he would even far surpass the influence and power that Brod had when he became the Mercenary King.

“Didn’t I say it before? You’re the only one that can become the Mercenary King,” Minhyuk said as he handed the sword made of black light to Venteio and watched the flames engulf his body.

This was what the God of Mercenaries wanted to tell all of the mercenaries: Don’t you dare touch a single hair of my successor.

Even if the four Mercenary Elders and the other Mercenary King Candidates voted for Avak, Venteio would still become the Mercenary King as long as the God of Mercenaries chose him.

At that moment, Venteio felt a surge of unknown emotions rush in his chest. He found it to be unbelievable. The God of Mercenaries had chosen him just because he fought so hard to protect the pride that he held onto for a very long time.

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‘I have to survive and live.’

The Mercenary Elders, the candidates, as well as Avak, must have already noticed the fact that all of the mercenaries would kneel in front of Venteio the moment he walked out of this place alive.

This thought alone brought fear to Avak. ‘The God of Mercenaries actually acknowledged that bastard…?’

For thousands of years, their God had not changed. What was the reason why they became mercenaries? It was so that they could make money. So, why did the God of Mercenaries choose someone that believed in a useless emotion such as pride, as his successor? Nevertheless, since Venteio was named as the God of Mercenaries’ successor, he would receive the trust and worship of all of the mercenaries.

“Dieeeeeeeee!!!” Avak screamed, the veins on his neck protruding out.

In fact, Avak also had his own Black Panther Mercenaries on standby in case something happened. They numbered 30,000 and all of them were the elites of his mercenary corps.

Baaaaaaaaaaang—

Avak’s sword slammed into Venteio’s own.

‘Standing in the ranks of Absolute Supreme NPCs does not mean that they're just extremely strong individuals.’ Minhyuk knew this fact very well.

Although Venteio was truly the strongest among the candidates to become the Mercenary King, it was also true that if the rest discarded the name of the Mercenary King Candidate and the three of them joined forces, they would be strong enough to kill Venteio.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Die, Venteiooooooooo!!!”

Mercenaries wearing capes with the symbol of the Black Panther poured out from a narrow space.

Baaaaaaaaaaaang—

Ferell, one of the Mercenary King Candidates, swung his axe at Venteio’s sword. Avak followed right behind him, his sword slashing toward Venteio’s flanks.

“Ugh!”

Meanwhile, Minhyuk did his best and prevented the Black Panther Mercenaries from approaching Venteio.

Crackleeeeee—

A black flame appeared and surrounded Minhyuk’s sword as he said, “Overlord’s Technique.”

Vwoooooooooom—

The Overlord’s Technique, a skill that could shake the heaven and the earths, shot toward the Black Panther Mercenaries.

[Mercenary’s Song.]

[The Mercenary’s Song has weakened the power of the Overlord’s Technique!]

[The Overlord’s Technique could only display 40% of its original strength!]

The Mercenary Elders gathered together and sang, effectively weakening Minhyuk’s Overlord’s Technique. The Overlord’s Technique, which should have swept away and killed the Black Panther Mercenaries, only inflicted severe injuries upon them. Even its radius of effect had been reduced, a fact that proved that even the Mercenary Elders were high-leveled Named NPCs.

[The Dead Mercenaries Curse.]

[The evil spirits of the mercenaries that died an unfair death have placed a terrible curse upon you!]

[You have an invincible body that can ignore and resist all kinds of abnormal states.]

[You have resisted an abnormal state.]

The mercenaries’ evil spirits that clung to Minhyuk’s body scattered with the effects of his invincible body. Unfortunately, that was not the case for Venteio.

[All of your stats have decreased by 17%!]

[Your resistance to abnormal status has decreased by 50%.]

[All of your defenses have decreased by 45%!]

[You cannot use any of your skills for one minute!]

The abnormal status brought about by the curse was applied to Venteio, as his expression turned ugly and twisted. At that moment, the Mercenary Elders and the Mercenary King Candidates realized that this was the perfect opportunity to kill Venteio.

[Mercenary’s Roar.]

[The Mercenary’s Roar adds power to your attacks!]

[The damage of your first attack has increased by 50%!]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

A loud roar shook the heavens and the earth. The ones that received the effects of the Mercenary’s Roar were none other than the three Mercenary King Candidates.

Slaaaaaaash—!

“Aaaaargh!” Venteio gasped, ignoring the pain that bloomed on his body as he pulled away from them.

‘Like the Wind.’

Minhyuk hurriedly moved, blocking their path toward Venteio. The three Mercenary King Candidates smiled darkly. This was their golden opportunity. This was the perfect moment to kill two eyesores at the same time. The three people simultaneously cast their ultimate killing move.

A black energy surrounded Avak’s sword as he said, “Black Panther’s Fangs.”

It was a skill that could allow his sword to move as fast as a black panther, with a power that could sweep away and tear apart more than hundreds of his enemies.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

The ground beneath Avak sank as an overwhelming power shot out of his sword. At the same time, Ferell slammed his gigantic axe on the ground.

Crack, crack, crack!

Then, there was the remaining mercenary king, Ars. Compared to Venteio, Ferell and Avak, his build could be considered to be ordinary. The reason why he became a mercenary king was because of the destructive power of his swordsmanship.

Boom, boom, boom, boom—

Dozens of sword lights shot out of his sword, toward Minhyuk.

“Get out of the way!!!” Venteio shouted. He did not want to see the person that his master cherished die because of him.

However, Minhyuk just looked back at him and said, “I finally got the chance to try it out.”

“…?”

As those words made Venteio curious, he also realized that Minhyuk had a trump card hidden in his hands. ‘What kind of power does the king that he serves hides?!’

Not long after, Minhyuk, who was acting all cool and mysterious, pulled something out.

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

At that moment, the roaring mercenaries, the Mercenary Elders that were preparing to cast various curses, and the three Mercenary King Candidates, were all stunned into silence. They all had several question marks flashing on their faces. Because the thing that Minhyuk pulled out was none other than a perfectly oiled and smooth cauldron lid.

“Heuup!!!”

“Wh, what…?” Venteio felt embarrassed to see Minhyuk pull out a cauldron lid and use it as a shield.

He knew that his strength was on par, or perhaps only a tad bit stronger, than the other three mercenary kings. With the help of the Mercenary Elder’s powers and their three ultimate killing moves, they would have gained 50% more power. With that much power, why did Minhyuk not bring out the God of Shield’s shield, but a cauldron lid?

Everyone thought that the attack would remain unimpeded, breaking the cauldron lid in an instant and slamming straight into Minhyuk and Venteio.

Baaaaaaaaaang—

However, something shocking happened. The three people’s ultimate killing move slammed directly into the cauldron lid. However, the force behind the attack did not even make the cauldron lid budge.

“…”

“…”

“What? What kind of f*cking bullshit is this…?”

In the end, their ultimate killing moves all disappeared into nothingness. When everything cleared out, they could see that the cauldron lid was still as spotless and as shiny as it was when it was first pulled out.

Minhyuk’s Bizarre Cauldron had a defense that reached as high as 4,513. It was more than twice the amount of the defense power that most god-rank artifacts had. However, there was a penalty in exchange for that.

[You have used the Bizarre Cauldron’s Cauldron Lid.]

[Your movement speed and attack speed have decreased by 20%.]

Then, Ferell’s axe slammed heavily on the cauldron lid.

Baaaaaaaaaang—

A huge shockwave spread the moment the two made contact. Ars and Avak tried to use the opportunity to strike Minhyuk. However, Venteio blocked their attacks.

Ferell, just like Venteio, specialized in using his herculean strength to fight. His strength was such that his axe could split gigantic rocks in one go. Even his basic attack damage was much higher than others. Perhaps, he would be able to slaughter the Swords of the Gods if they only fought with their basic attacks. That was how powerful his blows were.

Bang! Boom! Baaaam!

Ferell used his axe to constantly strike the cauldron lid while shouting, “You’re already as good as dead from the moment you brought out that cauldron lid!”

The other mercenary kings did not even bother to check on Minhyuk’s condition. From the moment he took out that cauldron lid, he would need some time before he could swap it for another weapon.

Besides, they believed that he could not even attack with that cauldron lid. Although it could give him a wide range of attack, the speed at which he swung his lid would be much slower than Ferell’s speed in swinging his axe.

At that moment, Minhyuk, who had been doing nothing but use his cauldron lid as a shield against the swinging axe, finally found a gap in Ferell’s defenses. He quickly held the cauldron lid with both hands and made a gesture as if he was going to slam it down on Ferell.

Ferell just laughed at him. How painful could a cauldron lid hitting his body be? Perhaps it would hurt ordinary people, but for people like him, who had high defense and STR? It was probably nothing.

Craaaaack—

“Keheoook?!”

It hurt like hell. Ferell heard the bones in his shoulder crack the moment the cauldron lid made contact with it. The impact of the attack delivered a heavy shock through his shoulder guards that made his bones rattle. Even if Ferell wanted to shout curses in pain, he could not. The damage, something that he had never experienced in his life before, stunned him silly.

Then, he saw Minhyuk lift the cauldron lid once more and swing it horizontally, an attack that made contact with his ribs.

Craaaaack—

“Keoooooook…” Ferell groaned, his face marred with both pain and confusion. He was wearing sheet armor on his body, but the attack dented the sheet armor severely, while the shock from the blow traveled to his body.

Ferell was someone that had walked the tightrope of life and death and come out of it successfully. There was even a time when he survived after half of his body had been bitten by a gigantic lion-type monster. Back then, he used his herculean strength to rip apart the monster’s jaws and escape from the throes of death.

‘This amount of pain is…!’

He could endure it. To his dismay, the cauldron lid swung and slammed into his body once again.

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack—

“Urghhhhh…”

This time, the attack was far more powerful. The moment the cauldron lid made contact with his body, the sheet armor that protected him was torn apart. It even cut through his flesh and crushed the bones in the area.

[Critical Cauldron Lid!]

[Damage incurred has been doubled!]

The damage that he received earlier was without the critical damage, hence, the difference.

Minhyuk continued to lift the cauldron lid as he watched Ferell collapse on the ground.

[Critical Cauldron Lid!]

[…doubled!]

Slaaaaaaaaash—!

“Keuaaaaaaaack!”

[Critical Cauldron Lid!]

[…doubled!]

Booooooom—!

“Keoheoooooook…!”

[Critical Cauldron Lid!]

[…doubled!]

Craaaaaaaaaack—

“Urkkkkkk…”

All of the mercenaries stopped what they were doing, their attention focused on what was happening between them. They watched as Minhyuk lifted the cauldron lid with both hands and hit Ferell repeatedly. Some of them even turned their heads to look away from the cruel display.

In the end, Ferell slowly felt his vision turn dark. It was the obvious result after his thick metal sheet armor was torn apart and wrecked from the scuffle.

‘I, I can’t believe I’m dying because of a cauldron lid…’

Ferell. A Mercenary King Candidate and a mercenary king that ruled two continents. Age? He was 43 years old. Cause of Death? Killed by a cauldron lid.