Episode 135

-Wooooaaah!

A battalion of infantry armed with massive shields and sharp spears charged forward, their roars shaking the air and their steps trembling the earth.
Their momentum rivaled the imperial armies of a hundred thousand that I’d faced in the past.
It felt like stepping into an old classic movie shown on TV long ago, and a thrilling excitement swept down my spine.

“Still, they’re certainly few in number.”

Upon spreading my senses to observe, the Theseus army numbered exactly around 600.
Given that this was a short-term, event-driven battle, there was no need for supply units or miscellaneous troops, but the headcount still felt surprisingly small.

‘Or is my measurement scale off?’

In the Central Plains, even the smallest conflict usually involved tens of thousands. A war with only a few hundred soldiers seemed oddly disproportionate.

However, it would be unwise to underestimate them just because they were few in number.
Being heroes from the mythological era, their basic abilities were far superior even by martial arts standards, and they were led by strategists akin to the predecessors of Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi.
Considering the individual prowess and the synergy of their commanders, it was evident that the strength of their army could not be measured merely by numbers.

In fact, their advance without a single straggler, even after a landslide I caused as a prelude to the battle, was impressive.

-Clap, clap, clap.

“Alright, you pass up to this point.”

I offered a round of applause for the late bloomers of this era who trained with blood and sweat for a month to hunt me down.
Although Atalanta, whom I personally trained, was an exception, the fact that they blocked the King’s Landing footwork technique without a single straggler, a technique that typically wiped out half the forces even in martial arts, was undoubtedly an unprecedented feat.

Of course, I weakened them, but you have to consider that the opponents were normal people who didn’t even know martial arts.

By the time I was finishing my evaluation of the Theseus army, the vanguard had recreated a scene from a movie and approached within a five-step radius.

“Aaaaah!!”

“Tsk tsk.”

The one pointing a spear at me at the very front was none other than Theseus.
Despite wearing an Athenian helmet, beyond it, a fierce intent glimmered in his eyes, and I clicked my tongue.

The strong energy Atalanta had shown earlier.
The small topic I mentioned before the war began.

Ignoring all of it, his eyes, filled with nothing but black jealousy and hatred, were no longer those of a hero but of a beast.
Like a hyena driven to madness, Theseus screamed and charged at me.
I decided to willingly accept his spear.

-Clang!

“What?”

The spear that would have pierced my neck in another second was deflected in the blink of an eye, but Theseus was likely not surprised by this.
He must have been fully aware of both my and his own abilities, so he wouldn’t be shocked just because his attack was deflected.
The reason his eyes were filled with astonishment was none other than the spear in my hand.

A black spear created by the divine power of creation.
Formed by solidifying the spear using the demonic energy of Reverse Heaven, it was essentially another arm of mine.
The time it took to create this was exactly 0.5 seconds.
As a direct descendant of the Protogenoi, it wouldn’t do to be clumsy in using divine power, so I underwent one-on-one training with the Sea God.
Originally, it didn’t take that long, but now it felt like I could use divine energy almost as naturally as breathing.

“Poliorkia! Poliorkia!”

While Theseus stood frozen in shock at the sight of my spear, it was Jason who commanded the troops from the rear, observing the situation.
As soon as he fiercely swung the military flag, the steel wall of soldiers rushing towards me swiftly deployed to the sides and simultaneously thrust their spears.

“Oh!”

It was as if a wall of steel had suddenly risen before my eyes.
Hundreds of spears emerged from that wall, all charging at me without missing a single one.

-Ack!!

Forehead, eyes, nape, collarbone, shoulders, elbows, wrists, chest, abdomen, thighs, knees, and so on…
It was truly a tactic filled with the determination to wound my body with even a single strike.
And to prevent allied casualties, they employed massive tower shields, with long spearmen stationed behind them to counter any attempt I might make to leap over and disrupt their formation.

It felt as if I was facing a colossal creature called an army, rather than mere hundreds of soldiers.

“At this level, it’s comparable to the Gold Guards Myriad Troops, isn’t it?”

If I were to choose the most dangerous army I’d ever faced, it would be the Gold Guards Myriad Troops, the Great Emperor Heavenly Guards dispatched to capture me by that lunatic from the Zhuge family.
An elite among elites, formed to confront top masters, out of the hundred thousand Gold Guards who only take orders from the Emperor.
When top masters with power equivalent to ten thousand soldiers, like me, rebelled against the imperial family.
The ten thousand troops established to eliminate them showed the worst compatibility for martial artists.

As a countermeasure against internal energy, the entire army wore armor and weapons made of Eternal Cold Iron, which was customary.
Appearing like ghosts, they surrounded on all sides and launched long-range attacks with poison, firearms, and long-distance sniping.
If a warrior tried to close the distance, they would be bombarded with all sorts of bizarre weapons and large shields made of Thousand Years Cold Iron.
Then, they would rebuild the long-range encirclement formation and drain energy with long-range attacks.
Such a special unit numbered ten thousand.
Surrounded by ten thousand specialists and suffering from various poisons, firearms, and hidden weapons, even the highest masters would eventually collapse from exhaustion.
Of course, their army would also suffer considerable damage in the process.
If the imperial family could subdue a high-level master with just ten thousand troops, they would think it was a profitable deal.

And the Theseus army, created in collaboration with Jason and Theseus, didn’t have diverse weapons or mountain warfare poison like the Great Emperor Heavenly Guards.
But it easily surpassed such weaponry and troop differences with overwhelmingly superior troop quality.

My accelerated senses cut through my mind as a slow-motion spectacle of spearheads targeted me.
At this point, if I held back, it would be an insult to their strategy and the blood and sweat of their strong soldiers.

Like my spear master, the Crazy Wind Spear, had shown me, I leaped off the ground and spun like a professional ballerina.
Simultaneously, the black spear whirled like a windmill, sweeping all around, truly like a black tornado ravaging the surroundings.

-Swish!

“Ugh!”

“Argh!”

Blades were caught in the black vortex, scattering like fireworks with hundreds of sparks.
The soldiers let out groans at the recoil traveling up their spears, but their assault did not cease.

“Machaira! Machaira!”

At Jason’s command to continue attacking, new spears launched below the deflected ones, stabbing forward.
Broken spears were retrieved and replaced by the soldiers in the middle and rear lines, while intact ones were quickly retrieved and used again in the assault.

“Unus! Octa! Septip! Novem! They’re coming!”

-Clang!

If I thrust my spear, which I was subtly rotating, straight to strike, Theseus would instantly catch on and command the shield-bearers to strengthen the defense.
Even an attack with enough force to push their shields back was stopped cold as four or five soldiers braced against them, neutralizing my efforts.

“Art! It’s truly a work of art!”

-Tat-tat-tat-tat!

-Clang! Clang! Clang!

It was like watching a single murim dance, a synchronized cycle of relentless attacks and precise spearplay.
Even amidst the relentless attacks and chilling spear techniques from all directions, the soldiers holding their ground were worthy of my admiration.

From ancient times, men were bound to cheer for powerful armies and soldiers.
The Tiger Guards of the Three Kingdoms, the Myriad cavalry, the 300 Spartans of Greece, and the Star Wars space fleet had ignited the hearts of many men.
And this legion of heroes, though still showing some immaturity and a few regrettable ones, managed to stir a small emotion in my heart.

I intended to convey my overwhelming emotions to them without any filter.
In an extremely demonic cult-like manner, of course.

“Hiccup?!”

“…What?”

“!!!”

Oh, dear.
It seemed my overflowing emotions had shown on my face.
Judging by the startled reactions of the soldiers witnessing my smile of admiration (?)

“Khuhuhu!”

However, just as a fire truck does not stop at a red light, the storm that has already arrived never retreats.
They had to face the overwhelming emotions presented by the Heavenly Demon head-on.

*-Swoooosh…! *

The crazily raging storm gradually shifted its momentum, and the force that swept like a fierce wind began to undulate heavily.
Amidst the deep-sea pressure weighing down the entire body, wielding a spear against the son of Kronos, who governed earthquakes and tsunamis, I pioneered a new variant of the Crazy Wind Spear technique.
If it was the realization gained from the battle with none other than the great god Poseidon, it would be more than enough to express the overflowing emotion in my heart.

“I dedicate this spear dance to the blue rider that brings the tidal wave.”

The massive waves soon brought a tidal wave and rushed in all directions.

-Wooosh…

Riding the fierce wind, I flew up and brought down the tidal wave.
Like a tidal wave rising without knowing the height of the sky, the surging force swept in all directions before cascading downward.
A colossal tidal wave engulfed the battlefield.

-Aaaaaaah!

The deafening sound echoed like the screams of millions or the roar of unrelenting waves.
Just as Poseidon showed me during our first encounter, I, too, had ultimately brought a tidal wave to this land.

The spectacle was akin to wielding the spear of the Sea God himself.
In honor of the Sea God who made the waves carry the tidal wave, I named it the Crazy Wind Sea King’s Spear.

“Crazy Wind Sea King’s Spear - Mega Kymar (μέγα κύμα).”