#055.
Meng Wu scattered into dust.
I gazed at the sight briefly before turning my gaze away.
'Looks like there are no problems.'
The first things to catch my eye were Hero and William slaughtering enemy forces in the distance.
Truthfully, in this exclusive domain, the problem was the two Great Generals, Meng Wu and Wang Jian; the regular troops weren't particularly troublesome.
Ah, correction.
For Awakeners who awakened ordinary traits, they might be difficult opponents.
But what if they were ones who possessed the potential of the Ten Venerables?
And if there were not one, but four such people, dealing with regular troops would be easier than eating cold porridge.
Even if it were a great army numbering two hundred thousand.
'What about Wang Jian…?'
With Meng Wu gone, what remained was Wang Jian.
I quickly searched left and right to find Wang Jian's whereabouts.
'Oho!'
The place where I found him was a rear area filled with corpses, away from the battlefield.
He had moved personally with his royal guards to eliminate Jeong Do-hwan.
At a glance, it could be called a moment of crisis.
'Not a chance.'
On a battlefield filled with death, there existed no being as powerful as Jeong Do-hwan, nor as powerful as the Death Lord.
As expected, Jeong Do-hwan's exclusive summon Yun Seo-yeong appeared, along with the soldiers of death.
Jeong Do-hwan, who had achieved evolution and could finally command an exclusive summon—his power was truly deserving of the word overwhelming.
'Exactly like that overwhelming figure of the past.'
Watching him overwhelm Wang Jian and the royal guards brought back the nightmare of Trump Castle.
Due to the Death Lord who appeared at that moment when Baek-ui was pressuring the Queen of Hearts from an advantageous position, Baek-ui had to suffer enormous sacrifices.
'But unlike back then, he's on our side now.'
Now, that nightmare would not be repeated.
Because Jeong Do-hwan—the protagonist who created that nightmare—had become a sure ally.
And those soldiers of death were pressuring Wang Jian and the royal guards.
What was there to wait for?
I stamped on the ground to eliminate Wang Jian, the final condition of victory.
Crunch!
To supplement my insufficient stamina, I chewed a Gongjindan.
Swish!
I struck from behind the enemies who were being steadily pushed back, slicing through the waist of the royal guards.
"Nwooooh-!"
Wang Jian, who had been called the very embodiment of cold composure.
But he could not hide his agitation at the situation not unfolding as he wished.
That proved it.
"It's already over."
That this war was our victory.
*
"…So it was a self-defeating move rather than a brilliant scheme."
Wang Jian's voice, murmuring as if reciting, was tinged with regret.
"It was quite a good move."
No, it certainly wasn't a self-defeating move until I had confirmed the situation.
It was true that Jeong Do-hwan held the key to this war, and victory or defeat would have depended on whether he could be suppressed.
If there was a problem.
"I suppose the fatal flaw was that we never imagined he would grow this fast."
Jeong Do-hwan had been on the verge of evolution.
Wang Jian must have grasped Jeong Do-hwan's power to some extent through his unique insight.
That must have been why he thought to move personally and eliminate him.
But that was a misjudgment.
Because Jeong Do-hwan had been on the verge of evolution and had just achieved it by the time they arrived, becoming able to wield an exclusive summon.
'Of course, I knew that fact, and his ignorance of it was the decisive factor.'
War is a battle of reading moves.
Because I was looking one move further ahead than him, I was able to lead this war to victory.
"The second time."
"For what?"
"That my moves have been read."
"The other one… must be Li Mu."
"…."
Li Mu.
A general of Zhao who competed with Qin for the great feat of unifying China.
The only obstacle who had made things difficult for Wang Jian, the world's greatest strategist, who had never once been defeated in defense and siege warfare.
"Did they see one move further ahead than me?"
"Don't you think things fit together too well to call it luck?"
"…I see."
The gaze behind the mask changed several times.
But he soon regained his composure and extended both hands forward.
Just as Meng Wu had done moments ago, he assumed the clasped-fist salute.
"A strategy whose moves have been read is like garbage. It is my complete defeat."
Along with his declaration of defeat.
Rustle.
The two hundred thousand strong army and the corpses filling the field began to disappear like a mirage.
It wasn't just the troops.
Tzzzt.
The surroundings changed.
The barren land that had boasted a red hue, and the fortress that rose high into the sky—everything disappeared.
When I came to my senses, what I saw was a space made of quartz—the place where I had first arrived.
"Did you not say you desire the Emperor's throne?"
Having returned to the original location, Wang Jian asked.
"Of course."
"Having surpassed both myself and Meng Wu, you have proven your qualifications."
The Great General of All Under Heaven and the world's greatest strategist.
Having surpassed the two generals who had supported Qin, I had taken a step closer to the position of emperor.
"Receive this."
He opened his fist that had been in the clasped-fist salute and took out what he had hidden.
It was shaped in the form of an ascending dragon.
'The Jade Seal.'
The Jade Seal.
The emperor's stamp made of jade.
And it was the treasure symbolizing the position of emperor.
"You who have proven your qualifications, be wary. The suspicion and greed of Qin Shi Huang are enough to overturn heaven and earth."
It was true that Wang Jian had served Qin Shi Huang.
But if asked whether their relationship had been good.
'As if.'
Qin Shi Huang, who heralded the end of the Warring States period and finally achieved the unification of China.
His achievements were so great that elaborating would tire the mouth.
But he was not as great a figure as history depicted.
To say nothing of his tyranny, he constantly doubted the competent generals under his command.
Of course, it was thanks to that very suspicion that Qin Shi Huang was able to maintain his reign for so long.
If he saw even the slightest sign of treason, he cut off heads without mercy to preserve his position.
And the same was true for Wang Jian, one of Qin's pillars.
How desperate must he have been—during the battle against Chu commanding six hundred thousand troops—to have been more preoccupied with avoiding Qin Shi Huang's suspicion than the battlefield itself?
To Wang Jian, Qin Shi Huang was not a liege lord to serve with his life, but merely a temporary partner.
"I'll take your advice to heart. And…."
Pssss-
His body gradually turning to dust and vanishing.
"…Rest in peace now."
A moment of terror called death, depending on how one looked at it, but I knew very well that for Wang Jian, it was a reprieve.
"Hahahahaha!"
Realizing the meaning of my words, Wang Jian laughed.
"May you find peace…."
The remnants of Wang Jian, like Meng Wu, scattered into the air as grains of light.
As could be understood from the entire conversation, Wang Jian and Meng Wu, as well as the soldiers, had not been resurrected by choice.
'A curse born from Qin Shi Huang's twisted greed.'
Qin Shi Huang, who feared losing everything he had accomplished himself after his death.
That obsession begot madness, and eventually led him to wander in search of the imaginary herb called the Elixir of Immortality.
History says.
That Qin Shi Huang failed to find the Elixir of Immortality.
'Half right and half wrong.'
He failed in finding the Elixir of Immortality, but succeeded in obtaining a means to reach immortality.
But that was a curse.
A curse of immortality that forced him to remain with the army he had commanded and all his generals.
Thus, Wang Jian, who had obtained unwanted immortality, longed for rest.
There was one way.
'Defeating Qin Shi Huang, who had been resurrected along with his former empire.'
The Jade Seal handed over by Wang Jian was the key to reaching the greedy king who had dreamed of immortality.
We had entered Tunnel 3 to obtain this key.
Only with this could I—
'Take all the ancient treasures he had accumulated.'
What I ultimately aimed for were the treasures of Qin Shi Huang, who had built up achievements great enough to unify China.
Only one step remained until I reached that place.
*
After a brief rest, I exited Tunnel 3.
I thought what remained was the approach to Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum, 1km away.
But the moment I exited the entrance, I could feel it.
Ssss.
The sound of distant thickets moving.
It was not a natural sound stirred by the wind, but an artificial one.
'Enemies.'
Not just one or two.
That organized movement was forming an encirclement no matter where I looked.
They were holding still to lure us into letting our guard down.
If so.
"Go!"
I shouted immediately and rushed out.
Explain?
As if there were time for that.
The one saving grace was.
Tap-tap-tap!
That the party followed behind me without much question.
"Halt!"
Shadows surged over us the instant we left the entrance.
'Shaolin?'
Monks wearing yellow robes.
No matter how I looked at them, they appeared to be Awakeners who had awakened Shaolin traits.
'…Nine, no, ten?'
More than one revealed themselves.
Exactly ten.
They pressed in around us, surrounding us with one hand clasped.
'They aren't the end of it.'
The grating sound of rustling thickets still reached my ears.
The ten belonging to Shaolin weren't all.
Presences of countless people could be felt nearby, outside, and even further away.
'Heavenly Net and Earthly Web!'
I couldn't help but recall the horrific memories from when I had become hostile to the martial world.
'They've made up their minds.'
It wasn't even the apocalypse, yet the only place capable of mobilizing forces on the scale of the old martial world was Black Moon.
Was it because they'd lost to me several times recently?
It seemed they had prepared with determination this time.
'But, not a chance.'
A mere Heavenly Net and Earthly Web—an encirclement woven by thousands—cannot block my path.
Swish!
I cut down the enemy blocking the front.
"Guh!"
A monk looked on in horror as his comrade was suddenly bisected at the waist and fell.
But it was no time to be surprised.
Thud, swish!
Because Hero and William, who had lost their aversion to killing thanks to their experience in the exclusive domain, charged in simultaneously.
Flash!
The green gem set in the sword with the bizarre pattern—the moment it emitted light.
Zap!
Lightning bloomed from his hand.
『Sword of Swiftness』
The ability of Tristan, one of the Knights of the Round Table.
He bestows haste upon his sword, unleashing a blade as swift as lightning—twice as fast as normal.
When his sword was already faster due to full-body reinforcement, and then the Sword of Swiftness was added on top, what more need be said?
At least here, there was no one capable of receiving my blade, let alone tracing its trajectory.
And so I disposed of the ten Shaolin monks blocking the front in an instant.
"It's them!"
"This way!"
Those nearby reacted to the unavoidable commotion and gave chase.
This is precisely why the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web is fearsome.
Like a net spread wide, no matter where you go, every direction is enemy, enemy, enemy.
Though they don't attack all at once, it's a wheel warfare of ceaseless attacks.
A surefire method to kill by slowly bleeding the target while cutting off retreat.
However.
'A pity. If only they'd rushed us all at once, there might have been a chance.'
Of course, from my standpoint, it was no pity at all.
I could say with certainty that deploying the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web was their misjudgment.
So long as a being like myself is among the party, there is no chance we will fall for their petty schemes.
"Into the forest!"
I leaped into the forest in front of the tunnel, a good place to hide.
"Catch them!"
"Don't let them get away!"
I could hear the ones who had belatedly given chase making a racket, but I didn't stop moving.
Deeper inside.
I moved in the opposite direction of our immediate objective, Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum.
'They'll realize it soon enough.'
That the net they had prepared with such difficulty was actually a loose mesh riddled with holes.