* * *

  Sungjin’s team looked at their individual Antherer before them.

  I don’t feel anything special even though the fight has started. Eustasia was curious while nervous. Is he still hiding his skill? Or……

  Did he think he had enough power to fight him?

  Even if he had divided his strength into several avatars, she could not feel the strength of her opponent. It was so different from the ultimate power the Kaiser of White Silver had exuded.

  But she didn’t let her guard down at the sight. What is he hiding? Simply watching him wouldn’t reveal anything. Fine. I’ll have to confirm it myself.

  Eustasia pulled out her sword. At the same time, Antherer’s staff hit her chest. “Kuk.” At the impact, which shook her heart, her posture fell out of shape. Whe…… When?

  “Amazing sword skills. Well-trained. But there was a hundredth of a second left unguarded in the moment you drew your sword out. Didn’t you know?”


  “Kuk. That……”


  The Kaiser of Gold spoke like a teacher, but Eustasia wasn’t defeated by such a strike. She gritted her teeth and stepped away. Her body swayed away from the second attack that chased after her.

  Physical training. The Eastern version of moving like water. It was the best martial arts for avoiding attacks by letting attacks pass by through an structured stance. At the same time, her freely flying sword launched another attack. Her strong attacks and advantageous defences made her an astounding general.

  To that……

  “Hm. Water is liquid, so it does take more time to analyze it than standard exercises.” The Kaiser of Gold nodded his head slowly, and stabbed her abs with the end of his staff while grabbing the hilt of her sword at the same time.

  “Ugh.” Losing her balance, she fell into deep thought. How……

  “Unfortunately, that fluid defence movement also has a second’s worth of vulnerability. Improve more.”


  “No way……” Eustasia collapsed onto the ground and gritted her teeth.

  To attack the pause between the flow of movements. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know what theory he was talking about, but using that technique against her was a completely different matter. To use less power than her while suppressing her at the same time. That was something that could only be accomplished by calculating her movements, understanding them, and figuring out her weaknesses in a quick moment.

  Like…… Sungjin…… No…… He’s stronger.

  When she had first fought against Sungjin, he had won against her by using a little amount of power, but he hadn’t won this easily. It had taken a long time for Sungjin see through her flawless steps.

  Is it possible that the Kaiser of gold has a skill like……

  Like Sungjin’s absolute calculations, but Antherer’s were of a different tier. If Sungjin was a genius, then this man was an omniscient

  At the thought that she couldn’t lose like this, she started her counterattacks. “The Sword of……” Her ultimate skill, which caused twelve swords to fall down from the sky. That power could defeat even the strongest monster.

  At that moment, a staff crashed against her head. At its strength, which made her brain ring, she powerlessly lapsed back. Of course, Durandal wasn’t activated.

  “You have more weaknesses in your larger skill activations. Tsk tsk. I’ll give you a lesson. A mountain can collapse because of a stone, and a skill might not be activated either.” The Kaiser smacked his own forehead after the explanation. “Ah. You won’t be able to hear me since you’ve fainted. I keep forgetting since I’ve aged.”


  * * *

  It wasn’t only Eustasia. Ereka had also collapsed between her broken armor. “No…… How?”


  She was a knight class. She had a high-defence class and an even higher defence. She could understand how the opponent had slipped through her spear, but her armor? She could have accepted if the Kaiser of gold had used a strong power, but he had hooked some strings on her armor and pulled, which had caused her current situation.

  “It’s a nice armor, but it seemed as if there were some weak places in the joints of your armor. It fell apart when I applied some pressure to it.”


  “.…… ?”


  “Huhu. It seems like you can’t understand what I’m talking about. Just know that your armor was great but not perfect.”


  “No……”


  “Understanding objects, you see, means understanding the weak and strong parts of them.” And the Kaiser delivered his final attack against Ereka. “Ah, your defence was certainly different. It was perfect. Almost a replica of the gods’.”


  That was what Ereka last heard before she lost consciousness.

  * * *

  It was the same situation for all of his teammates. Jenna, Rachel, Zakiya, and Sooryun. Everyone was defeated by Antherer’s avatars.

  But it wasn’t an ordinary defeat. If they had been defeated by a suppressive power and difference in level, they could have said that it was because their opponent was a Kaiser, but the Kaiser of gold hadn’t used any sort of power from the beginning of the fight to the end. He had pulled out objects from his pockets like a leisurely old man. and had used them to easily defeat them.

  Before those simple movements, they had been defeated in their own special skills, and they all thought of one thing: The Kaiser of gold was like Sungjin. He had the skills and intelligence that overcame the difference between him and his opponent.

  But…… one thing was different. He was much more intense than Sungjin. He was the Kaiser of the previous generations, and a scholar who researched the world for a thousand years. He knew more than Sungjin, and had more experience than Sungjin.

  Can he beat Sungjin? All the girls thought as they fell.

  Until now, the opponents Sungjin had faced just had pure power, which had allowed him to defeat them with strategies, but for the Kaiser to be as intelligent as Sungjin……

  How could Sungjin beat someone with the same strengths as him, only stronger?