Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 785

Calauhel was drained and exhausted. As the head of the Rothschilde Family, he had received the envious gazes of many people from a young age.

Unlike other people, the young Calauhel and his friends would often talk about things related to the economy and ways to make more money. The people that surrounded him were either those that wanted to gain his attention for his money, or those that wanted to see him fall down.

The same had been true for the only woman that Calauhel had loved. Back then, he thought that she truly loved him for who he was, and not for his money. However, the woman belonged to an ordinary household and his family opposed their relationship vehemently.

Calauhel had asked her.

—Shall we run away together?

—H, huh? Run away?

—That’s right. I’m willing to throw away my family just to be with you.

—Give me time to think about it.

The woman never showed up after that. In the end, it was not Calauhel’s love that she wanted but the great wealth that he stood to inherit.

Calauhel felt like his life was boring and dreary. He had no goals. Since he had more money than anybody else in the world, he did not have much desire to do anything and aim for success.

Then, one day, Athenae was released. When he first opened his eyes in Athenae, the instructor had greeted him with tough words.

—Hey, novice. What are you looking so dazed for? Go there and hit the scarecrow with your wooden sword! Quick!

It was the first time that Calauhel was treated like this. They saw him as a person and not some kind of walking money bag.

—Novices need passion!

—You need to raise your level so you can go to higher hunting grounds!

The NPCs treated him as an ordinary player, not as the family head of the Rothschilde family.

—Do you not know who I am? How dare you…

Calauhel had growled at the instructor at first. However, after receiving such a trivial and insignificant quest and hitting those scarecrows, Calauhel somehow found himself smiling.

This was a new world. For the first time in his life, he found a goal. His goal was to become the most outstanding ranker in Athenae. However, he never entertained the foolish thought that he could do it with his own power alone. No, he wanted to become the biggest and most influential person in this world.

So, following that goal, he founded the Blackstone Group and collected various artifacts. During that process, he gained players who followed him because they liked him and not just because he had the money. Then, he built a kingdom.

However, as it turned out, becoming the best ranker was very difficult. After Gaerna’s hunt, Calauhel’s kingdom took a huge hit. However, during that hunt, Calauhel was able to realize the importance of the NPCs.

Calauhel recalled the boy, who looked at him with his fists curled up on his chest in a salute, who joined their expedition to the Tomb of the Kings. He immediately approached the boy and saw the respect that filled his eyes. With his shaking voice, the boy had said:

—Your Majesty…

His pure eyes shone brightly.

—I hope that you will never get injured. And… please don’t back down.

—…

Calauhel turned around, his face blank as he clenched his fists tightly.

‘I won’t give up. I won’t back down. I will make it so you can live in a better nation, a better kingdom.’

Unfortunately, reality was a bitter pill to swallow.

[The soldiers’ morale has dramatically decreased.]

[They are shaking with fear and terror.]

[Please make sure that you have left your current location and have advanced within ten minutes.]

[If you don’t advance, your HP will continue to decrease.]

Calauhel had stopped because he could no longer bear to take another step forward. He knew better than anybody else that the remaining troops accompanying him would all die if he decided to advance.

Lesso, who watched Calauhel hesitate to advance, looked at him worriedly. Lesso had followed Calauhel since he built Blackstone.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

Calauhel smiled bitterly at Lesso’s question. ‘He’s going to be forced to log out soon, but he’s still worried about me.’

Lesso was one of the powerhouses that ranked in the global top 1,000. If Lesso had chosen to defect to the Luvien Empire, he would have received preferential treatment and would have grown much more than he had grown now. However, he had chosen to stay. With the fall of the Rothschilde Kingdom, he was pushed out of the top 3,000 rankings. It was not just Lesso. There were also quite a few high rankers that followed Calauhel because they truly liked him.

Then, Rothschilde Kingdom’s pride and the one hailed as their Sword Master, Knight Commander Ruman, approached him and said, “Your Majesty, your complexion looks bad.”

Calauhel laughed bitterly as he looked at both of his loyal subjects.

‘Right, Minhyuk has vassals that follow him because they like him.’

“It would have been better if you did not serve me and served Minhyuk instead…”

“Your Majesty, please don’t say that!!!”

“How can you say that to us, Your Majesty!”

“…”

Calauhel had been muttering to himself and complaining about his own self lately. Although it was sad to admit such a fact, it was the truth. If these talents lived in the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, they would probably live better lives and would have already reached a higher place.

Knight Commander Ruman smiled faintly and said, “I am very happy that you are the one that I’m serving, Your Majesty.”

Calauhel was left speechless. Why were the people around him so obstinate?

Lesso, who looked at him in confusion, said, “Who do you think is the other king that entered?”

“Maybe he’s leading a lot of troops too?”

The notifications that they had heard a few moments ago mentioned that a king, other than Calauhel, had entered the Tomb of the Kings. The number of kingdoms founded by players had been increasing at a rapid rate. That was why it was hard for them to guess who entered.

[Please continue to advance.]

[If you don’t advance within a minute, your HP will continue to go down.]

Calauhel realized that he could no longer delay, his hands gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

“Until the end!!!”

“Until the very end!!!”

The knights and soldiers that accompanied Calauhel squeezed the last of their strength as they shouted and stood up.

Meanwhile, some of the mercenaries looked at Calauhel with mockery evident in their eyes. After all, this would mark the end of his majestic and magnificent career in Athenae.

With Calauhel at the vanguard, the group began to advance once again. At some point, darkness engulfed everyone. Calauhel took a deep breath, his nerves tightening from tension.

Then, a gloomy and eerie notification rang in their ears.

[The One that challenged to prove their qualifications to stand above other kings.]

[Death will be given upon those that are not qualified.]

[The Locae Kingdom’s cavalry remains a legend. The day that the Locae Kingdom’s 100 cavalry men marched forward is the day that the waves will split apart. They will march forward and pierce through the enemy camp.]

[The Locae Kingdom’s Legendary Cavalry has appeared!]

“Hihihihihihihihihing!”

“Hihihhihihihihihihihihihihihing!”

[The soldiers of Fulcan Kingdom nurtured by Knight Echen can make an empire tremble in fear and terror.]

[The Fulcan Kingdom Soldiers have appeared!]

The moment the darkness gave way to light, Calauhel was greeted with a charging cavalry. Even the long lines of statues of soldiers that surrounded them began to move.

[Legendary Cavalry. Level 543.]

[Fulcan Kingdom’s Soldiers. Level 510.]

There were around 800 cavalrymen and 1,000 Fulcan Kingdom soldiers. Their levels were beyond what an ordinary soldier could handle.

“Stop them!!!”

The tanker players rushed to form a shield at Calauhel’s command. Then, the cavalry collided with the tankers’ shields.

Boooooooooom—

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

However, the huge impact forced the tankers back, creating a gap that the cavalry took advantage of as they skillfully stabbed their spears through the small cracks in their defenses. That was not all, the Fulcan Kingdom soldiers also shot arrows that pierced through the bodies of the Rothschilde Kingdom’s troops.

“Mages!!!”

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

The ranker mages swept the cavalry with their explosion magic. However, it seemed like the cavalry had a high defense, to the point that none of their magic even put a scratch or a dent on them.

“Destroy.”

The Maestro of Destruction Calauhel squeezed the last of his strength as he swung his sword that was crackling with red sparks.

[The One that Destroys.]

[The current of destruction will inflict 4,400% damage to all of the enemies within a thirty-meter radius.]

Crack, crack, crack! Crackle!

The red electric current swept through the cavalry and made them shake and tremble from the shock. The rankers and knights of the Rothschilde Kingdom took the opportunity to jump on the cavalry and cut them down. Of course, Calauhel followed right behind them.

“Your, Your Majesty!!!”

Calauhel gritted his teeth. The reason why he jumped into the vanguard himself was so he could buy more time, even if it was only for a brief moment. It was all for his soldiers to live.

Slash, slash! Slash!

Calauhel was also one of the rankers who represented their nation during the Battle of the Thrones. He could easily sweep away the cavalrymen and the soldiers with a swing of his sword.

“Cry.”

Booooooooooooom—

A huge meteorite fell from the sky with a swing of Calauhel’s sword. Despite his shortcomings, he was strong. On top of that, he was equipped with various high-grade and top-quality artifacts.

“Uwooooooooo!”

Seeing Calauhel fight like that gave the soldiers of the Rothschilde Kingdom energy, allowing them to push the enemy back.

“As, as expected of His Majesty…!”

The players and the mercenaries looked at Calauhel in admiration. He was showing an overwhelming and majestic dance that none of them could even imitate or catch up to.

[Lebannon King’s Curse.]

[All of your skills are restricted for one minute.]

[All of your defensive power will drop by 30% for one minute!]

“…”

Calauhel, who has been pushing back his enemies with his skills, bit his lips tightly. Now that his skills had been rendered useless, the veteran cavalry and soldiers began to charge and sweep away the Rothschilde troops.

“Uwaaaaaaack!!!”

The screams of his dying soldiers rang in Calauhel’s ears, bringing forth a sense of urgency. Without his skills, all he could do was swing his sword again and again and again.

“Keuaaaaaack!!!”

“Aaaaaaack!”

“Your, Your Majesty…! Please, please don’t die…!”

“Please make the revival of the Rothschilde Kingdom come true!!!”

“I beg of you, please take care of my daughter Hennil!”

“I don’t want to die… I don’t want to die…!”

The deaths of NPCs were real deaths. Calauhel, who could only listen to the dying screams of his men, felt extremely helpless.

Stab—

“…”

At that moment, one of the young soldiers jumped in front of him and wrapped him in a hug to protect him from a spear that was about to stab through his body.

These people had treated him kindly. These soldiers saw and treated him as a person, and not someone that could just give them money. Even the soldier that threw himself in harm's way to protect Calauhel, was looking at him as his king and was filled with respect for him.

Then, the spear that pierced through the chest of the soldier was pulled out.

Spuurt—!

“Ah…!”

“Your Majesty.” The soldier smiled weakly, his body falling to the ground while spurting blood nonstop. “Please take good care of yourself.”

Calauhel’s despair grew as he watched the soldier die in his arms. At that moment, he caught sight of Knight Commander Ruman getting pierced by a spear while another flew for his neck.

Calauhel did not know why, but when he came back to his senses, he was already running toward Ruman. He heard Commander Ruman’s words in his head.

—I am very happy that you are the one that I’m serving, Your Majesty.

Perhaps it was because of those words that he jumped forward and hugged the man tightly to protect him with his own body.

Shwaaaaaa—!

[Your HP has dropped below 75%!]

“Your, Your Majesty…?”

Calauhel hugged Ruman tightly as the cavalry and soldiers surrounded them and stabbed him with their spears non-stop.

[Your HP has dropped below 50%!]

[Your HP has dropped below 45%!]

“Thank you, Ruman,” Calauhel said, smiling faintly even though the spears continued to pierce through his body.

Then, suddenly, all of the cavalry and soldiers stopped in their tracks.

[The Tomb’s Kings are watching you with interest.]

[The Tomb’s Kings evaluates you as incompetent. However, they will test your qualifications as someone who values the lives of his soldiers more than his own life.]

[New Class.]

[King Above Kings.]

[You can become the God of all of the kings.]

Despite the sweet and thrilling notifications, the cavalrymen and the soldiers began to move once again.

[The Tomb’s Kings might be watching you with interest, but they will never accept someone incompetent!]

[If you fail to reach the end of the tomb, then you will not be able to gain a new class.]

Attacks rained upon Calauhel’s body once again while the screams of his soldiers rang in his ears. A new class? He did not care about it anymore.

Calauhel looked around him. Even though he was being cut and stabbed by the enemies’ spears and swords, his soldiers and the players under his command still continued to jump forward to try and save his own ugly self. However, all of them were swept away by the cavalry. He bit his lips as he looked at them.

Calauhel was the family head of the Rothschilde Family. He had grown up to be arrogant, believing that there was no one above him. But now, people that he cared about were dying in front of his eyes.

“Please…” Calauhel opened his trembling lips and pleaded to that other king who entered the Tomb of the Kings. “Please. Help me. Please save my men!!!”

He knew that his desperate cries would remain unanswered. After all, no one in their right mind would help their rival. However, Calauhel felt like this was the last straw that he could grab.

The once arrogant Calauhel cried out once again, “Please save my soldiers!!! I’ll do anything, please!!!”

Calauhel’s cries were filled with both anguish and hope.

Then, several spears appeared in Calauhel’s vision. Once those spears pierced through them, he and his soldiers would all die.

Swoosh—

But then, at that moment, the spears that were approaching them suddenly split in two as the shadow of someone who blocked the enemy in front of Calauhel fell upon him.

The man looked back at Calauhel with a sad look on his face as he said, “You look tired, Calauhel.”

Then, the notifications rang in Calauhel’s ears.

[The other challenger of the Tomb of the Kings is suggesting an alliance.]

[The person that suggested an alliance is ‘Beyond the Heavens’ King Minhyuk!]

[Would you like the Rothschilde Kingdom to form an alliance with the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom?]