Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 835

Nerva gulped dryly, looking around anxiously as his heart thumped wildly. This was how wary Nerva, the emperor of the Great Luvien Empire, was of Minhyuk. However, not long after, Nerva guffawed.

‘How many empires and kingdoms have knelt before me?’

There were far too many of them. In fact, there were more than ten empires that had pledged their allegiance to the Luvien Empire. He did not know how Minhyuk managed to become an emperor, but the Beyond the Heavens Empire was just one among the many empires that would definitely kneel in front of him.

‘Will anything change even if you become an emperor, huh?’

Nerva did not think so. That was what made it even funnier to him. Even if they became the Beyond the Heavens Empire, the talents that supported Minhyuk and his kingdom were now on the brink of death.

‘Look.’ Nerva wanted to tell Minhyuk this, ‘Your vassals are already dying!’

Sword of the Gods Luo was obviously dying. Spear God Ben had lost one eye and could not even stand without the support of his spear. Great Demon Elpis had lost his left arm because of the Sword of the Gods. The foreigners supporting the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had died several times and had all grown weaker. What difference could becoming the Beyond the Heavens Empire bring?

The Luvien Empire had trampled on Minhyuk’s best subjects and forced them to collapse.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Waaaaaaaaaaah!”

Once the Luvien Imperial Army charged through the cracks of their collapsed gate, the Beyond the Heavens Empire would collapse. Nerva turned to look at the people blocking the gates.

“Haa… haa… Urk!”

The dying Sword of the Gods Luo, who was leaning on the wall on the wall, struggled to pull himself up. He almost choked from the blood that he coughed up. However, he still squeezed the last of his strength to stand up. A faint and small smile appeared on his face. Then, he raised his only hand to his forehead. And slowly, very slowly, he bowed toward his emperor, who was sitting on the throne in the sky above them.

“Your Imperial Majesty!!! Congratulations!!!”

“…!”

Nerva’s face grew ugly. Sword of the God Luo, despite having one foot on the grave, stumbled and struggled to bow toward Minhyuk. Then, one after the other, the people that blocked the gates of the kingdom bowed and shouted toward the translucent image that was projected in the sky.

“Your Imperial Majesty! Congratulations!!!”

“Your Imperial Majesty! Congratulations!!!”

“Your Imperial Majesty!!!”

“Your Imperial Majesty!!!”

“Your Imperial Majesty Minhyuk!!!”

The cries of the people rang from both inside and outside the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s castle.

Nerva’s face grew uglier by the second, his face filled with embarrassment. He had never been able to win anybody’s heart and loyalty like this in his life. Why did so many people decide to serve an insignificant and shabby emperor like Minhyuk? At this moment, Nerva felt infinitely insignificant.

Thankfully, the Beyond the Heavens Empire was on the verge of collapse. They no longer had any troops that could fight. Nerva raised his hand once again. Hundreds of thousands of arrows once again took aim, as Nerva slowly lowered his hand.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping—

The hundreds of thousands of arrows shot through the skies. Seeing the rain of arrows coming their way, some tried to block them, some tried to evade, while some continued to bow to Minhyuk. But before the arrows could reach them, something strange happened.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—

The hundreds of thousands of arrows lost their momentum and bounced off. It was as if they were toy arrows. Nerva frowned at the strange phenomenon. Then, he looked at the sword hanging on his waist that was shaking, as if it was resonating with something. When he looked back at his archer unit, he saw that their bows and arrows were also trembling and resonating.

[The Sun’s Sword loses its power in front of the Greatest Sword!]

“…!”

‘The greatest sword?’

Nerva did not know or understand what it was. It was not just him. All of the people present were affected by the appearance of the greatest sword.

Nerva suddenly felt nervous. He could tell that something strange was about to happen. Even though his weapon had lost its sharpness and momentum, the people in front of him all had one foot in the grave. It should be easy for him to deal with them.

Nerva stretched out his hands to grab Brod’s neck. For an emperor, who wanted to maintain his dignity and grace, his display was poor at this moment. However, he knew that Brod was the one that posed the greatest danger to him. That was why he wanted to twist his neck and kill him in one go.

[Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Guardian Deity has descended!]

‘Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Guardian Deity?’

Nerva chuckled.

Kingdoms and empires all had guardian deities, an example being how the Eivelis Empire worshiped the phoenix. Guardian deities were mighty, dangerous beings. However, that was only the case for ordinary people.

For Nerva, these beings did not pose any danger. He had the Sword of the Gods by his side and could kill whoever Guardian Deity had appeared.

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Guardian Deity is the tenth Absolute God!]

“…What?”

For a moment, Nerva thought that his ears were playing tricks on him.

‘The Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Guardian Deity is an Absolute God?’

There was no way that an Absolute God would willingly become a guardian deity. This was definitely not something that they would do. This was because Absolute Gods had huge influence over the world. If they became a guardian deity, then it would destroy the balance of the world.

[The tenth Absolute God, also known as the Guardian God, has become the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Guardian Deity to protect them!]

However, the notification that rang after the first one jolted Nerva back to his senses.

“This— this is impossible.”

This meant that the tenth Absolute God himself chose to become a trivial and insignificant deity called the Guardian God, just to protect the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

“This is impossible!!!”

Nerva’s face turned red as he quickly tried to crush Brod’s neck.

Flash—!

Alas, before he could truly do so, the tenth Absolute God, the Guardian God appeared.

An extremely handsome man, whose face could make any god sigh, appeared with his long white hair fluttering behind him, while wearing pure white clothes that carried the symbol of the fork and knife crossed together. The god looked at Nerva with a haughty look on his face as he stood in front of Brod.

At the same time, countless notifications rang in Guardian God Obren’s ears.

[As the Guardian Deity of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, you have the right to protect the nation and its people!]

[However, the Greatest God has imposed a restriction upon you. You cannot recklessly use the Guardian God’s Books!]

[Since you have become the Guardian Deity of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, the range of the Guardian God’s Books will be expanded. This state will continue to be in effect for just 24 hours.]

Nerva could not bring his hands any closer. The one that became the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s guardian deity, the man that was once called the Evil God, was not someone that Nerva could deal with.

Obren smiled softly as he looked back at the people behind him. He said, “Thank you for holding on.”

Along with that, a bright light burst out as one of the Guardian God’s Books floated in the sky.

[Book of Recovery.]

[The Book of Recovery restores 80% of your HP and MP!]

[The Book of Recovery is the Absolute Authority that belongs to the Guardian God!]

[The Book of Recovery heals and restores all of your injuries!]

Flaaaaaaaash—

As a bright and white light spread and covered the Beyond the Heavens Empire, Brod, who had been haggard and exhausted, regained his stability and was now breathing more smoothly.

Ben’s damaged cornea was also slowly starting to heal. Elpis’ lost arm was slowly being regenerated. Sword of the Gods Luo, who had been unable to move and looked like he had died after bowing, was also beginning to heal. The bodies of the soldiers that were cut and torn apart were all healed and restored.

Nerva was very flustered. The number of the Beyond the Heavens’ troops that survived was roughly at 700,000. But this man in front of him had the power to help these 700,000 men recover all at once. It was something that even Nerva had never heard of before.

However, breaking out of his daze, Nerva burst into laughter after looking at the arrogant Obren. “Guardian deities can not attack others personally.”

“…”

It was just as he said. Guardian deities could not attack others directly. Nerva might fear him if he was still the Evil God from the past, but he had now become the Guardian God and a guardian deity. He could no longer hurt him.

“Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Guardian Deity, do you think you can change anything by appearing here?!!!”

The results would not change. Even if all of the troops of the Beyond the Heavens Empire had recovered, the Luvien Empire’s numbers were still far superior. Nerva believed in his own power. Besides, he also had the Swords of the Gods with him.

Obren stared at Nerva silently for a moment. Then, he opened his mouth and said, “I am not the one that will bring punishment unto you.”

Then, at that moment, Nerva felt the ground beneath his feet shake and tremble. He immediately turned to look around, his gaze settling on the horizon where a large army of 1.5 million appeared.

“…!”

Nerva’s breath hitched. He was not aware of who they were. All of the troops of the Beyond the Heavens Empire were right here in front of him. So, who were those soldiers?

Standing in front of the 1.5 million strong troops was none other than Alexander. These troops were composed of around 800,000 soldiers that had become the new soldiers of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. As for the remaining 700,000, they were all players. They were the same players who had initially joined the Jade Emperor’s Coalition Army, who were subsequently seduced by Minhyuk who gave them a quest.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Their loud roars rang loudly for the world to hear. The rain of arrows revealed by the 1.5 million strong troops put pressure on the Luvien Imperial Army. One had to remember that the Luvien Empire was an absolute existence that no one in Athenae dared confront so easily.

“Your— Your Majesty…!”

“There are far too many enemies!!!”

What was worse was the fact that the talents that were blocking the gates in front of them were recovering. Nerva scanned the enemies.

The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal Sun Wukong raised his Ruyi Jingu Bang and pointed it at the Luvien Empire and killed the enemies by creating hundreds of clones of himself. Zhu Bajie raised his trident and stabbed his enemies non-stop. There was also the Sword Saint Aaron, who left the Luvien Empire’s soldiers helpless with just a swing of his sword. Then there was Alexander, who was leading the players. He was displayed a dance that none of the Sword of the Gods could keep up with.

However, Nerva was looking for a single man. Why was he nowhere to be found? It was none other than the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Emperor Minhyuk. He looked around uneasily but Minhyuk was truly nowhere to be found. Nerva felt quite relieved after seeing that Minhyuk was not around.

Rumbleeeeeeeeeeeeee—

Nerva covered his sword with his divinity. All of the Sword of the Gods were able to exert divinity. However, among them, Nerva was the one that could exert a more intense and more powerful divinity. With his divinity, his sword could have the strongest cutting power. If he used a bow, his arrows could pierce through anything.

Craaaaaaack—

The air around Nerva crackled the moment he raised his divinity.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaa—

Energy running rampant, a bright stream of energy burst out and soared to the skies. What Nerva intended to do here was to kill all of these people before they could fully recover. Then, he would retreat with his men.

Using his divinity, Nerva increased the energy of his greatest Emperor’s Skill, the Emperor’s Berserk Sword. Because of that, the skill was now able to engulf an entire area of fifty meters, while his damage had increased to 20,000%.

The divinity that had gone berserk swirled and gathered around Nerva’s sword.

Rumbleeeeeeee—

Nerva, whose hair had turned golden, tried to swing his sword.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Guardian God Obren scoffed. “I am not the one that will bring punishment unto you.”

Poof—!

At that moment, a completely different person appeared right where Obren was before. Their positions were changed thanks to Sun Wukong’s power.

The man was wearing the Slaughterer’s Armor that was shining a bright golden light, with a white cape that carried the Beyond the Heavens symbol fluttering on his back. The emperor’s crown was settled nicely atop the man’s dark hair, while his pure and bright eyes glared sharply at Nerva.

Minhyuk’s Sword of Aeon had been successfully reinforced by +3. Because of that, a lot of things, including his attack, had improved. But that was not all. A new active skill had been made available to him.

[You have triggered the Unhealable Injury!]

Minhyuk had already swung his sword before Nerva could finish casting his Emperor’s Berserk Sword.

Shwaaaaaaaa—

Minhyuk, who triggered his newly available active skill, slashed Nerva’s face, the attack damaging not only the Luvien Empire’s face but also his left eye.

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire’s first achievement has been made.]

[You have made the first achievement: Injuring the Greatest Emperor.]

Drip— drip, drip—!

[You are the first player to have injured the Great Luvien Empire’s Emperor!]

[You have obtained the Title: The One that Injured the Emperor!]