Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 1265

Duke Vakkaman, who took over the position of Duke Ruffiso after his death, was a strong powerhouse born into the family of Supreme Rundalk. As someone who had watched and monitored the Beyond the Heavens Empire, he was shocked to see how much they had grown. Even the speed at which they had achieved that growth was beyond terrifying.

However, Duke Vakkaman still looked at them contemptuously, especially after the Beyond the Heavens Empire provoked him and the Luvien Empire and declared war against them.

‘It doesn’t matter how strong the Beyond the Heavens Empire has become…’

The Luvien Empire would still come out on top. After all, they possessed almost twice the military power of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

On top of that, they had a large population. This meant that they could find many talented people in their empire. Although there weren’t any gods among them, the Luvien Empire was still filled with countless powerful human beings that could rival the gods.

As for Minhyuk’s vassals…

‘There’s one among them that I find terrifying.’

Even so, the Luvien Empire’s dukes, their talented individuals, and their Sword of the Gods would most likely be able to overwhelm Minhyuk’s vassals. After all, the Luvien Empire was where even the gods had to tread carefully and not treat recklessly.

The war against the Beyond the Heavens Empire would most certainly inflict considerable damage to their empire. War was something that one could not laugh about even if they won. There was also the fact that they never knew how many days they had to continue fighting.

Because of that, Duke Vakkaman believed that Emperor Cardin would choose to save himself first. He would choose not to fight this war. After all, he was a coward.

But shockingly enough, Emperor Cardin gave very unexpected orders. He said, “Strike the Beyond the Heavens Empire.”

Vakkaman was extremely happy about this very unexpected order. At the same time, he was curious why.

At that moment, Emperor Cardin stood up and walked over to the window. He looked outside with gritted teeth and ordered, “Put a sword in the hearts of those who dared to rebel and fight against the Great Luvien Empire. Send all our troops, except for the bare minimum needed to protect our empire, to the Beyond the Heavens Empire.”

Duke Vakkaman found it utterly unbelievable. He thought, ‘It feels like something I both want and do not want.’

The Beyond the Heavens Empire soldiers would be resurrected even if they died. On the other hand, the troops of the Luvien Imperial Army would most likely face actual death. That was why he had judged that the damage this war would cause to the Luvien Empire would be enormous.

Yet, despite knowing they would incur unimaginable damage, Emperor Cardin spoke about war with firm determination.

Even Duke Laghman, who was standing right next to the emperor, had a look of disbelief on his face.

“Duke Laghman, you go too.”

At this moment, both dukes felt a sense of unfamiliarity as they looked at their emperor.

‘It is only right for the Luvien Empire to go to war. The time has come to let the world know who the real owner of this land is.’

Even though they held doubts, they knew that it was something that they had to do one day. Of course, it was also because they did not dare to oppose Emperor Cardin’s orders.

“We have received Your Majesty’s orders.”

Those who held the position of commanders and vice commanders stepped forward and accepted the orders. Once they stepped out, Emperor Cardin returned to his quarters.

At that moment, someone placed a hand on the shoulder of Cardin, who was staring blankly out of his window. It was none other than Pillar of Death Boleyn. Wearing a mask, he sat at the end of Cardin’s bed and cackled wildly.

Boleyn was one of the candidates who vied for the top position among the other Pillar Candidates during the Advanced Polling. He was also the head of the largest intelligence agency, Immune, in Athenae and an assassin.

Boleyn had been hiding within the Luvien Empire. He had been continuously making contact with Emperor Cardin and had been slowly brainwashing him through his tea. Because of that, Emperor Cardin fell entirely under his brainwashing.

The brainwashed Emperor Cardin looked no different from before. The only difference was that he would only follow Boleyn’s orders.

‘If being a bit dull is a flaw, then it’s a flaw.’

Emperor Cardin was in all senses of the word “dull.” He had become entirely dumb and dull as a side effect of the brainwashing. Yet, despite such a flaw, no one in the Luvien Empire dared to doubt their emperor.

Pillar Candidate Boleyn had become a laughing stock and had been greatly humiliated by the Beyond the Heavens Empire in the past. On top of that, the Beyond the Heavens Empire was like a thorn in his side mainly because he wanted to take control of the entire continent from the beginning.

With both matters at hand, brainwashing the emperor of the Luvien Empire to make the Beyond the Heavens Empire crash and burn seemed like the most productive course of action.

“War causes a lot of damage.” Boleyn grinned at Cardin. “Many people in the Luvien Empire are looking at you with distrust.”

In this situation, the master of the coup d'état that Boleyn had planted in the Luvien Empire would move at the right time and shake their foundation. Once successful, Boelyn would strip Emperor Cardin of his position and establish his puppet emperor. Then, he would become the absolute master of the land.

‘Is it going to be here soon?’

But that was not all. Boleyn possessed a unique and extraordinary power. It allowed him to stand in his current position. Furthermore, this power was one of the Eight Pillars’ Disasters.

Shockingly enough, Boleyn possessed one of the powers that only a few of the Pillar Candidates possessed—the Predictive Power. He had used the Predictive Power to check the future that no one else knew and reach his position.

However, Predictive Power could not see through everything. He could only see the future of one specified target. On top of that, he could not see through the future of any other person or even his own.

The future that he chose to learn in advance was none other than the beginning of the Pillar Wars.

Only one person could win the Pillar Wars, ascend to the throne, and become the true Pillar. Of course, someone qualified to become a Pillar could also become a Pillar in another way, other than the Pillar Wars.

‘The Pillar Wars is a competition to determine who among the underqualified Pillar Candidates is the most outstanding.’

The Pillar War was also partly why Boleyn chose to start a war at this time. It was because it would soon take place. Once the Pillar Wars ended, Boleyn would become a Pillar. And right after that, he could create his puppet emperor.

Meanwhile, right outside the Emperor Cardin’s bedroom. Former emperor Nerva was preparing for what Boleyn was planning.

‘If I attack Boleyn now, then Cardin will die.’

The worst part was that he could not let anyone know about this matter. Nerva had to execute this plan with nothing but a single ally. He was confident that this single ally would be the one who would shake everything and make Boleyn’s plans falter.

Nerva began to make his move. He had to lead the army and bring them toward the Beyond the Heavens Empire. He had to be the one to kill Brod.

***

Vwoooooooong!

The entire Beyond the Heavens Empire was in a state of emergency. They had received reports that a large army bearing the symbol of the Great Luvien Empire was advancing toward them from all directions.

“The army with the largest number of troops is advancing from the Aegean Territory. The one leading the army is Duke Vakkaman.”

“Duke Laghman is leading the army advancing toward Gornon Fortress.”

“Both places are strategic points. If they break through those two places, they could advance toward our capital at a breakneck speed.”

“There seems to be a lot of troops making a detour and advancing toward us!”

The Luvien Empire was advancing from all sides. The Beyond the Heavens Empire had no choice but to mobilize many of their troops as if they were going to fight the final battle.

As for Minhyuk and Haze, they found it to be completely unexpected.

“Why is Emperor Cardin doing such a foolish thing?”

They did not have an answer to this question. All they could do was prepare for the impending war.

“I’ll go to Gornon Fortress,” Minhyuk said as he began giving orders. “Grandpa Ben, Elpis, Elizabeth and Gorfido, go to Aegean Territory and protect it. As for Sir Rundalk…”

Everything was hectic. For a moment, Minhyuk could only continue to give orders. As Minhyuk watched his vassals run out, he prepared to head to Gornon Fortress. At that moment, he received another report from Brod himself.

“According to reports, Nerva is leading 300,000 elite soldiers and heading toward Garavis Gorge.”

The Garavis Gorge was directly connected to a vast and long mountain range. Once one passed through this mountain range, they could find themselves on a road that led directly to the capital of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

Simply put, Nerva was trying to strike down the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Imperial Palace. But there was something that Minhyuk could not understand.

‘Why…?’

Nerva was now deprived of almost everything. That was why Minhyuk found it hard to comprehend why he had to take command and lead an army of elite soldiers himself.

“He is a man that is filled with endless greed and countless unexplainable whims.”

To top it off, Nerva was strong. Even though Minhyuk had blown one of his arms away, he could commission a prosthetic magical artifact and complement what he lacked. Simply put, no one in the empire could easily deal with him.

No matter how hard Minhyuk thought, he could not think of anyone among the vassals of the Beyond the Heavens Empire who could deal with him.

‘There is, but…’

There was one—Brod. But Brod was set to head out to the most crucial battlefield. Unfortunately, this was a more pressing matter. After all, an army composed of elite soldiers was heading straight toward the capital.

“Your Majesty, I will go there myself,” Brod said.

Even so, Minhyuk still could not agree to that easily. Brod hated Nerva terribly. At this moment, he realized that this would most likely cloud the rationality and objective judgment of the man before him.

‘If that’s the case, then maybe I should let Grandpa Ben go.’

However, Grandpa Ben had a high chance of losing against Nerva. And the biggest problem was… their deaths would mean their actual death. So, Minhyuk had to be careful.

“Is there any army available to deal with this?”

“We have a total of 20,000 elite troops waiting on standby.”

Brod had raised and nurtured a total of 100,000 elite soldiers. Every single one of them was comparable to the knights of the Luvien Imperial Army. However, no matter how strong they were, there were still 300,000 enemy troops coming their way.

‘This is a very serious and dire situation.’

After various calculations, Minhyuk determined that Brod was the only one who could lead such a small number of troops and create a breakthrough to fight against such a vast numerical advantage.

“Brod, lead the 20,000 elite soldiers and stop Nerva from advancing.”

Minhyuk sighed. War had already started. Now, he had to speak the words he had been putting off.

“I give you permission to kill Nerva.”

Minhyuk had never given Brod permission to kill Nerva in the past because he had wanted to prevent a war between the two empires. Allowing Brod to kill Nerva meant that Nerva could also kill Brod, but the situation had changed, and it was necessary to take that risk.

Brod moved swiftly. As he ran outside, he stopped and looked back at the Beyond the Heavens Empire with a complex expression. Brod caught Minhyuk looking at him worriedly.

“Brod. Come back safely. This is an imperial order.”

Carefully concealing his condition, Brod replied, "Of course, Your Majesty."

***

The Beyond the Heavens Empire had created a fortress at the foot of the mountain in preparation for war. Brod, who stood at the fortress's walls, thought about many things.

He had already talked with Nerva earlier.

–As much as possible, make sure to spare the elite soldiers of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

Nerva grinned at him in reply.

–That’s quite contradictory, don’t you think? A war between the Beyond the Heavens Empire and the Luvien Empire was set to break out at any moment. This is not a war that we have created. We just added a little plan in the middle of it. Hey, you’ve been saying quite a lot of contradicting words, huh?

Brod also knew that his words were contradictory.

The elite troops of the Beyond the Heavens Empire and the Luvien Empire were at war and would have to kill each other, yet Brod had asked Nerva to stop the soldiers of the Luvien Empire from killing their troops. That was quite ridiculous, no?

‘If they are strong, then they will win. If they are weak, then they will lose.’

They had to walk their path. No requests could be entertained in the middle of a war.

At that moment, Nerva and his army appeared. They quickly descended from the mountains.

“All troops! Take cover!”

“Commander?!”

“Commander Brod!”

At that moment, Brod leapt forward like a graceful and fierce wolf.

Nerva’s words were within reason. Since that was within reason, then Brod would be the one who made the first move in hopes that the people he had nurtured and raised would live and survive.

Meanwhile, Nerva found the sudden turn of events completely unexpected. They had initially planned for Brod’s death to come after they were done fighting a fierce battle.

Bang!

At that moment, the Fallen Wretched Emperor and the Dethroned Emperor clashed in the sky.

Boom!

A deafening roar erupted in the entire battlefield. A single clash of swords made the trees shake and the bushes fly.

At the same time, the forces of the Beyond the Heavens Empire began a fierce battle against Nerva and his troops.

The truth was, Nerva was afraid. After all, Brod had shaken the world and would continue to do so. In fact, it was ridiculous for a person like Brod to ask for Nerva’s help and be offered the position of an eunuch in return; it seemed like a total joke.

So, Nerva broke apart from Brod and tried to justify himself. He explained, “I tried my best to find another suitable position. Based on your requirements… I judged that the position with the best chance to become the emperor’s closest confidant is an eunuch…”

BANG!

A bloody red wolf shot out and hit Nerva. Nerva, who felt a genuine killing intent from the attack, was flustered. Ultimately, he was forced to endure and be pushed back by Brod’s relentless attacks.

‘When did he grow to be this strong?’

The force and power that Brod was displaying right now was entirely ridiculous. Curious, Nerva looked up. However, he could not help but flinch when he caught sight of the deadly and sharp glare of the man before him.

Nerva could not even make eye contact with Brod, whom he had greatly offended.

‘But Brod shouldn’t be such a narrow-minded and petty person like that, right? Hmm, that’s right…’

Nerva believed that Brod would not be so vindictive just because he was offered such a position.

Brod closed in and said, “Nerva, face me openly and confidently!”

“...?”

‘As expected.’

Nerva realized that he had been far too afraid that the reason Brod was attacking him like this was that he had offered Brod to take on the position of an eunuch after dying.

Brod continued, “You’re the one who found a way for me to live again. I believe that giving me such a ridiculous position as an eunuch is an inevitable decision that you have to make.”

‘As expected! Brod is not a petty and narrow-minded individual. He is a man worthy of my recognition and acknowledgement!’

“What’s the name of the operation again?” Brod asked.

When they created the operation name, they had agreed on the position that Brod had to take. With every name from the multi-stage operation that Nerva whispered, Brod would move and find the corresponding position.

Nerva whispered the name of the first operation, “Supreme Eunuch.”

Brod flinched for a moment. However, Nerva did not worry too much. After all, Brod was generous and did not care about such trifling matters.

Nerva continued, “Followed by the Invincible Eunuch. And finally, the Eunuch Emperor.”

Although it sounded like Nerva was making fun of Brod, the operation name informed anyone who heard that he was indeed the best and undefeatable.

And just like Nerva expected, the generous and big-hearted guy Brod said, “I see. Nerva, straighten your shoulders. Raise your head and look me in the eye. Don’t avoid it!”

Following Brod’s words, Nerva straightened his shoulders and puffed out his chest in pride.

“That’s right. Nerva, you punk. Very good. It’s very nice of you to straighten your shoulders and expose your chest like that.”

Nerva suddenly caught sight of Brod’s clenched fist and was confused.

“You have made it easier for me to hit you, no?!”

“...!”

‘NO! Brod is very narrow-minded and petty!’