Chapter 265 – Eastern Conquest Plan 6 (1/2)

Hermion’s elite cavalry troops broke toward Woohyuk’s position.

The hammer and anvil.

The tactic utilized heavy infantry with long spears ranging from 4 to 5 meters in length to press against the enemy’s center formation. By doing this, the more mobile cavalry units would flank and dig into the gap on the opponent’s sides and rear to slowly whittle away at the opponent’s forces.

It was a great tactic, but there was no way Woohyuk, who was an overlord the last time he entered this world, would not know of this strategy.

Furthermore, he had no intention of playing a pure strategy game of cat-and-mouse against Hermion.

‘This isn’t for an empire’s throne, it’s a game for a Divine Throne.’

In order to prove that one could go beyond one’s human limits and transcend, one had to stand firm and overcome a seemingly insurmountable situation as if it was natural.

This was why Woohyuk left Hermion to dig deeper into his camp.

Additionally, he could reduce the overall damage to his allies by directly confronting Hermion.

“Are you the Hero King?” Hermion asked.

“Yes. Who are you?” Woohyuk replied and asked in return.

“I am Hermion Castus, general of the Ancient Aperian Empire!”

Hermion, who had approached Woohyuk’s location, rushed toward Woohyuk with his cavalry.

Seeing this, Leifina stepped forward and tried to stop Hermion.

“Lord, I will stop them!” Leifina shouted out.

“No, I will deal with them directly,” Woohyuk calmly answered.

It wasn’t that Leifina’s skills were lacking, but considering the opponent, it was better if he resolved the situation quickly with minimal loss.

When Woohyuk came out to meet the rushing cavalry with only a few horsemen in tow, Hermion made an interested yet surprised expression.

‘Oh, were you waiting for me on purpose?’

Usually in such a situation, one would try to flee or rush to gather soldiers, but this was the first time his opponent rushed to meet him head-on.

‘If you accept my challenge, I’m more than welcome to oblige.’

Now was the perfect opportunity to overturn the Theresian side’s power inferiority. If all went well, the whole war could be resolved with this single battle.

Thinking up to here, Hermion adjusted his spear and easily cleared the opponent’s incoming cavalry troops.

Slice!

Slice!

Indeed, he was a martial arts legendary master!

However, his cool movements and attacks were easily blocked by Woohyuk.

Ka-Rang!

Blood spilled from Hermion’s mouth after their initial clash.

“Keuk…!”

Even though it was just one meeting of weapons, the overwhelming feeling of pressure that he received from Woohyuk’s attack rippled throughout his whole body.

‘Wait a minute, has this guy already reached the power level of a Divine Throne god?’

From Woohyuk’s first appearance, when Hermion saw Woohyuk’s pitch-black wings, he had a strange feeling.

But when he actually met and clashed with him, he could feel the deeper meaning and power that resided in his opponent.

Woohyuk’s power didn’t seem to originate from a contract with the demons or Valkyrie. His power seemed to point towards a higher level of power hierarchy that was acquired by surpassing human limits by himself.

Since Woohyuk wasn’t a god, Hermion surmised that Woohyuk had already reached the level of a demigod.

While Hermion was momentarily thrown into confusion, Woohyuk pushed him back and said aloud, “Are you surprised? Can you hear me, Marcus? I’ve already reached a higher level than your mentor.”

“Your power is definitely great, but I have no intention of backing down,” Hermion, who had taken over Marcus’ physical body and was speaking for him, replied.

Hermion knew that if he lost here, there was no chance of winning the war.

He was like a rat who ate poison, just wasting its time before its eventual death.

In the north, Frost Giants were marching southward.

In the east, the 72 Demon Kings and their armies were quickly gobbling up territory.

In the south, a Vampires Clan was running rampant, raising its forces every second while marching northward.

Thus, Hermion decided that the only option to bring victory was to directly confront the eastward-moving Eastern Conquest forces in the western part of the Theresian Empire.

Recognizing Hermion’s intention to fight to the end, Woohyuk summoned Fenrir, the Frost-Fire Wolf.

“Grrrr!”

“Bite him to pieces, Fenrir.”

If he could cut the enemy’s head right now, he could reduce the damage on his allies in turn.

There were no specific quest restrictions for this battle, nor was there a need for a one-on-one duel like when he faced legendary Paladin Reinhard or Demigod Atreus.

Woohyuk’s main objective was to save time by overpowering his opponent with a swift attack.

When Woohyuk rushed alongside Fenrir for a two-pronged attack, Hermion injected magic power into his spear with a resolute expression.

‘I still have one last card to play.’

Tetratos’ Spear, a mystical weapon Hermion obtained from a ruin while wandering around the continent conducting wars of conquest.

Hermion’s weapon had an unusual ability.

The spear would block all of the opponent’s abilities for 10 minutes if pierced once by the spear.

No matter if he reached the Demigod hierarchy, Woohyuk would lose his advantage against Hermion if all his abilities were blocked.

‘All I need to do is succeed in just one attack.’

Hermion narrowed his eyes and blocked Fenrir’s attack.

Currently, Woohyuk was quickly narrowing the distance while holding Verserios with both hands.

Considering his posture and the position of the sword, Hermion had a rough estimation of how Woohyuk would attack.

Ka-Rang!

Once again, Woohyuk’s sword and Hermion’s spear clashed, causing a tremendous upward current.

Hermion immediately drew back his spear and thrust towards a location that he expected Woohyuk to move to.

However…

Pu-Wook!

Contrary to his expectations, Woohyuk moved in the opposite direction, and as a result, Verserios came out from Hermion’s abdomen region with a blunt, penetrating sound.

“Ugh…!”

“Have you ever heard of Battle Foresight?”

The Bhilante Dagger.

By clearing the quest that started with it, Woohyuk had acquired a Battle Foresight.

It was an ability that allowed one to read and respond to the opponent’s movement in advance.

Of course, in the case of Hermion, Woohyuk could only read a fraction of a second ahead, but that difference was enough for Woohyuk.

“… This is the first time I’ve been so thoroughly defeated and humiliated on the battlefield,” Hermion managed to say through gritted teeth.