The Main Characters That Only I Know

The sky was gloomy and dark, as though it would pour rain at any moment.

Yu-hyun scanned his surroundings. On the desolate land where dry winds raced across the sand, around 100 people stood, preparing for the imminent battle.

A force of 100 people was small for a war, but considering that most of those gathered here were at least transcendents, it was an undeniably powerful lineup.

Yet, even these 100 mighty warriors couldn’t help but feel tension about the upcoming fight.

While their side was strong, the enemy's forces were even more formidable.

"Jia must have left her position."

Kwon Jia had the most crucial role in the alliance's civil war today.

Her presence was essential in stopping Magni, the Asgard Divine Spirit brought in by the Salio Empire.

Magni likely wouldn’t avoid fighting Kwon Jia, eager to avenge the humiliation of their previous unresolved battle.

"And that’s all we’ve managed to separate from one faction of the Great Asgard."

The most significant issue now was the other Great Asgard faction, Olympus.

Though no one knew exactly who Olympus had sent, considering the importance of this war, it was clear they wouldn’t have dispatched a mediocre Divine Spirit.

Even though most assumed they had sent a second-generation Divine Spirit, the strength of a second-generation Spirit was not to be underestimated.

Though they hadn’t lived as long or collected as many stories as the first generation, they were still beings worthy of being called "gods" in mythology.

"Even just one appearing would require at least four Lords from our side to counter. And only if we pick the most battle-hardened ones. That would widen the gap in strength even more."

In this situation, if they had someone like Choi Do-yoon, their most powerful asset, it would have been different. However, Choi Do-yoon was recovering from injuries sustained during a recent fight with Yu-hyun, rendering him unable to participate in the battle.

Yu-hyun inwardly grumbled about how useless he was, yet couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of needing his help when it mattered most.

"They're coming."

Someone murmured.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the barren land ahead, but no enemy was yet visible.

However, the overwhelming presence of something massive approaching was felt by everyone gathered.

The sky.

All heads tilted upward.

The dark clouds, split open like a black beast tearing through the sky, parted, and beams of light poured down through the gaps.

At first, it seemed like sunlight, but it didn’t take long to realize it was something else.

Emerging from the clouds was a colossal airship radiating brilliant light.

"It's huge."

The massive airship, over 300 meters long, was a weapon created by the magical engineering of the Salio Empire.

And there were more than ten of them. On the deck of each airship stood rows of soldiers in armor, packed tightly together.

The sheer overwhelming presence of these airships made some of the Lords of the alliance swallow nervously.

Even the Lords felt a sense of pressure from the sight of the descending legion of the Salio Empire.

"Don’t be intimidated."

Lim Gunwoo stepped forward, his voice steady and unshaken.

"They’re just putting on a show. No way all that force is meant to fight us. Those oversized airships are basically screaming, ‘Please, shoot us down.’ It's just a show to intimidate us."

Gunwoo was right. The Salio Empire’s display of power was meant to demoralize their enemies before the battle even started.

If the alliance grew fearful at this display and surrendered without a fight, it would save the empire from wasting any resources. They had nothing to lose by showing off their strength.

In any case, they had already decided who would fight.

"The main players are finally arriving."

From the ten or so airships, shadows began to leap down toward the ground.

They fell vertically, and then, with a burst of shining wings on their backs, slowly floated in mid-air.

The mechanical wings, created through magical engineering, didn’t surprise Yu-hyun, as he had seen them before when fighting the Executor Piren.

"So, these are the Lords of the Salio Empire."

The sight of the Lords descending with their glowing mechanical wings resembled angels bringing divine punishment from the heavens.

But they weren’t just equipped with mechanical wings. The exoskeleton suits they wore were far too thick to even be called armor—custom-made suits specifically designed for the Lords of the Salio Empire.

Yu-hyun recalled how Executor Piren had fought. She didn’t rely on her personal skills but instead used tools suitable for various situations.

It was likely these Lords would fight in a similar manner.

"Whew. That gear difference is insane, no matter how you look at it."

Lords didn’t usually care much about their equipment, but when the opponent appeared so ostentatiously armored, it was hard not to feel overwhelmed.

"Hey, don’t we have anything to show off? Like a custom-made Dwarf Order armor? Maybe something mixed with orichalcum or mithril?"

"Stop spouting nonsense and focus on the enemy in front of us."

In the end, Lim Gunwoo’s joke was shut down coldly by Choi Yeri, who had taken it upon herself to act as his adjutant.

Though Gunwoo had tried to lighten the mood, it clearly hadn’t worked, and he closed his mouth, realizing it hadn’t had the intended effect.

One by one, the Salio Empire’s Lords, heavily armed with magical weapons, landed on the ground.

The airships hovering above began to ascend, likely to avoid being caught in the aftermath of the upcoming battle.

"There are about 32 of them."

Two of them, in particular, emitted a notably strong aura. These two were likely Executors of the empire.

Originally, there had been three, but Piren's death had reduced their number to two.

"Even so, they seem much stronger than Piren."

Unlike Piren, who overly relied on magical equipment, these Executors appeared far less encumbered by their gear.

They weren’t wearing suffocating exoskeleton suits, nor were they clad in heavy armor. Instead, they wore lightweight uniforms, easy to move in.

It wasn’t arrogance but confidence—confidence that they didn’t need the support of magical tools to fight.

"I’ll take one of them."

The one who spoke and stood beside Yu-hyun was an elderly swordsman dressed in armor.

The oldest among those gathered, this man was the only remaining Executor in the alliance, apart from Choi Do-yoon.

He was Wilford, the Grand Sword Master from the fantasy world of Midland.

Having dedicated his entire life to the sword, Wilford's eyes showed no signs of wavering even in the face of the colossal battle ahead.

"I’ll take the other one."

The roles had been predetermined before the fight.

Among the alliance’s forces, those who could face an Executor were Yu-hyun, Kwon Jia, and Wilford, the only other Executor.

Since Kwon Jia had been sent to confront Asgard, it naturally fell to Yu-hyun to deal with the remaining Executor of the Salio Empire.

His opponent, a man in his mid-50s with a robust physique, stared fiercely at Yu-hyun.

"Judging by how openly he’s glaring at me, it seems he has some connection to Piren."

Yu-hyun guessed that the Executor was either Piren’s mentor or a relative.

The Executor’s name was Deolraka, known as the "Sword of the Empire" and the emperor’s right hand.

As expected, Deolraka had been Piren’s sword master, and he was seething with rage over his disciple’s death, ready to tear Yu-hyun apart. Even though it was Magni who had actually killed Piren, there was no point in explaining that to him.

After all, even if Magni hadn’t killed her, Piren would have died by Yu-hyun’s hand.

[Yu-hyun.]

"It’s fine."

Yu-hyun knew why Baek-ryeon had called him.

"The people in the base will be safe."

Precautions had been taken in case any of the airship’s soldiers tried to infiltrate the underground base during the fight. The defenses were fully prepared.

Baek Seo-ryeon was currently with Kang Hye-rim and Baek-hyo, and Yu-hyun had already instructed her to escape with Baek-hyo if anything happened.

He had also summoned Laplace and Descartes to protect Baek Seo-ryeon and Kang Hye-rim. Even if the enemy were transcendents, Baek Seo-ryeon would be safe.

"The only concern is that the Olympus forces haven’t revealed their hand yet."

Since they had made a contract with the Salio Empire, they would inevitably join the battle. They couldn’t just sit back and watch, as that would disgrace their status as a Great Asgard faction.

"Will they stay hidden until the end?"

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to ponder further.

The Salio Empire’s Lords were already approaching, fully prepared for battle.

Not only the Lords but also the transcendents, armed with all manner of magical tools, were closing in.

The enemy’s force was about 1.5 times larger in terms of Lords and over twice the number of transcendents.

It was an unwinnable fight if they clashed head-on. But despite knowing this, they were preparing to engage directly, which meant they had a reason to do so.

"I didn’t want to use this, but…"

Yu-hyun muttered as he pulled out three items from his pocket.

A blindingly white stone, a green stone, and a slightly faded blue stone.

These were

the three-colored natural stones he had collected long ago in the Mental Realm.

He had intended to sell them for a high price later, but the opportunity had never arisen, so he had kept them.

Now, with no greed left for points, Yu-hyun decided to use them all here.

"This is…"

"High-grade natural stones? Unbelievable. Such items still exist in the mixed world…"

The other Lords widened their eyes at the sight of the stones Yu-hyun pulled out.

Natural stones were so rare that even in the Elven Forests of Midland, teeming with spirits and brimming with life, they were nearly impossible to find.

There was a reason why Eden, one of the Great Asgard forces, used natural stones to cultivate the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of Wisdom—the value of these stones was incredibly high.

And the ones Yu-hyun had were of the highest grade.

Yu-hyun planned to use all three in this battle.

Water, earth, and plant energy.

The sky was filled with moisture-heavy clouds, and the earth was a vast stretch of dry sand, making it the perfect environment to use two of the three stones.

"Let’s begin."

At the signal, Yu-hyun clenched the natural stones tightly in his hand, crushing them into powder.

The immense energy contained within the stones spread outward, quickly merging with nature as if responding to Yu-hyun’s will.

Whoooosh!

Winds began to whip through the air. Everyone’s eyes turned to the sky.

The massive dark clouds began to swirl, spinning at a tremendous speed. One of the airships, still not fully elevated, was caught in the vortex of clouds.

The soldiers on the airship fell into a panic.

"What’s happening?!"

"The clouds are moving all of a sudden!"

"Get out of there!"

"We can’t control it! We’re going to crash!"

The airships were tossed about like leaves in the wind, and one after another, they collided in mid-air, creating massive explosions. Flames erupted amid the dark clouds, as red flashes burst through the blackness.

The changes weren’t limited to the sky.

The power of the earth natural stone caused the ground to tremble and shift as if an earthquake had struck. The land swelled, tilted, and split open in bizarre and unnatural ways, swallowing up the Salio Empire’s Lords and transcendents.

"It’s a trap!"

"Everyone, get out of there!"

Some transcendents barely managed to keep their balance and tried to escape from the shifting terrain.

"How dare they."

Deolraka gritted his teeth and slashed his sword forward.

The 30-meter-high wave of earth rushing toward him was split in half. Such attacks wouldn’t work on Executors or Lords.

They were beings who could cause natural disasters themselves.

"You think this trick can defeat us? This won’t be enough."

"But it can topple a lopsided balance."

With his superhuman hearing, Deolraka picked up Yu-hyun’s voice from afar.

"And there’s still one more to go."

Simultaneously, massive roots burst forth from the ground. These gigantic plant roots, each over 30 meters thick, split open at the ends like a beast’s maw and surged toward the Salio Empire’s forces.

Their formation was instantly thrown into chaos.

This was the power of the natural stones infused with the energy of nature.

Even Divine Spirits coveted these items for their rarity, and now, in the mixed world, they were revealing their true potential.

"Now! While they’re in disarray, sweep them away!"

The alliance forces, who had been waiting for this moment, raised their weapons and charged toward the empire’s forces.

The Salio Empire’s Lords and transcendents, who barely managed to evade the earthquakes, the torrential rain from the sky, and the onslaught of the massive carnivorous plants, gritted their teeth and began their counterattack.