Chapter 69
The first one to rush out was Jung Mintae.
He didn’t even pay attention to the stone soldiers blocking the way.
Kwaaa-crack!
Like a tank, he charged straight in, trampling and crushing them.
[Diamond-Shattering Fist (Legendary)]
└ [3rd Move – Crushing Strike]
Both fists erupted with inner power, literally grinding the vanguard of the stone soldier legion into pieces.
Kwa-jijik! Kwa-du-dug!
Their solid stone bodies were ripped apart like sheets of paper.
A storm of rock dust blew across the battlefield.
At the eye of that storm stood Jung Mintae.
“Split apart!”
Kwa-kwak-kwak-kwak-kwak!
Following the path carved open by the Fist King, Kang Ilho, the Whirlwind Spear, plunged forward like a blue comet.
Fwaaash!
His spear traced dazzling arcs, piercing deep into the enemy’s lines.
Unlike Jung Mintae’s bulldozing charge, Kang Ilho fought with precision.
‘…They said the cores are hidden in various spots. Inside the breastplate, among others.’
He didn’t know what principle made these stone lumps move.
Not that it mattered inside a dungeon.
Kwaak, kwaak, kwa-jijik!
His whirlwind spear pierced the “cores” of the stone soldiers.
Not brute destruction, but precise, lethal sniping.
His swift, accurate spearplay perfectly supported the Fist King’s advance.
Meanwhile, Yoon Seha was rampaging across another front.
“[Moonlight Phantom Sword].”
She whispered softly.
From her sword, Hanwol, a tide of silvery-white sword energy rippled outward.
Despite its name, there was nothing phantom-like about it—only merciless, real strikes.
Pah-shhh!
Dozens of blades of light split apart and instantly enveloped the stone soldier ranks.
Cutting, sweeping, slicing again.
Behind the beauty lay ruthless annihilation.
Where the moonlit blade passed, only shattered fragments and dust remained.
‘Feels good to use. Maybe I should call this Moonlight Explosion Sword instead?’
For this raid, she had completely fixed the Phantom Sword’s weakness.
She had invested all her points into Qi stats and elixirs.
The result: a “Burst Mode,” discarding illusions to focus entirely on devastating, real attacks.
Her blood boiled.
The Watcher’s Dungeon boss room.
The fiery duel of who could slay the High Watcher first.
Just recalling it made her heart pound again.
The close match had slipped away at the boss fight, and she’d had to give up all the glory.
‘…But this time, I’ll never lose!’
Just then, something felt off.
‘Wait… where’s Hyun Doyun?’
Wasn’t he supposed to be the first one rampaging ahead? Why so quiet?
At that moment—
KAANG!
“…?”
A sharp metallic clang rang out behind her.
A stone soldier collapsed at Yoon Seha’s back.
“Losing focus in battle? That’s unlike the Ghost Blade.”
A calm voice flowed into her ears.
She turned to see Lee Seojun, recalling the flying daggers orbiting gracefully around him.
“What? I wasn’t distracted at all…”
“Is that so? I only intervened just in case. Don’t be offended.”
As he turned away, his gaze fixed forward.
His flying blades shot out like homing missiles.
Kwa-kwak-kwak-kwak!
A storm of steel roared through the enemy.
“Oh…?”
Meanwhile, beneath the ceiling of the stone chamber.
Seated calmly upon his Thunderblade, Doyun overlooked the entire battle below.
‘Their teamwork is sharp. Looks like they prepared well.’
The Fist King broke through the front.
The Ghost Blade swept through like a broom.
The Whirlwind Spear pierced the gaps.
The Tactician coordinated from the rear.
Kang Ilho and Lee Seojun both had firepower strong enough to erase stone soldiers on their own.
But both held back deliberately, focusing on support.
‘A stable, far-sighted operation. They won’t allow even the smallest loss of strength.’
The four reincarnators meshed together like gears, prying open the enemy formation.
The contribution score for Ribbon Society steadily piled up.
Doyun’s kills: 0.
Yet he didn’t rush.
Like a cheetah conserving energy, he waited.
The stone soldiers themselves weren’t important.
‘…The lynchpin leading this army.’
From the corner of his vision, a strategy book borrowed from the Library of Memories flipped open.
Fifth Raid on the Tomb of the Martial Emperor
: Honestly, if you’ve made it this far, the stone soldier phase should be child’s play. If you’re still sweating bullets here… sorry, but you’re not cut out for this. Turn back.
Arrogant, condescending words.
But not wrong.
‘It doesn’t just hit the bone—it smashes it.’
Doyun flipped to another entry.
Third Raid on the Tomb of the Martial Emperor
: “An army without its generals collapses. An army with skilled lieutenants wins.” Same goes for these stone soldiers. Each group of ten follows a Decurion, and ten Decurions follow a Centurion. They spread buff effects to their subordinates. Don’t waste time on the grunts—kill the real nuisances first.
─ How to tell them apart?
Not easy. Even my sharp eyes only noticed by the third raid. Their shoulder insignias differ: normal troops have octagons, Decurions circles, Centurions a circle with a cross inside…
He ignored the Fist King’s impromptu archaeology lecture.
For Doyun, who had reached supreme heights, spotting such details was trivial.
[Heaven’s Fortune Sword Art (Legendary)]
└ [Move 0 – Insightful Eye]
└ [Heaven’s Fortune Sight, Stage 1: Observation]
A faint golden light shimmered in Doyun’s eyes.
The old Insightful Eye could only peer into a single being.
But now, it had advanced.
The first stage toward piercing even perfection itself—Observation.
With its activation, the entire battlefield’s structure projected into his vision.
The interiors of hundreds of stone soldiers unfolded before him, like precise blueprints.
Weak points glowed red across their bodies.
And—
‘The number of weak points differs.’
Most had around ten bright red spots.
Some had only three or four.
And a rare few possessed only a single faint dot.
The fewer the weak points, the higher the rank.
That must be this legion’s hierarchy.
A faint smile tugged at Doyun’s lips.
At last, he had found the prey to monopolize the contribution score.
Without hesitation—
He leapt into the air.
Fwaaash!
Unleashing Lightning Steps, his form became a streak of blue lightning cutting vertically through the chamber.
His target: the enemy’s head. Assassinate the commander!
[Activating ‘Guardian’s Sword (B)’]
Bzzzzzt!
Electricity surged up his grip on the blade.
His shadow fell upon the first Centurion.
[‘Sword and Man Become One (AAA)’ activated]
Time seemed to slow.
The silver blade traced a line across space.
[Heaven’s Fortune Sword Art (Legendary)]
└ [Move 4 – Severing Clouds]
Prrrk!
Against a strike that cut the very source, resistance was meaningless.
Pshhhh!
With its sole core destroyed, the Centurion crumbled into dust.
The stone soldiers, leaderless, staggered and slowed.
‘That ties up the score.’
Swishhh!
Doyun’s form flashed like lightning across the battlefield.
Kwa-duk!
‘Two.’
Kwa-jijik!
‘Three.’
One after another, Centurions shattered.
Four, five, six…!
With each stroke, the pillars holding up the legion collapsed.
His eyes gleamed sharp with certainty.
‘…The tide has turned.’
Kwaaaaa-boooom!
When the tenth Centurion crumbled, the chamber shifted.
The reincarnators didn’t notice.
But through his Insightful Eye, Doyun saw it.
Flaaare!
The stone soldiers’ weak points now blazed blinding red.
Next step:
‘Time to finish this.’
To crush the weakened legion.
A hundred Decurions still remained.
The cheetah’s hunt wasn’t over.
Once again he tore across the battlefield in lightning arcs.
With the Centurions gone, the Decurions crumbled helplessly.
Prrrk! Prrrkk!
Every time his blade struck their cores, the soldiers’ buffs evaporated.
“…Huh?”
Kang Ilho noticed it first.
Even when his spear missed the exact spot, the stone soldier still crumbled.
“Why… is this happening?”
Others soon realized the same.
‘These rock-hard things… they’ve turned crumbly, like sandstone?’
The last to notice was Jung Mintae.
For him, it hardly mattered—hard or soft, all shattered under his fists.
“This never happened before. It could be a lure from the Martial Emperor. Everyone, be cautious!”
But nothing happened.
The only change was that the soldiers had weakened.
“…Hm?”
“Nothing at all?”
As they puzzled over it—
Doyun’s Thunderblade pierced the last Decurion’s core.
With the command structure annihilated, the army fell into chaos.
Kwa-duk, kwa-duk, kwa-duk!
Pshhhhhh!
It was less a battle than a slaughter.
When the final stone soldier crumbled into dust—
[You have defeated the Thousand-Man Legion!]
Deep in the chamber—
Boom…!
A tremor shook from the throne.
[‘General of No-Soul’ rises.]
Thud! Thud! BOOOOM…!
A colossal shadow engulfed the chamber.
Its mere rising crushed the space with pressure.
But what filled the reincarnators’ eyes wasn’t fear—it was burning competitiveness.
“Stick to the plan…!”
Jung Mintae roared, charging straight at the general.
[Diamond-Shattering Fist (Legendary)]
└ [4th Move – Overlord Strike]
Golden fist energy exploded against the general’s breastplate.
BOOOOM!
With an earth-shaking roar, the massive body staggered back.
“…!”
The enraged general swung down a massive greatsword.
Jung Mintae crossed his arms to block—
Crraaaack!
The floor shattered under the impact, caving in.
“Move aside!”
Kang Ilho’s whirlwind spear slammed into the general’s knee.
The giant staggered.
And immediately—
Kwa-kwak-kwak-kwak!
Lee Seojun’s flying blades poured into the gaps in its armor.
Doyun joined the assault.
His Thunderblade slashed, stabbed, and cleaved the giant statue in a storm of strikes.
Simultaneous barrages overwhelmed the general’s defenses.
“Die!”
Yoon Seha seized the opening, leaping straight for its neck.
[Ghost-Soul Demon Sword (Legendary)]
└ [5th Move – Death-Slaying Cut]
Her silver blade exuded a crimson, sinister aura.
‘…This time, I win!’
Shhhrrrraaaack!
The general’s neck was severed cleanly.
BOOOOM…!
Its massive body toppled.
[You have slain the Tomb’s First Guardian!]
[Contribution is being tallied.]
The chamber fell silent.
Even before the echoes faded, everyone’s gaze snapped to the air.
“First place is obvious.”
Jung Mintae smirked.
He had destroyed the most stone soldiers—surely he’d earned it.
‘What a dreamer.’
Yoon Seha was equally confident.
Maybe not as many kills as him, but she’d devastated the legion with her wide-range attacks, and she’d landed the finishing blow on the general.
But then—
Their smug expressions froze.
[Contribution Results]
1st: Hyun Doyun (43%)
2nd: Jung Mintae (23%)
3rd: Yoon Seha (21%)
4th: Kang Ilho (7%)
5th: Lee Seojun (6%)
‘What…?!’
Jung Mintae’s eyes widened.
‘Impossible…!’
Yoon Seha’s jaw dropped in shock.
While the Ribbon Society chewed through the legion, Hyun Doyun had seemed absent.
Even Kang Ilho and Lee Seojun had assumed he’d be dead last.
So why…?
How could the results be like this?
Unable to accept it, Yoon Seha checked her status window again and again.
“There must be a mistake…”
At last, she turned to Doyun, shouting with disbelief.
“This—this must be a bug!!”
But the contribution window didn’t change a single letter.
It clearly proved that Hyun Doyun was the overwhelming number one.
