"...We can easily find those who are human but not quite human in this world. But beware, this is not because such beings are numerous, but because their footprints cast a shadow far greater than that of ordinary humans.
Usually, they belong to positions that must be looked up to, having risen to those heights through their own physical might. Among the many records dating back to the ancient Roman Empire, the battle records that stick out like thorns in one’s pocket were written with the blood they collected at the edges of the weapons they wielded, using that blood as ink.
They are conquerors, blades, and the Lord’s agents of wrath; the only thing left in the wake of their footsteps are fresh blood and white bones..."
Excerpt from an anonymous scholar’s book written in 1784.
"Look, there’s an enemy we need to overcome."
300 users, and one standing atop the castle walls.
Facing 300 warriors armed with helmets, armor, shields, and cold weapons was a figure whose victory was far from guaranteed, even if all the historical records in existence were searched and brought forth from past Awakened Ones, who were once living legends.
The battlefield was not a flat plain but a large castle. The gates were already open, and the layout inside would not be particularly welcoming to intruders. For this reason, the users abandoned the idea of using diverse forces like they would in open ground battles, choosing instead to field all 300 as regular infantry.
All of them were at least Grandmaster level, with about 100 of them reaching the Challenger rank. Additionally, they had undergone practice battles with Loren Tina, which had dulled their fear of facing Awakened Ones, and in-game modifications had boosted their reaction speeds and combat abilities by about 100%.
Still, the slight unease creeping behind their smiles could not be helped.
Flags were raised into the air, and the sound of trumpets filled the air.
A 5-second countdown began above them.
At that moment, someone quietly added.
"We will make history today."
It wasn’t an incorrect statement.
The body data of an EM-level Awakened One clashing head-on with so many people. There had never been a precedent before, and this data would likely remain in the network and be used in various research projects. Of course, Eugene agreed with that.
Who would be the first to covet this data? Probably, historians from both the East and West would be eager to get their hands on it first. Afterward, directors making animated series or movies about superhuman battles would likely pay a steep price to buy it.
The royalties would flow into the pockets of Eugene and the 300 people present in this glorious event.
However, those thoughts quickly melted away, as if vanishing beyond the horizon.
The sound of a horn blasting filled the ears, and simultaneously, a buff was added to their already enhanced physical abilities. Their bodies felt light, as though they could fly, and the large weapon in their hands seemed as light as a feather. Eugene wielded her claymore as easily as a dagger.
The user at the front of the group added.
"Don’t crowd too much, attack from as many angles as possible... Just do what we’ve practiced!"
"Those marked as reserves, don’t rush in recklessly!"
"Let’s go—!"
Boom, boom, boom!
Step by step, the footsteps quickened. What had started as a casual march turned into a full sprint. The 300 users poured into the castle in an orderly fashion, and Eugene watched the scene while taking a deep breath.
In her hand, she held an axe. At her waist were two daggers and a hammer. These were the weapons she favored. Gently gripping them, Eugene began to slowly move forward towards the enemies approaching from three different paths.
It didn’t take long for her to meet the first main group head-on.
The large castle corridor, wide enough to fit ten people side by side, became the first battlefield.
"Shieldbearers!"
"Buy us time! Activate special abilities!"
Five users, all holding identical shields, formed the front line and activated their special abilities to temporarily increase the power, durability, and resistance to enemy attacks of their shields.
Their bodies glowed yellow, and Eugene quickly calculated how to deal with the 30 enemies in the first main group. Of course, she knew she couldn’t afford to drag things out too long—the second main group was already approaching from dozens of meters behind.
The calculations were done, and with the powerful strength of a body that had never been seen in human history—specifically, her legs, which pushed off the ground with incredible force—Eugene shot forward.
At 60 km/h.
───Kwahng!
"Ahhh...!"
"Close the distance! The ones with the poleaxes will press forward!"
Screech.
Eugene’s kick, fueled by acceleration, slammed into the front of the shield, causing the thick, large shield to crumple like paper. The user holding the shield was sent flying over 10 meters, crashing into the wall, his health plummeting in the blink of an eye.
However, despite the horrifying spectacle of what just happened, the remaining four shield users fought hard to block Eugene’s attack, much like rocks being struck by a waterfall. Their practice battles with Loren Tina had dulled their fear of facing Awakened Ones.
Thus, the rate at which the shieldbearers were taken down was slower than expected. Meanwhile, a few users wielding poleaxes approached from the rear. Using the formations and tactics they had practiced multiple times, they began to push Eugene back toward the area she had come from.
Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy.
"Ugh, ah, aaahhh—!"
"What the hell."
"Ugh!"
Whoosh!
A snake-like tail moved at an unseen speed, wrapping around one of the shieldbearers' bodies in the blink of an eye. At the same time, a horrifying sound echoed. It was a noise that made it feel as if the bones inside the armor were being crushed, a sound no one wanted to identify.
It was then that the people around her realized what kind of animal Eugene really was—a constrictor. She was the jungle’s apex predator, the one who squeezed life out of her prey.
Like something caught in a press, a body that had turned into a dried squid was thrown toward an enemy wielding a poleaxe. Eugene had literally used her tail to grip and crush the person, then thrown them aside. And, naturally, that wasn’t the end of it.
───Boom!
Every time Eugene’s hand touched a poleaxe made of metal, it bent like taffy. Unsurprisingly, no one could escape that grip. With her left hand, she struck with a backhanded blow, sending someone flying after hitting them in the abdomen.
But even a punch of that magnitude was considered weak.
As the afterimage of the strike passed, the head and body of the person separated, and golden blood sprayed into the air. She allowed no attack to land on her body, even performing strange feats she had once shown during rank games.
She kicked up her sword and struck a person with it, a truly rare sight.
The difference this time from the rank games was that the sword Eugene launched not only pierced the shield but also pierced through the person’s neck.
It took Eugene 102 seconds to deal with the 30 enemies.
In other words, she was already in the middle of the battlefield.
"Be careful of the throwing spear—Cough!"
"Wow. Is that a throwing spear, or a ballista?"
"I think it's stronger than a ballista."
It was a reality that couldn’t be avoided, no matter how much they had prepared.
Even if they tried to increase the distance, Eugene would throw anything within reach—rocks, spears, knives, shields, even the still-present corpses—anything she could use to take a life from afar. There were countless ways she could kill from a distance.
Of course, even without that fact, the moment Eugene decided to break through the formation, there was no defense against her. Having already changed weapons, she dove into the densest part of the enemy lines like a butterfly, and from that moment, it was as if a blender had started running.
───Grk!
"Cough..."
"Wow, she’s cutting through full-body armor with a dagger."
"...Do we have any grenades or something?"
Her movements weren’t much different from what she had shown during broadcasts.
Precise dagger techniques. But the speed of her movements was abnormally fast, and with the enhancement of her physical abilities, her cutting power had skyrocketed.
At least her daggers, axes, and hammers, though modest compared to the numerous buffs the enemies had received, were unbreakable and not even slightly bent. But in the hands of someone who could wield them to their true potential, a disaster was inevitable.
Yet, surprisingly, their morale did not break.
The reason was simple.
They were dying slower than when they fought Loren Tina.
"...Special ability charging complete. Deploying smoke grenades. Move in as quickly as possible."
"But doesn’t that person have thermal vision?"
"...Then don’t use it."
These absurd exchanges filled the air.
This wasn’t a VR game where only death existed; everyone there joked around and was willing to throw themselves at Eugene—though most of them ended up receiving either an axe to the face, an arm, or a leg, and the last few users selected looked utterly horrified.
One kick sent a body flying over 10 meters, crashing into the waiting reserve troops. And with a spinning back kick, an enemy’s head disappeared entirely—these weren’t rare sights.
Eugene had been called a shark multiple times before, but now, having arrived at this moment, they finally understood.
"It feels like we’re fighting a monster."
"When did the gate even open?"
"Go ask them."
They were fighting creatures the size of dump trucks.
In just five minutes, the number of remaining users had dropped to around 170.
"Well, now that I’ve become the hero of 1:300, they’ll probably let me broadcast secretly, right, youngest?"
Hahahahahahahahaha
Byam’s broadcast is up... What??? Shark broadcast???
Oh, it’s good though w w w
This is hilarious hahahahaha
Meanwhile, Loren Tina, who had been watching the number of users drop from 300 to a mere two-digit number, hummed a tune without much thought. In the top right corner of the UI, the word "Eugene" was boldly displayed.
Of course, this was a sort of proxy broadcast. But the person in question hadn’t exactly given permission—yet Loren Tina didn’t really care. Surely our dear youngest wouldn’t be upset over such a cute and playful little action?
Moreover, Loren Tina, hidden behind the veil of the 300 recruited by Icarus, was the true secret weapon, which is why she had to remain until the very end—meaning, until then, she’d be spending what seemed like an utterly meaningless amount of time.
Loren Tina only wanted to enjoy the moment.
"Seems like we have a lot of viewers. The number of people gathered to watch today’s broadcast is as many as those living in Los Angeles... that means there are a lot of people looking forward to today’s broadcast."
Eugene’s broadcast has 3 million viewers hahahahaha
This person is already a ‘corporation’
Not just a small or large business, this is really a corporation-level business lmao hahahahahahahahahaha
Wow, 20 million viewers worldwide? That’s insane!
The global viewer count was 23,622,869.
When you combined the populations of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Anaheim, and other satellite cities, that was the number of people watching Eugene tear through demons and killing in place of devils, as if she were crawling out of Hell, like a Doom-guy.
Of course, this was no different from the exaggerated, flowery language used in historical battle records that were usually impossible to witness. But through countless cross-verifications, it was evident that most of those exaggerated claims were proven true, revealing the true face of the superhuman.
"One-man army" was no exaggeration—it was an understatement.
"You don’t seem that tired. Looks like you might be in for a tough time later."
After halving 300 people, you’re still not tired????? Seriously?????
Ahhh hahahahahahaha
There’s still about 50 left but it’s over now lol
No effective hits at all!!!
There’s still open ground left...
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on ƒreewebɳovel.com.
By the time there were more corpses than living people, Loren Tina casually twirled the spear in her hand, one without a barb. Considering the power gap, Loren Tina was going to apply a counterbalance that sealed half of her physical abilities, and depending on Eugene’s condition, it could fluctuate between 30% and 70%.
And from Loren Tina’s perspective, to truly match up against Eugene, she would likely need to use at least 70% of her full physical abilities to even stand a chance.
In other words, the counterbalance would be set at 30%.
"Time to warm up. I’m curious about how the youngest will react."
One by one, with each remaining person falling, the sky darkened rapidly. The bright sunlight from just a few minutes ago had been replaced with dark crimson clouds, and the air crackled with the first signs of lightning.
Although no raindrops had fallen, everyone except Eugene could sense what was coming.
By the time there were only a handful of people left—countable on one hand—Eugene had also begun to sense it.
"Ggh..."
"...I had a feeling it wouldn’t end like this."
"...Next time, it won’t end so easily."
"Of course."
Kwarung!
As Eugene drove a dagger into the last man’s throat and twisted it, a pure white lightning bolt descended from the sky. Upon hitting the ground, the surroundings were scorched black, and the stone floor shattered, sending thousands of shards flying in all directions.
But that wasn’t all.
From where the lightning struck, a chillingly red glow locked eyes with Eugene.
"...So this was the surprise."
"You wouldn’t say it’s unfair, would you, youngest?"
What, is that the Terminator?????
Fact: It’s not much different
LOL hahahahahahaha
It really is the Terminator lol
No joke, I feel like I could win fighting those guys too
Snake and shark.
The blue and red glows locked onto each other.
The battle was far from over.