Ethan’s expression turned strange with these words and he shuddered, his eyes dropping to his Infernal difficulty stage advancement quest.

[You have selected the difficulty: "Infernal"]

[A random advancement mission will be generated for you.]

[Quest: Advance to the third stage!

Description: A superior enemy force is rapidly approaching Goldenveil! As a Lord taking your first step toward becoming a true expert, you cannot show fear or cowardice.

Alone, eliminate all second-stage warriors of the enemy force in less than sixty seconds and break their morale.

In case of failure, a new random mission will be generated.

Rewards: Rank S Advancement Pearl, Rank S Sword Intention Stone, 10x Premium Gacha Tickets, +50x Common Gacha Tickets, +10 Prestige, +200% XP.

Difficulty: Infernal]

Ethan stared at the screen for a long moment, then closed his eyes in irritation.

A superior enemy force. And from Theron’s words, they were already very close to Goldenveil.

If it were just a random band of mercenaries, that would be manageable. But if this was an organized force, he might have to give up on this mission entirely.

With a weary look on his face, he called out to Doran and began shouting orders for the guard to organize for defense.

A powerful enemy was approaching!

***

As Goldenveil prepared, an army now numbering two hundred and fifty mercenaries advanced through the forest, led by twenty-five second-stage warriors.

Erick, their leader, wore a confident smile as he marched alongside the old man Ulric. That army was the result of over thirty million dollars spent buying gold coins from players with real-world money.

It was expensive, but worth it.

Right behind him, three girls followed.

Two of them constantly complained about the forest, the branches brushing against their armor, and the uneven ground, while the other remained silent, her beauty hidden beneath a steel helmet.

It was SnowBreath.

Erick wanted to fall back and walk behind her, mainly because he was interested in admiring the sway of those shapely hips.

But in the end, as a leader, he had to take the lead.

"Don’t worry, girls, as soon as we reach our destination and complete this mission, I promise I’ll throw you a big party. Maybe I can even fly to Seoul to pay you a little visit!"

Hearing that, the two beauties, a mage and a rogue, flanking SnowBreath on either side, lit up with excitement.

The rich son of an oil tycoon.

What kind of shallow, superficial woman could resist something like that?

SnowBreath was the only one who didn’t react. Her eyes were briefly blinded as the group left the embrace of the forest and stepped into open daylight.

Erick, who had been looking back, heard Ulric choke beside him and turned around hastily, just in time to see what awaited them.

A wall. Tall and seemingly impenetrable.

The army stopped behind him, eyes filled with confusion.

Why was there a wall? Would they have to lay siege? They had expected a quick battle. They had no provisions or numbers for a siege!

"Ulric... what the hell is that?" Erick asked, looking at the old man beside him.

Ulric couldn’t say a word. He just stared at the wall with his mouth half-open.

Above the thick wooden gate, a figure emerged, clad in beautiful black plate armor. Only his bright blue eyes were visible through the visor of his helmet.

"Oh... is that the Lord you were talking about, Lord Ulric? The perverted evil pig with a bunch of wives and no respect for human life, who killed your son just for fun?" the red-haired mage beside SnowBreath asked, looking up at the figure in black armor.

He didn’t look like a fat, perverted pig. On the contrary, he seemed noble and dignified.

Ulric didn’t answer.

What the hell was going on? What was that damn wall? It was supposed to be a crumbling palisade!

Erick gritted his teeth, shooting a deadly glare at Ulric, yet strengthening his resolve.

The deadline for his mission was running out, and if he didn’t conquer Goldenveil soon, he’d end up dead.

His lips parted, but before he could say a word, Ethan took the initiative.

"Ulric, you cowardly dog. Did you come here to meet the same death as your son?" Ethan demanded with a growl of rage that made Ulric’s entire body shudder.

The old man took a step forward, summoning all his courage. "I am here to return Goldenveil to its rightful ruler, the true Golden Lord chosen by the gods!" Ulric declared, pointing at the guards. "Abandon this scoundrel and embrace the true lord, Erick!"

The guards obviously didn’t move, merely watching Ulric with contempt and amusement.

That old man was senile, it seemed.

Ethan merely shook his head, his eyes fixed on Erick, clearly the same young man from whom he had stolen Goldenveil.

In the end, it was fate that they should meet again.

"Ethan Goldenveil, that is your name, isn’t it? Fight me!" Erick roared, drawing his sword and pointing it at the young Lord.

They had no way of laying siege to a wall like this. They needed to get Ethan off that wall!

"If you win, I’ll drop the matter and pretend we never met. If I win, I’ll take what’s rightfully mine! Do you dare?"

Hearing that, Ethan couldn’t suppress a faint chuckle.

"I wonder what card you have up your sleeve." He didn’t hesitate to jump off the wall, his body landing heavily on the ground.

That was a stupid decision, but Ethan didn’t care.

That was the perfect moment for an attack, but no one moved, as for ethan had activated the Lord’s Aura.

An invisible pressure fell upon everyone.

As if they were ants beneath a dragon, the knees of more than two hundred and fifty men buckled in the face of the aura of a single man.

"You alone won’t be enough. Come all of you from the second stage together, then maybe you’ll have a chance." Ethan stopped right in front of Erick, separated by only two or three steps, cold blue eyes fixed on the trembling young master.

Erick took a step back, fought against his fear, and then shouted. "Fuck it!"

The thirty million dollars in gold hadn’t been used just to recruit mercenaries. He had also bought weapons, armor, and, of course, some magical artifacts.

From his inventory, he pulled out a talisman, the strongest of his artifacts.

Pointing the talisman at Ethan’s chest, he tore it in half.

"DIE!"

A powerful roar echoed, followed by a thunderous explosion that would kill anyone.

Much to Erick’s horror, Ethan wasn’t just anyone.