An almost endless war could be seen, with countless monsters lying lifeless across the battlefield, alongside the bodies of many fallen knights.
Meanwhile, the last king of humanity, Cyrion, continued to shout his orders:
"CHARGE FORWARD AND DO NOT RETREAT! WE ARE THE LAST HOPE OF HUMANITY!"
Without hesitation, Cyrion drew his sword and infused his entire body with mana. He immediately charged toward a demon rushing at him.
He slashed the approaching demon with his sword, but soon noticed that monsters were attacking him one after another, most of them being orcs.
An orc swung its weapon at Cyrion, but he instantly blocked the strike with his shield. The impact forced him to step back slightly, but once he regained his balance, Cyrion prepared a counterattack.
Suddenly, Cyrion's sword began to glow brilliantly. He swung it at the orc, instantly splitting its body in half.
However, the orcs surrounding him seemed endless. Still, Cyrion did not give up and continued cutting down the orcs with his glowing sword.
Suddenly, he heard a loud roar. Cyrion looked up at the sky and saw three dragons. He was shocked—those three were legendary Ancient Dragons.
One of the dragons released a massive burst of fire from its mouth, instantly killing countless soldiers and monsters. Cyrion was horrified by the Ancient Dragon's power, capable of slaughtering hundreds with a single attack. Seeing his soldiers die filled him with uncontrollable rage.
He poured all his mana into his legs and leapt high into the air.
He reached one of the Ancient Dragons and plunged his sword into its body, causing the dragon to scream in agony.
Cyrion's sword continued to shine even brighter, its light growing more intense, making the dragon scream even louder.
They began to fall together, crashing down into the forest below.
Because of the tremendous height, Cyrion suffered severe injuries, his bones shattered. He was shocked when he saw the dragon transform into a human form—a man with long hair stood before him.
The Ancient Dragon pointed a finger at Cyrion and said,
"You have great audacity, human, to attack me."
Suddenly, the dragon attacked him with mana bullets. The immense power pierced Cyrion's body repeatedly until it was riddled with holes.
Seeing Cyrion on the brink of death, the dragon smiled.
"These are the consequences of opposing me, mortal."
Yet Cyrion remained standing. He smiled, and suddenly his sword began to glow once more.
The Ancient Dragon was shocked, but then laughed.
"Haha! Human, your determination is impressive, but no matter what you do, you can never defeat me."
Cyrion smiled calmly.
"Oh? Then remember this—no matter how ancient you are, you are not immortal."
He raised his hand, shocking the Ancient Dragon as the light from Cyrion's sword expanded massively, reaching the clouds. Slowly, Cyrion brought it down.
The Ancient Dragon froze in shock, unable to move, as the sword crashed down upon it, causing an enormous explosion.
Nearly ten mountains were split apart by the sheer power of Cyrion's attack.
The remaining two Ancient Dragons felt fear from the overwhelming force and immediately retreated. The monsters and demons also fled, as most of them had already died simply from the presence of Cyrion's attack.
Seeing the monsters retreat, the knights rejoiced.
"They're retreating!"
"Wait… did we win?"
However, one knight noticed that Cyrion was nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile, Cyrion lay on the ground, slowly losing his life.
"Damn it… I wish I could live again. Those damn monsters aren't all gone yet."
His vision gradually faded until he finally died.
Suddenly, Cyrion opened his eyes. He was shocked and confused, unsure of where he was, so he observed his surroundings.
He noticed his body was covered in glowing armor. He was stunned—the armor was made entirely of SSS-rank materials, which had long disappeared from the world. Beside him was an enormous glowing sword, overflowing with seemingly endless mana, also crafted from SSS-rank materials.
Cyrion then felt something hitting him. He saw a goblin desperately trying to damage his armor.
He grabbed the goblin, but was shocked when it instantly burned upon contact with his armor.
Looking at his hand, Cyrion saw that his armored gloves were made of SSS-rank metal fused with SSS-rank lava.
He tried to stand up and realized he was extremely tall—almost the same size as an orc.
He lifted the massive sword, and to his amazement, it felt as light as plastic.
He swung the sword once, instantly shattering the tree in front of him. The attack released a powerful shockwave, splitting many trees around him.
Cyrion was stunned by his newfound power. He tried to remove the armor to examine his body—but realized he no longer had a human body.
He remembered reading in a book long ago that this phenomenon was reincarnation into the body of a powerful being. With a body made purely of armor and no flesh, he might now belong to the spirits.
Spirits survive by possessing lifeless objects such as golems, or bodies without spirits that can still function.
Cyrion concluded that he had likely been reborn into an artificial body created by a powerful individual, using his spirit to bring it to life.
As he continued examining himself, he heard fighting deeper in the forest.
Two elves were battling an Orc Lord. One elf was shocked as, in just two seconds, the Orc Lord closed the distance and struck with terrifying speed. Unable to defend, the elf took the attack head-on.
Seeing the severe injuries of their companion, the other elf cried out,
"AEL! Are you okay?!"
The elf rushed toward AEL, but the Orc Lord blocked the path.
The elf immediately used a skill—"Multiple Arrow Shot." A single arrow split into a hundred arrows.
However, the Orc Lord blocked them effortlessly. He was shocked when one arrow suddenly exploded into smoke, blinding him. Roots then wrapped around his legs, sprouting sharp blades coated with poison.
The Orc Lord screamed and transformed, becoming even larger. His body grew, armor formed around him, and his eyes glowed red. With his immense power, he broke free from the roots.
Meanwhile, the elf tried to carry AEL on their back. Seeing their friend struggle to save them, AEL spoke weakly,
"Syl… you can leave me. I'm sorry for being a burden."
Syl shouted angrily,
"AEL! DON'T SAY THAT! WE WILL SURVIVE HERE—I PROMISE!"
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. They saw the Orc Lord charging toward them. Syl closed their eyes, knowing they were about to be caught.
Then, Syl felt an overwhelming aura before them. They opened their eyes and saw a massive, glowing knight wielding an enormous sword.