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Chapter 422: Sole Candidate (4)
Twenty Sword Mountain.
As the name suggests, it refers to a mountain formed by twenty swords.
‘But honestly, with just twenty swords, isn’t it more of a sword pile rather than a sword mountain?’
Of course, that wasn’t the important part.
The truly significant thing was this:
‘Wait, then how the hell do you form Hundred Thousand Sword Mountain?’
Yeongwoo blinked.
If Hundred Thousand Sword Mountain was taken literally, it meant a mountain made of one hundred thousand swords.
And according to the Weapon Catalog, the definition of "Sword Mountain" was as follows:
「You can summon a Sword Mountain at your desired location using the weapons registered in the Catalog.」
In other words, Hundred Thousand Sword Mountain implied that there were 100,000 weapons registered in the Catalog.
‘That can’t be right. The second collection effect triggers with just twenty weapons. Are you telling me that some lunatic actually registered 100,000 weapons in their Catalog?’
It was almost impossible to believe, but the evidence pointed to one such person.
The man who claimed ownership of Hundred Thousand Sword Mountain—Dogo, the King of Destruction.
Unless the Chairman was spewing utter nonsense, his Catalog genuinely contained 100,000 weapons.
‘What the hell…’
Yeongwoo was at a loss for words.
No wonder a Grade-3 being had the term "Sword Mountain" associated with them.
‘So, does that mean this universe has hundreds of thousands of different weapons?’
If the Chairman’s Hundred Thousand Sword Mountain was real, that was the only logical conclusion.
This universe must contain at least hundreds of thousands of weapons, and someone had managed to obtain 100,000 of them and register them all in the Catalog.
‘That’s just insane. The first effect of the Weapon Catalog grants 1% damage increase per registered weapon.’
[Collection Effect: 10]
| Damage increased by 1% per registered weapon
That meant the Chairman was enjoying a +100,000% damage increase from the Catalog alone.
‘No wonder he keeps calling everyone insects.’
Yeongwoo instinctively shut his eyes.
The universe was vast, and the Chairman remained an impossibly towering figure.
To think that Mara could stand on equal footing with him…
‘That guy had ridiculous epithets too, didn’t he? No wonder, there was a reason for it all.’
Mara.
The Lord of the Void, the One Who Walks in the Shadow of Universal Law, the King of Ten Thousand Demons.
Perhaps declaring Mara his enemy had been the greatest mistake of his life.
「Would you like to summon Twenty Sword Mountain?」
Even as these thoughts raced through his mind, the summoning prompt continued to flash before his eyes.
‘Twenty Sword Mountain…’
Now that he knew about Hundred Thousand Sword Mountain, summoning only twenty swords felt almost insulting.
‘What’s the point? Throwing out 20 weapons isn’t going to do much.’
Still, he figured he should at least see it in action.
With the conference hall brimming with empty space, Yeongwoo turned his gaze beyond the round table and muttered softly:
“…Summon Twenty Sword Mountain.”
In an instant, a deafening rupture echoed through the hall.
KWAJAAAK!
“Huh?”
“Wha—what the hell?”
The three powerful figures present, as well as Jiseon and Jeonggu, all snapped their heads up in surprise.
And then they saw it.
KWAGWAGWAGWAGWAT!
From a massive vertical rift torn open in midair, blades came screaming out at breakneck speed.
—What the…?
Jiseon’s eyes widened beneath her helmet.
The blades flew so fast that she barely caught a glimpse of them only when they embedded into the ground.
—Wha… what did you just do?
“New technique. You saw it, right?”
—…What?
“If those swords had fallen over your head, would you have been able to dodge them in time?”
—You crazy bastard.
Jiseon scowled but didn’t have an immediate answer.
“You probably wouldn’t have, huh? Even I thought they were pretty fast.”
—……
“Definitely an offensive technique.”
Yeongwoo calmly stroked his chin, drawing his own conclusions.
‘The more weapons there are, the larger the Sword Mountain becomes. Hundred Sword Mountain alone would be devastating.’
So then, what kind of power did Hundred Thousand Sword Mountain hold?
“……”
Yeongwoo tried to imagine the sight of 100,000 weapons being launched like that, but he simply couldn’t picture it.
There was no way anyone could dodge something like that.
‘It’s clear now—I’ve never seen the Chairman’s true power.’
Yeongwoo felt a wave of disappointment wash over him.
Even fantasizing about beating the Chairman now seemed futile.
A Grade-3 being was simply on an entirely different level.
Could he ever hope to even graze the heels of a Grade-3 existence within his lifetime?
“Administrator, are you there?”
Yeongwoo called out into the void.
Soon, Kubu opened its eyes behind him.
—Yes, Master.
“What’s my Universal Law rank as the Head of the Renaissance?”
He asked with hopeful anticipation, only to receive an answer that dashed his expectations.
—You are currently ranked as Grade-7 under Universal Law.
“…What?”
Universal Law Grade-7 was the status he had achieved way back when he first made waves as an advertising mogul.
“Wait, seriously? Even though I see humans as insects now and have established my own family, I’m still only Grade-7?”
Yeongwoo’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Then who the hell is holding on to Grade-6?”
At his question, Kubu blinked its large eyes.
—The range of entities classified as Grade-6 is rather extensive.
“Even at Rank 7, it already feels that way. The difference between me back when I first started getting sponsors and now is like night and day.”
Well, of course.
Trying to divide the vast beings of the universe into just a dozen or so ranks was never going to be an easy task.
Naturally, there would be significant differences even within the same rank.
So, Yeongwoo changed the question.
“Then, what’s the fastest way for me to reach Rank 6?”
Kubu rolled its eye around once and immediately gave an answer.
— By monopolizing planetary shares and gaining Earth’s support.
“...What?”
Yeongwoo’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected response, and Kubu elaborated.
— In most cases, planetary shares are divided among multiple families.
“Oh, really?”
— Yes. That’s why planetary share wars are usually waged...
Kubu rolled its eye toward the three influential figures in the grand hall.
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But in Earth’s case, thanks to this crazy head of household, things were unfolding in an extremely bizarre manner.
“Right. We don’t need to have a share war, do we?”
Yeongwoo nodded in agreement.
Then, glancing at the three influential figures, he added with a grin.
“You all prevented a war just by taking off your clothes!”
“……”
“Ugh… Fine. Just send us home already.”
The Guardian Sword of Italy, still stark naked, glanced at the pile of twenty swords nearby.
No matter how they looked at it, they could tell even more absurd things were bound to happen if they stayed any longer.
— Hey, seriously, just send those people back. How long are you going to leave them like that?
Jiseon frowned as she glanced at the three still-naked influential figures.
Yeongwoo turned to Kubu again.
“You can send them back remotely, right?”
Kubu rolled its eye again and mumbled.
— Uh…
“Huh?”
— What? Don’t tell me you can’t?
Jiseon’s words made the faces of the three naked figures turn pale.
“W-wait… You dragged us here unilaterally. Shouldn’t you at least have the ability to send us back?!”
“You’re not seriously telling us to walk home, are you?”
“We’re already one billion in debt from coming here… You seriously can’t do this to us!”
The Guardian Sword of Italy, looking genuinely aggrieved, pleaded with Yeongwoo.
Even the ruthless scoundrel, Jeong Yeongwoo, was at a loss for words.
“Just… put your clothes on.”
Yeongwoo gestured toward the scattered equipment on the floor, and the three influential figures reluctantly began to dress.
“Since the movement restrictions on the high-speed travel route have been lifted due to the wedding, you can use it to return to your homes.”
“……”
For the three influential figures, it was a ridiculous solution, but they had no choice.
— Even I think this is too much.
“At least they’re not walking home, right?”
Yeongwoo shrugged and walked toward the Twenty Sword Mountain embedded in the ground.
Clank, clank.
Before him stood the weapons he had acquired—Early Bird, Lightning Rod, and many others—all firmly planted into the ground.
‘Wait… these weapons physically drop?’
Yeongwoo had assumed they merely materialized and vanished, but seeing them stuck into the floor made him tilt his head in curiosity.
Then, with a casual motion—
Swoosh.
He reached out and picked up the Early Bird embedded in the ground.
Flick.
It was real.
A genuine Early Bird weapon he could wield or throw.
“Hey, this isn’t just for attacking. We could use it for weapon supply too. We can let others wield them, right?”
Yeongwoo tossed the Early Bird to Jiseon as he spoke.
Tap!
— Huh? Whoa, it’s real.
When Yeongwoo recalled the Sword Mountain, not only did the weapons stuck in the floor disappear, but the Early Bird in Jiseon’s hand also melted away into thin air.
Swaaat!
‘Oh… and I can just summon them again?’
This time, Yeongwoo fixed his gaze on the far wall and activated the Twenty Sword Mountain again.
The space behind him tore open, emitting that familiar rending sound.
Crash!
“……!”
This time, the sword mountain formed a horizontal line, embedding itself into the wall.
Crash-crash-crash!
In the blink of an eye, the grand hall’s wall was turned into a honeycomb.
Yeongwoo’s jaw dropped as he took in the sight.
‘What the hell… It doesn’t just rain down from above?’
He realized it could likely fire from below or launch upward as well.
‘At this point, it’s practically a machine gun.’
Although he hadn’t yet used it in actual combat, the power was evident.
‘Should I try this out on the board members?’
As the thought crossed Yeongwoo’s mind, Kubu rolled its eye again.
— Head of household.
“Yes?”
— Your first meeting with the board is scheduled in approximately 30 minutes.
“Good news. Do we need to prepare anything?”
— You need to designate the meeting location.
“Oh. We have the authority to do that?”
Yeongwoo recalled his first meeting with the shareholders of Dogo.
Back then, he didn’t have the right to choose the meeting location.
“Is it because we’re both Earth-affiliated this time?”
— Since you now own the grand hall, you could hold the meeting here.
Kubu’s suggestion was the logical and sensible choice.
However, Yeongwoo was already turning his head toward the grand hall’s entrance.
— Head of household…?
Kubu followed Yeongwoo’s gaze with its rolling eye.
Beyond the grand hall’s wide-open doors, where the three influential figures were hurriedly making their exit, the wedding hall came into view.
“How about we hold the meeting in that wedding hall?”
Yeongwoo pointed at the venue and asked.
Jiseon, startled, immediately interjected.
— What the hell? Why there? That’s where the ceremony took place. The chairs and everything else are all wrecked!
Yeongwoo scratched his chin with the tip of his sword, Bastard, and replied.
“Don’t you think the board needs to know?”
— …Know what?
“That Earth’s first—and only—family is actually a gang of bandits.”
— What does that have to do with holding the meeting in the wedding hall?
“Because the chairman and Mara’s signing plates are there.”
— …What?
“We’ll show the board those signing plates and tell them: don’t worry, we’re not just any band of bandits.”
— ……?
“We’re a premium, first-class band of bandits blessed by Dogo’s chairman and Mara. So, Earth doesn’t just get the chance to become a regular planetary ship…”
Clunk.
Yeongwoo pressed the tip of Bastard into the floor.
“It gets the chance to become a pirate ship. And I think that’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Earth.”
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[Proofreader - Gun]
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