Ch.21021. Nemea

Lion King Terodamas was born with exceptional abilities.

A robust physique, a keen mind capable of utilizing that body efficiently, and his unique characteristic skills.

Terodamas was, so to speak, a chosen one who had been blessed with all manner of talents as if beloved by the gods.

As the undoubted heir to the throne, people always flocked around him, and whenever his talents shone, they would not hesitate to say that he would become a great king who would bring even more glory to the kingdom.

Terodamas himself was fully aware of his abilities, so his actions were imbued with confidence; he was always dignified and grew into a man who never backed down.

Then, less than a month after his coming-of-age ceremony.

His kingdom was invaded by another realm, and as the peaceful era came to an end, the entire nation began to burn in the flames of war.

The kingdom, long steeped in peace, failed to respond properly to the sudden war, and the king, though praised as a wise ruler, had no military talent and suffered defeat after defeat.

About a month after the war broke out, the enemy army finally approached the very gates of the kingdom’s capital. In this desperate situation, the ministers awaited only the king’s decision.

As the enemy’s blade drew ever closer, tightening around their necks, Terodamas, who had been biding his time until now, made his decision and drew his sword.

That was the beginning of the legendary counterattack.

Leading his soldiers against the enemy kingdom, Terodamas fought valiantly, using all his talents to defeat the enemy forces and sound the first victory bell.

Until then, morale had been at rock bottom due to the heavy atmosphere of defeat, but it began to blaze anew thanks to the noble prince who did not spare his own life.

Continuing their streak of victories, they advanced and advanced further, following Terodamas, their vanguard commander.

Finally, after reclaiming all the lost territory, their advance showed no signs of stopping. Terodamas invaded the enemy kingdom that had initiated the aggression, toppled it, and subjugated it.

Watching the enemy king declare surrender in a humiliating posture, Terodamas could recognize one emotion filling his chest.

It was a primal emotion deeply seated in his heart.

The feeling of conquest.

For someone who had easily obtained everything with his innate talents, conquering an enemy kingdom after facing death gave him a new emotion he had never known before. It was a satisfaction called the thrill of conquest, a sense of achievement.

After succeeding to the throne, Terodamas could not forget that feeling and devoted all his attention to wars of conquest. With his talents and luck reaching the heavens, nothing could stop him, and he wrote an undefeated legend until only one kingdom remained.

But because he knew no defeat, he became arrogant; because he was sufficiently capable, he became insolent; and he knew only himself.

Contemptuous of others.

A lone general who listened to no one.

All these were words that described Terodamas, and having transformed into a war-crazed king who neglected his ministers and people, he was eventually betrayed and lost everything.

That was the truth about Lion King Terodamas, a biography not recorded in history books.

***

Gilbert rode eastward on horseback, leaving the Obitus territory. The location of Terodamas’s journal was in a hidden safe house about half a day’s ride from Obitus.

Normally, one would have to combine the songs of bards with clues left in Obitus to pinpoint the location, but since the descriptions only covered nearby geographical features, newbies often wasted time here.

Many would end up circling the same spot with their minimaps or world maps open, but that didn’t apply to Gilbert. Although the game systems like minimap and world map weren’t implemented in this reality, he had always been able to find locations with just a general sense of direction.

However, while in the game, geographical features didn’t erode and could be used as landmarks, in reality, they could change over time, which left him with some concern.

But his worry proved unfounded as a familiar landmark came into view. An ancient tree, its age impossible to guess, had taken root at the entrance to a valley.

Finally arrived, huh?

Gilbert breathed a sigh of relief at the sight unchanged from the game.

Once you arrived here, the first condition was essentially met. The difficulty of this sub-quest lay in following a trail of clues that led to one another, with the final clue specifying this location.

On top of that, since the final clue was just one vague line describing the place, in the early days of Tactical Combat, people would often search the entire vast Obitus region looking for similar terrain.

But a long time had passed since the game’s release, and no matter how much people tried to hide information, someone would eventually share it.

Even newbies often skipped the tedious information gathering and looked up the answers, so there was no need to search the entire region to find this ancient tree.

While the newbie guides in the community would describe this location, they didn’t recommend going straight here.

The Tactical Combat world was basically set in medieval times, with territories governed by feudal lords.

Within and around these territories, security was maintained by guards or the lord’s private soldiers, but beyond those areas, bandits and thieves ran rampant, and pirates plundered at sea.

In the early stages of Tactical Combat, players mostly stayed around the Academy, so encounters with bandits were rare, but when progressing through sub-quests, they would occasionally leave the territory.

During those times, they might encounter monsters, but more often than not, they would end up fighting bandits.

And that was the reason the newbie guide recommended coming here later.

“What brings an Academy cadet to a place like this?”

No sooner had Gilbert tied his horse to the ancient tree than people began to appear one by one. Having anticipated this, he calmly counted the number of bandits who had suddenly appeared.

There seemed to be about fifteen in total. The health and number of bandits varied depending on the game’s difficulty, and fifteen was the number that appeared on the highest difficulty level, which he had always played after becoming a veteran.

“Looking at that handsome face, you must be some nobleman’s son… My heart’s racing just thinking about the hefty ransom we’ll get.”

“Boss! Don’t forget to give me a good cut this time!”

“Hey, you bastard. Didn’t I tell you not to call me boss?”

About fifteen men with fierce expressions approached, each carrying a sword, looking every bit like bandits. Gilbert watched the expected appearance of the bandits before speaking.

“Former mercenaries turned bandits sure talk a lot. Who said I’d be captured without a fight?”

“…Who the hell are you?”

“I have no name to give to bandit scum.”

This was part of a common linked quest. It was not unusual in this era for members of a fairly renowned mercenary group to become bandits due to the oppression of nobles.

When progressing through the Lion King’s Mana Training Method quest, one would encounter bandits near the location where the journal was hidden. If you couldn’t subdue them, you would forever lose the chance to obtain the Lion King’s Mana Training Method.

The tip came from consideration that newbies, still unskilled in combat, might lose the highest-grade mana training method in a sudden one-against-many battle with bandits.

Conversely, if you subdued them, you could receive a linked quest where you could resolve their grievances and take them on as subordinates—not a bad quest at all.

“I was trying to be nice, but since the young master is provoking us, I think we need to cut off a limb to bring him to his senses. Don’t you agree?”

“You’re squeaking like a rat, not a bandit.”

“Kill that bastard right now and cut off his limbs! Guys like him only come to their senses after being stomped on!”

But Gilbert had no intention whatsoever of taking them as comrades. While it was true they had pitiful circumstances that led them from being mercenaries to bandits, that didn’t erase the crimes they had committed as bandits.

They might be posing as bandits due to circumstances, but seeing them approach with murderous intent, he couldn’t let them pass regardless of their backstory.

In the game, they were originally mercenaries who became bandits and engaged in human trafficking of innocent people. Giving them any leeway was unnecessary.

Gilbert lightly gripped the handle of the sword at his waist.

This would be his first time killing someone in this place, but that was only true for this world.

He had not the slightest intention of showing mercy to enemies who pointed their blades at him.

It was the only way he could survive that terrible war.

The moment the bandits entered his striking range, his eyes gleamed, and in an instant, his sword was drawn.

Slash!

The sharp blade gleamed in the sunlight, red blood painted the sky, and a cleanly severed arm flew haphazardly through the air from a bandit’s body.

This was the terrifying result of a lightning-fast draw produced by 90 points in physical ability and 70 points in combat power.