Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

--

It was an insult that he had to announce his intent to attack to them.

It's as if he needed to clarify his intent, or else they wouldn't even know how they died. It's ridiculous and humiliating; it's a shame that it burned them from the inside, one that they're too helpless to solve.

That said, as much as they complained inwardly, their bodies became taut at the warning.

It wasn't really until this point that they discovered that, yes, that's right, Dawnbringer hasn't taken the initiative to attack until now. All he was doing previously was defending and observing them. This will be his first retaliation against them, and it made it all the more terrifying because he told them that he's going to.

Schwing!

The sword in Dawnbringer's hand emitted a sharp whistle, which echoed throughout the entire battlefield. It was then followed by a radiant sheen, which appeared briefly on the edge of the blade.

And then, he swung.

Clang!

The top 25 raised their defenses, and they all simultaneously felt the sharp steel of Dawnbringer.

However, it was weird.

The majority of the top 25 felt puzzled because Dawnbringer stopped after the first swing, and they're all still standing. He didn't kill anybody, which was the result they were preparing for and expecting. In fact, the blow wasn't even all that heavy.

They all began thinking if he just played a prank on them, but then someone said,

"That wasn't aimed at us. His target was the world."

A chill ran down everybody's spine upon hearing this. Immediately, they all began inspecting their surroundings. That's when they all realized the truth behind Dawnbringer's attack just now.

**

"Beautiful!"

An elder from the Heavenly Sword Sect shed tears after watching Dawnbringer's sword. His mind was absolutely captivated by that move, replaying it endlessly and wishing that he could stare at it forever.

His emotions were so intense that they alarmed the people around him.

Sitting next to him was his personal disciple. One that he personally raised after discovering his raw talent.

He looked at his master and then back at the screen, muttering, "I don't get it."

The Elder heard him and chuckled. He wiped his tears and said, "That's understandable. Not many could, to be fair."

"What did he do?" The disciple couldn't help but ask, wanting to understand what exactly Dawnbringer did to make his usually stoic and indifferent master this emotional.

"He pacified the world through his sword."

"..." The disciple tilted his head in confusion.

"The top 25 worked together to alter the concept laws of the battlefield, turning it hostile to him. It wouldn't be wrong to say that once they're done with that, the world they're in was actively suppressing and rejecting Dawnbringer's existence. You should know what that feels like, right?"

The disciple nodded. He indeed understood because he's been in that position many times in the past. To say that it feels horrible would be an understatement. It's never easy to face the hostility of a world head-on.

"Dawnbringer endured all of that on top of the pressure from the top 25. He stood his ground firmly. All he did was to defend himself through all of that. He could've retaliated at any given moment during all of that, but he didn't. And even with all odds stacked against him, those kids couldn't even make him take a step back. He's still standing on the spot as he appeared right at the very start of this round."

Once again, the disciple nodded. He realized that too.

"And then, he attacks. But his sword wasn't aimed at them. He aimed it at the world, not to kill but to pacify and correct its orientation."

"With one sword, he sliced through the reality those kids tried very hard to rewrite. He reverted the world to its original orientation, which was complete neutrality, and he made it so that nobody could touch them again. If any of his enemies tries to, they will face a severe backlash this time, which may or may not kill them directly."

"And he did all of that with one, seemingly simple and benign, sword swing."

"No flairs, no dramatic effects, no suspense, just a simple sword swing. True and pure to its core. Sword Laws at its rawest and finest. It's a realm that millions of swordsmen pursue, including me, but remains incredibly hazy and elusive."

The disciple took a deep breath and tried to recall that scene. But even though he could remember it clearly, he just couldn't grasp the same scene that his master saw.

Which is why he was the master and not the disciple. The disciple didn't even doubt that his master might be lying to him because he knew he wouldn't. He's been with this old man even before he could write his own name. Nobody knew his master better than him, and the possibility that the old man would lie to him, especially at times like this, was almost nonexistent.

"If that's the case, then he's..."

**

"...completely and utterly unfair."

One of the top 25 spat furiously. All their hard work and effort to restrain him amounted to nothing in the end. It couldn't even endure a single sword swing from him.

What's worse is that they can't do that again. Even just by thinking about it, they could feel the hostility of the world in the form of a sharp sword aimed at their throats. They have no doubts that if they truly tried, they'd be struck with the full force of this world's retaliation. And that just won't do.

This, however, doesn't mean that this world was working with Dawnbringer now. It neither supported the top 25 nor Dawnbringer; it didn't suppress either. It simply reverted to its original state, with an additional layer of security to prevent the previous manipulation from taking place again.

Without the world actively suppressing him, the top 25 will now face Dawnbringer at his peak state, the one that could slay creatures at least two Life Evolution Realms above him easily.

A life-threatening sense of crisis overloaded their senses once they saw Dawnbringer raising his sword again. And once again, his movement was slow and deliberate, as if he were specifically allowing them to react and watch his sword so that they could prepare for what he was about to do next.

Then, another swing was released. And this time, the world paused.

Well, not really. The world wasn't affected, but the top 25 certainly was.

All of them, without any exceptions, find themselves unable to move. They stood frozen like statues who could only helplessly wait for their verdict.

Most of them didn't understand what happened. Did Dawnbringer stop time all of a sudden? Did he freeze space? Wasn't he a swordsman? How can he do something like this? Or is it some special sword art that could restrict time and space? But it didn't look familiar. Was it something he made himself?

All sorts of questions flooded their minds, but there's one that all of them thought at the same time:

'Is this the end for us? '

And the answer to that seemed very likely, especially now that Dawnbringer started walking towards their frozen bodies.

It wasn't just the top 25 who didn't understand what he did. The majority of the audience couldn't either, and that's normal.

In fact, even those who knew were having a difficult time trying to figure out just how exactly he did it.

Because you see, Dawnbringer didn't freeze time and space. What he did wasn't something that could fall under the Time and Space Law category. It's still Sword Laws through and through.

Dawnbringer sliced the top 25's concept of 'motion,' thereby immobilizing them. He didn't cut everything that could 'move' in them, just enough to root them in place, rendering them unable to do anything.

The concept sounds simple on paper, but in practice? Even those who knew what he did don't even know where to begin. Just thinking about it made their heads throb violently. And even if they somehow could replicate this, the amount of time, effort, and dedication to do it would be completely outrageous.

Dawnbringer eventually stood face-to-face with one of his frozen opponents. There was a trace of apology and helplessness in his eyes as he muttered:

"You did well coming this far."

Before he proceeded to plunge his sword into his chest, eliminating him completely.

The remaining enemies were down to 23 just like that. And if this continues, then more will fall one by one.

"Hey, just so you know, you don't have to make this easy for me. If you try hard enough, maybe you can get out of this restriction."

'You goddamn...! 'The top 25 collectively howled inwardly.

He's messing with them; they're almost sure of it. His sheepish expression wasn't helping either. They all had the urge to punch his face, really. If only they could.

But whether he's telling the truth or not, they decided to struggle against their bindings anyway.

Because as ridiculously overpowered and unfair Dawnbringer was, they were unwilling to let it all end like this.

At least, not this easily.