Level 0 Master

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Sungjin didn't know how to answer. This guy… knows what happened in my time?

Sungjin thought it strange that the Kaiser from far before his time knew what happened in his age. No. Is he talking about his earth, which is different from my earth?

But that wasn't the most important thing. The important thing was that he had pointed out something: did democracy really create the best result?

Of course it had its problems, but was it the best existing system they had?

It wasn't a story from long ago or a story from another world; it was what was happening on earth.

The Republic of Korea was okay, but in Africa and the Middle East, there had been civil wars after revolutions for democracy. No, even in Korea, the politicians, who were voted in by the people, harmed the people quite often: democracy wasn't always the correct or best political decision.

"Yes, what you are talking about is what happened, I must admit."

"You know that, and you're still pursuing the wrong way? Uncontrolled freedom only leads people to their own destruction," Varka said firmly. People are like kids; they don't know what's right or wrong, and they can't see what's dangerous for them. Kids don't know what's best, but they think they do, so they become confused and think they're making the right decision, and that makes it more difficult to control them.

Sungjin made eye contact with Varka and answered, "But I also know that's not all."

"Not all?"

"Yes. There are countries like you mentioned earlier, but there are more countries that are abused by tyrants. Absolute power always becomes corrupted: that is the wisdom from my world."

"That's only when someone who doesn't deserve the power takes the power. How dare you desire to be on the top of the world without taking on its responsibilities!" Varka's shout tore through the air, and the strong pressure from Varka made Sungjin smile.

Ha. This is the enemy I should face: the former Kaiser. Sungjin thought it was worth it to challenge him, and it wouldn't be enough to mention the danger of tyranny to convince Varka.

There were many cases where great kings had showed true leadership that was better than quasi-democracy. Their leadership had led the country to peace and order. Of course, there were more cases where tyrants had ruined the country. The Kaiser Varka was the great king who was praised for opening the Silver Era for his people. He was the real-life case of ruling by philosophy proposed by Plato.

Moreover, unlike on earth, where a great leader didn't mean a great successor, in this world it was possible for a king to lead his country for a lifespan if he was willing to…

The reward for unifying the continent is four hundred years of youth. I'm sure the reward for being a Kaiser is much greater than that.

Could anyway say that democracy was better than a millennial kingdom by a merciful king?

"I'm ready."

"Ready for what?"

"I might not be able to make a country that is better than a country ruled by a merciful king, but I'm ready to lead the country to provide freedom and rights and make people use them properly without destroying themselves." Sungjin's plan wasn't to become an Arc Master to create a free equal world and simply disappear after distributing status and power; he wanted to become a god who would lead them and take care of them until the system became mature enough.

"You wouldn't rule with a power of a god? To make people mature? It's an impossible dream."

"It is possible."

"Nonsense." People are imperfect, but Sungjin wanted to create a world of freedom and equality, while Varka simply thought people were stupid and wanted to rule them as a god.

Their gaze was intense. "So there's only one solution here: I should defeat you to rule this world again."

"Ha. Okay. Let's fight to decide," answered Sungjin with a smile.

There was no point arguing anymore. "Sure." Varka stood up from his throne.

The next moment, Sungjin realized why he hadn't been able to feel Kaiser's energy until then. Haha. Now I can see.

Sungjin thought Varka was hiding his energy, but that wasn't it; he had never hid it. Sungjin hadn't been able to see his energy because it covered up the whole temple, just like when you walk into a mountain, you can't see the whole view.

Sungjin was in Varka's hand, and Sungjin was able to feel Varka's overwhelming energy.

Huh, great. That's the Kaiser that I feel like fighting against But Sungjin didn't know what kind of power he would face. Would he face a power that was greater than the Holy Pope Pedrian and the Wise King Kapitle?

"Open the battlefield." The four sides of the temple closed and the space changed to become a battlefield.

This is… Looking at the battlefield, Sungjin realized it wouldn't be an easy fight.

It was a temple where everything was perfectly symmetrical. All the decorations were done with perfect symmetry on the wall, the ceiling and the floor.

There were two large halls on each end, and a narrow path connected them. The paths were decorated with geometric ornaments without human or animal shapes on them. Oval columns were on each wall, and there was a mysterious scent that came from somewhere. From far away, a faint bell sound rang in the temple. It looked like a temple that had been there for an eternity, more than a thousand years or even more.

Facing Sungjin, Varka stood in the center of the round hall on the other side. He looked like the god the temple was dedicated to.

But Sungjin was able to look through and understand the function of the battlefield. There was only one path connecting two halls, and the path was not very long. It is a battlefield where we need to fight with our pure power against each other.

It was a simple and plain battlefield where Sungjin couldn't use many of his plans, although he defeated his enemy in such a battlefield by catching him off his guard.

Should I try first? It was not an advantageous battlefield for him, but he was determined to win this fight.

The fight began.

I have a lot of crystals to start with. He had enough crystals to use his artifact right away. Although it would be the same for Varka.

Sungjin observed Varka to see how he would start the fight. Sungjin was with his six team members. On the other hand… Varka was standing alone.

"Hey, aren't you going to call your team?" When Sungjin asked that, Varka started to walk toward him slowly.

He answered, "A leader has to be alone. When you need a team, that makes you imperfect."

"Hmph. You are going to keep your faith. Sure, but my teammates and I are together until the end, so don't complain."

"Doesn't matter. Losers are losers no matter how many people are gathered under the loser pretending to be a true leader."

Varka ignored the turret on his way and got closer to Sungjin, and that made Sungjin smile. Haha. It's getting interesting.

This was the center. The Holy Pope or the Golden Wise King were stronger than all this army, but they still brought their army with them. It was better to have a bit of support to achieve complete victory.

Hmm, I read the legend that he was a superhuman king who took care of everything by himself, so I assumed he would be strong enough to fight us by himself, but…

But Sungjin hadn't expected him to come to fight by himself. Great. That meant that Varka was sure of his power, and Sungjin was happy with such a challenge.

It was a six-on-one fight, but that didn't make Sungjin loosen up his guard. So, let's see what kind of skills you'll use.

Sungjin had already thought of the possibility that he would be defeated in the first fight. The first fight was an engagement in reconnaissance, but Sungjin didn't plan to just give this one to Varka. He planned to fight back with his everything according to the circumstances, so that even if he lost, he would know everything about his opponent.

Unlike his enemy with high level and strong skills, Sungjin's strength was his plan, so his second fight would be his real fight, and this first fight would be the groundwork for his real fight.

I should take his first skill without using Ereka's Aegis, if possible. He wanted to save Aegis to fight back Varka's ultimate skill. If that would be impossible, he planned to use all their skills to make Varka use his ultimate skill to learn about his skills and power.

How shall I command this? To make his perfect judgement, Sungjin's eyes started to shine even sharper.

They finally faced each other. Sungjin's team started to move. When they started to try to use their skills, Varka stopped them all. "I don't need those small things."

His explosive energy filled the temple. It wasn't an explosion, though. It was a calm yet endless weight that covered the sky and the ground at the same time. It was like god's hand covering up the whole world…

Is he trying to use his ultimate skill already? Sungjin made his decision. Even if this was not his ultimate skill, he didn't have much choice. "Ereka! Aegi…" But he couldn't even finish his command.

Although Sungjin didn't finish his words, Ereka decided to use Aegis, but she couldn't. Varka's skill was faster. The light was already covering up the ground and making a circle around Varka. The circle was made with multiple concentric circles and covered not only the battlefield but the whole horizon.

In the circle of light were holy letters that were the symbol of the Universe. The circles started to turn like wheels. Each letter represented different spirits and started to shine in gold light. And in the center was a king of the world with four huge letters around him. And there were eight huge letters around the four letters. And there were countless letters around them.

It was a Mandara that was the symbol of the Universe. The Mandara was beyond the concept of strength and weakness. It was simply transcendent. There was an absolute order in it.

"The Front Wheel of the Universe." That was the name of the skill that Varka showed.

Sungjin and his team were not able to move a finger in the absolute order of Mandara. They couldn't even fight against it, and their skills were sealed by it.

Durandal, Aegis, the Honeydew Bottle, the Holy Magical Sword Dawn Bringer. All the magical weapons were separated from their owners and fell down on the ground to fall asleep.

Their bodies were also sealed. Sungjin wasn't able to use any of his martial arts. Ugh. He couldn't even moan. His body was paralyzed, and he couldn't even move his mouth.

Sungjin and his team were captured by the Mandara of light and were perfectly neutralized.

Defeat was not a good enough word to describe it; it was beyond domination. Transcendent was the only word that could describe the situation.

It was their first fight in the center. Their first opponent was the Kaiser Varka, who used to be the conqueror of the world. He was also a merciful king who ruled the Universe with order. Sungjin and his team couldn't do anything in front of him, but were neutralized.

This is… the ultimate skill of the Kaiser of White Silver. Sungjin had to admit his greatness.

He created the order around him to make the world's rule under him, and imprisoned his opponents to make it impossible for them to do anything. It was an absolute order.

It was not a magic square or a closed space.

Sungjin and his team had to admit that Varka was a next-level opponent that they had never seen before.

It was beyond the concept of strength. It was something that they had never experienced.

"Now you see? This is the power that I achieved in order to rule the world. You don't even have the strength to fight this, yet you tell me human beings can be better?"

Ugh. I want to say something back, but there's nothing I can say. The only thing Sungjin could do was think.

"I was able to rule the normal people with the right regulations, but some special souls like you needed a special way of ruling." Varka raised his hand. "You. You are trying to give the destruction called freedom to the people with your mere power to conquer a continent."

Crack.

Crack.

The space above Sungjin's head tore open, and energy sparkled around the crack. Sungjin was able to see the endless space though the tiny crack.

"I will rule you with my own hand." The next moment, a huge hand came from another dimension to snatch Sungjin up. "Seal the Devil from the Western Sky!"

Sungjin's body remained, but his soul was forcefully separated from his body.

Sungjin! The girls were still trapped in the Mandara. They couldn't do anything but watch as the hand took Sungjin away and threw his soul into the endless space.