It was then.

Kugugugugug──.

The ground began to tremble violently.

‘Damn, I’m late!’

I shouted quickly.

“Everyone, fall back!”

“Huh?”

“Run away─”

“Ahhh!”

The soldiers with weak magic started screaming.

Their eyes had turned bright red as they collapsed, violently twisting their bodies.

A thick fog settled around, and darkness enveloped the surroundings.

It was as if the light that had been filtering through the trees was swallowed whole.

“W-what...?”

‘We’re surrounded.’

“Guhguhk, gu-gu-gu-gu-guhk...!”

“Hey! What’s wrong? Snap out─”

“Ugh!”

The soldiers writhing on the ground spewed blood like fountains into the air.

“Run! It’s the Crimson Ghoul─!!”

Crimson Ghoul.

A super gigantic ghoul also called the King of Ghouls.

“Cr-Crimson Ghoul? Isn’t that a monster from legends? It’s said to be on par with ancient monsters...!”

“No, the Crimson Ghoul’s physical power itself is far weaker than that of ancient monsters. But...”

“It has a will of its own!”

Yes, that’s the problem.

The reason the Crimson Ghoul is called the ‘King of Ghouls’ is not just because it’s huge.

It can command other ghouls!

That was the most terrifying aspect of the Crimson Ghoul.

“The monsters appeared at the oath ceremony because of that Crimson Ghoul...”

It had given the order.

As I muttered this, Deputy General Sang spoke in a trembling voice.

“Wait. It’s not just ghouls that appeared at the oath ceremony...”

“There were amatols too.”

“Does that mean it can command other monsters as well?!”

I clenched my teeth and nodded.

“Th-then... could it be...”

“Yes.”

I gritted my teeth.

“The Wonhwa Army walked right into them.”

“...What?”

“The Crimson Ghoul commanded a huge monster army, and the Wonhwa Army walked right into it!”

Meanwhile, soldiers kept collapsing one after another.

“Ugh─!”

“Ahhhhh─!!”

A strange presence was felt in the darkness.

‘The Crimson Ghoul has appeared.’

“W-what do we do now... what...”

The magic energy emitted by a powerful monster induces human fear.

A monster as strong as the Crimson Ghoul makes even trained knights terrified.

‘I’ve faced ancient monsters before, so I’m okay...’

The [N O V E L I G H T] soldiers began to lose their fighting spirit.

Then.

The Crimson Ghoul found the strongest person in the Western Army.

“...!”

It started heading toward Iseje.

Iseje stiffened.

The Crimson Ghoul’s red eyes shone on him, binding his body as if tied up.

‘Damn it...’

The Crimson Ghoul charged at him.

Iseje stumbled backward and fell over a stone.

‘Ugh!’

He was doomed.

Just as he closed his eyes tightly—

“No!”

Warmth was felt above his head, but no pain followed.

“Wonhwa!”

“Wo-Wonhwa...!”

Only after hearing the shouts around him did he understand the situation.

A much smaller little Wonhwa wrapped around him.

“...!”

Erilot, clutching Iseje’s head tightly, shouted.

“Iseje can’t die! He’s our army’s only sacred knight!”

The knights watching the situation gaped in disbelief.

‘Is she crazy?’

‘What the hell is that kid...?’

In an instant, she wrapped her body in shadow beasts and leapt toward Iseje.

But...

‘Crimson Ghoul.’

‘If that scythe cuts you, your body will be torn to shreds.’

Everyone froze, unable to move.

Only that kid feared no Crimson Ghoul, rushing out to save Iseje.

Even though shadow beasts were used as armor, she took the Crimson Ghoul’s attack head-on.

“D-does she not feel pain?”

Someone murmured dazedly, and Deputy General Sang shouted.

“That’s impossible!”

Look.

Erilot Astra’s whole body was trembling.

“Ugh... ughhh! N-no, Iseje can’t, Iseje can’t...!”

The shadow beasts, full of fear, had already materialized.

Their bodies were dripping away like sludge.

They could no longer function as armor, but Erilot never left Iseje’s side.

Enduring the intense magical aura of the Crimson Ghoul.

“If Iseje dies, there will be no one to heal the soldiers.”

“...”

“Iseje can’t die. For the Western Army, Iseje must be here...”

Iseje looked at the pale Erilot.

Even trained soldiers cannot withstand the Crimson Ghoul’s magic aura.

His whole body ached from the blade-like magic.

‘She’s trembling like that.’

She looked like she was going to die from the pain.

Yet Erilot never moved.

As if brainwashing herself, repeating over and over not to run away.

She had never once been protected by anyone.

Born under an alcoholic blacksmith, days without getting beaten by her father were lucky.

Her sick grandmother was someone she had to protect, not someone who could protect her.

She came to the palace because she didn’t want to live like that anymore.

But even in the palace, there was no superior to protect her.

...Until now.

“Iseje can’t die. Iseje must not...!”

Except for that foolish little kid, no one protected her.

No one trusted her.

No one gave her a chance.

‘Move, move!’

Iseje gritted his teeth and moved.

He swung his scabbard imbued with sacred power.

“Get away from my Wonhwa─!!”

At that moment.

A strange glow appeared in Erilot’s eyes.

Thud─!!!

As soon as Iseje shouted, blood rushed through his entire body.

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

My heartbeat sounded so loud, and a halo of light appeared before my eyes.

Then letters began to fly through the air, quickly forming a sentence.

I had lived oppressed and crushed by the powerful.

Until yesterday.

Now, I will rise from a trash Western Army minor knight to the strongest on the continent.

‘What?’

The protagonist changed.

From Dad is the World’s Most Handsome where dad was the main character, through ,

‘Now Iseje is the protagonist.’

But it was strange.

Crackle, click.

The text distorted like an error, then changed again.

I only struggled to survive in a dark family, yet became the leader of the underage knights?

But this squad is full of trash.

If so, no choice.

I trained the knights for the goal...

“Commander Wonhwa said he’s thirsty!”

“Water!”

“Hurry, water...!”

“We will catch the former Water Spirit King Isdragon.”

...What are these guys doing?

#TenYearsOldButTacticalGenius #PleaseJustStayStillBecauseI’mTired #IsItThisEasyToBecomeASwordmaster?

‘Why did the protagonist switch back to me again?’

Crackle crackle.

Goal: Overthrow the Continent

Lost my beloved daughter to the empire’s entertainment.

Now it’s your turn to lose everything.

(Old) Empire’s War God

(New) The strongest traitor in history.

Doesn’t matter.

I will destroy this world.

‘What is this?’

Tumbling, rolling, doing somersaults, but still feels like dad is the protagonist...

‘Am I going to die!?’

No way this novel!

Judging by the book description, it seems I die here before dad can save me!

Crackle crackle crackle.

Western Army knights living petty corruption meet a mysterious opportunity?!

A ghostly Wonhwa from a powerful family starts mercilessly ruling the Western Army...

“Still can’t run 100 steps in 5 seconds?”

Slapped on the palm,

“Thinking about it, I might need a finishing move. (Pointing at archers) Want to try throwing a meteor?”

Punched,

“Ugh, no support coming because you’re ugly. Ugly guys chant ‘Sorry for being born.’”

Kicked too.

The sobbing life of Western Army knights!

Will they be able to get rid of this ghostly little kid and return to their petty corruption lives?

‘...Is this really my character?’

Crackle crackle crackle.

Urrrgh.

Urghhh.

Urrghhh.

Now the book description is lazy.

‘What the hell... wait.’

Could it be that I can choose the novel?

Why suddenly...

‘Ah, right. Iseje!’

Because of Iseje’s blessing, my blessing level skyrocketed.

So I was able to select the main story of this world...

I flinched and looked up.

‘I have to choose.’

If Iseje is the protagonist, I can get help immediately.

My blessing level has just risen due to the protagonist buff.

But I can’t control it well...

Dad and brothers are very weak toward me.

So if family members are protagonists, it’s easier for me to control.

But Iseje is a stranger.

Even if he feels grateful, he won’t be as weak as family.

‘But to get help right now, I have to make Iseje the protagonist... No, wait.’

#IsItThisEasyToBecomeASwordmaster?

If I’m the protagonist , I can improve the skills of the other knights too.

‘Alright, it is!’

No sooner had I decided in my heart than the light before my eyes faded.

Iseje’s protagonist buff disappeared, and my blessing returned to its original level one.

“...Hey, look!”

“Gasp!”

I regained consciousness and looked around.

The Western Army was still facing off against the Crimson Ghoul.

Judging by posture, only about one or two minutes had passed since Iseje attacked the Crimson Ghoul with his scabbard.

“Are you conscious?!”

“Yeah.”

Iseje sighed.

He lifted me up and faced the Crimson Ghoul.

“Give the order.”

“But everyone’s frozen─”

“Watch closely.”

Looking around, all the soldiers were holding weapons and facing the Crimson Ghoul.

‘What? Everyone was so scared they didn’t know what to do...’

Ah, right.

This is my protagonist buff.

The supporting cast has grown to protect me, the protagonist.

‘Good.’

I shouted.

“Iseje, strengthen the magic soldiers!”

“Got it.”

“Burn all the trees around the magic soldiers!”

“Okay!”

Iseje cast blessings on the magic soldiers.

Golden curves shimmered greatly around their bodies.

Huge pillars of fire began burning the trees.

“Kraaaah─!”

Light is the weakness of ghouls.

Even the Crimson Ghoul is ultimately just a collective of ghouls.

As the trees burned, light seeped through branches that had previously blocked it.

Combined with the enormous fiery power the magic soldiers emitted,

the Crimson Ghoul hesitated.

I clung to Iseje and shouted.

“Archers, fire─!!”

At my command, arrows tipped with small quartz rained down on the Crimson Ghoul.

Finally, the Crimson Ghoul began to retreat.

Then strange things started to catch my eye.

‘I keep glancing at Deputy General Sang. And also at the Crimson Ghoul’s eyes...’

Suddenly, memories of what I saw a moment ago flashed through my mind.

#TenYearsOldButTacticalGenius

‘Could it be...’

Maybe seeing hints of tactics like this is another one of my protagonist buffs.

“Deputy General Sang, look at the Crimson Ghoul’s eye!”

“The eye... you say?”

Deputy General Sang’s expression changed.

A resolute face I hadn’t seen before.

“Heavy armored soldiers! Protect Deputy General Sang so he can advance!”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

Even the heavy armored soldiers showed faces unlike usual.

As the general rushed forward, the Crimson Ghoul regained composure.

“Graaah─!!!”

The Crimson Ghoul swung its huge arm.

Heavy armored soldiers shielded the soldiers with massive shields.

Deputy General Sang leapt.

‘Good heavens, that high?’

In an instant, the sword embedded with quartz pierced the Crimson Ghoul’s eye.

The massive body of the Crimson Ghoul toppled backward.

With a thunderous boom, the earth shook.

Standing atop the Crimson Ghoul, Deputy General Sang roared like a beast.

“Our Wonhwa trusts us. We, the Western Army, will repay Wonhwa’s trust─!”

...Enough with that speech.

Looks like they got supporting cast buffs.

[Our Wonhwa trusts us. We, the Western Army, will repay Wonhwa’s trust─!]

Waaaaah─!!

The Western Army’s roar echoed loudly through Tantila.

“Oh my goodness...”

“Am I dreaming right now?”

Is this really the Western Army that was called royal garbage?

The old veteran, Marquis Noklang, clenched his fists tightly and stood up.

“That’s right!”

Now bent at the waist, the old man was extremely excited.

His son, who inherited the title of marquis, hurriedly tried to calm him.

“You’ll have a stroke if you keep this up.”

“Did you see that? That’s what we want Wonhwa to be─!”

“F-father.”

Startled by his father’s shouts, the son glanced around nervously.

But several other men were also excitedly nodding in agreement.

They were all renowned knights boasting excellent reputations.

“Wonhwa trusts and protects the knights, and trains them well.”

“Yes, and the knights repay Wonhwa’s trust with loyalty and improved skills!”

Marquis Noklang shouted.

“An ideal Wonhwa, as if painted. Is that kid really only ten years old!!”

Other nobles were also anxiously watching, sweating at their palms.

“Just by risking her body once for the sacred knight, she earned the army’s trust and respect.”

When Duke Jermo clicked his tongue, Duke Isiron nodded.

“The judgment was made in that brief moment. How is this possible...”

“Yes. That kid really...”

The dukes glanced at Astra’s relatives.

Arrogant smiles appeared on their faces.

But then, a voice from Tantila echoed out.

[Central Army, save the Western Army and attack the Crimson Ghoul!]

It was the Central Wonhwa who gave the order, arriving late.

“Oh, the Central Wonhwa is also admirable.”

“Look at that daring attempt to save the opponent without fear.”

Han Ji-hyuk frowned.

‘The Western Army caught it all, and now the Central Army wants to share the spoils.’

Are they really going to take it away?

But Erilot on the screen shouted.

[No─!]