Chapter 46 – The Magic Scholar who Fled (3)
TL: Boko
Editors: Frost, StellarRain
“I won’t let them,” Sung Joon said with an grimly resolved expression. The Empire and the Species Alliance had killed him in his past life. He was definitely going to pay them back
“I can understand up to where you said that Roukel’s grudge is the trigger that opens the Awakening Dungeon. But it will be difficult to fight back against the Empire through just the Awakening Dungeon.”
“Are you talking about a preemptive strike through some other means…?” Sung Joon asked. Zelos nodded his head and spoke.
“If only we had the Dimensional Leap theoretical book, I would be able to find a method of creating a warp gate from our side.
Like a true magic scholar, who was talented in dimensional magic theory, Zelos spoke with a voice overflowing with confidence. Seeing that, Sung Joon smiled.
“Do you actually have it?”
Sung Joon silently nodded his head.
“It should be stored securely within the Pan-Dimensional Task Force’s training school.”
“The Awakening Dungeon opened there, so I killed them all and took the theoretical book with me.”
“There should’ve been several elite troops stationed there… As expected of Sir Roukel’s disciple,” Zelos said in admiration. Sung Joon extracted the Dimensional Leap theoretical book from his dimensional pouch and passed it over to Zelos.
“It’s definitely the Dimensional Leap theoretical book. This will help significantly in making a more stable warp gate.”
Zelos confirmed that the theoretical book was the real deal. His eyes shined as he read through the book.
“I didn’t think I’d ever be able to see this with my own two eyes.”
Aside from special circumstances, non-interested parties did not get a chance to read the Dimensional Leap theoretical book.
“How is it?”
“I need to read more, but I have no difficulties understanding the contents thus far. I believe I’ll get a clue on how to open a more stable warp gate once I’m done reading through the book,” Zelos replied. The warp gate Zelos had used to travel to Earth had been unstable.
If something had gone wrong, he could’ve been swept away in the ‘dimensional storm’ and lost his life.
He could open a similar unstable warp gate this instant, but there was no point if he lost his life in the process.
“For now, I want you to work on placing some defensive spells around the mansion, since we don’t know when the Empire will catch on.”
The warp gate wasn’t his priority right now. Even if he were to open a warp gate immediately, there was only so much damage Sung Joon could inflict onto the Empire or the Species Alliance by himself.
“I understand. Then, I’ll think about the defensive spells that I’ll place around the mansion first.”
As Sung Joon requested, Zelos prioritized the mansion’s defense first. Zelos set up defensive spells around the mansion for a few days. It may have been because he was a magic scholar, but he wasn’t really good around other people. He didn’t attempt to interact with Shin Chul, Jang Hoon, or Jung Chul. However, that wasn’t a huge problem.
“I’m finished.”
On a certain day in December, Sung Joon had finished soloing an rank dungeon, and came back. By then, Zelos had finished setting up the magic circles and reported that fact to Sung Joon.
He guided Sung Joon around the mansion to explain the engraved defensive spells.
Though they were called defensive spells, they were in fact quite deadly.
“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that your mansion’s defenses have increased twofold, Sir Kang Sung Joon.”
“But who will control the defensive spells? They’re extremely deadly, so it seems like someone needs to control them. They could attack our allies,” Sung Joon said. His automatic turrets could distinguish between friend and foe as it had a system that identified allies.
“Ah… I forgot to explain that to you. Only those that I consider an ‘enemy’ will cause the spells to go off, so you don’t have to worry so much.”
In other words, if Zelos was killed, then the defensive spells he’d set up would go with him.
And by saying that outright, he was telling Sung Joon of his importance. Because of that, Sung Joon decided to prioritize Zelo’s safety in case of an attack.
“What about the activation?”
Sung Joon was a swordmaster in his previous life, but he was an elite who possessed some knowledge regarding magic.
Thus, he knew that the defensive spells needed to be activated for them to display their effects.
“I infused mana into them just a little while ago. There wouldn’t be a problem, even if enemies were to invade right this instant. The spells will intercept them.”
“Then I can trust you and go out, right?”
“Do you have an appointment?” Zelos asked. Sung Joon nodded his head and spoke.
“I’m preparing to make a guild. You know about guilds, right?”
“Of course I do. But making a guild right now is… Are you planning on training an ‘elite guard’?”
Zelos had seen through him in an instant.
“You’re quick on the uptake.”
“Just by looking at Mr. Park Jung Chul, Mr. Yoon Shin Chul, and Mr. Park Jang Hoon, I can tell that you’re training them to become your elite guard, Sir Kang Sung Joon.”
“That’s the plan. In any case, I’m going to meet someone regarding the guild and attack a dungeon, so keep a close eye on the house.”
“You don’t have to worry about the mansion’s defense. Since I am here.”
Zelos was overflowing with confidence. After Sung Joon had nodded his head, he got into his car to meet with Seol Ah and embarked.
“It’s a relief that the Kingdom Alliance has mobilized and is fighting back against the Empire.”
As soon as they got onto the quiet road, Rishubalt spoke. For the past few days, Rishubalt had spoken with Zelos quite a bit. Because of that, he heard a lot of news about what the Empire and the Species Alliance were up to following the Battle of the Ridonia Great Plains. In order to escape, Zelos had been gathering information through a helper.
“The problem is how long the Kingdom Alliance will last,” Sung Joon said. The moment the Kingdom Alliance collapses, the Empire and the Species Alliance would focus all their resources into invading Earth.
If that happened, then their research into warp gates would speed up and in no time at all their armies would invade Earth.
But because they were retaliating against the Kingdom Alliance, their plan to invade the Earth hadn’t really begun yet.
“It seems like we’ve arrived,” Rishubalt said. Sung Joon had been driving whilst engaging in a serious conversation with Rishubalt, so he had arrived at the promised location quickly.
He parked nearby, and entered the cafe. Though they were supposed to meet in twenty minutes, Seol Ah was already there waiting for him.
“Ms. Yoon Seol Ah? You should’ve told me if you had arrived so early…” Sung Joon said as he sat in front of her. To be honest, it had been quite some time since she had entered the cafe and waited for him, but she kept smiling.
It was honestly her own fault, as she had been so excited to meet with Sung Joon that she had arrived too early and waited for so long.
“I had some work nearby, but I finished it quickly. I came early and was drinking a cup of coffee.”
“Then that’s a relief. Did you go through all the procedures?”
“Yes. We’ve already prepared all the necessary documents. All you need to do now is bring these documents to the Hunter Bureau and apply.”
“Thank you for all your hard work.”
Seol Ah smiled at Sung Joon’s compliment. Her feelings toward Sung Joon had become a lot clearer.
“Zelos’ name is included in the documents, right?” Sung Joon asked. Because Zelos had joined them so late, he had asked Seol Ah to include his name four days ago. That’s why they needed to check to make sure that the preparations were all complete.
“Yes, please don’t worry.”
“Thank you again,” Sung Joon replied and checked his watch. If he wanted to complete his guild registration before his dungeon assault, then he needed to go now. As soon as Sung Joon stood, Seol Ah took her remaining coffee and followed him out.
“It seems like you’re quite busy?”
Her voice was tinged with disappointment. Sung Joon nodded his head and spoke.
“I have an appointment for a dungeon attack. If I want to register my guild then I think I’ll have to go immediately.”
“I see…”
“I’ll make sure to deliver the magic stones to you. Please don’t worry.”
Sung Joon accumulated an overwhelming amount of magic stones from his solo plays. If he passed these magic stones over to her, then her position within the company would grow.
Because the Blue Dragon Group was given permission from the government to do business in magic stones, they could form a contract with either a guild or a regular assault team for a supply of magic stones.
“Ok.”
Seol Ah wanted to hang out with Sung Joon some more. It felt regrettable to just let him go like this, but she had no choice.
She was well aware that keeping him here would just be getting in his way. The only thing she could do was to follow him to his parked car.
Anything else would be getting in his way.
“Then, I’ll get going now.”
Sung Joon got in his car and drove to the Hunter Bureau. Because he sent a message, Hyun Sung was waiting for him on the first floor. When he saw Sung Joon coming, he offered a handshake with a joyous expression.
“Mr. Kang Sung Joon! It’s been a long time! Have you been well?”
Because Sung Joon was an SS-rank Hunter, people would try to get close to him no matter where he went.
“Let’s go up to my office.”
Sung Joon nodded at Hyun Sung’s offer. He could’ve dealt with this through Han So Eun, who was at his private counter, but going through it in Hyun Sung’s office didn’t sound like a bad idea either.
The two went up to Hyun Sung’s office. Sung Joon gave Hyun Sung the documents that Seol Ah had prepared for him.
“There are no problems with the documents. They’re perfect. Most people making guilds for the first time have trouble preparing these documents.”
Anyone could register for a guild if they wanted, but because the procedures were particularly stringent, there were many Hunters who just gave up on making one. To the point that there would be someone separately drawing up the documents for them, as it was especially troublesome.
Seol Ah would be his secretary, so she took responsibility for these procedures and documents. She was the head of the Blue Dragon Group’s guild plan, so she knew all about it.
“We had planned on helping you as well.”
Because Sung Joon was such an important figure to the Hunter Bureau, they were doing their utmost so that Sung Joon wouldn’t have to deal with troublesome matters.
“A friend helped me, so I was able to prepare it quite easily.”
“That’s a relief. We’ll take care of the rest of the procedures. There will be nothing troublesome that goes your way, Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”
“I thought that there would be some more troublesome things after,” Sung Joon said honestly. He had gone through the bulletin board messages on Hunter.com regarding guild registration, and most regarded the procedure as a pain in the ass and quite difficult.
Hyun Sung just smiled and spoke.
“That’s usually how it is, but there are exceptions to everything.”
Hyun Sung stressed that Sung Joon was getting preferential treatment.
“In any case, please take care of it.”
“Of course.”
After Sung Joon parted ways with Hyun Sung, he attacked the rank dungeon. There was no change to his 56% synchronization rate. Once he had finished the dungeon and sold his magic stones, he returned to his house. However, on the way…
Sung Joon felt several stealthed presences around his house.
“Rishubalt.”
“Just give me the order.”
“The mansion is surrounded.”
“They’re not the Russians.”
He didn’t know why, but Rishubalt’s voice sounded absolutely sure.
“Then is it…”
Sung Joon eyes gleamed with killing intent.
“Zelos… he came over quickly, but people followed him here.”
Sung Joon shook his head. However, he sported a wicked smile. Seeing that, Rishubalt spoke with an elated expression.
“I’m curious as to how far your synchronization rate will increase this time.”
Sung Joon already saw them as ‘enemies’ who possessed mana; enemies who would be sacrificed to increase his synchronization rate.
//
Chapter 46 – The Magic Scholar who Fled (4)
TL: Boko
Editors: Frost, StellarRain
Sung Joon quickly entered the mansion. The guards patrolling the vicinity greeted him as well.
Sung Joon roughly nodded his head as a reply and gathered Zelos, Jung Chul, Shin Chul, and Jang Hoon together.
Fortunately, they hadn’t been attacked when Sung Joon called them.
They had noticed the defensive spells that Zelo’s had placed all over the mansion and were adjusting their plan accordingly.
“Is Russia gunning for you again, Sung Joon?” Jang Hoon asked. Like always, he skipped the pleasantries and asked straightforwardly. Sung Joon liked that about him.
“No… they are different this time.”
“If they’re not from Russia, then where are they from? How dare they attack you…”
Jang Hoon was infuriated, as though they were attacking him. Sung Joon didn’t reply immediately; instead, he gazed at Zelos. Jang Hoon didn’t notice, but Zelos,who felt Sung Joon’s gaze upon him, lowered his head and his lips slightly budged.
“I apologize, Sir Kang Sung Joon.”
It was message magic. Because Sung Joon was incapable of using such magic, he didn’t reply. Instead, he drew his sword and turned his attention to Shin Chul.
Shin Chul, feeling his gaze upon him, raised his radio and spoke.
“I’ll tell the guard team.”
“They’ll probably know, but try to keep it discreet.”
If Zelo was correct, then there was a high possibility that the Empire sent either the Pan-Dimensional Task Force or its special forces.
And because these forces specialized in ambushing their opponents, once they saw the guards’ movements change, they would know that they’ve been discovered.
“I’ll give them the order.”
Shin Chul brought the radio to his lips. Eventually, the guards began to discreetly set up defensive formations. However, just as Sung Joon had expected, this was their enemies’ forte.
They were still stealthed, but because they had already taken every possible situation into account, they didn’t even make any signals and moved with perfect order into their ranks. It seemed like they had set the time for the attack, as they didn’t make the first move.
Rishubalt reported this fact to Sung Joon.
“They’re moving. Get ready to fight.”
Sung Joon commanded everyone. There were guards on every rooftop and guard tower with machine guns at the ready.
The guards sported uneasy expressions and struggled against their fear. Then, Sung Joon moved his eyes busily and surveyed his surroundings.
‘Around fifty of them…? There’re more than I expected…’
They weren’t just pursuers. They might’ve gotten reinforcements, as their numbers were quite high. Considering the fact that he sensed a significant amount of mana, there were several powerful foes mixed in within the group.
“I’ll go scout out,” Rishubalt said, and Sung Joon slightly nodded his head. Rishubalt returned within three minutes of scouting.
“I was able to see around ten who weren’t stealthed. They are a mixed force that consist of the Pan-Dimensional Task Force and the Empire’s special forces. And it seems like the special force’s Ghost Squad and Executive Squad have come as well.”
The special force’s Executive Squad was responsible for handling the Empire’s internal affairs. It seemed like the matter of Zelos was still considered an internal affair.
‘The Executive Squad came over here too…? There’s no way they’ve come just for Zelos…’
Whilst organizing his thoughts, Sung Joon furrowed his brow. It wasn’t easy to cross over through a warp gate. Though Zelos was a talented Mage, there was no way that they would send the Executive Squad just for him.
“Magic response! There are several stealthed forces approaching,” Shin Chul reported. He noticed them due to Zelo’s detection magic circle that he’d installed near the mansion.
“I’ll active the defensive magic circles now.”
As soon as Sung Joon nodded his head, Zelos drew his mana. The magic circles all around the mansion activated by the mana and unleashed elemental magic spells.
“Ugh!”
“AH!”
The enemies were swept away by the fire, and their hearts were pierced by ice spears. Those struck by the magic screamed in agony and fell.
The others moved hastily to evade the magic, but because of that, their stealth was released.
The guards poured a barrage of bullets onto them with their machine guns, but most of them were able to dodge the gunfire much too easily.
“Concentrate fire!”
One of them lost their lives due to concentrated fire, but the others got over the wall and entered the garden. The Ghost Squad took the vanguard, as they specialized in ambushes and infiltration.
They were discovered because Sung Joon’s presence detection was abnormal, but they usually wouldn’t be discovered this easily.
Swish! Swish!
“Ugh!”
“AH!”
The Ghost Squad at the forefront threw their weapons at the guards, burrowing deep into their bodies. With one simultaneous throw, five guards, including two D-rank Hunters, were weakly fell to the floor. It was a superb throwing technique, so it wasn’t easy to dodge.
“Healing Spray!”
Because not all of them had died, Sung Joon used his ‘Healing Spray’ on the collapsed guards.
He saw two of the guards' bodies rise and fall once the white sphere that came from his left hand reached them.
However, the Executive Squad that had followed behind pierced their necks with daggers and finished them off.
Sung Joon was astonished by their cruelty. They ensured one’s death in the midst of battle when a Healer was present.
“It’s alright if the garden gets damaged a little, right?”
“It doesn’t matter, as long as you kill our unwanted guests.”
As soon as Shin Chul heard Sung Joon’s response, he finished casting a large-scale spell. Dozens of ice shards poured from the sky, right on top of the assassins’ heads.
“Ugh!”
“AH!”
A few of them fell, but the others got over the barricade and charged.
The Hunter guards charged, but the high tier rank second class assassins led at the vanguard. There weren’t any first class assassins, but most of the Hunters guards were between E-rank to C-rank, so they were no match for them.
“Let’s go.”
Even the automatic turrets that had come out and fired were destroyed in an instant. Sung Joon gave Jang Hoon an order and charged out first. He was originally going to focus on defending the main building, but their defense lines were falling way too quickly.
“Don’t worry too much! There are still a lot of defensive spells left!”
Zelos used his mana to activate the defensive spells.
Kwang!
With a boom that could shake both heaven and earth, there were explosions everywhere. In an instant, the second-class assassins that made up the infiltration team were completely annihilated.
“Though it’s kind of loud,” Zelos added. Before the resulting dust from the explosions could subside, the infiltration team got in. There was even a first class assassin mixed in.
“I’ll take care of that bastard!”
Jang Hoon charged like a ferocious tiger. He had sensed the presence of a powerful foe: the first class assassin. He closed the distance instantaneously with high-speed movement and raised his aurclad greatsword.
‘I can block it,’ the first class assassin thought and raised his dagger. His dagger was likewise clad in aura and he thought he could defend against his strike, but Jang Hoon had struck much quicker than he had anticipated.
“N-No! Ugh!”
He had succeeded in defending himself, but he couldn’t protect himself against the tremendous force behind the greatsword and was flung far away. Then, flames rained from above his head.
“AH!”
Because he was sent flying, all his bones were completely shattered and he was unable to avoid the magic.
He was hit by the fire shower and was swept away by the flames. He was burnt to death.
“The Team Leader was killed in one hit?”
“Everyone be careful! They have a powerhouse over there!”
They had probably checked the mana responses before they attacked, but the assassins were still flustered, likely because Jang Hoon and Shin Chul’s abilities and senses were far greater than they had anticipated.
They looked to be reorganizing their ranks, but Sung Joon seized that opportunity and attacked first.
“Ugh!”
He decapitated the closest assassin. The other assassins turned their gaze towards where they heard the scream, but by then, Sung Joon wasn’t there anymore.
Sung Joon continuously used his high-speed movement. He didn’t need to use all his strength. Whenever he swung his sword, an assassin’s head would roll onto the floor.
“S-Shit!”
The dust hadn’t even subsided. The second team didn’t know what was going on inside and continued to push on through.
They soon lost their lives to both Sung Joon and Jang Hoon’s blades. The second team consisted of mostly those who were weaker than the first team.
“You’ve taken care of them all. No one escaped,” Rishubalt reported.
“‘They’ll die in battle’, huh…? The Emperor’s teaching is still the same.”
Sung Joon shook his head and muttered in a low enough voice such that only Rishubalt could hear him. It was in line with the Empire’s philosophy, which treated its soldiers as expendables.
He suddenly thought that perhaps this ideology of not retreating, even in an extremely unfavorable position was what made the Empire strong.
“Absorb.”
“There’s no change in your synchronization rate.”
‘Absorption’ was the most important step following a battle, so he never forgot to use it. As soon as he absorbed the assassins’ mana, Rishubalt immediately reported on his synchronization rate. Unfortunately, the enemies' levels weren’t high enough, so his synchronization rate didn’t change.
“The army has arrived.”
The Guard Team Leader, Kyung Min, approached him and reported. The army squadron and the Armed Policemen had arrived too late, but because they had taken care of the ambushers so quickly, there was nothing for them to do. What’s worse, the clean up was taken care of by men in black suits that Jung Chul had called.
“I’ll take care of the bodies.”
“I believe it’ll be faster if we identify them though,” an agent from the national intelligence agency refuted. However, Jung Chul spoke with a firm expression.
“This is what Mr. Kang Sung Joon wants. We’ll quickly take care of it ourselves.”
“If that’s truly what you want… then I understand.”
South Korea knew that the U.S. was helping Sung Joon. Therefore, they probably thought that the U.S. was helping him with this.
It grated on the national intelligence agency’s pride, but there was no helping it. After all, it was true that the Central Hunter Bureau was much more competent than them.
Sung Joon looked around pissed off. Money wasn’t the problem, but it would take some time to restore the garden. And Zelos came to his side.
“Whenever Sir Roukel experienced something like, he would always seek revenge. What about you, Sir Kang Sung Joon?” Zelos asked. Sung Joon smirked.
“I’ll obviously get my revenge. Since it’s about time I open an Awakening Dungeon,” Sung Joon replied, and Zelos smiled. Sung Joon had already explained the Awakening Dungeon to him.
He hadn’t told him about his synchronization rate, but he did tell him that the Awakening Dungeon would open whenever he reached a certain level.
“It will be a bloodbath.”
He couldn’t hold back his joy. Though he had crossed over to Earth, it had been a hard life, running away from the Empire’s special forces whilst studying warp gates.
“I’ll kill them all.”
Sung Joon’s eyes were overflowing with killing intent. He hoped that the Awakening Dungeon would open in a place where he could inflict severe damage onto the Empire.
//
Chapter 47 – On the Battlefield (1)
TL: Boko
Editors: Frost, StellarRain
“Restoring the building should take some time as Mr. Zelos gave the assassins quite a welcome,” Jung Chul reported. That welcome was referring to Zelo’s explosion magic circle. The explosion had made a mess of the surroundings, as if it had been bombarded.
“To be honest, the damage isn’t due to the explosion magic. Because the assassins were so skilled, the automatic turrets were destroyed within three minutes,” Jung Chul said, as he passed over the damage report. Because there were so many things he had to worry about, Sung Joon naturally shook his head.
He had decided to follow Sung Joon, but he didn’t welcome the amount of work that overlapped with his own work in the auction house.
Jung Chul tried his best so that he wouldn’t let it show, but he couldn’t fool Sung Joon due to his experiences in his past life.
‘I suppose I should give him a bonus.’
It was a skill to properly manage good people. And just like in his past life, Sung Joon was popular. There were several people who followed him, but most of them were likely gone. He felt pained when he thought about that.
‘I’ll get my revenge on the Empire no matter what.’
Sung Joon pledged that he’d get revenge on the Empire once more. Eventually, he turned his attention towards Jung Chul and spoke.
“Money isn’t an issue. Please begin the restoration as soon as possible.”
“As expected of you, Mr. Kang Sung Joon. There’s nothing that can’t be done by paying a lot of money for it.”
Jung Chul smiled in satisfaction. It seemed like he was happy that his workload had decreased.
“Then I’ll get going to check on how the restoration is proceeding.”
As soon as Sung Joon nodded his head, Jung Chul walked over to the one in charge of the mansion’s restoration. Then, Sung Joon went looking for Zelos.
“Are you planning on attacking the Empire today?”
Zelos was talking about the Awakening Dungeon. As soon as he mentioned the Empire, Sung Joon felt his thirst for vengeance rise up, yet he spoke with a calm expression.
“Yeah. I don’t know where the Awakening Dungeon will open up, but I’ll come back after destroying it all.”
Sung Joon would destroy all of the Empire’s forces, as well as their facilities.
“When is your appointment?”
“In four hours. I’m counting on you to look after this place while I’m gone.”
“Nothing will happen. Since there aren’t that many otherworlders active on Earth.”
Zelos had already become Sung Joon’s confidant. He had pledged his loyalty to Sung Joon because he had followed and trusted Roukel in the past, and Sung Joon was Roukel’s ‘disciple’.
Sung Joon observed the restoration, and went to the rank dungeon where his solo play was scheduled. rank dungeons were much too easy for him at this point. He hadn’t achieved a new record, but he was able to clear them instantly.
“I’ll open the Awakening Dungeon now,” Rishubalt said. As soon as Sung Joon nodded, Rishubalt raised his mana. Their surroundings melted away and the landscape changed.
There were thousands gathered and fighting in the open plain. Before he had even figured out what was going on, a giant fireball exploded at his side. He wasn’t close enough for him to be in any sort of danger, so he hadn’t dodged it.
“They’re the flags of the Imperial Army and the Kingdom Alliance’s army. It seems like we’ve landed in the middle of a battlefield,” Rishubalt said. Fireballs descended from the sky like rain, and he heard shouts from nearby.
“It seems like the Kingdom Alliance is losing,” Rishubalt said.
Sung Joon surveyed the battlefield once more. The Kingdom Alliance’s war flags were broken, and their army was gradually being pushed back.
The Imperial Army was on the offensive.
“I think I know what the Awakening Dungeon’s clear conditions are,” Sung Joon said. Perhaps this was the first step in informing the Empire, the Species Alliance, and the Kingdom Alliance of Roukel’s return.
“Charge!”
He heard the sound of horns, and dozens of cavalry charged to completely break through the Kingdom Alliance’s weakened formation. Sung Joon silently stood in front of them and blocked them.
“Sir!”
“It doesn’t matter! Push through!”
The cavalry pointed their lances at Sung Joon. Then, they closed the distance and had expected that their lances to pierce through Sung Joon…
“Gale Sword.”
Sung Joon calmly used his Gale Sword. Once he lunged and spoke the activation, sword winds were unleashed upon the cavalry.
“Ugh!”
“AH!”
The cavalry was defeated. There were knights at the vanguard as well, but they hadn’t been able to survive against the seventy sword winds, and helplessly fell.
“Holy…”
“The Cold Wind Cavalry has been defeated!”
The Kingdom Alliance forces cried out. Sung Joon had defeated the Cold Wind Cavalry, which were renowned as an elite force within the Empire. It was only after he’d slaughtered them did he realize who they were, as he looked at their war flags.
“The Kingdom Alliance’s morale is improving,” Rishubalt said.
“Well, the Cold Wind Cavalry is famous within the Empire,” Sung Joon replied, and raised a broken flag. It was one of the Kingdom Alliance’s flags.
“Counterattack!”
He hadn’t used magic, but by waving the flag and using mana to amplify his voice, that single, weighty word had lit a fire within the Kingdom Alliance’s forces.
“All forces, counterattack! We can’t just retreat like this!” A knight wearing plate armor raised his sword and yelled. Considering the fact that he was wearing a green cape, he was definitely a high rank knight under the Elite Knights. His words began to reinvigorate the Kingdom Alliance’s forces.
“Healing Spray.”
Aside from the mana he needed to do battle with, Sung Joon drew as much mana as he could to utilize ‘Healing Spray’ on the largest area of the battlefield as possible.
Sung Joon focused on the Kingdom Alliance’s rear, so that his Healing Spray wouldn’t affect the Empire’s forces.
The soldiers that had fallen from the initial magic bombardment got up unscathed.
With their renewed vigor, as well as being reinforced by their once fallen comrades, the Kingdom Alliance began their counterattack. The armies collided into one another and thus began the fierce battle.
“You should keep that flag raised,” Rishubalt said. Because Sung Joon was still holding the Kingdom Alliance’s flag, the Kingdom Alliance’s forces didn’t attack him. Since he was wearing the Empire’s Battle Priest Vestments, if he didn’t wave the flag, then they might think that he is part of the Empire.
“Overall, the Empire is at an advantage. You should find their military command first.”
Though the Kingdom Alliance had been reinvigorated, the Kingdom Alliance still had less forces than the Empire, and there weren’t even enough elites to make up for it.
He could tell based on their movements. With his ample experience, Sung Joon could see it.
As Rishubalt had said, they needed to strike at their military high command if they wanted to turn this battle around.
“I’m a messenger from high command! Thank you for your assistance!”
A mounted messenger rushed towards him and relayed high command’s thanks. Sung Joon just nodded his head and surveyed the battlefield.
He found where the Empire’s military command was. But because they had set up a perimeter around it, he would need to use up a lot of mana to break through.
“Messenger!”
Sung Joon called for the messenger before he departed.
“Please, go ahead!”
“Tell them that if they can take on the left and right flanks of the Imperial Army, then I can take care of their military command.”
“I’ll tell them immediately!”
The messenger turned the head of his horse to relay Sung Joon’s words to command. It was up to them to decide whether they could trust Sung Joon or not, as he had suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
Sung Joon kept the flag raised, and with his free hand, cut down the Empire’s forces with his sword. In the meantime, the messenger had arrived at command, and relayed Sung Joon’s intent to them.
“What should we do?”
“He doesn’t seem like an enemy, as he healed our rear soldiers and attacked the Imperial Army.”
“Perhaps this unknown barrier around the battlefield was made by him to box the Imperial Army in.”
“We don’t know how powerful that ‘priest’ is, but it is true that if we attack both the left and right flanks, then the it’ll provide him an opening to their military command. I feel like we should accept his offer. If we keep going like this, we’ll lose anyway.”
The discussion amongst the advisers ended. The Kingdom Alliance’s commander toiled over the information, but ultimately decided to trust Sung Joon.
“The Kingdom Alliance has started to move. It seems like they’re going to attack the Imperial Army’s left and right flanks,” Rishubalt said. The messenger hadn’t told him that, but just looking at their movements was enough to confirm it. In order to respond to this attack, the Imperial Army also changed its formation around.
The center opened up as they concentrated their forces on their left and right flanks, but because the Kingdom Alliance had almost no troops left, it was impossible for them to strike at the Empire’s military command.
The Imperial Army was well aware of that fact. However…
‘I am here.’
Sung Joon’s eyes gleamed. He raised his sword and spoke.
“Blink.”
Sung Joon didn’t even leave an afterimage as he used the short range Dimensional Leap magic. He was teleported inside of the perimeter of spearman.
“It’s the enemy!”
“Where did he come from?”
“It doesn’t matter! Take care of him!”
The knights, who were late to notice Sung Joon, pointed their swords at him. Sung Joon quickly scanned them. None of them were even a part of the Knight Brigade.
‘Then is there anyone strong in their military command…?’
He felt a strong mana reaction from their command. Sung Joon was sure that that individual was powerful. Although he thought about sending Rishubalt off to scout, he decided against it quickly and shook his head. He needed Rishubalt to focus to see if the Kingdom Alliance’s forces had backed off or not.
“Ha!”
Sung Joon let out a battle cry and quickly swung his sword. Once they had assumed their positions, the six knights attacked, but they helpless before Sung Joon’s swordsmanship.
“Knights, assemble! Stop him… Ugh!”
“Return.”
Sung Joon’s dagger burrowed into the commander’s neck, who had been relaying orders to the knights. He weakly fell and once Sung Joon uttered the activation words, the dagger returned to him. Sung Joon then turned towards command once more and used ‘Blink’.
He closed the distance once again. Now, their command was right in front of him. Their guards blocked his way. They unleashed ten sword winds in his direction.
‘Gale Sword!’
Unlike the Illusionary Sword, the Gale Sword wasn’t Roukel’s technique alone. However, he knew more about the Gale Sword than anyone, so he was able to protect himself against the ten sword winds.
“It seems like it wasn’t just because of ‘luck’ that you were able to get this far, seeing as how you were able to block the Gale Sword,” the knight said with a cool-headed expression and a cold voice. The knight revealed himself, and the once faint presence became clear to Sung Joon, so he must’ve been using stealth until just a little bit ago.
“It’s Sir Dante!”
“He’s rank 278 in the Knight Brigade!”
Their morale, which had hit rock bottom because of the deaths of the knights, was restored by the appearance of Dante.
Dante was carrying a curved sword unlike a normal long sword. It was a ‘scimitar’. His sword, as well his armor were clad in aura.
“We’ll help!”
They weren’t part of the Brigade, but three skillful-looking knights came running over. However, Dante raised his left hand and stopped them.
“You’ll get in my way.”
In a fight between the strong, one strike could determine the winner and the loser. Attacking together could become perilous for him.
“Good luck!”
The knights seem to understand as they took a few steps back.
“C’mon. I’ll strike you down in the name of the Knight Brigade,” Dante said. Seeing that, Rishubalt just shook his head.
//
Chapter 47 – On the Battlefield (2)
TL: Boko
Editors: Frost, StellarRain
Since it wasn’t worth saying anything, Sung Joon didn’t speak. Instead, he raised his sword and assumed a defensive posture.
“So you don’t even feel the need to speak to me? I understand. Then…” Dante said ambiguously. At the same time, he shot out towards Sung Joon like a bullet.
“As expected of Sir Dante!”
“He’s fast!”
Even the most skilled of the knights could only see Dante’s afterimage.
Everyone was sure that Dante would win as his high-speed movement was so fast that it was difficult to even track his afterimage.
However…
“Ugh!”
Dante let out an agonized cry. He immediately backed off without his left arm.
It had happened so instantaneously that even the skilled knights amongst the crowd didn’t know what had happened. Dante was as powerful as an S-rank Hunter, so he was no match for Sung Joon.
“W-Where the hell did a monster like this come from…!?”
Sung Joon swung his sword at Dante’s neck. Dante could see the sword coming, but he couldn’t do anything about it. It was much too fast for him to stop it.
“Ugh!”
He attempted to retreat, but Sung Joon’s sword cut deeply into his neck before he could.
The cut wasn’t deep enough to cut off his head, but it was a grievous wound. Dante's blood flowed backwards, and it sounded like phlegm was stuck in his throat.
“Heal!”
One of the nearby Healers attempted to ‘treat’ him. However, their Heal wasn’t at a high enough level to treat such severe wounds. The Healers stopped the bleeding a bit, but that was all. The wound remained pretty much the same. Eventually, Dante weakly fell to the ground.
“How can that be!?”
“Sir Dante (rank 278) was defeated this easily!?”
Sung Joon looted Dante’s Knight Brigade ring and bracelet while the Imperial Army were frozen in shock. He was in the middle of battle right now, so he would fuse them later, and raised his sword.
“The Imperial Army does not retreat!”
“For His Majesty!”
Despite them seeing the Brigade’s rank 278, Dante, fall before their very eyes, the Imperial Army overcame their fear and charged at Sung Joon. Retreating from the battlefield was a cardinal sin for the Imperial Army.
“There are about four of them that are around the rank level,” Rishubalt calmly explained. There were twenty knights charging at Sung Joon. Four of them were at the rank level, which was a pretty high rank for knights.
It seemed like they had stationed their best knights around command, but…
‘It doesn’t matter.’
Sung Joon raised his mana with an overwhelmingly confident expression.
“Tempest Sword.”
Once he uttered the activation words and swung his sword, two-hundred sword winds were unleashed with him at its center. That would be plenty to slaughter the incoming knights.
“Ugh!”
“AH!”
The sword winds ripped apart their armor, and the two left standing used aura armor to barely block it. By the time the bloody sword winds had begun to wane, the battlefield was filled with corpses.
“S-Shit!”
“We’ll need reinforcements.”
The two knights had survived due to their aura armor, but there was no one around them.
If they were defeated, then the guards defending command would be annihilated. Because they were being attacked from both the left and right flanks, it was impossible to hope for reinforcements.
Sung Joon gradually closed the distance, and saw the command behind their shoulders. They remained in place, due to their belief that they would never retreat, no matter the circumstances.
“Ugh!”
One of the knights attempted to attack Sung Joon first. Sung Joon moved even quicker and swung his sword, clashing aura with aura.
One of them was an aura blade while the other was aura armor.
“AH!”
Sung Joon’s aura was greater. The aura armor was futilely ripped apart, and Sung Joon’s sword went deep into the knight’s stomach.
“This is my chance!”
Before Sung Joon could pull out his sword, the other knight tried to attack him, but… Sung Joon drew his dagger and defended against the strike.
Shards of mana scattered as aura met aura. They exchanged a couple of strikes, but ultimately, Sung Joon aimed for the knight’s weak spot.
“Ugh!”
Sung Joon stabbed the top of the knight's foot. He had seized the opportunity and thrown his dagger. Because of the pain, the knight gave Sung Joon another opportunity.
Sung Joon drew his sword from the other knight’s corpse and swung it.
He cut deep into the knight’s chest, and the knight spewed blood and fell.
“Absorb.”
Sung Joon replenished his mana and stamina through absorption.
“Your synchronization rate has become 57%,” Rishubalt reported, and Sung Joon nodded his head. After that, Sung Joon used his high-speed movement to travel to the enemy's command. Since he’d killed their guard, there were only a handful of knights and commanders left.
“The Imperial Army does not retreat!” the man wearing a general uniform yelled loudly. If they truly were the Imperial Army, then they would never retreat.
The reason they could follow such a creed was because the Empire never fought battles they couldn’t win.
And even if they were losing, they would only fight if there were another squad nearby, which would reinforce them with overwhelming military strength, but because of the barrier enclosing the battlefield, the squadron couldn’t reinforce them.
“For the Emperor!”
The moment they drew their swords, Sung Joon moved. And the moment his feet hit the ground again, fourteen heads were rolling on the floor.
He had killed all of the commanders, aside from the general. Sung Joon hadn’t killed the general on purpose.
“What’s your name and affiliation?”
“I can’t tell you.”
The general didn’t reply. Sung Joon took a look at his medal, his cape, and his uniform and spoke once more.
“It looks like the general’s uniform for the Cold Wind Brigade… Is it the central front at the border?”
The Cold Wind Brigade was renowned for being stationed at the central front. Sung Joon was well aware of this, as he was once head of the Knight Brigade.
“The border? How foolish… We’re already past the central front. This is the Kingdom Alliance’s territory!”
He didn’t know exactly where they were, as they were situated on the plains, but the general was kind enough to explain the situation to him.
The general had told him in anger, but it seems like he realized what he had said and closed his mouth. It didn’t seem like he would give away anymore information.
“The fact that the Empire has pushed past the central front is huge. It seems like they should be wary of their eastern and western fronts as well,” Rishubalt said. If they advanced straight from the central front, they would reach the capital. Therefore, the Kingdom Alliance and the Empire had stationed the majority of their troops on the central front.
“Absorb.”
Sung Joon killed the general and uttered. However, he didn’t recover much mana or stamina.
“There’s no change in your synchronization rate,” Rishubalt reported. He had expected as much, so Sung Joon’s expression didn’t change.
“The battle’s not over yet,” Sung Joon said. The Imperial Army still hadn’t retreated yet, as they were guarding the front.
But by destroying their command, Sung Joon had crippled their command structure, and as a result, each squadron became weaker.
The loss of their chain of command caused each squadron to act independently. Because of that, the Kingdom Alliance had the advantage.
“What do you plan on doing now?”
“I’m going to help the Kingdom Alliance until the Imperial Army is completely annihilated,” Sung Joon replied. He was still holding the Kingdom Alliance’s flag. He forcefully waved the flag and continued to attack the Imperial Army.
Due to the loss of their command structure, each squadron’s commander couldn’t communicate with each other, and Sung Joon defeated each squad one by one.
Whenever he broke the Empire’s flag, which represented the squad, Sung Joon would wave the Kingdom Alliance’s flag.
“Yeah!”
The Kingdom Alliance cried out, while the Imperial Army’s morale hit rock bottom. But despite that, they didn’t retreat, which was quite impressive. Of course, there was nowhere for them to run because of the barrier.
The Cold Wind Brigade’s four-hundred infantry troops resisted until the very end. However, they were annihilated by the Kingdom Alliance’s enveloping attack.
“You have cleared the Awakening Dungeon. Would you like to return?”
“Do I have to go back right now?”
“You don’t, but I don’t think I can maintain it for very long,” Rishubalt replied, and Sung Joon nodded his head in satisfaction. If it were possible, Sung Joon would like to meet with the Kingdom Alliance’s commander and speak with him.
Sure enough, Sung Joon sat atop the pile of Cold Wind Brigade’s infantry soldiers, and the Kingdom Alliance’s commander approached him.
He was a handsome, middle-aged man wearing a general’s uniform for the central army. Overall, he looked rather gentle, and he was adorned with a metal on his chest that only those part of the Elite Knights could wear.
“Are you a high rank knight of the Elite Knights…?”
“Yes, you are correct. I’m part of the third central army corps right now.”
“Third central army corps?”
“Yes. I’m the commanding general, Sandor, of the third central army corps.”
Sandor didn’t explain his circumstances in detail, but with just a brief introduction, Sung Joon could roughly figure out what was going on with the Kingdom Alliance.
Originally, the first and second central army corps were in charge of protecting the central front. Considering the fact that the third central army corps were protecting it meant that the situation wasn’t good for them.
“There’s a chance that the fourth central army corps has intervened as well. Of course, even if you ask General Sandor, he won’t tell you,” Rishubalt said. He’d gained some trust because he’d led them to victory, but Rishubalt believed that he wouldn’t tell them about the Kingdom Alliance’s situation.
Sung Joon somewhat agreed, but it felt like he would at least tell him how the war was progressing.
“The Kingdom Alliance was able to win today because of your actions,” Sandor said politely.
“If it’s not too much trouble, could I have your name please?”
He could understand why Sandor was being so polite, to the point that it was excessive. While they had attacked the left and right flanks, Sung Joon had defeated all the guards and annihilated the enemy’s command by himself.
The rest of the commanders didn’t disagree with Sandor’s high assessment of Sung Joon’s strength.
“I can’t give you my name,” Sung Joon declined politely. Sandor took a step back, looking disappointed, and spoke.
“Is that so…?”
“Just know the name ‘Roukel’.”
“R-Roukel?”
Sung Joon’s reply shocked Sandor and the other commanders. It had been quite a long time since Roukel had died, but his name wasn’t something that could be said lightly.
“Is that the truth?” Sandor asked seriously. Sung Joon had a hostile relationship with the Species Alliance in his past life, but he didn’t really have any trouble with the Kingdom Alliance.
Sandor was also well aware that Roukel had never significantly harmed the Kingdom Alliance, so he didn’t draw his sword. If he were a part of the Imperial Army or the Species Alliance, then he would’ve drawn his sword without hesitation.
“At the very least, I’ve inherited ‘Roukel’s’ will.”
In a way, inheriting his will could be interpreted as learning Roukel’s swordsmanship. Sandor nodded his head and spoke.
“There are some things I’d like to ask you in order to attack the Empire and the Species Alliance. Is that alright with you?” Sung Joon asked hurriedly. Rishubalt was starting to look strained.
“Of course. As long as it is within my power to answer…”
//
Chapter 47 – On the Battlefield (3)
TL: Boko
Editors: Isleidir, StellarRain
Four representatives of the Species Alliance were gathered in a meeting room. These four representatives consisted of a Vampire, a Troll, an Orc, and an Ogre.
Surprisingly, all four were formally dressed. It was normal for Vampires, who considered themselves nobles, to wear formal attire, but it wasn’t normal for the Orcs, Trolls, or Ogres, who had a barbaric image, to wear them.
“I can’t get used to these clothes.”
The Orc representative, Helrod, had always thought that formal attire was cumbersome. It seemed as though he was uncomfortable, as he furrowed his brow, and fiddled with his clothes.
“But it’s the rule when we’re in the meeting room, so there’s no helping it,” the Troll representative, Kura, said. At his side, the Orc representative, Begu, nodded his head in agreement. The Vampire representative, Riverhein, who was looking out the window at his window seat, remained silent.
The sunlight shined brightly from the window seat, but he was an Archduke, and one of the Vampires that wasn’t affected by sunlight. Therefore, he just felt a little drowsy, as if he were sunbathing.
“We got a report stating that we’ve accumulated enough mana to open a warp gate large enough to send over several soldiers. Now all we have to do is organize the otherworld expeditionary force.”
“Wasn’t the Empire supposed to organize the first expeditionary force?” Helrod asked. The issue pertaining to the first expeditionary force was stated in the Empire and Species Alliance’s agreement.
“They have internal matters to deal with, and above all, they haven’t completely dealt with the Kingdom Alliance yet. They’ll join in once they do. It’s better for us anyway. Since we’ll be able to monopolize the loot if we’re there first,” Riverhein said. Then, Begu spoke.
“I heard that most of the otherworld’s army cannot use mana. Is that true?”
“It’s true, representative Begu. We’ve already verified this through our ‘dungeons’,” Riverhein replied, and the other representatives looked happy, sporting wicked smiles.
“If that’s the case, then we have an absolute advantage over them with our ‘magic skin’,” Helrod said. The ‘magic skin’ was a type of protective barrier that monsters possessed. Modern weapons were unable to pierce through it.
“The other representatives that couldn’t make it today also agreed on forming an expeditionary force. If you all give your approval, then we’ll all be in agreement and we can form the first expeditionary force.”
“What’s there to lose? I’m for it.”
“I as well.”
“The Ogres will stand at the vanguard as well.”
Everyone agreed. Riverhein, who had introduced the topic, obviously agreed as well.
“With this, everyone has agreed on the plan, so all that’s left is to actually form the expeditionary force.”
“Can you leave that to me? I’m good at plundering,” Helrod said. Once Rivenhein turned his attention to him, Helrod spoke with an excited expression.
“I plan on sending Chief Rash of the Red Axe.”
“The Red Axe will work as our vanguard. I’ll leave you to it.”
“What’s our objective?” Helrod asked.
“There are several countries, but the Empire has designated a specific country. The coordinates are already set, so all you need to do is assemble your forces in front of the warp gate.”
A few days later, the Red Axe Tribe gathered in front of the giant warp gate. It was like they had lit a flare that signaled the start of a huge battle.
* * *
As a reward for clearing the Awakening Dungeon, Sung Joon's synchronization rate rose to 58%. Sandor informed him about how the continental battle was going.
“I didn’t think the war was progressing so badly for them,” Rishubalt said. Sung Joon walked towards the exit of the dungeon. He raised his head, and his face was exposed by the Light Drone. It was a calm expression. Seeing that, Rishubalt spoke with as serious expression.
“My lord! The situation’s not good. If things continue as they are, it’s only a matter of time before the Kingdom Alliance collapses.”
The Kingdom Alliance had even sent out a general mobilization order, but it seemed like withstanding the combined might of the Empire and the Species Alliance was impossible.
According to Sandor, the Kingdom Alliance had less national power than the Empire, so the longer they fought against the Empire, the more they were pushed back. Ultimately, they had to retreat from the central front.
Since they had been forced to retreat from the most important front, it would only be a matter of time before they retreated from the east and west fronts as well.
“Impatience changes nothing,” Sung Joon judged cool-headedly. He would need to accelerate his plans, but he couldn’t show his impatience to his subordinate.
In his past life, Sung Joon always acted like this. Because of his actions, many people followed and trusted in him.
“Even so, I believe we should tell this to Sir Zelos.”
“Yeah, I plan on doing just that,” Sung Joon nodded his head and replied. Being impatient and hurrying were two different things.
The Empire had begun pushing past the central front, so Rishubalt was right, it was only a matter of time before the Kingdom Alliance fell. Zelos had been operating under the assumption that the Kingdom Alliance would eventually fall.
They continued to converse, and at some point, they saw the exit to the dungeon. Sung Joon got in his car and drove to the Dungeon Bureau, selling his magic stones. He had to a clear a dungeon first before he could enter the Awakening Dungeon, so these were magic stones he’d acquired from clearing the rank dungeon.
“We’ve finished depositing the payment into your bank account, Hunter!”
He heard So Eun’s bright voice and then left the Dungeon Bureau. Then, he went back to his mansion.
“Sung Joon! You’ve come back.”
Jang Hoon was in the garden, swinging his greatsword. It was a good sight. Because Hunters had surpassed the limits of humanity, the more they trained, the more powerful they became.
He briefly let go of his greatsword and rushed over to Sung Joon.
“Where is everyone?” Sung Joon asked.
“They went out with Mr. Park Jung Chul. Mr. Zelos is busy with some other business underground,” Jang Hoon answered.
“Alright. Keep up the good work.”
“Sung Joon! Have you eaten yet?”
“I’ll eat late. You eat first,” Sung Joon replied, and walked over to the basement where Zelos was. He didn’t feel like eating because of the issue with the Kingdom Alliance.
“This is quite complicated!”
As soon as he descended the stairs to the basement, he saw Zelos' workshop. Zelos was in the corner, inspecting a magic formula whilst muttering to himself tiredly. He soon felt Sung Joon’s presence and turned his head around.
“Sir Kang Sung Joon? You don’t look so good. What happened in the otherworld?”
“I feel like I need to sit down to talk about this.”
“Please, sit down.”
Sung Joon sat in front of Zelos. Where should he start? He organized his thoughts within three minutes, and Zelos calmly waited during that time. And then, Sung Joon spoke.
“The Awakening Dungeon opened up at a ‘battle’ this time.”
“Are you saying that a warp gate opened up in the middle of a battlefield?”
“Yeah. It was a battle between the Empire and the Kingdom Alliance,” Sung Joon said. He told him about how he had helped out the losing Kingdom Alliance forces, how he’d destroyed the enemy’s command, how he’d met with the general of the Kingdom Alliance’s third central army corps, and what the general had told him regarding the progress of the war.
“If they retreated from the central front and the third central army corps has intervened, then that means that the Kingdom Alliance isn’t in a good spot.”
Zelos had a similar opinion to Rishubalt. As soon as Sung Joon nodded his head, Zelos brought the water bottle beside him to his mouth.
“I’ll speed up the development of the warp gate.”
Zelos suddenly realized why Sung Joon had come all the way down to the basement.
“The theory is perfect. Now all we need to do is put it into practice.”
He didn’t explain in detail, but he had found a magic formula that they could use at the end of a cleared dungeon. The theory was completely finished, so Zelos believed it wouldn’t be long before they could make a warp gate.
“If there are any items that you need, just tell me. Don’t worry about how much it might cost.”
“As expected of you, Sir Kang Sung Joon.”
Zelos was slightly amazed by him.
“Then, keep up the good work.”
“I’ll make the warp gate as soon as possible.”
Sung Joon left Zelo’s basement and went to the study. And took out the ring and bracelet he’d pilfered off Dante. Even with the chaos of the battlefield, Sung Joon didn’t forget to loot the items.
“It’s definitely rank 278.”
The ring and the necklace had the number ‘278’ engraved onto them.
“I’ll combine them now.”
Sung Joon nodded. Once he placed the necklace and the ring that he was wearing on the table, Rishubalt drew his mana and fused Sung Joon’s ring and necklace with Dante’s.
– Verifying the existence of a new item.
The measuring tool reacted. Sung Joon utilized the appraisal feature.
B+ rank
Verifying the Aura Persistence effect.
rank
Verifying Mana Recovery effect.
The number on the ring and the necklace had increased, but the rank didn’t change at all. Once the two items were combined, Sung Joon re-equipped them.
He couldn’t check the aura persistence effect right this instant, but it felt like his mana recovery had increased a little.
“I think I should rest today.”
Sung Joon walked up to the second floor terrace. He hadn’t used up much mana, but there wasn’t anything he could do right now.
He had spent an entire week attacking dungeons and had even cleared the Awakening Dungeon, so he thought he could at least rest a little bit.
“Are you going to rest?”
“Yeah.”
The situation’s wasn’t very good, but if he overexerted himself it might have a negative effect rather than a positive one. Once he reached the terrace, he sat in a chair and looked up at the sky.
The sky darkened rather quickly, perhaps because it was winter. He rested whilst looking up at the night sky, but then he heard his phone ring. Sung Joon didn’t even check the screen, brought the phone to his ear and picked up.
“Mr. Kang Sung Joon? Can we please talk for a bit?”
It was Seol Ah.
“Alright.”
“There’s something I have to tell you regarding the guild registration. Could you please spare a bit of your time?”
“Of course,” Sung Joon replied willingly. If Seol Ah hadn’t called, then he would’ve just vacantly watched the night sky. And the guild registration was indeed a serious matter.
“Where would you like to meet?” Seol Ah asked.
“Please come over here.”
“Is that alright?”
“Yes. I’ll be waiting.”
He waited for about an hour before the main gate opened and Seol Ah’s car entered the estate. Sung Joon watched the car from the terrace and then went down to the first floor.
“It’s been a long time. It seems like you have been really busy lately,” Seol Ah said, and Sung Joon nodded his head. During a dungeon assault, phones or any sort of communication devices wouldn’t work due to mana.
“I heard there was a problem with the guild registration. Please, come in.”
Sung Joon led her into the living room. The housekeepers prepared two cups of coffees and laid it in front of them. Seol Ah smiled and spoke.
“I was contacted by the Hunter Bureau this afternoon.”
“The Hunter Bureau?”
“Yes. I believe it’s because I’m in charge of the registration.”
“What did they say?”
“They said that the guild registration would be finished before Christmas.”
“Christmas, huh…”
Sung Joon narrowed his eyes and spoke ambiguously. Now that he thought about it, Christmas was coming up.
He thought he should prepare a present for his team members as thanks for their support of the guild.
“So I was thinking… Would you like to spend Christmas toget…”
Before Seol Ah could finish speaking, Sung Joon felt a powerful mana reaction and rushed out to the terrace.
“There’s a mana reaction in the air!”
“Transform!”
Sung Joon immediately changed Roel from its ring form to its sword form, and raised his head. And he was shocked.
“Holy shit…”
A huge warp gate had opened in the sky. It signaled the start of a large-scale raid.
//
Chapter 48 – Raid Hell (1)
TL: Boko
Editors: Isleidir, StellarRain
A formation of large flying ships appeared out of the giant warp gate in the sky. The ships looked quite rough around the edges, but they were definitely flying.
It seemed as though the warp gate had opened in other locations besides the sky, as Sung Joon felt mana reactions everywhere.
“Holy shit…”
Seol Ah, who had followed him out, was shocked once she saw the formation of flying ships. Eventually, Sung Joon heard his phone ring and hurriedly brought the phone to his ear.
“There’s an SS-rank raid around your house, Mr. Kang Sung Joon! We’ll send you the coordinates soon! Please get ready and stop the wave!”
Sung Joon could hear their urgency through his phone.
“What is its range?”
Considering the fact that he felt mana reactions from both the sky and the ground, he could tell that the scope of the warp gate was quite extensive. But he asked so that he could obtain accurate information.
“It’s all of Seoul.”
“I understand.”
As soon as Sung Joon answered, the connection was cut.
“Ms. Yoon Seol Ah. Please stay here. It’ll be safe here.”
His mansion was safe. There were several guards (who were Hunters) here, and above all, there were four skilled rank Hunters here.
Sung Joon didn’t even wait for Seol Ah’s response and jumped off the terrace’s railing. The height of the terrace wouldn’t pose a problem for an SS-rank Hunter.
“Sung Joon!”
Jung Hoon, who was in the garden, came rushing over to Sung Joon.
“Listen to what I say carefully. You and the other teammates protect the mansion. Ignore the coordinates for the assembly area. Don’t worry about the Bureau, I’ll talk to them.”
“I understand.”
Jang Hoon didn’t object to Sung Joon’s order for him to ignore the coordinates for the raid assembly area. It was quite clear how much Jang Hoon trusted Sung Joon.
Sung Joon got into his Hunter sedan and left through the front gate. At that moment, he received a message on his phone.
He came to a brief stop and checked his phone. The message detailed where the assembly point was.
Sung Joon grabbed the steering wheel again and drove. The assembly point wasn’t very far, but it wasn’t exactly close either.
He arrived after about twenty minutes of driving. There were at least fifty Hunters gathered in the assembly area. Considering the mana that he felt, he could tell how large the warp gate was.
“It’s the SS-rank Hunter, Mr. Kang Sung Joon!”
“It really is! We’ll be ok now!”
The Hunters who noticed Sung Joon disembarking from his car cheered. They were extremely uneasy, as this raid was judged SS-rank.
But because South Korea’s first and only SS-rank Hunter had appeared, it was obvious that morale would improve.
However, Sung Joon thought differently.
‘There has to be a reason why the assembly area was chosen here…’
Deciding where the assembly area will be depends on the ‘size’ of the warp gate. Considering the fact that he felt the mana of the warp gate not far from here, the wave would be hell.
‘Am I the last one…?’
There weren’t any more Hunters that joined them. Once a man, who looked to be a Dungeon Bureau worker, discovered Sung Joon, he rushed over to him.
He had a badge that said ‘Investigator’.
“Mr. Kang Sung Joon! I came from the Dungeon Bureau’s raid situation room!”
The Investigator introduced himself while running over. He checked his watch and then spoke.
“In five minutes, the warp gate will completely open. The Bureau has put you in charge of this ‘battlefield’.”
If fifty or more Hunters gather in a single area during a raid, the most skilled Hunter would be placed in charge. If they succeeded in stopping the wave, then the leader would gain another 10% of rewards.
They would pick a Hunter for that role even if there were less than fifty Hunters, but because it wasn’t a formal appointment, the leader wouldn’t receive additional rewards.
It was common sense for the other Hunters to follow the leader during the raid, but because the Hunters hadn’t been trained in strategy or tactics, it was best to not give them any complex orders.
“We’ve issued a warning to all of Seoul regarding the raid. Please take care of the defense.”
“I understand.”
Sung Joon nodded his head. The Investigator used his radio to talk with someone else. Contrary to dungeons, raids occurred in the outside world, so they could use communication equipment. However, because phones were heavily affected by the mana interference, they couldn’t be used.
“Are you done with organizing the Hunters into groups?”
“Yes.”
Once the Hunters were organized into groups, these groups would be messaged to the raid situation room where they would take care of the rest.
“And we got a message from the Surveillance Team just a little while ago. Apparently, the warp gate has opened.”
“I assume the first wave will come now,” Sung Joon said. The Investigator nodded his head and spoke.
“That’s correct. Good luck.”
The Investigator went with the army to a safe location. Sung Joon sensed a large quantity of monsters approaching from afar.
“They’re coming!”
Eventually, one of the rank Mage Hunters sensed the enemies approach and warned the rest. The Hunters all drew their weapons.
“Do we have a Captain here?”
Sung Joon found the Captain at the defense line, and the Captain rushed over to him.
“You were looking for me?”
The Captain was in a location that allowed him to easily get help from the soldiers maintaining the defense line.
“We won’t need any artillery support.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Sung Joon didn’t want their help. The Captain acquiesced, as Sung Joon reasoned that their artillery support would create dust which would obscure their vision.
“The wave is coming!” someone yelled. Hundreds of monsters followed the main road and rushed over. The vanguard consisted of rank Iron Golems, which were considered mid to high tier.
They covered their bodies with their thick iron shields and rushed over to the Hunters’ defensive formation.
As Sung Joon had asked, the army didn’t provide any artillery support.
“Buff!”
“Bless!”
As soon as Sung Joon yelled, the Supporter Hunter drew his mana. Those affected by the buff could feel their physical abilities increase.
‘Do we have an rank Supporter?’
He could definitely feel the effects of the buff. At worst, they were an rank Supporter Hunter. The worth of an rank Supporter Hunter rose rapidly depending on how many people were in their area and their skill. And right here, there were fifty hunters present, which was not a small number.
“Magic attack!”
The Mage Hunters began casting their magic. There weren’t that many of them, but the magic was powerful indeed.
Blades of wind and spears of ice pierced through the air, aiming for the monsters. The Iron Golems, with speed unbefitting of their large physiques, quickly raised their iron shields and blocked the magicians’ offensive.
“Inferno.”
An rank Hunter had completed their high-rank spell. Flames descended from the sky while lava burst from the floor. The vanguard of Iron Golems, as well as the Orcs behind them were swept up in the Inferno.
“Is it over?” someone asked. How foolish. As if proving just how foolish he was, dozens of Orc Mages combined their strength, creating an icy wind that neutralized the flames.
The ‘Inferno’ managed to destroy the eight Iron Golems that served as the vanguard, but there were too many Orcs left for them to be careless.
“There are two Orc Blademasters. And there’s also one Orc High Priest, as well as six Orc Warlords,” Rishubalt reported. Sung Joon looked at the Hunters spread out on the main street and spoke.
“Are there any rank Combat Hunters?”
“That’s me.”
“I’m an rank Combat Hunter.”
“Me too…”
A total of three hands went up.
‘We have another Mage and a Supporter, so there are five of them…?’
To be honest, in the current situation, the Mage and Supporter were unnecessary. The rank Mage would need to stop the S-rank Orc High Priest, and it would be difficult for a Supporter Hunter to fight against monsters of the same rank.
Because they didn’t have enough people, he had no choice but to send the three rank Combat Hunters to fight against the six Orc Warlords.
“Would you be able to take on six Orc Warlords?”
“I think we could take on five of them, but… Six is probably impossible for us.”
“Six is definitely impossible.”
One of them swallowed down their complaint while the other two replied in his stead.
Sung Joon turned his head and looked over the group of monsters. They had gotten a lot closer. The battle would begin soon.
“Please last for about thirty seconds. I’ll help you after I’ve killed the two Orc Blademasters and the Orc High Priest.”
Sung Joon spoke in an overwhelmingly confident voice. Seeing that, the three rank Combat Hunters stopped what they were going to say.
‘There are so many monsters, but he’s going to take down three S-rank monsters in thirty seconds?’
Their first thought was that it was impossible, but when they remembered Sung Joon’s Hunter rank, the rank Hunter had no choice but to shake his head.
‘He’s South Korea’s first and only SS-rank… He might be able to do it…’
The rank Hunter was intensely anxious. While Sung Joon spoke with them, the group of monsters had advanced quite far and come close.
When the Iron Golems fell, the Orc Blademasters took up the position of vanguard. These two Orc Bladmasters used their high-speed movement towards Sung Joon.
The rank Hunters around Sung Joon could barely see their afterimages, but Sung Joon saw them all too clearly.
“Ha!”
There was no need for him to use one of his sword techniques. Sung Joon, who was buffed by an rank Supporter, used high-speed movement.
His body quickly passed by an Orc Blademaster. It was too fast for it to be an attack and they hadn’t sensed a presence go by, so they thought he had just passed by, but… At that moment…
“Ugh!”
The Orc Blademaster cried out and was split in half, spurting red blood everywhere.
“H-How can a human…!”
The sole remaining Orc Blademaster was shocked at his ally being cut in half in a single strike. Fear spread in his body.
He thought about ordering his subordinates to attack, but he was well aware that they would be no match for his opponent’s overwhelming strength.
The Orc Blademaster cried out and used his high-speed movement. He disappeared and reappeared right behind Sung Joon.
But he had already lost his head.
“That’s impossible!”
“I couldn’t even see it…!”
The soldiers, who were preparing to assist them, couldn’t even see Sung Joon move, but they definitely saw the two Orc Blademasters spilling blood and falling to the floor.
“To be exact, it took you nineteen seconds,” Rishubalt reported. Sung Joon went over to help the rank Hunters fighting against the Orc Warlords. One of the rank Hunters had lost an arm and was quickly retreating. One of the Orc Warlords swung its spear at him and closed the distance.
“Heal!”
Sung Joon gathered his mana and used his ‘Heal’. The radiant white light ‘regenerated’ the rank Hunter’s left arm.
As soon as he saw his arm regenerate, the rank Hunter swung his sword and gave the Orc Warlord a grievous injury. While doing so, Sung Joon had already killed the rest of the Orc Warlords and had even killed the High Priest as well.
It seemed like the first wave was over.
“Sensing several mana reactions. More enemies are approaching.”
Rishubalt brought more bad news.
//
Chapter 48 – Raid Hell (2)
TL: Boko
Editor: StellarRain
Sung Joon looked towards the direction he felt the mana. His enemies still weren’t close enough for him to see them with the naked eye.
“It seems a bit too fast for it to be the second wave…”
Monsters wouldn’t be summoned from the same warp gate once the wave ended. This was done so that the warp gate’s power source, the crystal, wouldn’t be drained of energy too quickly.
“It’s not the second wave. They were already advancing while you were fighting, my lord. It seems like the defense line in a different area has already collapsed.”
While Sung Joon was fighting, Rishbult had kept a close eye on the movement of the surrounding mana reactions.
“Hunter Kang Sung Joon! Our eastern defense line has been completely destroyed!”
During the lull in the battle, the Dungeon Bureau Investigator rushed over and reported.
“Then are you saying that we have to take on two waves?” Sung Joon asked, speechless. It wouldn’t be easy to block two waves from two different warp gates during an SS-rank raid.
“Right now, the battlefield has spread all across the eastern side, or Gangdong District, so it’s impossible for the Hunters there to stop it.”
“Are there no reinforcements available? It’ll be a bit difficult then…”
Sung Joon lightly bit on his lip. He wasn’t feeling anxious, but the situation wasn’t good.
“Hunter Na Joon Yeol’s and Baek Ha Yeon’s forces have departed from the Gwangjin District. Once they come down, we plan on striking the warp gate north of our current location.”
“So all we have to do is last until they get here.”
“Forces quickly assembled from both Anyang and Gwacheon are on military helicopters on their way over here right now. Hunter Kang Sung Joon! Please, I’m counting on you! If we lose here, then the battlefield will spread too much! You’re our only hope!”
The Investigator spoke as though he were begging him. He wasn’t exaggerating. The situation was grave.
“You have nothing to worry about.”
It was a hopeless situation. They needed to block the monsters that poured out of two warp gates until Na Joon Yeol and Baek Ha Yeon arrived. However, Sung Joon calmly set the Investigator at ease.
It wasn’t unfounded confidence. He was South Korea’s first and only SS-rank Hunter.
“We’ve called all the Hunters nearby. I don’t think you’ll receive any reinforcements until Hunters Na Joon Yeol and Baek Ha Yeon arrive.”
The Investigator continuously relayed bad news, but Sung Joon remained relaxed.
“Did you forget?”
“I’m sorry?”
The Investigator tried and failed to figure out what Sung Joon was talking about. Seeing that, Sung Joon smiled and spoke.
“I’m a Healer Hunter. We can last for a long time, even if we don’t get any reinforcements.”
In a long fight, one needed to be most concerned about their comrades’ deaths, and the resulting loss of personnel. However, Sung Joon was an SS-rank Hunter.
As long as his allies avoided ‘instantaneous death’, he could save them.
“My lord. The wave has gotten close,” Rishubalt reported. Sung Joon turned his gaze. The wave was close enough now that he could see them. He could see a flying ship in the sky carrying a ton of Orcs.
‘So it’s the Species Alliance.’
Normal monsters couldn’t manufacture flying ships. But they could use the Orc Tribes, which were part of the Species Alliance, to create flying ships.
“It’s definitely the Red Axe Tribe. It’s an SS-rank raid, so it’s possible that the tribal chief, Lash, came personally.”
“I’ll be able to pay them back a bit for the Ridonia Great Plains.”
Sung Joon distanced himself from the Investigator and replied in an extremely soft voice.
Rash was one of the Orcs that Sung Joon, or Roukel, had fought against in the Ridonia Great Plains. Rash had lost against Roukel, and the elites of the Red Axe Tribe had sustained severe damage and retreated. But ultimately, Roukel was killed and Sung Joon believed that Rash had played a part in his death.
“I look forward to it,” Roukel said, and Sung Joon nodded his head.
“What should we do about that thing flying in the sky? It’s getting closer and closer…” the rank Mage Hunter asked. He was talking about the flying ship. Sung Joon cool-headedly organized his thoughts and made a decision.
“Mage Hunters, could you please attack the flying ship? We’ll take care of the monsters on the ground.”
“Is that really ok?”
“You have to shoot them down no matter what.”
Because Sung Joon possessed his past memories as Roukel, he knew all about The Species Alliances' descent tactics. These soldiers would be trained to, regardless of their species, descend to the ground at a low altitude, and attack. They would coordinate with their ground forces to establish a landing ground.
The group of monsters on the ground had caused chaos, but if their air forces were to descend upon them, then it would become even worse. They had to stop that at all costs.
“I understand. I’ll do my best,” the rank Mage Hunter replied. He didn’t look very confident, but at the very least, he would do his very best.
Kwang! Kwang!
The flying ship struck by the offensive spell began to catch aflame. During this time, the group of monsters had come so close that they could attack and be attacked with long-range attacks.
“Attack!”
The Orc Blademaster ordered fluently in their language. The Orcs aimed their bows at the Hunters and simultaneously let loose. Dozens of arrows flew through the air towards the Hunters.
“I-I need to cast a defensive spell…”
“Focus on the flying ship!”
Sung Joon stopped the Mage Hunter from using a defensive spell. Instead, he used his high-speed movement and got to the very front of their formation.
“Gale Sword.”
He advanced slightly and the sword winds were unleashed in front of him. Then, the arrows were cut into pieces and fell to the floor.
“Bombard them with spells! Combat squad, back them up!”
The Orc Blademaster continued to order his troops and the Orc Mages cast their offensive spells. The ground split and shook while flames poured down from the sky.
Sung Joon attempted to protect them with his Spell-Breaking Sword, but it was impossible for him to cut through all of the spells.
“Ugh!”
“AH!”
A few of the unskilled Hunters were unable to avoid the spells and fell to the floor. Two of them were grievously injured, as they had lost their arms. Sung Joon stretched his hand towards the cries of pain and spoke.
“Healing Spray.”
The snowy white spheres healed the injured. Once Sung Joon confirmed that the two seriously injured were healed, he withdrew his left hand.
However, as soon as he stopped his Healing Spray, he heard cries in all directions.
“Ugh!”
“AH!”
As the battle continued, one or two more Hunters fell. Sung Joon’s eyes moved busily.
“Heal! Healing Spray!”
Sung Joon cast ‘Heal’ and ‘Healing Spray’ restlessly. An SS-rank Healer Hunter’s ‘Heal’ was so effective that it could enable someone who was severely injured to immediately get up. As soon as they were healed, they fought against the monsters once more.
“They have a Priest.”
“We have to kill the Priest first.”
As the commanders of the group, the Blademasters realized that Sung Joon was a threat. Not only did he heal the injured with his ‘Heal’, but he had also killed the Blade Warlords that had approached him.
“We have to take him down first!”
“We all attack together!”
The Orc Blademaster exchanged opinions through the otherworld language. Eventually, they surrounded Sung Joon.
They thought he hadn’t noticed them, as he was so busy using his Heal and overseeing the battlefield, but in actuality, Sung Joon had seen everything the Orc Blademasters were doing. It wasn’t very difficult, as he had his trustworthy aide, Rishubalt by his side.
“There are four Orc Blademasters. There are two Orc Warlords as well.”
Rishubalt had hidden amongst the Orcs and figured out what they were planning to do. Sung Joon nodded his head and pushed deep into enemy lines.
“Now!” one of the Orc Blademasters ordered. They saw Sung Joon advancing into their ranks as an opportunity. However, that was Sung Joon’s plan all along.
“Tempest Sword.”
It was most apt to say that his enemies were swept away. The Orcs were unable to deal with the tempest-like sword winds and were covered in blood.
The two Orc Warlords were killed and two of the Orc Blademasters were grievously wounded.
“Human! You dare!?”
One of the Orc Blademasters charged at him with a sword clad in aura. Sung Joon glared at him, and the moment that his eyes gleamed sharply…
Crunch.
“Ugh!”
The Orc Blademaster’s right arm was severed. The other Orc Blademaster, who had belatedly used his high-speed movement, had a dagger stuck in its neck.
“As expected of you, my lord. It was perfect.”
Rishubalt was in awe. The battle would be over soon. It hadn’t even been five minutes before they had blocked the eastern wave.
“Absorb.”
Sung Joon used his ‘Absorption’ to replenish his mana and stamina. If he didn’t have this technique, which he’d created in his past life, then he would not have been able to fight such a long battle. All of the techniques from his past life had a high level of mana consumption.
Kwang!
He could hear explosions in the air as well. The Mage Hunters had succeeded in destroying the Red Axe Tribe’s flying ship.
Once the battle was finished, the monsters’ corpses disappeared, leaving behind magic stones. They weren’t allowed to loot during a raid. The Bureau workers would collect them later.
“They’re coming again,” Rishubalt said.
While the Hunters were regaining their breath… Rishubalt reported that the group of monsters were approaching. They had blocked the eastern wave, but the second wave was pouring out of the northern warp gate.
The second wave.
The third wave.
They even defended against the fourth wave as well. Considering the fact that they were blocking off the waves of two warp gates, they had actually succeeded in blocking eight waves total. However, that wasn’t the end.
There was another wave coming.
“Damn it… Shit!”
The Hunters seemed to have sensed the mana reaction as well, as they cursed. Because of Sung Joon’s ‘Heal’, their wounds were healed, but he couldn’t heal their stamina.
They were already approaching their limit. Sung Joon had continuously used his ‘Absorption’, but he had a lot less mana and stamina when compared to the beginning of the fight.
But they were somehow able to stop the fifth wave.
“Casualties?” Sung Joon saw the Investigator and asked. During the short period of time between waves where they could rest, Sung Joon asked the Investigator for a report on any casualties, and the Investigator raised his head.
“Not one Hunter has died thus far. You’re truly amazing!”
The Investigator was truly awed by Sung Joon, but Sung Joon wasn’t happy at all. Sung Joon was really pissed that he could do nothing but defend.
If he could, he would have attacked the warp gate by himself, but if he did the Hunters remaining at the defense line would likely die.
They were exhausted. If he didn’t get any reinforcements, then the Hunters would be killed in an instant.
“Investigator!”
“Y-Yes, did you call for me?”
“When are Na Joon Yeol’s forces going to arrive at the warp gate? Why hasn’t there been any news?”
Sung Joon’s voice was tinged with frustration. He didn't have any time due to the waves, so he asked all the questions he had been thinking about. The Investigator sweated profusely and spoke.
“To be honest, we received a report that they discovered another warp gate thirty minutes ago… But ever since, we haven’t gotten any word.”
“Shit!” Sung Joon cursed. However, he soon calmed himself down.
“When are the reinforcements coming?”
He had only asked because the forces from Gwacheon should be arriving about now. The Investigator raised his radio, and after communicating with someone, he looked at Sung Joon and spoke.
“It seems like they’ll be here soon.”
Sung Joon turned his gaze towards Rishubalt. He didn’t say anything, but Rishubalt knew what his lord wanted to ask him.
“The next wave hasn’t started yet. But considering the distance, it seems like it will come within twenty minutes,” Rishubalt responded. Sung Joon looked at the Investigator and spoke.
“What’s the exact time they’ll arrive?”
“They’ll arrive within ten minutes.”
As soon as the Investigator was finished, Sung Joon turned north.
“Hunter Kang Sung Joon?”
The Investigator urgently called Sung Joon. Sung Joon suddenly stopped walking, turned his head towards the Investigator, and stared at him.
“The north warp gate… I’ll come back after I destroy it.”
//