Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Emperor's Proclamation
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Boom, rumble, crash!
The Landworm began burrowing toward the surface. Normally, it would have gone straight up, but this time it tunneled diagonally to avoid any hassle.
"Ah, almost forgot."
Ignoring the wave of dirt and debris crashing toward me, I opened my inventory. In this situation, gripped by the overwhelming earth attribute power, not a single speck of dust could reach me anyway.
'Goddess's Blessing... nah. No legendary monsters around, so no need to ramp it up to stage three.'
Thanks to the Jade Dragon (30 days) from the cash shop, my Goddess's Blessing was fixed at stage two. Instead of stacking more blessings, I swapped my gear.
"Man, every time I put on this outfit, I question my life choices."
I've said it before, but...
The Luck Set was my carefully curated selection.
Variety show-tier luck items all perform similarly anyway, so I picked purely based on looks.
The Sprouting Sprout Set that turns humans into seedlings.
The Sexy Santa Set that covers less than it reveals.
Unlike the Heart-Pounding Nyan-Nyan Set, which is basically just a flipped animal hood.
At least these won't make anyone snort in laughter on sight.
Still...
'Weird as hell.'
[Lucky Golden Crown +9 (Legendary).]
It's got a slick design, but way too flashy for combat. The all-gold helmet and the massive diamond in the center reflecting light in thousands of rays—it's blinding just to look at.
[Lucky Angel Wing Suit +9 (Legendary).]
At a glance, it looks like a normal suit—no issues there.
But check the name.
'Wing suit, my ass. That's gliding gear, not this.'
Of course, it's not the real thing. Why else would it have "Angel" upfront?
Wear this suit, and cute little angel wings sprout from your back. The horrifying part? They glow too.
'At least the pants are fine. Probably because they match the top.'
[Lucky Radiant Light Shoes +9 (Legendary).]
[Lucky Radiant Light Gloves +9 (Legendary).]
Shoes and gloves are design-wise unproblematic. Just plain white dress shoes and white gloves.
Except...
'They shine too damn much...'
As the name implies, they glow by default, and +9 enhancement cranked that up even more.
But the real kicker is the weapon.
[Lucky Rabbit's Foot Hammer +9 (Legendary).]
This cute-yet-sinister(?) thing is the pinnacle of grotesquery. The faint glow spreading from it just pisses me off more.
"Sigh, even after all that picking and choosing..."
But no way am I ditching luck gear for this. The drop rate difference with and without it is like clear skies versus a downpour.
Whoosh—
As I wallowed in regret, the area suddenly brightened. The Landworm had breached the surface.
Chaos erupted above.
"Enemy...!"
"Large-scale enemy!"
"Alert!"
"Exterminate!"
Elves tending the surrounding trees swarmed in.
Divided into jobs like Divine Tree Elf Swordsman (Advanced), Divine Tree Elf Archer (Advanced), and so on.
Ting, ting!
A hail of arrows bounced harmlessly off the Landworm's hide.
"Wow, no fear at all. Firing arrows at something that size?"
Unlike fanatic zealots overcoming terror through divine madness.
These guys seemed to lack the very emotion of fear—no hint of agitation. More like combat androids than living beings.
And above all... their skin was black.
'Dark Elves? Wasn't in the lore.'
Looks like the World Tree had found some way to reinforce them, just like the orcs and Edward.
[No, these bastards.]
Crunch, crackle!
In an instant—so fleeting even I barely registered it—a massive wave surged across the ground.
The elves firing arrows at the Landworm were wiped out en masse.
"Gah! What the hell are you doing!? You're screwing up my item drops!"
Obviously, my luck stat doesn't boost pet attacks. Though it might be possible for a player's stats to crit on a once-a-day pet skill.
[What, just stand there and take it?]
"Not even itchy and you're whining. Keep it up, and no dinner."
[Bullshit. Look at 'em. You think they're dropping metal gear?]
That shut me up. Spot on.
"Fine, you know too much, you little shit..."
As it said, the elves' drop tables had almost no metal. Mostly cloth or wooden bows. Some had metal weapons, but daggers mostly.
[KILL THEM BEFORE I MOVE.]
Twisted logic, but unavoidable. I hadn't fed it lately relative to the work it'd done.
"Ugh, you're pulling your weight these days, so I'll let it slide."
I kicked off its head and leaped down. Elves finally spotting me charged in.
No contest.
[Critical Hit!] [Critical Hit!] [Critical Hit!] [Critical Hit!] [Critical Hit!]
Swinging the rabbit's foot hammer like a rod, I pulverized every head it grazed. They couldn't block or dodge the terrifying power and speed.
"...What?"
But the tactile feedback felt off.
"Human enemy! Die—gurk!"
I grabbed a charging Divine Tree Elf Assassin (Advanced) by the throat. The skin felt rigid.
"No, what is this... Not a Dryad, so why's the skin wood?"
Ever since the Ice Queen, I'd been thorough with info gathering even on sure wins.
But fan sites had no such monster details.
Crunch!
I ripped out its windpipe; it spewed sap and died. I examined the wood.
'Ebony.'
That explained the dark skin—ebony wood.
'The World Tree reinforced its elite troops in its own way.'
Ebony's incredibly dense and hard, processing it like stone carving. Classified as ironwood for being "as tough as metal," it even sinks in water.
'With skin like that, arrows wouldn't penetrate, and it'd resist blades like crazy.'
Of course...
Irrelevant to me.
[Critical Hit!] [Critical Hit!] [Critical Hit!] [Critical Hit!] [Critical Hit!]
The World Tree had bulked up its forces like Edward did, but it couldn't escape the slaughter.
I'm a regulations-breaking existence, trillions cash-spent.
This level of upgrade won't close the gap.
"Raaah!"
Mid-elf massacre, a new group appeared. Elves again, but different.
"Not monsters."
Simple tell: monsters have titles and ranks floating over their heads.
The normal-looking elf warriors following were fodder for [Executions].
"Ah, so this place had an item farm too."
Too easy a gimmick; bosses with total minion control get max mileage.
'No need to bother with them.'
Stack maxed on Hundred Kills & Heaven-Earth Severing Sword confirmed, I ignored the berserk charging ones and headed into the dungeon.
[World Tree's Garden (Advanced ~ Heroic)].
Into the dense forest, projectiles rained down.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
I blocked or deflected easily. Glancing back, pursuers swarmed.
Otherworldly Elf Gunner (Rare)
Levetia
"Ah, this one's it."
High chance for bullets, ultra-rare for machine guns. Probably how Hellain reverse-engineered those rifles.
"Enemy sighted! Weave a barrage!"
"Scatter!"
Unlike prior elves, these showed intelligence.
But I had no plans for a prolonged fight.
Boom!
Even footwork couldn't muffle the gunshot roar as I launched forward.
Then the unavoidable cataclysm.
[Heavenly Sword - Hundred Kills] & [Heaven-Earth Severing Sword]
Land Breaker.
Splat!
Levetia's head exploded on rabbit's foot impact, shaking the entire forest. Every clustered elf, even the boss, perished.
No fire point, just impact.
No survivors.
[Inventory weight exceeds 75%!]
[Inventory weight over 75%: movement speed reduced!]
[Inventory weight exceeds 100%!]
[Inventory weight over 100%: movement extremely slowed, HP, stamina, mana slowly drain!]
Out of the dungeon now, eyeing the item deluge.
[World Tree's Garden (Advanced ~ Heroic) Hell difficulty cleared!]
[Guilds meeting conditions first can declare siege!]
[Shoddy Saturn (Normal) appears!]
"It's light! Light!"
"Careful! Enemies ahead!"
"Shields forward!"
Then, from the distant hole, Ain emerged. Tense as they surfaced.
But they saw only corpses everywhere and endless item rain.
Flutter.
Pulled out the large parasol (Advanced), slotted as blunt weapon.
Rat-a-tat! Thunk! Clang!
Items bounced off, scattering.
"Wh-what... what the...?"
"My god..."
"Wait, why's gear falling from the sky?"
"Gasp! Bullets! Bullets everywhere! So hard to get, and now this!?"
Rain-soaked, I watched Ain pouring endlessly from the Landworm's tunnel.
'All coming out?'
Energized and rested, sure, but this looked reckless. What if mobs were waiting?
"Hellain."
"Eek! Ah! Yes! We're ready to fight! Even if casualties pile up...!"
Rain stopped; I folded the large parasol (Advanced), stowed it, and said,
"Come sort the gear by type."
"Huh?"
Hellain, rifle-ready and resolute, went blank. Ignoring her, I turned and kicked off toward the newly revealed castle.
The rest was straightforward.
Marched straight, boot-kicked the gate to bits.
Rabbit's foot hammer swung, massacring gate guardians.
Finale: Hundred Kills & Heaven-Earth Severing Sword combo.
[Congratulations! One guild has occupied World Tree's Garden!]
[New lord: Han Jaeyeon.]
Done with all, back to the Ain.
Elves, dwarves, beastkin.
Underground 100k plus surface captives: easily 150k staring silently.
Step. Step.
I crossed through them to the center.
Deathly silence.
Ain too awed to speak, just gazing.
Makes sense.
If sharing wild boar legs was godlike miracle to them,
This was demonic might.
Power to kill 10k+ in one blow.
For Ardania folk, not 34th Earth, the shock was immense.
Boom!
Landworm erupted beneath, rearing dozens of meters.
"Eek...!"
"Ugh!"
"That massive thing moves so fast...!"
Amid screams, I sat. 150k fills a stadium, but atop Landworm's head, I overlooked them all.
Dusk deepening, but my body's faint glow lit it.
Glow...
'Ah, shit.'
Froze. Realized amid their dazed stares.
'The outfit...'
Should've changed post-fight; not uncomfortable, just slipped my mind.
But can't swap clothes in this grand 150k-strong gaze.
Stowed the rabbit's foot hammer discreetly, then activated the lavish ritual from my Void Landing Zone setup.
Word (言), Intimidation (威壓), Heavy Gate (重門) Open (開放).
Emperor's Decree.
"Let me greet you properly. I am Han Jaeyeon, Emperor of the Human Empire."
Before 150k Ain.
Thus began my address.