Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Mantis Guild (2)
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“Eek!”
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong ground his teeth and hauled himself to his feet.
‘What the hell is going on?’
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong was the type to give his all even when hunting the most pathetic prey.
That had been the case just moments ago.
But.
‘My aura just evaporated into thin air.’
The instant Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong’s aura clashed with his opponent’s, it melted away like snow.
Had that not happened?
He wouldn’t have been pushed back this badly.
‘He definitely has some special skill.’
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong dropped into a defensive stance.
It was just a minor injury he could heal with his self-recovery skill.
The match wasn’t decided yet.
“You’ve got some sense, alright. Quick reactions too. I was planning to slice you in half right there, but you dodged like a rat.”
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong clenched his teeth at his opponent’s words.
‘How dare he mock me!’
This punk who’d gotten lucky with one special skill was looking down on him, who had walked the path of the asura!
“It won’t be like before.”
“Oh? Wanna test that?”
His opponent smirked and charged at Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong.
‘This time it’ll be different.’
He was now aware that his opponent had a special skill that could evaporate his aura.
‘Combat isn’t all about skills.’
Combat intelligence to predict or bait his opponent’s moves.
Combat sense sharp enough for his body to react on instinct.
Combat judgment to turn the tides in an instant from a disadvantageous spot.
Combat experience dancing on the edge of life and death.
All of it had to mesh together.
‘A cocky brat who got one good skill isn’t shit.’
With proper use of combat intelligence, sense, judgment, and experience, he could crush him easily.
But.
Boom! Slash! Boom! Slash!
The moment his aura burst forth, his opponent’s counterattack landed absurdly in rapid succession.
‘How is this possible?’
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong’s predictions missed the mark entirely.
His opponent’s instinctive reaction speed was even faster than his own.
And that wasn’t the end of it.
He kept fighting, desperately trying to turn the tables.
Nothing worked.
‘This bastard.’
He wasn’t just some arrogant rookie riding a single good skill.
His swordsmanship was on a higher level than Jo Sa-pyeong’s, and his real combat experience was a cut above too.
The most ridiculous part?
‘My stats are actually higher.’
His base stats outclassed his opponent’s.
Yet even with superior stats, he was being toyed with.
This wasn’t something you could pull off with just one good skill.
It was possible only because his opponent dominated him in every aspect: combat intelligence, sense, judgment, and experience.
Jo Sa-pyeong had planned to teach him that combat wasn’t all about skills.
Instead.
His opponent was drilling into him, down to his bones, that combat wasn’t all about stats.
‘Where did this monster come from?’
Someone with this level of skill?
His name should’ve been known far and wide.
Yet.
‘Why is a guy like that a nobody? He should be a named player.’
Not just any named player either.
The kind who could claim top titles like Emperor, Sovereign, Saint, or Lord.
‘Is this even possible?’
He wondered if it was a named player hiding his identity.
But.
The blood-red aura.
The black armor.
The skill that evaporated his opponent’s aura.
None of it matched any known named player.
“Urk!”
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong’s body was drenched in blood.
‘Why won’t these wounds heal!’
He possessed an incredibly rare self-recovery skill.
It wasn’t low-rank either.
He’d steadily leveled it up, even harming himself in the process, and now his self-recovery skill was a whopping SS-Rank.
Yet.
The wounds showed zero signs of healing.
‘Does he have anti-heal too?’
Despair bloomed on Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong’s face.
Skills, swordsmanship, combat experience.
He didn’t lead in a single one.
And his opponent? Only one of the three had even stepped up.
“Keekekeek!”
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong let out a mad cackle.
“Embarrassing, but no choice. Boys!”
At Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong’s shout.
“Yes, Branch Chief!”
The 300 Mantis Guild members who’d been lying in ambush revealed themselves.
“Kill them!”
No sooner had Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong given the order.
“Waaaaah!”
The 300 Mantis Guild players charged toward the three enemies with a massive roar.
“Too bad I can’t kill you myself.”
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong eyed his opponent’s face.
He’d expected panic.
“This all you got?”
His opponent asked with a disappointed look.
“What?”
This all you got?
His 300 subordinates were no ragtag bunch.
Most were high-level players between 500 and 700.
They included plenty of rankers and named player-grade elites too.
Especially the Mantis Guild’s murderers.
Unlike normal guilds, they were killing experts with more PvP experience than monster hunts.
“Keekeke! Putting on a brave front, huh? It won’t help y—”
“Legion summon.”
Then his opponent spoke.
Shwooo!
The jet-black mana pouring from his opponent’s body.
Crunch! Crunch!
Took on human shapes.
It wasn’t just humans either.
Grrr!
Top-tier dragonkin like Drakans and Dragonians, plus a horde of monsters.
But the crown jewel was.
Roooaaar!
A colossal dragon the size of a small fortress, radiating immeasurable mana.
“Ha, hahaha.”
A hollow laugh spilled from half-open Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong’s mouth, laced with utter defeat.
* * *
‘Disappointing.’
Disappointment rose on Kang Hyun-soo’s face.
Just 300?
If more had come?
He could’ve uprooted one of the Mantis Guild’s pillars, that den of murderers.
‘Whatever. I’ll just hunt them down myself.’
The Mantis Guild, made of criminals, prized secrecy and security above all.
Naturally, branch and HQ locations were top secret.
But.
‘The Demon of Mass Slaughter should know.’
Demon of Mass Slaughter Jo Sa-pyeong.
His current strength didn’t match pre-regression.
‘Still, he’s named player level with a Lord title at least.’
Compared to the Earth King?
Kang Hyun-soo judged he could win by a hair.
‘I’ve grown a lot too.’
He’d racked up achievements.
His total stats had broken past 300-level territory.
Even so, his raw stats lagged behind Demon of Mass Slaughter Jo Sa-pyeong’s.
But.
‘Even without EX-Rank Beast Transformation, I’m this strong.’
Kang Hyun-soo hadn’t gone all out.
He’d used the Beast Transformation skill learned from the Replica.
But not Duke Kalmus of Muran’s Guardian Castle’s EX-Rank Beast Transformation.
If he had?
‘Stats would’ve crushed him from the start.’
The EX-Rank Beast Transformation boosted all stats by 45%.
For a normal player?
The surge might make their body too strong to control, dropping their performance.
Not Kang Hyun-soo.
Because.
‘Gotta work harder. I haven’t caught up to pre-regression me yet.’
Memories and experience from when he was even stronger burned vividly.
“Aaaah!”
“Run!”
“The retreat’s blocked!”
While Kang Hyun-soo mulled things over, the battlefield descended into chaos.
He’d given Dark King Cecilia over 100 summons.
But he still had 200 left: named players and rankers.
Plus Drakan and Dragonian units matching their power.
Decisively.
Kaboom!
Demon Dragon Karas rampaged, spewing breath.
Behind it, Fist Emperor, Martial Sovereign, Muran’s Guardian Castle, Earth King, Knight of Flames, Sword Ghost, One Kill Fist, Magic Knight—legion commanders all—displayed one-man-army might, sweeping away Mantis Guild players.
‘Song Ha-na and Fighting Emperor are holding their own too.’
Those two had exceptional talent.
‘They improve every single day.’
Not just levels.
Countless spars piled up combat experience.
Realms normal players needed a full year for.
‘They hit it in a day or two.’
Cheat-level talent, no doubt.
Paired with senses and judgment beyond genius.
‘Named player level in a few years.’
Of course, current named players wouldn’t sit idle, so it might take a bit longer.
But even so.
‘They’ll catch up quick.’
The talents of the Corpse Emperor and Fighting Emperor.
Blossomed more brilliantly than pre-regression, thanks to Kang Hyun-soo.
* * *
‘What the hell are those monsters?’
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong panicked at Kang Hyun-soo’s suddenly appearing summons.
He’d lost one-on-one.
But force-on-force? He’d thought it a landslide win.
Nope.
A giant dragon, rankers, named player-grade summons—hordes of them.
‘At this rate, total wipe.’
They were barely resisting.
The gap in skill and numbers was too vast.
‘Gotta escape somehow.’
He had to survive.
‘Lucky for me, that guy’s not that interested.’
Bored after an easy win? He watched indifferently as his allies and summons mixed it up with the Mantis Guild players.
‘Seize the chance.’
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong slunk toward the battlefield’s edge, bloodied body and all.
“Jo Sa-pyeong, sir! Help me out!”
A close subordinate pleaded.
“Get out of my way!”
“You’re running alone right n—”
Slash!
He cut him down without hesitation.
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong moved carefully, avoiding notice.
Vice Branch Head Ogre Ji-cheong-seong battled fiercely against several strong summons.
‘Lucky.’
That guy was drawing all the heavy hitters.
‘He won’t last long.’
Ogre Ji-cheong-seong wasn’t quite Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong’s level.
But a monster who could match major guild masters or Mightor Kingdom generals.
Yet even he was getting one-sidedly pushed.
‘Thanks.’
Good call promoting and raising that guy as vice branch head.
Handy for sacrificial plays like this.
Thanks to Vice Branch Head Ogre Ji-cheong-seong pulling the strong summons.
‘I’m out.’
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong downed some weaker summons and broke through the encirclement unscathed.
If the net had been tighter?
If his skills were a tad lower?
He’d have died inside for sure.
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong used stealth skills and scent-blocking potions to erase his trail.
Just to be safe, he popped precious one-use life detection and mana sensing items—no pursuers.
‘Whew, safe.’
But he couldn’t relax.
‘They’ll wipe soon.’
Then they’d hunt down stragglers like him for the kill.
‘Back to base first.’
That way, if shit hit the fan, he could use guild players as meat shields to buy time.
‘Report to Guild Master ASAP.’
And request backup.
If the Guild Master brought the elites personally?
‘Plenty enough to get revenge on that arrogant prick.’
Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong slipped carefully back to base.
Mantis Guild (3)