Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Double Reward
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“Uwaaaaaah!”
With a roar laced with intense fury, Baron Taliman erupted his demonic energy and began rampaging wildly.
Kwaaaang!
The blow shrouded in demonic energy sent the Dragon Turtle Karas staggering back.
Kwajik! Seogeok!
The summoned beasts created from Dragon Tiger Guild players, along with the doppelgangers, were utterly annihilated.
‘As expected, this isn’t enough.’
He had deployed the strongest among the battalion commanders, the Dragon Turtle Karas.
But a summoned beast was still just a summoned beast.
Even with the Commander Appointment and Commander’s Blessing buffs, the gap in class compared to Baron Taliman was palpable.
‘Even with the same buffs, the stronger the original, the less effective they become.’
For the Dragon Turtle Karas to regain its form from life?
It would need even higher intelligence and more buffs.
Even so, for now.
Kyaaauuuung!
‘This is sufficient.’
The Dragon Turtle Karas was being pushed back in a head-on clash with Baron Taliman.
But it was holding its own as the main tank and dealer.
‘Well, the whole point of deploying the Dragon Turtle Karas was to block Baron Taliman’s escape anyway.’
He hadn’t expected the Dragon Turtle Karas to take down Baron Taliman alone.
‘Go.’
Kang Hyun-soo deployed additional battalion commander-level summoned beasts.
And then.
“It’s about time we join in.”
Kang Hyun-soo looked at Song Ha-na, the Fist Emperor, Demon-Slaying Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong, Shadow King Cecilia, Sword King Jang Seok-won, and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu as he spoke.
“Uh, you mean over there?”
Demon-Slaying Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong pointed with a reluctant expression at the chaotic battlefield where Baron Taliman, the Dragon Turtle Karas, and the other battalion commanders were entangled.
“Of course. Don’t you want the achievements?”
Back when they defeated the Dragon Turtle Karas.
Even with Song Ha-na and the Fist Emperor, Kang Hyun-soo had achieved ‘The Impossible Feat of Single-Handedly Defeating the Dragon Turtle Karas,’ ‘The Unbelievable Feat of Single-Handedly Defeating a Demon World Baron,’ and ‘The Outstanding Feat of Single-Handedly Repelling the Demon King’s Army Invasion.’
‘And on top of that, Song Ha-na and the Fist Emperor got achievements too.’
He wanted to bring the Golden Lord Saemaal and Ivan Yamellikonen along as well.
‘But Saemaal isn’t particularly talented as a healer.’
And Saemaal’s specialty was multiplying money, not fighting on the battlefield.
Ivan, too, was too low-level for this kind of battlefield.
‘Plus, he’s tied up with the Rokto Imperial Army, so I can’t just summon him freely.’
“I want the achievements, but it looks too dangerous.”
“Then just snipe from afar and harass him.”
“Is that okay?”
“Yeah.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s response.
A flush of excitement returned to Demon-Slaying Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong’s face, which had looked half-dead.
“Then that’s what I’ll do.”
“Let’s go.”
With those words, Kang Hyun-soo advanced.
Song Ha-na, the Fist Emperor, Shadow King Cecilia, Sword King Jang Seok-won, and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu followed behind.
‘I need to keep an eye on Cecilia.’
Among these five, Cecilia was by far the weakest.
No matter how favorable the battlefield.
‘One slip, and her life could be gone.’
The reason he brought Song Ha-na, the Fist Emperor, Demon-Slaying Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong, Shadow King Cecilia, Sword King Jang Seok-won, and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu here.
‘Was to get achievements.’
Not to lose them.
‘Alright, let’s go.’
Ududuk! Ududuk!
After double-casting Beastification.
Ttak!
Kang Hyun-soo leaped into the fray.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Vampiric Aura successively annihilated Baron Taliman’s attack skills and defense skills.
‘Some skills still have cooldowns left.’
But that could be covered by the summoned beasts and.
‘My subordinate commanders.’
Hwaruruk! Pajijijik!
Song Ha-na appropriately mixed ranged attack skills and close-range attack skills to pressure Baron Taliman.
Kwaaaang! Kwaaaang!
The Fist Emperor, meanwhile, unleashed brilliant golden aura and assaulted him head-on.
On top of that.
“Uahaha! Take this too!”
Sword King Jang Seok-won swung his sword with glee.
Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu also attacked Baron Taliman, his face beaming with a smile.
‘They’re both having a blast.’
Excluding Kang Hyun-soo.
The strongest players here were Sword King Jang Seok-won and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu.
Song Ha-na and the Fist Emperor’s combat prowess had risen to the level of named players with king-tier titles thanks to buffs.
‘But that’s largely due to the buffs.’
Commander Appointment and Commander’s Blessing.
They gained that power through these two buffs.
In contrast, Sword King Jang Seok-won and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu.
‘Were players who already held king titles from the start.’
These two had their stats massively boosted by Commander Appointment and Commander’s Blessing, and adapted to it.
The result.
Kwaaaang! Kwaaaang!
Sword King Jang Seok-won and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu.
‘They could pass for Sword Emperor and Righteous Army Emperor.’
Reviving dead players as summoned beasts was inferior to.
Convincing living players to become commanders.
‘Compared to the Fist Emperor, the variance is huge.’
The Fist Emperor had been revived as a summoned beast after death.
As a result.
His skills declined from life.
And growth stopped.
Whereas Sword King and Righteous Army King.
‘No skill decline, and infinite growth potential.’
Plus, with the two buffs Kang Hyun-soo gave them, their stats soared.
‘Their leveling speed will accelerate even more from now on.’
And since those two would appoint reliable guild members as company commanders, platoon leaders, and squad leaders.
Kang Hyun-soo gained the advantage of his subordinate commanders increasing automatically without effort.
No matter how he thought about it.
Reviving the dead as players was inferior to.
‘Making living players into commanders.’
Except in cases like the Fist Emperor, Flame Knight, or Demon of Mass Slaughter that absolutely needed to be eliminated.
‘Convince them and make them commanders.’
If Duke Kalmus, called the Guardian Star of Mulan, hadn’t used Desperate Trade.
If he had survived the fierce battle with the Dragon Turtle Karas.
If he had joined Kang Hyun-soo’s command while alive, not after death.
‘He’d be far stronger than now.’
And as a bonus.
‘My influence over the Mulan Kingdom would have strengthened too.’
Kang Hyun-soo checked his list of players to eliminate and recruit going forward.
‘It won’t be easy.’
Some were in desperate straits.
Others had secured positions without needing anyone’s help.
But.
‘It’s not impossible.’
Just like recruiting Sword King Jang Seok-won and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu this time.
‘Well, thanks to the special skill Choice Foresight.’
But success was success, right?
“Aaaagh!”
Even as Kang Hyun-soo poured on relentless attacks amid his thoughts.
Wounds began accumulating on Baron Taliman’s body one by one.
“You insolent humans!”
Baron Taliman resisted fiercely, his eyes bloodshot.
‘But the tide has already turned.’
No matter what he tried.
‘You die here.’
The ground escape routes were blocked by a solid encirclement from Kang Hyun-soo, Song Ha-na, the Fist Emperor, Demon-Slaying Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong, Shadow King Cecilia, Sword King Jang Seok-won, Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu, and the battalion commanders.
The aerial escape routes were completely sealed by the Dragon Turtle Karas and other dragonkin monsters.
Seogeok!
Baron Taliman’s left arm flew off.
‘It’s over now.’
Even when all limbs were intact, he was being overwhelmed.
With one arm gone.
His defenses were bound to falter.
At that moment.
“Eek! Dieee!”
Baron Taliman charged toward Shadow King Cecilia.
‘This guy?’
He was going to die anyway.
Might as well take one with him.
Why target Shadow King Cecilia?
‘She’s the weakest here.’
Puoouk! Juaak!
All sorts of blades pierced Baron Taliman’s body.
Yet Baron Taliman pressed forward steadfastly.
Kang Hyun-soo blocked Shadow King Cecilia’s path and swung his sword.
In that instant.
Kraaaang!
Baron Taliman’s arm swelled, transforming into the shape of a Dragon Turtle.
Seogeok!
Kang Hyun-soo’s sword severed Baron Taliman’s arm, now in Dragon Turtle form.
Meanwhile.
Jjuuuk!
Baron Taliman’s neck stretched out, his head morphing into a serpent and opening its maw wide toward Shadow King Cecilia.
Puoouk!
With the sound of sharp blades piercing flesh.
The aura-clad dagger in Shadow King Cecilia’s hand pierced the serpent-formed head of Baron Taliman.
“Kehek!”
Baron Taliman’s body, head impaled, collapsed limply.
Saaak!
The corpse scattered like dust, residual demonic energy pouring out.
‘Fool.’
Kang Hyun-soo clicked his tongue at the fallen Baron Taliman.
‘You underestimated Cecilia too much.’
That’s why he died even faster.
Shadow King Cecilia.
Of course, her skills were still too lacking to claim the Shadow King title.
But.
‘Her talent overflows.’
She was called Shadow King in his previous life.
But that was just hiding her identity.
Her skills were such that Shadow Emperor would suit her too.
And that overflowing talent.
‘Blossomed earlier thanks to meeting me.’
No matter how lacking Cecilia’s current skills.
‘Her innate battle sense remains.’
And her combat intelligence to lure or predict enemy attacks for counters was the same.
Her proficiency might be a bit short.
‘But the talent is intact.’
Kang Hyun-soo absorbed the residual demonic energy left after Baron Taliman fell.
At the same time.
[You have achieved the impossible feat of single-handedly defeating the Doppelganger King.]
[Doppelganger King Slayer EX-Rank title granted.]
[Single Raid EX-Rank title granted.]
[You have achieved the unbelievable feat of single-handedly defeating a Demon World Baron.]
[Demon World Aristocrat Devourer SSS-Rank title has grown to EX-Rank.]
[You have achieved the outstanding feat of single-handedly repelling the Demon King’s Army invasion.]
[Atlantis Dimension Guardian SSS-Rank title has grown to EX-Rank.]
Achievement messages flooded in.
Along with them.
[Eliminated a demon and permanently absorbed its demonic energy.]
[Goddess’s Tear EX-Rank purifies the permanently absorbed demonic energy, converting it to special stat Divinity.]
[Divinity stat has increased.]
His Divinity stat rose too.
‘A bit stingy.’
When he defeated the Demon World Baron Dragon Turtle Karas?
Achievements poured in like crazy.
‘I got over ten back then.’
But now?
‘Just two new ones.’
The other two were upgrades.
If even this was already the case.
‘It’ll get harder from now on.’
Catching low-tier Demon World nobles like barons wouldn’t yield easy achievements.
‘Well, catching them in bulk or higher nobles would work.’
But that required bolstering forces more.
Plus, the achievements from Dragon Turtle Karas were on another level.
‘Actually, catching one Demon World noble for two EX-Rank achievements and two SSS-Rank growing to EX-Rank is pretty sweet.’
The difficulty had dropped a lot compared to Dragon Turtle Karas too.
Moreover.
Kang Hyun-soo wasn’t the only one getting achievements.
“Hahaha! SSS-Rank achievements! Three of them!”
Sword King Jang Seok-won shouted excitedly.
“I got one SSS-Rank achievement, and two existing SSS-Rank ones grew to EX-Rank!”
“Me too!”
The Fist Emperor and Song Ha-na beamed.
“Thank you. Thanks to my lord, I obtained three SSS-Rank achievements.”
“I received one EX-Rank and two SSS-Rank achievements due to my lord’s grace.”
Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu and Shadow King Cecilia, with their bountiful achievements, looked pleased too.
Except.
“Why did I only get three SS-Rank ones?”
Only Demon-Slaying Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong grumbled with a sulky face.
‘Obviously because your contribution rank is lowest.’
Demon-Slaying Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong had only sniped from afar, preserving himself.
Naturally, his contribution rank was dead last.
Even so, getting three SS-Rank achievements.
‘Was a windfall.’
But something felt off.
‘Cecilia got one EX-Rank and two SSS-Rank?’
That was impossible.
Because.
‘I already got two EX-Rank achievements.’
Plus two SSS-Rank ones upgraded to EX-Rank.
‘Sword King Jang Seok-won and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu got three SSS-Rank each?’
Song Ha-na and the Fist Emperor got two EX-Rank.
‘But those were upgrades from existing SSS-Rank.’
In simple terms, they also received rewards equivalent to three SSS-Rank achievements.
‘Something’s weird here.’
Why?
‘Are they handing out extra rewards?’