Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Half-Day Civil War (2)
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“Block those bastards, quick!”
Count Dagobe, the rebel army’s supreme commander, bellowed at the top of his lungs.
In response, a few players charged forward.
“Gahk!”
“Kraaaah!”
But they were effortlessly pushed back or cut down without resistance.
These were the summons handpicked by Kang Hyun-soo from only the elites.
The ones acting as regimental commanders at the forefront possessed combat prowess on par with top-tier Named Players.
Those behind them, equivalent to brigade commanders, were modeled after top doppelgangers, the Demon of Mass Slaughter, and the Tiger King—upper-echelon Named Players.
They had the power to easily devour any average mid-to-low-tier Named Player.
Of course, the rebels had their share of Named Players and Rankers too.
But only a handful managed to hold on through sheer desperation.
“Uwaaaak!”
“Keuheuk!”
The rest were helplessly slaughtered by Kang Hyun-soo and his summons.
“Where the hell did these guys pop out from?”
Count Dagobe muttered in a dazed expression.
Rodius II and the Fifth Duke faction had deployed their elite forces to the imperial palace to swiftly end the battle for the throne.
The palace guards were all high-level players.
Among them were Named Players and Rankers.
In particular, Duke Rohas, captain of the First Imperial Guard Knights and the Sword Saint, was one of the undisputed strongest players in the Rokto Empire.
Confident in their advantage, Rodius II and the Fifth Duke faction mobilized their entire roster of top players.
The Fist Emperor, Sword Beauty Star, Iron Blood King, Spear King, Blood Tower King, Sword Spirit King, and Magic Sword King weren’t enough—they threw in thirty Named Players as well.
They were certain of victory.
The Fist Emperor and Sword Beauty Star had perfectly pinned down Sword Saint Duke Rohas.
Led by the Iron Blood King, Spear King, Blood Tower King, Sword Spirit King, and Magic Sword King, the thirty Named Players were unilaterally overwhelming the guards.
But then.
The situation flipped in an instant.
“Kraaaak!”
The Iron Blood King’s body split in two, ending his life.
The Spear King’s head exploded.
The Blood Tower King’s eyes were gouged out.
The Sword Spirit King’s arms were severed.
The Magic Sword King, positioned in the rear, barely clung to life.
But then—
Kwachik!
An ambush by a player clad in jet-black armor.
“Gahk!”
He perished all too pathetically.
“Kill him!”
At Count Dagobe’s command,
the barrage poured down like rain on the black-armored player who had infiltrated the heart of the rebels to assassinate the Magic Sword King.
Kukukuku!
Pajijijik!
Fwooooosh!
But.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
It was utterly futile.
“Keuheuk!”
“How are we supposed to kill a monster like that?”
The ones dying
were the rebel players.
“What the hell is that guy?”
Count Dagobe muttered in utter disbelief.
At that moment.
“I-It’s the Demon-Slaying Blood God!”
One of Count Dagobe’s subordinates recognized the identity of the black-armored player.
“The Dark Knights’ leader?”
“Yes.”
“Then those guys?”
“Probably Dark Knights.”
“Damn it all!”
Count Dagobe spat out a curse.
Now he understood why his forces were being crushed so one-sidedly.
A group boasting a Named Player with a divine title had joined the fray.
‘Of course we’d be steamrolled.’
Emperor Rodius I had died less than half a day ago.
They thought they could wrap this up quickly.
‘But the Dark Knights intervened this fast?’
They’d figured tying down Sword Saint Duke Rohas would guarantee victory.
But the Dark Knights threw a wrench into everything.
‘No chance of winning.’
If they kept fighting like this, it’d be total annihilation.
“Full retreat—”
The moment Count Dagobe tried to order a withdrawal—
Swish!
A sword wreathed in blood-red aura sliced clean through the rebel commander’s neck.
“Eek!”
“Lord Count Dagobe!”
With their commander dead, the rebels fell into chaos.
Some fled.
Some kept fighting.
‘Too easy.’
Kang Hyun-soo smirked as he prioritized taking out the enemy leaders.
The rebel army crumbled in moments.
‘Time to finish those two off too.’
The Fist Emperor and Sword Beauty Star, locked in fierce combat with Sword Saint Duke Rohas, tried to slip away as the tide turned against them.
‘Block them.’
At Kang Hyun-soo’s command, Doppelganger King Taliman and the other regimental commander summons intercepted the Fist Emperor and Sword Beauty Star.
“You bastards!”
“Out of the way!”
The two shouted as they tried to break through the encirclement.
But—
Kwaaaang!
“Gahk!”
Under the combined assault from Doppelganger King Taliman and the regimental commanders—
Swish!
“Aaaak!”
Far from breaking through, they suffered severe wounds to their arms and faces and were repelled helplessly.
“What the—?”
“Where did these powerhouses come from all of a sudden?”
Despair washed over the faces of the Fist Emperor and Sword Beauty Star.
In the meantime,
Kang Hyun-soo appeared before them.
Kukukuku!
As Kang Hyun-soo, cloaked in blood-red aura, joined and unleashed a barrage,
“My aura?”
Their auras melted away like snow.
“Why aren’t my skills—?”
Defensive skills shattered, wounds stopped healing.
Outmatched in skill,
outnumbered,
with skills failing to activate properly.
The Fist Emperor and Sword Beauty Star—supreme Named Players bearing titles of sovereign and saint—met an absurdly pathetic end.
“Gahk!”
“Aak!”
Heads flew, hearts pierced.
They perished.
From there, it was a one-sided massacre.
Not a single rebel survived—they were annihilated.
“You’ve arrived.”
Sword Saint Duke Rohas approached Kang Hyun-soo.
But his expression wasn’t great.
“Wouldn’t it have been better to capture them alive?”
Sword Saint Duke Rohas seemed regretful about the deaths of the Fist Emperor and Sword Beauty Star.
They were Rokto Empire affiliates, after all.
Capturing them and binding them with soul contracts or oaths of fealty could’ve turned them into useful pawns.
“Those traitors drew their blades to kill the next emperor. You plan to spare them just because they’re strong?”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s question,
“No.”
Sword Saint Duke Rohas shook his head.
“My thinking was shortsighted. You’re right, Demon-Slaying Blood God. Traitors must all have their heads chopped off.”
Crown Princess Cecilia hadn’t even formally ascended the throne yet.
And already rebellion.
Showing mercy to skilled rebels?
It could spark second and third uprisings.
“Please guard the palace.”
“You plan to take on the rebels alone with just the Dark Knights?”
“Yes.”
Originally, Kang Hyun-soo intended to eliminate Rodius II and the Fifth Duke solo.
‘It wouldn’t have been easy.’
But Rodius II and the Fifth Duke struck first.
‘Made things easier.’
They’d kindly delivered their elite unit gift-wrapped.
Plus, Kang Hyun-soo had
‘Legion Formation.’
His One-Man Army class.
Kang Hyun-soo revived the Fist Emperor, Sword Beauty Star, Iron Blood King, Spear King, Blood Tower King, Sword Spirit King, Magic Sword King, and the other thirty Named Players as summons.
‘Thanks.’
Thanks to Rodius II and the Fifth Duke’s blunder, enemy strength dropped while ally strength surged.
“I leave it to you. I’d love to join, but I can’t.”
Sword Saint Duke Rohas, captain of the First Imperial Guard Knights, had one paramount duty: protect the next emperor, Cecilia.
He couldn’t leave the palace.
“I’ll clean up the rebels and return before dawn.”
With those words, Kang Hyun-soo launched himself into the air.
* * *
“By now, that bitch Cecilia’s head should be rolling, right?”
Rodius II asked Duke Serdop, the First Duke, with an anxious look.
“Yes, Your Majesty. That should be the case.”
“Then why haven’t we heard anything yet?”
Duke Serdop grimaced at Rodius II’s irritation.
“Be patient. Word will come soon.”
“How many times have I heard that? Send someone again!”
Duke Serdop’s anger boiled at Rodius II’s temper.
But he held it in.
‘We must put this guy on the throne no matter what.’
He called him Your Majesty,
but Rodius II was merely a deposed crown prince.
Once the elite strike force beheaded Crown Princess Cecilia?
‘We can prop this fool up as a puppet emperor.’
Then the Fifth Duke’s era would begin.
‘Should’ve played it safe.’
No need for the risky assassination of Emperor Rodius I and rebellion.
But.
Emperor Rodius I, who’d been pressuring the Fifth Duke faction relentlessly, switched heirs.
‘Crown Princess Cecilia’s different from her father.’
She was the leader of the neutrals.
Somehow, she’d turned some Fifth Duke nobles into her puppets through pressure.
Even emperor loyalists who disliked her were swiftly swayed.
It wasn’t a massive fracture.
But.
‘In just a week, she gathered that many nobles under her.’
Give it more time?
The Fifth Duke faction would lose without a fight.
If Crown Princess Cecilia continued pressuring after succeeding Rodius I?
‘We’d have to surrender all our power.’
They couldn’t sit idle.
So they subtly stirred the atmosphere.
But the Second and Third Dukes were negative.
Thus, they conspired with the Fourth and Fifth Dukes to execute the plan.
‘It’s already in motion.’
Now the Second and Third Dukes would have no choice but to follow, tears in their eyes.
‘Fools.’
Once Rodius II took the throne?
Serndop, the mastermind, would be the top contributor.
Duke Serdop left Rodius II and stepped outside.
“Still no word?”
Fourth Duke Orpheus asked the moment he emerged.
“Just wait a bit.”
“This is taking too long. What if something went wrong?”
Fifth Duke Belepconi, wearing a nervous expression, voiced his worries.
“I told you not to worry. No matter how strong Sword Saint Duke Rohas is, he can’t handle the Fist Emperor and Sword Beauty Star.”
“What if the Second and Third Dukes side with the crown princess?”
“No way. We’re all one body. With things in motion, they’ll have to join us.”
“I suppose so, but—”
“Enough!”
As Fifth Duke Belepconi kept spouting negativity, First Duke Serdop snapped.
“What’s done is done! Negative talk won’t help! If the Fist Emperor and Sword Beauty Star’s special forces failed, we just go to full war!”
Truth be told, First Duke Serdop was just as anxious.
It was long past time for news of Cecilia’s beheading, yet silence.
‘No way it actually failed, right?’
Then.
“Marquis Dijeremi the Fist Emperor and Marquis Bradley the Sword Beauty Star have arrived.”
Thankfully, good news.
“Did they behead Cecilia?”
“They captured her alive.”
“Bring her here now!”
After issuing the order, First Duke Serdop fetched Rodius II.
“They captured that bitch Cecilia alive?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Ohhh, perfect.”
Joy lit up Rodius II’s face.
Moments later.
The Fist Emperor and Sword Beauty Star appeared, dragging the bound Crown Princess Cecilia escorted by other Named Players.
“Hahaha, Marquis Dijeremi and Marquis Bradley, you two did splendidly!”
First Duke Serdop burst into laughter, praising their功.
“Cecilia, you damned wench!”
But Rodius II’s eyes were fixed only on Crown Princess Cecilia.
“I won’t let you die easy!”
Eyes gleaming with murderous rage and madness, Rodius II strode forward and seized the bound Crown Princess Cecilia’s throat.
At that instant.
Kwaduduk!
Flesh tore, bones shattered.
“Kraaaaaak!”
A gut-wrenching scream erupted from Rodius II.
“What the—?”
First Duke Serdop jumped in shock.
The supposedly tightly bound Crown Princess Cecilia had snapped her restraints effortlessly and thrust out her right hand,
crushing Rodius II’s right hand—the one gripping her throat.
“Get back!”
Fourth Duke Orpheus’s belated shout rang out, but—
Kwachik!
Marquis Dijeremi the Fist Emperor’s fist shattered First Duke Serdop’s ribs and pierced his heart.
“W-What’s happening?”
Never imagining his closest ally, Fist Emperor Marquis Dijeremi, would attack him—First Duke Serdop died pathetically.
And right after.
Kruk!
No longer Crown Princess Cecilia, but some unknown face and male physique grabbed him.
Rodius II’s neck snapped, ending his life pointlessly.
He’d lived his whole life as crown prince.
Deposed, he assassinated his own father the emperor and rebelled to seize the throne.
For such a man, his death was far too pathetic.
“Those aren’t Marquis Dijeremi and Marquis Bradley! Kill them!”
Realizing too late, Fourth Duke Orpheus desperately ordered an attack.
But.
“Too late. Legion Summon.”
Kang Hyun-soo, disguised as one of Marquis Dijeremi and Marquis Bradley’s subordinates, shouted.
Humanoid summons materialized en masse.
“Kill them.”
The one-sided massacre began.