Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Truth Game (4)
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Kang Hyun-soo's group's official goal was to escape the Frank Kingdom.
But their unofficial goal was to wipe out the orc legions and power-level.
They'd set the official goal that way because of the Mad Blood Witch Yuka.
'We probably could've just been upfront about it without any issues.'
As long as the Mad Blood Witch Yuka was with Kang Hyun-soo,
it didn't matter if the place was crawling with orcs
or crawling with humans.
To her, orcs were monsters anyway, and humans were pests.
'The others are leveling up so well they're probably itching to join in.'
If he could have his way, he'd summon the Dark Queen Cecilia, the Benevolent Army King Shin Chang-hu, Sword King Jang Seok-won, Crimson Flame Lord Dorchov, and Annihilating Demon Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong to power-level together.
But emperors of great empires and guild masters of massive guilds couldn't be away for extended periods, so he had to give up on that.
'That skill would make it possible, but...'
Due to his low rank,
'the cooldown is way too long.'
It wasn't a situation where he could earn achievements, and it just felt wasteful to use it.
'And the quality of my summons is steadily improving.'
There were so many orcs that
upper-class demons like orc great warriors and top-class demons like orc chieftains were appearing frequently.
'Need to take down the great chieftains.'
The Doppelganger King Taliman disguised as an orc great chieftain was
'a monster in an orc's skin.'
In truth, an orc great chieftain's power was on par with demon nobles.
'Sometimes they even hold the rank of vice-baron.'
Before his regression, the orc legion had included ten orc great chieftains.
'Need to find those guys as fast as possible.'
The orc great chieftains didn't appear all at once.
Whether due to restrictions from the Gaia System,
'they came one by one.'
He had to methodically pick them off as they appeared sequentially.
If those guys survived and banded together?
'The difficulty could spike so high that catching the demon noble, the demon dragon Karas, would feel easier by comparison.'
Even before his regression, they'd suffered massive casualties but ultimately repelled the orc legion's invasion
only because they'd taken out the orc great chieftains one by one.
Kang Hyun-soo had sent out his flying summons in all directions to search for the orc great chieftains, but
they weren't showing themselves easily.
'Need to find them before the Saclant Empire launches a full counterattack.'
Kang Hyun-soo was continuously receiving external information through Golden Lord Saemael's merchant guild and Dark Queen Cecilia's intelligence network, Shadow Dark.
'The emperor of the Saclant Empire is making a mistake.'
The orc legion had demonstrated overwhelming power by conquering the Frank Kingdom in an instant.
But that
'had wounded the Saclant Empire's pride.'
The Saclant Empire had issued a full mobilization order to its vassal states and was moving to reclaim the Frank Kingdom's territory.
'Defense is the best option.'
The key to repelling the orc legion's invasion
'was stopping it with minimal casualties.'
If they faced the massive orc legion not at a fortified castle but on open plains?
'Even in victory, humanity's losses would be enormous.'
Especially for mid- and low-level players—their casualties would skyrocket.
'The orc legion's invasion has the same goal as the venomous insect legion's.'
Reducing the number of mid- and low-level players who would grow into high-level players later.
'There aren't that many stragglers who lack even the will to break through walls.'
Most mid- and low-level players harbored ambitions to grow stronger,
'and in just ten years, they could reach the level of current high-level players.'
Some among them would even become ranker or named players, reachable only by those with both effort and talent.
'To minimize casualties, I have no choice but to hustle now.'
The silver lining was
that the newly joined Mad Blood Witch Yuka was putting on an incredible show.
Kuooh!
Kwaaaang!
The golem legion led by the Mad Blood Witch Yuka had already surpassed one hundred units.
If she hadn't used the golem synthesis skill?
'It would've probably exceeded a thousand by now.'
This was largely thanks to the buffs Kang Hyun-soo had given her.
With her main stat, mana, increased by 40%, her total mana pool grew, and her mana recovery sped up,
'allowing the golems to multiply endlessly.'
Right now, the Mad Blood Witch Yuka was just repeatedly using her golem summon skill and golem synthesis skill.
The mana needed to maintain the golems?
She was substituting it with the blood, bones, and flesh overflowing everywhere.
With just those two skills,
she could spam them for over half a day.
Then, once her mana bottomed out?
'After a night's sleep, it'd all recover.'
Truly cheat-like efficiency and performance.
'Well, without this level, she couldn't have waged war against a nation solo and won twice.'
Spamming those two skills endlessly
naturally raised their proficiency quickly as well.
As Kang Hyun-soo and the Mad Blood Witch Yuka's summons rampaged, rapidly thinning the orc hordes,
"What the hell are those monsters?"
"Aren't they undead?"
"They don't seem like monsters? They're not attacking."
"Huh? There's people over there too."
A group of players appeared.
'Survivors?'
The Frank Kingdom had fallen to the orc legion, but
not all players active there had been wiped out.
Like Hayato's party that Yuka had been in, there were small groups surviving and attempting escape,
and they occasionally bumped into them like this.
Kang Hyun-soo didn't incorporate the survivors into his group.
He had no intention of babysitting,
and no spare capacity for it anyway.
But
'They're lucky.'
Thanks to Kang Hyun-soo's group sweeping orcs from the border region onward,
the survivors could relatively easily escape the Frank Kingdom, now an orc paradise.
Kang Hyun-soo tried to brush them off lightly as before, but
'Hm?'
He spotted a familiar face among the survivors.
'Hayato?'
It was Hayato, the tank player who'd spent a long time with the Mad Blood Witch Yuka.
'I thought he was dead.'
Among those mobilized for the event, civilians had been helped to escape the Frank Kingdom via summons,
but players hadn't gotten special attention.
With the party disbanded and scattered, he'd assumed they were goners.
'He survived.'
Talk about luck.
And on top of that,
"Yuka! You're alive!"
He even spotted the Mad Blood Witch Yuka with Kang Hyun-soo's group.
"Thank goodness! This is great!"
Tank player Hayato grinned brightly and rushed toward the Mad Blood Witch Yuka.
'Guy's got some thick skin.'
Despite throwing her to the orcs as bait to save his own hide and fleeing,
"Do you know how worried I was?"
He acted like he'd completely forgotten.
'Cheeky bastard.'
Anyone with a normal conscience
would be too embarrassed to face her and pretend not to know her.
Not content with a poker face,
"Now that we've met, let's never separate again."
He even shed tears, staging a touching reunion.
'Anyone would think he'd found a lover forcibly separated or a long-lost family member.'
He could guess the scheme.
For a golem artisan Yuka suffering from extreme affection deprivation and good child syndrome?
'He figured she'd pretend the past didn't happen and take him back.'
But
'the one here is the Mad Blood Witch Yuka, not golem artisan Yuka.'
The difference between them was
"What gives a worthless human scum like you—who abandoned me and the party members as orc bait and fled—the nerve to act friendly?"
like night and day.
Hearing the Mad Blood Witch Yuka's words, tank player Hayato froze like stone.
Following that,
"He abandoned the party as bait and ran?"
"He told us he became the bait to save the party and barely escaped himself."
"It was a lie after all. I knew it."
"Why'd we even accept a guy like that?"
Bad vibes instantly erupted among the new party members.
"Y-Yuka, what are you talking about? We got separated because of the orcs! When did I ever abandon you!"
Tank player Hayato spewed nonsense to try flipping the situation, but
Kwaooo!
A massive bone golem swung its fist at tank player Hayato.
Kwachik!
In one blow, his shield and armor crumpled,
Kwaang!
and he tumbled across the ground in pathetic shape.
"Kuhuk! Y-Yuka, why?"
Tank player Hayato spat a pained scream and looked at the Mad Blood Witch Yuka with eyes full of confusion.
'What the hell just happened?'
Tank player Hayato couldn't comprehend the situation at all.
'She just attacked a person? Me? Yuka would never...'
The golem artisan Yuka he knew
might be weak against monsters, but against people, she was utterly spineless.
Even if she took losses or damage first,
she wouldn't attack other players, let alone speak harshly—a total pushover.
That's the golem artisan Yuka he knew.
But that Yuka
had attacked a fellow player.
Him, whom she'd cared for over a long time.
'Maybe those guys?'
Her biggest flaw was being too attuned to others' opinions.
'They must've egged her on to get revenge no matter what.'
That's why she'd attacked him.
"I don't know what that bastard whispered in your ear..."
As tank player Hayato pointed at Kang Hyun-soo and spoke,
Kwuduk!
The bone golem stomped down on tank player Hayato with its massive foot.
"Aaak!"
Tank player Hayato could no longer continue speaking.
"This pest dares to...!"
The Mad Blood Witch Yuka glared at tank player Hayato with a face full of murderous intent.
"Before my patience runs out and I crush you like the worm you are, shut your mouth and get out of my sight."
Faced with the Mad Blood Witch Yuka radiating skin-prickling killing intent,
tank player Hayato trembled like a leaf.
The person before his eyes
'wasn't the Yuka I knew.'
Her eyes, always craving affection,
now brimmed only with eerie madness,
gazing at him not as a human, but like a pathetic insect.
'It's real.'
If he defied the warning and opened his mouth carelessly, or didn't back off immediately,
'she'd squash me like a bug.'
As the bone golem's foot moved away, the battered tank player Hayato quickly retreated and rejoined his new party members.
"Let's go."
At the Mad Blood Witch Yuka's words, Kang Hyun-soo nodded and resumed walking.
Once Kang Hyun-soo's party vanished from sight,
"Argh, they looked super strong! Couldn't even ask to join because of this guy!"
"Yeah, and they spared a traitor—must be good people."
"That's why I said we shouldn't take him!"
"Let's kick him out now!"
"Agreed!"
"Can't trust someone who'd throw party members to orcs as bait."
The party members condemned tank player Hayato with looks of disgust.
"Wait! It's not like that! Let me explain!"
Tank player Hayato tried to persuade the new party members, but
"Be grateful they didn't kill you!"
"Figure it out alone, traitor!"
it was no use.
In the end, tank player Hayato
was left alone, his armor and shield wrecked, injured to boot.
"W-Wait! Come back!"
Dragging his wounded body, he struggled after the party members, but
"Kuooeok! Human!"
what he encountered
wasn't the departed party members,
but a group of orcs.
With party members,
he could've hunted them easily, but
"Kuuk! Kill the human!"
for tank player Hayato, injured as he was,
"Aaaaak!"
it was too much.