Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: How to Use the Magi Orb (2)
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‘Magi absorption?’
Kang Hyun-soo’s expression hardened.
In the Atlantis dimension, the only beings with magi were?
‘Demons and the Demon King’s minions.’
The moment he emitted magi, he would become a public enemy in the Atlantis dimension.
However.
‘It’s also an incredibly alluring power.’
Mana and magi were similar yet different.
‘The efficiency of magi is far superior.’
Especially its destructive power.
‘What happens if I choose yes?’
Would his mana be absorbed by the magi?
Or would a new special stat called magi be created?
Kang Hyun-soo’s mind grew complicated.
“Why? Something wrong?”
Song Ha-na approached and asked Kang Hyun-soo.
“Ah, it’s because of the Magi Orb.”
Kang Hyun-soo briefly explained the situation.
“Then just have someone else test it.”
If there was any risk?
Someone other than Kang Hyun-soo could acquire the magi instead.
“That makes sense, but it’s still not something to test recklessly.”
What if there were side effects like the body turning demonic?
It would be a grave sin against the test subject.
There was another problem.
‘The power contained in the Magi Orb is enormous.’
If a villain got their hands on that immense power?
‘It could lead to a catastrophe.’
While Kang Hyun-soo was deep in thought.
“Why not take a guy who deserves to be beaten to death, put him under your command first, and test it on him? If something goes wrong, just eliminate him right away.”
Song Ha-na offered a radical opinion.
“That’s true, but...”
He couldn’t just find a murderer player here to test it on.
‘It’s such a waste.’
But letting it sit without testing while magi leaked away in real time was too regrettable.
“By the way, if it’s an item, can’t summons use it too?”
At Song Ha-na’s words.
“Huh? You’re right.”
All problems were solved in an instant.
Item options could be applied to summons as well.
That meant.
‘The Magi Orb can be used on summons too.’
No one would get hurt even if something went wrong.
‘Who should I pick?’
After a moment of consideration, Kang Hyun-soo summoned the Tiger King.
‘Regiment commanders might be iffy.’
If something went wrong and he had to despawn it?
The stat cost to revive would be too high.
Plus, they were all demon-origin.
‘There could be issues.’
Sure, weaker summons would be more efficient stat-wise, but.
‘At least a battalion commander for proper conversation.’
Summons in platoon, squad, or section leader roles had too low intelligence.
The Tiger King, currently a battalion commander, was ideal.
“Here.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words, the Tiger King politely received the Magi Orb.
“Any messages?”
“Yes.”
“Then choose yes and absorb the magi.”
“Understood.”
No sooner had the Tiger King spoken.
Shaaaa—
“Huh?”
The Tiger King’s body, made of mana.
“It’s turning into magi?”
And that wasn’t the end.
‘It’s getting stronger?’
Thanks to absorbing the magi from the Magi Orb.
The magi constituting its body exploded in quantity.
At this level?
‘It surpasses even high-grade demons.’
In the Tiger King’s case.
It was based on a player titled a king, but with overall player levels rising.
Now it was merely low-tier named player level.
‘That’s why I planned to demote it from battalion commander soon.’
Yet the Tiger King had grown dramatically stronger.
“Hah!”
Kang Hyun-soo was quite surprised by his summon’s growth.
“Do you feel any changes?”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s question.
“I’ve grown stronger.”
The Tiger King’s response was extremely curt.
‘Intelligence is lacking, as expected.’
But there was no helping it.
Still.
“Are there any restrictions on using skills or anything?”
“No, there aren’t.”
“Then...”
Kang Hyun-soo asked various questions.
And the Tiger King answered.
“Hmm.”
No side effects so far.
In fact.
‘Using the Magi Orb lets me keep growing summons that had stopped developing.’
For summons like the Blade King or Tiger King from players.
Their skill ranks themselves.
‘All main skills are EX-Rank.’
But lacking stats meant lower combat power.
Boosting those summons’ stats via the Magi Orb?
‘No need to replace them.’
And if done right.
‘I can drastically increase the proportion of named player summons.’
From Kang Hyun-soo’s perspective, a path to further growth had opened.
The only slight concern?
‘Is it safe to unsummon this guy?’
Summons used the Division Formation skill, consuming Kang Hyun-soo’s stats to form bodies.
However.
‘The bodies themselves are made of mana.’
When unsummoned, summons turn to mana and absorb into Kang Hyun-soo’s body.
But if a summon’s body was made of magi instead of mana?
‘Unsummoning could let magi flow into me.’
No one knew what side effects that might bring.
‘Guess I’ll test it.’
There might be side effects.
But throwing away a way to strengthen summons was too wasteful.
‘Worst case, just don’t unsummon if there’s a problem.’
Kang Hyun-soo unsummoned the Tiger King.
In that moment, the magi body dissipated and absorbed into Kang Hyun-soo’s body.
“Hm?”
He’d expected some change or anomaly.
‘Nothing at all?’
Kang Hyun-soo resummoned the Tiger King.
Magi flowed from Kang Hyun-soo’s body to reform the Tiger King’s flesh.
He repeated it several times.
‘Definitely magi coming from my body?’
But no sensation whatsoever.
No system messages either.
‘Stats are consumed to form the summon’s body.’
Especially the mana stat for the body.
‘But unsummoning doesn’t recover stats.’
Mana didn’t recover.
‘So they’re completely separate?’
Even if a summon’s body switched from mana to magi.
‘No side effects.’
A bright smile bloomed on Kang Hyun-soo’s lips.
‘Good, next up: try it on a demon-origin one.’
Kang Hyun-soo calmly waited for the Magi Orb to recharge.
However.
‘It’s got a huge capacity.’
It wouldn’t recharge easily.
‘Well, I’ll hunt orcs and wait patiently.’
Once fully charged?
He could continue testing then.
* * *
The Saclant Empire army suffered a crushing defeat.
Including Supreme Commander Iron-Blood Sovereign Bragul the Archduke, over 300 named and ranker players perished.
Of 500,000 troops, fewer than half—200,000—barely returned alive.
Naturally, the Saclant Empire was in chaos.
It was beyond a mere loss of face.
The empire’s military strength itself had diminished.
Vassal states and giant guilds that lost many players rebelled fiercely.
The Saclant Empire belatedly deployed follow-up forces to seal the border.
However.
-The emperor’s needless greed killed off Saclant’s elite troops.
-It’s the price for ignoring Rokto Empire’s aid and acting alone.
-The incompetent emperor dismissed calls for a defensive stance.
Rebellion erupted within the Saclant Empire.
The shaken imperial authority showed no sign of stabilizing.
-We suffered losses in our kingdom just for listening to Saclant.
-Rumors say empire troops used kingdom forces as shields and fled alone.
-How long must we trust this foolish emperor?
Vassal states’ backlash was specific.
They banded together, showing signs of forming an anti-Saclant alliance.
-Monarchy is incompetent as expected.
-The emperor’s greed hurts us other-dimension players.
-If we stay idle, we’ll keep being cannon fodder.
-Let’s join Rokto Empire’s Earth Player Alliance.
Other-dimension players united, forming a strong faction.
* * *
Kang Hyun-soo continued silently hunting orcs in the Frank Kingdom, now an orc paradise, accumulating magi in the orb.
But he wasn’t completely ignoring outside events.
‘Something feels off.’
A massive defeat, yes.
He’d expected the Saclant emperor’s authority to suffer.
But.
‘The backlash is too intense.’
As if someone was orchestrating it.
‘Nothing like this happened before regression.’
The Saclant Empire had profited while Rokto suffered from demon invasions, steadily building strength.
Moreover.
Kang Hyun-soo’s main stage shifting to Saclant.
Was after Rokto’s fall.
Meaning his biggest weapon—pre-regression knowledge—had little on Saclant.
‘Well, they did leech a bit.’
When Saclant players rebelled.
Kang Hyun-soo first recalled Rokto’s emperor, Dark King Cecilia, and Earth Player Alliance head Crimson Flame Sovereign Dorfov, to work on them.
The result.
‘Many other-dimension players joined the Earth Player Alliance.’
Even inquiries from other-dimension players surged.
‘So we renamed it Other-Dimension Player Alliance.’
Then accepted them en masse.
Naturally, Crimson Flame Sovereign Dorfov’s Other-Dimension Player Alliance grew rapidly.
‘Control is a bit lacking.’
But that could be addressed gradually.
Opportunities to expand an organization this fast.
‘Don’t come often.’
The issue.
‘Smells like civil war.’
Someone was deliberately undermining Saclant’s imperial authority.
No matter how he looked.
‘It’s rebellion.’
But nothing concrete yet.
‘Need to ramp up intel gathering.’
Seemed necessary to quickly expand Shadow Dark Guild’s influence via Gold Road Merchant Alliance.
‘Info is key, after all.’
He had a hunch.
But lacked info to act.
‘Can’t miss the chance.’
Civil war with a common enemy like the Demon King army?
Humanity’s dumbest act.
Self-sabotage.
But.
‘Can’t force it to stop.’
If civil war was inevitable?
‘Better to end it quick, like with Rokto.’
And reap the rewards handsomely.
If he could replicate Rokto achievements in Saclant?
‘Control both Rokto and Saclant Empires.’
That would.
Greatly aid the fight against the Demon King army.
‘Wait for now.’
Couldn’t act until intel came or events unfolded.
For now?
‘Hunt diligently.’
Such power-leveling opportunities didn’t come easily.
* * *
Time flew by quickly.
Then an anomaly occurred.
‘What?’
Orcs that crawled out endlessly like cockroaches no matter how many he killed.
‘Dried up.’
Meaning no more orcs coming through the dimensional gate.
‘Only four Orc Warlords?’
Kang Hyun-soo turned all four evolved Orc Warlords into summons.
Unsatisfied, he kept hunting orcs to find more Orc Warlords.
To hunt and summon them.
But.
No more Orc Warlords appeared.
And now even regular orcs vanished.
‘Stopped the invasion?’
He’d killed huge numbers so far.
But compared to pre-regression orc legion?
‘Not even half.’
First time something like this.
‘Venom Insect Legion still pouring out.’
Thanks to Kang Hyun-soo selling Guopi across Atlantis fast, the Venom Insect Legion couldn’t exert much force.
Yet it kept coming, filling his pockets.
But the orc legion invasion halted midway.
‘What’s the difference?’
Both failed invasions.
One continues, one stops.
‘Too bad.’
Lost the power-leveling honey pot.
Then.
-My lord, big trouble.
Golden Lord Saemaal contacted him.
-What? Civil war?
At Kang Hyun-soo’s question.
-A massive dimensional gate opened in the imperial capital, and undead monsters are pouring out.
-What?
Shock colored Kang Hyun-soo’s face.
Undead legion invasion was scheduled.
Location change was understandable.
‘But too soon.’
The undead legion invasion.
‘Happened three years after the orc legion ended.’
Demon King army invasion pace.
‘Way too fast.’
Kang Hyun-soo’s face hardened like stone.