Chapter 162
Chapter 162
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 162
Chapter Title: Undead Legion
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‘I need to head to the capital of the Saklant Empire first.’
Stopping the invasion of the Undead Legion was the top priority.
‘If we get pushed back even once by the Undead Legion, it’s over.’
The Undead Legion grew its forces by resurrecting the dead.
It could procure troops locally without needing reinforcements through dimensional gates.
That was why.
‘Early suppression is key.’
Kang Hyun-soo gathered his party.
After crossing the border on flying summons.
He planned to use a dimensional gate to reach the Saklant Empire’s capital.
But there was a slight issue.
‘The golems are the problem.’
Kang Hyun-soo’s summons could be summoned and unsummoned at any time.
‘But golems can’t.’
As physical weapons, they couldn’t be summoned or unsummoned.
They could only be disintegrated or powered down.
“Yuka, you might have to come a bit slower.”
It was possible to cross the border with golems loaded on flying summons.
‘But using a spatial transfer gate would be tough.’
Yuka and the golems could either follow slowly on flying summons.
Or stay here and wait—that was the best option.
“Slowly?”
“Yeah.”
Kang Hyun-soo briefly explained the situation.
“Don’t worry!”
Yuka smiled brightly in response.
“Golem Storage!”
She activated a skill.
In that instant.
Shaaa!
Pitch-black darkness swallowed all the golems.
“What’s this skill?”
It wasn’t in Yuka’s status window when Kang Hyun-soo had checked.
“It appeared not long ago. It just stores and releases golems. It’s useless in combat, so I was disappointed, but now it’s coming in handy.”
Kang Hyun-soo was speechless at Yuka’s cheerful reply.
‘This is a spatial skill.’
Specifically, a sub-space skill for storing objects.
“How many golems can it hold? What’s the cooldown? Skill rank?”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s questions.
“There’s no limit on quantity. It just stores and releases golems, so no cooldown. It was EX-rank from the start.”
“I-is that so? That’s insane.”
Kang Hyun-soo looked at the Mad Blood Witch Yuka with a dazed expression.
Spatial skills were extremely rare.
And a spatial skill with no quantity limit or cooldown was even rarer.
‘Well, it’s limited to golems only, so maybe that’s why.’
Even accounting for that.
It was an insanely overpowered skill.
‘The strategic advantage is huge.’
It solved the Mad Blood Witch Yuka’s biggest weakness: mobility.
And yet, with such a cheat skill.
‘She treats it like no big deal.’
Come to think of it, the pre-regression Mad Blood Witch Yuka had never stored her golems in sub-space even once.
She always kept them out.
‘Did she never feel the need?’
That could be.
The Mad Blood Witch Yuka was humanity’s strongest player.
‘She preferred all-out battles over ambushes when attacking.’
She also enjoyed slowly crushing foes in terror until they died.
‘What if the pre-regression Mad Blood Witch Yuka had actively used this skill?’
Humanity’s losses might have been even greater.
But conversely?
‘She might have become too vulnerable to assassinations.’
If ambushed while moving or infiltrating a city with golems stored.
‘She could’ve died pathetically.’
Without golems, the Mad Blood Witch Yuka’s combat power was practically zero.
Either way.
‘Jackpot.’
The pre-regression Mad Blood Witch Yuka hadn’t used the golem storage skill due to her own safety and personal style.
‘But it’s no issue for the current Yuka.’
Safety without golems summoned? His party could cover that.
And her biggest problem, mobility, was now solved.
“Let’s go.”
Kang Hyun-soo’s party boarded aerial summons and moved at high speed.
They entered the city.
And used the spatial transfer gate to head to the Saklant Empire’s capital.
* * *
Grraaaw!
Uwaaaagh!
Ghouls and skeletons overran the Saklant Empire’s capital.
The capital guard and players tried to hold them back.
But there were too many.
Plus, while ghouls and skeletons were typically low-tier undead monsters.
Clang!
“Swords aren’t cutting it!”
“Use attack skills!”
Boom!
“They’re not even flinching! Why are they so tough?”
They were far sturdier than any ghouls or skeletons players had faced before.
Boom!
Their attack power was stronger too.
And then.
Roooar!
Massive ghouls over four meters tall.
Whiiiinny!
Skeleton knights charging on skeletal horses.
They displayed prowess rivaling top rankers.
On top of that.
“Corpse Explosion!”
“Bone Spear!”
High-tier undead liches provided ranged harassment.
“Rise, oh dead ones!”
They resurrected dead players as undead monsters, swelling their ranks.
“We need to wipe out the liches first! Let’s go!”
“Hah!”
Named players stepped up to counter.
However.
“You shall not pass!”
“Die and join our ranks!”
Death knights, top-tier undead like the liches, blocked their path.
“Why haven’t we cleared those bastards yet! Is the mighty Saklant Empire this weak!”
Emperor Karl XIII of the Saklant Empire exploded in rage.
“It seems the issue stems from deploying all our main forces to the border regions!”
“How long will you keep using that excuse? We issued the mobilization order the moment they invaded, didn’t we? So why haven’t they arrived!”
“The inter-nation spatial transfer gates are deactivated…”
Saklant Empire players stationed at the Frank Kingdom border had rushed toward the capital upon hearing of the invasion.
However.
With national spatial transfer gates disabled.
Even running until their feet blistered, they hadn’t arrived yet.
“You should’ve activated them in advance!”
Emperor Karl XIII bellowed.
But his ministers felt wronged.
After the orc legion invasion.
Some had cited the Rokto Empire’s example and argued for activating gates to other nations.
Who had dismissed it?
Emperor Karl XIII himself.
The reason: easy strikes at the empire’s heart if a vassal state rebelled.
With the emperor wary of vassal rebellions and ordering deactivation, what could ministers say?
They had to shut up.
Speaking up more might invite suspicions of ulterior motives.
And off with their heads.
“Your Majesty, please evacuate for now.”
“You want me to abandon the capital and flee?”
“The empire’s fate rests with Your Majesty. Preserve your sacred body first.”
“Hmm.”
Karl XIII grimaced briefly and glanced at the battlefield.
Allied numbers kept dwindling, while undead monsters kept multiplying.
One misstep, and they’d swarm the palace.
“If you insist, then I must.”
Karl XIII finally prepared to evacuate.
‘Success.’
A satisfied smile crept across Marquis Marius’s lips—the one who’d urged the emperor to flee.
‘An emperor who abandons his capital and people to a demon king’s army.’
Losing the people’s trust was inevitable.
‘Being called a tyrant is just a matter of time.’
Fan the flames right, and replacing the emperor was feasible.
“Please, this way.”
At Marquis Marius’s urging.
“Ahem.”
Karl XIII pretended reluctance and moved.
Then.
Boom!
A massive explosion rang out.
Crimson aura swept away undead monsters.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Over ten thousand troops suddenly appeared.
“Wipe them all out!”
“Yes, sir!”
They butchered the undead with terrifying momentum.
“Ohhh, the empire’s elites have returned!”
Karl XIII beamed.
‘What the?’
Marquis Marius’s face hardened like stone.
‘Troops from the Frank Kingdom border should take at least two more hours?’
The plan was derailed.
* * *
Arriving swiftly at the Saklant Empire’s capital via flying summons, Kang Hyun-soo immediately began purging undead monsters.
‘No time to hesitate and risk exposing ourselves.’
Tens of thousands of civilians had already perished.
The defensive line was on the verge of collapse.
If it fell?
Not tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands of lives at stake.
Boom!
Crimson aura surged like waves, shattering undead bodies.
Kang Hyun-soo’s summons also swiftly crushed the undead.
‘Goddess’s Tear and Holiness stat are cheats, as expected.’
They’d only played support against the orc lord.
But against lower-level undead.
‘The effect is real.’
Plus.
[Eliminated a skeleton and permanently absorbed its demonic energy.]
[Goddess’s Tear EX-rank purifies the absorbed demonic energy, converting it to special stat Holiness.]
[Holiness stat has increased.]
……(omitted)……
Holiness stat rose steadily.
‘Better efficiency than orcs.’
The downside?
‘Poison stat is useless here.’
It had some effect against the orc legion.
But worthless against already-dead undead.
‘Higher Poison stat should work eventually.’
Kang Hyun-soo ate toxic herbs with every meal.
Naturally, his Poison stat was rising slowly.
At higher levels?
It couldn’t poison undead, but could melt them.
Then.
[Afflicted with corpse poison.]
[Strong Poison Resistance neutralizes the corpse poison.]
[Special stat Poison has increased.]
A system message appeared.
‘Huh?’
Undead often carried corpse poison.
It drained health and rotted flesh.
But irrelevant to Kang Hyun-soo with high Poison Resistance.
Instead.
‘Jackpot.’
A prime chance to raise Poison stat easily.
‘The issue is Song Ha-na, Fist Emperor, and Yuka.’
-Be careful of corpse poison, everyone.
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words.
-Got it, don’t worry.
Song Ha-na blocked it with defensive skills.
-Poison? Just burn it off.
Fist Emperor incinerated it with golden aura.
The problem was…
-My head’s spinning.
The Mad Blood Witch Yuka.
Roooar!
The Mad Blood Witch Yuka was wreaking havoc with her golems.
But while golems blocked physical attacks and skills.
They couldn’t stop airborne corpse poison.
‘Even with Immortal Holy Flame, it’s this bad.’
Leaving it could be dangerous.
-Wait.
Kang Hyun-soo headed to the Mad Blood Witch Yuka.
“Hyun-soo, my head’s dizzy.”
Under the protection of her sturdy main golem, the Mad Blood Witch Yuka staggered toward Kang Hyun-soo.
“Support me, please.”
She leaned into him slyly.
“Eat this!”
Instead of supporting, Kang Hyun-soo shoved an antidote into her mouth.
“Urk! Blech!”
“Chew it properly.”
Always carrying toxic herbs to build Poison stat, Kang Hyun-soo kept top-grade antidotes for emergencies.
He fed one to the Mad Blood Witch Yuka.
“It’s so bitter!”
“Good things are bitter. Dizzy anymore?”
“No.”
Whether from the antidote or the bitterness snapping her awake.
The dizziness was gone.
“I’ll give you some. Eat one if poisoned.”
With that, Kang Hyun-soo launched back into battle.
“Eeeek!”
The Mad Blood Witch Yuka pouted, watching his back wistfully.
Then, blushing suddenly, she touched her lips.
‘Hyun-soo’s hand touched my mouth.’
Her mood lifted.
‘If not for those bastards, I could be by Hyun-soo’s side right now.’
Rage at the undead surged.
‘Gotta wipe them out quick to get back to Hyun-soo.’
Her battle spirit flared.
“Wipe them all out!”
The Mad Blood Witch Yuka ordered her golems.
“Golem Summon! Golem Fusion!”
She busily made or reinforced golems from undead corpses, continuing the fight.