Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: The Utilization of the Nightmare Skill
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‘Found it.’
A bright smile bloomed on Kang Hyun-soo’s lips.
‘I was wondering why liches couldn’t be turned into summons.’
Kang Hyun-soo was well aware of what a lich was.
That was why he had been quite curious about the true nature of the Life Force Vessel.
‘The souls are gathered here.’
Unlike Death Knights, the liches’ souls resided not in their flesh, but in the Life Force Vessel.
That was why they couldn’t be made into summons, of course.
‘Could I make them into summons using the Life Force Vessel?’
For now, it was impossible to turn them into summons.
What would it take to make it possible?
Crunch!
Kang Hyun-soo gripped the Life Force Vessel—presumed to belong to Viscount Rimonshitz’s Arch Lich King—with tremendous force.
-Kraaaak!
A scream tore from the Arch Lich King’s Life Force Vessel as its soul was crushed.
‘Pretty sturdy.’
It didn’t seem like it would break under ordinary impacts.
‘If I smash it to pieces, the soul trapped inside the Life Force Vessel should pop out.’
What if he used his Legion Formation Skill then?
He could probably turn it into a summon.
But.
‘I don’t need to go that far. I can make good use of it as is.’
The Life Force Vessel was the true body of the liches, containing their souls.
‘The visible flesh is just a shell. That’s why they can revive endlessly as long as they have the Life Force Vessel.’
And.
‘If I hold the Life Force Vessel, I can control the revived liches.’
Viscount Rimonshitz had been a lich and an independent lord.
Thus, he kept the Life Force Vessels of his subordinate liches within his own body.
‘If he’d had a lord he served, Viscount Rimonshitz probably wouldn’t have kept his own Life Force Vessel on him.’
That lord would have held Viscount Rimonshitz’s Life Force Vessel instead.
‘Lucky for me.’
If Viscount Rimonshitz hadn’t kept his Life Force Vessel on his person?
He would have won the battle only to miss out on the real prize.
‘Guess he didn’t have anyone trustworthy.’
If he had?
He would have entrusted his Life Force Vessel to that subordinate.
But that didn’t seem likely.
Kang Hyun-soo not only squeezed with raw strength but also unleashed various attack skills on the Life Force Vessel to jolt it.
-Kuueeek!
Each time, the soul stored within writhed in agony.
The Life Force Vessel was everything to a lich.
If the entrusted subordinate betrayed them.
Or if someone stole the Life Force Vessel.
‘Viscount Rimonshitz would lose everything in an instant.’
There were ways to store it in a hidden place unknown to all.
‘But nothing’s absolute in this world.’
He couldn’t shake the anxiety that someone might find it and seize his lifeline.
On top of that.
‘The reason for storing the Life Force Vessel elsewhere is to enable revival.’
If stored in some unknown place?
Revival would be impossible without a supply of demonic energy.
‘That could lead to the disaster of being trapped in the Life Force Vessel forever.’
That was why Viscount Rimonshitz had kept his greatest weakness—the Life Force Vessel—within his own body.
‘Plenty of demons in the demon realm must have been after it.’
Securing the Life Force Vessel meant gaining a subordinate who would never betray you.
And this.
‘Benefits me too.’
Kang Hyun-soo had struggled with deploying summons infused with demonic energy.
Wielding summons that reeked of demonic energy could paint him as a demon king’s minion or a traitor to humanity.
‘But with just the Life Force Vessel, I can solve that problem.’
Kang Hyun-soo had eliminated Viscount Rimonshitz and secured numerous Life Force Vessels.
That meant he could openly command liches.
‘If I disguise them as undead monsters summoned by the liches, I can deploy demonic energy-wielding summons without issue.’
There was still the political issue, though.
No matter how firm a grip he had with the Life Force Vessel.
Liches were evil demons and necromancers.
‘The chance of demands to destroy them outright is high.’
But that.
‘Can be cleanly resolved with the emperor’s permission.’
The emperor of the Rokto Empire was under the command of Cecilia, Kang Hyun-soo’s subordinate, so that was a given.
‘The problem is the Saklant Empire.’
There was one way.
‘Use Karl XIII’s thirst for revenge.’
If he claimed it was a measure to inflict greater damage on the demon king’s army?
Approval was likely.
‘He owes me one, after all.’
It was a plain fact that the Dark Knight had saved Karl XIII’s life.
In the process, one of the top powerhouses in the Dark Knights—someone worthy of a divine title—had perished.
This gave him ample grounds to boast against the Saklant Empire.
‘In reality, it was just stat consumption, so the loss wasn’t huge.’
But since the Saklant Empire didn’t know that, it was ripe for exploitation.
‘Quite a haul, anyway.’
He hadn’t counted precisely yet.
But there were roughly a hundred Lich Life Force Vessels.
‘Considering how they fought on the battlefield…’
It was like reeling in an enormous force, roots and all.
Demonic energy supply was no issue either.
Kang Hyun-soo had the Orb of Demonic Energy.
‘I’ll need to invest demonic energy into these Life Force Vessels for quite a while.’
Reviving the Arch Lich King Viscount Rimonshitz alone would require an immense amount.
And that wasn’t even counting the hundred or so Arch Liches and Liches.
‘I’ll be hunting nonstop for a while.’
But.
‘It’s more than worth it.’
No, securing Viscount Rimonshitz plus over a hundred liches for just that much effort was an unbelievable profit.
‘I have to hunt anyway.’
Pheasant, egg, view, and mulberry all in one.
Killing multiple birds with one stone.
‘First, meet with Karl XIII.’
With Karl XIII’s permission, he could freely use the liches and demonic energy-infused summons in the Saklant Empire and its vassal states without reservation.
* * *
“You intend to revive the wicked lich that killed Sir Ri? Impossible! Destroy it at once!”
‘Oh, come on.’
Kang Hyun-soo grimaced.
A snag had arisen in what seemed like a smooth plan.
Karl XIII had begun raging, demanding the destruction of Viscount Rimonshitz’s Life Force Vessel.
‘His eyes are completely gone.’
Karl XIII didn’t appear to be in a sound state of mind.
He seemed consumed by the madness of vengeance.
“Your Majesty, please calm yourself.”
“I won’t hear it!”
Even the words of the Loyal Duke Richard failed to quell Karl XIII’s fury.
“No being tied to demons will be forgiven!”
Karl XIII had already issued an imperial decree to exterminate the bloodlines and retainers of nobles harboring demon king’s minions.
‘At first, he ordered everyone involved killed.’
The Loyal Duke Richard had barely managed to stop that.
If that decree had gone through?
It would have massacred innocent servants, maids, and even territorial soldiers.
“Hand over that wicked lich’s Life Force Vessel at once.”
To Karl XIII’s words.
“No.”
Kang Hyun-soo refused outright.
“This is spoils of war I earned by defeating Demon Realm Viscount Rimonshitz. It’s mine, not Your Majesty’s.”
“What?”
Karl XIII’s eyes bulged.
He hadn’t expected Kang Hyun-soo to openly defy him.
“Our Dark Knights defended the Saklant Empire at great sacrifice and saved Your Majesty’s life. How can you demand I surrender an item that will greatly aid the war against the demon king’s army?”
Kang Hyun-soo subtly reframed the liches’ Life Force Vessels as mere items.
‘System messages pop up, so they’re items, right?’
Red messages instead of blue ones, but still.
“How dare you!”
Karl XIII trembled with rage.
“Your Majesty, the Dark Lord Grand Duke is Sir Ri’s benefactor and like blood kin. Tormenting him would grieve Sir Ri.”
“Hmph.”
At the Loyal Duke Richard’s words, Karl XIII forcibly suppressed his anger.
After the Doppelganger King Talisman’s first meeting with Karl XIII.
The Doppelganger King Talisman, who had stuck close to Karl XIII ever since, had diligently sung praises.
Mostly of Kang Hyun-soo and the Dark Knights.
To foster greater favor toward Kang Hyun-soo and the Dark Knights in Karl XIII.
He’d used every angle available.
Including emphasizing how precious Kang Hyun-soo and the Dark Knights were to him.
“It might aid the fight against the demon king’s army, but it’s still a demon, isn’t it? Who knows when it might slip control and turn enemy.”
Karl XIII began persuading Kang Hyun-soo.
He rattled on with various arguments.
‘Bottom line: he has no intention of letting live the enemy who killed his first love, Sir Ri.’
But from Kang Hyun-soo’s standpoint, he couldn’t relinquish Demon Realm Viscount Rimonshitz’s Life Force Vessel.
‘It’s the top spoil from this battle.’
Moreover, it provided justification to freely use demonic energy-infused summons.
Naturally, no matter how much Karl XIII threw a tantrum, Kang Hyun-soo couldn’t let him destroy Demon Realm Viscount Rimonshitz’s Life Force Vessel.
‘If Cecilia vouches for it, it carries authority.’
The issue was that using them in the Saklant Empire and its vassals would be trickier.
Since Karl XIII was already grinding his teeth over the now-vanished Rimonshitz.
‘I want to tell him that keeping it alive for eternal torment is the fitting revenge.’
But it wouldn’t reach the ears of Karl XIII, gripped by vengeance.
‘I need to redirect Karl XIII’s revenge from the Life Force Vessel I hold—which is Rimonshitz—to the demon king’s army.’
Then, a certain skill flashed in Kang Hyun-soo’s mind.
‘Might work?’
It seemed plenty feasible.
‘Then I’ll wait for nightfall.’
Kang Hyun-soo and Karl XIII parted after fruitless persuasion.
That night.
‘Shadow of the Moon.’
Kang Hyun-soo used Shadow of the Moon to infiltrate Karl XIII’s bedchamber.
‘The security is insane.’
Was it because Karl XIII, an emperor, had once faced mortal peril?
The Loyal Duke Richard and the imperial guards had the bedchamber perfectly surrounded.
But.
Swoosh!
They couldn’t block Kang Hyun-soo using Shadow of the Moon.
‘Fortunately, no guards inside the bedroom itself.’
If there had been, he’d have had to wait for another chance. Lucky.
“Sir Ri… Sir Ri…”
Even in his dreams, Karl XIII sought the Doppelganger King Talisman.
‘He’s really hooked.’
Kang Hyun-soo was dumbfounded.
They hadn’t even been mutual lovers—just a one-sided crush.
And they hadn’t spent much time together.
‘Quick to fall, huh?’
It was astonishing how deeply he’d fallen in such a short time.
‘Time to begin.’
Kang Hyun-soo activated the EX-Rank Nightmare skill embedded in the Ring of Nightmares.
‘Oh ho.’
Fortunately, Karl XIII fell to the Nightmare skill easily.
‘I was worried about all the defensive items he wears even in sleep.’
But it worked smoothly.
Moreover.
‘Though it’s supposed to be a nightmare.’
The user of the skill shaped that nightmare.
Which meant…
‘The skill user can make them dream whatever they want, not just nightmares.’
Kang Hyun-soo began shaping Karl XIII’s dream to his desires.