Chapter 176
Chapter 176
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: Utilizing the Nightmare Skill (2)
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“Gasp!”
King Carl XIII awoke from sleep.
“Aaah!”
Upon waking, King Carl XIII despaired.
‘It was just a dream.’
He had reunited with Lady Ri, whom he thought he’d never see again.
But it had all been a mere dream.
“Lady Ri…”
Tears streamed from King Carl XIII’s eyes.
Even in the dream, she had worried about him.
“I will avenge you, no matter what.”
The lich, who held the title of demon count, was the culprit who had stolen King Carl XIII’s first love.
He could not be allowed to live.
King Carl XIII resumed his daily routine, spending meaningless time with Archduke Dark Lord, the leader of the Dark Knights.
And then night fell.
With a glimmer of hopeful anticipation, King Carl XIII drifted off to sleep.
That night, he reunited with her once more in his dream.
Thus, a week passed.
“I grant your request.”
King Carl XIII permitted the use of Rimonschitz’s Life Force Vessel.
‘Tough bastard.’
But Kang Hyun-soo’s expression wasn’t great.
He had spent a full week working on it to finally get approval.
Fortunately, Moon’s Shadow had a 12-hour cooldown, allowing him to wrap things up.
‘Lucky there was more than one item with the Nightmare skill built in.’
The Nightmare skill had a 24-hour cooldown.
It could only be used once a day.
Of course, Equivalent Exchange could allow more uses.
‘But right after the battle, my stacks weren’t that plentiful.’
All stacks were off cooldown now.
At first, after the undead legion fight, he had only two stacks left due to heavy consumption.
One had to be saved for consecutive Moon’s Shadow uses, leaving just one.
The problem was King Carl XIII’s stubbornness, tough as steel tendons.
So he borrowed the Nightmare Earrings from Song Hana and the Nightmare Necklace from the Fist Emperor, both embedded with the Nightmare skill.
This way, without using Equivalent Exchange, he could cast Nightmare three times in a single night.
Later, after using Equivalent Exchange?
He started casting Nightmare the moment King Carl XIII fell asleep and kept going until just before he woke.
The result redirected King Carl XIII’s thirst for revenge from Rimonschitz personally to the entire demon army.
“You must keep your promise to me.”
King Carl XIII spoke in a voice thick with murderous intent.
“Of course. I’m not keeping this guy because I like him.”
With those words, Kang Hyun-soo crushed Rimonschitz’s Life Force Vessel with force.
-Kraaaagh!
A wretched scream erupted from Rimonschitz’s Life Force Vessel.
It struck directly at the soul.
‘It’s probably no less painful than physical torment.’
Perhaps even worse.
A grin of madness bloomed on King Carl XIII’s lips as he heard the scream from Rimonschitz’s Life Force Vessel.
“Thank you, Archduke Dark Lord. Without you, I might have granted that wicked lich eternal rest instead of eternal torment.”
“Not at all.”
Kang Hyun-soo replied calmly.
He had suffered for a week to bend King Carl XIII’s vengeful will.
“And coordination with the Rokto Empire is going smoothly. I thought Empress Yeo might disapprove, but she’s surprisingly magnanimous.”
The outcome was splendid.
King Carl XIII was consumed by one obsession: revenge against the demon army.
He would do anything for it.
‘Worth the effort.’
Kang Hyun-soo had firmly gripped the reins on King Carl XIII during his stormy youth phase.
For successful revenge, he needed full cooperation with the Dark Knights.
Especially obeying Kang Hyun-soo’s words—like half brainwashing him.
‘Duke Richard of Loyalty’s glare is a bit concerning.’
He looked at Kang Hyun-soo like a scheming minister manipulating the emperor from the shadows.
But thanks to Kang Hyun-soo, the madness of revenge had subsided.
The remaining madness was redirected into rational impulses rather than blind rage, so things stayed relatively quiet.
‘And I said I’d be leaving.’
If Kang Hyun-soo had said he’d stay in the capital, the scrutiny would have intensified.
But he said he’d leave after this matter.
‘Not meddling in Saklant Empire politics.’
He clearly showed no desire for power.
‘Well, I did snag some wealth.’
Under the pretext of blocking demon army invasions, King Carl XIII generously invested in strengthening the Dark Knights.
‘Not his real motive, though.’
It was because Lady Ri in the dream had said she didn’t want others dying like her in the Dark Knights.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
“Please crush the demon army invasion splendidly. Call on me anytime if you need aid.”
“I will.”
With that, Kang Hyun-soo left Saklant Empire’s imperial castle.
* * *
“Hyun-soo!”
“Hyun-soo!”
As Kang Hyun-soo appeared, Song Hana and Yuka greeted him with bright smiles.
Then the two locked eyes in a staring contest again.
“You’re here.”
The Fist Emperor waved at Kang Hyun-soo.
“You’ve arrived, my lord.”
Kang Hyun-soo smiled at Red Flame Emperor Dorchov’s words and spoke.
“We can depart now.”
No sooner had Kang Hyun-soo spoken.
“Did you secure it?”
“Good thing.”
“We made it just in time.”
Benevolent Army King Shin Chang-hu, Sword King Jang Seok-won, and Extermination Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong spoke in turn.
They were the commanders Kang Hyun-soo had summoned during the clash with the undead legion.
‘Cecilia handled the exclusion well.’
She was the weakest anyway.
And since it was a battle in the capital of Saklant Empire, a potential enemy nation, she was left out.
‘If it got out that Rokto Empire’s emperor was in Saklant, it’d be chaos.’
It had been a precautionary measure, but now it was a stroke of genius.
‘Didn’t expect to burn through them all.’
To save King Carl XIII from Demon Count Rimonschitz’s ambush, he exhausted all stacks of the summon exchange skill.
His rank rose as a result.
‘Still, 20 days cooldown left.’
With massive guild leaders from foreign nations essentially sneaking in as a group, spatial movement gates were off-limits.
The four he summoned were stuck.
“Here.”
Kang Hyun-soo handed each a gold plaque.
“Ooh, this is it.”
Extermination Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong made a fuss.
This plaque was extracted from Emperor Carl XIII of Saklant under the pretext that Dark Knights needed it for smooth operations.
A kind of ID with seal technology.
“With this, they approve anything without questions?”
It allowed spatial gate use, and in emergencies, inspections plus funds and troops.
“Always get my permission first.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words.
“Understood. Don’t worry. And would I even need to use it in the future?”
“True enough.”
Extermination Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong led Zhonghua Guild.
Zhonghua Guild was based in Mightor Kingdom, a Rokto Empire vassal.
The plaque was for gate use.
But unless Kang Hyun-soo summoned him to Saklant for a solo mission, usage would be rare.
“Then let’s head out.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words, the four rose immediately.
“See you later.”
“Call anytime, my lord.”
With brief farewells, they hurried off.
Even with subordinates handling guild ops.
‘It’s been quite a while, so rushing back makes sense.’
Once the four left, Kang Hyun-soo’s group was down to Song Hana, Fist Emperor, and Yuka.
“Where to now?”
Song Hana asked curiously.
“Frank Kingdom.”
“Huh?”
Song Hana looked puzzled at Kang Hyun-soo’s answer.
Why go back to a kingdom already fallen?
“Orcs aren’t spawning anymore, but other monsters still are.”
“Then it’s turned into full monster paradise.”
“Exactly.”
Kang Hyun-soo had volunteered for the cleanup there.
And that wasn’t all.
After sweeping all monsters from former Frank Kingdom?
They’d tour Saklant Empire’s hunting grounds next.
After that?
‘On to Rokto Empire.’
He planned to clean out both empires’ high-level hunting zones.
‘Dimensional gates have limits on monster output.’
One big sweep?
Unless a monster wave hit suddenly, their numbers would drop relatively.
‘We’ve been a bit short so far.’
Kang Hyun-soo’s party couldn’t monopolize all Rokto high-level zones.
‘Nor should we.’
So hopping around for hunts still felt insufficient.
But now Saklant had hunting grounds too?
‘Stay busy, and it’s infinite leveling.’
He’d made Rokto’s emperor his subordinate and secured Saklant’s emperor’s full support.
Time to milk it properly.
“We’ll focus purely on hunting for a while, so brace yourselves.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words, Song Hana and Fist Emperor paled.
Memories of the northern expedition surfaced.
* * *
Time flew by.
Kang Hyun-soo’s group hunted nonstop, save for eating and sleeping.
Kang Hyun-soo even used summons to hunt 24/7, even while resting.
After the grueling march, Song Hana, Fist Emperor, and Yuka’s eyes grew hollow, cheeks sunken.
But the gains matched.
Levels rose, sure.
‘Filled up fast.’
The Orb of Demonic Energy was full.
“Absorb it.”
Kang Hyun-soo told Doppelganger King Taliman.
Doppelganger King Taliman absorbed the demonic energy from the orb.
Shaaa!
Doppelganger King Taliman surpassed his original’s level.
“Any changes?”
“None, aside from getting stronger, my lord.”
As expected.
He could grow stronger with demonic energy infusion.
But just stronger.
No new skills or enhancements.
‘Summons are based on husks, so limits are inevitable.’
Husk-based summons had clear ceilings.
Husks consisted of lingering resentment from life.
They couldn’t gain or grow beyond the original’s experiences.
‘So no matter how much demonic energy, there’s a cap.’
Just raw power boost.
No qualitative change.
“Inject it here.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s command, Doppelganger King Taliman infused his demonic energy into Rimonschitz’s Life Force Vessel.
‘Bit inconvenient.’
Life Force Vessel couldn’t absorb directly from the orb, requiring this hassle.
Shuuu!
Demonic energy flowed from Doppelganger King Taliman into the vessel.
Once top-tier demon level was injected.
Shaaa!
Pitch-black demonic energy billowed from Rimonschitz’s Life Force Vessel, shaping into a lich form.
‘Just a regular lich.’
Not an Archlich King revival.
Once the lich form solidified.
“Stop now.”
Kang Hyun-soo ordered Doppelganger King Taliman to halt.
-Damn human! What the hell is your goal in reviving me?!
The revived Rimonschitz spat curses and demanded.
“You’re in no position to act so arrogant.”
Kang Hyun-soo gripped Rimonschitz’s Life Force Vessel.
-Kraaagh!
-Kraaagh!
The lich-revived Rimonschitz screamed in agony.
Curiously, the screams came simultaneously from the lich and the vessel.
“Perfect.”
As expected, owning the Life Force Vessel alone.
Allowed full control over the lich-revived Rimonschitz.