Chapter 178
Chapter 178
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Ice Flower Divine Sword (2)
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What awaited them was...
Slash! Crunch!
Kang Hyun-soo's summoned beasts.
'No need for me to step in personally.'
Even the summons alone were cleaning things up in an instant.
At that moment.
Boom!
A small explosion rang out, and the summoned beasts vanished.
"Hmm?"
Kang Hyun-soo turned his head toward the source.
'The Mad Dog King?'
The current head of the Mantis Guild.
'Impressive.'
His skills were extraordinarily advanced.
'He could easily be called the Mad Dog Emperor.'
He possessed the strength of a top-tier Named Player.
And he wasn't alone.
Around thirty others, who looked like Named Players and Ranker Players, followed behind him.
'Anything short of a brigade commander-level summon would struggle to hold them off.'
Whoosh!
Kang Hyun-soo launched himself toward the Mad Dog King and the Mantis Guild's leadership.
At the same time, he summoned a legion, including Doppelganger King Talisman and Orc Lord Kashku—both former demon realm nobles—along with two Death Knights.
'Can't let even one of them slip away.'
These malignant tumors had to be eradicated all at once.
"Out of my way!"
As Kang Hyun-soo blocked his path, the Mad Dog King swung his massive blade.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blue aura riding on the massive blade carried an extraordinary momentum.
However.
Boom!
Kang Hyun-soo's single strike sent the Mad Dog King's massive blade flying back.
"What the—?"
The Mad Dog King was visibly rattled.
He was mockingly called the Mad Dog King,
but a king was still a king.
Moreover, his actual skills were on par with the top Named Players of Emperor, Sovereign, Saint, or Sage rank.
For his full-force attack to be blocked so easily, he had no choice but to panic.
But the panic was brief.
"Hah!"
The blue aura on the Mad Dog King's massive blade blazed even fiercer.
"Die!"
The Mad Dog King charged at Kang Hyun-soo.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
'He's faster now. And his attack power has increased too.'
It seemed he'd activated an attack skill and a buff skill simultaneously.
But.
'That's all he's got.'
Each time Kang Hyun-soo effortlessly parried the massive blade and swung his sword in return.
Slash!
Large and small cuts appeared on the Mad Dog King's body.
"Urgh! You coward! Using debuff skills!"
Every time the blue aura on the Mad Dog King's massive blade clashed with Kang Hyun-soo's blood-red aura, it flickered weakly.
The skills enveloping his body failed to exert their full power.
Thanks to the options on Vampiric Aura and the Sword of Gluttony.
"What's cowardly about fighting to win?"
By that logic, using buff skills was cowardly, and so was activating attack skills embedded in items.
"And even without debuff skills, you think you could beat me?"
Kang Hyun-soo asked the Mad Dog King with a puzzled look.
In the past, Kang Hyun-soo had been the head of the Dark Knights, bearing the title of Blood God Slayer.
'But that was mostly gear carry.'
His raw skill hadn't matched players with divine titles.
But that was the past.
He had subjugated Lemonshits, the demon realm count, earning a massive haul of EX-Rank achievements.
And he'd steadily built up his accumulated stats.
As a result, the current Kang Hyun-soo?
Even without relying on gear, his pure skill had grown to match a bearer of a divine title.
Grit!
The Mad Dog King ground his teeth.
Truth be told, he knew it.
Even without this bizarre debuff skill, the opponent's swordsmanship overwhelmed his blade arts.
The stat gap was immense too.
"Damn it, I came here to avoid one monster, only to find another."
"What?"
Kang Hyun-soo tilted his head at the Mad Dog King's words.
Avoid a monster and come here?
What the hell did that mean?
'Whatever. I can just ask after turning him into a summon.'
A guy like the Mad Dog King?
'Plenty useful as a brigade commander-level summon.'
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Kang Hyun-soo unleashed a barrage, the Mad Dog King was steadily pushed back.
He glanced sideways, hoping for help from his subordinates.
'Damn it.'
His subordinates were already wiped out.
'What the hell are these guys?'
He knew his subordinates' skills better than anyone.
Especially in PvP, not against monsters, they shone brightest. For them to be overwhelmingly crushed in such a short time...
Even a player with a divine title couldn't do that.
For it to be possible.
'They'd all have to be divine-level powerhouses.'
Which was realistically impossible.
Slash!
In that moment, the Mad Dog King's left arm was severed.
The price of that momentary glance.
He couldn't beat the opponent with both arms intact; losing one made it impossible.
Clang!
The massive blade in his right hand soared into the air.
Whoosh!
A sword wrapped in red aura flew toward the Mad Dog King.
"Shit."
With that short curse as his last words.
Slash!
The Mad Dog King's body split from head to groin.
Thud.
'It's over.'
The Mad Dog King and the Mantis Guild's core executives had been dealt with.
'Legion composition.'
Shaaa!
As Kang Hyun-soo activated the skill, the Mad Dog King and the Mantis Guild's core executives revived as summons.
'Nice. Appoint as commander. Commander's Blessing.'
Having appointed the Mad Dog King as a brigade commander, Kang Hyun-soo surveyed the surroundings.
'All done.'
The rocky mountain had completely collapsed.
And all the Mantis Guild members who escaped were annihilated.
[You have achieved a remarkable feat.]
[Title: Avenger of the Wronged Spirits S-Rank has grown to SS-Rank.]
[You have achieved a remarkable feat.]
[Title: Guardian of Freedom SS-Rank has grown to SSS-Rank Guardian of Freedom.]
'Pretty good rewards.'
He was a bit disappointed it was only one rank up,
'But handling the Mantis Guild branches should fix that.'
If it didn't reach EX-Rank?
'I'll just track down the Murderer Guild in the Saklant Empire and crush them.'
Problem was, he had no lead yet.
The summons busily gathered items.
Kang Hyun-soo did the same.
'Quite a few high-rank skillbooks.'
The Mantis Guild's core members were Named Players and Rankers.
Naturally, most of their skills were high-rank.
'And plenty of EX-Rank ones too.'
A satisfied smile crept across Kang Hyun-soo's lips.
Low-rank skills were useful but awkward to learn.
Upgrading ranks was no small ordeal.
High-rank skills, though?
'You can use them right after learning.'
Kang Hyun-soo's main arsenal was mostly replica skills,
but the high-rank skillbooks he'd acquired so far had been a huge help.
'Alright, time to withdraw.'
Once item recovery was done, Kang Hyun-soo reverse-summoned all but one summon.
The one left was the one based on the Mad Dog King.
"Where are the other branches?"
"The Ramepazil Kingdom branch is..."
At Kang Hyun-soo's question, the Mad Dog King immediately reported the locations of each kingdom's branches.
"Time for a touring performance, then."
At Kang Hyun-soo's words, the Mad Dog King spoke up.
"Master, they're all dead."
"What?"
Kang Hyun-soo gave the Mad Dog King a puzzled look.
"All the Mantis Guild branch members are dead?"
"Yes."
The summon wouldn't lie, so it was 100% true.
"What the hell happened...?"
As Kang Hyun-soo continued.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A powerful aura infused with mana flew toward him.
Whoosh!
Kang Hyun-soo unleashed Vampiric Aura and swung the Sword of Gluttony.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted.
'Who is that?'
Even with Vampiric Aura and the Sword of Gluttony weakening the mana-infused attack, his hand tingled fiercely from the sheer power.
"Hyun-soo!"
"Hyun-soo!"
Startled by the sudden ambush, Song Ha-na and Yuka whipped into combat stance, facing the direction the attack came from.
"I thought the Mad Dog King was the leader of those murderers, but apparently not. And he's got an evil lich with him too."
Then came a mid-low voice thick with killing intent.
'Who?'
The owner of the voice was a man in his early thirties, his body covered in solid muscle.
'Dual swords?'
Over two meters tall, with a massively muscled frame.
Two swords of differing lengths.
"No way, you...?"
Before Kang Hyun-soo could finish.
Thud!
The muscular giant in his early thirties swung his dual swords and charged at Kang Hyun-soo.
"Wait, it's a misunderstanding!"
But the opponent was already upon him before he could finish.
"Tch!"
Kang Hyun-soo erupted with Vampiric Aura and swung the Sword of Gluttony.
Boom!
The auras clashed, unleashing a massive explosion.
That was the start.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The muscular giant in his early thirties and Kang Hyun-soo fiercely collided.
"It's a misunderstanding! I'm not with the Mantis Guild—I took them down!"
"Ridiculous! Then why is the Mad Dog King, their leader and your mortal enemy, acting like your loyal subordinate? And what are those reeking of demonic energy—the liches?!"
Kang Hyun-soo frowned at the muscular giant's words.
'This is bad.'
Since he'd appointed him as brigade commander, the Mad Dog King's appearance was identical to when he was alive.
His intelligence was relatively low,
but that didn't show on the surface.
Same for the liches.
They weren't Kang Hyun-soo's summons, so reverse-summoning wasn't an option.
'If he'd shown up during the fight, there'd be no misunderstanding.'
Right after the battle ended, with other summons dismissed and only the Mad Dog King remaining, the confusion arose.
'Can't reveal the truth of One-Man Legion either.'
He couldn't carelessly disclose his class skill to those who weren't his subordinates.
"I just dominated their minds with a skill!"
At Kang Hyun-soo's fib.
"Hmph. Dominate the minds of a top Named Player and a lich? Lie within reason!"
The muscular giant scoffed.
"I'm really not with the Mantis Guild."
"Shut your nonsense!"
'Argh, seriously.'
As Kang Hyun-soo grew frustrated, Song Ha-na, the Fist Emperor, and Yuka moved to join the fight.
-Stay out of it.
Kang Hyun-soo quickly issued the order.
Then he addressed the muscular giant again.
"I get why you'd suspect me given the circumstances, but how about we talk it out first?"
"You think I'll listen to a murderer who joined hands with the Demon King's army?!"
"Then no choice. I'll have to subdue you and talk."
"Hah!"
The muscular giant scoffed at Kang Hyun-soo's words.
"Subdue me? Try it if you can!"
With those words, his mana exploded, and blue and red auras rose from his two swords.
'As expected.'
A muscular man over two meters tall.
Two swords of different lengths.
'Ice Flower Divine Sword.'
One of the players who received a divine title.
Belonging to no nation or guild, a lone wanderer.
He'd heard the man shone in the war against the Demon King's army.
'But I've never met him in person.'
Because he died on the battlefield before they could cross paths.
'They said he had a fiery temper.'
The Fist Emperor fell into a trap and died upholding the honor of the Toin tribe.
Ice Flower Divine Sword met a similar fate.
Fell into a trap exploiting his fiery temper.
And died.
'The limit of a lone powerhouse without backing.'
Any ordinary trap, he could've broken through with the strength that earned him a divine title.
'But facing a demon realm archduke alone was impossible.'
He had a fiery temper,
but a righteous heart.
He couldn't tolerate injustice.
'A talent too good to die in a trap.'
That's why he'd tried to find him through Shadow Dark.
But failed.
Now, that very man had walked right into his lap.
'Of course I have to recruit him.'
Of course, to persuade him, he'd need to clear the misunderstanding and talk.
And to do that, he had to take down the Ice Flower Divine Sword.