Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Desperate Deal (2)
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Kang Hyun-soo landed in front of the collapsed castle gate.
KRAAAAAH!
At that moment, a massive golden drake let out an enraged roar and snapped its jaws wide open toward Kang Hyun-soo.
Its enormous maw, filled with razor-sharp teeth, lunged forward as if to swallow him whole in one bite.
Whoosh!
Kang Hyun-soo swung his sword.
Slash!
A red line appeared on the golden drake's body, starting from the crown of its head where its mouth gaped open.
Boom!
It split cleanly in two.
‘Let’s give it a try.’
KABOOM!
Kang Hyun-soo, enveloped in blood-red aura across his entire body, swung his sword like a madman.
Monsters of all kinds of dragonkin swarmed toward him.
Kyaaah!
Kieeeuk!
But they all fell dead in an instant.
Not a single dragonkin monster managed to surpass Kang Hyun-soo and breach into the castle.
Everyone was stunned by the sight of Kang Hyun-soo single-handedly blocking the advance of the dragonkin monster legion.
‘This much is necessary.’
The Sword of Gluttony boosted his attack power and speed, and on top of that, restored his stamina.
The Guardian Ring activated all sorts of defensive skills to protect Kang Hyun-soo's body.
The Mana Heart and Vampiric Aura supplied him with near-infinite mana.
And that wasn’t all.
Wild Sense alerted him to enemy attacks coming from unseen angles, while the Immortal Sacred Flame healed wounds as soon as they appeared.
His stats were also stacked.
Kang Hyun-soo had only recently
reached level 500 again.
However, he had consumed a significant portion of the stats from his newly gained levels to turn the dragonkin monsters into summons.
As a result, the stats he had raised through leveling were only on par with a level 200 player.
But thanks to his accumulated achievements, built-up stats, and the brigade commander's skill and Beast Transformation that amplified his existing stats,
his raw stats had reached ranker level.
Kang Hyun-soo relentlessly cut down the dragonkin monsters.
[Level increased.]
[Level increased.]
[Level increased.]
……and so on……
Even though he had already hit level 500, his levels shot up like crazy.
Kang Hyun-soo poured every new unallocated stat point into strength and agility.
As his stats increased in real time,
his power grew stronger and his speed faster against the dragonkin monsters.
With Kang Hyun-soo holding the broken gate,
the dragonkin monsters swarmed toward other gates.
They had judged it impossible to break through him and targeted elsewhere.
The named players and rankers were all tied up fighting the Demon Dragon Karas, making it hard to block the elite dragonkin trying to smash the gates.
Kang Hyun-soo only had one body, so he couldn’t cover the other gates.
That was when Song Hana and the Fist Emperor stepped up.
Song Hana swept away the dragonkin monsters with bombardment from her long-range attack skills, slicing apart any that got close with her sword.
The Fist Emperor confronted every monster head-on with his body.
His two fists, wrapped in golden aura, pulverized every approaching dragonkin monster in real time, regardless of size.
With Kang Hyun-soo, Song Hana, and the Fist Emperor blocking the gates,
the dragonkin monsters could only die in vain.
The players on the walls unleashed fierce attacks from the front.
From the rear, Kang Hyun-soo’s summons rampaged wildly.
The number of dragonkin monsters dwindled in real time.
However, there were so many that some still managed to clamber over the walls despite the onslaught.
‘The difference in quantity and quality of basic forces is too vast.’
At this rate, the walls of the great city Baran might fall to the dragonkin monsters.
BOOM!
At that moment, with a massive explosion, the dragonkin monsters clustered on the walls were blown away all at once.
‘Duke Kalmus?’
Duke Kalmus, who had been fighting the Demon Dragon Karas, along with the named players and rankers, were thrown into the fray in large numbers.
‘Where’s the Demon Dragon Karas?’
Kang Hyun-soo scanned the front lines.
In his view, the Demon Dragon Karas had already turned tail and fled, burrowing into the dragonkin monster legion.
‘Dismiss.’
Kang Hyun-soo dismissed the humanoid summons that had been facing the Demon Dragon Karas and the dragonkin summons battling the monsters.
The humanoid summons had no more role to play.
As for the dragonkin summons,
leaving them be would only lead to their annihilation by the Demon Dragon Karas.
There was no need to maintain the summons any longer.
-Where the hell did they go!
The Demon Dragon Karas flew into a rage as the summons suddenly vanished.
But there was nothing it could do.
-KRAAAAAH!
Spewing fury, the Demon Dragon Karas unleashed a massive roar.
At that instant, the dragonkin monster legion, surging like a tidal wave, fell back.
‘The leader fled first, huh.’
It had secured its own safety before ordering the dragonkin monsters to retreat.
‘A shame.’
Duke Kalmus, the Guardian Star of Mulan, had risked his life to try to kill it,
but in the end, it had been impossible.
‘Chasing it off is impressive enough.’
If the Demon Dragon Karas had fought to the death without fleeing,
the odds were higher that the allied forces would have lost.
And so, the first battle between the Mulan Kingdom and the dragonkin monster legion came to an end.
* * *
‘At least it’s better than before regression.’
A satisfied smile crept across Kang Hyun-soo’s lips.
He hadn’t saved Duke Kalmus’s life.
He hadn’t severed the Demon Dragon Karas’s lifeline.
But he had saved countless other lives.
Before his regression, the Mulan Kingdom had crumbled in an instant to the invasion by the Demon Dragon Karas and the dragonkin monster legion.
In just one day, a fifth of Mulan Kingdom’s territory, including the great city Baran, had gone up in flames.
It had been a sudden ambush, with no proper defenses in place.
On top of that, the mid-to-low tier players had been sidelined by the venomous insect legion’s attack.
Moreover, mid-to-low level monsters, whose numbers had grown because those players couldn’t hunt them, had joined the dragonkin legion and rampaged.
With allied forces severely depleted and enemy forces vastly bolstered, the surprise war had inflicted incalculable damage.
But.
‘Things are different now.’
They had repelled the dragonkin monster legion’s first invasion without the great city Baran falling.
‘Once reinforcements arrive through the spatial transfer gate, we can wrap this up smoothly.’
One puzzling point remained.
‘Why haven’t the reinforcements arrived yet?’
Moving large forces through spatial transfer gates was difficult.
Nations also kept gates to other countries closed, so crossing borders meant traveling on foot.
But small elite forces like named players and rankers could move just fine.
With their physical abilities, breaching the border zone was possible within an hour.
Nearly half a day had passed since the battle began.
Reinforcements from the Rokto Empire and the vassal states should be arriving any moment.
Yet it was still quiet.
“You’re the one who held the broken gate? His Excellency Duke Kalmus is looking for you.”
Kang Hyun-soo followed the beastkin who appeared to be a noble.
He saw Duke Kalmus surrounded by nobles.
Having reverted from his werewolf form to his normal beastkin appearance, Duke Kalmus was.
‘Damn handsome.’
With silvery-blue hair and a silver tail.
‘He’d slap an idol in the face.’
An incredibly striking middle-aged man.
“Thanks to you, we prevented Baran’s fall. An impressive young ronin beastkin lad. You’re the pride of us ronin beastkin.”
Duke Kalmus mistook the beast-transformed Kang Hyun-soo for one of his own ronin beastkin kin.
‘If even Duke Kalmus, a ronin beastkin himself, sees me that way.’
Pretending to be a ronin beastkin seemed problem-free.
“You’re still too young for the battlefield, and I feel sorry for that.”
‘I’m an adult.’
The issue was the youthful side effect of the Beast Transformation skill.
“I believe age means nothing when fighting the Demon King’s army.”
Duke Kalmus beamed at Kang Hyun-soo’s response.
“Such resolve is truly admirable. Thank you, and I’m sorry.”
‘Don’t thank me or apologize.’
Hearing empty flattery from Duke Kalmus, whose lifespan was just two and a half days left, pricked his conscience.
“But why do you speak the common tongue instead of Mulan Kingdom language? Do you not know it?”
Kang Hyun-soo was using Atlantis dimension’s common tongue, thinking Korean in beast form would look odd.
Even with passive auto-translation,
people from the same country preferred their native tongue over common, so the duke asked out of curiosity.
“Yes, I don’t. I’m from the Rokto Empire.”
Truth was, as an Earthling, he didn’t know it.
He had at least picked up the common tongue from over 30 years rolling around the Atlantis dimension before regression.
“Hmm, I see. Still, it would’ve been good to learn your native language.”
Duke Kalmus looked regretful.
All beastkin in the Atlantis dimension traced their roots to the Mulan Kingdom.
But there were exceptions, like those who migrated and settled elsewhere.
Duke Kalmus assumed Kang Hyun-soo was one such case.
And because of that,
he didn’t seem to have strong patriotism for Mulan Kingdom.
“Your Excellency, I’ve brought those who defended the north and south gates.”
Then Count Bukaku arrived with Song Hana and the Fist Emperor.
“Ohh, so you’re the heroes who guarded the north and south gates. I salute your bravery and spirit.”
Duke Kalmus praised Song Hana and the Fist Emperor.
‘He has no prejudice against the Fist Emperor.’
The Fist Emperor was an earth beastkin.
One might expect bias from Duke Kalmus, a ronin beastkin,
but none showed.
“A party of three, eh? Mulan Kingdom’s future looks bright. Such young beastkin already making such contributions.”
He seemed even happier.
‘Does he feel more affection for fellow beastkin than for the human Song Hana?’
As the saying goes, the arm bends inward, so probably.
“I shall bestow great rewards upon you.”
Kang Hyun-soo’s eyes sparkled at Duke Kalmus’s words.
‘Rewards?’
Duke Kalmus was Mulan Kingdom’s highest noble.
Plus, a named player bearing the title Guardian Star of Mulan.
Rewards from such a figure?
‘How could I not expect something?’
He hadn’t acted for rewards,
but.
‘If offered, accepting is only natural.’
Refusing a gift was bad manners.
“I bestow upon you the title of baron and a fiefdom.”
Kang Hyun-soo’s face, full of anticipation,
‘Damn it.’
crumpled in ruin.
‘Give me items or skill books.’
A noble title and fiefdom.
A local of the Atlantis dimension would rejoice,
but for Kang Hyun-soo, planning to return to Earth, it was utterly useless.
Worse, it could hinder his activities in the Atlantis dimension.
He was in Mulan Kingdom now,
but only temporarily.
Kang Hyun-soo operated more in other countries.
‘Rights come with duties.’
Becoming a Mulan noble granted commensurate rights, but also duties.
‘This sly fox.’
A title and fief were indeed rewards.
But accepting them?
Meant being tied to Mulan Kingdom forever.
It was a reward and a trap to bind Kang Hyun-soo to Mulan.
‘I have to decline.’
He’d just thought refusing gifts was rude,
but if it was more harm than help?
Declining was right.
“This reward is too generous for me to accept. Please withdraw it.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words,
“The same for me. Please withdraw it.”
“Please withdraw it.”
Song Hana and the Fist Emperor also refused Duke Kalmus’s reward.
‘Didn’t expect the Fist Emperor to refuse too.’
Song Hana was in the same boat as Kang Hyun-soo,
but the Fist Emperor was different, wasn’t he?
“Ahem, I see. Then what should I give?”
Duke Kalmus brushed it off lightly.
But the other nearby nobles’ faces stiffened.
Daring to refuse a reward directly from Duke Kalmus?
And not just any reward, but granting noble titles to commoners—an enormous honor.
Refusing it right in his face.
How rude was that?
‘This is tricky.’
Duke Kalmus maintained a nonchalant expression,
but he was considerably flustered.
He could understand other-dimensional player Song Hana refusing,
but not Kang Hyun-soo, who looked like a ronin beastkin, or the earth beastkin Fist Emperor.
‘Even as free citizens of Rokto Empire, as beastkin, their roots must be Mulan Kingdom. But raised abroad, they lack patriotism for Mulan.’
Duke Kalmus had already investigated their backgrounds.
Thus confirming Kang Hyun-soo and Song Hana as Rokto Empire free citizens.
Asking Kang Hyun-soo if he was from abroad was mere confirmation.
The Fist Emperor held Mulan citizenship,
but.
‘Hanging around those two, he might end up in Rokto Empire.’
Letting things be would mean losing these talents to Rokto.
‘With them, Mulan’s future would be bright.’
Duke Kalmus worried for Mulan’s future.
His own lifespan was just over two days.
He needed replacements.
He saw Kang Hyun-soo and the Fist Emperor as potential successors.
That’s why he offered excessive rewards for their merits to bind them to Mulan.
Yet they refused outright.
‘Still, I must keep some connection.’
At such a young age, they rivaled rankers.
Given time?
They’d likely become perfect replacements.
And perhaps.
‘Unlike my half-baked Guardian Star of Mulan, they could become the true one.’
So, he needed to forge some bond.
Fist Emperor and Martial Sovereign