Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Mantis Guild
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“Slave traders commissioning us?”
“Yes, Master Jo Sa-pyeong. High-level players with noble status are crushing the human hunters, putting them in quite a bind.”
“Oh ho, nobles!”
Jo Sa-pyeong, the Mantis Guild’s branch chief in the Maitor Kingdom and bearer of the Mad Slaughter Sword title, gleamed with interest.
“Any backlash?”
The Mantis Guild was made up of madmen, it was true.
But they knew how to make at least the bare minimum judgment of the situation.
If they didn’t have that much common sense?
They never would have grown to this scale.
“It’s nobles from the Mulan Kingdom, not the Maitor Kingdom.”
“Then even if we kill them, the Maitor Kingdom won’t investigate too aggressively.”
“Exactly. The Mulan Kingdom might send an investigation team, but it’s not their own country—it’s another nation. How hard could they look?”
“The reward?”
“They’ve offered one million gold.”
“Looks like they’re really desperate to put up that kind of sum.”
“I think we should take it.”
“Yeah, probably. Noble blood isn’t something you taste every day. But the pay’s too low. Tell them to send items and slaves worth three million gold.”
“Understood.”
“Noble high-level players. Wonder what color their blood is.”
The eyes of the Mantis Guild’s Maitor Kingdom branch chief, Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong, filled with thick killing intent.
* * *
‘It’s too quiet.’
Kang Hyun-soo had thoroughly wrecked one slave trading post.
Yet there had been no real resistance.
‘Did they just give up?’
When they mobilized their mid-tier guild underlings, they were outmatched in skill.
When they called in the authorities, they were outmatched in status.
From the slave traders’ perspective, there really wasn’t much they could do.
‘Even so, those guys aren’t the type to stay this quiet.’
Give up because they had no options?
No way.
‘They’re the kind who’ll resist with every dirty trick, win or lose.’
They could use guild members from mid-tier guilds as sacrificial pawns to set traps, or leverage bribed nobles to obstruct Kang Hyun-soo’s group.
‘Slave traders are the type who’ll assassinate even nobles if they get in the way of their profits.’
For them to leave a foreign noble alone—even a low-rank baron—was impossible.
‘Well, I’ll just wait patiently.’
Kang Hyun-soo handed the ledgers secured from the slave trading post to the subordinates of Shadow King Cecilia.
‘Having an intelligence network sure is convenient.’
With funding and force secured, Shadow King Cecilia had expanded her influence at a terrifying pace.
She focused especially on building intelligence networks in the Rokto Empire—her main base—and the Maitor Kingdom, where Kang Hyun-soo operated.
The results?
‘Convenient.’
Kang Hyun-soo could strike the slave traders’ bases without much hardship.
‘The next target’s a bit farther away.’
It was a small town without a teleport gate, so they’d have to travel by carriage.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah!”
“Let’s smash this one quick too!”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words, Song Hana and Fist Emperor replied with excited voices.
‘Must feel rewarding.’
Attacking illegal slave markets and rescuing people on the verge of being sold into slavery.
To those who had fallen into slavery, Kang Hyun-soo’s group was a kind of salvation.
The gratitude from the rescued brought a spiritual joy different from the thrill of hunting monsters to grow stronger.
‘Plus, there’s the tangible reward of title upgrades.’
Spiritual rewards and tangible ones.
It was no wonder Song Hana and Fist Emperor were so pumped.
‘Even if we clean up the Maitor Kingdom, we can’t touch other countries.’
The Atlantis Dimension was vast.
The Rokto Empire and its vassal states alone spanned an area the size of Eurasia on Earth.
‘And there are two more empires of comparable size.’
For Kang Hyun-soo’s group to eradicate human trafficking across every nation in the Atlantis Dimension?
‘It’d be impossible even with decades of effort.’
It wasn’t something three people could handle.
Even a full-scale national effort would struggle to root it out.
But.
‘If I play it right, it might be possible.’
Kang Hyun-soo had one plan.
It was still in the preparation stage.
‘If it succeeds, not only could we eradicate human trafficking in the Atlantis Dimension, but we might get even greater rewards.’
But it was only in the preparation stage for now.
Even if the plan succeeded, it might not completely eradicate human trafficking in the Atlantis Dimension.
And the expected rewards might not materialize.
However.
‘At the very least, we could greatly weaken the trafficking organizations across the Atlantis Dimension.’
That would strengthen humanity’s forces against the Demon King’s army.
For Kang Hyun-soo, that alone was.
‘Reward enough.’
For now, the priority was to diligently move and eradicate human trafficking in the Maitor Kingdom.
* * *
“You’re sure they’re coming here?”
“Yes, the slave traders deliberately left info about this place. It’s not a fake—it’s a real large-scale slave market. They won’t pass it up.”
“Then soon we’ll get a taste of that noble’s blood.”
A mad smile bloomed on Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong’s face.
“But isn’t bringing this many just for three people overkill?”
Deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong cautiously voiced his opinion.
The number of Mantis Guild members Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong had brought was a whopping three hundred.
That was a third of the Maitor Kingdom branch’s manpower.
“Tsk tsk tsk. I didn’t bring them to fight the nobles—they’re for something else.”
“What’s that?”
“Skill books and slaves are great, sure. But why not taste some blood and grab even more loot and slaves while we’re at it? There’s a large illegal slave market nearby, after all.”
At Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong’s words, deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong finally realized why he’d mobilized three hundred guild members.
“You plan to stab the slave traders in the back.”
“Stab in the back? The nobles wrecked the slave market. We just arrived a little late.”
A mad smile bloomed on deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong’s lips.
He’d thought he wouldn’t get a taste of blood since the branch chief was stepping up.
But to prepare such a grand gift.
“Eat the pheasant and the egg too—a brilliant scheme.”
In truth, it was less brilliant and more sloppy.
The slave traders weren’t idiots—slaves going missing instead of being freed? Why wouldn’t they know it was the Mantis Guild’s doing?
But Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong and deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong didn’t care much.
Why?
They could just deny it.
They had no intention of leaving evidence, and even if they did, so what?
How dare the slave traders hold the Mantis Guild accountable?
The Mantis Guild and slave traders had a symbiotic relationship, sure.
But the power balance heavily favored the Mantis Guild.
In fact, thinking of it as symbiotic was the slave traders’ delusion.
To the Mantis Guild, the slave traders were useful underlings—emergency rations to devour without backlash whenever they got hungry.
“Huh?”
Just then, three figures appeared in the distance.
“That’s them.”
Deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong confirmed their appearances and reported to Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong.
“Their gear’s plain.”
They looked less like nobles and more like a typical player party.
“Should we surround them?”
At deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong’s words, Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong nodded and stood.
“Just block their escape—don’t kill them.”
At Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong’s order, deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong’s lips pursed.
‘He wants all the fun for himself, as expected.’
But he didn’t have the guts to complain.
Plus, he could raid the slave market soon enough.
He could endure this much.
“Yes, sir.”
At deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong’s reply, Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong smiled in satisfaction and stepped forward.
‘How’s he gonna kill them? Not as fun as doing it myself, but watching’s entertaining enough.’
Deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong eagerly speculated on what outlandish method Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong would use to kill the three.
It was for betting with his subordinates.
The notion of Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong losing didn’t even exist in deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong’s mind.
Why?
Because Mad Slaughter Sword Jo Sa-pyeong’s skill was more than enough to earn a King title.
The reason he held the Mad Slaughter Sword title despite that was his reputation as a murderer tanking public opinion.
‘How’s he gonna do it?’
Deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong ordered his men to form the encirclement, then leisurely pondered which method to bet on.
Then.
BOOM!
A massive explosion rang out.
Deputy branch chief Ogre Ji Cheong-seong’s jaw dropped.
* * *
“They’ve formed an encirclement.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words.
“No wonder my gut felt off.”
Fist Emperor grumbled, lips pursed.
“One’s coming from over there.”
At Song Hana’s words, Kang Hyun-soo turned his gaze.
‘That guy?’
The player who appeared was no stranger.
Quite the familiar face, in fact.
‘Demon of Mass Slaughter Jo Sa-pyeong.’
Vice guild master of the murderer collective, Mantis Guild.
A wanted figure in the Atlantis Dimension for countless massacres.
‘Even as a murderer, he earned a Sovereign title.’
Well, it was a title laden more with loathing and fear than respect, but still.
And his actual skill?
‘On par with players who earned God titles.’
In fact.
‘He once fought Guardian God Lee Cheol-min to a draw.’
Guardian God Lee Cheol-min was a tank low on mobility and offense.
He’d earned his God title more from the Guardian Ring’s power than his own abilities.
‘But still, he was a God-title holder before the regression.’
Matching him meant Demon of Mass Slaughter Jo Sa-pyeong’s skill was close to a God-title player’s.
‘Not sure about his level now.’
Ideally, his skill had grown quite a bit.
Because.
‘I can’t let that bastard live.’
Kang Hyun-soo intended to kill him right here, no question.
Demon of Mass Slaughter Jo Sa-pyeong was different from Kang Hyun-soo’s enemy, Sword Sovereign Ju Wi-cheon.
Sword Sovereign Ju Wi-cheon was currently under the Chinese Guild, fully controllable by Kang Hyun-soo.
Kang Hyun-soo could preemptively prevent or sanction any trouble.
But Demon of Mass Slaughter Jo Sa-pyeong?
‘His very existence is a harm to all humanity.’
Turning him into a summon later when his power grew might seem profitable, keeping him leashed?
‘He’d exploit the fact that I can’t kill him and rampage even more.’
Plus, Demon of Mass Slaughter Jo Sa-pyeong was a raving lunatic, not right in the head.
Impossible to predict when or how he’d go berserk.
‘Kill him here and make him a summon.’
Decision made, Kang Hyun-soo.
Sprang forward.
“Hoh! The noble’s got guts. Quite the hothead too.”
Demon of Mass Slaughter Jo Sa-pyeong smiled and charged at Kang Hyun-soo.
KABOOM!
The moment Kang Hyun-soo’s sword, wrapped in blood-red aura, clashed head-on with Demon of Mass Slaughter Jo Sa-pyeong’s sword, shrouded in murky black aura.
BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted, and.
“Gah!”
Demon of Mass Slaughter Jo Sa-pyeong spewed red blood from his entire body and tumbled limply to the ground.