Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Zombie Trio (1)
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“Hey.”
“……!”
Rokan appeared casually in front of Polten, as if out for a stroll, and the man’s pupils shook violently. Who among The Lord’s users didn’t know Rokan’s name and face?
“Shall we talk?”
Rokan flashed a grin at Polten, who was blinking in disbelief, wondering if he’d seen wrong.
“I’ll do it. I’ll do it. Absolutely!”
And moments later, before Rokan could even finish, Polten shouted excitedly.
To fight alongside Rokan! He didn’t need to hear about experience or item distribution—it was an instant yes.
He wasn’t one of Rokan’s direct underlings like Mitty or Hamel, but with the promise of full support, there wasn’t a gram of reason to refuse.
“Good. Let’s start by overhauling that combat style of yours.”
“My old combat…… style?”
But at Rokan’s blunt declaration to tear apart his fighting method, Polten showed a hint of unease.
He prided himself on playing in the best way he knew.
His level was a bit low because he focused on the hard-to-level blacksmithing proficiency, but if matched in level, he was confident he wouldn’t lose to anyone in the top ranks—which was why he hesitated.
“Here, take this.”
But the moment he received the item Rokan handed over, his thoughts changed.
[Black Mana Infusion][Rare]
Transmits black mana energy to all beings connected to the user.
-Allows black mana to be imbued on weapons of all pets or summons
-Inflicts 0.1% of max HP damage upon exposure to [Black Mana]
-[Black Mana] duration: 10 seconds
-[Black Mana] effects stack up to 10 times
What Rokan gave him was a ring discovered as a reward from the Red Crusaders quest.
A superb option that dealt fixed damage of 0.1% max HP—not just to himself, but to pets or summons’ weapons as well.
Rokan could have used it himself, but it wouldn’t be efficient. Each of his blows already shaved off several percent of HP, so it’d only amplify damage by a tiny bit.
Unless it was 1% per second, items that added that much were plentiful.
‘This shines brightest in a necromancer’s hands.’
But for Polten, it was different.
The stacking feature meant that for a necromancer who could summon hordes, this item became the foundation to smother enemies to death the moment it was equipped.
“Loyalty! Loyalty! Loyalty! Just leave it to me!”
Having reached this point meant Polten had a high understanding of the game. There was no way he wouldn’t recognize the ring’s power.
The instant he took it, he grasped exactly what Rokan wanted. He instantly knew his role and lived up to expectations.
“Skill combos too…….”
“Of course we change them! If you give me a bit of time to sell my items, I’ll head straight for the Infinite Contract tree…….”
Erasing undead enhancement-focused combo skills was no issue. It was a rare item, but he’d never even heard of one like this.
Considering the rarity and effect, for necromancers, this ring was unique—no, epic-level value or higher.
So what were one or two combo skills? He’d bow his head and agree even if asked to delete two.
“No need.”
Anticipating this reaction, Rokan immediately pulled out skillbooks. The so-called Infinite Contract, the necromancer’s combo skill creation method, was already widely known.
Of course Rokan knew it too, and he’d bought them in advance on the way here. Selling items and buying skillbooks would take too much time, as Polten said.
“Th-thank you!”
“Hand it over.”
“Yes? What…….”
“Skillbook price, and ring price!”
To Polten, who was about to receive the skillbooks with teary-eyed gratitude, Rokan spoke coldly. There’s no such thing as free in this world—skillbooks and rings weren’t free either.
Since he’d be working for Rokan, there was no overcharging, but Rokan took every item Polten had on him and in storage as payment before finally handing over the ring and skillbooks.
The items would sell eventually if listed in Rokan’s own shop, even if it took time.
Only after Polten was nearly broke did he finally get them all.
“Heh heh heh heh heh!”
But there wasn’t a trace of complaint. He’d dumped all his saved money and valuables, but with this, recovery was easy.
And not just that—with the right finesse, he could farm high-difficulty monsters far above his level and rack up achievements.
Percent damage was that powerful.
“You don’t need this.”
A beat later, Rokan offered items that dramatically boosted mana amount and recovery speed.
Items essential to cover the massive mana drain from infinite skeleton summons via Infinite Contract.
“I-I’ll buy them!”
In the end, Polten received them by signing a contract with Rokan.
A new slave was born.
‘That finishes the prep.’
With that, the basics were set. All that remained was execution.
Rokan gathered Mitty and Hamel and explained the plan. Even for him, it seemed impossible, but having earned legend-grade titles before, they accepted readily.
Even if they failed, they’d lose little more than a few deaths, and if they suffered XP or item losses, Rokan promised compensation.
Nothing to lose, and success meant at least unique-grade achievements—why hesitate?
Plus, Rokan being the first user to reach master level greatly boosted success odds. It might have variables, but it wouldn’t be useless.
* * *
“Advance. Trample and destroy them all.”
The ancient emperor Chrono, stripped of reason by corrupt power, marched endlessly.
He’d wasted time chasing those who fled after his wide taunt, but like a locust swarm, everywhere his feet touched filled with destruction, and the tyrant’s advance continued.
No strategy. The living emperor had been skilled in both overwhelming power and tactics, but corrupted, he either didn’t need it or saw no point—he just designated a spot and sent the Red Crusaders to crush it.
That was exactly what Rokan targeted.
“Hey, over here!”
The lanky, ragtag duo snuck behind them, stirring chaos as the Red Crusaders swarmed past.
Their attacks couldn’t leave a proper scratch, but using mechanical engineering skill-made taunt items, neither Chrono nor the Red Guards could ignore them.
“Insolent!”
It worked especially well on the reasonless Chrono.
Irritated by the deafening taunt bells, Chrono turned, blasting the items to bits—but his rage didn’t subside. He turned massive hostility toward the culprits.
“Eek! Dodge!”
“Hey, start it quick!”
Survival and evasion experts acknowledged by Rokan, they avoided normal attacks. They only countered skill combos, links, or combos with their own creation/combo skills; the rest they dodged or tanked with basic skills.
They’d swapped all creation and combo skills to evasion/defense types for this moment—failing to buy time would be a problem.
“Flames of Phobia!”
“Absolute Shield!”
At critical master skill moments, they unhesitatingly activated the rings.
Consuming valuable rare items, but no hesitation—that was Rokan’s order, who provided them.
Not theirs anyway, skimping wouldn’t make them theirs—decisions bold, execution swift.
“Chain Regeneration!”
Meanwhile, Polten activated his combo skill.
Chain Regeneration.
Not only raising multiple skeleton knights at once, but a wave of regeneration spread to adjacent skeleton knights.
The fearless heavenly warriors charged again.
While they bought time, Rokan freely ravaged the detached Red Crusaders.