Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 216
Chapter Title: An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth (1)
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“Woo-hoo! We won!”
“They’re running away!”
The rebel forces, having lost their commander Timothy, were utterly routed in disarray.
In the midst of it all, Rokan, who had cherry-picked only the elites for his attacks, claimed one more High Master and five Masters as additional casualties.
A decisive victory for the defending forces.
But they couldn’t just celebrate outright.
The enemy’s troops had mostly consisted of corrupted monsters and users, so aside from the Master-rank and above, they’d suffered virtually no real losses.
The defenders, on the other hand, had taken heavy casualties.
They’d thrown mercenaries into the meat grinder as much as possible to shield the soldiers, but the corrupted monsters had resisted to the bitter end, inflicting substantial damage on the troops. And since mercenaries were maintained with money, the prolonged fighting was racking up massive financial losses as well.
No matter how rich Rokan had become, he couldn’t sustain numbers like that indefinitely.
‘Still, I crushed their momentum.’
Even so, the reason he’d gone all-out to gather those mercenaries was simple: to slam the brakes on the rebels who’d been advancing relentlessly toward the capital.
To break their momentum and make them hesitate to push forward recklessly.
By implanting the awareness that Rokan could swoop in anytime to wreak havoc and assassinate their leadership—combined with a glimpse of these mysterious reinforcements from an unknown source—he’d sown seeds of doubt and fear about forces even they hadn’t known existed.
And that plan had worked perfectly.
‘They’re hesitating.’
The rebels’ advance, which had been unstoppable since the coup began, had ground to a halt.
They still had an overwhelming number of corrupted monsters—too many to gauge their limits—and Duke Kilramanta’s famed knight orders hadn’t even shown up yet, but their aggressive momentum had been checked nonetheless.
They were exercising extreme caution.
Rokan’s presence, the mystery of those unidentified troops, and the unknown method of repelling the corrupted monsters had made them wary.
‘In that case, time to counterattack.’
If they weren’t moving, he’d make the first move.
Rokan’s eyes gleamed as he sprang into action.
* * *
The clashes between the rebels and defenders dragged on tediously.
Logically, the rebels had the advantage—they could replenish their forces generously every time they passed through a monster field. But Rokan and the users under his command were on this side.
The rebels had some top guilds attached, sure, but the defenders had their share of solid guilds and plenty of users too, so they claimed over 60% of the victories in local skirmishes.
That said, it was only in local skirmishes.
In large-scale battles, even Rokan’s heroics often couldn’t prevent them from being pushed back.
He’d timed his retreats perfectly to avoid death, but there were fights where even unleashing Storm Incarnate repeatedly wasn’t enough. One man couldn’t slaughter tens of thousands alone.
There was a limit to how many troops he could take down during Storm Incarnate’s duration.
“Storm Incarnate! Wheel Wind!”
Even so, Rokan threw himself into every possible battle without flinching. Even in defeats, he’d massacre at least thousands before escaping.
Each time, the rebels were tied up replenishing their losses, or they’d have to cede ground again to Rokan’s follow-up assaults. It was never a losing proposition for him.
And after every fight, he racked up experience and loot.
“Phew, this is getting old.”
Rokan spat out his honest feelings after leading yet another local skirmish to victory.
It had been over two weeks since he’d jumped into suppressing the rebels.
Despite his territory management screen lighting up daily with war updates, he hadn’t properly checked it in a full two weeks or more.
“I hear some of them are starting to push back up…….”
The front lines had been grinding fiercely in the meantime.
His absence had made the Golden Lion faction look shaky at first, but other users and guilds had filled the gap, turning it into a brutal back-and-forth stalemate.
If it had truly been dire, Rokan would’ve rushed over immediately. Thanks to the efforts on both sides, the front was holding a precarious balance.
“In the end, the big ones just keep getting bigger.”
He’d catch glimpses on the homepage now and then—familiar faces to him.
People who’d made names for themselves in his past life. They were rising again, stepping back into the spotlight.
Even those who’d driven him into the depths of despair before.
Rokan’s heart grew uneasy as he scanned their names.
‘……Just give me one excuse.’
Was it right to crush them under the banner of revenge for his past life? He wrestled with that constantly.
If he persecuted and destroyed them over something even he couldn’t explain, would the knot in his chest finally unravel?
He couldn’t say for sure.
That’s why he was still waiting.
The moment they provoked him or tangled with him inappropriately in even the smallest way, he could obliterate them without a shred of guilt.
‘It’ll take more time, but…… the pieces are falling into place.’
On some level, he might even be hoping they’d corner him again. Just so he could understand why he’d been ousted.
“Too strong” and “too reckless” didn’t cut it as explanations.
He hadn’t earned the title King of Violence for nothing—such things had been his routine up to then.
Rokan was convinced there was some reason he didn’t know about.
Just then, an alert snapped him out of his thoughts.
[Regalia Territory is under attack.]
“What……”
An attack on Regalia Territory.
It wasn’t just one of Rokan’s key territories—it was a critical military stronghold the nation couldn’t afford to lose. He reacted on instinct.
He opened the territory management screen to assess the situation and unfurled his rune book to fly there immediately.
“……Those bastards……”
But Rokan didn’t move. He’d already identified the attackers through the management screen.
The rebels.
More precisely, human users affiliated with the rebels.
[Rinai Territory is under attack.]
[Remington Territory is under attack.]
[Royota Territory is under attack.]
[Miurita Territory is under attack…….]
It wasn’t just Regalia. Dozens of territories under Rokan’s control were being hit simultaneously.
Even places somewhat removed from the rebels’ range of operations. The scale varied, but it was unmistakably targeted at him—clear sabotage.
“They dare pull this crap.”
Rokan flashed a smile laced with icy fury.
Their goal was obvious: pin him down somewhere. Keep him from joining the fights against the rebels.
If they succeeded, they could minimize sacrifices in major battles and snag easy wins in local ones.
It was a strategy only mobile users could pull off—striking multiple points at once, bold enough to swallow territories if things went their way.
The moment they’d sided with the rebels, they’d made an enemy of Rokan, so they had no reason to hold back.
Hesitating would only hurt them.
Backing off now wouldn’t earn his mercy anyway.
They already knew about his tricks for stripping territories bare of funds and facilities, so a twisted excitement gripped them at the thought of scoring big if they played it right.
Oblivious to what was coming.
“Territory management. Conscript to max.”
With a chilling smile, Rokan manipulated the management screens for all the attacked territories at once, right there on the spot.
He conscripted soldiers and knights to the maximum while hiring every last mercenary in territories with mercenary guilds. Some even lucked into Master-rank hires.
Moving them would cost a fortune, of course, but Rokan didn’t care.
To bring the hammer down on those who’d dared mess with him, he poured out funds without restraint.
He bolstered defenses, added and upgraded facilities, and executed the invaders.
“Homepage open.”
But stopping there wouldn’t be like Rokan.
He fortified each territory’s defenses while gathering intel on the invaders. He didn’t know their exact guilds, but it didn’t matter.
Scouring the homepage and tapping info guilds revealed lists of guilds that had pledged to the corrupted collaborators and rebels.
“So it was you bastards after all.”
Night King, Asura, and Dark Knight—the guilds tied to his past-life grudges—formed the core, but plenty of other familiar names were in the mix.
Guilds that would later fade into obscurity or obscurity altogether, though some had been thriving lately.
Maybe this blunder was why they’d vanish into history’s dustbin, but that wasn’t his problem. He planned to bury them himself from here on out.
“Gather up every last one of their hideout locations.”
Rokan issued the order the instant he confirmed the list.
His goal was clear: pinpoint their bases first.
The rebels weren’t taking in just any random pledges, so guilds at that level likely had pricey hideouts for operations.
“Confirmed. Marking them on the map now.”
Soon after, his adjutant projected the intel on a magic screen and copied it onto Rokan’s magic map.
Hideout locations popping up one by one, labeled with guild names.
Whether by design or after defecting, most were coincidentally in territories the rebels had swallowed.
“Strip ownership from any hideouts not in rebel territory. Confiscate all assets.”
For now, Rokan targeted those who hadn’t yet moved their hideouts into rebel zones.
He revoked ownership of the bases they’d bought at great expense in the emperor’s name and seized every asset inside, reclaiming it all for the national treasury.
Not a single copper in key money or deposits left behind—he devoured it all.
“Alright, your turn now. You coveted what’s mine, so you must’ve been prepared to pay the price.”
With a menacing grin, Rokan slipped alone into rebel strongholds.
Operation: Antman.
Using that unfamiliar method to his allies, he began stripping bare the territories packed with enemy hideouts.
The rebels never dreamed he’d infiltrate so deep; he snatched territory ownership, revoked all rights, and demolished the buildings.
He repaid what they’d nearly done to him many times over.