Chapter 217
Chapter 217
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 217
Chapter Title: An Eye for an Eye, A Tooth for a Tooth (2)
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Thanks to Rokan's counterattack in a way no one could have imagined, the guilds that had joined the rebels were thrown into utter chaos.
They had lost the very foundations of their guilds that they had painstakingly built from the ground up, resulting in massive financial damage.
A guild was a gathering of people, of course, but it couldn't run on that alone.
Groups satisfied with just that were little more than small-scale social clubs, and even those often fell apart due to internal money disputes.
‘Running a large guild requires substantial funds.’
For the massive organizations known as top guilds, that went without saying.
They collected donations from guild members and used them to grow the guild, but in turn, they had an obligation to share profits with those members.
The profits didn't have to be purely monetary, but they needed to maintain at least a minimum amount of funds.
Shouldn't they at least cover the consumables each individual used while they weren't earning income from monster hunting?
In that sense, Rokan's method was a fatal blow to them.
‘They won't have that anymore.’
Most users stored their gold in the ‘bank,’ but those in the ‘rebel army’ couldn't use the bank.
Rokan had dug up all their information, seized their hideouts outside rebel territory, and frozen their bank accounts.
Even though the bank was part of the game system, The Lord allowed for restrictions based on circumstances.
So where would they store their funds and valuables if they couldn't use the bank? Naturally, in the safest place they could think of—their hideouts.
But Rokan had stripped those clean, and ownership of every item stored inside had transferred to him.
Since it was such a sudden raid, the rebels managed to retake those bases, but even if they did, all that would be left was dust.
“Let's see how long they hold out.”
In a situation with nothing but losses and no gains, how many would stay in the guild out of loyalty alone?
There wouldn't be many in a game guild bound by mutual interests.
At first, the guild masters and officers would dip into their own funds to hold things together, but as time passed, they'd start forcing members to cover their own expenses.
Hunting monsters to cover costs would be ideal, but for the rebels operating corrupted monsters, hunting monsters meant weakening potential allied forces, so it wouldn't be easy.
If the coup succeeded, they'd recover and get ample rewards, but if there was no sign of that, defections would spike quickly.
Quitting the guild now and going solo wouldn't erase the sin of joining the rebels, but compared to being subjugated, the penalty would be minimal.
“This should hold them off just by waiting.”
Now, time was on the side of Rokan and the defending forces.
But that wasn't Rokan's style either. Instead of waiting, he launched guerrilla attacks first, whittling down the enemy's forces.
* * *
The rebels' plan to pin down Rokan and slowly strangle him fell apart disastrously.
Their forces couldn't even breach the defenses of territories reinforced with better facilities and more troops. And even if they somehow broke through, Rokan would appear at the perfect moment to crush them, leading to repeated failures.
But the decisive blow came when they failed to capture Regalia Castle.
Realizing they couldn't do it alone, they even resorted to calling in outside forces.
They planned to hand Regalia Castle straight over to the Black Dragon Legion after taking it, pouring everything into the assault.
And they got smashed.
‘Idiots.’
Master Osram of the Iron Wall.
He was there. It wasn't for nothing that Osram was called a master of castle defense.
With his existing meager forces, he had defended the castle like an impregnable fortress. Now that Rokan had given him wings, it would be weirder if they could break through. If they had caught him off guard without warning, maybe, but Rokan had alerted him, so the rebels were utterly shredded.
‘They should have thought about why the rebels never touched Regalia.’
Thanks to that, defections accelerated, and the rebel guilds' positions shrank even further as their forces plummeted.
Duke Kilamanta wasn't the type to favor visitors anyway, so expecting to hold their ground after repeated failures was laughable.
While they flailed about uselessly, Rokan steadily reduced the number of corrupted monsters and even devoured Duke Kilamanta's private soldiers, rampaging fiercely. The rebels, having squeezed every monster they could from the surroundings, gradually fell into a defensive position.
“Marquis, we're here!”
To make matters worse, the masters and high masters holding the front lines joined in.
With some breathing room on the front, they moved to quickly end the civil war.
“Good. Let's go. Time to end this boring fight.”
Rokan had anticipated their arrival and gladly accepted the forces they brought.
To see the end of this tedious civil war, he gathered all his troops.
‘I've dragged this out too long.’
The reason the fierce, tight front suddenly had some leeway was simple.
The emergence of master-level players.
They had grown by fighting in the special circumstances of war, and a large number had appeared.
‘They've caught up already...’
It was their first time at master level, so many were still lacking, but others adapted quickly.
Some races had all possibilities open like humans, while others had relatively limited skill combinations.
But that didn't mean they were weak. Combinations of powerful skills still delivered reliable power.
As long as the concept was solid, the skill recipe excellent, and the timing for master skills perfect, even a fresh master-level user could easily dismantle an NPC who had been at master level for ages.
‘I’ll crush them again.’
In that sense, the appearance of numerous master-level users wasn't welcome news for Rokan.
Even among masters, combat power varied wildly, and with high master still far off, so many master-level users emerging was threatening in itself.
That's why Rokan needed to strike out once more.
It would take them time to find optimal master skill combos, and months more to catch up in levels, but he needed to widen the gap further.
‘This time will be different.’
When a situation like his past life returned, he needed to show the proper difference this time.
The best way was to level up quickly and reach high master, but even for Rokan, that wasn't easy.
His current level was 319.
He still needed 31 more levels to reach high master.
To do that, Rokan focused on the situation at hand.
Crushing the rebels.
Killing or capturing Kilamanta and ending the civil war. He let out a savage roar.
“Kraaaaaah!”
The mad cry from his Gale Incarnation form shattered even those at master level and above. It became a massive wave that swallowed the rebels and dragged the enemy into the abyss.
“Damn it, we're screwed!”
“Run! We'll die like dogs if we stay!”
The balance, already tense, collapsed quickly with the arrival of solid reinforcements.
The rebels thrashed desperately to survive, but it was just that—thrashing.
When Rokan went all out, users fled, and soldiers surrendered.
“Sweep away the corrupted monsters!”
The late-joining investigation team's support was also huge.
They had watched from the sidelines at first, but when Rokan's exploits tipped the scales, they slipped in as if that had been the plan all along.
Naturally, they sided with Rokan and the emperor.
‘Weaklings.’
On top of that, small contingents from dwarves, gnomes, and half-elves arrived. A sneaky move to straddle the fence and rack up favors.
It was so obvious it was repulsive, but what could he do? That was politics.
“Damn, we should have come sooner.”
As they pushed all the way to the enemy's main base, Duke Kilamanta made his decision.
[You have defeated Duke Kilamanta.]
[Sub-scenario quest - End the Civil War - completed.]
[Visit the emperor to receive your reward.]
Suicide.
Rather than being captured and humiliated, he chose to end his own life.
It soured Rokan's mood—he had been looking forward to the spoils from finishing off Kilamanta—but the civil war ended nonetheless.
[The emperor has summoned you. Head to the imperial palace within 6 hours.]
One more regret: he hadn't properly looted Kilamanta's territory, the rebels' main base.
As a ducal territory, there would have been plenty to take, but with the war over, the commander's authority was restricted, leaving nothing to sneak away.
‘But it doesn't matter.’
He had tricks for that. Nodding to himself, Rokan turned immediately. He ordered the defenders to hunt down the rebel remnants and headed to the palace first.
“You did splendidly. Truly magnificent work. Without you, the foundation of this empire would have been destroyed.”
The emperor who greeted Rokan spared no praise or joy.
After showing intense affection to the man who had successfully quelled what seemed like an impossible civil war, he pushed forward with what Rokan expected.
“Hear me, all! I, Kaisman, from this moment, bestow upon Marquis Rokan the rank of duke!”
[Miraculous achievement! You are the first visitor to reach the rank of duke.]
[You acquire the title ‘Duke.’]
[You are the first to acquire this title.]
[First][Duke][Epic]
A duke is the highest nobility in the human world below the emperor, a feudal lord who unites multiple regions and rules vast territories and nobles in the emperor's stead.
Bear its duties and responsibilities.
[Effects]
-Command nobles of marquis rank and below
-Form a [Faction] by recruiting a certain number of nobles or more
-Grant titles of earl rank and below
-Use [Aura of the Enhanced Ruler]
“Speak, Duke Rokan. Name the territory you desire, and I shall grant it.”
Having declared it to all, Emperor Kaisman looked at Rokan with kind eyes. Having risen to duke, he would grant a fitting additional territory.
And as if responding to that warm smile, Rokan spoke.
“I want... Kilamanta Territory.”
It was the moment Rokan swallowed everything that had belonged to the fallen Duke Kilamanta.