Chapter 302
Chapter 302
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 302
Chapter Title: Veteran's Guerrilla War (2)
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[The Emperor's Aurora activates.]
[The combat power of allied forces rises.]
As the battle began, Rokan naturally activated the title buffs at his disposal. Thanks to this, the vampires and werewolves, already empowered by the night and full moon, saw their abilities surge even further.
"Charge!"
They weren't the only ones. The demon forces under Rokan's demon realm territory, Turubi, also gained tremendous power.
Though on the ground, it was an emperor-grade buff, granting them strength that transcended level 10.
"Kyaaah!"
"Kurrheong!"
The moment they crossed the boundary, reactions erupted from within.
Small, medium, and large powerful magical beasts rose up, beginning their resistance.
They started burning their own bodies to crush the intruders and protect the territory and its master.
"Krraaah!"
A massive roar pierced through them.
The mad cry Rokan unleashed bolstered his allies' strength while cursing the enemy with stat reductions.
This made the level gap irrelevant for the time being.
"I'll take the lead."
"Don't overexert yourselves. We've still got a long way to go."
In the chaos of the melee, Kirito stepped forward in Rokan's place.
Dealing with dozens of powerful magical beasts would drain the demon forces, so he and the werewolves would clean them up.
Normally, Rokan wouldn't sit out such a fight, but he had no choice. The road ahead was still long.
Moreover, the magical beasts detecting the intrusion weren't swarming en masse.
Rokan instructed Kirito on resource management and peered deeper into the territory.
'High Master-grade ones are meaningless anyway.'
Hundreds of magical beasts were advancing to eliminate the intruders. All were top-tier High Masters, but Rokan had no intention of facing them personally.
If he did, he wouldn't have brought forces—he'd have stormed in alone.
[You have gained 93,452 EXP.]
[You have gained 97,536 EXP.]
[You have gained 103,453 EXP.]
But simply watching wasn't without gains.
Though allies, he shared a portion of the EXP earned by his werewolves, vampires, and demon forces.
It paled compared to solo hunting, but it was quite satisfactory.
On top of that, EXP from his emperor's ground forces in conflict zones was rising, accumulating faster than expected.
"Golden Flag, use. Legion's Will, use."
Rokan went all out, deploying wide-area buff items as well.
The forces, barely scraping past High Master or falling short, were instantly strengthened.
"This should do it."
Having used everything at his disposal, Rokan watched the battle with satisfaction in his eyes.
He'd thought his forces might fall short against an upper demon and beast tamer, but the stacked buffs had them holding their own.
'But the real show hasn't started yet.'
However, thinking this had seized the advantage would be a mistake.
The enemy's heavy hitters hadn't appeared yet.
With numerical superiority, Rokan had slaughtered the border guards and first wave reinforcements, then decisively ordered the advance.
Five more territories stood between them and the enemy's main base, each with at least two or three level 400+ entities. The real fight was just beginning.
"The enemy has lowered the gates."
At his side, none other than Sharac served as aide.
A vampire baron loyal to Rokan, acting as his secretary, but his subordinates charged ahead, bewildering and slaughtering foes with blood magic and vampire combat styles.
But he couldn't stay by Rokan's side any longer. Level 400+ entities were rising in the enemy ranks.
Some of his forces had reached level 400-equivalent power via buffs, but handling them required Sharac and Kirito both.
[Ironclad Crocodile Human Horam][Lv 400]
[Blood Crescent Bear Shaman Senok][Lv 400]
[Soul Harvester Devilcat][Lv 400]
"Three of them..."
Three Grand Masters right from the start. And their classes were diverse, perfectly matched.
A proper matchup would put them at a disadvantage.
Rokan had no choice but to step in. His subordinates could probably handle it, but the casualties would be heavy.
That would defeat the purpose of bringing them.
He'd brought call-up forces to handle the small fry, minimizing his Gale Incarnation uses.
'Oh?'
Then, a good idea struck.
"I'll take the crocodile."
Kirito claimed his target first. As a physical brawler, facing the kindred ironclad crocodile human suited him.
A spark of rivalry likely played a part too.
"Shaman or soul mage—which shall I take?"
Unlike the impulsive Kirito, Sharac politely asked Rokan's preference.
A master of close combat and blood magic, he could handle either.
"Take the soul mage."
Rokan scanned them and selected the Soul Harvester Devilcat.
It didn't matter which, but he'd had a fun idea.
"Split them up!"
As Rokan charged while shouting, Kirito glanced back from his rush at the crocodile human, instantly grasping the intent and provoking it.
"Come on, Slash!"
His sharp claws raked the air, sending a powerful aura claw streaking toward it.
"Sonic Slash!"
But the foe was no pushover. It swung its massive double-bladed axe, vacuum force shredding the aura.
"To dare invade Lord Gomoltan's territory—repent with your death!"
The attack was nullified, but the taunt worked. The crocodile human raged, chasing Kirito.
This created an isolated battlefield away from the werewolf subordinates.
"Krraha! Come at me!"
Kagagang!
It exuded savage menace, as if ready to chomp Kirito with its massive jaws and cleave him with the axe, but Kirito, empowered by the full moon, was no slouch.
He extended his claws to parry the battle axe, baring wolfish ferocity for counterattacks.
"Krrheong! Curse upon the weak!"
Meanwhile, the Blood Crescent Bear unleashed shaman arts, weakening foes with mass spells.
Even with the bosses engaged, the force clashes continued, making it plenty threatening.
"Bloody Vulcan."
Tudududududu!
But Sharac wouldn't stand idle.
He unleashed a blood-drop Vulcan cannon to disorient it, then swarmed as a bat flock, disrupting its defensive and offensive spells.
He even split the bats like clones, reforming into multiples of himself.
"Bloody Lightning!"
Kwajijijijik!
More bodies meant more blood magic.
Weaker individually, but the omnidirectional barrage overwhelmed it.
Only Rokan remained.
Yet he was more relaxed than ever.
"Blink."
The cat-like Devilcat, waving a skull staff instead of a blade, suddenly had Rokan blink in front.
Then, a big skill.
"True Gale Slash."
Whooooosh.
A hurricane—no, a gale-force windstorm erupted.
More precisely, the aftershock of Rokan's battle axe swing birthed the gale.
The cat human caught in it?
"N-Nya..."
Thud.
A low-HP summoner type. No way it could withstand Rokan's full-powered strike.
Kiaaaaaah!
The Devilcat's body split, soul screams echoing.
The forcibly harvested souls burst free, creating pandemonium and hellscape.
A self-destruct on death.
[The Soul Collector's Authority can no longer absorb souls.]
Wrong opponent.
The souls were first sucked into Rokan's ring, the Soul Collector's Authority.
Only after filling 10,000 did the excess spill out.
Kyaaaa...!
Masterless, the souls rampaged.
Exploding with rage at oppression and long-brewed vengeance, they unleashed on those around.
"Evil Spirit Domination."
But even that was denied. An inescapable binding, the Demon God's authority, engulfed them.
Kiee?
"Kill my enemies."
Rokan commanded the now mindless, dazed souls.
Indiscriminate without ally-foe distinction, but one absolute order upon soul dissipation: protect this command.
"Turnaround complete?"
Smirk.
Filling the Soul Collector's Authority was unexpected, but seeing "Soul Harvester" sparked the plan that now succeeded.
The battle tipped decisively.
However many souls the Devilcat had harvested, Rokan stole thousands, birthing tens of thousands of soul soldiers.
Enough to rival all magical beast forces in the first outpost.
"Awooooo!"
"Sharararak!"
Werewolves, vampires, and demons joined, turning it into a massacre.
"Impressive as always."
Soon after, Kirito and Sharac returned, having cleanly dispatched their foes in relatively unscathed shape.
"Recover for now."
Rokan generously provided potions.
With coins enough to arm and heal hundreds of thousands, this one-sided victory left minimal losses—a total rout.
'One step closer.'
But Rokan didn't relax.
Four more territories to Gomoltan, and if it pulled forces from elsewhere, they'd still be outnumbered and outmatched.
But he had a solution.
Rokan eyed the next phase intently.