Chapter 363
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 363
Chapter Title: Into the Rift
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Damn it.
The border guards gnawed at their lips as they led their comrades toward the main camp.
There were few unscathed among them, most letting out pained groans from their gunshot wounds.
Urk Leave me. No hope for me anyway.
One knight, his abdomen pierced, spat up blood as he spoke.
Kal, cut the crap. You want us to abandon you?
Well get caught like this You know we got wiped without landing a hit.
.
Even our levels and stats are cut in half. You know what that means.
They knew.
They knew theyd be annihilated at this rate.
Unlike the first foes they faced, the skill gap was overwhelming.
No one here had even pinpointed their positions, yet the enemies pierced them flawlessly without missing a single shot.
Five survivors.
Their numbers had dwindled from twenty to five, the other fifteen all dead with headshots.
But its weird Why let us go?
Jed felt a twinge of doubt as he supported a knight with a leg wound.
Hed been at the rear and emerged unharmed.
The attacks stopped midway. Something mustve gone wrong for them.
Nah-an, whod luckily twisted just before a sniper shot and taken it in his left shoulder, cleared up the question.
He was binding his shoulder with a cloth from his pack to staunch the bleeding.
Either way, we need to hurry back.
They had to rush to the main camp and report this.
Hey.
That was when an unfamiliar voice called out to them.
At the chilling tone, the survivors flinched and slowly turned their heads.
There sat a man perched on a rock.
When did he get there?
The question barely crossed their minds.
The survivors checked his info and went deathly pale, their bodies freezing stiff.
10,000.
That staggering number snapped their will to live.
He was no one they could hope to face.
P-Please, spare.
Jeds plea went unfinished.
The man had closed the distance in an instant and slit his throat.
Jeds head fell, and Kalthe one hed been supportingcollapsed to the ground.
Begging for your lives knowing your own are precious, yet taking others without a thought.
.
The man showed no interest in their excuses and cut them all down.
The survivors hit zero.
Only then did the man turn and leave the scene.
Hed killed every last scout.
All that remained was to strike the main force and seal the gap.
Jeong Hoon reached the main forces entrance in a flash, startling the four guarding knights into raising their swords toward him.
Slash.
But Jeong Hoons blade beat them by a beat, severing all four necks at once.
Low levels mean no reaction time.
Jeong Hoon now stood shoulder-to-shoulder with even the heavenly-realm transcendents.
What chance did mere level 200-300 users have against such a force?
Finish fast and move on.
Stepping into Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon, Jeong Hoon passed the entrance. Annihilating the main force took less than five minutes.
He moved to seal the gap swiftly, but a knight emerged slowly from it.
Noprecisely, a demon wearing a knights guise.
Cannot read information.
Jeong Hoon narrowed his eyes.
What was this that he couldnt read its info?
.
The demon stared straight through him before breaking into a smirk.
In that instant, a chill ran through Jeong Hoons body, making him shudder.
What the hell are you.
Jeong Hoon forced his mouth open.
Found you. Found you. Found you.
The thing muttered the words, then turned and retreated into the rift.
Jeong Hoon tried to give chase right then, but his body had frozen solid, refusing to obey.
Looks like weve been made.
Made? Was that a named monster?
Probably a puppet under its control.
Ha.
Overpowered by a mere puppet, was that it?
Seems they were waiting for you to step in and block the invasion.
Yeah. It wasnt just about pressuring Earth.
Jeong Hoon approached the rift.
So Ill have to get aggressive too.
You dont mean?
Thats exactly what I mean.
Without hesitation, Jeong Hoon stepped into the rift.
Found him.
Logoss lips curved into a crescent moon.
One hundred puppets stood in perfect formation before him.
Good call investigating the portals closing abnormally fast.
Amplification effect.
Hed expected it to wear off quickly, in fact.
This invasion was purely for pressure.
He hadnt anticipated Earth crumbling in the slightest.
As expected, the amplification vanished fast, replaced by a debuff overlay.
Logos promptly deployed the puppetsand in the process, crossed paths with a monster over level 10,000.
One hundred percent.
Hed confirmed the aura emanating from it through the puppet.
Faint, but unmistakably the power of creation.
Still sealed deep in its subconscious due to unmet conditions, but the moment that power awakened, it would spell serious trouble.
Gotta handle it before then Hmm.
Sending a puppet to eliminate it was one option, but would that fully erase Tenebris? No.
Even stripped of power, it was still an existence on par with five named bosses.
Removing one human wouldnt make it vanish.
Thats why I need to capture the human tied to Tenebris and erase them together.
The surest method: when that human entered the divine realm, bind and obliterate it on the spot.
It hadnt crossed over yet, suggesting it had caught on to some extent.
No matter.
Youll have no choice but to come to the divine realm eventually.
Logos grinned.
Invasion blockage rate so far: 98.
The avatars blockage rate stood at 98.
Not even a full day had passed, and it was already down to 98.
Without removing the amplification and applying the debuff, it wouldve plummeted below 90 for sure.
Hed thought explosive level-ups would solve it, but the rapid short-term gains had backfired.
Levels were absolute, true.
Higher levels meant access to higher-grade skills.
But these players had acquired high-grade skills without knowing how to use them effectively.
Same as in any game.
Even with the same levels and skills, player skill varied wildly.
Some dominated through deep skill knowledge and matching physical prowess, while cash-shop junkies with raw stats lost to lower-spec players all the time.
This was that case.
Hunting low-level monsters for explosive short-term levels left their understanding and application lagging behind.
Sure, many adapted quickly and crushed, but just as many were laughably deficient.
That 2 was exactly those deficient ones who failed to block in time.
Master, whats the plan?
Thanatos, controlling all the avatars, reached out.
What.
Watching these idiots get gang-killed by far weaker foes is burning me up inside.
Theyre not avatars anyway.
Avatars had grown under transcendent backing, so no major concerns there.
The problem was the ones hiding in shelters, just killing time day by day.
Still frustrating though
Fine, then once this invasion blockage ends, pick out one solid player per class.
Pick? For what?
Gonna upload some videos.
The internet was back online.
Meaning he could use HoneyTube again.
Got it!
Yeah.
Jeong Hoon turned his head and glanced to the side.
The gates leading into the Caldearan Empire loomed ahead.
You planning to wipe them out?
No.
With his current power, he could erase the Caldearan Empire in seconds.
But Jeong Hoon had no desire to go that far.
My targets the transcendent gripping this dimension.
Kill it and seize its divine artifactsthat was the goal.
To do that, first strike the demon realm tied to this dimension.
Jeong Hoon pulled out his scan map and scanned the entire region.
Caldearan Scanning entire empire.
Why bother scanning Caldearan specifically?
Tenebris tilted its head.
What reason would there be for a red portal to spawn in Caldearan over other kingdoms or duchies?
Hm? Just the most promising targets?
Could be simple as that, but my gut says this place is the prize egg yolk.
Prize egg yolk?
Look.
Jeong Hoon pointed to a spot on the scan map.
The Rodrian Duchy in northern Caldearan.
Countless dungeons dotting the surroundings.
What about it?
Tenebris stared blankly, uncomprehending.
Then there was no choice but to show it firsthand.
Jeong Hoon stepped into Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon and headed for the destination.
At that moment.
The Caldearan Empire was in a state of emergency.
Wiped out? Is this even possible!
Emperor Luton stared at the hologram window in horror.
1st Knight Order (Wiped Out)
2nd Knight Order (Wiped Out)
3rd Knight Order (Wiped Out)
The dispatched knight orders had been annihilated.
Caldearans pride, unable to hold out even a day
What in the world was the monster on the other side of that rift?
Luton clutched his pounding head and flicked his hand.
Deploy the Imperial Knight Order.
Your Majesty, you cannot send the Imperial Knights!
Duke Alpeer cried out in urgent protest.
The Imperial Knights were an elite order composed purely of level 1,000-plus.
Ten knights strong, they were the blade guarding Caldearan.
With the 1st through 3rd orders wiped and no intel on the foe, sending them was suicide.
If anything happened to the Imperials, Caldearans strength would plummet, and their check on the Ostryo Kingdom would vanish.
The knight orders are wiped. You want me to just sit and watch?
Thats.
We were promised massive rewards. Enough to crush Ostryo Kingdom.
.
Luton had dispatched his core forces entirely for those rewards.
Massive rewards sufficient to overrun Ostryo.
Securing them would restore Caldearans former glory.
So dont try to stop me. Contact Grand Duke Rodrian immediately.
Rodrian.
Master of the northern grand duchy and captain of the Imperial Knight Order.
Understood.
Alpeer nodded, and the other nobles voiced agreement.
With the knight orders gone, Caldearan had suffered massive losses.
They couldnt abandon the quest rewards in this state.
They had to recoup the damage with those rewards, no matter what.
Make it quick.
Yes.