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Chapter 35 – Demon Lord's Castle (2)
"Huh"
Hansoo chuckled at the movements he felt behind him.
'I wondered what he was preparing so hard for.'
Hansoo nodded.
It seemed like they were well prepared as they employed the method they learned from Hansoo fighting the Demons.
Artifacts that could slow down the movements of the Demons instead of ones that would damage them fatally.
And resistances and buffs to deal with the basic AOE attacks of the Demons.
They had a decent assortment.
Their movements and attacks couldn't follow up to Hansoo's.
But they were filling the gaps with various skills and traits.
'If you do that then you can definitely hunt it safely.'
The opposite method of Hansoo's.
If Hansoo was trying to catch it as fast as possible by taking on the hits while trusting his resistance and his dodges to suppress it down with an overwhelming attack then this method was a safe hunting method in order to receive no casualties whatsoever.
The fifteen special forces were rotating endlessly as they injured the demon.
This was possible because they could withstand the Demon's skills to an extent.
They couldn't reduce the damage like Hansoo but they were compensating it with healing skills.
While Hansoo was about to finish off his Demon, the special forces had also pulled out both the hearts from the Demons.
The people's expressions turned grave.
They had thought that only Hansoo could kill the Demons but the Clan Lords were killing them well too.
And as they started killing the Demons, the other clan Lords pulled out their own special forces that they had hidden and basically crushed the mages apart.
The mages were very threatening to the non-clansmen who didn't have my magic resistance but it wasn't really hard for the special forces, who had magic resistances as well as heals and other skills, to deal with it.
And the most attractive thing was their number.
Hansoo was one person.
That fact did not change no matter how strong he was.
But the sum of the different Clan Lords' special forces were over 100 and they were hunting that much more efficiently.
"…if this happens then isn't it better to just join the side of the clans?"
Somebody mumbled.
Hansoo was strong but he only had one body.
And the non-clansmen were constantly getting injured from the mages.
On the other hand, the Clan unions were advancing while receiving the thorough protection of the special forces.
"Bitches… if they had such things then they should've protected us too."
As one person gazed at the special forces in resentment, a friend next to him, whom he had gotten close to during the defense, shook his head.
"Those words don't even make sense. You think they would protect you."
Why would they protect them?
They weren't even part of the clans.
The friend, who had been talking, looked at the Demon Lord's Castle in the distance.
This was the first day.
There was a long way to go.
Disliked things were disliked things, so he had to decide rationally.
He started to ponder after laying down his possibilities of choices.
Either to stay in the non-clansmen union.
Or shamelessly go under the clan union.
'…it's not that bad?'
The reason why he was worried about being thrown off was because the number that could move through the crystal was limited to 500.
But on the other hand, that problem did not exist anymore.
No, the clan unions would actually welcome them instead.
Since the adventurers who received their symbols would become part of their powers and ascend together.
'Well. Let's at least talk about it. If not then I can just stay here.'
It wasn't bad for them no matter what happened.
If they were denied then they could just follow Hansoo's back.
And if they were welcomed then they just needed to fight under the clans.
And soon multiple people with similar thoughts started to head towards the clans and Guktae smiled inwardly as he saw this.
'As I thought.'
What kind of loyalty would these guys have.
They were just grasshoppers looking around for safe areas.
The only reason they had gone under Hansoo was because he looked quite reliable and because it would be dangerous for them if they stayed behind.
As long as their motives for going under Hansoo were clear, the answer was already set.
'Yes. Come. We will take you in.'
It won't take long.
Until he will be left alone.
'I'm curious. As to how far you can go alone.'
.........…
"…The people keep leaving. Is it alright like this?"
Hyunwoo mumbled as he looked at the 300 or so people left
'They're all so amazing.'
Hyunwoo mumbled quietly.
They had split up like this within a day of deciding to group up.
No, if you look at it another way then it might be something obvious.
There aren't many people who have something more important than their own lives.
Especially in a world like this where family, love and faith was hard to maintain.
Hansoo chuckled at Hyunwoo's words as he spoke.
"Well. It's not that bad. If they fight that well."
Hansoo actually thought that the clan unions were rather good.
Those guys, who had set up a way to fight against a difficult enemy with near perfection in 20 days, were actually worthy of praise.
And no matter what happened, it was easier to control them if there were more people in the clan union than in the non-clan union.
In conclusion, this would increase the number of people who would live and even the speed in which they would advance towards the Demon Lord's Castle.
"…But doesn't the fact that they're taking the crystals piss you off or anything?"
Hansoo shook his head at Hyunwoo's words.
The things he had been worrying about until now were two things.
People dying at the hands of demons because they tried too hard to get their hands on the crystals and the people who had gained the crystal ascending just like that.
But such things won't happen anymore.
There was nothing bad about it because the special forces were hunting demons safely and it was only fair for the killer to take the crystal.
And Eres had saved 600 out of 1000 people.
If they advance like this then it meant that the Clan Lords and their core members won't fall into danger.
But why would they leave their gathered powers here and ascend with the crystals?
Actually, if they fought better by buying artifacts with the crystal then it was even better for him.
Since he will be able to arrive at the Demon Lord's Castle with the best bodily condition.
'It'll be so much better if they only did things up to this point.'
As soon as his words ended, Guktae walked towards him audaciously from afar.
"Since we caught it the ownership belonging to us is definite right?"
Hansoo nodded his head.
"Of course. The ownership of the items that dropped from the beast or demon that you killed belongs to you."
Guktae shrugged his shoulders.
'Well yeah. He won't fall for simple things such as this.'
He had thoroughly guarded the crystals from being distributed.
And because of this, if he had said something about it then he was going to show some supremacy with that as the reason.
He was strong but of course they would win if they put their special forces, which numbered over a hundred, in front of them and pushed him back.
And currently the people under him were quickly dropping out.
He thought that once he suppressed him, the 300 people stuck to him will drop off in piles but to come out in such a calm manner.
'Well. It's not that bad.'
It wasn't that bad as he saw the guy who hadn't allowed for his intentions to bend act like this.
'Well. We'll be in more of an advantage as the time goes on.'
There was no need to hurry.
Since the gap will continue to grow.
Once he gathered the crystals and got equipped with artifacts like the Drum of Lempal, the gap will clearly get widen.
"Ey. Fucker."
Hansoo chuckled at Hyunwoo, who was cursing as he looked at Guktae in the distance, and then started to count the number of crystals he had.
'But if I collect crystals at this rate then I can even obtain
If he were to obtain
If they advance on friendly terms like this then he might even be able to save more than Eres.
'Though it seems that it'll be hard.'
Hansoo finished his thoughts and then jumped at the Demons just like that.
............
Kudududk.
Hansoo swung his scythe widely towards the special forces that were slowly approaching the Demon which he was fighting
The ground dug up following the path of the scythe and because of this the special force members stopped their movements.
Hansoo smirked at those special forces.
"Don't really need to help though."
Sunghoon, one of the special forces, grinded his teeth and then spoke out.
"But no matter how I see it, it seems very unfair."
"What does?"
Sunghoon pointed at the corpse of the demon which was on the ground.
"You are catching three at the same time. And with just a chain on you."
Since they had gotten under the clans, they couldn't prevent damage from the mages from reaching the clansmen anymore.
And because of this the Lords split up their special forces.
60 people were fighting the demons with around 12 people to 1 while the remaining 40 were to go up against mages.
But while the 60 were hunting five, Hansoo killed three by himself.
As if he had spat on them already, he tied them up one by one with the chains and then killed them off one by one.
There was a difference in speed due to the fact that they were fighting rather safely in order to prevent injuries from happening to every precious special force member whilst Hansoo was charging in like a maniac without caring for his body.
But even so, they were 60 people.
And not any 60, these were the elites who were created by combining psychic powers, skills and runes by using the resources of the whole clan.
Hansoo smirked as he spoke.
"That's why I first moved to action when you came to kill them. Just like before."
'…damnable bastard'
What had occurred was that he had split up two of the three demons, who were tied up by the chain, to approach another six of them at a time.
He had tied up three but only fought one at a time so they had split up a team to approach the other two which were tied up.
And then this guy just let loose the chains which tied the two up, which of course made the demons go on a rampage, and almost caused one of the special forces to die.
'Damnable…'
It seemed like there were many demons but once they started killing them, there weren't as many of them.
The number of demons which had appeared to them within the past three days was about 50.
While they killed 30, Hansoo had eaten up 19 of them all alone.
And because of this the Lords couldn't keep up their face.
Since they had killed 30 with 12 people.
And they couldn't even get 10 when they fought for 10 days straight.
On whose nose did they want to stick this? (TL: Korean saying describing inadequate things)
'This won't do.'
Sunghoon quickly backed off with a cold expression and then hurriedly walked towards his Lord, Guktae.
.........…
'A genius is really a genius.'
He had a gist of it but for their hunting speeds to have that much of a difference.
'Well. The crystals aren't the important things.'
The crystals were bonuses no matter what happened.
Guktae sighed after making a fed up expression then thought of his motives.
He had thought about the past when he read the Romance of Three Kingdoms. (*TL: Whoever does not know what this is, go read it.)
But here there were 12 clans.
It was likely that the stage would get smaller as they went higher and higher.
If they think about organizing things later then it'll be too late.
'Let's see… if you say it takes 10 days then the remaining time is 7 days.'
If you discard the fact that they had to go up against undeads and demons without stopping as they advanced, it was a rather long time.
But it wasn't that long in order to complete his plans.
'I acknowledge the fact that you're strong.'
Acknowledge.
He was really strong.
Even more so than the clan he created with all his might.
And he will think that from now on, there will be times where his individual strength would surpass the strength of a group.
'I really want to take him.'
But he had already looked into this.
As he heard, he had already denied the proposals of other clans.
But everyone probably poked him once at least.
And to his knowledge, he denied all of them.
'It seems like there's a reason…'
He had many things that he kept hidden.
The fact that he didn't ascend despite having crystals was suspicious too.
'Well. Thanks to that there's an opportunity for me'
If I cannot use it then others cannot either.
That was too dangerous.
Even if things were to get dangerous because of his disappearance, he could just escape using the crystals along with his core members and special forces.
Though they had a connection, the level in which the Sovereign and the ones below, the people with symbols, were very different.
A Sovereign wouldn't tell a general to not go to war because he treasures the general.
'There's no need for me to do it personally.'
It'll be over if he made somebody go get hit by the blade and die.
Even better if the blade got damaged.
'Let's see. Somebody who would be the easiest to make him fall into such a trap is… Taejin.'
Guktae ordered something to the clansmen below through the message as he got up and headed towards Taejin.
............
Taejin stared coldly at Hansoo, who was standing in front of the giant door made of bones.
Because he thought of the words of another Clan Lord, Guktae.
And then he said that this fact needed to be remained a secret from others in order to avoid the eyes of the other clans.
'…this bastard. You deny my offer but accept Guktae's?'
Taejin grinded his teeth.
Of course he wasn't dumb and didn't believe right away.
So he had threatened that Hyunwoo guy who was always with Hansoo.
And he found out that there indeed were positive talks going between Hansoo and Guktae.
'It cannot happen. It cannot.'
Guktae already had the most power out of the 12 clans.
It was comparing the height of acorns but a huge difference was created once that guy came in.
Though they were secret allies within the Clan union, how could he just watch things like this when he didn't know what would happen after they went up.
'This bitch…I had left him alone because he was in a neutral position.'
There was a huge difference even if they say that the power between him and the affiliated person were the same.
And it'll be a huge burden once the crystals in his hands go into Guktae's hands.
'I need to make some preparations.'
He fought all the way in the very front.
So a chance will come by if he looks for one.
Especially if it's near that dangerous looking and suspicious door.
'Yeah. You've been quite comfortable up until now.'
Unfitting of this damnable world.
Taejin grinded his teeth after seeing Hansoo and the giant door made of bones in the distance as he proceeded to order something towards the clansmen below.
Chapter 36 – Demon Lord's Castle (3)
Hyunwoo gulped his saliva as he looked between Hansoo next to him and the giant door made of bones in the distance.
"Hansoo. You at least feel good. Since you can escape during times of crisis because you have the crystal."
And then Hansoo chuckled at Hyunwoo who was looking at him enviably.
"Don't worry. I'm not going."
"Yeah? Well. Logically speaking, you're probably here because you have something to gain."
Hansoo chucked as he looked at Hyunwoo who was mumbling 'Because you'd gone up if that wasn't the case.'
'Well. Those words are right.'
It was better for him to go up then to stay down here since he wasn't a Clan Lord who logically had to save everybody.
Since the hunting efficiency here was rather low.
The only runes that came out were from killing the Demons but the amount they dropped wasn't really satisfying it if you take into account their strength.
Some people who have already fulfilled the requirements of other islands rather quickly were probably already roaming around the most attractive area out of the islands above, The
Since this fact was already on the Island Maps.
But he hadn't come here for such things from the start.
'Demonic Jade Crystal.'
If he didn't obtain the
He wouldn't have known its existence without Eres.
Eres wasn't in the condition to utilize it properly but he could pull out all the power from the Demonic Jade Crystal.
He had come here for the Demonic Jade Crystal, the Judgement and Justice of Dekrados were merely part of the process.
'About 21 crystals collected.'
Also, if he were to hunt with ease then he could probably obtain the Justice of Dekrados also.
"It kind of seems like the Clan Lords don't like you much. Is it because you're strong?"
There was no reason to hate Hansoo in Hyunwoo's eyes.
He helped others well, was diligent in his own part of the work and felt very secure because he was strong.
There were basic rules and he was very diligent in following them.
The reason why the non-clansmen had followed him at the start was because of this.
Though they had all split up now.
Hansoo chuckled as he spoke.
"Well there's that but…it's as you say. They just don't like me."
The road was long and they didn't know when an enemy will appear.
If they thought logically then they had to combine their strength in order to defeat the enemy.
But Lords were a little different.
Historically speaking, it wasn't that the kings did not slash off the necks of capable generals because there was an enemy.
Lords instinctively hated people who didn't work in their way.
Lord of a Clan.
As soon as you awake the trait
That your words became the law and the rules within this household.
He didn't know himself but according to the words of Eres, it was a very addictive and amazing feeling where you are living in the modern society and then getting into a situation where others had to listen to your words.
And they tried to increase the number of their clan because of this.
To increase their influence inside and outwards as well as to apply the rules they created.
The reason why the Lords increased their power wasn't just for survival.
But who would like it when somebody else were to come and then tell them to follow different rules.
It was a different problem from their own rules being right or wrong, he, who was an
'Well they might not be able to judge things reasonably.'
The Lords who had been around for tens of decades were growing impatient because they couldn't kill him.
The fact that the ones who just became Lords were around him and were suppressing themselves was even more amazing.
Since reason and emotion are different from the start.
And when somebody sets their mind on something, they're bound to create some reason for it in their head.
'They still need to grow a lot.'
A new ability.
And a new world where they can use it freely.
It was obvious that they wanted to swing around the fascinating new sword that they had obtained.
And getting angry was normal since they met somebody which their sword, which usually worked well, didn't work against.
But they needed to see more and hear more.
And they had to realize that this was just the start.
And that was why they needed to escape the tutorial area in order to survive.
The most important quality of a Lord wasn't suppressing the other Lord.
Suppressing oneself and knowing how to work with other Lords was the most important thing.
Even Kwang Goonju and the Lord of Dark Angler weren't self-assertive.
'Well. It's a little early for them to know of it. Anyways, I should try a little bit harder.'
What would he do by showing off his strength against baby Lords in the tutorial area.
The people here were people who came from living in the real world and had only been here for about a month.
They might look at him in a marvelous way but if Hansoo wasn't able to do at least this much then Kangtae would've probably went overboard.
His real rivals were people who have been here for a few years or even 20 years while going through all sorts of hardships from square one.
People who had broken through a tutorial like this over 10 or so years ago and had been roaming around the Otherworld for a long time.
His goal wasn't to be ahead of others by 1 to 2 years.
He had to catch up to 20 years between him and them.
Hansoo loosened up the tension in his body as he approached the first gateway, the Door of Bones.
'The time it will take to eat up the rest of the members will be about 3 days… it seems it'll take a while.'
The non-clansmen couldn't follow him.
They will receive more damage than usual as the environment gets harsher if they did not have the commands of a Lord.
And that was why he induced the Clan Lords to absorb them back in.
Since it seemed like most members had been absorbed into the clans, things were doable.
'Let's have a look here.'
They'll have some sort of an image as they see how he deals with the Gatekeeper.
Hansoo smiled at Hyunwoo then slowly walked forward.
.........…
Guktae frowned as he looked at the giant door in front of him.
A giant door that seemed like it was made of hundreds of thousands if not millions of bones.
One could see that from the door that reminded of France's Arc de Triomphe, a fearful aura was coming off from it.
'Let's see… the remaining number is 1200.'
100 died in 3 days.
From one's view it was merely a trivial loss.
This was a result that came off from Hansoo and the Special forces fighting the Demons competitively.
If both of them were slugging about then the damage would have skyrocketed.
'Well. Since they have almost absorbed them all.'
As people saw that Hansoo didn't care about keeping them safe and was focused on hunting the Demons, they all ran and joined the clans.
They had all realized.
Though Hansoo can hunt all the Demons with his body alone, that he could not defend them from the attacks of countless mages
If they didn't go into the clans then the special forces wouldn't defend them and then they'll be wide open against the attacks of the mages.
Though the people who had survived from Hansoo hunting the Demons were hundreds, being safer was the better option.
While Guktae was making a satisfied expression, a familiar existence appeared in front of the Giant Door.
"Hello everyone. Welcome to the first of the three doors, the Door of Bones."
There wasn't any other name that more befitting.
The fairy who had seen the people's expressions nodded.
"It's very simple. Do you see the giant door over there? You just need to get past it."
"…It's closed."
The giant door that the fairy pointed to was firmly closed.
But then climbing the walls that stretched tens of meters next to it seemed impossible.
No, if they were meant to be climbed then why would the door exist.
'We don't even know if the fairy might kill us as an example on the way up.'
Their lives were too precious to test climbing up the wall when they could just talk it out.
The fairy laughed as it spoke.
"Eehee. You need to pay a passing fee."
Everyone made a bitter expression at those words.
"What do we need to pay with?"
The fairy shrugged as it spoke.
"What else. The crystals on you guys. Crystals. Just pay 30. Then it'll be a free pass."
"…"
Curses almost exploded out from their mouths.
The sum total they had hunted in the past 3 days was 50.
And there were only about 30 in their possession.
But for them to pay 30 crystals in order to open a door.
Which meant they had to hand over their lives too.
The reason why they were able to plan things about while trying so hard was because they had a backup plan which came from the crystals.
The
The reason why the name Central Island was given was because it was an island right below the Tower.
And they, who had already gained a lot in the central island, could still look out for opportunities even if they go up with heavy losses.
But if they lose the crystals then they would have to give up on all of those opportunities.
And the fairy had told them clearly.
That there were 3 doors.
Which means there was a chance that they will get robbed 2 more times like this from now.
Guktae struggled to maintain his expression and then spoke.
"Is there a way to pass without paying?"
The fairy nodded at those words.
"Simple. You need to kill the Gatekeeper."
"…Gatekeeper."
"Yes. Gatekeeper."
As soon as the fairy's words ended, a fearful vibration started to ring throughout the ground.
The origin of the vibration was the door in front of them.
Kadududuk.
Udududuk.
The hundreds of thousand if not millions of bones that had made up the door mixed and intertwined as it turned into something giant.
"…Wolf?"
Somebody spoke out in dismay as they saw the giant wolf that stretched 50m long from head to its tail.
Grrrrrrrr.
Though it was made of bones, there were blue flames burning from its eyes.
And this was from 30m above them.
It was only 30m on paper, it felt like a building was standing up and growling at them.
It didn't even squeak like the weak skeletons.
Since the number of bones that its body consisted of was too many to do so.
The people made fearful expressions as they saw the giant black wolf made of bones that were polluted black.
The fairy laughed as it saw those people.
"Here. There isn't a moon anymore right? If you aren't going to pay then you just need to walk beneath it."
Grrrrrr
The people gulped their saliva as they gazed at the giant Wolf.
"…How about giving 30 crystals?"
"Yeah. How are we going to…"
30 crystals.
A number that could only be gained if they killed 30 demons.
It actually looked as strong as 30 demons.
And that was the problem.
They had hunted 50 of them by killing them 8 or 9 at a time but 30 of them charging at them at once was of a different dimension.
The Clan Lords made bitter expressions as they looked at each other.
There weren't any crystals on the few remaining non-clansmen.
Which meant that they had to pay 30 crystals.
No, another person did exist.
He didn't have as much as them but someone in possession of a lot of crystals.
They looked at Hansoo as they spoke.
"Let's pay the crystals together."
That thing was too burdensome no matter what.
Hansoo shook his head.
"We need to fight it."
"…what?"
Everyone's expressions froze.
'Damn… does he mean it's not worth it.'
Guktae frowned inwardly.
But it made sense that it wasn't worth it.
They were 1200.
On the other hand, he was alone.
It was possible that he would feel wronged if he had to burden part of the 30.
But they couldn't act recklessly.
The situation would become very complicated if he decides to go up when they try to force him with strength.
"We aren't telling you to pay all 30. Just a part of it…"
Hansoo thought quietly inwardly while listen to those words.
'Eres. I really think you are extremely amazing.'
Eres had saved 600 out of 1000 people and ascended.
Surprisingly, Eres managed to have less than 30 deaths before they reached the Door of Bones.
The thousand people Eres had numbered a little less but were much more formidable than the ones here.
Like steel which got stronger as you hammered it, people who were strengthened from 20 days of fighting without rest.
They had good synergy, kept on fighting against the demons and continuously reinforced their Battle Power from crystals.
And the only action that Eres had regretted in the central island.
Eres was scared of people dying while fighting that giant thing so she had paid the crystals she had gathered to pass it.
And because of this, she had to pay crystals on the next gateway too.
Since she had already given the crystals once and could not reinforce their battle powers with those crystals.
And the same with the next gateway as well.
And after she had arrived at the Giant Crystal at the Demon Lord's Castle at that pace, she had lost 400 out of 1000 people during the final battle.
No, It ended with 400 because of luck.
If they pass through something sweetly once in this world, then it'll just come back with interest and Eres had felt this through pain in her bones.
'It seems like I'll need to make some extra explanations.'
Hansoo mumbled inwardly as he saw everyone's frozen expressions.
Chapter 37 – Demon Lord's Castle (4)
"We're fighting. There's two more gateways after this, what are you planning to do if you give the crystals over to it here?"
"…Goddamnit. You don't know about that."
Taejin clenched his teeth at Hansoo's words.
'Is he out of his mind?'
Just say you don't want to if you didn't want to give the Crystals.
Who in their right state of mind would try to fight that monster.
But he couldn't assert his position strongly because he felt like that was the correct choice.
"Didn't you grind your blade fervently. Then you should at least try swinging it against the strong."
"…Fuck."
Hansoo, who had finished his wards, started to untie the weapons from his body slowly.
Taejin grinded his teeth at this sight.
'Goddamit… Is it really doable?'
He didn't know about other things but one thing was clear.
That Hansoo's fighting ability was simply monstrous.
And when such a person had told him to try and have a bout with it, he weirdly thought that it might be doable.
And he had said he even had psychic powers.
'I'm the crazy one.'
He was actually getting tempted by a point with no basis to back it up.
Taejin clenched his teeth as he flinched at his weirdly tempted mind.
'No. I need to be careful of guys like him.'
When somebody, who was rather good with the sword in the beginning, ambushed him and his friends, they easily suppressed him.
Though he was strong, there were still five including him and his friends.
He had let him go alive because he thought that the speed in which one got stronger couldn't catch up the speed of five.
Since he thought that was the right choice at that time.
The greatest misconception was thinking that he would come back alone next time as well.
But he did not come back alone.
He had brought others behind him.
His friends had all died and he barely survived and escaped.
And when he awakened his trait and gained more power, he killed them all and then vowed.
That it was not ok for him to let people who were as dangerous as him alive.
Hansoo wasn't the problem.
Even if he was perfectly normal, it'll be dangerous if he were to go into a dangerous household.
Especially in a household where it is composed of a Lord's Symbol which was hard to disobey.
One could tell Guktae was dangerous with just a simple glance.
That was why he had allied with him but this decision was something he laid down because he felt that fighting against him was doable.
He didn't like that guy but he didn't mind holding hands with a dangerous and strong guy in order to defend his followers.
But if someone like Hansoo goes under Guktae and heeds his command then it will become uncontrollable.
He had to do his best to supervise the dangers for the people who receive his mark with trust.
While Taejin was pledging to himself within his mind, Hansoo rose from his seat.
'I'll finally get to use this thing properly.'
The gatekeeper was one of the greatest reasons why he had bought this in the first place.
He couldn't control and lead everyone like Eres.
But he could do the thing which he was the best at.
'I'm fighting in the very front.'
And the others didn't have the leeway to choose.
"Let's go. Only people of the special forces level and people whose long-ranged skills reach 250m in range follow. It seems like some of you could do it in combination to your psychic powers. And the healers should be stationed 500m behind."
The Commander's Aura drained the health of the people nearby.
They'll just become baggage if they don't have magic resistance.
"…"
"What are you doing. Not coming with me? If you aren't coming then I'm going to drag that thing over here."
"This crazy bastard…"
Everyone was frightened at the sight of Hansoo who seemed like he was about to pounce on it alone.
Hansoo chuckled as he saw these guys.
"Follow the commands properly. You need to at least work for your meals."
'…'
Hansoo then charged forward ruthlessly, swung the scythe around and then slammed it down onto the head of the giant gatekeeper.
Boooom!
Kuaaaaaangg!
The gatekeeper, which had its head smacked, roared loudly as it glared at Hansoo while the fairy muttered quietly.
"Eyyy. What is this. They're fighting. Killjoy."
Everyone realized the answer from the from the unsatisfied voice of the fairy.
"Goddamnit… Run!"
"Receive as many buffs as possible! People who have Aron's Arrow shoot it from over here!"
And then everyone, as well as the special forces, started running towards Hansoo's back.
.........…
'As I thought… this guy was created with the gatekeeper of the 7th floor of the abyss as the basis'
It was a version which was so weak that it couldn't be compared to the original but the physical structure of it and the skills it used seemed the same.
'Then I can read it.'
Kadudududk
Kuaaaaaa!
The gatekeeper shook his body crazily in order to break apart the chains which were entwining its body.
Of course it was impossible for Hansoo to suppress the strength of the giant wolf by himself.
Since their size and mass were different from the start.
It was a different issue from strength.
But Hansoo was flying between the body and the joints of the gatekeeper as he tied the chain around it.
So that when it tried to swing its body, its whole body would be squeezed.
So that when it tried to run forward, its front and back legs would get tangled up.
Kududududk
The Judgement of Dekrados was constantly draining the mana of the Gatekeeper as it activated its
'… It's barely holding on.'
The gatekeeper wasn't average as he expected, the chains straightened as if they were about to snap.
Hansoo limited its movements by loosening and entwining the chains.
He wanted to tie it up into a ball but then it might really snap.
Hansoo loosened and tightened the chains at different times as he tied it up as much as he could without snapping the chains.
Its movements weren't suppressed completely because the chains didn't tie it up completely but its movements were still dulled.
"Dodge the front leg!"
The special forces, who were scattering the bones apart below, scattered in all directions while shouting.
Boom!
Charuruk
As Hansoo loosened up the chains, the beast, which was twisting its body in annoyance, swung the now-free front leg. But this was all as Hansoo planned.
He had loosened up the area which was the easiest to dodge on purpose.
Kirik. Kiririk.
Hansoo was changing the direction of the beast even in such a situation by loosening and tightening the chains.
Kuuuuaaang!
The gatekeeper got even angrier because it felt like it became a marionette but Hansoo didn't care as he continued to twist around its movements as he pulled on the chains.
'Well. I can't move it how I want but…'
It took all of his power to control the chains.
Since a gatekeeper of this level was no joke.
But such a thing like swinging a sword could be done by others.
Kudududk. Kududk.
"Hurry and smash its ankles first!"
"Since the bones come back to connect with each other, shove some things into the location where you smashed apart!"
As Hansoo heard the endless voices from the clansmen of Taejin, he nodded his head.
'They're doing pretty good.'
The Demons use a variety of skills.
And because the special forces had gained a vast amount of experience, they didn't get flustered at the magical sight of the bones combining back and were neutralizing the ankles first.
Grrrrrrr
And at that moment, a weird shockwave could be felt from the gatekeeper's mouth.
And at the same time, the blue eyes in its eyes started to burn up.
'That's a little bit difficult'
If that thing were to burst out then at least half of them would become a mess.
A power that was granted to the doorkeepers in order to incinerate the intruders.
Charururk
Hansoo grabbed onto the handle of the scythe while flying about on the chains.
Kururururu
The scythe in Hansoo's hands started to drain his mana aggressively as it activated the skill,
And Hansoo swung it like so and smashed it onto the lower jaw of the gatekeeper.
Boom!
Kwadududk
His neck bones were so thick that the attack, which he poured all his power into, just bounced off its cranium but still made it to face the front from it's original position of being ready.
But Hansoo didn't expect this attack to send its head flying.
His goal was the blue marble that could see seen between the bones he had smashed apart.
'Ignition Stone'
The hellfire could only be let out once the mana from deep inside its body reached up the cranium and met the ignition stone with a violent reaction.
An information was obtained after Keldian and Hansoo realized that this thing was the gatekeeper on the road to obtaining the Demonic Jade Crystal and had personally killed one and dissected it.
Basically, as long as you ripped off the Ignition Stone then the hellfire wouldn't get completed.
Hansoo roughly shoved his hands between the regenerating bones and pulled out the bead.
Chiiiik
An extreme temperature which even made sounds of burning Hansoo's flesh which was protected by his magic resistance.
Hansoo threw the Ignition stone down and then continued to suppress it with the chains with his burnt hand.
One of Taejin's clansman, who was looking at him, asked through the message.
The clan member was making a bitter expression as well.
Since the thought of such a guy joining Guktae's Clan and holding his blades at them was feeling extremely dangerous.
But Hansoo was using all his power to suppress the wolf and was having a hard time.
A situation where there's a chance if they attacked.
But Taejin shook his head.
The clan member was rather confused at the changed attitude of Taejin but didn't talk back as he charged onto the giant gatekeeper again.
And soon the giant wolf started to get disassembled one part at a time from the long range skills and the Special forces who flew into it like a swarm of bees.
.........…
"It was pretty doable right? Here. Take the runes."
Hansoo chuckled at the Lords as he started to distribute the runes according to the amount of contribution from each Lord.
Taejin stared at this Hansoo for a while and then spoke out.
"Why do you roam around alone? It doesn't seem like it'll be hard for you to make a clan without psychic powers."
That much strength and a weird psychic power.
And a weird aura that radiated from his whole body.
It wasn't that you needed psychic powers like theirs in order to become a leader.
If he's that strong then he could probably create a much larger clan than theirs.
No, even if Hansoo was to continue maintaining the Semi-Basement union and had used his hands a few more times then they would probably be rolling around beneath him.
Hansoo chucked at those words.
When will he raise them and when will he use them.
He needed to run but if he were to take them with him then his back will bend.
And if he wanted to maintain this amount of people at all times in the place he was going to be at from now on, he'd be simply too busy just to fill the holes.
Since they'll die off in hundreds.
"Everyone has their personal issues. You probably have them too."
"…"
Taejin stared at Hansoo for a while and then looked at Guktae in the distance.
'This Bastard… set up a trap.'
He wasn't somebody who would stay beneath that Guktae.
Taejin threw out a word after looking at Hansoo for a while.
"Be careful of that Guktae."
He couldn't tell more than that.
Since if he were to say that Guktae was aiming for him and created a dispute, everyone would be in danger.
Since even if Hansoo wanted to do something to Guktae, the other Clan Lords wouldn't just stand idle.
The Lords hated Hansoo and at the same time, felt pressured by him.
They weren't clashing into each other because they agreed of his usefulness, but once he starts acting on Guktae, they will react extremely sensitively.
'But my mind would only be at ease if I at least tell him about this.'
Hansoo smirked at those words and Taejin glared at Guktae while returning to his clansmen.
Guktae clicked his tongue while looking at that Taejin.
'Tsk. So this is how it rolls out.'
He had been found out but it didn't matter.
Since when was the relationship between them good.
And even if he knew, he couldn't do anything about it.
How would a guy who valued his clansmen so much fight recklessly.
'You need to know when to throw things.'
Hansoo was the same.
But one thing was clear.
'It's better to leave him alone for a while.'
He needed time to practice and it was better to not touch him if he could hunt the gatekeepers like that.
Since they could save crystals then.
Guktae, who had judged that it was best to leave him alone temporarily, moved back in between his clansmen.
............…
Kudududk
Guktae mumbled quietly as he saw the final Gatekeeper being eliminated.
'…It's finally here.'
A giant castle could be seen over the carcass of the final gatekeeper.
The
A ginormous crystal could be seen in the corner of the Demon Lord's Castle.
'Let's see. About 1000 people left.'
Guktae looked at his wrist.
8 miniature crystals.
It wasn't a large amount because the 12 clan Lords had to share but he could still obtain a pretty good artifact with it.
A
But Guktae shook his head.
'Twelve is too many as I expected. And he is dangerous too. It's time for things to end soon.'
It was really the final gateway and the final chance.
"Since we're injured we're resting here first before moving out!"
"We're going into the Demon Lord's Castle after healing as much as possible!"
Guktae started to send a message towards somewhere as he heard the shouts of the Clan Lords.
Chapter 38 – Demon Lord's Castle (5)
Taejin made a strange expression as he looked at Hansoo who had appeared in front of him while he was looking at the Demon Lord's Castle in the distance.
"That's a dagger that I haven't seen around."
Hansoo laughed as he answered.
"Oh I bought the newest product."
'A dagger and scythe…'
A shiny dagger, which wasn't seen until now, was attached on Hansoo's waist.
A sword with a 30 cm long blade, which had a rather peculiarly long shape for a dagger.
Of course he had many daggers dangling on his thighs but that weapon felt different at a glance.
'…Set artifact?'
He had seen it on the catalog.
An artifact that showed off its best effect when used in conjunction with Judgement of Dekdrados.
He thought that he was a guy who only used complex weapons just like the chain scythe.
Though there was nothing to say since he used them well.
And he also had many weird things.
'What is that pouch…'
While the people were cooking the strange plants which appeared on the road, food continued to come out from his pouch.
But they weren't really jealous because the food which came out from it was on par with the plants they cooked.
"Can we really not be together above?"
Taejin asked with a regrettable tone as he looked at the Giant Crystal which had gotten rather close to them.
Hansoo chuckled at those words.
"I said follow if you want to follow. I won't take you with me but I won't stop you either."
Taejin shook his head at those words.
He wanted to follow him but he was not alone.
They had gotten a little closer while fighting and because of this he had the opportunity to talk with him.
And he could find out after talking to him for a while.
There weren't many reasons why this guy was trying so hard to become strong.
Just one.
In order to go into more dangerous locations.
His clansmen were strong too but if they were to follow him then they would die off in stroves.
He didn't want to become strong that bad.
The reason why he wanted to become strong was for the protection of the clan but that thing had different means and aim.
'It's a good choice.'
Hansoo smiled as he looked at Taejin.
Since the road which he will be traveling from now on will be even more dangerous.
The things he needed to do in the Tutorial were two.
Clearing the Final dungeon.
And one more.
'A Dark Lord who is bound to be somewhere.'
Dark Lord.
One of the guys he needed to pull out by the roots for the safety of humanity.
Guys who were dangerous to no extent.
No, the reason why they were so infamous was because they had the potential to be so dangerous from the start.
There was one in this tutorial area too.
'I will clash with him properly… in the Tower.'
No matter where you are, you meet in the Tower.
Since clashes were inevitable according to its structure.
Hansoo muttered inwardly as he slowly walked inside the Demon Lord's Castle.
The inner parts of the Demon Lord's Castle was empty.
And a red colored crystal existed within the deep parts of the Demon Lord's Castle.
'It is not… working yet.'
The aura of the Crystal was too lacking to say it was working.
And in front of that Crystal, in the large field which was enough to accommodate for the surviving thousand people, a statue which looked intimidating at a glance stood.
'Is that the Demon Lord?'
While the Clan Lords were frowning, Guktae approached from afar.
Taejin frowned as he looked at him.
'Detestable bastard.'
But even so, he could only agree with his usefulness.
Since his clan showed off the greatest might out of the ones here.
Guktae approached the Clan Lords as he spoke:
"I have a suggestion. We have finally arrived at the final gateway together. It seems like the crystal would work if we break that statue apart."
Guktae looked at the giant statue in the distance and then spoke to the Clan Lords.
"Honestly speaking all of us have seven to eight mini crystals right? This isn't a large number but it is more than enough to preserve our powers."
Everyone nodded at those words.
The amount of mini crystals differed from each other's contributions but it was a number which could at least take 40 of them up with them.
If it was this much, it wasn't lacking to start anew in a new place.
In a place where they could be in a very advantageous situation just by gathering up 10 people, there was nothing to even say about 40 of them.
Since it was a very pressuring number to go against if they weren't Clan Lords like them.
But Guktae threw out a very straightforward talk as he looked at them.
"Let's speak really honestly. In my situation I want to kill off everyone else. It's probably the same for other friends too."
"… Isn't that too honest."
"Let's put all in the open and speak."
Everyone thought inwardly at those words.
Even if they weren't that frank, rejoicing at the reduction of power of other clans was an obvious fact.
Who would like a strong competitor in a world where the fairies were setting up tricks in order to get them to compete with each other.
They might even have to kill each other as soon as they go up.
And the other 11 clans were dangerous competitors and by the time they regret about fighting, it'll be too late.
Everyone wanted it even if they weren't saying it as straightforward as he was.
For the power of others to get reduced in the final battle.
As Guktae saw the expression of a consensus from them, he added in some more words as extra.
"But I don't think we should do that. The reason why we have gotten here together despite hating each other so much was because we were on the same boat. We need each other that much. We need to combine our strengths in order to break through the gateway to ascend."
"What do you want to say?"
Guktae laughed at Taejin's words as he spoke.
"Very simple. Let us all reduce the risk and raise the chances of winning."
"…?"
"I know that all of you have not exchanged all of your crystals into artifacts in case of emergencies. The same goes for me."
"…"
"But think about it. How lame is this. If we just change our crystals into artifacts then the power of our Clan Unions rises by a huge amount. On the other hand, the crystals are an existence which just cut down our battle power even if we have it. Because you won't be able to fight properly as you never know when the guy next to you will attack your back and run away. If this were to happen then we could all die. A massacre."
"Hmm…"
Taejin thought inwardly.
Guktae was a guy he didn't like but there was nothing wrong about what he had said.
Honestly speaking, they had to convert all the crystals in their possession in order to face the giant statue, the Demon Lord, in front of them.
Then the number of survivors would increase.
But the reason why they held onto the crystals was because they felt uneasy.
Since this crystal was a sure escape path.
Gukgtae looked at them and shouted as he suggested.
"So I have a suggestion. Let's all change the crystals we have into artifacts. Whichever artifact you change it to is however the user wants but let's use it all without a single one remaining.
"Kuhmm…"
"Hum…"
"This is a means to get rid of the escape path. Since we don't know what kind of crazily orders the Clan Lord will give after escaping if there's one left. Since there's probably somebody who thinks that it'll be a profit massacring the 1000 people here and surviving by himself.
"…"
"Oh. By the way, I'm part of those guys. Can you trust in my clan like this and fight?"
It wasn't an impossible feat.
They didn't know how strong that statue was but if 1000 of them had to fight with all their might, 100 people acting crazily would be extremely fatal.
They could bury everyone here except the five who would escape with the mini crystal.
"…too honest"
"Thank you for the complement. On the other hand, if there wasn't a single crystal left in my hands then I couldn't do such a thing. Because that just means let's just all die. I don't want to die that way. If we all set our boundaries and have our clans fight in those areas with all their might then there will be no instances of being backstabbed. You just need to do your best on your defenses."
"Can't somebody hide the crystals?"
Guktae shook his head.
"We can't hide the crystals because we know the number of each other's crystals too well.
Once we all agree let's buy and show each other. If we compare the number of crystals distributed and the cost of the items on the catalogue, you won't be able to hide the crystals even if you wanted to."
"Hmm…"
Everyone started to ponder at these words.
It's not like there were an uncountable amount of demons and because they had hunted them down employing their special forces together, the number of crystals were clear.
A situation where they knew the number of crystals on each other very well because it was impossible to sneakily move around the special forces to hunt.
According to those words then it was possible to know the total amount of crystals without a single one being left out.
Honestly speaking, it was an obvious thing to decrease factors for anxiety and reinforce their battle strength as much as possible.
Guktae added more words as he looked at these people.
"Think about it. Would the fairy have set the difficulty so that it wasn't possible to win? No matter how much fairy likes for us to die then they wouldn't have put in so much effort like this when they were going to kill us all. They could just simply kill us off and that'll be that."
"Mmm…"
"It means that that thing is possible if we all combine our strengths. Then it means a lot more can survive then you guys escaping with the mini crystals. If you all agree then I'll change first."
Everyone pondered at those words but then nodded.
And they all started to buy artifacts one by one and showed each other.
"I'm choosing the Thorn Wood Casket."
"I'm getting the Ariadnea's Essence…"
Guktae made a content expression as he checked them one by one.
"Good. I'm choosing the Wilderness Lord's Cape. This costs 8 crystals. Everyone should know I received eight… Hansoo you had exactly 59, where did you use them all?"
"… 59 of them."
Everyone thought silently.
If you include the Judgement of Dekrados he bought before then it totals to 119 crystals.
They had known this but confirming it again made them amazed.
Hansoo chuckled as he lifted and showed the dagger hanging onto his waist.
"I used it here. Justice of Dekrados."
Guktae gazed at Hansoo dagger and then nodded with a content expression.
"Though four are left over… is there anything else you're going to buy?"
Hansoo pondered for a moment and then shook his head.
Guktae chucked at that Hansoo.
"You probably don't have a reason to go up. Keep it well then."
'Well. You're probably here because you have an objective left.'
Guktae laughed inwardly.
If he was somebody who would go up for his own safety then he would've left already.
The fact that he had stayed until now meant that he had something to do left.
Anyways, if he decided to not fight and create a chaos or go up then nobody could stop him.
It was better to just tell him to hold onto the escape path and fight actively.
"Well. There's not a single crystal left between the Clan Lords. We can finally focus on the enemy in front of us."
As soon as Guktae's words ended, the giant statue squeaked as it raised its body.
No, it was not a statue.
It was like a living thing having been petrified like a statue.
'It's been a while huh.'
Demon Lord, Barbatoy.
Though it was a weaker version, old memories sprung up when he saw the thing he had fought back then to death with after a long time.
Though it wasn't a good memory.
Just the number of humans who had died by getting ripped apart by his hands was easily over ten thousand.
While Hansoo mumbled inwardly, Taejin shouted loudly at the Demon lord.
"Normal clansmen fall back and special forces, long range and those with healing skills…"
A decision that had been laid because it could be a massacre if the normal clansmen, who couldn't even fight against the gatekeepers, got swept up in the fight against the Demon Lord.
If they couldn't even fight against then they were not of help.
But Taejin, who had been shouting, realized that this wasn't necessary.
Since an enormous amount of undeads started to rise out of the ground in a crazy pace.
"Goddammit… Don't fall back and cover us instead!"
It looked like that they couldn't even get close to the Demon Lord without normal clansmen.
And soon the undead charged ferociously and chaos was created.
And at that moment the fairy appeared above their heads.
"Wow! For one thousand people to have survived! Amazing! You just need to finish it off. First of all, the arrival point, even if you chose the same island, would be different from the mini-crystal to that of the giant crystal so you don't need to worry about getting revenged. Heehee."
"…"
It sounded like that they should attack from behind and leave without feeling any pressure since they didn't need to worry about being chased after running away with the mini crystal.
But everyone snorted.
Since they didn't have any mini crystals anymore.
But the fairy's words did not end.
"By the way, it isn't that the giant crystal turns on when you kill the Demon Lord!"
"…?"
"It will turn on after 30 minutes. So you just need to survive until then right?"
The fairy disappeared with those words and everyone flinched.
It was survival and not kill.
Which meant the clan which fought the hardest would have the greatest loss.
'It's perfect. Really.'
And Guktae laughed as he looked at everyone flinching in the battlefield.
Chapter 39 – Demon Lord's Castle (6)
Kududuk
"Aim at the neck!"
"Damnit! We're getting pushed on this side!"
The clansmen started to clash against the undead under the command of the Clan Lords.
The sounds of crashing and ripping resonated from all directions.
And within the small gap that the clansmen had created, Hansoo and the special forces started to charge ruthlessly.
Towards the giant statue, no, towards the Demon Lord which was stretching.
And then Hansoo, the special forces and the Demon Lord clashed aggressively.
Kuaaaaaah!
'Maybe because it's a weaker version it cannot talk huh.'
Hansoo muttered inwardly as he looked at the 15m tall human shaped Demon Lord.
'But…As I expected.'
Hansoo clicked his tongue.
The Clan Lords weren't attacking properly.
They didn't have to kill the Demon Lord.
They just needed to endure.
30 minutes.
A time which could be held out if you focused on defending and dragged out the time.
There were twelve clans and anyone who survived were part of the forces they could take above.
It was obvious that everyone wanted to save as many as possible.
And because of this the Clan Lords, despite having the Special Forces out in the front , were just keeping their distance.
The Demon Lord threw a fist along with a rough scream while everybody was not fighting properly.
Hoooong
The giant body combined with the unbelievable speed generated a tremendous amount of wind as it created a humongous shockwave.
Boooom!
"Goddamit!"
"Kuaaaahk!"
Ironically, the Demon Lord, the king of the Evil Clan, wasn't using any skills.
The only thing it had was its overwhelming stamina, health, speed and regeneration.
But this was dangerous enough to the point that every attack from the Demon Lord crushed the people ruthlessly but this just suppressed the Clan Lords from taking action even more.
If he had used an area of effect attack then they might've attacked him because of fear but seeing that he was killing them off one by one, it seemed like they could keep quite a lot alive and then run away through the crystal.
And even better if the special forces of the other clans die off.
"Goddamit! Stick properly! Why are you backing off!"
Taejin gritted his teeth at how the others were acting.
The only special forces that were fighting properly were Taejin's and Yerim's.
These two didn't want to fight at the very front either.
They had just stayed here because it seemed like everything would collapse in an instant if these two were to back off as well.
But the one who was fighting the most actively at this moment was Hansoo.
Since the others were others and he had to kill this thing.
He didn't have the leisure to care about other things anyway.
'Because only then would the Demonic Jade Crystal come out.'
Hansoo was currently fighting close to the Demon Lord.
'It's been a while since we fought. Barbatoy.'
It wasn't Hansoo of back then. And it wasn't the Demon Lord of back then too but fighting it whose attacks and habits were clearly inscribed in his head made it less of a burden for Hansoo to fight.
Barbatoy was a pure physical type.
If he had gone up against someone with a peculiar skill then it would've been very pressuring even for Hansoo.
Of course the basic skill which it had,
'And that's why the special forces need to do well.'
Hansoo flew around the Demon Lord as he started to tie it up with great vigor.
Kuaaang!
When the Demon Lord applied some strength, the chain made a crackling sound as if it was about break.
'That won't do'
Hansoo pulled out the new artifact he got,
Charururk
As Hansoo sent in some mana, the single dagger in his hands instantly turns into twelve.
One of the two skills of the Justice of Dekrados.
The dagger could divide into twelve that had the same durability but once one of them is broken, then the broken copy wouldn't be regenerated even if you were to use Division again.
Hansoo dodged the attacks of the Demon Lord as he stabbed the dagger into the body of the Demon Lord who was tied up with the chain of Judgement of Dekrados.
Puk
Pupupuk
The dagger went through the chain and got embedded.
As it was made as a set item, the holes on each link of the chain were just the right size for the dagger to go through.
The effect
And in this unique form, the chain became even stronger and the dagger sharper.
Hansoo, who had swiftly embedded all twelve daggers, aggresively pulled on the chain.
Kudududuk
As he pulled the chains, the daggers which were embedded along with the chains followed as they sliced apart the Demon Lord's flesh.
Like an electric chainsaw, as the chain which was tied around the Demon Lord were pulled, the daggers started to tear apart the flesh of the Demon Lord.
Kuaaaah!
'It might break.'
As the enraged Demon Lord shook its body, the chain tensed up as if it was about to break.
It was a situation where it couldn't untie the chain because the daggers were embedded deep into its body.
But even if the set effect,
'But it doesn't matter.'
Charururk
As Hansoo sent in mana waves, the twelve daggers combined into one and came into Hansoo's hand.
It was a simple but very efficient function for the dagger.
As long as there's these two functions then there was no lack of firepower.
As the daggers were removed and the chain was loosened, the Demon Lord started to become even more crazy.
"Uaaaak!"
"Goddamit!"
'Tsk. The special forces need to fight properly.'
Though he had turned it into a mess, it was regenerating at an extreme speed.
Its true might came from that abnormal rate of recovery, ability to take hits, resistance and things like strength, agility and savagery were just the surface of it.
The special forces needed to shove their skills into it and destroy it faster than the speed of its regeneration while he tied it up.
There was a limit to how much one person alone could damage the Demon Lord. But though the Special forces were attacking it, they were doing so in a very passive way and were using safe tactics so the damage couldn't catch up to the regeneration speed of the Demon Lord.
'If this continues then more will die before 30 minutes are up.'
And the Lords were all getting further away from the battlefield as if they had judged that the battlefield was dangerous.
Hansoo shook his head as he saw these signs.
.........…
"Bastards! What are you going to command from back there!"
Taejin gritted his teeth.
It was better for the Lords to be in a safer spot.
Since it'll be over for everyone if they die.
But if you wanted to raise the strength of the clan then it was better to command from the center of the clansmen.
It was good to leave things to work automatically but it was also important to look over the situation of the battle to increase the strength of the clan by preserving their numbers and even making them fight forcibly at times.
But the only ones who were fighting in the center of their clans were only Yerin and Taejin.
The ten other Clan Lords, including Guktae, had already backed off into the distance.
The other Lords smirked at Taejin shouting in the distance.
"Why are you fighting in the front like that if you aren't of much help anyway."
"This bastard… if you take the people who protect us then who is going to fight the undead."
One of the Lords laughed at these words.
"We only brought around two per person. Don't be so sensitive. And we already sent the special forces to the front."
"…"
While Taejin was gritting his teeth, Guktae shouted while looking at him.
"You guys should come here too since it's dangerous. Rather, it might become a nuisance because they have to protect you."
"I will humbly decline."
Taejin, who had finished his words, controlled his Clan as he charged towards the Demon Lord.
And Guktae made a regretful expression as he looked at such Taejin and Yerin.
"Nine… though it's a little regretful, this is enough."
"What?"
While the Lords were making weird expressions from Guktae's words, the cape that was surrounding Guktae started to shine brightly.
"Fuck.. What are you doing!"
Gultae giggled at these words.
"What do you mean what am I doing. I'm calling some protectors."
Once a day, the user can summon twelve designated protectors to himself.
And the thing that had come out of the light were the Guktae's twelve special forces.
Guktae spoke to the Special forces.
"Get them."
As soon as the words ended, the 2 protectors combined with the 12 special forces as they charged at the protectors of other Lords.
Kuadududk
Kududk
"Kuak!"
"Goddammit!"
The eighteen protectors fought back but the power of the special forces were a step higher.
And Guktae's Special Forces were even a step higher than that.
"Dammit!"
While the Clan Lords were calling their forces in a hurry, Guktae's other clansmen started to jump about crazily and started to get a grip on the people's ankles.
Despite the difference in numbers, because they had defended with their lives on the line, the speed of the other clansmen had slowed down and by the time the other clansmen killed off all of Guktae's clansmen and got near, the Clan Lords had long become hostages of Guktae.
Guktae giggled as he looked at the 10 special forces around him who had become a mess.
Two had died and the ten who were alive had become a huge mess, it was still easy for them to cut off the necks of the Clan Lords who they were holding hostage.
'One needs to just protect me. It's very clean.'
One of the Clan lords gritting their teeth as he looked at Guktae.
"You crazy bastard! If this happens then you die too! Isn't your ability valuable to you!"
Why wouldn't they have thought of such a situation.
The only reason why they weren't expecting internal fights between Clan Lords was because if one of the Clan Lords were to create a mess then they would all die here.
What would you do if you take them as hostages.
If you act crazily and create a chaos here, you will get pushed back by the undead and the remaining people will all die at the hands of the Undead and the Demon Lord.
It had already been awhile since the fight had been tilted towards the advantage of the Undeads in the fight in the distance.
They had fallen quickly while the remaining clans were clashing.
Hansoo and the remaining two special forces were stopping the Demon Lord but how would they hold out 20 minutes at this rate.
They don't even have mini crystals.
Guktae giggled as he laughed.
"It doesn't matter if I die."
No, it wasn't that it didn't matter if he died or not.
His job was to get everybody here and die together.
Why would he have gotten rid of all the mini crystals?
"What?"
Was he such a maniac out of maniacs?
And at that moment, one of the Lords, who had a blade up against them, made a pale expression as they thought of something.
"You bitch… you aren't a Lord. Some crazy bastard sent one of the clansmen instead of themself… you crazy bastard! Do you mean that it's ok for you to die!"
Guktae's expression chilled at those words.
Such a way of speaking when they had their fate in the hands of others despite having such formidable power of a Lord.
'There's too much of a difference.'
He thought back of the scene when his Lord had sent him here.
The symbol could be given from a clansmen and not a Lord as long as the Lord gave permission and clansmen could communicate between each other through messages.
The command was very simple too.
Since there was the first command every newcomer of the clan received.
If you do this then you can pretend to be the Lord perfectly.
As Guktae, who had finished thinking, gave a signal with his eyes, the grip of the special force member holding the Lord's neck tightened.
Squeeze
"Kuk..Kuuurk."
"What do you mean crazy bastard. He's a much more formidable person than scrubs like you."
And at the same time everyone's expression paled as Guktae laughed coldly at them.
............
Hansoo made a cold expression as he looked at the chaos occurring behind him
'…Fraud Lord.'
A tactic which used one of their clansmen to pose as the Lord, make them careless and then die together.
Not everyone could do such a thing.
First, if you want to become a Fraud Lord then you need to be able to sustain the same amount of clansmen as the other clans.
Since it'll be weird if a Clan Lord who could command 100 did not sustain 100 people.
Which meant that you needed to be able to control 100 people to reinforce the Fraud Lord and another 100 for himself adding up to 200 people in total.
And you also needed the commanding power to command suicide as well.
Once the clansmen go under the Lord, they create a connection between themselves and there are no occurrences where the Lord cannot order a clansmen because of such connections.
Since clansmen and Lords were in a system of up and down.
But such a command like suicide is hard to make because usually when you give such an extreme command, the symbol will break most of the time.
Of course there are exceptions there as well.
A situation where you raised the trait of the Lord with exceptional aptitude and had your trait become much superior to the point where the strength of your trait becomes much stronger then their soul.
Once this happens then it was possible to command things almost forcibly.
And there was a person who was capable of this in the past tutorial as well.
A guy who showed extreme aptitude beyond the specialties of Lords.
Though the regrettable part was the fact that he was crazy.
'Dark Mad Lord… you've done something huh.'
A typical example that showed that, although a crazy guy is dangerous, a crazy guy with good abilities is even more dangerous.
And at the same time, one of the guys who will become the biggest obstacle in this preparation for the Final Dungeon.
One of the representatives of the
Hansoo looked at Guktae, who had caused a chaos in the distance, with a cold expression.
Chapter 40 – Demon Lord's Castle (7)
Though the trait of Lord seemed overpowered, there were still a few limitations.
You could only give limited orders to a strong clansman whom you had given the symbol to.
Since if the order is too extreme then their self-defense mechanisms will activate and break the symbol.
And there was also a limit to numbers.
Due to a few more limitations other than these, even a Lord couldn't show invincible-like abilities in an area of people around the same skill level as him.
But like every other skill or psychic power, the trait's level was the most important thing and few Lords with amazing potential appear from time to time.
People who bloom the trait much faster and use this as a base to start with a huge head start compared to others.
While the others could barely control 100 people, he had a powerful control over 200 people to the point where he could order them to commit suicide and had stood out starting from the tutorial.
Though he was a crazy bastard.
And even more regrettable was that this guy was part of his own tutorial group.
Out of the 9000 people who had gotten to the second tutorial area, only 300 people, excluding the 200 of his clansmen, survived due to this guy.
Since he had killed them all.
And with a very simple philosophy as the basis.
A result that came out from a personality that could not trust others, amazing potential and ruthlessness.
He had thought that the real enemy in the tutorial area was not the monsters but rather humans who had the possibility of causing riots, he used this as the basis and had thought to kill off every potential rival.
Usually people prepared and grouped up in large mobs after calculating the fact that they had to fight against the people who had gone missing before them but this guy was not like that.
Make them not able to compete against the people ahead because they can't combine their forces?
Would they have made it so they would survive if they grouped up in a crowd of 3000 but kill them if they roamed around alone?
After setting up the tutorial like this?
If there was some sort of consistency in the fairy's actions then such things won't happen.
There will probably be an area where the people who had arrived earlier wouldn't be able to lay hands on them right away or prevent them from doing so for a while.
An area which would make it possible for the newcomers to be able to rival the people ahead.
And he was a successful man, he had followed the above reasonings and had succeeded in eliminating his rivals with his own power.
And his calculations weren't wrong, he had gained an infamous title by the time he had arrived at the purple area just within 5 years of coming out of the tutorial area.
An infamous title which he had received after hunting down Lords fervently due to his personality, which hated Lords to the point where it was weird, despite him being one, along with his notions of destroying possible future rivals.
Thanks to this guy, most of the Lords in the same group as him had died.
He had even killed normal adventurers whenever he saw them with the reason of them having the potential to become dangerous as well.
The most important thing in the tutorial area is the Final Dungeon. Prepare well for the Dungeon. He is after.>
Keldian's words came to his mind.
'Tsk. It'd have been better if we were to fight now though.'
But it'll be a huge loss if he didn't get the thing he was going for while following that guy around.
He might've skinned him off slowly, like peeling an apple, and destroyed him if it wasn't for the structure of the islands but this was not possible since there were set islands which he had to go to.
He had to differentiate clearly between the main mission and sub-missions.
And his path wasn't clear anyway since there were almost no survivors.
Since everyone who had met with his clan had died.
So he had focused on the dungeon first.
But there was one place where his objectives of the Final Dungeon and that guy's path would cross for sure.
A place where the biggest amount of Lords had gathered.
And a place where you could massacre a large amount of Lords if you use a Fraud Lord.
If he had some form of logic then he would've taken the Lords as hostage and would have used their forces but this guy would kill them all since he hated them to no end.
Hansoo had never stopped being on guard against the Tower even when he was hunting.
He had set them up so they grouped and guarded against each other and had always hunted near the dungeon so he could rush back because he didn't know which one of the twelve was the Fraud Lord.
Since the hardness of Crystal was not something somebody normal could smash, it was only because it was him that he was able to smash it apart.
'I had thought that he didn't exist because he didn't come out…'
It seemed like he had been looking for the final chance like Keldian had said.
And because of this Hansoo had never created a dangerous situation.
Since it wasn't possible for him to act when there was no danger.
'But it's a little too much to do that while fighting Demon Lord.'
He wasn't sure because the decision of using up all their mini-crystals was a very reasonable method but Guktae was the Fraud Lord.
'Let's see. How do I deal with this.'
He couldn't stay away from the Demon Lord for a long time.
If this guy gets released then all the Special Forces would get shredded.
And if he were to dash up there then they just needed to do one thing.
They would make the other clansmen attack him by threatening the Lords held hostage.
'It would be troublesome if that happens. First… I will open a path for you to live.'
Hansoo smiled as he shouted loudly while continuing to fight the Demon Lord.
"Woah. Don't get too excited. Calm down for a second."
"…?"
Guktae, who was about to order the Special Forces to cut off the Lord's heads, flinched at these words.
'What else could he do in such a situation?'
Guktae had unconsciously gotten curious because Hansoo was such a unique guy.
And the next answer was something which exceeded his calculations.
"Let's trade. You wouldn't want to die either."
Guktae flinched at these words.
Who in the world wanted to die.
He was acting like this because he couldn't go against his Lord's orders.
Hansoo spoke as he looked at him.
"There are crystals on me. I will give them to you."
"…"
'Is he crazy?'
What kind of nonsense was this?
Hansoo spoke again.
"I don't know who your Lord is but wouldn't it be better to take those Lords and use them instead of killing them all?"
Everyone nodded at these words.
If they take the Lords as hostage then all their forces become part of Guktae's Lord.
Since there wasn't anyone who wouldn't comply if there was a blade up against their necks.
Hansoo spoke as he looked at him.
"The terms are very simple. First, you take the Lords up with the crystals. Then you threaten the Lords up there and order the special forces to kill the Demon Lord with me. Simple right? Then every force here can go through the crystal and survive."
"…"
"Then your Lord is basically gaining nine Lord's worth of forces. And I get to hunt the Demon Lord.
The remaining people could survive. It's a win-win. Even you can live. It was tiring anyway because the others were pulling their forces back."
"…"
Guktae clicked his tongue inwardly.
His words were wrong.
Since his Lord had hated Lords to the point where it was weird.
If these guys go up then they would all die.
But the temptation of crystals were too strong.
And something else which was even more alluring.
'If I go up, hunt the Demon Lords with the clansmen of these guys and kill him by attacking his back at the last moment?'
Would they be able to resist if he orders them with blades against their throats.
Take the forces of the Nine Lords up, use them for a while, kill them off, collect their artifacts and runes and give them to Wongyung and kill the Lords too.
'It's perfect.'
But the one who had moved first was Taejin who had been fighting with him.
"Hansoo man. How can you trust him?"
Guktae shrugged at Taejin's words.
It seemed like they have seen through his thoughts already so it was time for him to push strongly.
"Don't trust me then. If you don't want to then we'll just kill the nine according to the plans and I can also just die like that. And the remaining 1000 here would all die. Maybe it's not even 1000 anymore. I'm not sure if you guys can hold out, it seems like there's still 20 minutes left."
"… This son of a bitch."
'Damn retards… getting caught as hostages.'
Their actions weren't to Taejin's liking from the start but he didn't fail to disappoint until the end.
Hansoo chuckled at Guktae.
"I'll take it that you agree then. Take them."
Guktae, who had received the crystals which Hansoo had thrown carefully using the special forces, hurriedly used the crystals and the 10 special forces, 9 Lords and Guktae started to get covered in light.
'Goodness… for it to play out so easily.'
Guktae cheered inwardly as he selected the destination point.
'Destination is… Island of the Tower!'
The light which came out from the mini-crystals soon covered the 20 of them and soon afterwards they coudln't be seen within the Demon Castle anymore.
"… Dammit. I don't care anymore then."
"Don't worry too much. He looked pretty naive. He will keep his promise."
Hansoo, who had shrugged his shoulders, looked up at the Island of the Tower and then shook his head.
'It's done. It seemed like he wanted to live. He would have realized that some things were fishy if he had thought about it for a moment.'
But he had cleared it.
'It seems like I can focus a little bit now. If he is that guy's subordinate then… he would go to the Island of the Tower.'
And it didn't matter because he had already worked on that separately.
Hansoo finished his thoughts and turned around.
Then he started to slash apart the Demon Lord seriously
............
Hoooouug
The disappeared Lords, Special forces and Guktae had appeared within a dark space while bathing in light.
A location where they moved to if the mini-crystals were activated.
'Perfect.'
Two Lords had survived but it wouldn't be easy for them to survive either.
Since he would give the orders now.
"It seems like you would need to comply for now. Hurry and give the order. First attack the Demon Lord and once you kill it, attack Hansoo."
The special forces pushed the blades against the Lords' necks.
"Tsk."
The Lords nodded despite clicking their tongue.
They couldn't do anything else because they were held hostage but it seemed like he wouldn't kill them.
They could always look out for chances as long as they were alive.
'Dumbasses.'
And this was why his Lord was trying to get rid of them whenever he had the chance.
He could already hear their eyeballs rolling about. (*TL: Korean Saying for planning things out)
While Guktae was smiling, a man's voice was heard behind them, who were on the ground.
"Huh. Look at these guys."
When they turned around quickly, a person with a weird mask was approaching them.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled as he was about to speak out his name but then stopped.
Then there would be no point of putting the mask on.
He had disguised himself in order to not show the relationship between him and Hansoo.
'But they really did come? He had told me that they would come if I waited here.'
The man spoke out after mumbling inwardly for a while.
It's not like the psychic power is being marvelous only once or twice.
He just needed to do what he needed to do.
"Mmm… no need for names. We won't be seeing each other for long anyway."
'I just need to cut off their necks and take the things that come out right?'
Kudududk.
"This crazy bastard!"
Sangjin, who had cut off a Lord's neck with one swing of his sword, laughed coldly at Guktae who was screaming.