All‑Master Who Regressed to Bronze - Chapter 72

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

All Master Who Regressed to Bronze Episode 072

 

A total of 17 people.

 

Including the assassin who appeared to be their leader, there were 18 assassins in total.

 

Especially upon seeing his opponents, Shin Hyeok immediately recognized who they were.

 

‘Salmak. It’s been a while.’

 

Salmak.

 

An assassin organization operating in China, directly cultivated and operated by the Chinese government.

 

Naturally, their abilities were world-class.

 

And they were a group that specialized in hunting Players, making them skilled in interpersonal combat and ambush tactics.

 

In some ways they were similar to Villains, but there was a difference between Villains and them.

 

‘If Villains kill people as a side effect, assassins exist for the purpose of killing people. Naturally, the latter is stronger in interpersonal combat.’

 

Villains committed all sorts of evil acts, so they inevitably ended up killing people as a side effect.

 

Unless they were genuine psychopaths, lunatics, or possessed traits or jobs in that category, even Villains avoided murder as much as possible.

 

It was only natural.

 

Most Villains already had bounties on their heads, so committing serious crimes like murder made them too easy to identify.

 

Especially since most Villains operated independently, it was difficult to perfectly dispose of evidence of murder.

 

In contrast, assassins.

 

Organizations managed by nations behind the scenes, like Salmak before his eyes, were completely different.

 

First of all, they were raised specifically to kill people, and even when they did kill, the nation would step forward to turn a blind eye and erase evidence.

 

Among Salmak’s assassins, there were many famous assassination-type Players from within China.

 

Moreover, their abilities themselves were excellent, so evidence rarely remained in the first place.

 

They were specialists in assassination, after all.

 

‘Roughly two or three Platinum-level assassins could easily assassinate a Diamond Player. Considering that, nearly twenty Platinum-level assassins plus two Diamond-level assassins. This would be enough to kill any Diamond Player below King rank.’

 

Nearly twenty of such individuals.

 

It wasn’t just Platinum-level assassins – the assassin who appeared to be the leader and the assassin who seemed to be his lieutenant were Diamond-level, making them even more dangerous.

 

Any Diamond Player below King rank wouldn’t survive their touch.

 

However-

 

‘I can’t kill them all, so it’ll be hard to use Destruction techniques. Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s not like the Salmak leader is here.’

 

In other words, they were woefully insufficient forces to face a King-level Player.

 

Especially considering that they currently bore powerful debuffs while Shin Hyeok, conversely, was backed by powerful buffs, the answer was already clear.

 

“Rise.”

 

Crrrrrrrrrrrack!

 

As soon as he finished speaking, Shin Hyeok used Necromancy [A] to raise the Army of the Dead.

 

“What the!”

 

“The numbers…!”

 

“Until just recently, it was nowhere near this level, right?”

 

The quantity was so massive it couldn’t even be compared to when he faced Tarkan previously.

 

It was natural.

 

At that time, Shin Hyeok’s Necromancy was B-rank, and his tier was Gold.

 

In contrast, Shin Hyeok’s current Necromancy was A-rank.

 

Moreover, his tier had become Platinum and his mana capacity had also increased dramatically.

 

Even just looking at quantity alone, the difference between then and now was nearly double.

 

Was that the end of it?

 

Of course not.

 

“Durahan! It’s a Durahan!”

 

“This is ridiculous! How can a Player who just reached Platinum summon a Durahan!”

 

Durahan.

 

The undead he had brought out when facing the Villains previously.

 

Back then, it was a feat only possible using the Plus Ultra Ring’s skill: Transcendence, but not now.

 

Of course, since it was summoned purely through skill power without a Diamond-level Player’s corpse, its might didn’t reach that of an original Durahan, but it didn’t matter.

 

The summoned Durahan and its subordinate skeleton royal knights began leading the other undead and driving back the assassins.

 

Dozens versus hundreds.

 

Perhaps even over a thousand – faced with such massive forces, the assassins could only be helplessly pushed back.

 

Mass combat was the method assassins hated most from the start.

 

Their strengths were interpersonal combat, ambushes, and stealth attacks.

 

In contrast, mass combat was a method full of disadvantages for assassins who excelled in one-on-one situations.

 

But this place was no different from a single-log bridge.

 

They couldn’t avoid it even if they wanted to, and even if they tried to avoid it, their opponent wouldn’t let them.

 

“Kuk! Think of this as playing Dimension Arena and move!”

 

“It would be a mistake to think we can’t handle many-versus-many combat!”

 

“The only dangerous ones are the Durahan and its subordinate royal knights anyway. The rest are a ragtag bunch. Sweep them all away!”

 

Eventually, the assassins chose a frontal breakthrough.

 

After all, they too were Players.

 

They had played Dimension Arena and experienced mass combat like Defense games.

 

Above all, they raised their fighting spirit from the fact that most undead in the Army of the Dead were low-ranked.

 

But Shin Hyeok wasn’t alone here.

 

“Tarkan.”

 

“Heh, warriors who don’t die even when killed. There are perfect shamanic arts for that. Madness, Fury – Dual Light Manifestation. Earth Mother’s Wrath.”

 

Sharrrrrrrrrrack!

 

Tarkan.

 

His shamanic arts, possessing abilities comparable to a Grand Shaman, enveloped the Army of the Dead.

 

Shamanic engravings carved onto pure white bones.

 

The inferior Dual Light Manifestation, incomparable to the Triple Unity that Tarkan had used, was carved, and Earth Mother’s Wrath was overlaid – the opposite of Earth Mother’s Blessing, granting immense power at the cost of losing self and reason.

 

-Kyaaaaaaah!

 

-Kieeeeeek!

 

-Kueeeeek!!!

 

Of course, for the Army of the Dead, who were already dead beings and low-level undead without self or reason to begin with, it was a completely useless penalty.

 

However, separate from the useless penalty, the power granted to them was immense.

 

The strength of individual undead who were merely Iron or Bronze level surged explosively, rising to Silver or Gold level.

 

Of course, it wasn’t enough to threaten the Platinum-level assassins, but the problem was that it wasn’t only the low-level undead who received Tarkan’s shamanic arts.

 

-Kraaaaaaak!

 

-Krwoooooooo!

 

The Durahan and skeleton royal knights.

 

They too had their existing power explosively increased by Tarkan’s shamanic arts, gaining the complete strength of Diamond and Platinum levels.

 

Kwaaaaaaaang! Jeoooooooong! Peoseoseoseoseok!

 

Having abandoned all reason and self, not even caring if their own bodies were destroyed, they swept across the battlefield, causing the assassins to suffer great wounds or, in severe cases, death.

 

The nearly twenty assassins were now steadily dropping toward ten, but the assassins didn’t give up.

 

‘It’s still manageable.’

 

‘After all, our goal isn’t to kill all of them. A gap. With just one gap, even if we can’t assassinate him, we can deal significant damage.’

 

‘Wait. Soon my blade will reach your throat.’

 

An assassin’s blade only needed a single opening.

 

Thinking this, they endured and endured.

 

It was possible because they possessed the patience to spend three days and nights even under a toilet bowl if necessary.

 

Even as colleagues were sent flying right beside them, injured, and ultimately lost their lives to have their limbs torn apart by undead, they endured.

 

“Spirits, manifest.”

 

-If I can be of help to you, I shall do so.

 

-May the free wind dwell within you.

 

-Those ones, is it. A good opportunity to burn evil.

 

-Like a rock… firmly…

 

“…Ha, they’re really playing this game like shit.”

 

That was until Shin Hyeok summoned four high-ranking spirits.

 

High-ranking spirits are each evaluated as Platinum-level Players.

 

Summoning four such spirits is more than sufficient to face a Diamond-level Player, which is why Spirit Arts is ranked [B].

 

Moreover, high-ranking spirits also have subordinate spirits under their command, and as they commanded them, another army of considerable size was created—not quite on the level of the Army of the Dead, but certainly not to be ignored. It was inevitable that the assassins’ faces turned ashen.

 

But the real problem lay elsewhere.

 

“Earth Mother!”

 

Thud!

 

Calling upon the Earth Mother and planting his feet firmly, Tarkan charged into the assassins’ formation like a cannonball.

 

Caught off guard by the sudden charge and their formation destroyed, the assassins panicked but still viciously stabbed at Tarkan with their daggers.

 

Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk!

 

The assassin profession is typically one that must be stealthy and quick-handed.

 

With over ten Players of such profession, it was natural that Tarkan’s entire body would be riddled with holes in an instant.

 

“Do you think mere needles can bring down a great warrior to his knees! You mosquito-like bastards! Die! Earth Crush!”

 

KWAAAAAAANG!

 

Even so, Tarkan didn’t retreat an inch and fought back with equal force.

 

The shockwave that erupted from the center of their formation shook the assassins both inside and out simultaneously.

 

As their mana roads twisted and their organs contorted in pain, the assassins bit their tongues and moved to assassinate Tarkan.

 

Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh!

 

The assassins moved to hunt Tarkan, using the light, soundless, and stealthy footwork characteristic of their kind.

 

While doing so, the assassins spared no words to shake Tarkan.

 

“While you’re here, your master will have his throat pierced by our blades!”

 

“How dare a mere monster interfere with us. You’ll have to pay for that with your life.”

 

“I won’t kill you easily. I’ll slice off every toe, every finger. Aren’t you curious how you’ll wail then? Finally, I’ll place your master’s severed head beside you.”

 

Provocation of the lowest kind.

 

It was an attitude meant to get under Tarkan’s skin even slightly, but Tarkan just snorted.

 

“Are you waiting for your leader who’s hiding in the shadows, just watching for an opportunity?”

 

“…!”

 

“If even I can notice that, do you think my master, who defeated me, wouldn’t know? How ridiculous. And before you discuss the lives of my master and me, try surviving here first. We can talk after that.”

 

“Damn, you bas—!”

 

“Tree Splitter!”

 

KWAAAAAAANG!

 

With a sneer, Tarkan struck the ground with his glaive, glanced once toward where Shin Hyeok was positioned, then began slaughtering the assassins like a wolf among sheep.

 

* * *

 

KWAAAAAANG!!!

 

Watching violent explosions and impacts occurring everywhere, constantly disrupting the Colosseum in real time, Shin Hyeok quietly gazed at the darkness in one corner of the Colosseum.

 

“Come out already. I have no intention of giving you an opening by waiting.”

 

“…How did you know? My stealth should be so excellent that even Diamond Players can’t detect it.”

 

At Shin Hyeok’s words, looking directly at the darkness where he was hiding, an assassin emerged from the shadows—everything except his eyes shrouded in darkness.

 

It was the leader of the assassins, who hadn’t shown himself once since giving the initial assassination order to the assassins.

 

“Someone of your level would be Danju-class of Salmak, and those assassins blocking Tarkan on the front lines would be about Daeju-class. Salmak has made quite an investment indeed.”

 

“….”

 

“Even if you don’t say it, I know it’s Salmak anyway.”

 

“…Do you have no thoughts of defecting to China even now? I don’t want to kill a talent like you here.”

 

The Danju of Salmak.

 

A master skilled enough to assassinate any Diamond Player below King-level.

 

Impressed by Shin Hyeok’s intelligence network that instantly identified him and his organization, and the boldness of not hiding it, he made another offer.

 

Revealing his affiliation?

 

If Shin Hyeok wouldn’t defect anyway, he would kill him, so there was nothing to worry about.

 

Shin Hyeok’s answer was simple.

 

Clang! Shing!

 

“…What are you doing right now?”

 

“Let’s see just how amazing the assassination skills of Salmak’s Danju are.”

 

“Don’t tell me you’re going to use twin daggers against me, not even using your main weapon?”

 

“I hear the assassins’ main skill is the Death Arts. Death Arts… I think it’s a really good skill, but I haven’t had time to polish it properly. I’m thinking of learning it properly with this opportunity.”

 

“…Arrogant.”

 

He had planted the Arcane Spear and holy sword into the Colosseum floor and drawn twin daggers from his inventory.

 

Death Arts.

 

Literally the method of killing, it was well known as the assassins’ main skill.

 

Shin Hyeok before regression had learned it to some extent, but since it was the assassins’ main skill, there were few places that taught it, and in actual combat, most fights ended quickly, making it hard to learn.

 

Without an absolute difference in skill, Death Arts was something that could never be learned in real combat.

 

‘It was difficult before regression. When I was targeted for assassination early on, I didn’t even have time to learn, and later, I became too strong so assassination attempts disappeared entirely. If I want to polish Death Arts, now is the perfect time.’

 

A skill he couldn’t master before regression.

 

At the thought of directly absorbing it from the Danju of Salmak, one of the Death Arts specialists, Shin Hyeok lightly bounced his body in place, then charged toward the Danju like an arrow shot from a bow.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————