The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 1

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

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A Mad Swordsman Returns – Chapter 1

Han Yu-sung was a living embodiment of catastrophe itself.
Wherever great battles erupted, he would materialize from nowhere, indiscriminately slaughtering friend and foe alike with merciless brutality.
People trembled at the overwhelming power he wielded, yet simultaneously despised him as a man intoxicated by violence, calling him by a name that reflected their contempt.

“Damn that Sword Demon….”

The Sword Demon—Han Yu-sung.
He gazed upon the blackened sky.
The earth lay barren, devoid of any trace of civilization.
All that remained were the corpses of countless monsters and players, and the devastation left in the wake of battle.

“Do you even comprehend what you’ve done…!”

Before him lay a man with his heart pierced through.
Humanity’s strongest, a player favored by the “Lord of Justice.”
Once hailed as the savior of this world.
And now.

“How dare you, cough! Interfere with me, of all times, at this moment…!”

Lee Su-ho—now branded as humanity’s greatest traitor.
He spat crimson blood from his lips, his eyes burning with hatred as he glared at Han Yu-sung.
His rage was entirely justified.

“You dare obstruct my ascension!”

His cherished dream had vanished in an instant, dissolving like foam.
When ‘Trials’ appeared on Earth, they came alongside them—the Transcendents.
Beings who granted humanity power while simultaneously scattering calamity.
The ‘Star Lords’.
Becoming one of them was Lee Su-ho’s desire.
For that, he had betrayed humanity and sold Earth itself.
The moment his dream would come true was within reach.

“You wretched traitor!”
“April 15th, 2026. Do you remember?”
“…What?”

Han Yu-sung, who had been silently gazing at the sky, suddenly spoke.
Lee Su-ho’s brow furrowed. There was no way he would remember something so trivial.

“The day you revealed your true nature. In the Trial that occurred then, you slaughtered every player who participated.”
“Surely you don’t mean…?”
“That’s right. I’m the sole survivor of that Trial.”

And Han Yu-sung had been there as well.
Han Yu-sung from those ordinary days.
He had participated in the Trial alongside his Guild comrades, and there he lost them.
By all rights, Han Yu-sung should have died in that place too. But then, as if by some cruel twist of fate, he awakened a unique ability.
That power made him the sole survivor.

“Just as you waited for this day, I too have waited for it.”

It had granted him the strength to eliminate Lee Su-ho.
Han Yu-sung’s cold eyes fixed upon Lee Su-ho.

“The day I would have my revenge on you.”
“Ugh, gahhh!”

Those eyes burned with murderous intent.
Han Yu-sung advanced toward Lee Su-ho, his fist clenched tight.
Lee Su-ho thrashed about, spitting a dark crimson clot of blood from his mouth.

“Wait, hold on! Stop! I’m telling you to stop! If you lost comrades in that ordeal, I will save them! Once I become a lord…!”
“The promises of one I cannot trust hold no meaning whatsoever.”
“I can even turn back this world! If it were me!”
“Lee Su-ho.”

Lee Su-ho shrieked with convulsive desperation.
Han Yu-sung did not listen.
Instead, I raised my crimson-stained fist.

“You talk far too much.”

Crack!
A sickening sound of flesh tearing echoed out, and it was over.
I gazed long upon Lee Su-ho’s limp corpse.

“One once called a savior—how shamefully pathetic he has become.”

My vengeance was complete.
Yet no particular emotion stirred within me.
It was inevitable, for this was only a hollow victory at best—or perhaps a failure, given the circumstances.
I had failed to eliminate the true architect of this catastrophe.

[Have you slain my oath-sworn, Dui-gwi?]

Lee Su-ho’s corpse convulsed.
A tremendous aura emanated from it, coalescing into a translucent form.
A figure presumed male, adorned with countless wings.

[So you have slain one destined to become a new star’s lord.]
“Achiros….”

The Lord of Justice himself—Achiros.
The lord who had made a covenant with Lee Su-ho and granted him power.
The very architect of Earth’s annihilation, a monster who had absorbed countless lords through the strength he had accumulated in that process.
He gazed down upon me with an expressionless face.

[It cannot be helped. I, Achiros, acknowledge it. In this world, you are supreme.]

A faint emotion flickered across Achiros’s expressionless face.
It was a sneer.

[But what meaning could that possibly hold? This world is already doomed to destruction, unable to overcome its trials. It will collapse soon.]

Krrrrrgh!

The ground trembled in sync with those words.
The barren earth crumbled and fractured, black energy surging from the fissures, beginning to devour everything that remained in this world.

[Killing you is…]

Kwaaaaaang!

Han Yu-sung kicked off the ground.
A fist shot forward in an instant, striking directly at Achiros’s form.
It was a blow imbued with enough force to crush space itself, yet it was meaningless.
This was merely Achiros’s avatar.
His true body was elsewhere, observing this place.

[It is far too easy for me. But in respect of your strength, I shall grant you the mercy of perishing alongside this world. Are you not grateful?]
“I would be, if the one who died in this place had been you instead of Lee Su-ho.”
[The strongest human is still merely human. Your fist will never reach me, a lord, even if you were reborn countless times.]

His words were true.
The gap between humanity and lordship was simply that vast.

[I shall soon ascend. Using what I have gained here, I will reach a station that no one else can ever touch.]

Just as Lee Su-ho had schemed to become a lord of stars, Achiros too had plotted to elevate his own standing.
The scheme succeeded, Earth was destroyed, and Achiros gained transcendent power that no lord of any star could ever approach.
Power enough to ascend not to the station of a lord, but to that of a ‘god’.

[Rejoice, for this world will remain in my memory for a long time. Han Yu-sung. Savor the life granted to you in the time that remains.]

With those words, Achiros’s presence vanished.
He had not even deigned to face me directly, nor to kill me.
There was no value in it, after all. I would perish with the world regardless.
I clenched my fists and closed my eyes.

“Everything has become far too late.”

I had sought out countless formidable opponents and trials, building my strength through relentless struggle.
In the process, I had slain Achiros’s lackeys as well, earning me the stigma of a madman in Han Yu-sung’s eyes—one who could not distinguish between ally and enemy.
It hardly mattered. The accusation that I was obsessed with combat was not without merit.

‘Killing Lee Su-ho would be meaningless. The world’s destruction cannot be undone unless I eliminate Achiros, the true architect of this catastrophe.’

The world had fallen into ruin.
Lee Su-ho had sold Earth itself, and the Lords, Achiros foremost among them, had extracted everything of value from this world.
Only refuse remained.
As he had said, Earth would crumble before long.

‘If only I had awakened even slightly sooner.’

My ascent to such formidable power was a recent development.
My unique ability had awakened late, and unlike other players, I had refused to forge a contract with any Lord after my awakening.

“Could I have stopped Achiros?”

I recalled memories of the past.
Countless regrets and sorrows washed over me, and amid that torrent of remorse, I glimpsed the opportunities I might have seized to hinder or halt Achiros.
But what meaning could such thoughts possibly hold?

‘Regret devoid of all purpose.’

What would change by dwelling on the past?
I collapsed beside Lee Su-ho’s corpse.
The end was near. I resolved to witness the world’s final moments from this place.
It was then.

[You have eliminated one who sought to become a ‘Star Lord’, one who possessed the qualifications for ascension. You have succeeded in defeating an exceptional adversary.]
[You have satisfied the activation condition for your unique ability, ‘Tougui’.]
[Additional rewards have been granted.]

Messages materialized before my eyes.
Messages I had witnessed countless times before.
They were the reason I had grown strong enough to overcome Lee Su-ho. Yet now they were hollow, devoid of meaning.
Then.

[You have obtained the item ‘Qualifications of a Lord (EX)’.]

A piercing shriek tore through the air!

Brilliant light flooded my vision entirely.
Something was rising from the chest of the dead Lee Su-ho.
A small sphere brimming with power so immense it made my skin tingle.
The sphere drifted toward Han Yu-sung.

[This is an item imbued with the power of ascension. You may use this item to ascend as the lord of a new star.]
[However, if you do not wish to ascend…]

Words materialized in the void.
My eyes widened as I read them.

[You may offer this item as a sacrifice and reverse everything.]
[Will you begin anew from the start?]

“Reverse everything? What does that even mean…?”

No answer came back.
Only silence, as if it had said all it needed to say.
The choice was mine alone.

‘Become a lord of a star, or start from the beginning again.’

The former was meaningless.
Become a lord myself and take revenge on Achiros?
Impossible. The current Achiros has gained the power to destroy Earth and ascend to godhood.
And that’s not all—he’s waging a Conquest War, absorbing and subjugating multiple lords.

‘There’s no way to face the current Achiros.’

That’s true of Achiros as he is now.
But what if it were the past?
What if it were Achiros before he gained his power, still bound within the category of a star lord?

‘If I can reverse everything, there’s a chance.’

Yes, if I could start over from the beginning.
With all the experience I’ve accumulated, I could stop him.
There was no need to deliberate over what to choose.

“I offer the qualifications of a lord as sacrifice.”

In a world crumbling toward ruin, Han Yu-sung made his declaration.
The sphere split in half. The tremendous power contained within it enveloped Han Yu-sung.
And from somewhere, a sound reached his ears.

Tick, tick.

[A vast will bows to your choice.]
[Certain abilities are preserved. Your unique ability ‘Demon Possession (SSS)’ is promoted to ‘Divine Descent (EX)’ in satisfaction of your accomplishments and is inherited.]
[Player, Han Yu-sung.]

Consciousness rapidly faded.
Han Yu-sung closed his eyes. A voice reached his ears.

[Regression commences.]

* * *

– We’ve received unfortunate news.
– The Black Lion Guild has failed to resolve the ‘Lord’s Conundrum’ that appeared at Cheonggyecheon. Rather, they incurred the wrath of the lord who opened the conundrum and suffered severe casualties.
– That’s dreadful news. The ‘Divine Trial’ doesn’t have much time remaining.
– Yes, though other guilds remain intact…

Through the haze of consciousness, a sound came from somewhere.
Perhaps it was news. It was a sound I hadn’t heard in ages.
After the world began its descent into ruin, television broadcasts ceased not long after, so this was a sound I hadn’t heard in years.
Han Yu-sung listened to that sound in a daze.

“Gasp!”

I jolted upright in panic.
Han Yu-sung looked around.
The shabby studio apartment came into view. It was familiar and nostalgic, yet a place that shouldn’t exist.
This building had collapsed long ago.

“So then, it really is….”

I examined the smartphone that had fallen to the floor.
Today’s date was displayed on the lock screen.

[March 25th, 2024.]

This day was one I could never forget.
There was no way around it.

‘The day I awakened as a Player.’

Two years had passed since the world changed.
If my memory served correctly, a message would appear before my eyes any moment now.
And indeed it did.

[Congratulations. You have been chosen as a Player.]
[This selection cannot be refused. Your body will undergo transformation.]
[You awaken as a Player of South Korea (Grade B).]

Along with the message, my body began to change.
The sensation of unfamiliar power settling into my flesh.
I had experienced this before.

‘So this is what it means to start from the beginning again.’

Time had been rewound to the moment of my awakening as a Player.
I recalled what I had been like at that time.
An ordinary Player without any distinctive unique ability.
It was only after awakening the unique ability called ‘Dual Ghost’ that I began to stand out.

‘Wait, hold on.’

I recalled a hazy memory.
There was a message I had seen before my consciousness faded.
Messages that appeared before I heard the voice announcing the beginning of regression.
What had been written in that message?

‘Some abilities are preserved. Could it be….’

Han Yu-sung opened his status window as if possessed by an unseen force.
Immediately, his face drained of color, replaced by sheer disbelief.

[Han Yu-sung (Affiliation: Earth, South Korea (Grade B))]
· Level: 1
· Class: Novice
· Unique Ability: Possession (EX)
· Strength: 1 · Agility: 1 · Stamina: 1
· Mana: 1 · Will: 1

It was impossible.
And there existed something that should never be.

‘Spirit Possession—no, Possession itself.’

The unique ability that had made me the strongest player.

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

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