The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 102

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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 102

The promotion battle had led all the way to the Hall of Trials.
Han Yu-sung, having been active without pause, took an extended rest at the Safe House.
It was to prepare for the reward Dungeon that would soon open—the Tomb of the Lord.
I also needed to grow accustomed to the Sword Saint skill I had newly acquired.

“If the degraded version is this impressive, the original must have been extraordinary.”

It was an observation made while utilizing the passive skill, Sword Saint.
I could feel myself handling the Blood Demon Sword with greater proficiency than before. The sword energy I conjured had grown larger, and its power had increased noticeably.
It was almost regrettable that I couldn’t use the Sword Saint from my unique ability.

[Your greed knows no bounds, does it? How much have you already gained?]
“Well, I’m just saying it’s a shame.”

This much is sufficient, truly.
Han Yu-sung sheathed his sword and exhaled deeply.
Turning my head, I saw Kakasha in her small fairy form sitting in a chair.
She wore a serious expression and was intensely focused on something.

[Ugh! My head, my head is splitting!]

Occasionally, she would suddenly clutch her head and convulse.
It had happened several times already.
Han Yu-sung, accustomed to it, casually ignored her and gulped down the water he’d left nearby.

“What is it this time?”
[What else! It’s the reward issue with the Difficult Realm! Coins, I’m short on coins…! All because that corrupt Lord keeps creating such problems!]
“But you called him an angelic Lord before?”
[Hmph! That was then, and this is now!]

The Difficult Realm, the Hall of Trials, needs to be restructured.
That’s what Kakasha had said. As it stands now, the difficulty is too high, and the rewards owed to players who complete the trials are too substantial.
She said she would adjust those matters.

[My head, my head… it hurts so much…]

The problem was that it wasn’t easy.
It was purely a matter of capital. With the coins Kakasha possessed, I couldn’t match the rewards the Hall of Trials had previously offered.
How could I hand out S-rank skills and Legendary items so carelessly?

[If I could throw them around so lavishly, would I be in this mess?! Ugh! This is why Lords with plenty of coins, those rich bastards…!]
“Your voice is giving me a headache too, you know.”
[You think your headache compares to mine?!]

Han Yu-sung sighed and sat down beside Kakasha.
A massive system window floated directly in front of Kakasha.
It was the kind of screen you’d see in a management simulation game, and if it were an actual game, the UI would’ve been criticized for being needlessly complex.

“So, do you have any ideas on how to restructure it?”
[I plan to significantly lower the level range of the Difficult Realm. I simply cannot match rewards of this caliber. It’s truly humiliating…!]

Kakasha was so frustrated that I could see her grinding her teeth.

[I have coins I’ve been saving to create Difficult Realms. With those, I should be able to afford Epic-grade items as rewards if I push from Unique tier. And if I add some miscellaneous experience rewards on top of that….]
“Just hearing about it sounds tedious. You handle the restructuring of the Difficult Realm.”
[I’ll do it whether you tell me to or not. I may look like this now, but I was once a Lord who possessed numerous Difficult Realms! I received many evaluation rewards too. If I leverage that experience, this Difficult Realm will also…!]
“Yes, I’m glad to hear that too.”

Kakasha snorted sharply.
She seemed excited to be acting like a Lord again after so long.
In any case, as she said, she was a Lord with a title.
With her extensive experience creating and managing Difficult Realms, she’d handle it well if I left it to her.

[If we steadily increase stable Difficult Realms this way, it will help us grow our faction. Thinking about the future, shouldn’t we start expanding our forces soon?]
“A faction… I suppose so.”

Han Yu-sung preferred to move alone.
That’s how I lived as a Returned One in my past life.
But considering my goal, there was a need to expand my forces.

‘To face Achiros, I need a faction.’

That’s because his ultimate goal is to hunt down Lords.
Achiros is a Lord commanding an enormous force.
After my regression, I swore that I would become stronger by any means necessary to kill Achiros.
Expanding my forces is one such method.

“Once the Difficult Realm stabilizes, I’ll need to increase my Sworn.”
[Hmm. We cannot accept just anyone. I—no, you should recruit only those you deem worthy of investment.]

There are roughly two ways to accomplish this.
First, I could recruit promising newcomers who possess or will possess unique abilities, leveraging the knowledge from my past life.
Second would be.

‘Recruiting Sworn who have lost their Lords.’

Just as Kakasha and Achiros fought, wars between Lords occur frequently.
And there are Lords who perish in defeat. When that happens, their Sworn scatter or fall under the victor’s command.
Among them, there are quite a few worth salvaging.

“How many can you handle?”
[You mean Sworn? If the Hall of Trials gets up and running… I suppose I could manage two or three.]
“Two or three, then.”
[Even so, I won’t be able to nurture them like other Lords do. Once it’s running, I intend to stay by your side.]

My expression grew peculiar upon hearing those words.
The reason was simple enough.

“Why?”
[Why can’t you be a little pleased?! Hehehehe!]

Kakasha climbed onto my head and began patting it repeatedly.
It didn’t hurt particularly. The irritation was the real problem.

[Hmph! Lords possess something called a ‘Sanctuary’—a separate realm where a Lord can dwell and observe multiple worlds. My Sanctuary was completely destroyed and absorbed by Achiros.]
“Then we’ll need to restore it. The problem is we don’t have the coins for that, I assume.”
[Precisely. It will require an astronomical sum of coins…]

Coins, and more coins.
The Lords were beings who required coins for every action they took.
Every time I saw Kakasha, I understood why the Lords were so obsessed with coins.
It felt like driving a sports car with terrible fuel efficiency.
Han Yu-sung shook his head vigorously.

“Coins, huh. I’m not even sure what will happen in the next trial.”
[God’s Trial? Is there some method to it?]
“There is. A way to make Achiros lose and fatten my own coffers. There’s no guarantee things won’t get messy, but….”

I might be able to resolve everything in God’s Trial.
Regardless, there’s no method available right now.
For now, the right thing to do is focus on the reward dungeon that’s approaching soon—the Tomb of the Lord.
And before that, there’s something I need to do.
Use the Hammer of Miracles and the Tome of Improvement.

‘Where should I use these.’

The Hammer of Miracles could be used to promote items to Legendary grade or strengthen Legendary grade items.
It was meant to enhance an item’s performance to match the owner’s level.
Meanwhile, the Tome of Improvement could be used to strengthen skills to S-rank, or for skills already at S-rank, it enhanced the skill’s effects.

‘There’s nothing much to deliberate about.’

Han Yu-sung reviewed the items and skills he possessed.
And after quickly reaching a conclusion, he used the hammer and the Tome of Improvement.

[The power of the Hammer of Miracles seeps into the Black Iron Martial Robe.]
[The knowledge contained in the Tome of Improvement infuses into Body Enhancement and Intermediate Magic of the Azure Tower. Both skills rise by one rank!]

Brilliant light flooded my vision.
When Han Yu-sung opened his eyes again after closing them for a moment.

[Black Iron Martial Robe (Legendary)]
· Slot: Armor (Martial Robe).
· Defense: 225.
· Vitality +10, Strength +10, Defense +20%.
· This robe repairs itself even if destroyed.
· For a very brief moment, hardens the robe beyond metal to nullify the opponent’s attack. (Cooldown: 30 minutes.)

[Body Enhancement (S)]
· Classification: Active.
· Strengthens the body by consuming vast amounts of mana.
· Strength and Agility +10%, Stamina +20%,
· Attack Power and Defense +20%, Magic Resistance +30%.

[Blue Tower’s Secret Magic (S)]
· Classification: Active.
· Frost magic damage +20%, Slow debuff enhancement.
* Shatter Frost: Shards of ice burst forth like buckshot, overwhelming enemies.
* Glacial Wall: A towering wall of ice, solid as a fortress, rises to block the way.
* Permafrost: Unleashes merciless cold that freezes the surrounding area. Moments later, the ice shatters, and its fragments rain down upon enemies.

The fruits of enhancement lay before me.
The Black Iron Martial Robe was a practical piece of armor. Since it allowed for ease of movement, I decided it was better to enhance this rather than purchase other equipment.
For skills, I selected the most useful one from what I currently possessed.

‘Blood Slash isn’t bad either, but another opportunity will come.’

For now, frost magic would prove more useful than Blood Slash.
With that, my immediate tasks were complete.
All that remained was to wait for the reward Dungeon to open.

“I’ll rest and wait.”

I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes.

* * *

The designated week had passed.

[A reward Dungeon, the Tomb of the Lord, has opened in Seoul, Korea.]
[Players who participated in and won the National Inter-Country Tournament receive special privileges. While clearing the reward Dungeon, your stats increase, and experience and skill experience gains are significantly boosted.]
[Conquer the Dungeon and claim your valuable rewards!]

The reward Dungeon, the Tomb of the Lord, had opened.
In my previous life, it appeared in Japan and was cleared by Ojuga.
I don’t know exactly what rewards were obtained, but I know it was a reward related to the Lords, and that Achiros was the one who acquired it.

[Do you at least remember what kind of dungeon it was?]
“Not really. There wasn’t much information available. All I know is that we need to prove three things—though I’m not sure what ‘player’ means in that context.”
[Prove? Hmm… Since it’s the Tomb of the Lord, perhaps it means you must prove yourself worthy to claim the rewards within, is that it?]

I didn’t know the exact internal structure.
But that was precisely what appealed to me. Conquering an unfamiliar dungeon was far more intriguing than clearing one I’d already studied.
Han Yu-sung made his way toward where the reward dungeon had opened.

“I didn’t even need to search for it.”

There was no need to search for where the reward dungeon was located in Seoul.
A colossal portal hung suspended above the city.

[Reward Dungeon: 【Tomb of the Lord】.]
[Those who enter this place must prove themselves. Only those who succeed in proving everything can reach the end of the tomb.]
[However, even those who fail to reach the tomb’s end will receive rewards according to what they have proven. So challenge freely.]
[In this tomb, ‘death’ is exempted.]
[Furthermore, direct intervention by the Lords is forbidden here.]

It was a portal leading to the Tomb of the Lord.
As I gazed at the portal, an explanation appeared.
Unlike the Hermit’s Research Laboratory I’d visited before, this place offered the benefit of death being exempted.
And the promise of rewards even if one couldn’t reach the end.
In other words…

[This must be an incredibly difficult dungeon. So much so that countless players would perish if death weren’t exempted.]
‘That makes sense. It’s a reward dungeon, so having players die en masse would be problematic.’

Offering such benefits meant the difficulty was proportional.
Personally, the more difficult it was, the better I liked it.
Because that meant the rewards would be all the more worthwhile.

[【Tomb of the Lord】 is currently accepting participants.]
[Exactly one hour from now, all participants will enter the dungeon.]

Numerous players had gathered near the portal.
So this was why there had been such a commotion earlier.
After completing my registration, I turned and left the area.
If people started recognizing me, it would become troublesome.

[Look there, you.]
“Hmm….”

Someone entered my field of vision as I was about to leave.
Lee Su-ho.
I could see Lee Su-ho arriving with his subordinates and submitting his entry application.
A smile played at the corners of my lips upon seeing him.

‘In my past life, the Lord of Justice had taken the rewards, didn’t she?’

But.

“This time, that won’t happen.”

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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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