The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 109

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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 109

Japan, Vice-Captain of the Zangetsu Guild.
Ran, who had served the now-deceased Maezato Oju, gazed blankly at the scene unfolding before her eyes.
And she muttered to herself with bitter irony.

“Why am I here?”

A magnificent cityscape stretched before her vision.
A landscape where architecture built for the Lords harmonized with modern construction.
The problem was that this was not the scenery of her homeland, Japan.
The landscape before her eyes was that of Korea—Seoul.

‘How did I end up in Korea…?’

Ran had come here because of Maezato Rinzo.
Rinzo had ordered her to assemble Zangetsu’s elite assassins and lead them on an infiltration mission into Korea.
In a way, it could be seen as a mark of trust.
After all, he had entrusted her with a critical task that absolutely had to succeed.
The problem was…

‘If this goes wrong, I die.’

The order Rinzo had given was to kill Han Yu-sung, who was somewhere in Seoul.
It was retaliation for Oju’s death and an attempt to regain the favor of their Lord, whom they had disappointed through a series of blunders.
Needless to say, it was an extraordinarily dangerous task.
He was a player who had recently garnered significant attention.
With all eyes on him, finding an opportunity to strike would be difficult.

‘Above all, I have no way of knowing how strong this Korean really is.’

He was the player who had killed Maezato Oju single-handedly.
And he had done so against Oju, who was backed by a Lord’s support.
Oju was a madman and a killer, but his skills were undeniable—yet Han Yu-sung had slain him. How powerful could he possibly be?
She couldn’t even begin to fathom it.

‘I’ve brought the elite of the elite, but can we truly succeed…?’

Ran glanced back at the assassins who had come with her.
Fifty in total. All of them had surpassed level 130, players specialized in assassination.
The elite of the Zangetsu Guild, beings like the grim reaper itself.
She would have preferred to bring even more if she could.
But maintaining secrecy meant this number was the absolute maximum.

‘How much longer do I have to keep doing this?’

A deep sense of doubt washed over me.
How many times had I cleaned up the messes Oju created?
What suffering had I endured all this time? I thought I’d finally be free once Oju died, but instead I’ve been thrown into something far more dangerous.

‘Not only am I denied any reward for all my work, but now I’m being held responsible for Oju’s death itself… that’s how it feels.’

But there was nothing I could do about it now.
I had no choice but to succeed in this operation.
Otherwise, I would die.
Ran and the assassins had verified all available information about Han Yu-sung.
Among it, there was one particularly useful piece of intelligence.

[Han Yu-sung moves alone, without companions.]

He belonged to no Guild.
He did not move with the sworn followers of his contracted Lord.
Always alone. Ran believed this was the key to confronting Han Yu-sung.

‘A man who moves alone will inevitably present an opening.’

Ran and the assassins established a surveillance network across all of Seoul.
Then, holding their breath, they waited for Han Yu-sung to appear.
How long had they waited like this?

“Ran, we’ve located the target.”
“Finally! Wait, the Alliance? What was he doing there?”

Han Yu-sung had revealed himself.
He had appeared at the Player Alliance.
After leaving there, he donned a hood and stopped by the Dimensional Trading Post, then suddenly departed Seoul.
And he began heading somewhere.

“Where are you headed?”
“We track him. If he’s leaving Seoul, this is our chance!”
“Everyone, move with minimal presence.”

The assassins activated their skills and pursued their target.
Han Yu-sung moved toward an unknown destination, concealing his identity.
It wasn’t merely hiding his identity—he moved with absolute secrecy.
The way he moved, constantly vigilant of his surroundings, was deeply suspicious.

“Ran, where do you think the target is heading?”
“…I’m not certain. For now, let’s pursue cautiously. Moving with such secrecy means he’s hiding something.”

Ran recalled a possibility in her mind.
But it wasn’t something to mention now.
She and the assassins tracked Han Yu-sung from a distance, remaining undetected.
He left Seoul and headed toward a towering mountain, concealing his presence.

‘My suspicions might be correct after all…’

Ran halted, lost in thought.
She had no choice.
A cliff stretched before them.
So deep that its bottom remained invisible.

“Do you sense any presence below the cliff?”
“No. We sensed it until just moments ago.”
“Wait, I’ll send my ‘eye’ down. Just to be sure.”

One of the assassins sent a magical eye down the cliff.
The eye, formed of mana, swept across the landscape below.

“Hmm, no one’s there. Han Yu-sung is nowhere to be seen. The ground is deeply fractured. There appears to be a stone entrance of some kind…”
“It must be the entrance to a Difficult Realm.”
“A Difficult Realm?”

Ran nodded.
It was the thought that had crossed her mind since Han Yu-sung began moving in secret.

“Han Yu-sung moved with meticulous caution, ensuring no one would recognize him. It was as if he were concealing something.”
“So that’s a Difficult Realm. Wait, if he’s hiding like that…”
“Yes. It’s likely a hidden Difficult Realm.”

Concealing one’s identity could simply be a matter of avoiding unwanted attention.
But there was no reason to move with such secrecy.
Especially not if heading toward a publicly known Difficult Realm.

“For now, let’s descend. We’ll know for certain once we see it ourselves.”

The assassins descended the cliff without delay.
Han Yu-sung was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the entrance to a Difficult Realm came into view.

[Difficult Realm: Blood Ghost Tomb.]
[A Difficult Realm opened by the Lord of Training. He created it to honor the Oath-bearer who contributed most greatly to his acquisition of his epithet. Upon entering this realm, you become a trainee and must complete various trials. The Spirit of Blood Ghost will personally greet those who finish all their training.]
[Currently, this Difficult Realm has fulfilled its purpose.]

“An Abandoned Dungeon.”
“As expected…”

Ran had always found something puzzling.
Han Yu-sung possessed strength that overwhelmed Oju, who enjoyed a Lord’s patronage.
So where exactly had he obtained such power?

“He seems to possess a unique ability—a search-type ability at that. Perhaps one specialized in discovering Difficult Realms like these?”
“You mean he grew stronger by clearing hidden Difficult Realms?”
“That’s my theory. Otherwise, there’s no explanation, is there?”

That was Ran’s conclusion.
Han Yu-sung possessed the ability to discover Difficult Realms that the Lords had intentionally hidden or abandoned. And he had grown stronger by clearing them.
Some of these Difficult Realms functioned as opportunities for great fortune.

‘If that’s the case, then even that incomprehensible strength makes sense.’

Growing stronger by accumulating countless opportunities for fortune—that would explain it.
The only puzzling aspect was that this was an Abandoned Dungeon.
But even that wasn’t particularly strange.

‘Abandoned Dungeons sometimes retain rare treasures.’

If that was their target, it was entirely understandable.
The assassins surveyed the area around the entrance to the Difficult Realm.

“There are traces at the entrance. It looks like he just entered the Difficult Realm.”
“We need to make a decision. So, do we enter after him, or do we stay here and wait for Han Yu-sung to emerge…”

Ran deliberated for a moment before reaching a conclusion.

“The latter is too risky. We don’t know what treasures Han Yu-sung might obtain inside. To be safe, we’ll leave only a small force to guard the entrance, and the rest will pursue Han Yu-sung inside.”
“Hmm, I have no objections.”
“Let’s do it that way.”

Fortunately, this place was beneath a cliff.
Even a small force could completely seal off the entrance.
Ran and the assassins finished their preparations and stood before the entrance to the Difficult Realm.

“Upon locating the target, we eliminate immediately. His talent is a waste, but it can’t be helped.”

Letting him live could mean our deaths instead.
I swallowed the rising tension and steeled my resolve.
And at that very moment, as I was about to enter the Difficult Realm—

“…Ugh?!”
“Th, this is…!”

The assassins felt an enormous force.
Their skin tingled, their entire bodies trembling from the sheer power.
The source of that power came from the Rear.
Everyone spun around in panic.
And only then did they realize.

“Th, that is, what on earth…?”
“L, Lightning?”

Upon the cliff stood a figure wielding ‘thunder’.
Ran’s eyes widened as she recognized who it was.

“H, Han Yu-sung.”

It was Han Yu-sung—the very target they had been searching for.
Hadn’t he entered the Difficult Realm? Why was he there?
As countless questions swirled through their minds, Han Yu-sung took a massive step forward.

【Thunderbolt Cascade.】

Lightning roared and shrieked as it tore down the cliff face.
Hundreds of bolts scattered in a devastating torrent of electricity.
The assassins gasped and attempted to evade, but their efforts were utterly futile.
This was an attack that could not be countered or resisted.
Especially not in such a confined space.

CRASH!

“GAHHHHH?!”
“Ugh, ugh… AHHHHHHHHH!”

Divine retribution—no, the ‘Thunderbolt Cascade’—struck the cliff below, unleashing a colossal storm of lightning.
Hundreds of bolts engulfed the assassins, their anguished screams echoing across the entire cliff face.
And when the lightning finally ceased.

“….”
“….”

Not a single figure remained standing.
Most of the assassins lay sprawled in grotesque heaps, their bodies charred and burned.
And Han Yu-sung was no different.

[Are you alright? Your entire body is thoroughly scorched.]
“I’m not alright.”

Han Yu-sung’s entire body was severely burned.
It was the price of unleashing the ‘Thunderbolt Cascade’.
Just as the Heavenly Thunder Sword Technique’s ‘Rotating Flash’ demanded, Han Yu-sung lacked the power to withstand the lightning, and so his body bore the burns.

“It seems I have absolutely no affinity with lightning.”

I had no choice but to seek out the related passive skill.
Han Yu-sung descended below the Cliff.
After absorbing blood to restore his body, he bound the surviving assassins with shadows.
Killing would be easier, but these ones had their uses.
Then.

Whoooosh!

[Hmm? The corpses are burning, I see.]
“They must have set up a failsafe in case of failure.”

The bodies of the dead assassins suddenly ignited and soon vanished.
It wasn’t particularly surprising.
Professional assassins, especially the expensive ones, always prepared contingencies for failure.
This mechanism existed to keep the employer hidden.
Once the corpses burned, it became impossible to trace back to the one who hired them.

“Well, let it be. Cleaning up dead assassins is convenient for me anyway.”

Han Yu-sung passed the burning bodies and searched for living players.
Among them, there was one I hoped would survive.

“Dead? No, she’s alive. Lucky.”
[Is that what you call luck? I do not understand.]
“Either way, she survived.”

Ran lay collapsed before the innermost door to the Difficult Realm.
The person who had followed Maezato Oju like a secretary in my past life.
Someone with considerable standing within Zangetsu, yet whose loyalty to the organization was weak.
Considering she had actually ‘defected’ in my previous life.
There was plenty of room to exploit her.

“One more spy to add to my collection.”

Han Yu-sung retrieved a recovery potion he had purchased from the Dimensional Trading Post.

* * *

How much time had passed?
Ran, who had been unconscious for quite some time, opened her eyes. The terrible pain radiating through her entire body forced a cry close to a scream from her lips.
As her eyes adjusted, she saw a dark cave.

“Ah, ugh, what… what on earth…?”

I couldn’t comprehend the situation.
I desperately tried to recall what had happened before losing consciousness.
I had pursued Han Yu-sung and found the Difficult Realm he had entered. It was the very moment I was about to enter the realm alongside the other assassins.

BOOM!

Thunder struck the earth, sweeping away everything on the surface.
As if a god had descended divine punishment.
My body began to tremble like an aspen leaf.
Who had summoned that thunder?

“You’re awake? That took long enough.”
“Ah… ahhhhh!”

It was Han Yu-sung.
Upon seeing Han Yu-sung’s face suddenly appear before me, I screamed.

“What… what is this? Why are you… no, why am I… still alive?”
“Because I saved you. Though I’m also the one who put you in that state.”
“You… saved me? Why?”

I could only be bewildered.
I had come here to kill Han Yu-sung. From the looks of the current situation, he had turned my own intentions against me and set a trap.
It meant he knew I was an assassin.
But then, why spare my life instead of killing me?

“You have work to do for me.”

Han Yu-sung said this while twirling a quill pen between his fingers.
The Quill of Covenant, emanating a mysterious light.

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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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