The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 167

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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 167

The Walker of Harsh Winter had found his stage.
A stage where he could accumulate the maximum contribution points.
A place where countless players gathered, and valuable rewards awaited.
Finding the Battlefield proved far simpler than anticipated.
“We have arrived, my lord. There it is.”
[“Ah, splendid.”]
A vast Altar of Valor lay to the north of the Battlefield.
Hundreds of players had converged upon that location.
[Unique Facility: Altar of Valor.]
[An Altar that tests the valor of those who seek it. It activates only when 500 or more participants have gathered. A special reward descends upon those who prove their supreme valor.]
[Currently, the ‘Blessing of Stars’ dwells within the Altar.]
Players from various nations had assembled, drawn by their lust for the ‘Blessing of Stars’.
The lord laughed at the greed of these humans. Did they comprehend that this place would become their Tomb?
[“Go forth. Summon me at the heart of that Altar. Should you succeed, I shall elevate you to herodom with my own hands.”]
“Yes, my lord. I shall… do as you command.”
Edmond struck the ground.
Fierce combat already raged across the Altar of Valor.
“Damn it! If we lose this blessing too, we’re finished!”
“Kill everything you see! Don’t let a single one escape!”
“Uaaaaaaah!”
Shouts, screams, and anguished groans echoed across the Altar.
Edmond advanced across the blood-soaked Altar as though entranced.
For reasons unknown, the players did not impede him.
As if instinctively fleeing danger, they all turned away from him.
Thus Edmond stood at the heart of the Altar.
[“Sworn one, surrender your body unto me.”]
[“The time has come to become a hero.”]
In that instant, silence descended upon the Altar.
The players who had been fighting fiercely moments before ceased their actions in perfect unison, as though bound by covenant.
They had sensed it—an indescribable, overwhelming presence.
All eyes turned toward the source of that presence.
There stood a man with a delicate countenance.
“Huuuuh…”
The man—Edmond—exhaled.
Despite the mild weather, his breath emerged laden with frost.
And in that very moment.
Whoooooosh!
The air froze solid, and a fierce blizzard swept through with violent fury.
Edmond lifted his head.
Eyes gleaming with the bitter cold of harsh winter gazed down upon the wretched humans below.
Then, slowly, he began to walk.
Crunch, crunch-crunch-crunch!
With each step he took, the ground beneath him gradually froze solid.
The stone floor, the scattered equipment strewn about, the blood pooling across the surface—
And the players standing upon it.
All of it succumbed to the creeping cold and turned to ice.
[Ah, how exquisite.]
Soon the cold converged upon him.
Over his frozen form descended armor and a cloak forged entirely of ice.
He stretched out his arm and grasped the frigid aura that enveloped everything around him.
[The Walker of Harsh Winter has activated the Seal of Descent.]
[The Walker of Harsh Winter descends upon Edmond’s body!]
A spear, sculpted from the bitter cold itself, materialized in his grip.
The moment the Lord—the Walker of Harsh Winter—descended upon the Trial.
And at that same instant.
Crack-crack-crack-crack!
The players in the vicinity shattered like breaking ice, scattering into fragments.
Those who witnessed the sight were seized by horror.
Hundreds of players, perhaps more, dead in such a pathetic, meaningless instant?
It was impossible, an unbelievable sight.
Yet with a Lord, it was entirely possible.
[Rejoice. You are witnessing the descent of a Lord.]
[But time is not abundant, so….]
The Walker of Harsh Winter took another step forward.
With each footfall, a vicious cold spread across the earth, and countless pillars of ice erupted from the ground all around.
And as he took another step, cracks spiderwebbed across the pillars.
[Now, perish.]
Countless ice pillars detonated in a chain reaction.
Innumerable shards scattered like a tempest, engulfing the players.
The Altar was painted white in an instant.
And upon it, countless crimson stains were scattered.
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
The Lord took another step, and the cold spread deeper and wider, forcing countless ice pillars upward from the earth.
The frozen players watched the spectacle with ashen faces.
But there was nothing they could do.
No one could resist, nor could they have.
Frozen in place, they could only await the approaching death.
[Are you not pleased, Covenant Bearer? With this, the Blessing of the Stars shall be….]
Ours.
The Walker of Harsh Winter made that declaration and took his final step.
Kwaaaaaaaa!
Or rather, he tried to.
Had it not been for the hundreds of lightning bolts that scattered and surged forth.
From the towering heavens, ‘divine punishment’ was unleashed.
A spear that even a Lord could not perceive in time, nor react to.
[What… Grrrrgh!]
The Walker of Harsh Winter cried out in shock, summoning a wave of frigid energy.
Dozens of layers of ice walls erupted belatedly.
But it was too late. The lightning descended faster than the ice walls could rise.
The Lord twisted his body, wrapping it in barriers of ice.
And in the next instant.
【Radiant Lightning】.
The ‘Thunder God’s Spear’ pierced through the Lord’s right arm.
A tremendous storm of lightning erupted.
Hundreds of lightning bolts shattered the barriers and consumed the body made of ice.
The Lord swallowed his pain and glared toward where the spear had been fired from.
Someone descended from the towering heavens.
[You, who are you… No, it’s you!]
The Walker of Harsh Winter’s eyes widened.
A Lord does not remember the faces of mere humans. There is no reason to.
But this face remained etched in memory.
The madman who inflicted catastrophic losses upon countless Lords in the previous Trial.
How could I forget one who even received the call of the Blood Demon?
[Han Yu-sung…!]
Han Yu-sung did not answer.
Instead, he answered with a thrust of the 【Flames of War】 clenched in his grip.
Whoooosh!
[Ugh, krraaaagh!]
A blade that cleaved through the void.
The fiercely burning ‘Karma Fire of War’ was unleashed.
The karma fire, transformed into a colossal wave, consumed the frigid energy, incinerated the erupting ice walls, and surged toward the Walker of Harsh Winter.
The Lord raised his defenses against the encroaching karma fire, his shock evident.
‘How is this possible!’
Beyond the flames, Han Yu-sung could be seen approaching.
With each step he took, flames erupted from the ground.
The fierce karma fire spread, sweeping across the region. The ice that covered all directions melted away, and soon a vast domain took shape.
[The Lord has opened the 【Battlefield of Karma Fire】 at the cost of sacrificial offerings.]
[Allies within the domain are strengthened, while enemies are weakened.]
[The ‘Army of Ashes’ rises.]
The Walker of Harsh Winter’s eyes widened in disbelief.
‘How is this possible? Such power from a flame kindled by a mere human!’
This was the chill emanating from a Lord.
No matter how fierce a flame a human could conjure, it would be nothing but a candle before the wind in the presence of a Lord’s chill.
But the flame Han Yu-sung had ignited was different.
His flame didn’t merely consume the chill the Lord had unleashed—it overwhelmed it entirely.
‘Is such a thing even possible?’
Could a human possess power of this magnitude?
No, it was impossible. Even the strongest human could never achieve such a thing.
Then…
‘The Lord… the power of the Lord this man has contracted with!’
To overwhelm him so completely, it had to be a Lord bearing a True Name.
And this terror flame must have originated from a Sacred Artifact.
In that moment, an inescapable question burrowed into his mind.
‘An investment of this magnitude… for a mere human?’
And by a Lord bearing a True Name, no less?
It was unthinkable. No matter how exceptional a human might be…
Krrrrrrrgh!
[Grraaahhh…!]
But now was not the time for contemplation.
Han Yu-sung and the Army of Ashes were bearing down upon me.
I had to stop them.
I could not bear the shame of losing to a human while in my descended form.
The Walker of Harsh Winter unleashed a fierce chill.
[Protect me!]
Countless ice soldiers materialized around him.
If the terror flame consumed his chill, he would simply conjure a chill cold enough to freeze even that.
He possessed such power in his descended state.
At that moment, Han Yu-sung extended his hand.
Whoooosh!
The roiling terror flame converged upon his palm, taking shape.
In the form of a helmet wrought from terror flame.
[Helmet of the Terror Flame Legion (Grade A Sacred Artifact).]
· Defense: 400.
· A Sacred Artifact of the Lord of War, Kakasha. The power that once commanded countless soldiers and dominated the Battlefield is contained within this helm.
· By offering sacrifices, you may invoke 【Battlefield Command】. This grants buffs to nearby allies. Each time buffed allies defeat enemies, ‘Glory’ stacks accumulate, strengthening the wearer.
· When ‘Glory’ reaches its maximum of 30 stacks, the 【God of War】 effect activates, granting the wearer a powerful buff.
Han Yu-sung donned the helmet without hesitation.
At that very moment, the Army of Struggle materialized from all directions.
“Advance.”
The terror flame that erupted from Han Yu-sung infused itself into the army.
Wreathed in terror flame, the army surged forward with a thunderous roar, trampling the lord’s soldiers who stood in their path without mercy.
Han Yu-sung’s gaze fixed on the system window hovering at the edge of his vision.
[You are engaged in combat with the lord’s Incarnate Form.]
[The Divine Descent effect activates the buff ‘Lord Slayer’.]
[All stats +50%, all damage +60%, speed +30%.]
[Damage dealt to Incarnate Form +80%, damage received –40%.]
[Divine Annihilation stat bonus!]
[All buffs except Lord Slayer enhanced by 1.5x.]
A dark smile spread across my lips.
It was a smile brimming with competitive fervor, anticipating the battle and victory to come.
Han Yu-sung gazed into the lord’s eyes, wide with shock, and pushed off the ground.
“Then, shall we hunt?”
* * *
The end of the battle came far more swiftly and anticlimactically than expected.
The Walker of Harsh Winter stared blankly at the Altar engulfed in terror flame.
[…What is this.]
He could not fathom what had transpired.
Every soldier he had summoned was obliterated, and the bitter cold that had blanketed everything had vanished completely.
The lord’s Incarnate Form as well.
[How could a mere human….]
The body of ice lay in ruins.
Limbs shattered, the terror flame still blazed fiercely, consuming the form bit by bit.
Only then did the Walker of Harsh Winter accept it.
[….]
That he had been defeated.
By a mere human, at that—utterly and completely.
Was it the shock of the sudden ambush?
Was it astonishment at the enemy’s unforeseen combat prowess? Had the battle unfolded under more favorable circumstances….
Countless excuses arose, only to fade into meaninglessness.
Pointless hypotheticals.
[Human, Han Yu-sung….]
The lord, most of his body already dissipated, gazed up at the one who had vanquished him.
[I have heard tales of you. Yet.]
A hollow laugh escaped his lips.
[They were all mere rumors. I underestimated you….]
That was all.
The Walker of Harsh Winter vanished without finishing his words.
Where he had stood, the utterly ravaged corpse of Edmond appeared for a brief moment before vanishing entirely.
“….”
“….”
What remained was Han Yu-sung.
The players, their eyes wide with disbelief at the spectacle before them.
And.
[This… this can’t be real….]
The Lord of the Dead alone, watching the battle unfold through undead eyes.

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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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