The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 180

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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 180

A voice continued to emanate from the letter.

– Are you listening, Lord of the Dead? You gloomy lord, reeking of decay from rolling around with corpses all day long.
[Such a crude and contemptible provocation…!]
– By now, you must be trembling. It is a shame that I cannot witness your pathetic form with my own eyes.

Blatant mockery echoed in the ears.
The more it continued, the more the Lord of the Dead’s trembling intensified.

– You must have thought I was dead, and surely wished for it. But I did not perish. I crawled along the bottom and survived, enduring humiliation as I awaited the day I would rise again…
– Now, the time has come. The time for me to rise once more.
– And…

Whoooosh!

The flames of the letter intensified, then suddenly transformed into a small, fairy-like form.
That form danced raucously around the Lord of the Dead, laughing.

– Lord of the Dead. You shall be my first stepping stone.
[I will tear that mouth apart this instant!]

Unable to contain his rage, the Lord of the Dead reached out his hand.
A massive hand formed of death energy seized the small fairy.
Yet the fairy merely smiled, a sound like a chuckle escaping its lips.
The Lord of the Dead exhaled roughly.

– As the price for this ‘declaration of war,’ I have paid 4 million coins. You understand what this means, do you not?
[4 million coins…!]

A ‘Lords’ War’ cannot be waged at any time.
One must declare war to the opponent and pay a certain amount of coins. It is a nominal regulation to prevent indiscriminate warfare.
The stronger the lord declaring the war, and the greater the assets wagered, the higher the cost of the declaration.
No matter how much strength the Lord of War had recovered, she could not be stronger than the Lord of the Dead.
Yet the fact that she had paid 4 million coins meant…

[You wretch, how much of your assets did you wager on this Lords’ War?!]
– By now, you must be reeling at the sheer volume of coins I’ve staked. That’s right! I’ve wagered nearly everything I possess on this Lords’ War. And how fortuitous—a most beneficial event has opened up…!
[An event? What in the world… Don’t tell me!]

One of the benefits of this Trial, perhaps!
Lord of the Dead bit his lip anxiously.
A war not worth engaging with.
He wanted nothing more than to ignore it.
The problem was.

[‘Lord of War’ has declared a Lords’ War.]
[Should you refuse this Lords’ War, you must pay a ‘mediation fee’ equal to the 4 million coins wagered in the declaration of war.]

Refusing meant paying that exact sum in coins.
Four million coins stripped away without lifting a finger.
And that wasn’t all.

[50% of the coins paid as a mediation fee shall be annihilated, while the remaining 50% shall be transferred to the Lord who declared war as a ‘peace tax’.]

[This is absolute nonsense!]

He had to surrender 50% of his coins to Lord of War herself.
It was unbearable. An indignity he could scarcely stomach.
He who bore the epithet of the ‘Dead’.
Refusing the Lords’ War out of fear of Lord of War, and paying the mediation fee?

– Kuhuhuhuh! Whether you accept or refuse is entirely your choice. If you’re frightened, feel free to flee with your tail between your legs!
[Guk, grrgh… Grrrrgh…!]

The Lord’s hands trembled violently.
Every fiber of his being yearned to accept the Lords’ War immediately.
Had he not endured countless humiliations at the hands of Lord of War and her Covenant Bearer, Han Yu-sung?
This was the perfect opportunity to repay those indignities in kind.
But.

– Before you go, one final benefit. You may choose the Battlefield for this Lords’ War. I am confident I can win regardless of which one you select!
[This damnable woman! Get out of my sight this instant!]

Unable to endure any longer, the Lord of the Dead unleashed a torrent of fierce rage.
The letter wrought of flames vanished in that same instant.

[Huff, huff…!]

The Lord of the Dead exhaled ragged breaths.
I had suffered successive, catastrophic defeats. Tremendous losses in the Hero’s War, and the Star Battlefield proved no different.
In this Trial, I had lost my sworn servants.
And the rewards I should have obtained—all of it, gone.
Despite my vigilance, I had not avoided defeat.

[How much time am I given to respond to the declaration?]

[The response deadline for a war declaration is a maximum of 30 hours. Should you fail to respond within that time, it shall be deemed a refusal of the Lords’ War.]

30 hours.
Time was sufficient. There was no reason to decide hastily.
The Lord of the Dead closed my eyes and swallowed the rage whole.

[“My sworn servants, hear me.”]
[“Bring me information. Everything concerning the Lord of War. Everything concerning her sworn servant. And everything concerning this Han Yu-sung!”]
[“Leave nothing out—gather it all!”]

To declare a Lords’ War meant possessing confidence in victory.
I needed to ascertain what military strength the Lord of War commanded.
Only then would it be prudent to respond to the declaration.
Thus, the Lord of the Dead gathered every scrap of necessary intelligence.

[…Eh?]

Bewilderment seized me as information poured in from all directions.
It could not have been otherwise.

[The number of sworn servants she possesses doesn’t even reach 100?]

The enemy’s forces were weaker than anticipated.
No—it was not merely weak. It was pathetically insufficient.
Why else would I have demanded the information be rechecked?
Yet the intelligence contained no errors.

“My Lord. We’ve mobilized every information network to verify this. The current number of Oath-takers under the Lord of War’s command is exactly what I’ve reported.”
“It appears the Oath-takers she currently possesses weren’t even directly recruited by her—they were inherited from the Woman Who Cuts the Moon’s Oath-takers.”
“Beyond that, there don’t appear to be any other significant forces.”

This information only deepened the Lord of the Dead’s confusion.
Who had declared war first?
The Lord of War.

[She declared war on me with merely this much military strength?]

And she hadn’t done so hesitantly—she’d been remarkably confident about it.

[What’s the possibility that this information contains falsehoods?]
“This information has been verified even by the Lord of Knowledge. Particularly since Han Yu-sung is the player receiving the most attention recently….”

Those seeking to understand information about Han Yu-sung would be countless.
Through that process, the credibility of the information had apparently increased as well.

[Is there an entity supporting the Lord of War?]
“There is some exchange with Lords like Shadow and Pleasure, but it doesn’t appear they’ve formed an official alliance. According to the Lord who provided the information, they also seem to show interest only in Han Yu-sung….”
[Then, is there a possibility her Oath-takers are elite in quality despite their small numbers?]
“Baek Min-jun and his companions are somewhat known players, but compared to our forces, they’re negligible.”

The Lord of the Dead compiled all the information obtained thus far.
The conclusion that emerged was utterly absurd.

[So she has nothing except Han Yu-sung?!]

The Lord of War possessed no significant forces.
She had only Han Yu-sung—a military asset that defied all predictions.
Having grasped all the information, the Lord of the Dead let out a bitter laugh.

[She wagered an entire Lords’ War on Han Yu-sung alone? No, surely not.]

There had to be something hidden away.
The Lord of the Dead continued gathering and analyzing information.
She needed to discover if there was anything she had overlooked.
But nothing had changed.

[Ugh, grrrrgh….]

The Lord of the Dead groaned under the weight of an intense headache.
Should I accept?
There were too many concerns for that. A string of consecutive defeats. Who knew what he might do this time.
Then, should I refuse?
The opponent’s military strength was clearly inferior. Besides, I held the advantage of choosing the Battlefield itself.

[Why, exactly….]

Perhaps all of this was merely a bluff.
A bluff to steal the coins I possessed.
If that were the case, accepting would be… no, that couldn’t be….

[Aaaaaaaargh!]

The Lord of the Dead let out a anguished cry.
Yet no conclusion emerged, and time crept ever closer to the appointed hour.

* * *

Han Yu-sung stood within the vast White Space.
Ceiling and walls of glass-like transparent metal. Beyond them stretched an incomprehensible cosmos, a space of pure mystique.

“It’s been quite some time since I’ve visited the Star Battlefield.”

[Welcome to the Star Battlefield.]
[☆ Special Events for Korea have commenced! ☆]
[Monster subjugation, special Dungeons, competitive matches, and various other events have been held. Please participate freely in the event of your choosing!]
[You may view the list of special events….]

A variety of events were now available.
Given the name “special events,” the rewards were quite generous.
Yet these events were not what captured Han Yu-sung’s attention.

[A special event has activated the 【Lord’s Exception】.]
[Only Lords who selected Korea in the God’s Trial, the Star Battlefield, shall receive ‘Lord’s War Subsidy’.]
[The subsidy covers the costs required to declare a Lord’s War, and the greater the achievements a Lord has earned in the Trial, the larger the subsidy becomes.]
[The 【Lord of War】 achieved overwhelming results in the Trial!]
[100% subsidy is provided!]

Wars between Lords—’Lord’s Wars’—come with numerous restrictions.
These constraints exist to prevent strong Lords from trampling weaker ones and to curb endless, indiscriminate warfare to a certain degree.
The most representative of these is ‘Coins’.
Coins are consumed when declaring or refusing a Lord’s War, forcing Lords to deliberate more carefully.

‘A benefit that covers 100% of those costs is absolutely absurd.’

After all, I hadn’t hesitated to spend costs reaching 4 million Coins.
Naturally, because the benefit was so extraordinary, several restrictions followed.

[This subsidy is only granted for Lord’s Wars with ‘just cause’.]
[Furthermore, the subsidy is not given twice to the same Lord.]

The system would distribute the subsidy selectively, only once.
It was telling me not to use it recklessly, but to spend it as carefully as possible.
And fortunately.

[It has been recognized that there is just cause for the Lord’s War against the ‘Lord of the Dead’. The declaration of war for that Lord’s War shall receive 100% subsidy.]

The system had determined that Kakasha possessed just cause.
I didn’t know exactly what that justification was. However, Kakasha and I had clashed with the Lord of the Dead multiple times until now.
It would be fair to say that a deep enmity had accumulated between us.
Perhaps the system recognized that as just cause.

[Kuhuhuh… That Lord of the Dead bastard must be seething with rage by now. What a shame I can’t witness his furious expression firsthand!]

Kakasha laughed darkly from atop my head.
He had sent a letter filled with all manner of insults to the Lord of the Dead.
Ever since then, he’d been in high spirits.

“Do you think the Lord of the Dead will accept the Lord’s War?”
[Fifty-fifty, I’d say. Considering that toad’s pride, he has no choice but to accept. But given how badly he suffered at your hands in this Trial, there’s also a chance he’ll lose his nerve and retreat.]

Kakasha laughed with sinister delight as he spoke.

[But that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. The reason is….]
“The Lord of the Dead refused to accept the Lord of War’s challenge and withdrew. This fact will be of great benefit to us.”
[Precisely! If we use this fact to our advantage, the Lords won’t dare touch us for quite some time!]

Whether I accepted the challenge or refused it, this was a battle where I had nothing to lose.
If there was one thing I found disappointing.

“It’s unbearably tedious.”

The process of waiting for the Lord of the Dead was nothing short of exhausting.
Han Yu-sung let out a long yawn and reviewed the special events available.
Fortunately, there were several events that could be completed in a short time, so it didn’t seem like a bad idea to warm up while waiting for the Lord of the Dead.

“Very well, let’s begin.”

Thus Han Yu-sung spent his time participating in various events.
It was a productive period where I could earn not only rewards but also the experience points necessary for rank advancement in the Star Battlefield.
How much time had passed in this manner?

Whoooooosh!

As Han Yu-sung emerged from completing an event, a letter composed of bone fragments materialized before his eyes.
Death energy flowed from within it, carving words into the empty air.

– I’ve seen your pathetic provocation, Lord of War. I have no desire to exchange meaningless words with you, so I’ll cut to the chase and give you my answer.
– The Lords’ War you proclaimed.

Han Yu-sung silently watched the words continue to appear.
Soon, a smile bloomed across my lips.

– I accept. As you said, I shall choose the Battlefield.
– Lord of War, you will lose everything in this Lords’ War. And Han Yu-sung, you… will die by my hand in this Lords’ War.
– This time, without fail.

A smile of anticipation for the battle to come.

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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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