The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 248

—————

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

—————

A Mad Swordsman Returns – Chapter 248

The Lord of the Dead had lost.
It was a devastating defeat, plain and simple.
Overwhelmed in the war, I was driven back to the Central Challenge itself.
Even after descending personally, my head was severed in the end.
The headless body burned without leaving even ashes behind.
The Covenant of the Dead watched the spectacle in stunned silence.
[“Hear me, valiant Oath-takers who serve war! The Lord of the Dead has fallen! Annihilate the remaining enemies!”]
What unfolded after that required no words.
The Covenant of the Dead, stripped of their will to fight, mounted no proper resistance.
Before long, they all vanished.
The Central Challenge, now masterless, fell into Kakasha’s hands.
The meaning was simple.
[The victor of the first Golden War has been determined.]
[Congratulations, Lord of War! You have triumphed in the Golden War. You have acquired the Challenges deployed by your opposing Lord as your reward!]
[An extraordinary achievement. You have won the war without losing a single Challenge! Additional rewards are granted!]
[Furthermore, the wealth possessed by the Lord of the Dead is being seized!]
The Lord of the Dead had tasted humiliation once more.
Needless to say, this defeat was catastrophic for the Lord of the Dead.
First, I lost all the Challenges wagered in the Golden War.
But that was not all.
[Warning: The value of the Challenges deployed by the Lord of the Dead is significantly lower than the value of the Challenges deployed by the Lord of War.]
[Should the Lord of the Dead lose this Golden War, they must surrender additional wealth sufficient to compensate for the shortfall!]
There was an additional penalty imposed because of the Tower of Records.
The Lord of the Dead lost all their Challenges and had to surrender wealth equal to the deficit to the Lord of War.
It was damage grave enough to threaten the Lord’s very existence.
In other words.
[….]
The Lord of War, Kakasha, had gained immense profit.
The Lord with blazing red hair stood with sword planted in the earth, regarding the Challenges now belonging to me with a solemn gaze.
At least, that was how it appeared.
[Kufufu, kufufufu….]
Han Yu-sung, standing nearby, could hear it.
Kakasha’s distinctive laughter, unable to contain the joy.
[Kufufu. Kufufufu…. Kufufufufu…!]
“It’s giving me a headache. Go laugh by yourself over there, would you?”
[How else am I to express this joy without laughing! Come now, you laugh too. Aren’t you pleased? Hmm? You’re pleased as well, are you not!]
Kakasha jabbed Han Yu-sung repeatedly with a wing while asking.
Of course I was pleased.
Obtaining the reward was part of it, but what truly delighted me was the opportunity to completely eliminate the Lord of the Dead.
Ever since my regression, that creature had been a persistent thorn in my side.
“So, what treasure are you planning to seize?”
[I’m deliberating! Sacred relics? Coins perhaps? Challenges? Or all three? Mmm! Since I can take whatever I desire, I simply cannot decide!]
Kakasha bounced on his feet.
He appeared immensely delighted. Watching him, I clicked my tongue and settled onto a nearby boulder.
“Phew, I’m exhausted. This is the most draining battle I’ve fought so far.”
[Hmm? Is it because you used those newly learned techniques?]
“Likely so.”
Reverse Heaven and Shatter Heaven.
Both were undeniably formidable skills, especially against Lords.
Perhaps that’s why the backlash was so severe.
My entire body felt twisted and contorted.
Moreover, an overwhelming sense of depletion washed over me.
‘My magical essence is completely exhausted. That must be why.’
I had expended every last drop of magical essence I possessed.
I desperately wanted to rest immediately.
“But there’s still work to be done.”
I stood where the Lord of the Dead’s manifestation had been.
The manifestation had vanished without even leaving ash behind.
Yet the formidable aura that had lingered within it still existed.
[You have used ‘Grand Absorption’.]
[You absorb the essence remaining within the Lord’s manifestation. Grand Absorption transmutes the essence’s nature and stores it within your body.]
[Magical essence accumulates in your heart….]
[Congratulations! Your Magical Essence has increased by 60!]
I exhaled deeply.
The persistent exhaustion I’d been feeling gradually subsided.
[You have succeeded in breaking the manifestation of a Lord bearing a Stigma.]
[You have satisfied the activation condition for the unique ability ‘Godly Descent’.]
[Your Combat Annihilation stat has increased by +60!]
[Your Indomitable Will and Unyielding Spirit have each increased by +10!]
On top of that came the additional rewards from ‘Godly Descent’.
The rewards were generous, befitting a Lord’s manifestation bearing a Stigma.
[Truly, a tree that gives without reservation!]
“A gracious Lord indeed.”
A tree that always finds its way to us whenever opportunity arises.
For Kakasha and me, it was an invaluable tree.
But.
“I’ve already consumed enough of the fruit that falls from it.”
[Hmm. The wood rots from within, so now it is time to fell it.]
“Yes. Decisively.”
This was the perfect moment.
And Han Yu-sung and Kakasha had no intention of letting this opportunity slip away.
“Still, for just a moment….”
Han Yu-sung turned his head.
I could see Kaldrex’s face looking toward me.
And behind him, the Draken Race watching with burning gazes.
The War Covenant Members in other Challenges must be cheering as well.
“There’s nothing wrong with savoring victory.”
[Look at that. The Draken Race is watching us as if they desire something. Can you guess what they want?]
“Obvious. I don’t particularly want to, but….”
[This one wants to. Come here!]
Kakasha pulled Han Yu-sung forward before him.
I felt the weight of their burning gazes pouring down. Han Yu-sung exhaled a sigh and raised his sword high, while Kakasha spread his four pairs of wings wide open.
The unquenchable ghost fire spread in all directions like celebratory fireworks.
[“Oath-takers, let out the cry of victory!”]
“Our victory!”
A roar erupted in response to their shout.
Han Yu-sung watched that sight for a long time.
* * *
The Golden War had ended.
The battle waged by two Lords—the Dead and War—concluded in a victory for the Lord of War that no one had anticipated.
That was what I thought at first.
[The Lord of War has been on a winning streak recently, but….]
[This time will be difficult. Even if the Lord of the Dead lost in the previous Lord’s War, this Golden War is a different story.]
[Wars of attrition are the Lord of the Dead’s specialty, after all.]
This time, it would be hard for the Lord of War to achieve victory.
The disparity in military strength between our forces and the enemy was extreme. No matter how skilled a player was, they could not overcome such a numerical disadvantage.
The Lord of War shattered their assumptions in an instant.
[D-Draken Race?]
[Isn’t that the race the Lord of War and Han Yu-sung saved in the previous Trial? Did they make a contract with that race?]
[Hmph, they had nothing to offer.]
First, the variable known as the ‘Draken Race’.
An unforeseen variable that no one had anticipated twisted the course of battle dramatically.
And second.
[Where did those soldiers come from? No matter how I look at them, they seem to operate on a completely different level from ordinary soldiers.]
[Perhaps a ‘Unique Facility’?]
[A Unique Facility? If so….]
The ‘Unique Facility’ possessed by the Lord of War.
The specialized soldiers spawned from it swept across the Battlefield, thoroughly blocking the undead forces attempting to breach Route B.
Those who served Divine Saint Astreos, soldiers evolved into exceptional entities, and elite devotees including Ugleyn.
The power they wielded was difficult to believe came from mere soldiers.
[…Just how many Unique Facilities does the Lord of War possess?]
It was an inevitable question.
A Lord who had collapsed and risen again not long ago possessed multiple Unique Facilities.
And each one was exceptional at that.
It was something difficult to believe even with one’s own eyes.
And the third reason.
Perhaps the greatest reason of them all.
[Han Yu-sung, that man….]
[He’s a monster. Utterly beyond words.]
The Apostle of War, Han Yu-sung.
No one doubted his abilities. He had proven his strength through multiple Trials, the Star War, and battles between Lords.
But the power he displayed this time was on an entirely different level from before.
‘He absorbed the power unleashed by a Lord. No, was that all? He made the absorbed power his own and used it for a counterattack…!’
‘Is that something a human can even do?’
It was impossible.
Such a thing could not possibly be possible.
Perhaps if it were a high-ranking race so exceptional it would be recorded in history.
But for an inferior race like ‘humans’, it was impossible.
Especially for a Player who had only recently awakened.
[So what? It actually happened, didn’t it?]
[Lord of Pleasure….]
Then, from somewhere, a laugh filled with delight rang out.
The Lord of Pleasure had suddenly interjected into the Lords’ conversation.
[This is not a place for you to be. You should know that!]
[Ah, did you need an entrance fee? If you want, I’ll pay. I made so many coins this time my belly’s about to burst. Tell me. I’ll give you as much as you need.]
[Tsk, no wonder you seemed in better spirits than usual…!]
The Lord of Pleasure laughed aloud.
The Lords who witnessed it felt their stomachs aching.
In this betting round, most Lords had wagered that the Lord of the Dead would win.
Having bet against the odds, they must have earned an enormous amount of coins.
Their stomachs could only ache.
[Well, setting that aside for now. Why keep saying it’s impossible when it’s actually happening right before your eyes? This isn’t even Han Yu-sung’s first victory against the Lord of the Dead, is it?]
[…Are you referring to the battle that took place in the last Trial.]
Han Yu-sung had won in combat against descending Lords before.
Most were Lords without epithets. He had won against a Lord with an epithet only once—when he faced the Lord of the Dead.
[It was a remarkable battle. So much so that many Lords analyzed it….]
When Han Yu-sung first defeated the Lord of the Dead, several Lords analyzed that battle.
It was simply unbelievable that a mere human had defeated the incarnate form of a Lord bearing a Unique Title.
However, once the analysis was complete, the Lords’ consensus shifted.
[Apparently, he maximized the Trial’s benefits. Without stacking the buffs it offered to their peak levels, he would have lost.]
[The Lord of Shadow’s assistance was significant as well.]
[Indeed. Victory in that Trial was certainly justified.]
By uncovering hidden elements within the Trial, he had gained immense power, and he had even received support from a formidable Lord like the Lord of Shadow.
That battle was one Han Yu-sung was fully capable of winning.
But this time was different.
There was no supporting force, no aid from another Lord. He had to fight using only his own strength and the power granted by the Lord of War.
[To have achieved victory in this war….]
[….]
The Lords fell silent.
Finding it amusing, the Lord of Pleasure burst into laughter.
[The Lord of War has risen again. And this player, Han Yu-sung, possesses the strength to face an incarnate form of a Lord. Not merely any ordinary Lord, but an incarnate bearing a Unique Title….]
The Lords recalled the sight they had just witnessed.
The Dead and War. Han Yu-sung had intervened in that clash between two transcendent beings where none could interfere, and he had altered its course.
With a human body, he had driven the Lord of the Dead into a one-sided retreat, and with techniques never before seen, he had dealt fatal wounds to the Lord.
[Watching it unfold, a thought suddenly occurred to me.]
The Lord of Pleasure vanished as abruptly as he had appeared.
His laughter grew increasingly distant.
[Would he not have won even fighting alone?]
In this battle, the Lord of War’s role had been substantial.
But would Han Yu-sung have been defeated without her?
It was a question that naturally arose in their minds.
[….]
[….]
Among the Lords, none could answer that question.

—————

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

—————