The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 254
—————
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 254
The Lord of the Dead was caught in a whirlwind of activity.
The crushing defeat she suffered in the Golden War had dealt her catastrophic damage.
When she considered what lay ahead, even the possibility of her own collapse became visible.
To overcome this predicament, she would do whatever it took.
[…Then, let’s consider this conversation finished.]
[My Oath-takers shall become your blade. The Corridor will be opened from your side, so we shall wait for the opportune moment.]
[Understood. Now disappear quickly. If anyone catches sight of me conversing with the Wanderer, my position becomes precarious.]
The Wanderer—Geomson—was one such necessary encounter.
With a sinister chuckle that seemed unbecoming of an immortal transcending the mortal world, Geomson withdrew from the darkness-filled space.
Left alone, the Lord of the Dead exhaled a deep sigh.
[Tsk, to think I must join forces with such a Wanderer.]
Under normal circumstances, she would have dismissed him without a second glance.
But now, there was no choice. Penalties might come later, yet if she could only overcome this current crisis.
She could bear them easily enough.
[Yes, as much as necessary….]
The Lord of the Dead withdrew the dark space around her.
It was a space created for a clandestine meeting with Geomson. If word of her encounter with the Wanderer reached others, it would become troublesome in countless ways.
To prevent that, she had constructed a space severed from the outside world.
And so the Lord of the Dead remained utterly unaware.
– M-My Lord! The enemy has attacked! We… Aaaahhh!
– Han Yu-sung, that madman is doing this alone!
– My Lord! Why won’t you answer! Why won’t you respond!
During the brief moment she had severed herself from the world.
What catastrophe had unfolded in the Dead’s Paradise she held so dear.
The instant she stepped out of the space, a torrent of dire reports crashed down upon her.
[What is this…?]
And I felt three threads connected to me snap severing.
The startled Undead Lord turned toward the source of the ominous sound.
There, a fierce battle was unfolding.
– Grraaaaaahhhhh…!
– Don’t let up! Push forward! He’s alone!
– He’s growing exhausted! We cannot afford him a moment’s respite!
Countless Undead and Covenant of the Dead members.
And facing them all alone was Han Yu-sung’s battle.
The Lord’s eyes widened at the sight of something incomprehensible.
Countless questions flooded my mind.
How had he found this place? How had he pierced through the concealment woven by my power?
No, before that.
[He attacked this place… alone?]
That was the first question that escaped my lips.
Of course, Han Yu-sung was not unscathed.
As the fierce battle raged on, deep wounds carved themselves across his entire body.
And I could see him growing increasingly exhausted.
But what did that matter?
– Han Yu-sung’s target is the Apostles! Protect them with your lives! Three Apostles have already fallen! We cannot sustain further losses…!
Han Yu-sung had not died.
Rather, it was my forces that had suffered catastrophic losses.
During the brief negotiations with Geomson, three Apostles of the Dead had been slain.
The Undead Lord felt fury rising to the crown of my head.
My Apostles dying without resistance, my Oath-takers failing to properly contain Han Yu-sung—both were infuriating.
But what enraged me far more was.
[How much must I be disrespected before this anger is sated?!]
The very fact that Han Yu-sung had attacked the Dead’s Paradise.
A place filled with countless Oath-takers and Undead, where my power dwells.
How could he make such a decision to assault this place?
Without disrespecting the Undead Lord, such a judgment would be impossible.
That realization inflicted upon me an overwhelming sense of humiliation.
[“What is this outrage!”]
The Lord of the Dead’s fierce wrath reverberated across the entire Trial Island.
It was a cry brimming with authority. The countless corpses scattered across the island, the wandering spirits—all answered the call and rose as undead.
The Lord’s fury was directed at one target alone.
[“Han Yu-sung, Lord of War! How did you discover this place? What have you done!”]
“You’ve finally shown yourself.”
It was Han Yu-sung.
The battle raging across the island came to an abrupt halt.
The Covenant of the Dead’s members shrank back from the Lord’s wrath, while Han Yu-sung remained utterly composed.
“Isn’t this rather late? I expected you sooner.”
[“That’s precisely the point. Where were you that took so long? Unaware that your own Apostles were being slaughtered?”]
[“Silence! How dare you—!”]
Tremendous power began to swirl.
The deathly aura gathered across this island surged like a tidal wave. That aura soon infused the Covenant of the Dead’s members and the undead.
Countless undead transformed into supreme-tier undead in an instant.
The Covenant of the Dead’s members experienced the same.
The deathly aura granted them immense power and morale bordering on infinite.
Shhhhhhhhhhh!
The deathly aura, swirling fiercely, surged skyward and formed a colossal curtain.
The Dead’s Veil—enveloping the entire Trial Island, allowing no escape.
It was infused with the will to kill Han Yu-sung in this place.
[“You invaded my domain and slew my Apostles? Do not think you can escape from here, Han Yu-sung—!”]
The Lord’s fury shook the entire Trial Island.
Undead unable to withstand it crumbled and vanished, and even the Oath-takers coughed blood and collapsed from the sheer force of that wrath.
Yet Han Yu-sung remained utterly at ease.
He seemed either bored with the current situation or waiting for something.
“I notice it every time we meet—your words are always so grandiose.”
[“Indeed, we share that sentiment. Foolish undead, how many times have you declared you would kill us, and how many times have you failed?”]
[“Kugh!”]
The Undead Lord clenched his teeth.
The words rang true.
I had declared countless times that I would kill Han Yu-sung, and each time I had failed. No wonder my Apostles of the Dead had learned to accept defeat.
This time would be different. Now, in this situation, I could kill him.
Now that Han Yu-sung stood alone in this place!
‘No, wait.’
A thought suddenly flashed through the Lord’s mind.
What manner of being was this Han Yu-sung?
Each time we clashed, he faced death’s precipice, yet transcended it through methods I never anticipated.
And that insufferable composure of his.
There was something more to this.
“Have you finally grasped it? At least you learn something from your defeats.”
[“You—what have you prepared…!”]
What exactly had he prepared?
The Undead Lord raised his guard and attempted to brace himself.
“It begins.”
[“What?”]
But it was already too late.
Han Yu-sung suddenly clapped his hands together.
In that instant, a tremendous torrent of mana erupted from his entire body.
The mana was so overwhelming that the skin of everyone in the vicinity prickled.
The mana that poured forth spread instantaneously in all directions.
“Has he prepared a large-scale spell?!”
“Raise a barrier! Prepare for Han Yu-sung’s attack!”
[No, no. This is…!]
Han Yu-sung was an exceptional warrior and simultaneously a mage.
The Covenant of the Dead judged that he had prepared a large-scale spell.
But the Undead Lord realized at once that this was not the case.
It could be nothing else.
[“What in the world have you done to my Paradise?!”]
“If you must know… I planted something like a bomb.”
Mana rippled outward from all directions, converging toward a single point.
The Black Temple at the heart of Trial Island.
Was he trying to destroy the temple?
The Covenant of the Dead members with keen mana detection thought as much.
But if that were all, the Lord would not have been so horrified.
The mana burrowed deep into the temple’s interior.
Into the deepest reaches—places where intruders were forbidden to tread.
[“You…!”]
The moment the horrified Undead Lord cried out.
KABOOOOOM!
A catastrophic explosion erupted.
Not where the Covenant of the Dead stood, but from the Black Temple itself.
From the hidden depths beneath it, the explosion tore through the Underground Chamber.
“What—what is this?!”
“The—the temple!”
Everyone flinched at the unexpected detonation.
But only for a moment.
“…Did he only destroy the temple?”
“It seems like he planted magic in the temple, but given the current situation…”
What significance could that possibly have?
Kakasha’s voice echoed through the void, dripping with mockery.
A voice trembling with genuine delight.
[“Kuhuhuhuh! So you hid something amusing in the temple’s deepest sanctum. The ‘core’ that comprises this Trial Island itself—infused with your very authority!”]
The Undead Lord was left speechless.
The explosion had not yet ceased.
The detonation that obliterated the Black Temple did not end there—it spread deeper still.
Underground, to depths far more profound.
All the way to the Labyrinth where the Undead Lord had concealed his core.
A piercing shriek tore through the air!
[“No, this cannot be!”]
A anguished cry echoed from somewhere distant.
The Undead Lord, understanding precisely what that scream meant, let out a wail of despair.
At that moment, the center of Trial Island began to collapse.
The ground where the Black Temple had once stood—now utterly annihilated—crumbled away, and a colossal chasm opened wide.
From that abyss erupted tremendous power, countless spectral entities surging upward.
The Covenant of the Dead stood frozen, staring in bewilderment.
They could not comprehend what was transpiring.
[Gather, gather now! All Oath-takers, assemble in one place! Hurry!]
“My Lord, what does this mean…?”
[This island is disappearing! You fools!]
It was an unbelievable proclamation.
Yet whether they believed it or not made no difference whatsoever.
The earth fractured with a deafening crack!
“Ah, gasp! The, the ground!”
“The, the island….”
The Lord’s words manifested instantly.
With a thunderous roar, the earth split asunder.
Hairline fractures multiplied in an instant, shattering the island into countless fragments.
Those fractured pieces rose suspended in the void.
A tremendous sound erupted!
Swept away by the power surging from the Underground Chamber and the spectral torrent, everything was obliterated.
Fragments of the Trial Island, the structures upon it, the Undead and the Oath-takers—all of them.
Every last one.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
“Th-This power! A force beyond comprehension…!”
“The spectral essence is devouring my body!”
Screams from the Covenant of the Dead echoed from all directions.
The Apostles of the Dead were no different.
None of them could fathom what was happening.
“G-Gather! Follow the Lord’s command! Now!”
“Cluster together if you want to live!”
All they could do was obey the Undead Lord’s words.
The situation was absolute chaos.
And that, precisely, was what Han Yu-sung desired.
Roooooaaaaarrrrr!
“Ugh, gah…?!”
The heavens themselves shrieked.
In the next instant, Touya Masateru, the Apostle of the Dead desperately rallying the Oath-takers, felt his heart pierced by lightning.
It was Han Yu-sung’s 【Radiant Thunder】 that had impaled him.
He did not stop there, closing the distance to another Apostle.
【War’s Calamity】.
A blade that cleaved through empty air.
The massive calamity engulfed the confused enemies, incinerating another Apostle beyond it.
Han Yu-sung had dispatched two Apostles in an instant.
As if his work was complete, he sheathed his sword.
“Undead Lord.”
Han Yu-sung met the gaze fixed upon him.
A deep smile played at the corners of his lips.
“Prepare for the Lords’ War. After that comes the 【Sanctuary】.”
‘Sanctuary’.
A war waged by a Lord who has lost everything through successive defeats, staking the 【Sanctuary】 itself before their final collapse.
The meaning was simple.
A declaration to strip away everything I possessed and drag me into ruin.
Whoooosh!
With those words, Han Yu-sung’s entire body was engulfed in flames.
When the inferno faded, Han Yu-sung was already gone.
All that remained was the collapsing Trial Island and the screams of the Oath-takers caught in its destruction.
[Ugh, ahhhhh….]
Everything was crumbling.
The Trial Island, the structures built upon it, every ‘Obelisk’.
Even the death aura and the dead that had filled this place—all of it, without exception.
[Kraaaaaaagh!]
The Lord’s anguished scream echoed across the collapsing Trial Island.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————