The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 34

—————

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 34

CRASH!

“Ugh, cough…!”

A deafening explosion erupted, followed by a scream of agony.
The sickening sounds of flesh tearing and bones shattering filled the air.
All of it came from Logan.

“Hack, cough! You bastard…! AAAHHH!”

Logan couldn’t regain his composure at all.
Han Yu-sung didn’t even give him a moment to breathe. He unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks without pause or opening, a true onslaught.
My face was crushed, and the arms I raised to defend shattered.
My legs, attempting to retreat, were seized by shadows that suddenly erupted from the ground.
What followed was a torrent of compressed blood wind.

BOOM!

“AAAAHHHHH!”

Logan’s entire body was reduced to a mangled mess in an instant.
He wasn’t simply taking the blows. He desperately tried to counterattack, searching for any opportunity to turn the tide of battle.
But it was meaningless.

“This… this can’t be…”

Logan’s attacks never even reached Han Yu-sung.
It had been the same before Han Yu-sung received the buff. Now, with his stats dramatically enhanced, the possibility of landing a hit was virtually nonexistent.
A fist crashed into my face, snapping my head back violently.
My vision blurred. A single thought surfaced in my reeling mind.

‘Why? How… could there be such a gap…?’

Han Yu-sung’s stats surged dramatically under the buff’s effects.
Yet even that was far from overwhelming me—if anything, I remained the stronger force.
And yet the battle unfolding before me was nothing short of a one-sided beating.
Where did this disparity originate?

Crackle—crack—crack!

Logan could not comprehend it.
Nor would he have the opportunity to. Logan watched in horror as the arm gripping his spear was severed and sent flying.
Terror seized him. The dread of death descended like a shroud.

[“You continue to disappoint us…”]
“Hah… hah!”

A message from the Lord Alliance materialized.
A message laden with disappointment. Logan felt his heart plummet into the abyss.

[“We granted you such patronage, and yet you cannot subdue a single human? We have no further expectations for you…”]
“P-Please, my Lord! No, I beg you! Grant me just one more surge of power!”
[“You desire power? Then I shall grant it…”]

The words within the message began to drip downward.
Drop by drop—like ink cascading from above.
Logan swallowed hard.
Something within him convulsed violently.

[“Though perhaps not in the form you desired…”]
“Ugh… kugh… aaaahhhhh!”

Horrific sounds erupted from Logan’s collapsed form.
His body—still vaguely human in shape—twisted and warped into something grotesque, a monstrosity beyond all recognition of human form.
The patronage that exceeded all limits was destroying Logan.

Roooaaaarrrr!

A devastating shockwave erupted from Logan.
I clicked my tongue and retreated, assessing the situation.
There were limits to the patronage a Lord could bestow upon a player.
More precisely, there were limits to how much patronage a player’s body could contain.
Exceed that threshold, and the player’s body would collapse.

‘I would gain tremendous power in a short time, but…’

The price was death.
However, transformation required time. Moreover, during the transformation, one’s body became immobilized and defenseless against attacks.
Logan’s condition was nearly indistinguishable from the brink of death.
If I could only close the distance, I could finish him in a single strike.

[“Bind his feet…”]

And that was a fact the Lord Alliance also understood.
Soldiers converged from all directions, cutting off my escape.
Dispatching them would not have been difficult for me in my current state, but their numbers were overwhelming. Dealing with them would consume precious time.
By then, Logan would have completed his transformation.

“Then I’ll simply carve a path through them all at once.”

I gripped my sword tightly.
The soldiers surged forward, filling my entire vision. I calmly drew upon my mana, concentrating all my power into the blade.
At the sword’s tip, a ferocious force gathered.
I drew in a deep breath.

– Kwang!

I brought the blade down with all my might against the earth.
For an instant, silence reigned. But it was fleeting—the savage power burrowed through the ground and began spreading outward.

Kwaaaaaaang!

Then Earth Shattering commenced.
The ground before me fractured, and scorching heat surged through the fissures.
Simultaneously, a violent explosion erupted, and countless fragments born from it mercilessly engulfed the soldiers.
The anguished screams of the soldiers pierced the air.

“Huh, what in the…?”
“He’s casting a skill of that magnitude… that quickly?”

The surviving players gasped in disbelief.
A wide-area attack skill, yet its power didn’t falter in the slightest.
And the casting speed—he’d unleashed it in what felt like an instant.
Normally, a skill of such caliber required time to concentrate.
Considerable time, enough to prevent casual use.
The reason this was possible was simple.

‘Quite the serviceable passive set.’

Once per day, the 【Successor】 effect drastically reduced skill casting time.
Han Yu-sung lifted his head. A path of blood opened directly before him. Without hesitation, he kicked off the ground and became wind itself.

Whoooooosh!

[Gack, guh… you… bastard…!]

Logan’s eyes, transforming into something monstrous, locked onto Han Yu-sung.
Within those pupils burned rage and hatred, an unmistakable terror he could not conceal.
Han Yu-sung stomped upon Logan’s solar plexus, his arms sweeping back.
Blood-red wind converged within his grasp.

“No different from an ogre, really.”
[Wh… guh, gaaaaaahhhhh!]

A single utterance, laden with disappointment.
Before Logan could even voice his confusion, Blood Wind Chain Shatter consumed his heart, and Blood Dragon Howl devoured his head.

[Ah… no… this can’t…be…]

Those were his final words.
Logan convulsed once, violently, then went limp.

Boom!

Yet the crisis was far from over.
Han Yu-sung stood before an enormous Gate, fists clenched.

[I sense a presence beyond the Gate. Hmm, the Lord Alliance, is it? For a scheme orchestrated by Lords without a True Name, the scale is remarkably vast.]
‘The scope is far too grand.’

A question that had haunted me since my previous life.
Why would Lords without a True Name, banding together, orchestrate something of such magnitude?
And so the suspicion naturally arose.

[There must be someone pulling the strings behind the scenes.]

But that was not my concern.
The Lord of Pleasure and his sworn would handle it themselves.
What I needed to do now was simple.

Whoooosh!

Destroy the Gate.
I ignited the War’s Inferno with blazing intent.
Without hesitation, I cleaved through the Gate.
The searing flames leapt onto the Gate’s surface, spreading across its entirety in moments.
The Gate erupted into a raging conflagration.

[“Human… you dare obstruct us….”]
[“We will not forgive you. Neither you nor the Lord of Pleasure….”]
[“We shall have our vengeance. By any means….”]

Beyond the burning Gate, I felt the overwhelming presence of the Lords.
I clicked my tongue.

“You’d do better worrying about what comes next instead of wasting breath on curses. Surely you don’t believe the Lord of Pleasure will simply let you be?”
[“Silence. All of you….”]

Slice!

I severed the Gate completely.
The door, consumed by flames and split in two, vanished without a trace.
The overwhelming presence that lay beyond grew distant and faded.
The oppressive aura that had blanketed the surroundings dissipated, and the soldiers that had filled the area were gone as well.

[The Gate has been destroyed.]
[Destruction rate: 25%. The Lord Alliance’s erosion has ceased.]

Messages materialized before Han Yu-sung’s eyes.
A message announcing that this crisis had come to a complete end.

* * *

The crisis was over.
Logan was dead, and the Gate was destroyed.
The soldiers that had filled every direction had vanished as well. All that remained was cleanup.

[Since the erosion must be restored, the Difficult Realm will need to remain closed for some time. That’s what troubles me. I wonder if that madman will manage it well enough…]

Everyone who had been in the Difficult Realm had left.
More precisely, they had been forced out. Thanks to the Lord of Pleasure distributing rewards to each of them before driving them outside, only Han Yu-sung remained in the Difficult Realm now.
I examined the messages that appeared in my vision.

[Your level has increased by 5 stages.]
[Strength +5, Agility +5, Stamina +5.]
[Due to the effect of Godly Form, Strength increases by +3 and Agility by +2!]
[Predation has been activated. Predation Stacks: 2/15.]

A message about leveling up and another about using Predation.
And.

[You have successfully defeated a special powerhouse.]
[You have satisfied the activation condition for the unique ability, ‘Godly Form’.]
[Additional rewards are being granted.]
[You have acquired the skill, ‘Abyss Spear (A)’.]
[Additionally, your Will increases by +10!]

Even a message confirming that Godly Form’s effect had activated.
Logan was treated as a Named Monster, so rewards were granted.
What was given this time was a skill.

[Spear of the Abyss (A)]
· Classification: Active.
· Manifests the Spear of the Abyss from dense darkness.
· Damage intensifies the darker the surrounding environment.

It was a skill that summoned a spear similar to the one Logan wielded.
Though it was an A-rank skill, the effect of damage scaling with environmental darkness was particularly noteworthy.

‘If I combine it with Shadow, it could prove quite useful.’

I dismissed the message window.
And in that instant, another deluge of messages cascaded forth like artillery fire.

[“I’m satisfied! I can’t remember the last time I felt this satisfied!”]
[“I want to record this spectacle! Is that allowed? Can I do that? I’ll preserve this sight in my vault for eternity!”]
“Just watching this is making my ears hurt.”

The messages were spasmodic outbursts from the Lord of Pleasure.
He seemed quite pleased with this situation.
I clicked my tongue with obvious irritation. The mere thought of contracting with such a Lord made the prospect of daily life seem unbearable.

[“That’s right, human! Let’s make a contract. What? You already have a contracted Lord? No matter. He seems pathetically weak—why not contract with me instead….”]
[You madman! Do not covet my sworn one!]
[“I’m being sincere, human!”]
[Kyaaaagh!]

Kakasha snarled like an enraged cat.
The Lord of Pleasure paid no heed and continued his barrage of messages.
His demeanor resembled that of an overly excited child, creating an oddly unsettling sensation.

[“Let me say this once more!”]
[“Astounding! Truly astounding! An incredible achievement!”]
[“You have accomplished an impossible Achievement!”]

The Lord of Pleasure cheered with unbridled enthusiasm.
I gazed at the messages with an expressionless face.

“I wish he’d just give me the promised reward instead of all this talk about achievements.”
[“Reward! Ah, that’s right. I, the Lord of Pleasure, never break my promises. If I’ve witnessed satisfying indulgence, I must bestow a reward befitting it!”]
[“Sworn one, my ears are already aching…”]

Han Yu-sung shared Kakasha’s sentiment entirely.
Even though it was text rather than sound, my ears felt like they were ringing.
If being this loud counted as a talent, then it was certainly one.

[“I shall grant you a reward befitting your nature and worthy of the name of Pleasure!”]

[The Lord of Pleasure has marveled at your exploits. The treasure vault of Pleasure, brimming with countless riches, has opened. Your reward is being granted!]

Still, his rambling had been worth enduring.
Because there was a tangible reward coming from the Lord of Pleasure.
That reward materialized before my eyes.

[Mask of Chaos (Mythic) has been obtained!]

A mythic-grade item, no less.
A deep smile bloomed across Han Yu-sung’s lips as I beheld the reward.

—————

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

—————