The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 97

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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 97

Maezato Rinzo’s fury did not subside easily.
Only when that rage had finally diminished did he notice that every object in the room lay shattered in pieces.
Ran felt a powerful sense of déjà vu wash over her.
Like father, like son—it was exactly the same expression Oju had worn.

“Who is it? Who killed Oju? Answer me.”
“Yes, Chairman. The player who killed your son in this National Inter-Country Tournament is believed to be the same individual who defeated him in the Snake Ruin previously.”
“Tell me his name!”
“Han Yu-sung. A player from South Korea.”

Han Yu-sung.
Rinzo turned the name over in his mind.
And suddenly, he realized that name was familiar to him.
It was a name that Japanese media had recently covered extensively.

“The files?”
“Here, sir. All available information we’ve gathered on Han Yu-sung.”
“….”

Rinzo swallowed his rage and reviewed the documents.
They contained every detail about the player Han Yu-sung.
His family circumstances, when he rose to prominence, what he had accomplished thus far.
There was also information that Lee Su-ho’s faction had targeted Han Yu-sung for recruitment.

“Lee Su-ho—did that Korean bastard attempt to recruit him?”
“It appears so. Perhaps it was under the Lord of Justice’s orders.”
“The Lord of Justice….”

This was information Rinzo had not heard before.
The sound of teeth grinding echoed through the room.
With the loss of Oju—his blade—Rinzo’s chances of victory in the Apostle competition had diminished greatly.
But it was still too early to surrender.
He would do whatever he could.

“…Assemble Zangetsu’s elite assassins. If necessary, mobilize external personnel as well. Gather as many as possible.”
“Are you going to kill Han Yu-sung?”
“First, attempt persuasion. If he refuses to be convinced….”

Maezato Rinzo’s eyes gleamed with a chilling light.

“Kill him. If I know the Lord of Justice correctly, she would prefer to eliminate what she cannot possess rather than leave it to chance.”
“Yes, Maezato Rinzo.”

Ran bowed her head and withdrew from the chamber.
Left alone, Maezato Rinzo clenched his fists.
An unbearable rage still surged through him.

“Incompetent, worthless fool.”

Fury at his inadequate son.
Fury that his carefully laid plans had been disrupted.
And seething wrath toward the one who had destroyed those plans.

‘I will repay this. All of it, without fail…!’

* * *

I rested for a single day.
Naturally, the world refused to leave me in peace.

[Han Yu-sung! Lee Su-ho! Two players who led the National Inter-Country Tournament to victory!]
[How long did it take for Korea to achieve victory in the National Inter-Country Tournament?]
[Three trials, three victories—who exactly is Han Yu-sung?]
[Heroes who saved Korea from the brink of national rank demotion!]
[Hero Han Yu-sung and the identity of the Lord he contracted with?]

Every media outlet in South Korea flooded the airwaves with news about me.
It was inevitable. Any Korean understood how crucial this National Inter-Country Tournament was, and that victory had seemed impossible.
It was a genuine upset.

[How can we speak of the future without Han Yu-sung? – CN.]
[The final puzzle of the United States national team—Han Yu-sung? – EN.]
[Japan’s prodigy, Maezato Oju, dead! – JP.]
[The cause of this crushing defeat── Han Yu-sung. Japan needs change. – JP.]
[Naturalized player recruitment debate reignited! Racial purity doctrine was wrong. – JP.]

Korea wasn’t the only nation flooding the media with news about me.
China, the United States, and especially Japan.
Press outlets from every corner of the globe churned out articles, particularly those from player superpowers.
The tone of articles emerging from these nations shared a common thread.

[We must recruit Han Yu-sung. Hehehehe, splendid! Magnificent! I too delight in seeing my sworn one’s reputation shine so brilliantly!]
“You’re excited, aren’t you?”
[Excited? Why wouldn’t I be? Let me see now, hmmmm!]

Kakasha, manifested as a ball of flame, continued flipping through the TV channels.
That’s how I learned about the news the media was broadcasting.
With Kakasha constantly showing me, I couldn’t help but become aware of it all, whether I liked it or not.

“Sigh, experiencing the same things from my past life again… how tedious.”

It was something I’d prepared myself for when I decided to make my name known.
But the annoyance was unavoidable.
Fame itself becomes a source of power, yet it simultaneously brings countless troublesome responsibilities in its wake.
More bothersome matters would surely unfold ahead.

‘First, I should focus on what needs to be done immediately.’

Even if troublesome matters arose, they were concerns for later.
I gazed at the message before me.

[A ‘Promotion Match’ is being held at the Star Battlefield.]
[Players wishing to advance to a higher rank should participate.]

The Star Battlefield periodically held promotion matches.
Victory in these matches granted advancement to a higher rank.
My current rank was Bronze, so I could advance to Silver.

“A promotion match—it’s about time.”

I had actually participated once before, but I was too busy to join.
The time had come to take the promotion exam I had been putting off.
The reason was simple.

[Key of Trials (Legendary)]
· A key used to open the Hall of Trials in the Difficult Realm. Overcoming the corresponding difficulty grants excellent rewards.
· However, it can only be used from ‘Silver’ grade and above.
· Remaining uses: 1.

It was because of the condition attached to the ‘Key of Trials’ I received from Jain.

“Silver grade and above to use it….”
[It seems to be referring to the Star Battlefield’s grade system. I’ll need to raise my grade first to use the key.]

A Gold promotion exam would be different, but a Silver promotion exam holds no difficulty for me.

“If I take this promotion exam, will that be the Battlefield? Well, it should end quickly.”

I rose from my seat.
It was time to head to the Star Battlefield after a long while.

* * *

[Welcome to the Star Battlefield.]
[☆ A promotion exam is currently being held! ☆]
[☆ Qualified players, please participate in the promotion exam! ☆]

A familiar message appeared as I entered the Star Battlefield.
I let out a long yawn and finished registering for the promotion exam.
Unlike other battlefields, promotion exams have no betting or anything similar. Since Star Points aren’t awarded, I couldn’t set any restrictions either.

‘From Gold promotion exams onward, things are different, but Silver promotion exams….’

This was a battlefield that held virtually no entertaining elements for me.
Still, since I could finish it quickly, that wasn’t a bad thing.
After finishing the registration, I waited for a while.

[All required participants have been recruited.]
[All participants are being summoned to the Waiting Room.]

The moment the awaited message appeared, Han Yu-sung’s vision was swallowed by darkness.
When I opened my eyes again, the landscape of the Waiting Room materialized before me—roughly two hundred players summoned in this space.
Some trembled with tension, while others maintained an air of composure.

[Welcome, players participating in the Silver Promotion Exam.]
[First, allow me to explain the details of this promotion exam.]
[This promotion exam takes place in Hell’s Fortress.]

A monotone voice echoed from somewhere unseen.
A holographic screen materialized in the empty air before us.
The screen displayed a map of moderate size.

[A total of four hundred players will be summoned to the fortress.]
[Exactly ten minutes after all players are summoned, a massive monster assault will commence. Your objective is to withstand the onslaught for a designated duration and protect the Core within the fortress.]
[When all monsters vanish, the promotion exam concludes.]

The map’s structure was elegantly simple.
At the center stood a fortress encircled by towering cliffs, connected by a massive bridge—the very path through which the monsters would pour forth.
The players’ role was straightforward: defend the fortress and repel the monsters.

[As time progresses, the monsters’ assault intensifies, and additional advantageous elements are introduced to their assault. (EX: Bridge reinforcements and siege weapons added)]
[The defending team gains buffs at regular intervals and whenever a certain number of monsters are defeated, and the fortress’s defenses are strengthened.]

Given the map’s simplicity, they had deliberately added troublesome elements.
Siege warfare inherently favors the defenders. Without such complications, the players would possess an overwhelming advantage, rendering the promotion exam far too easy.
This was necessary to ensure meaningful differentiation.

“Ugh, Hell’s Fortress… this is driving me crazy.”
“Isn’t this that battlefield notorious for dragging on forever? I think I saw someone on the community forums complaining about it.”
“Yeah. They said we’d be doing this one for a while. My older brother took the promotion exam before and said it was incredibly brutal—he cursed up a storm about it.”

Hell’s Fortress was renowned as a grueling and time-consuming promotion exam.
A promotion exam involving continuous waves of monsters could hardly be called easy.
The players’ complaints were entirely justified.
Yet Kakasha sensed something amiss.

[Hmm? Did you not say before we came here that it would end quickly? From what I observe, it does not appear to end quickly at all.]
‘I did say that. But it really will end quickly.’
[Huh…?]

Kakasha looked bewildered at Han Yu-sung’s resolute answer.
Why was he so confident they’d finish quickly when this was supposed to be a prolonged battlefield?
It was at that very moment.

[All participants are being summoned to their assigned strongholds.]

My vision shifted.
I found myself summoned to a small fortress. It had hastily constructed barriers and a wooden gate—a fortress that looked rather flimsy.
At its center lay an enormous crystal.

[This is a defensive stronghold where the Core is located.]
[Protect the Core against the incoming monsters.]
[If the Core is destroyed, you will be defeated and fail the advancement.]
[You are considered victorious if you safeguard the Core until six hours have passed, or when all monsters on the Battlefield have been eliminated.]

Protecting that Core was the players’ objective.
And monsters targeting the Core began to be summoned.

[Gates are opening.]
[Monsters attacking the fortress are beginning to appear.]
[Time remaining until monsters launch their first assault: 10 minutes.]

Beyond the only bridge connected to the fortress.
Multiple Gates appeared across the vast terrain, and monsters began materializing from them.
The players watching this began moving urgently.
They didn’t have much time.

“We’re running out of time! Everyone, assemble!”
“We need to decide how to defend against the monsters’ assault! Please gather everyone! We only have ten minutes left!”
“Come on, let’s go. We need to hear what the plan is.”

They had to gather and discuss strategy as quickly as possible.
How to divide their formation, how to defend against the assault.
Fortunately, among the players were those who had operated Guilds or parties. They began gathering the players to start their discussion.
Then, something strange caught their eyes.

“Wait, who is that? Climbing the barrier alone?”
“Hey! Don’t move on your own!”
“I don’t know what he’s doing. Let’s just ignore him for now….”

Han Yu-sung ascended the barrier alone.
It was only natural that those watching found it peculiar.
Here they were, supposed to gather and discuss strategy, yet he climbed the barrier by himself.
Some of the players who caught sight of his expression tilted their heads in confusion.

“Huh? Brother, doesn’t that face look familiar?”
“Familiar? Yeah, it does seem familiar. And recently too…”
“Who was it again?”

Han Yu-sung’s face was unmistakably familiar.
The players racked their brains, trying to recall where they’d seen him and who he was.
But in the very next moment.

“Wh-what?!”
“W-why is he doing that?!”

What unfolded was not merely strange—it was shocking.
Han Yu-sung, standing atop the barrier, hurled himself beyond it.
The startled players scrambled frantically up the barrier.

– Grrrrrrr…
– Kyaaaagh! Kiiiiaaagh!
– Kurgh, prepare the offensive! We must destroy the Fortress!

The first thing visible was the monsters marshaling their assault.
Next came the sound—a deafening roar of thunder that split the heavens.
And finally, what they saw was.

Krrrrrrrr!

“C-crazy! What is he doing alone?!”

Han Yu-sung, transformed into lightning itself, charged straight into the heart of the enemy lines.
The players, witnessing the impossible, gasped in horror.
And what followed was so astounding that it made them doubt their own eyes.
It could not have been otherwise.

“What… what am I even looking at right now…?”

A single player was sweeping through countless monsters.

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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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