The Strongest in the Game by Dominating Monster - Chapter 55

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Monster Domination: Game’s Strongest Episode 55

 

The next morning at 9:50 AM.

 

Kairen logged in 10 minutes earlier than the promised time and let out a long yawn.

 

Yesterday, he had logged out quite late due to focusing on Territory Management.

 

Thanks to that, he only got about three hours of sleep. His fatigue hadn’t cleared at all.

 

“Sigh. Is Lucia not here yet?”

 

He scratched his head at the lack of any visible trace despite looking around quickly.

 

Yesterday’s words and actions came to mind as soon as he opened his eyes.

 

Even though he had been in a hurry, it was too one-sided.

 

His tone was stiff and his actions were firm.

 

He had been uncharacteristically forceful, and she had actually left the game unable to hide her bewilderment.

 

“Sigh. She’s not going to cut off contact like this, is she?”

 

As the promised time approached with no word from her, ominous thoughts crossed his mind.

 

She was a top-tier healer he had finally become close with.

 

If they grew distant like this, he felt it would be quite painful.

 

However, he soon shook his head lightly.

 

Though Lucia had an unpredictable personality, she wasn’t petty enough to disappear over something like this.

 

As if proving that point, blue light flickered before his eyes as a User logged in.

 

“She’s here.”

 

There was only one person who would log in at this location.

 

He smiled with relief, and as soon as her form appeared, he bowed his head lightly.

 

“Lady Lucia. I’m truly sorry about yesterday…”

 

“K-Kairen! Did you see what happened yesterday?! What should we do?”

 

He raised his head again at her flustered outburst right after logging in.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“I mean, there was chaos yesterday! But… what are you sorry about, Kairen?”

 

“Ah. I was a bit concerned about how I acted toward you yesterday, Lady Lucia.”

 

“Ah. Don’t worry about something like that! It’s fine!”

 

Lucia waved her hand dismissively.

 

Kairen chuckled at her incredibly cool demeanor.

 

“No, but that’s not what’s important right now!”

 

However, his expression hardened at her following words.

 

“Right now, the Bow Mercenary Group is at war!”

 

* * *

 

“I found out after logging out yesterday too. It’s a war between the Bow Mercenary Group and the Araon Mercenary Company, and it’s quite fierce. Still, due to compatibility issues, Bow seems to be at a slight disadvantage.”

 

Listening to her lengthy explanation and reading the posts uploaded to the Community, Kairen frowned.

 

Indeed, the broadcast screenshots continuously being posted showed Bow’s disadvantage in real time.

 

“But didn’t you know about this, Kairen?”

 

A question that seemed to ask how he, a member of the Bow Mercenary Group, could not know about this.

 

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Kairen bit his lip slightly.

 

“Yes. They probably kept it secret from me.”

 

He had actually tried sending whispers to Rain continuously, but there was no response.

 

He couldn’t tell if she was busy with the war or deliberately ignoring him.

 

“But how did the war break out?”

 

“I don’t know the details either…”

 

Rain glanced at him cautiously before speaking carefully.

 

“There are rumors going around that it’s because of you, Kairen…”

 

“…?”

 

His eyes widened in disbelief.

 

What did I do wrong?

 

I’ve never even heard of the Araon Mercenary Company.

 

“Ah. It’s not that you made a mistake, Kairen, but apparently Araon wanted you.”

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes. They wanted you to join Araon, but since you’re already part of the Bow Mercenary Group, there are rumors that they planned to get you as spoils of war…”

 

Rain couldn’t continue her words.

 

Kairen’s expression had become terribly distorted upon hearing the explanation.

 

Indeed, Kairen felt extremely unpleasant the moment he heard it.

 

Ha. That damn mercenary group recruitment.

 

He had settled with the Bow Mercenary Group because he was so sick of it, and they’re still pulling this nonsense?

 

At this point, it wasn’t recruitment but stalking.

 

Moreover, he wasn’t some prize, and they’d take him by winning a war?

 

Irritation welled up at the somewhat ridiculous treatment.

 

As he clenched his fists, trying to contain his rising anger.

 

“Hmm. Everyone’s gathered.”

 

Ello came out of the Cabin with cheerful steps.

 

“I’ve finished all my preparations too. Let’s depart.”

 

At his bright words, knowing nothing of the situation, Kairen forcibly swallowed his anger.

 

For now, resolving the Quest took priority.

 

* * *

 

At the same time, at the battlefield between Bow and Araon.

 

Inside the Rear Command Tent of the ‘Bow’ Mercenary Group set up in the middle of a vast Grassland, Rain glared at the battle map with bloodshot eyes.

 

“Guild Leader! The right flank is collapsing! They’ve deployed additional hired mercenaries!”

 

“Damn it! Again?!”

 

Rain gritted her teeth.

 

Along with the urgent report, explosions and screams from outside the tent clearly struck her eardrums.

 

“What about Kavel! What is Kavel doing!”

 

“The vice-leader went to stop the enemy mobile unit that ambushed our rear!”

 

Hearing that even their most reliable person was tied up, Rain roughly strapped Potions and a Quiver to her waist.

 

“Something’s strange…”

 

Though she had pretended to declare war in anger, Rain wasn’t a fool.

 

She had analyzed in detail the gap between the 78th-ranked Araon Mercenary Company and the 107th-ranked Bow Mercenary Group.

 

Financial power, members’ combat abilities, war experience, and so on.

 

Considering everything, it was a fight worth taking.

 

Their financial power was similar, and the members’ levels were comparable.

 

They even had more war experience.

 

Araon was a mercenary group specialized in PVE, not PVP.

 

Beyond being a fight worth taking, she thought they could win easily.

 

However, now that the war was dragging on, it was completely different from expectations.

 

Their terrible combat play was as expected.

 

But their financial power was on a completely different level than expected.

 

They were guzzling intermediate and Advanced Potions like water and continuously hiring mercenaries.

 

They poured down Arrows and Scrolls covered in Magic like rain.

 

“The difference is this significant?”

 

The amount of money they poured into this war is not something a mercenary group ranked around 100th could handle.

 

At minimum, it was the scale that a mercenary group ranked 30th, or perhaps even within the top 10, would deploy in war.

 

“Damn it….”

 

Rain bit her lip hard and rushed out of the barracks.

 

Just as in reality, in New World too, great aftershocks strike the losers of war.

 

Not only war reparations, but the members’ levels also drop.

 

Moreover, mercenary group activities are suspended for 3 months.

 

A 3-month activity suspension in the mercenary world where blood-drying competition happens daily?

 

This was nothing short of ruin.

 

“Guild Leader!! Support request from the front!”

 

“Guild Leader! From the rear….”

 

However, what continued to reach her ears was only grim news.

 

* * *

 

“It’s so full of human smell I can barely breathe.”

 

As soon as they arrived at Gania Castle, Ello pulled his hood deeper and blocked his nose.

 

The warm smell of human habitation seemed to be torture for him, as his expression grew increasingly stiff.

 

“Hurry up. I don’t want to stay in such a place for long.”

 

At Ello’s blunt tone, Kairen took the lead and walked forward.

 

And they entered the inner castle.

 

Allen, who had been anxiously biting his nails at the entrance, spotted them and came running out barefoot.

 

“You’ve come!!”

 

His face was tangled with a glimmer of hope and even greater anxiety.

 

“The Lord has been waiting desperately! This way, quickly!”

 

Allen skipped all other procedures and urgently led them deep into the inner castle.

 

Soon they arrived at the young lady’s bedroom following his guidance.

 

“…!”

 

Kairen and Lucia held their breath.

 

The air in the room was still filled with the rotten-like remnants of black magic.

 

And at the center of it all was a father keeping watch beside his daughter’s bed, not his throne.

 

“You’ve come…!”

 

Lord Arken looked like he had aged decades in just a few days.

 

With bloodshot eyes, haggard skin, and staggering as if he might collapse at any moment, the dignified appearance of a lord could no longer be found in him.

 

He passed by Kairen and Lucia and desperately approached Ello.

 

“Are you the master that Miss Lucia spoke of…. I earnestly beg you. Please save my daughter…!”

 

Unable to continue his words and bowing his head, Ello ignored him and sniffed.

 

“Terrible black magic. What a disgusting smell.”

 

“Can you… treat it?”

 

“Who do you think you’re asking?”

 

An arrogant answer and haughty gaze.

 

Normally, anger would have surged up, but now it was different.

 

As a lord, it was an insolent attitude he couldn’t overlook, but as a father, it was truly reassuring and welcome.

 

Ello brushed past Arken, who glimpsed hope, and approached Serena.

 

He stopped beside the bed and gazed down at the gauntly thin Serena, then turned his head to Lucia.

 

“Tsk. Lucia, you fool. You couldn’t even treat this level of black magic and struggled with it.”

 

Lucia’s shoulders drooped at her master’s scolding, but her expression brightened a little at the words that followed.

 

“Well, it is quite a troublesome curse though. You’d need to be a cardinal to dispel it.”

 

However, that statement struck Arken like a curse.

 

He had been thinking of the worst-case scenario.

 

If Ello failed, he would seek help from the priests.

 

Whether inquisitors came charging in or not, he planned to save his daughter first.

 

But now even that last resort had turned to nothing.

 

Cardinals were among the few great saints of the continent.

 

Before their lofty dignity, his own authority was merely shallow and pathetic.

 

They were not beings he could command.

 

“A, a cardinal…. Is that true?”

 

To his despairing question, Ello answered nonchalantly.

 

“Yes. Just cardinal-level, that’s all.”

 

“…?”

 

“Huh?”

 

When everyone in the room tilted their heads at his bold answer.

 

Whoosh!

 

Ello extended his hand, and instantly holy light gently embraced Serena.

 

A solemn and magnificent festival of light, as if tens of thousands of stars existed before their eyes.

 

When everyone couldn’t take their eyes off that dazzling beauty.

 

“Huu….”

 

A comfortable breath burst from Serena’s lips, and the light disappeared.

 

“Se, Serena?”

 

At the changed breathing, Arken approached his daughter.

 

His daughter’s face was still pale, but the shadow of death had been washed away.

 

A faint color returned to her cheeks that had been nothing but gaunt bones, and her breathing, which had been precarious as if it might stop at any moment, became steady and comfortable.

 

“Ah….”

 

Arken collapsed beside his daughter’s bed.

 

He grasped his gaunt daughter’s hand.

 

That hand, which had been ice-cold for days, now had warmth flowing through it, however faint.

 

That warmth gave him such great comfort that Lord Arken sat down on the floor like a child, holding his daughter’s hand and sobbing quietly.

 

* * *

 

The hall of the inner castle.

 

Arken, who had been sitting on the lord’s throne composing his emotions, wiped away his tears and looked at Lucia and Kairen.

 

“Thank you. Truly, thank you.”

 

He smiled brightly with eyes reddened from crying so much.

 

“You are my daughter’s benefactors. I wouldn’t regret giving you the whole world, but this is all I can give you now.”

 

At Arken’s words, Allen and a servant came forward respectfully carrying two boxes.

 

One was filled with gold coins to overflowing, and the other emitted the brilliant light characteristic of unique grade items.

 

“It’s modest, but please accept it. My daughter’s benefactors.”

 

[You have completed the Lord of Gania’s Treasure (Hidden Quest)!]

 

[Level Up!]

 

[Level Up!]

 

[Level Up!]

 

[You obtain 20,000 gold as a reward!]

 

[You obtain a Class-Exclusive Weapon Box (Unique) as a reward.]

 

“…!”

 

“…!”

 

Tremendous experience points that raised their levels by 3 at once and the huge sum of 20,000 gold.

 

Plus a unique class-exclusive weapon box on top of that.

 

Though he would have to share it with Lucia, befitting a reward given by the lord of a castle, it was tremendous.

 

Moreover, the reward didn’t seem to end there, as Arken’s mouth didn’t rest.

 

“I told you before. If you save my daughter, even if the whole world turns against you, I will stand by your side.”

 

How could he forget those words.

 

As he smiled faintly and nodded, Arken drew his sword and approached.

 

When he suddenly drew his weapon, bewilderment surged, but Allen, who met his eyes, shook his head and muttered something.

 

‘Kneel on one knee?’

 

Following his advice, he carefully knelt on one knee.

 

Then Arken raised his sword high and thrust it vertically into the ground.

 

Crack!

 

With the sword deeply embedded between them as they faced each other, Arken also knelt while looking at Kairen and grasped the sword’s handle.

 

“Fulfilling promises is a noble’s duty. I, Arken, lord of Castle Gania, swear upon the honor of my ancestors.”

 

A quiet but noble voice that resonated throughout the entire hall.

 

Kairen also realized the meaning of this act and placed his hand over Arken’s.

 

Instantly, brilliant blue light rose like mist from the sword where their hands touched.

 

“From today, our house shall take Kairen, the horn-breaker, as our family’s savior. From this moment forward, Kairen’s enemies are Gania’s enemies, and Castle Gania shall be your most reliable shield!”

 

Flash!

 

As soon as the oath ended, intense light filled the vast hall, and a gentle message echoed in Kairen’s ears.

 

[Congratulations! You have acquired the title ‘Savior of Gania’.]

 

[Congratulations! Arken, Lord of Gania, has granted you the Ancient Empire Fortress as your territory!]

 

“…!”

 

Kairen gasped in shock at the successive alarms.

 

What was this now?

 

Lord of an ancient fortress?

 

As he stared with wide eyes in bewilderment.

 

The system, which still had more to say, rang out again.

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