Chapter 57: Ghoul Lord (1)
"Don’t grab each other’s ankles?”
"As long as we aren’t hostile to each other, no related missions will be created. As you know, the contents of the mission depends on the sovereign. In other words, we are able to coexist. This isn’t my idea, but the words of my subordinate who was a sovereign.”
Killing sovereigns wasn’t just due to the missions. Killing another sovereign had the advantage of being able to acquire everything they had.
Kang-jun also knew this fact.
However, it wasn’t easy to maintain a relationship of trust with other sovereigns in Hwanmong when there was a chance of being killed first.
It was because an alliance could break at any time.
It was better to kill them and get benefits than to receive trouble later on.
Kang-jun’s eyes shone coldly.
"No, I'll catch your ankles. You won’t get bigger if you beat me, but I can gain 100 billion won for killing you. When thinking about it from my position, the answer is obvious.”
“Dammit! Are you really going to try something with me?”
The glass that Yoo Seung-hwan was holding broke. He turned poisonous eyes towards Kang-jun.
“Kukuk! It won’t be easy. There are many variables in a war that you don’t know yet. Please note that I have already secured 10 sovereigns. What if I join forces with them to oppose you? Do you really want to go against me?”
He had bent his pride and extended a hand to Kang-jun. If Kang-jun refused then he would use all his strength to smash him.
Kang-jun laughed.
"That's right. I will try it. Then this talk is over.”
As soon as Kang-jun was about to get up, Yoo Seung-hwan let out a dramatic sigh.
“Wait! Tell me what the conditions are. If the conditions are good then I don’t see why there is a need for bloodshed.”
Kang-jun grinned.
"Is that so? But you will have to present me with the conditions.”
"Okay. Then money. 50...”
"If I kill you then I can get 100 billion won. Maybe there might be more. Your hidden wealth. If you don’t give me an equivalent profit then I’m not interested.”
“What? Isn’t your greed too excessive?”
"Consider it lowly while the red moon is rising. Once the moon is over, there will be no more negotiations. Then I’m going now.”
Kang-jun turned and left the room. Yoo Seung-hwan grinded his teeth together.
"Ugh! Lucan! You are looking at me too lightly. I will make you regret this!”
Thus the negotiations broke down.
Two days later in Hwanmong.
Kang-jun showed up at the base on the 5th floor of the Yugang building where the waiting Keirun handed him a scroll.
“Lord! A summons has arrived from Commander Heksia.”
"Am I going to the headquarters?”
"Only Lord can open it.”
Kang-jun unrolled the scroll containing the military command.
[A command to Sovereign Lucan.
The Ghoul Corps under the Second Demon King has attacked so come to the battlefield immediately.
-Commander Heksia.]
A portal was generated in front of Kang-jun. He would be taken to the battlefield once he entered.
A battle was happening straight away.
‘There is no time to rest.’
Kang-jun laughed. It was what he had been hoping for.
"Are things okay at the base?”
"Yes, Lord. There are sufficient funds to summon the troops. There are also opportunities for studying combat at the research institute. Once the study is complete, it will be helpful to Lord in battle.”
"Okay. Then I will be going now.”
“Please be careful, Lord.”
"I will be careful.”
“Kuwaaah! Please call me if you ever need my strength, Lord.”
Keirun, Germuz and Rodiam all bowed towards Kang-jun.
Kang-jun waved and entered the portal with a smile.
Chuuuot!
The bright light from the portal disappeared and a rough wilderness could be seen.
The sky was tinged blood red by the moon and bizarre flying monsters were fighting fiercely.
There were giant bat shaped creatures and some that looked like devilfish.
“Kuweeeh!”
"Kkaaaaaah!”
The devilfish used their fins as wings to swim in the sky, so their speed was very fast. They were entangled with the bat animals, biting each other and tearing each other apart. It seemed to be a battle of ancient pterosaurs.
However, a woman with red wings standing silently in front of a magic circle showed no interest in the battle.
It was none other than Heksia. She was frowning like she was dissatisfied with something.
“You should come and greet me after arriving. I am your direct supervisor.”
In the end, Kang-jun bowed his head slightly to greet her.
“Where is the Ghoul Corps?”
"I will explain once the other sovereigns are here. Speaking too many times is annoying.”
"As you wish."
Kang-jun nodded and waited near the magic circle. One or two other sovereigns soon appeared.
Their faces still couldn’t be seen. He couldn’t even recognize who was who by the appearance.
Only the names on their clothes were familiar.
Zenith, Avia, Caper, Rozia and Hardis.
"Kuhuhum!”
When Hardis saw Kang-jun, he coughed with disgruntlement and turned his head away. He seemed to be angry at Kang-jun for rejecting his offer.
Half the sovereigns sent friendly smiles towards Kang-jun while the other half had looks of hostility.
Maybe some were friendly towards Kang-jun because he helped them in the last battle.
On the other hand, the other sovereigns were wary of Kang-jun monopolizing everything.
Zenith and Avia, who were sovereigns with a strong desire for victory, were especially looking at him with blazing eyes.
'Shit! Today I must destroy more monsters than him.’
‘Bah! Last time I wasn’t in a good condition. Today I will win.’
On the other hand, Hardis didn’t think he could win over Kang-jun. Still, he had some ideas to keep Kang-jun from performing his best.
‘You stupid boy! Let me see how strong you are by yourself. I am also persistent.’
However, Kang-jun showed no interest in what the other sovereigns were thinking.
He was only interested in today’s mission.
Once all the sovereigns were gathered, Heksia explained.
"Today you will fight the ghouls with me. Unlike last time, there is no resurrection gem on the battlefield so you will have to wait at headquarters if you die. Therefore, be careful not to die. If you become injured then don’t hold back on using your potions. Understand?”
“Yes.”
The sovereigns all tensed up.
Today, they wouldn’t be able to enter the battlefield and gain more achievement points if they died once. They would fall behind other sovereigns.
It was the same for Kang-jun.
Earlier it was mentioned that he could die, so he always had to maintain his tension in a war.
Heksia continued speaking.
“The individual strength of the ghouls is weaker than the creatures you dealt with last time. But their numbers are incomparable. While I fight against the ghoul lord, all you have to do is break through and destroy the Jewel of Darkness.”
"The Jewel of Darkness?”
After Kang-jun asked, Heksia chanted a spell and created the illusion of a small jewel.
It was a jewel with black smoke coming from it.
"This Jewel of Darkness is the source of power for the ghouls. If you don’t destroy it then the ghouls will continue to be resurrected.”
It was a jewel with the same abilities as the red gem.
Heksia swept her gaze over the sovereigns.
"In this battle, you can get 30 achievement points if you survive until the end. So try not to die. The one who destroys the Jewel of Darkness will be given 100 achievement points, while the one who kills the most ghouls will receive an additional 80 achievement points.
The eyes of the sovereigns shone.
Just surviving would give them 30 achievement points.
Yet the words afterwards were the ones that rang in their hearts.
The person who destroyed the Jewel of Darkness would be given 100 achievement points!
In addition, there was 80 achievement points for the one who killed the most ghouls!
Zenith gritted his teeth.
'I must destroy the Jewel of Darkness.’
It was the same for Avia.
‘Don’t pay attention to anything else and destroy the Jewel of Darkness.’
On the other hand, Hardis had different thoughts.
‘Huhu. While there is fierce competition for the Jewel of Darkness, I will only focus on killing the ghouls.’
If the Jewel of Darkness was so important then the ghouls would thoroughly protect it.
It wouldn’t be easy to break through. It was highly likely that he would be surrounded and killed.
Therefore, Hardis intended to only stay on the outskirts to kill the ghouls.
80 points was a lot safer than the dangerous 100 points. Along with the 30 points for survival, it would be a total of 110 points.
‘Anyway, the one who will break the Jewel of Darkness is Lucan himself. All the others will just waste their effort.’
There was a meaningful smile on Hardis’ face.
Then Heksia explained the plan.
"You will follow me from a distance. Once I start fighting the ghoul lord, storm the ghoul camp on the other side. Don’t come to my side unless you want to die. Do you understand?”
“Understood.”
"Destroy the Jewel of Darkness as soon as possible. The ghoul lord will become stronger as more time passes so I will have no choice but to withdraw without defeating him. If this mission is a failure then all sovereigns will have their achievement points reduced by 20.”
The sovereigns became determined after hearing about the consequences of failure. Heksia also showed signs of tension.
"I hope that you will all survive and receive the achievement points.”
She immediately ran to one side of the wilderness. Kang-jun and the other sovereigns followed her from a distance.
After a while, a huge mountain peak appeared in front of them.
The mountain was dark from being covered in creatures with sharp teeth. At first glance, there seemed to be thousands of creatures. They were ghouls.
And at the summit of the mountain.
There was a ghoul with alert eyes that was dozens of times larger than the others.
“Ohh! Is that the ghoul lord?”
"Ugh, crazy! What a huge monster!”
The sovereigns were terrified. Kang-jun’s heart was also beating wildly in his chest.
It was at that moment.
Heksia changed dramatically. She grew to the size of the ghoul lord and flashed her wings.
“Hohohoho! An enemy! I will go out now.”
The ghoul lord discovered Heksia and jumped towards her.
Swish.
He crossed the distance of one kilometre in the blink of an eye.
Heksia was also in the air.
It was a scene that was really hard to process.
Heksia lightly avoided the attack and landed on the ground.
“Bah! Slow. Do you think you can catch me with that speed?”
“Kakakakat! How ludicrous!”
The ghoul lord also landed on the ground and rushed to Heksia.
Hwi hwi! Kwa kwang! Woorururu! Kwa kwa kwa kwang!
The earth and sky shook.
It was truly great.
The sovereigns were only watching the scene. Was this how ants felt when seeing humans fighting?
At that time, they discovered Kang-jun rushed alone towards the ghouls. They pulled out their weapons and headed towards the ghouls.
“Kikiki! H-humans!”
“Hihihi! Delicious food is coming.”
The ghouls drooled as they flocked.
The bodies of the ghouls were bigger than the ratians’ and they were more agile.
Three or four weren’t difficult, but they needed to be careful about being surrounded.
Of course, it didn’t matter if they were strong. All the ghouls that approached Kang-jun, Zenith and Avia collapsed.
However, there were a few sovereigns lacking skill that were already surrounded and being eaten by ghouls.
"Ack!"
“Kuaack!”
Ojeok ojeok. Jjap jjap.
"Kikikik! Delicious. Human meat!”
"The heart is mine. Kukukuk!”
There were horrifying screams and the sound of the ghouls chewing on bone.
“Ack! H-help me!”
"Kuaaaak!"
The number of dead sovereigns increased.
However, Kang-jun ran towards the top without looking back.
Lightning fast!
He didn’t try to prevent the deaths of the other sovereigns. If he hesitated and Heksia was pushed back by the goblin lord then it would all be over.
Sukeok! Sukeok!
“Kkack!”
“Kuweek!”
All the ghouls in front of him fell down. His pace was almost untouched as he tore through a ghoul.
[2 nodes have been gained.]
[3 nodes have been gained.]
[One small moonstone has been acquired.]
[1 node has been gained.]
Only a small amount of experience and money was received, but occasionally moonstones emerged.
And before he knew it, Kang-jun was near the summit. On the other hand, Zenith and Avia hadn’t reached the middle of the slope yet.
‘This is the Jewel of Darkness.’
Kang-jun saw a large jewel emitting smoke. It was the same as the image that Heksia showed him before. There were eight giant ghouls around the boundary that were three or four times larger than the normal ghouls.
“Kududuk! How dare you climb up here?”
“Kuaaaah! Catch him!”
The ghouls charged towards Kang-jun.
“Come! I will send you all to hell.”
Flash! Flash flash!
Kang-jun continuously used Heavenly Cut to defeat five ghouls, before killing the other three lightly.
[One small moonstone has been acquired.]
[One small moonstone has been acquired.]
[One large moonstone has been acquired.]
He got three moonstones. In addition, one of them was a large size.
Kang-jun smiled proudly and immediately rushed towards the jewel.
"Be careful, Lucan!"
He suddenly heard Heksia’s sharp voice and saw a huge mountain flying towards him.
Kuwuuong!
The ghoul lord. The ghoul lord sensed the crisis of Kang-jun destroying the Jewel of Darkness. Thus, it ignored Heksia and rushed towards him.