Chapter 29 – Central Island (2)
Hooong
Hansoo stared at the Podao flying towards him expressionlessly.
A colorless artifact that increased cutting powers.
It was a pretty good one.
Cutting was considered a skill so it was something that required both Physical and magic resistances.
But Hansoo stared at the sword expressionlessly.
It was easy to dodge.
But Hansoo just charged at it.
It wasn't always good to dodge.
If you dodge then your balance will fall apart which will slow down your counterattack.
And if you had the confidence to block it completely then it was even less necessary.
Of course, resistances acted as something that reduce the damage but not as a shield.
It didn't make one invincible even if it was at the colorless level, so getting a severe hit can't have no damage.
If it had only that then he probably couldn't have beaten the Carnivorous beast.
However, that was only when you get hit properly, in a situation where you can see the attack clearly it was actually hard to even purposely get hit properly.
'I can see it all'
Perception that had reached the colorless stage couldn't even be compared to the previous.
A more perfect battle foresight came into his head than what he had when he fought the Carnivorous beast.
Kududududk
Hansoo deflected the side of the blade perfectly with the ring on his finger.
Tong.
And at that moment the
"Uurk?"
Even before the enemy could get surprised, Hansoo's fist had even pushed back the enemy's blade.
Then the sword which was dispelled of the cutting magic couldn't penetrate through his physical resistances.
Tumble.
Sacrifice your own flesh to break its bones.
A battle style that he had learned while progressing through the abyss.
You can't attack if you focus on dodging.
Then the enemy will live longer and this will in turn cause your few remaining friends next to you die.
As long as you don't die then you needed to kill them in one strike.
You can't kill if you are afraid of getting hurt.
Since as long as you survive, you can just heal it back up.
One shot one kill.
His battle style, which he couldn't utilize due to his lack of resistances, started coming back as his resistances and Nurmaha's ring was set up.
Since he had blocked it was now time for the neck.
The blade moved at an extreme speed towards Gukjin's neck after he had lost his balance.
"Uaauuuhhh…"
Gukjin felt like his soul was about to depart as he saw the blade that felt like it would cut his neck in two.
The damnable increased perception and agility was showing the blade flying towards his neck clearly.
'Oh right. I shouldn't kill them.'
Hansoo came to his senses as he spun the sword around.
A podao that he had attained in the floors below.
This was also a colorless artifact.
It wasn't an amazing artifact but if he hit them like this then their heads would get crushed without resistances.
He deactivated the skill on the blade edge and even turned the direction of the swing towards his abdomen.
It wasn't that the abdomen was safer but he had an artifact that he picked up earlier
It won't destroy his intestines since he had even drained the strength from the strike.
Puuuk!
"Kuuaaak!"
'It's rather tiring trying to not kill.'
Hansoo frowned but he had to do so.
If he carefully whips them then he could send them to the battlefield after healing them.
He had to let loose a little bit.
This was not the Abyss
'I need to save them. They are precious resources'
The event in the Central Island was a bit different than the ones so far.
It was not something that could be cleared by flying about alone.
He had to use as much as he could.
He had settled down about the half but the cloud snack's duration still had around 8 minutes left.
'…It's a little wasteful to smoke the whole thing'
But Hansoo threw away his regrets.
Since he could raise all his runes to colorless stage by tomorrow.
Which meant this "guy" won't be needed anymore.
Hansoo loosened up a little and then charged at the 15 people who were staring at him in fear.
............…
"…hmm."
Jimin, who had been standing next to Yerin, gulped her saliva.
The thirty over there could go up against a clan if they combined their strength.
But they weren't even opponents for him.
He wasn't even dodging their attacks.
She had thought that he was crazy but she knew now.
That he had the confidence to ignore all those attacks.
'How high are his resistances…'
She had learnt of resistances by chance from a skill.
It was so hard to raise that the person with the highest resistances only had around 30.
But they had realized that it was better to raise perception and agility to dodge than resistances so they gave up raising them.
Since it wasn't that the resistances absorbed all the damage if they raised it.
But her thoughts changed completely after seeing Hansoo fight.
There was no outstanding stat out of strength, stamina, agility or perception.
But his defense, ability to control his body and battle perception were at a level of a different dimension.
A battle tactic that was minimized in order to cut the opponent's neck in one strike.
Approach by dodging and charge whilst blocking with the body until they got into range, then kill them in one shot.
Physical similarities weren't important.
No, it was the exact opposite.
If the 4 great stats, which were strength, stamina, agility and perception, were similar to him then you would the instant you stand in front of him.
'What the hell is that ring also. Where the hell did he gain something like that.'
Jimin mumbled as she looked at Hansoo who had beaten down all thirty of them even before he finished the cigarette.
There were no deaths.
But the ones alive couldn't even meet their eyes with Hansoo.
Jimin could figure out why that was the case.
'They probably felt like their necks had been sent flying'
Those guys probably felt like their necks had been cut off.
Since they would've felt like that if they were in their position.
'Damnit.. That's just unfair.'
Jimin made a complicated expression.
It wasn't something that could be solved by raising stat, getting better skill, having psychic powers or having better artifacts.
She had realized that it would merely be pearls on a pig's neck if you couldn't melt them down into your own battle style.
She probably wouldn't be able to display half the battle power of Hansoo even if she had the same amount of stat, skill, psychic powers and weapon.
And Yerin, who had been standing next to her, had the same complicated thoughts.
'What exactly is his psychic power? Did he use a skill?'
She had thought that other than psychic powers like hers, no one would be able to be her opponent.
Since the rate at which one person getting strong could not compare with the strength of 50 or 100 people getting strong.
This was a huge misconception.
'It exists'
An existence that could crush a clan in a headfirst clash alone.
Whilst everybody was looking at Hansoo with complicated expressions, Hansoo shouted around after staring at the half smoked Cloud snack for a while.
'I should solve everything before I burn up the Cloud snack'
"Starting tomorrow the Semi-Basement Union and the Clan Unions will form an alliance then fight and defend on rotations. This is my opinion and is not the answer so if you have any objections, come out now to talk. If it's reasonable we shall talk it out. Objections?"
But of course there wasn't anybody who could come out.
Of course they could probably win if all one thousand of them charged at him.
But no one had such thoughts.
But from the start, the Semi-Basement Union was a group formed by people whose greediness had advanced a bit far.
They knew that the people going first would be crushed to bits so who would go first.
And talking things out.
The one thing they wanted to suggest was this.
Let them hunt a few days more below without rotating.
The blade will come flying at them instantaneously and they knew from the way he fought that the ones who went first would get crushed.
And the clan unions behind wouldn't stand still either.
They were already on bad terms.
'This is indeed much more comfortable'
It was faster and more comfortable to crush down thirty of them as an example instead of going against all of them.
Hansoo, who had trampled upon the masses in one shot, turned around towards the Clan Unions as he spoke.
"Let's talk for a bit"
"…hmm?"
They were all anxious as they looked at Hansoo.
Honestly they had a bit of confidence in suppressing the Semi-Basement Union if they went crazy until now.
Since the people who had been gathered from understanding were like crumbs unlike them who were like a compact mass.
But if that guy acted as the centripetal force and ate all of Semi-Basement Union then they could not look down on him.
No, his battle force was very burdensome to them from the start.
Hansoo chuckled.
"Don't worry. I don't have any thoughts of becoming a leader"
He hadn't tied them together in order to become a king.
It was better to leave things like that to people with appropriate traits.
The thing he needed was his own sphere of influence.
'First I will put down the basic rules and system'
If these guys fall apart then he won't be able to roam around because he would be defending.
'Of course it won't last long but.'
Hansoo mumbled as he walked towards the Clan Lords.
.........…
"Hmm…"
Guktae, who was one of the twelve clan Lords, smiled in contentment as he saw the view in front of him.
'That guy called Hansoo. He really did something admirable'
All the ruling powers within the castle were divided around the twelve clan Lords.
Hansoo's words were simple.
And at those words the others started to hurriedly absorb the remaining Semi-Basement Union's people.
If there was only one clan then they probably wouldn't have gathered this hard.
Since they wanted to fill them up with as many elites as possible.
But they couldn't ignore anybody in this place because they were just mediocre roamers.
They had to decrease the amount of mediocre roamers and increase the number of their clans people in order to not get pushed back.
And in result the number of people in the clans had multiplied to about 1100.
Everyone had recruited people under their clan up to their limit.
So about 800 people were left.
And these 800 people were also divided fairly into the clans.
And after this, every clan had about 90 clansmen and about 70 normal adventurers.
A number that the clan could control.
And after they had completed this process, they agreed to continuously defend and hunt in rotations.
And when the runes and the system that everybody had to keep and follow were set up, Hansoo let go of his influence.
He was nowhere to be seen during hunts and had participated during defense but he didn't have any interest in being a leader.
'Well yeah…'
The psychic powers they had was the strongest point out of all the charisma, power and decision making abilities.
'Though I want to use non-clan membered a bit more…'
Guktae didn't like the fact that he had to treat normal adventurers and his own clansmen the same way.
But he couldn't do anything.
Since they had set up fair distribution with rules clearly and the fact that the Semi-Basement Union had still existed.
'Tsk. It would've been much better if those 30 had been killed then'
They couldn't treat them recklessly since the 30 who had been beaten down acted as the main leaders and looked over interchanges.
Since they might move to another clan and the fact that the number 800 was still a very burdensome number.
'It somewhat feels like raising a worker's association'
Whatever happened there were some leisure now.
Though it was only a bit.
'Hmm… then there's no reason to send them all to defend'
The 1900 gathered here were not grouped stably.
Since there was always friction between clans to clans and clans to Semi-Basement Union in order to gain a bit more.
'I should prepare a little'
Guktae, who had completed his thoughts, went into action immediatly.
............
Yerin spoke with a cold expression.
"As I saw it the people assigned to defend didn't do so. Didn't your clan have responsibility of the Northeastern side? A few undeads had gotten past the other defense lines because you took out of the defenders to hunt"
Guktae, one of the clan Lords, smiled leisurely as he spoke.
"Oh come on. Miss Yerin. Listen to me for a bit. There's quite a lot of leisure lately yeah? Is there a reason for all six clans to defend the walls?"
Some of the clan Lords nodded at those words.
Yerin grinded her teeth.
'lot of leisure my ass'
These were people who were secretly pulling out defenders during waves to hunt.
She could have ignored them if they defended their spot properly at least.
Since they tried to defend without casualties with small numbers their lines had been pushed back and because of that there were damages to other clans as well.
Guktae laughed at Yerin as he spoke again.
"And look. We have some leisure now but does it make sense that the fairy is leaving us so comfortably like this? The demons are nowhere to be seen yet. We need to prepare for that moment and get stronge…"
"You are talking about some interesting things. Include me too"
Hansoo smirked as he entered the room of Lords and at that moment the expressions of a few other Lords and Guktae froze.
'Well. Two days. It's lasted a while if it's this much'
But it was better to solve anything before the real start of the battle on the third day when the demons come out.
'Kang Hansoo… This bitch. He was nowhere to be seen but why did he have to come now'
Guktae, who had been looking at Hansoo with a slightly anxious expression, shook his head.
It was said that they had to keep the rules no matter what but who could argue him for only this much?
And they had gotten strong in the past few days and their numbers had increased to around 160 from the 50 in the past.
He had also hunted but it seemed like his artifacts didn't have much change and two days of getting stronger won't change much.
Their situations were different from the past.
'You raised us up like this. Let's see what you've got to say'
There was no reason to back down.
Guktae calmed down as he started to look at Hansoo with a cold expression
Chapter 30 – Central Island (3)
Hansoo spoke as he looked at Guktae.
"I was sure we agreed to abide by the rules. We said that you can take the things you earned while hunting but that we needed to keep a ratio between hunting and defending."
Guktae made a slightly anxious face but then quickly shook his head.
He couldn't back off here.
'Then my rebellion was useless'
They had grown to the point where nothing can shake them.
But this was only possible because Hansoo had given them all the power.
So he was curious.
What did he believe in to hand all the power over to them and raising them like so.
'I need to find what he is believing in'
Their clans were at a level where it couldn't be compared to the ones of the past.
Because Hansoo in front of them had created a safe measure, they could fight faster and have less casualties.
And the non-members under his authority had become closer to him due to his hospitality.
Everything from quantity to quality.
Their power could not even compare to Hansoo when he had crushed the others on the first day.
'Well… This guy did indeed get strong too.'
It seemed that he had gotten strong as well.
As if he had gotten strong by eating the colorless runes from the dungeon.
'Though it's amazing that all his runes are colorless…'
It wasn't that blades didn't go through.
How could the speed at which one person gets stronger compare to the speed of 150~160 people getting stronger.
'And I'm not alone'
At least a few clans had the same thoughts as Hansoo and the defenses will fall if they aren't here.
So how could he attack him in such a situation.
The only reason why they had some leisure was because the 12 clans were defending, and if there is a fight then the defense will break apart.
'But there's still some leisure'
Which meant there exists something that could threaten them.
And Guktae did not like the current situation where he did not know what that could be.
'I need to poke him a bit more'
Guktae, who had finished his thoughts, made a leisurely face as he spoke.
"I mean come on. Friend. Listen. Would that fairy thing leave us like this? It's logical to be getting strong while we have the leisure to do so. You need to have some flexibility in the rules"
Hansoo made an amused expression as he spoke.
"Then why didn't you discuss it with other clansmen? I'm pretty sure it's in the agreement. The ratio of hunting and defense won't be decided by one clan but rather on the consensus of six clans."
"…"
Yerin glared at Guktae in anger.
Her clan had taken damage because that guy hadn't followed that rule and acted how he wanted.
Jimin, her precious younger sister, was injured and was recovering.
Guktae mumbled inwardly.
'What would it mean to follow such rules'
The reason why he had discreetly taken out some forces was to be better than other clans.
He knew instinctively.
This place was dangerous but it was a place where they could get stronger much faster than in the other islands.
They needed to create a gap here so they can crush down the others after getting higher.
But if all the clans were to put with the same ratio of clansmen in the fight then what would it mean if there were 11 other clans at a similar level as his?
Superiority was a result of difference.
It hadn't been long since he had come here but he knew something very important.
'I must get strong whenever I get the chance to. Without stopping.'
That was the only way of winning.
'But I can't say it out loud like that'
"It was because it was a decision that came up whilst I was thinking. It seemed like everyone was busy."
It was an excuse that a dog wouldn't believe but that was why it was effective.
'Quickly. Show me what you are believing in'
Does he act like this because he believes he can cut off their necks here?
Guktae knew that Hansoo wasn't somebody dumb.
And there were plenty of guards outside.
He would get surrounded immediately.
But at that moment Guktae, who was making a leisurely expression, froze for a moment.
'Wait. How did he get in here?'
At that moment Guktae felt a chill run down his back.
The location of their conference room was right below the lookout tower for the crystal they had to protect.
This was the safest room where the castle's entirety was visible.
That was why they had decided for it to be their conference room.
Since it would be cumbersome if some crazy few ones caused terror because they don't like how things are.
And they had selected the most trusted people in their clans as guards and had set them up outside.
Three from each of 12 clans to make 36.
The conference doesn't last long so if it wasn't a number that affected the defense and as a Lord, they should have at least this much privilege.
But there was no sound of clashing.
'Did he perhaps crush them all?'
Everyone had been looking at Hansoo with similar expressions.
Hansoo chuckled as he laughed.
"You see, I've gotten a new merchandise these days. To fit the season."
And then Hansoo sent in a bit of mana onto the bracelet on his wrist.
Shshhhhk.
Hansoo's body quickly disappeared from the site.
The eyes of the Lords became cold.
'That is…'
Invisibility.
If that was it then it wouldn't be a problem.
Since their perception stat wasn't that bad to the point where they would lose the enemy because they couldn't see something.
But they couldn't see where he was.
He had disappeared in front of them but they didn't know where in the room he was.
There was something that worked even against their increased perception.
There was a skill that helped with perfect invisibility on that bracelet.
If a weakling had used it then it would've been obvious but they couldn't know because of the bracelet's powers coupled with Hansoo's movements.
Everyone felt chills run down their back.
He had walked through their most trustworthy 36 clansmen.
Despite the fact that they were on extreme alert.
This meant that the amount of the clan's strength wasn't important.
What would it mean if the surrounding army was strong.
It would be over right away if he cut your neck in your sleep.
'…He showed it to us on purpose'
Why would he show something so precious?
Something like that was a hidden card.
But he had shown it to them on purpose.
It meant do things well on their own.
Guktae finally knew why Hansoo wasn't interested in the position of a leader.
'…You just need to take down the twelve of us huh?'
He couldn't control the 2000 people alone.
That was impossible no matter how strong he was.
But that was possible for Clan Lords.
And that was why he had given 2000 people over to the Clan Lords.
Since as long as he controlled the twelve of them, it was like controlling all of them.
Hansoo mumbled inwardly whilst looking at Guktae.
'I got it right on time'
It absorbed the user's mana to give basic invisibility as well as sending out force waves to interfere with the enemy's perception.
And it was something he needed to acquire first in this dungeon of the Central Island.
If this is combined with his movements then most people wouldn't even be able to find him.
Of course it would be useless in battle because of the aura and harsh moments but this wasn't for such times.
He had invested all his time in the dungeon in order to gain this.
'Well. Thankfully I got all my runes up to Colorless.'
Hansoo, who had finished his thoughts, showed himself back to the Clan Lords as he spoke.
"It may happen that a person makes a mistake. We can solve it with talks."
"…"
"Then the profit you gained from extra hunting will be shared equally with the clansmen participating in the defense and you can just fix the ratio of hunting and defense tomorrow right? Oh and give payments to the injured for compensation."
This was exactly like it was written in the original rules.
A few Clan Lords grinded their teeth at this but nodded their heads.
They realized that they weren't in a situation to try to show their guts anymore.
But Guktae still looked at Hansoo just in case.
'Shall I provoke him a bit more?'
It hadn't ended yet.
Even if they didn't follow the rules, he wasn't in the situation to attack them.
Since the castle would become dangerous without them.
There was a huge difference between twelve Lords and one person.
And he probably wasn't the only Lord with the same thoughts.
But Guktae shook his head after seeing Hansoo's eyes.
'I can't'
Those eyes weren't those which would let him go.
He was smiling but the eyes were cold.
He had seen those eyes before.
'It was like this before'
Those were the same eyes as when he crushed the 30 people on the first day.
He realized after Hansoo's eyes which were looking for a reason to give a good lesson.
He was looking at it in such a way that if he beat one down in order to show the others then it would be fine.
He hadn't killed them before but there was no proof that he wouldn't this time.
'Just this much for today.'
Udududk
Guktae took a step back after mumbling inside his head.
He couldn't stand the fact that somebody else was above him.
He really really did not like that.
And that was why he wanted to have a stronger power than others.
But Hansoo had clearly shown him who was holding onto his lifeline.
His rage was bubbling but he had to retreat for today.
'I shall excuse you just for a while'
Guktae was a person who firmly believed in the limitations of one person's strength.
The person in front of him was a bit different and that was why he had lost superiority here but eventually a chance will come along again.
The conference ended like so and Hansoo chuckled as he looked at the people walking down.
'Well. Somebody who uses their head is better'
You can't give up on a blade because the edge was too sharp and it might cut you.
It was better the sharper it was.
'Not listening to my words is in the expectations as well.'
There would be nobody left on this island if he cut off their heads because he didn't like them or because they were greedy.
All of the tutorial was full of greedy people, it was just that the degree of their greediness was different.
It wasn't that all of them had turned greedy in just 10 days.
Since 10 days was a bit too short to change one's true nature which they had lived with for decades.
But ten days was more than enough to kill of every kind person who would care for others.
And people realized as others quickly died off next to them.
That encouraging good and punishing evil was only possible in a book or something.
This was not a place where a kind hero of justice would survive but rather a place where someone who would hit that hero from the back would survive.
'Well. Eres was a special case.'
If you searched then a few would exist but then they really needed to be blessed.
Since it meant that they had the luck and skill to keep their kindheartedness whilst surviving.
There weren't many people who weren't greedy in front of death and the people who had survived were learning of these things very quickly.
The game was very long and they could only survive by crushing others on the island above.
So how much would their insides hurt since they had to distribute things fairly in such a situation?
This won't last long either.
So he needed to do something before then.
'The thing I need to get next is…
The fairy indeed did not lie.
Since it was clear that this was a land of opportunity.
'It's coming.'
Hansoo looked at the sky.
And soon after, the fairy appeared.
............…
The fairy which had appeared suddenly above the castle.
'Can't it just piss of…'
Everyone in the castle frowned as the fairy appeared.
The fairy greeted everyone as it saw their looks.
"Hi everyone! Aww, Don't frown like that. I'm not here to lay my hands on you."
"…"
"If you look at me with such distrustful eyes then you'll hurt me. I'm just here to tell you something which I didn't tell you about. It's not much. If the crystal gets crushed then the whole island will fall. Well. It won't fall right away. It'll fall slowly in about 10 to 20 days."
"…"
There wasn't much shock between the people.
Since they had expected as such.
The fact that they had to protect it with all their strength did not change.
The fairy spoke as it looked at these people.
"The actual important part is the second part. You were all comfortable so far right? The undead is… well, just child's play. This team defended better than I thought. The demons will start coming out on this third day!"
"…fuck."
Everybody cursed as they looked at the fairy.
That son of a fly was like a messenger of destruction.
There wasn't a bit of good news whenever it opened its mouth.
The fairy made a slightly hurt expression at those words but then opened its mouth again.
"You guys are too much. Don't you realize how good of a news that the demons are coming out is? This is a really rare chance for you guys!"
"…"
Everyone looked at the fairy at those words.
The fairy did mention it before.
That there were extravagant rewards.
But even then it would be all over if they died.
"It isn't some crappy rune or artifact. If you kill the Demons then a mini-crystal comes out. Hehee."
"…?"
"If you collect the Mini-Crystals then you can trade it for a really good artifact! It is much better than the ones you have. It's obvious that the reward would be better the more you collect right? Look at the catalogue in your pocket for those. By the way there aren't many demons, you need to try harder than the others in order to get the crystals"
Everyone made a sour expression.
Even if they had such things, it would merely be pearls on a pig's neck.
And how would they collect enough from the bits the demons dropped to trade it for an artifact when there's thousands of people?
They might not be able to lay their hands on one after a whole month.
Even if they did lay their hands on it, only the Clan Lords would do so.
'And the thing that that thing will throw at us won't be weak.'
As the people made sour expressions, the Fairy added another thing.
"Oh. I didn't say this yet. There's another use for the crystal."
"…?"
"As long as you have the crystal, you can leave this island to go to the island above at anytime. Isn't it a really good privilege? The people with it won't need to care if everybody dies either from falling after the crystal gets shattered or from being invaded by demons right? A total of five people can move on. Heehee."
No matter if that giant crystal broke or not.
No matter if the defense line broke apart or not.
They can escape this dangerous situation to a different island at any time.
Which meant that this was a privilege equal to a life.
Everyone's expressions changed at these words.
The story was different then.
The fairy smiled as it looked at everyone's expressions.
"You get it? About how important of an existence the Demons are? Be strong everyone. One demon coming your way for today!"
And the fairy disappeared as a beastly looking otherworldly existence started to slowly approach them.
Everyone started to calculated their risks.
There wasn't enough information yet.
They didn't know how strong the Demon was and they also didn't know how the others would act.
But one thing was clear.
That it was better to get it before others do.
They didn't charge in first but they had no thoughts of missing this chance.
Since it wouldn't matter if they just kill the person who obtained it as soon as they get it.
Everyone knew that the best scenario was to attack them as the one who charged it was was about to kill it so everyone stood still while standing close to each other. [*PR Note: Kill Steal!]
Hansoo shook his head as he looked at this scene.
'It starts now.'
A different name for the Central Island that attracted people below with its sweet runes and artifacts.
If you disregard the people who went up using the crystals then the survival rate here was 8%.
And this was only when the defense is successful. Since they would all die if they fail.
And this was all because of that damnable Crystal.
'I must take it so nobody uses it'
If five die in order to attain it and another five go up using it, then 5 more will die from lack of numbers.
Which meant in conclusion, five will live and ten will die.
It was not an object that should be allowed to be set free.
And at the same time it was something he needed to collect.
'I will collect it and exchange it for
Hansoo walked forward after looking at the others for a while and everyone's eyes shone at Hansoo's back instead of the Demon's.
Chapter 31 – Central Island (4)
The Clan Lords cautiously but quickly set up an arrangement to surround the demon.
But their opinions were split.
Some of them thought,
'That…if we get it, it's good'
The mini-crystal was good whether you used it or collected it.
There were quite a few nice items that could be bought with just two or three of them.
It created an aura around the person holding the flag which increased the speed of regeneration as well strength and stamina by 5%.
In the situation where the artifacts and runes didn't have much difference between people, the artifacts that could be gained from the mini-crystals showed a clear difference from other artifacts.
An object that could create differences between Lords.
And five people per one mini-crystal.
This was a significant number even to a Lord.
If 100 were to be released and the clans were to distribute them, it'll still be eight per clan.
It meant that during a serious emergency, they could move with enough forces to act as a basis for a new start.
And there were many other uses for it as well.
But some Clan Lords thought as such.
'Damn.. They can't be spread around.'
The people moving with the mini-crystal will be happy.
But then what would happen to the ones below.
And the clans weren't the only ones here, there was no way for them to monopolize them.
They couldn't make every one of their clansmen escape no matter how many they collected.
'In that case… it's better to defend instead.'
The fairy wanted them to suffer but it did not want them to all die.
This was probably set up so they could survive if they tried hard.
They had to decrease the number of people ascending prematurely as much as possible.
They needed to turn them into artifacts as soon as they got hold of them so they could get rid of other thoughts.
The two types opinion were different but the conclusion was the same.
'I'll obtain it no matter what.'
The twelve Clan Lords made a slightly anxious expression as they set up the formation.
If the clansmen thought as much, the non-clansmen's thoughts were a bit different.
'Fuckers. They just keep trying to suppress us. Do you think we don't know what you guys are thinking?'
Hojin grinded his teeth.
The clansmen and non-clansmen got treated equally and received equal distribution if one were to look from the outside.
But this was only due to the fact that the situation around these few days was quite stable.
They could feel it when they looked at the hunts of the clansmen.
As soon as you receive that weird looking symbol, you start caring for each other.
On the other hand, the clansmen stayed together with them because they thought that the non-clansmen needed help seeing how they were doing but the way they treated them was almost like they were treating potential criminals.
They didn't allow any form of communication between non-clansmen under different clans and they purposely separated hunting grounds between them to stop any form of meetings from happening.
In such a situation, who between their 90 family members and possible 70 enemies would be thrown off first in a dangerous situation.
Even if their battle strength were similar, the non-clansmen would be picked off one by one.
And no matter how one thought about it, this world didn't seem like the difficulty was set such that it was ok for them to just defend decently.
Look at that demon at this moment.
There was no way that that thing would be weak and plenty of them would die from now on.
So they had a lot of opportunities during the next month.
So they had to take care of their own lives.
'But…it would still be hard right?'
At this moment a lot of people, including themselves, had already gotten close to the demon.
Since there wasn't anybody who wanted to charge towards the Demon they just saw.
And the people behind them were more of a problem than the demons.
There probably aren't many who aren't aiming for that crystal.
But they were only taking glances, nobody was able to charge at it.
Logically, they knew that the chances that a crystal drops to them was incredibly low.
There's even a chance they would get stabbed in the back even if they manage to almost kill the demon.
Since even he would do such a thing if he could get the crystal by killing that guy.
'…If somebody was fighting it already there might be a chance for me.'
At that moment something happened.
Kudududk
Something jumped out from the center of the defense formation.
The existence which was charging towards the demon at an incredible speed shouted loudly.
"Get back as much as possible!"
'….that guy is?'
Hojin's eyes shone as he looked at Hansoo who was charging at the demon whilst shouting so loudly to the point where it resonated throughout the whole battlefield.
.........…
"Get back!"
This guy extremely dangerous.
'Yeah. Just look like that.'
Hansoo looked at the Lords who were also looking at him from around the battlefield and then dashed out quickly.
'I'll get it.'
The medium-sized Greatsword in Hansoo's hands sliced the air as it made a heavy noise.
Kuuuaaangg!
The Demon, which had been standing still, made a beastly noise as it intercepted Hansoo by swinging its fist.
Keedddddk.
Hansoo's greatsword sliced the skin but could not make a deep injury.
And if that wasn't enough, the area that had been injured was healing rapidly.
'As I expected… even when it's a weaker version.'
Demons.
Clansmen of Evil.
Their appearances were similar to humans.
If you discard the fact that they were 4m tall and had horns growing out of them.
But this guy was an entirely different species from humans.
'I can't let down my guard even for a moment in order to kill this guy.'
It was rather ok until now.
The cloud snack gained as the hidden piece had been thrown out after being used out cleanly.
One had been left over since his runes had been all changed to colorless but he had smoked it deliciously as well so it had been taken care of cleanly.
He had increased his defense and resistance with Nurmaha's ring and the Rune Eater Snake.
Now there wasn't going to be a situation where he would die accidentally from a skill.
But this still wasn't enough.
'Attack power is lacking.'
Showing off his attack power against humans who had low resistances and who couldn't really take hits well as a race was merely a childish act.
Most Humans here were close to being superhuman but their ability to take hits and their defenses were the same as normal humans
A situation where they would die if they got stabbed in their vital parts.
On the other hand, the things he needed to slice apart in order for him to get to the Demon Lord's Castle were Demons. Even if they were weaker versions.
Defense and Resistances aside, their ability to take hits were on a different dimension because they're from a different race.
These guys even had two hearts so they would continue to fight even if you stabbed one of the hearts.
'I need to fight it for around half a day just like the Carnivorous beast.'
rephrase. '
In order to beat it using the decent weapon he was holding that could be picked up in the dungeon, he was holding, he basically needed to wrestle it.
That was why he needed to raise his attack power.
Using the crystals he would get from killing the thing in front of his eyes.
Runes will increase steadily as he hunts but the thing that dictated the attack power were artifacts.
'Hooh'
Hansoo ruthlessly charged at the Demon while swinging the medium sized greatsword in this hands.
All of Hansoo's senses were focused on the Demon.
And the Demon's movements started to form a three-dimensional image in Hansoo's head.
And soon Hansoo and the Demon started to fight whilst creating noises like the storm.
But just a short moment after he started to fight, a movement that he expected but didn't wish for, happened outside of Hansoo's senses.
'Tsk'
Hansoo slightly frowned.
......…
Hojin mumbled as he slowly approached Hansoo.
'Though it's strong…'
The Demon's physical ability was not something he could go up against.
Since Hansoo, who was going against it, looked like a monster.
But aiming for the crystal wasn't something that one needed to be strong for.
'Looking at the situation… don't go too close…'
It wasn't the time to drop his guards yet.
Since it would be dangerous if that thing decided to go for the weaker ones first.
But then there won't be space for him to interfere if the demon died, or was about to die, if he was too far away.
A few people who had similar thoughts as Hojin started to close in the formation that surrounded the demon slowly.
Which meant that they would look for chances whilst Hansoo was fighting.
'Hoo.'
Hansoo mumbled inwardly.
Their thoughts weren't wrong.
Since there was definitely a chance that they could go for i.t
But how could the demon's physical abilities be all it has.
There was another frightening thing about Demons other than their physical abilities that was on a different dimension compared to those of humans.
The problem was that there was no way for him to know what this racial skill was.
Basically, it was random.
Because of this, even Hansoo wouldn't have had thoughts of attacking it without his resistances and Nurmaha's ring.
'It seems like it's not using it yet… it's definitely an area of effect attack'
If it was a single target skill then it would've already used it.
Hansoo, who had been pondering for a moment, made a cold expression.
'Well. Their purpose is clear.'
It wasn't bad to increase the level of alert on others by killing a few of them.
No, it was better to clean off people like these by borrowing the Demon's hands.
Since he wouldn't have any surplus power to escape from fighting the Demon.
Even before Hansoo's thoughts could end, the body of the Demon, which was standing still until now, started to heat up.
It started to prepare this skill because the number of people around it had gotten sufficient.
Huuuuuukk.
And soon the surrounding air started burning, then it became a ring as it exploded outwards from the Demon.
The black flame, which haad spread out in a reddish blackish manner, radiating outwards as it scorched the air.
Hansoo, after staring at the black flame for a while, applied Nurmaha's power, power destruction, onto the sword he gained in the underground,
Hoooong.
The Nurmaha had split the black flame just like that.
'As I expected… it isn't something to laugh at'
But Nurmaha's power was not something that one could use for free.
Hansoo frowned as he felt the mana drain out from his body.
If his magic, which increased the might of Power Destruction, didn't reach the colorless stage then he might not have been able to cancel it out and may have just been covered with it.
The wave in front of him had been split but the other parts were ruthlessly charging as it headed towards the others.
"Goddamit! Get back!"
"Uurk!"
The people who had seen the waves of black flame started to hurriedly run back but some unlucky people had been swiped up due to the fast speed of the flame.
The bodies of the non-clansmen that could not escape to the back slightly touched the wave.
Slightly.
But the people who had been touched by the flame cringed as they screamed.
"Goddamit! Uuaaaak!"
The flame instantly enlarged as if it swallowed the person whole.
And the person covered in flames screamed as he rolled about on the floor.
The fairy had only thrown one at two thousand people.
How could such a thing be weak?
The only reason why it had thrown it was because it could still damage them greatly even if it went up against two thousand.
He hadn't raised his resistances for nothing.
But attacks like that which covered a large area was much weaker in comparison to single-target skills.
But this was only the case for him, who had resistances as well as Nurmaha's ring, and the other adventurers who did not have magic resistances had a lot of strength but didn't differ much from ordinary people when it came to flame resistance.
Which meant that there wasn't much difference between them and an ordinary man being swept up by a gas container explosion.
'He was from the blaze descent huh.'
This guy's Type was the worst thing possible for people other than him.
It might be different if he was of a different descent but the other adventurers basically had almost nothing they to do against this guy.
The clansmen and non-clansmen hurriedly backed off as they saw the attack that had bursted out.
They had realized that its Advantages were too horrid to do something with numbers.
'Just stand like that.'
Hansoo, after looking at the people who weren't approaching him anymore, charged at the Demon just like that and the others made a reluctant expression as they looked at the Demon and Hansoo
.........
Kududuk.
Hansoo breathed out roughly as he cut off the Demon's head.
'Hooh…'
As Hansoo cut off the Demon's neck, a few runes and a small crystal came out.
When Hansoo grabbed the runes with his right hand, the rune eater snake zealously ate the rune as it distributed the runes evenly.
And as he grabbed the crystal with his left hand it turned into a small symbol and got engraved on his left hand.
The eyes of the people who were watching changed slightly.
They couldn't kill it.
But there were no rules which said the person who killed it had to take it.
As everyone's expressions turned grim, Hansoo, who had seen this, smirked.
"Woah. Don't stare at me in such a scary way."
"…?"
As everybody looked at him from those words, Hansoo smirked as he spoke.
"If I go up because it's too scary then who's going to fight that thing from now on?"
Of course they could kill it if they charge it with numbers.
Since they could use a special method which would supplement their resistances with skills.
But the fact that casualties would increase was definite.
Chapter 32 – Central Island (5)
Hansoo shrugged at the glares directed at him.
Of course he had no thoughts of going up.
This was merely a threat.
Since he wasn't to here to pick up a few more runes.
And because of that he couldn't concede any of the crystals that would come out from now on.
"The Lords should have a conversation with me."
Everyone made a bitter expression as they approached him, they disappeared from sight to somewhere else while everybody was watching them.
.........…
"Tsk. I'm not sure if it was a good thing."
Guktae mumbled alone after the conference ended.
Hansoo's proposal was very simple.
'He's really a special case.'
Guktae actually knew that he would concede all the duties of defense and roam about alone.
Since there's nobody to stop him even if he did so.
It would be just that if he decided to not hunt any of the undead and hunt continuously below and only come back to cut off the Demon's head around the time everybody became a mess fighting it.
Since the possibility of somebody blocking him if he told them he would take the last hit was a question in itself.
Who could block him with such power and invisibility.
But Hansoo didn't do such things.
'…What is he thinking? What?'
In conclusion, it meant that he would take over the risk of the Demons by himself.
If you take into account the strength of the Demons, it meant that Hansoo took on a huge burden alone even if you were to calculate for the benefit of the crystals.
From his actions it seemed like he a person who grew impatient because he couldn't save someone.
Though there's nothing bad about it.
'The demons… are peculiar.'
There wasn't enough information because only one had come out.
He didn't know if they all used similar skills or if stronger ones would come out from now on.
Since the problem wasn't strength but rather their Advantages.
It didn't seem like that they couldn't beat Hansoo if everyone in the clan charged at him.
But things like that had really horrid Advantages.
Like rock paper scissors.
It was already hard to kill it due to the fact that it took hits very well but for it to also use area of effect magic.
It wasn't that they couldn't kill it if they used skills and traits but at least a few tens of deaths would occur.
It wasn't a low number even in terms of the whole and if that were to happen every time the Demons came then they might all die off.
So Hansoo's of proposal of him taking over the problem with Demons was not bad.
And the crystal wasn't that tempting either.
'That's just a trap.'
It wasn't really attractive to the Clan Lords who had to save as many as possible from their clans even if the artifacts that could be gained from collecting those were good and even if the crystal could be used in emergencies.
And the reason why they wanted to get it so bad was because it would be very straining if it were to fall into the hands of others.
No one knew what sort of crazy thing a Sovereign who had attained his own safety would do when things became dangerous.
Since they could just escape even if the defenses fall.
'It's just better for nothing to get solved.'
Him monopolizing it all was the best option but this was impossible.
The many Clan lords distribute the crystals.
This was a good plan but it didn't really mean much.
There won't be much profit if you think of the numbers they would lose while acquiring the crystals as well as the fact that these would make it difficult to determine each other's strength.
And there were a few non-clansmen with a bit of strength.
These guys won't hesitate to hit them from behind during the decisive moments of taking the crystal.
Since they could just take the crystal and go up.
In whichever way, it was better if both the demons and crystals didn't exist.
The fact that Hansoo would take everything didn't differ much from the rule which said the drops from a monster which somebody killed goes to that person.
'Though it gets on my nerve that one person gets all the crystals…'
He also looked over the catalogue.
Incredibly menacing artifacts were lined up.
If he had to choose between these things going into the clan lord's hands or Hansoo's hands then he would choose the latter.
'Isn't it crazy. Such a thing…'
An object that you could buy with 15 crystals.
All of your allies within 300 meters had all of their stats increased by 15% even if you were just holding it.
And if you beat the drum, the effects were even more glorious.
One beat to increase the regeneration speed of those who heard it, two beats decreased the perception by 15% but increased strength and agility by 25% and three beats even increased resistances.
You couldn't use it for 5 days once you beat it three times but even the thought of another clan other than his having this was frightening.
And no matter how he looked at it, the worth of this thing was not merely 15 crystals.
The only reason he could think of as to why it had been listed as 15 crystals was one.
It was a price that seemed like could be gained if the clan lords hit and killed each other and fought.
If it was an absurd price such as 100 then he might've given up but 15 was pretty doable.
And it seemed like every object on the catalog was like this.
He didn't know if it was intentional but all the group use objects were much more formidable than self use objects.
As if it was promoting them to hit and receive hits from each other en masse.
'Wicked bastards.'
Guktae clicked his tongue as he thought of the fairies.
Then Sunghoon, one of the clansmen, standing next to him asked.
A person who had gotten the position of a personal guard because he was his friend and most trusted person.
"Then shall we give up making the special force?"
Guktae shook his head at those words.
There was no rule saying that the special forces had to be used against Demons only.
"Please keep preparing them. And… there probably is somebody who has known Hansoo since the first tutorial. Please find them no matter what and gain some intel. Whatever you can get."
Sunghoon wholeheartedly nodded his heavy expression at those words.
And Guktae threw another sentence at that Sunghoon:
"And please go down there and find as many people with special psychic powers."
2000 people.
If you search then they would exist.
Psychic powers that were good against Invisibility.
No, not just invisibility.
He had chosen people based on how good they were against other humans because he had thought power was the most important thing.
This was a miscalculation.
Everything from that Demon to that guy called Hansoo.
Their opponents were not mere humans and problems that would be hard to solve with people who could swing their swords well will continue to come up from now on.
In order to prepare for all sorts of situations, he needed people with vastly different skills and psychic powers.
He had to prepare thoroughly from now on.
'It's ok as long as I do it properly from now on.'
He had met a tiger after looking at deers until now.
Which meant he just had to prepare a way to deal with the tiger.
Since when did humans fight against tigers barehanded.
'Still… it doesn't seem like it'll be hard to leave this island at this rate?'
Hansoo would take care of demons as others dealt with the undead in turns.
He didn't want to acknowledge it but the rules were set up without much commotion thanks to Hansoo.
Casualties would constantly occur but a lot of people could survive at this pace.
'But I should still prepare.'
There was no need to think of the tiger as a friend even if it is helping you.
Guktae started to prepare as he thought of Hansoo who could be anywhere.
.........…
"Wow… It seems like a lot more of us would survive than I thought?"
"It seems so…."
Everyone gazed at Hansoo who was fighting fiercely with the Demon in the distance.
At first there was a bit of a resistance when Hansoo said he would monopolize the crystals but after a while it was clear that it wasn't a bad choice.
'Yeah. It's already hard for us to have a look at crystals… It's better for that guy to grapple around with Demons and for us to all ascend together alive.'
20th day of the defense at this moment.
The amount of people alive was a huge number of 1300.
600 had died but if they had gone up against the demon, and if the crystals were set loose, then the number of the people alive and dead would be reversed.
But Hansoo, who had cut off the Demon's neck, shook his head.
'….Now the hidden piece will activate.'
Defensive Battle.
It really didn't suit his personality.
But despite that, he had been focusing on the defense whilst jumping around back and forth and killing off demons constantly.
He was managing with his best ability in order to gain crystals to arm himself and to set up the rules so no internal fights occurred.
He hadn't even taken a step towards the Demon Lord's Castle because he was also taking care of those who were trying to aim for his back.
Since as long as the hidden piece didn't activate, there was no point in going to the Demon Lord's Castle.
Hansoo mumbled inwardly.
'I'm not sure if you guys coming back would have been better instead'
He had seen and learned from watching Keldian and Eres but he could only imitate them and do as well as them.
But Hansoo shook his head.
If it was something that could be solved with one strong sovereign then there was no reason for humanity to have gone extinct.
He had come back in order to do things that Eres couldn't.
'Keeping more than 50% of the people alive by 20th day. I succeeded Eres. But didn't I win this? I saved even more.'
Hansoo had a broad grin.
He couldn't unify them as well as Eres but had reduced the damage from the Demons as much as possible so he saved even more.
And when this happened, the fairy, who couldn't watch the peacefulness of the people, appeared and the hidden piece got activated.
'It's here.'
"Hello! Everybody! It's already the 20th day! The people here have really defended well! Normally there's only around 500 alive by now."
At these words the people made expressions full of pride as they still grinded their teeth.
Since it felt like they fucked the fairy up from the fact that they dodged the hidden motives of the fairy and had defended in such an excellent way.
'If it stays like this…then we can ascend without many problems'
But the fairy grinned as it looked at those people.
"But what do we do. It gets really bad from now on. Everyone, do you even know how to get out of this island?"
Everyone mumbled about at those words.
How could they know such a thing?
The fairy laughed as it spoke.
"Very simple. After a month, a portal will open from the crystal you guys had been defending. You guys can ascend higher through that."
"Huh…"
"But there is a very slight problem. That crystal has a limit. Only 500 people can leave through that crystal."
"…"
"What to do? Too many survived. Usually I don't even need to come out… since occasions where more than 500 people surviving don't happen often."
Everyone's expressions started to gain an edge.
The current survivors were 1300.
And if they defend in this spirit then at least 1000 could live.
However, the amount that could leave was 500.
But then the fairy grinned whilst watching these people.
"Don't worry too much. There's a place with a much larger crystal! There's more than enough for all of you to escape through in that place!"
"…where is that?"
As someone asked, the fairy grinned as it pointed to the Demon Lord's Castle which could be seen from afar.
"Over there. It normally doesn't work but… I'll start it up now. Heehee"
Hooooong.
At those words, a grand noise started to resonate from one location within the Demon Lord's Castle and everyone who heard it grinded their teeth.
And at the same time the people started to split up.
And Hansoo also had a cold expression.
'It starts.'
Actually, this was more of a surprise event if you looked at it differently.
It was a hidden piece that didn't happen unless the requirement of more than 50% living by the 20th day has been accomplished.
Since if it was below that, the numbers would reduce to below 500 whilst defending.
Would Eres have gone to the Demon Lord's castle because she wanted to?
Eres didn't know what would come out when he went there back then.
He didn't know what he would gain but it was obvious that more people than if theyf were defending would die.
In a situation where Eres wanted as many people to live by combining their strengths, there was no reason for him to go.
But there was only one reason which made Eres head towards the Demon Lord's Castle in such a situation.
It was all due to this damnable hidden piece.
Eres had defended too well.
And ironically too many people had survived.
While other teams couldn't even keep 200 alive out of 2000 on average, Eres had kept over 1000 people alive before the 20th day arrived.
It was the result of firmly rejecting the mini-crystals and combining the people's strengths.
Actually it wasn't only Eres who had activated this Hidden piece.
There was a few times when people who had gained amazing traits and skills had fought well against the demons and forcefully united the remaining people in order to keep more than 1000 people alive has existed.
And the people standing in front of the hidden piece had to make a decision.
To head towards the Demon Lord's Castle despite the dangers.
Or defend and defend… and have a huge battle royale in order to choose the 500 in the end.
And after collecting all the intel from the Final Brigade, there was nobody he knew who had chosen the first option other than Eres.
It was obvious, since at least 500 could survive even if they didn't go.
And if the 500 people who could live said that they won't go, the remaining people won't be able to go anyway.
Since they won't have enough power.
"We aren't going. It's better to focus on defending."
"We don't have a reason to go either. Instead of everyone dying by going, let's save 500."
The forces split up and grouped up with Clan Lords as the center.
'He had taken these people huh.'
Hansoo started to admire Eres.
And thought.
That he would never be able to become like Eres in his life.
Hansoo walked forward as he warmed up his body.
'Let's see.'
Taejin, one of the Lords, mumbled inwardly.
He didn't know if the Demon Lord's Castle was dangerous or not.
But he just needed to decide between the two.
Between whether his clansmen could be included within the 500 who would go up or not.
If that was possible then there was no reason for him to go to the Demon Lord's Castle.
'I need to do some traffic control.' (*TL: Where have we heard this before? o.o…)
There was a location where they had gathered one of their clansmen each for quick communication during times of emergency.
And they could talk through these people and voice their opinions.
It was created for an emergency and if this situation wasn't an emergency, what was this then?
And their decisions had come to a consensus through the people who voiced the Lord's opinions for them.
If they fight with other clans so they could take all of their members up with them then they would all die.
If that happened then even 300 of 500 was too much.
The best option was for the twelve clans to fill up the 500 spots one by one to ascend.
If that happened then they could at least take 40~50 people up with them.
They didn't like the fact that all twelve clans ascended alive with similar ratios but it was still a profit.
They had gotten strong quickly by going through the underground dungeon and were armed with artifacts.
They didn't know the situation in the other islands but if they took 40~50 elite members like them then they could still utilize them to an advantage above.
'This is solved for now.'
Once a consensus is met then an answer was set.
If they defended here then there was no such occurrences where the Clan Lords and their elite members couldn't ascend.
Since the problem between clans had been solved, the problem was now non-clansmen.
'Hmm…there's quite a lot of non-clansmen.'
It was better the more people you had for defense but the story changes once the people who could live was set to 500.
The current total population was 1300.
About 600 clansmen and 700 non-clansmen.
The non-clansmen felt uneasy joining clans after seeing the strange scene where people, who were on bad terms even to the point where they tried to kill each other, unnaturally and forcefully get reconciled through the symbols of the clansmen.
They would guarantee their safety but it was obvious that people will avoid it if they see their free will being controlled in such a way.
And even more so if there was an existence above them called the Lord whom they had to listen to even if they were to command them to suicide.
They might've gone in if the situation was dangerous but the fact that the defense progressed flawlessly also contributed in keeping the ratio of clansmen and non-clansmen.
But there were too many non-clansmen currently to leave them to just die.
If only 600 clansmen are left then the casualties would increase at a shocking rate.
So they had to stop them from going.
But they didn't need to stop them.
"Our clan chooses to defend!"
"Us too!"
Every clan started to shout their choice in defense from all over.
And then all the non-clansmen mumbled.
'There's no way they could leave'
Taejin laughed inwardly.
The weak always had their choices limited.
And now those people had to wait for their choices.
............
'Bitches…'
Sangtae, one of the people who were in a non-clansmen union, grinded his teeth.
'Dammit… I should've went into a clan when thing were normal.'
But he couldn't go in from uneasiness after seeing the clansmen who had received the symbol.
He hadn't joined a clan because he thought he could ascend without many problems if they defended like this but for such an unexpected event to happen.
'Well. Even if I did go in, I might've been cut.'
500 was that low of a number.
But in such a case, something bad would happen.
There was no way they would leave a spot for the non-clansmen to ascend.
Since they'll be too busy trying to take all of their people.
It seemed like the other non-clansmen who were quick to catch on had realized this already as they mumbled about.
They had three paths they could choose from in that case.
Exclude the clansmen and head towards the Demon Lord's Castle with non-clansmen.
Form an alliance between the non-clansmen and fight the clan for the spot of 500.
And final choice.
Stay with the clans to fight and hopefully wait for the empty spot that may come their way.
'Goddamit.'
Sangtae shook his head.
In reality the two options above were basically impossible.
The non-clansmen adventurers had long been ripped apart by the clans.
The two options above were only possible when they form an alliance and agree with each other to create a clan vs non-clan composition.
But if they only had the choice of choosing from the two above then they would've gathered their strength in some way.
Since they couldn't just sit and die.
The damnable fact was that hope still existed.
'The third option is the problem.'
If they continue to defend then the number of clansmen will go down.
But those guys probably want to fill up 500 completely to ascend.
Since it was better the more you had if you thought of the place above.
Which meant, there will be space where non-clansmen would be able to come into.
A much higher chance than the first two which had the chance of a complete massacre.
'Damn.. can't really do anything then.'
If this happened then as long as they don't think of getting all the non-clansmen to have a fight, they could only get on the good side of the clan unions.
It might be barely possible if the 700 remaining people gathered their strengths but if they were split like this then they had no choice.
'Fuck…As long as we group up then we might be able to do something.'
Actually the main point of this game was very simple.
If they split their power then both sides die.
So everyone had to choose one side.
Either to defend or to attack.
But if one side advocates strongly then the other side could only obediently follow unless they were determined to have a battle royale.
So there was no way for the non-clan powers to win.
Since the clan unions were unified in thought whilst the adventurers of non-clan powers were split up all around.
And even if they were to emphasize that it was more beneficial for the clan unions, they could only get pushed around whilst holding onto a dim thread of hope.
Sangtae shouted loudly after pondering.
'This can't go on like this.'
"Hey! Is there nobody to go with me! Damnit! You know what will happen if you stay here!"
A few non-clansmen fliched at these words but nobody had walked out on their own.
'Damnit…'
But while the Clan Lords were looking at Sangtae with ridicule, one person came out from the crowd and walked up next to Sangtae.
And Sangtae frowned as he saw this.
Since a person that was totally out of the expectation had walked out.
"Why are you all so surprised?"
Hansoo, who had walked out into the eyes of the people, shrugged his shoulders as he looked at them.
"….if you stay here then you will definitely be part of the 500 though."
Hansoo chuckled at Sangtae's words as he spoke.
"Well. There's always personal circumstances. I'm going to the Demon Lord's Castle."
And then one of the non-clansmen shouted with hope.
Everyone knew.
That Hansoo had a strange psychic power.
'Did he perhaps… choose to go to the Demon Lord's Castle because he knows something?'
"If we follow you, will it be safe?"
The reason why their ankles were caught was because they could not even imagine how dangerous the road to the Demon Lord's castle would be.
Since if there was a confirmation for such a thing, there was no reason to stay around here.
Hansoo shrugged his shoulders at those words.
"I don't know. The same amount of 500 might survive if we go there, or maybe even less"
Will more survive if they all combined their strength to head towards the Demon Lord's Castle?
He didn't even know this.
Since there are too many factors.
But he knew one thing for certain.
If they stay here then no more than 500 can survive.
If 600 were to survive in the end, will the remaining 100 peacefully die?
Of course there will inevitably be a collision and the others who aren't part of the 500 will die.
On the other hand, Eres had managed to ascend with 600 people out of 1000 after choosing to go to the Demon Lord's Castle.
Hansoo chuckled as he saw the dejected looks on the people as he spoke.
"But if you aren't part of a clan it's better to go. If you stay here then the ones taking the risk are you so why would you try to stay here."
Even if they were die off the same way, it was a problem of ratio in the end.
Even if the same amount of people die on the way as they would if they defended, once they arrive there then they can ascend together.
But on the other hand, if they were stay and defend and succeed the non-clansmen who aren't chosen by the clansmen would all die.
At those words, the expressions of everybody who had been pondering this turned fierce as the mumbling got louder.
"I'm going."
Taehee questioned Hyunwoo's words which he spoke out after hearing the story.
The Hyunwoo she knew was a safety-first believer.
But then he was risking on such a dangerous looking gamble.
"Really?"
Hyunwoo smirked as he spoke.
"There's something I had found out about him separately."
There once was a movement that went around in order to collect intel about Hansoo.
And as such movements occurred, Hyunwoo became curious as well.
No, this was not only Hyunwoo's question.
Everyone was curious about that guy fighting there.
Since it was weirder to be not curious about that guy who was so eye catching.
And so the rumors of rumors and opinions of opinions combined.
It started from the people who had been with Hansoo since the 1st tutorial area and went up to the people who had seen Hansoo so far where the intel grouped up and got organized.
And the conclusion that came from it.
'He can be trusted.'
Surprisingly they said he was strong from the start.
There were plenty of ways to take advantage of others in the beginning.
He could kill people to pull runes.
Or he could hunt and steal all the runes by suppressing others with his strength.
But he wasn't like that.
No, he was actually extremely thorough in distribution.
He had eaten things to the point where it was close to monopolization but as they heard, he only fought in dangerous places.
Which was the same if you looked at him fighting the demons right now.
'And I like the fact that he doesn't get swept around by useless emotions the most.'
One of the things he hated the most were people who wanted to get carried around.
But as they heard, if they couldn't pay up for their own worth then he did not care about them.
Of course they couldn't confirm just by piecing together rumors.
There was just one important fact.
That others were probably thinking the same way as him.
'The chance has come.'
It has been a while since the rumor of him being rather trustable had been going around.
Since he proved it with his actions rather than words.
He didn't neglect in hunting down the undead while taking down Demons.
And because of that he was worth having as the center.
And they had to group up in order to break the game where the clans were the center.
If they go on with the current situation, the clans won't have to take any risks while they had to shoulder all of the risk.
The non-clansmen adventurers would die off in piles even if they chose to defend.
And the ones who couldn't get into clans would be thrown off in the end.
Hyunwoo shouted loudly as he walked towards Hansoo.
"I'm following!!!"
And then Hyunwoo discreetly poked Taehee.
"Hey. You follow too while shouting loudly."
Taehee chuckled as she shouted.
"I'm going too! Dick-like clan bastards!"
'…you don't have to go that far. Why is this girl's mouth so dirty?'
Well whatever happened, as the two walked out straightforwardly as they shouted, mumbles were heard from all around then curses were heard as well.
"Eyy. Bitches. Being bossed around is annoying!"
"I'm going too! Fuck! There's no way that the fairy would have set it so only one of attack or defense would be easy!"
They weren't heading out because they were just pissed.
Since it was an important judgment where their lives were at stake.
But if they carried on like this then the situation will flow the way the clans wanted after they swing back and forth under the clan's dominion.
They were confident that this was more dangerous than going to the Demon Lord's Castle.
"This crazy…you can't move! It's not child's play, why would you move at such incitements…"
While a clansmen got flustered and tried to stop them after seeing everyone moving and mumbling, something ruthlessly flew down and embedded itself from the sky.
Boooom!
"Huuuuurrk!"
"Why are you blocking them when they're saying they'll go on their own feet. Leave them be."
Hansoo smirked as he spoke.
The Clan Lords turned gloomy as they saw the giant chain sickle which had flown from Hansoo and landed in front of the clansmen's foot.
It was a weapon Hansoo brought back one day whilst fighting the Demons.
They had known what this was.
Since it was on the catalogue.
Cost.
60 crystals.
An armament that couldn't even be compared to
From the beginning the fairies probably didn't expect that someone who would buy such a thing would come out .
Since they probably didn't think that there could be a guy who could monopolize all the Demons that came out.
"You guys over there should think about it again? Since a man's thoughts can change."
Guktae clenched his teeth as he looked at Hansoo who was talking to them whilst retrieving the chains.
'Damnit… He's the problem again.'
The thing that made so many people move was not the words that Hansoo had spoken.
The core point was the actions and the power that grinded the Demons which Hansoo had shown while defending.
He might've been less annoyed if they struggled to form a non-clansmen union but the fact that this had happened because a guy who didn't do anything and only hunted stepped out and spoke a few words annoyed him even more.
Because the effort in which they put in to gather people and have a power struggle felt like it was being mocked.
'Damnable bastard.'
Guktae was locked in worry as he looked at the 200 non-clansmen who were running behind Hansoo and were increasing rapidly.
'Do I need to pull out the special forces?'
Guktae pondered if he should forcibly shut this situation down with the hidden piece that he had prepared for a moment but he shook his head instead.
If they were to collide in this situation, it would be a battle royale.
'I'll follow your orders for now.'
Guktae started to quickly converse with the other Clan Lords.
Chapter 34 – Demon Lord's Castle (1)
'Well. It practically became like this.'
Hansoo mumbled as he looked at the scene in front of his eyes.
600 of clan union and 700 of non-clan union.
How would the clan union stay behind if all the of non-clan union decides to go to the Demon Lord's Castle?
The result was already set.
'I should at least do the thing I need to before I leave.'
He couldn't leave a single margin of error.
As soon as Hansoo made his decision, he started to loosen up the
Charrrrk.
The fact that its chain could stretch up to a few hundred meters, the fact that the chain won't break even if a Demon were to pull on it as well as the shape of the scythe were very alluring but the true worth was in its skills.
The skills that
One was on the chain and the other was on the scythe attached to the end of the chain.
The skill that was on the Scythe was
It absorbed the mana of the user and then gave powerful destruction and explosive capabilities gave to the scythe.
It was a skill that was simple, but extremely formidable and faithful towards its objective as a weapon.
It was better than frost skills or explosive flame skills that were uselessly extravagant.
And the skill on the chain was
This was not a skill that was activated by spending the user's mana.
It actually activated by absorbing the enemy's mana and the one who got tied by it would constantly lose mana as well as get cursed with
A formidable artifact that was befitting of 60 crystals.
Actually there were a few artifacts that Hansoo could purchase with 60 crystals but Hansoo had chosen the chain scythe.
Chain scythes were very difficult to use.
And in this world, if the costs were the same then there were as much advantages as weaknesses towards each other.
Difficult weapons often had high specs if they had similar costs.
This was the same for Judgement of Dekrados.
The 2 skills on
'Weapon types aren't important.'
Hansoo wasn't really lucky in terms of artifacts.
He couldn't even imagine obtaining an amazing artifact and using it constantly like Kangtae so he used whatever he could get his hands on or had good options.
And the chain scythe was included in those.
The Chain Scythe, which had a higher chance of having stronger skills in comparison to other weapons, was very attractive to Hansoo who didn't really have his traits and skills set up properly and because of that he would use it for a long time.
He had gotten a habit of sustaining such a battle style for over 50 years so he could use most weapons properly.
Which meant that using it wasn't a problem.
Only the options were important.
Hansoo, who had loosened up the chains, used centripetal force to throw the extremity of the chain scythe towards a direction aggressively after the chain had lengthened quite a bit.
Hoooouuuk!
The extremity of the chain scythe flew towards the crystal on the top of the castle at an extreme speed.
The skill which was on the chain scythe,
Boooom!
The crystal broke apart as it couldn't withstand the might of the skill on the chain scythe and the people who had seen this shouted in shock.
"What the fuck!! What are you doing!"
Hansoo smirked at those words.
"What's the problem is we're going to advance. If we leave a hole to escape then we'll all die."
"…"
A few people made guilty expressions at those words.
These people had thoughts of returning to the castle if they advanced and things didn't really roll out well.
And this tendency was rather strong in a few of the Clan Lords of the clan unions.
But only for a moment.
A clansman who had been sent below came back as he spoke.
"…The dungeons are closed."
"Tsk."
It seemed like the dungeon closed along with the appearance of the fairy.
Which meant that leaving was indeed the better option.
Since they'll just get piled up if they stay here.
Kurrurru.
As the crystal exploded, the island started to shake in a rough manner.
And then the fairy's voice resonated from the air.
Everyone made a complicated expression at those words but then shook their heads as they headed towards the Demon Lord's Castle.
............…
The road heading towards the Demon Lord's Castle was structured very differently from the ones until now.
Unlike the situation during the defense where the non-clansmen and clansmen were mixed up with the 12 clans as the center, it was now split up between clan unions and non-clansmen adventurers.
It was something they had realized painfully from what they had been doing until now.
That the clan unions can throw them off at any time.
And they needed to group up in order to prevent that.
Of course everyone's thoughts couldn't be the same so there were a few people who went into the clan unions who have caught them in their eyes but there were still about 500 people grouped up separately.
"…So you came to me because of that?"
Hyunwoo and Taehee nodded at those words.
"Yeah. We're just following while believing in you."
Hansoo opened his mouth after looking at Hyunwoo for a while after those words.
"There isn't much that I can do for you."
Hyunwoo chuckled as he spoke.
"Don't worry. I'm not asking you to take care of all our lives. Just stay in that position well."
He didn't long for care.
He was content if Hansoo acted as the flag which everyone could see and follow.
Since they had been pushed around because they didn't have that flag.
There isn't a single person who wouldn't try to improve their future in times of danger in such a damnable world as this.
And because of this, the most important thing was to have enough strength to save themselves.
Since they didn't know what would happen during times of crisis no matter how good of a personality they had during normal times.
And because of that, Hansoo was more than enough.
'And well. Even if we only follow, the surrounding enemies almost get smashed apart.'
Taehee clicked her tongue as she looked at Hyunwoo while he was thinking about this and that.
'…It seems like he has been infatuated.'
Hansoo shook his head as he looked at these two.
'Hmm.'
Though they seemed like they were well bunched up, and though they were just following him aroud, a human's thoughts are something which changes very rapidly in times of crisis.
Towards a safer side.
But Hansoo just shrugged his shoulders as he advanced.
'I just need to do what I'm supposed to do.'
The three gateways they needed to go through in order to get to the Demon Lord's Castle.
Door of Bones, Door of Flesh and Door of Blood.
Hansoo quickened his footsteps towards the first gateway in the distance, the Door of Bones.
............
Chararak.
The chain, which was a few hundred meters in length, cut apart the air restlessly.
It wasn't only the extremity of the scythe that could be used as a weapon.
The scythe pulverized the enemies as the scythe should and the chain was coiling around the surroundings without rest.
Once the chain suppressed the enemy enough, Hansoo flickered the edge of his right hand to control the scythe and charged forward with a blade and stabbed down at the enemy who was entwined by the chains.
Kuuuuuuaaang!
One of the demons, which had been stabbed by Hansoo's weapon, screamed.
Hansoo didn't just have one weapon.
There were 7 daggers around Hansoo's thighs and there was also a Podao and a medium sized greatsword by his waist.
There weren't any limitations from carrying this many weapons due to the increased strength.
The problem was whether he could utilize all of these weapons or not.
From the
Kaduk.
Kaduduk.
Hansoo didn't rest there as he started to put injuries all over Demon's body as he stabbed his daggers into its body.
Judgement of Dekrados wasn't used properly just because one used
Rather, the true worth of the weapon shone when you were able to use
And the chain and scythe were restlessly flying around Hansoo's surroundings.
But of course it wasn't alright even if he was Hansoo.
When it received the attack of the enemy, a strange curse injured the body of the one who had attacked them.
Hansoo was holding on with his resistances and Nurmaha's ring but blood was flowing out from his body as injuries occurred one by one.
But if one were to hesitate because of such things, they would receive an even greater injury.
Kuduk. Kududk.
Hansoo ignored the light wounds as he canceled out the curse which activated when he stabbed the heart of the demon with the Nurmaha's ring, took the runes and crystal which had dropped from its body and then flew off somewhere else as he bound up his surroundings with the chain and stepped on it.
Since there wasn't much time for leisure in the current situation.
"Uaaaak!"
"Damn! It's a mage! Kill that first!"
"Aaak!"
Endless screams could be heard all around.
A huge number of undeads and Demons which couldn't even be compared to before.
They weren't really giving large amounts of casualties to people.
Since the demons came in pairs when they charged and since both of them were bound by Hansoo's chain.
And even now, one had just died at Hansoo's hands and the other one was fervently battling Hansoo and his chain scythe.
The thing which had caused the most damage to them were mages.
Skeletal Mage.
It was a weak mob in games but reality was cruel.
Every time skills exploded out from it's hands, even though it was only poison, frost and fire for a total of three elements, it froze people down to their bones and burned their skins.
And the fact that it was long ranged and had an AOE move bugged them more.
Hansoo's chain scythe was turning them into powder whenever it had the leisure to but there were many occurrences where people were screaming here and there after getting hit by the skills.
And the Clan Lords were looking at their surroundings with cold expressions.
It was important to maintain their battle strength before but it was even more important as of now.
Since they could take all of their maintained battle strength up along with them.
In the defensive war, where the defense areas were set between them, their improvements and the damage they received were very similar.
But in a situation like this where they were advancing, it was much more different.
Since no matter how fair you set up the rules, one's actions changed how much damage they received by a lot.
But no matter what Guktae did, he was still the leader of a group.
He had the duty of keeping alive as many clansmen as possible.
Was being greedy that bad?
'We could at least adjust the speed at which we advanced if the Crystal wasn't destroyed. Damn…'
No matter how much of the battle strength he wanted to save, there was a limit to it.
The vibration which resonated throughout the island was getting larger.
The fairy had told them that there were over ten days left but nobody knew if those ten days were enough for them to get to the Demon Lord's Castle.
Playing chicken is only when you can, what sort of meaning would playing chicken have in a situation where you would get massacred anyway if you hid around in the back.
The Clan Lords could only advance forward while accounting for the danger.
'Anyway…Are the demons coming out at similar difficulties?'
Guktae looked at the Demon, which Hansoo was killing, coldly.
He was worried that a stronger demon might come out when they got to the Demon Lord's Castle.
But it seemed like these were at the same level as those during the defenses.
And at that moment a noise came from the ground as another demon came up from beneath.
"Uaaakk! Another one came out!"
"Dodge it!"
Unlike the defensive stage where they had something to protect, this was over as long as you could arrive there.
There was nobody who wanted to go up against the strong Demon.
All the non-clansmen flew away like flies in all directions.
But a few Clan Lords laughed as they looked at the chaos.
'It came out at a good timing.'
If they don't account for their weaknesses then they were a failure as a human being before being a Lord.
The clansmen of Evil and Kang Hansoo?
Those crazy things were jumping about around him and showing off their strength.
Didn't he prepare something for such a situation?
The 15 special forces, which Guktae had been saving, came out.
These were the guys who were armed with the runes, skills and artifacts of other clansmen.
Warriors created to fight monsters with their raised resistances and attack power.
'Though I've been saving them in order to reduce casualties…'
He was going to save them if stronger Demons came out on the way to the Demon Lord's Castle.
But what if they were around the same level?
'If it's that much then they can hunt without casualties.'
They didn't need to depend on Hansoo.
'I'll show you. As to who should really be in the center.'
The thing that they weren't comfortable with wasn't just Hansoo's power.
It was the fact that he was acting as the center of the non-clansmen.
And the reason that he could fight the Demons up front was a large factor as to why he could do that.
Since they believed that it'll be safer if they followed Hansoo rather than the clans.
But if they could fight the Demons then they didn't have a reason to group up with Hansoo as the center.
They was no worry for traitors either.
Since the clans could just take them all in.
'Well. It is just so even if it seems uncomfortable.'
They will soon realize.
That it'll get more and more dangerous and that they had to hold onto a reliable pillar.
And in order to do so, he had left them alone with the mages.
'Let's see what happens…if the non-clansmen that you trust in so much come to me.'
There was no reason to hurry.
They could advance slowly, like water being absorbed through.
"Go."
At these words, the fifteen special forces that Guktae had prepared advanced forward in order to hunt down the Demon.