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nChapter 189 – Barbarian King (6)

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n18.

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nGgoo-roong, ggoo-roong!

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nDark clouds appeared in the sky. The dark clouds looked to be thunderclouds as it overtly displayed its might.

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nGulp!

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nAt this sight, everyone gulped.

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"Wow. The Hahoe Mask really reached the 2nd Phase by himself.

"

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"The other teams were only able to do it after losing 300 Users….”

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nAt that moment….

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nZzuh-juh-juhk!

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nThere was no warning. A bolt of thunder fell towards the ground. Everything stopped when the sound of the thunder was heard. It was as if someone had pressed the pause button. All the several thousand small battles going on in the battlefield stopped for a brief moment.

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nThen the battle started again.

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n'What happened?'

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n'Was the Hahoe Mask able to dodge it?'

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n'Did he succeed?'

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nHowever, at that moment, the Users in battle only had one thought.

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nDid the Hahoe Mask dodge the Storm Judgement?

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nIf it had occurred as planned, he would have dodged the Judgement.

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nAt the same time, was he able to plant the Storm Judgement on the Barbarian King?

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nThe answer came.

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n- Hahoe Mask succeeded on the first one!

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nIt came out through Voice Talk.

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"Hell yeah!

"

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"Wow. I got goosebumps right now.

"

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"Bull**. You don’t have goosebumps. We are within the game.

"

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"It is a figure of speech.

"

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"Ok. Let’s do this!

"

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"The Hahoe Mask succeeded!

"

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nA shout akin to a thunder exploded forth from the battlefield. Everyone started shouting for the Hahoe Mask.

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nAt that moment, Hyrkan had barely avoided the thunder, and he walked near the Barbarian King’s heel. Hyrkan swallowed the sigh of relief from coming out of his mouth.

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n'……wow.'

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nWhen the alert announcing him being the target of the Storm Judgement popped up, the three second countdown had started.

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nThree seconds.

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nIt was a short amount of time where one could let out a long sigh once, and the time would be up. He had only a brief amount of time. The enemy could stomp him, beat him to death with its trunk or squeeze him to death with its grip. However, he had to charge forward towards his enemy despite the danger.

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nNo explanation was needed. Even if one was able to give a detailed explanation, it was something that wouldn’t be believed unless one saw it.

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nThe bolt of thunder fell, and at that moment, the thunder struck the Barbarian King. Hyrkan slipped to the side, and for a moment, the world became yellow and white.

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nHe had goosebumps.

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nHis body shuddered.

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n'This is awesome.'

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nMoreover, he had a smile on his face.

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n'If my timing was off by one second… No, if it was off by .5 second, I would have been sent to heaven. It wouldn’t have matter what setting I had on.'

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nAt that moment, Hahoe Mask was wearing fabric clothes.

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nThe full set was worth 500,000 gold, and it was called the Thunder Mage set. Moreover, he was wearing the Circlet of Purification.

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nHe had ignored physical defense. This setting was solely put on to increase his resistance against the thunder as much as possible. The Circlet of Purification was chosen to sidestep the inevitable Stun effect that would arise when hit with the Storm Judgement. He didn’t know if it’ll work against the Storm Judgement, but he decided to equip it.

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nHis combined outfit was incredibly pricey, and this set would give him one chance.

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nTheoretically, It meant he could survive one hit from the Storm Judgement.

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nHowever, when he witnessed the Storm Judgement, Hyrkan’s intuition gave a different assessment.

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n'There won’t be a next time.'

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nHe had spent an enormous amount of money as a precaution, yet he realized it wouldn’t play a role in this battle.

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nHe couldn’t rely on it.

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nHe had to think of it as him fighting the battle with his bare body.

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nHe had to think of this as his last and only chance at this.

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n'Storm...... I really have a bad relationship with anything that starts with Storm.'

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nThe funny part was the fact that useless thoughts filled his mind at his most desperate situation.

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nThe Barbarian King extended its hands towards Hyrkan. Hyrkan dodged a hand. Then he kept dodging.

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nHweek hweek!

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nThe Barbarian King’s attack was akin to a boxer jabbing with his fists.

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nHyrkan dodged them all.

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nThe Barbarian King became frustrated at the nimble Hyrkan, so it brought up its trunk up high before it swung the trunk downward like a whip.

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nGwah-ahng!

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nHyrkan threw his body to avoid the Barbarian King’s elephant-like trunk. It had come down like a bolt of lightning.

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nHowever, he didn’t run away too far. He had to maintain a certain distance. If he was too far away, he wouldn’t be able to get close to the Barbarian King when the Judgement starts.

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nThe Storm Judgement is heading towards you.

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n3... 2...

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nWhen the Announcement popped up, Hyrkan dove between the Barbarian King’s legs.

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nJjuh-juh-juhk!

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nThe thunderbolt impacted on the Barbarian King’s body. At that moment, Hyrkan could feel it.

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n'It is a lightning rod. If a thunder strikes near the Barbarian King, the Barbarian King will absorb everything.'

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nHe realized he didn’t need to be too fine with the timing.

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nAs expected, this was the method that had to be used to defeat this monster. Moreover, this leniency was a little bit of courtesy given by Warlord to the User, who carried out this method.

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n'Fuck. I’m so thankful that tears are coming out.'

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nHyrkan was serious. The courtesy almost brought him to tears, and as if to pay back this courtesy, Hyrkan once again engaged the Barbarian King. While Hyrkan confronted it, he looked at the status of the Barbarian King.

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nThe Barbarian King’s body looked a bit charred, but it was still imposing. He didn’t know how many times he would have to repeat this action. The 31st Raid team had succeeded in this method thrice before they gave up on the Raid.

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nIt could be three, ten or twenty times. It could also be 31 times to mirror the number of Protection Gems possessed by the Barbarian King.

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nHyrkan gritted his teeth.

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n'There’s no tree that won’t fall if you strike it 10 times. It would be great if Warlord’s AI knew this adage….

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nZzuh-juhk!

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nThis was the 11th Storm Judgement. It let out a fierce thunderclap as it fell.

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nIt was as if this sound had been the signal. The two groups on standby moved at that moment. They had been far away, but in short order, they came close to the wall of Users protecting the Hahoe Mask.

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nWhen the Users saw the two groups approaching, they looked at them with suspicion. Their glares turned into a look of shock.

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"It's the Stormhunters!

"

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"It's the Red Bulls!

"

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nThese were two enormous guilds.

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nThe Red Bulls had been the dragon hidden under the water until now. The Stormhunters guild had been at the forefront of leading this era.

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nThe two guilds didn’t hide their emblems as they charged towards the stage where the Barbarian King was present.

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nWhistling had been going around taking down Users and monsters trying to approach the Hahoe Mask. The news was quickly delivered to Whistling’s ears.

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n'Of all the….'

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nHe knew disrupters would come. In truth, there had been couple disrupters here already. However, he would have never imagined that the Red Bulls and the Stormhunters fell into the same category. He didn’t know about the other guilds, but he had thought these two guilds had the pride and self respect that came with their position in the 30 great guilds.

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n'As expected, they are putting profits above all else?'

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nOf course, he understood why they were doing this.

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nThe 30 great guilds of Warlord were organizations that were mostly driven by profit. They were basically companies. Their goal was to make money through this game.

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nTo them, the Barbarian King Raid was worth….

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nAt the very least, it would be a figure normal people would balk at. It was probably an enormous amount of money.

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nAnyways, the worst case scenario had just occurred.

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n'How long will they be able to last?'

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nHe was sure of it. It was impossible to stop them.

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nHowever, could they draw out the fight?

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nThe fact that he was having such thoughts was the height of arrogance. Whistling, Yojori, Joba and all the regular Users could only buy some time. That was the only thing they could do.

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nThe only thing up in the air was how long they would be able to drag this out.

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nGulp!

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nWhistling unconsciously gulped. In truth, he didn’t know how to deal with this situation.

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n'Shit.'

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nHe felt an indescribable sense of despair. Then the despair immediately changed in sorriness towards Hyrkan.

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nIn the end, Whistling had precipitated this.

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nHyrkan didn’t need this stage. He could prove his worth, and be treated well elsewhere. However, Whistling had brought him to this abyss. The only thing that could comfort Hyrkan was a victory and success. That was it.

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nHowever, everything was about to be ruined. They were treading water to stay above the abyss.

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"Excuse me. Shouldn't we tell him?

"

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nYojori asked the question. Hahoe Mask still didn’t know about the appearance of the two large guilds.

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"No.

"

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nWhistling asked Yojori to keep silent.

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nHe couldn’t tell Hyrkan about this situation. Hyrkan was currently fighting a life and death battle with the Barbarian King, and his words might cause him to die. Hyrkan was fighting a battle where 1 second determined his fate. It was a battle with a razor thin margin.

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nAs a friend, Whistling wanted to help in anyway he could. He wanted Hyrkan to be left alone, so he could carry out the battle. This was the only way he could repay his friend.

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"We’ll just have to block them.

"

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nWhistling gritted his teeth.

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nHe had already been prepared for death.

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nMoreover, at that moment, Whistling was thinking of different ways he could threaten the two guilds.

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nWas there anyway he could file a lawsuit against the Stormhunters and Redbulls for using such tactics?

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nCould he use this threat to scare them off?

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nHis mind mulled over the problem.

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nHowever, he didn’t have much time to ponder over this problem.

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nWhistling could see the Stormhunters guild close the distance with the Hahoe Mask and the Barbarian King. They were turning aside the wall of Users easily. Moreover, Whistling could see, who was in the front.

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n'My god.'

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nStorm Queen Shir!

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nShe was leading from the front. Aside from the Hahoe Mask, she was called the strongest in Warlord. Moreover, it would be useless to bring lawyers, the justice system and a lawsuit against her. It wouldn’t work on her.

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nWhistling was about to lose his fighting spirit. His face looked like the face of a fighting dog, but the fight was about drain out of him.

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n'Wow. It’s the Storm Queen.'

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"Even if I die here, I can boast about this to everyone.

"

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nEveryone else pretty much assumed they were all going to die early on. At that moment, Whistling sheathed his sword.

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"You shall not pass!”

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nThen he yelled out.

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nHe used all his strength to do so.

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nIn his lifetime, Whistling had never yelled this loud before. It was as if he was barfing out everything within him into this shout.

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nAt the shout, the Stormhunters and the Storm Queen came to a stop.

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"If you have pride in yourself as the 30 great guilds, you should leave this to the Hahoe Mask. You should think about the etiquette within Warlord!

"

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nThey stopped, but Whistling kept shouting.

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"At the very least, you should keep the gamer’s code of conduct!

"

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nAt Whistling’s shout, Shirt glared at Whistling. Shir, who was looking straight at Whistling, was beautiful. However, her expression was indescribably cold. Whistling didn’t avoid her gaze. He glared at her like a fighting dog.

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nWhile this terrifying war of gazes was occurring, a third person spoke up.

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"We are here to make a deal with the Hahoe Mask.

"

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nBallista Hatch.

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nHe had been at the back of the group. He ran forward as he shouted.

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"We started the Barbarian King event. Of course, we also possess the key that will allow us to finish off the Barbarian King. If we let things be, the Barbarian King will start up its activities again.

"

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nHatch gave an explanation.

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nWhen he ended the explanation, Shir added her words.

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"Even if I do fight with the Hahoe Mask, there is no way I’ll fight him here. So get out of my way.

"

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nWhistling gritted his teeth.

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n19.

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nWhen the thunder fell another 10 times, the Barbarian King froze in place.

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nHe stood erect.

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nIt was like a statue.

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nHowever, the Barbarian King was still alive.

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n'Ah！'

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nHyrkan watched this sight, and for the first time, he let out a sigh of relief inside his head.

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nThe clear method was effective.

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nThe Barbarian King Nesha has fallen asleep.

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nThe Barbarian King Nesha will awaken in 24 hours.

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nHowever, the next System Announcement knocked down all his achievements in one fell swoop.

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n'This **ing game!'

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nIt was the worst possible situation.

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nHe was well aware of the possibility of a 3rd Phase. He had expected the Barbarian King to go nuts, so he had prepared accordingly. However, he hadn’t been prepared for this scenario.

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nAt the same time, he had no idea how he should deal with this scenario.

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nBarbarian King Nessa will awaken from his sleep in 23 hours 50 seconds.

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nIn front of Hyrkan, the Warlord started its cold, heartless and cruel countdown.

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n'I...... I have to kill this bastard.'

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nAt that moment, Hyrkan thought about all the Users, who had given up their lives for him.

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nLosses?

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nThat didn’t matter.

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nIt hadn’t been important in the first place. He didn’t play this game for the money. He had needed the money to become the best in Warlord.

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nHe was afraid of the disappointment.

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nThese Users had put their lives on the line for him. They had fought for his victory, and even the dead Users were cheering from outside the game. He was afraid of the sense of disappointment that’ll be felt by those people.

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"I have to kill it!

"

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nEventually, he shouted at the top of his lungs towards the Barbarian King Nessa.

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n-Hyrkan. The Stormhunters guild and Red Bulls guild is heading your way.

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nAt that moment, he heard Whistling’s voice.

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n-They want to propose a deal.

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nHyrkan turned his head. He could see a large group heading towards the center of the plain.

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nHe could see her.

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nStorm Queen Shir!

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nShe wasn’t wearing her helmet, and her hair was whipping around her. She brought her group towards him.

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nHyrkan looked at them.

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nAs time passed, Shir and Hyrkan stared at each other.

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"This will be my final proposal.”

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nShir opened her mouth.

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