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nTransator: Ekdud

nProofreader: coyotte508

nTL Check: KobatoChanDaisuki

nChapter 49 – Three Gateways (1)

nKududududk

nThe chain scythe flew around with Hansoo as the center non-stop.

nAnd at the same time the dagger ripped through the air.

n“Kuuuhk!”

n“Goddamnit!”

nWongyung grinded his teeth as he heard the screams of his clansmen that came from every direction.

n‘Goddamnit… he’s too fast.’

nHe knew who he was up against after the fight began.

nThe guy who had messed up their plans as a whole at Central Island.

nHe wondered why the guy who he had thought went to a different island was here but decided that it didn’t matter.

nSince if his skills were the same as when he saw him then, it wouldn’t be hard to catch him with his clansmen.

nWhy would he have set up the net on the path up from Central Island if he thought that a full frontal clash was not possible?

nHe had prepared it because he was confident in winning.

nAnd the biggest reason.

nThat guy, for some reason, did not use any skills.

nAnd that was why he thought that he could win in a head-on battle.

nAnd their gears weren’t even comparable to others, they also had increased their battle strength by consuming other adventurers climbing the tower.

nNothing much to say about their teamwork too.

nBut this was all a huge miscalculation.

n‘Why did he go to a different island if he was that strong?’

nThere was nobody to stop them when their clan swung their sword.

nNothing much to say about the guys who were caught off guard since they worked from the dark.

nBut that was simply arrogance.

nThinking about it, it had only been two months since they got here.

nIt just didn’t feel that short because they had experienced a lot.

nNo matter how many people they sliced apart for two months, they were still humans.

nOn the other hand, if there was a thing called a human butcher, he was sure that that guy was him.

nIt felt like he had gone through countless years of work where he killed people.

nKeeping distance with his much higher stats as the basis.

nKeeping an eye on the whole battlefield and moving in directions where he wouldn’t get surrounded.

nIt had naturally turned into a structure where they all chased his back.

nAnd then he would ruthlessly slice apart those who chase him with his chain scythe and his dagger.

nIt wasn’t that his attacks were weak even if he threw them from afar.

nThere wasn’t a single case where his attacks did not hit a fatal location.

nAn attack which flew into a spot of sure-kill.

nAnd because they couldn’t not defend, the gap they barely closed widened while they defended.

nTheir artifacts were unique and strong ones as well but his scythe and dagger were so strong that every time they clashed weapons, their weapons would break along with their bones.

n‘Goddamnit…’

nIt was hard to hold him down even if they poured on skills because his resistances were high and every time they used a decisive skill, the skill would break as a light shone from his right hand.

n‘Goddamnit… will we be able to catch him before his stamina runs out?’

nBut Wongyung didn’t really see much hope.

nThe time when the most amount of stamina is consumed is when someone goes through attacks as well as defending actions.

nBut he was barely defending and only pouring out attacks.

nHe didn’t know much but if his stamina was at the same level as his strength or perception then those movements won’t stop until all of them got ripped apart.

nKudududk

n“Uuaaaka!”

n“Those with charging skills hold him down first!!”

nThere were a few who could stick close by him.

nClansmen who had charging skills.

nWongyung had regarded this skill very highly and had distributed this skill to his clansmen who had high defense and resistances.

nThey were basically charging warriors.

nThey had high defenses and resistances to go against their weapons and ripped the enemy apart after getting close to the enemy with their defensive artifacts.

nHe had 20 of these guys.

n‘If we can just tie him down then we can kill him.’

nIt wasn’t that blades did not work against him.

nSince he was bleeding from the occasional blades that got to him.

nWhich means that they could kill him as long as they can surround him and hold him down.

n‘Goddamnit… He would’ve died if he had come up through the portal.’

nBut these were meaningless complaints.

nThe only thing he could trust in was them.

nMaybe it was due to the fact that he had raised them with great care but the charging warriors were going through the endless chain scythe and dagger and had gotten quite close to Hansoo.

n“Die!”

nChwaaaak

nA blade was ruthlessly getting close to Hansoo.

nBut Hansoo already had every information about this guy in his head.

nThough it was hard to read the rune stats of a leisurely guy, he could clearly read the stats of someone who was fighting with all their strength.

nThe images endlessly came one after another until the enemy’s next movement was drawn in his head.

nHansoo followed those movements as he slashed at the side of that guy’s sword with his dagger.

nKudududk

nHis strength was not average and Hansoo’s hand, which held the dagger that deflected the sword, trembled as it started to bleed.

nAnd the attack which Hansoo had deflected sliced into his own shoulder.

nEven if you can completely dodge or defend against an attack, you shouldn’t do so.

nSince if you focus on defending or dodging the attacks of those who stick close to you, you will just get slowed down.

nAnd then you will just get surrounded by the enemies who are charging at you.

n‘Then you just die.’

nEven if he allowed them to attack he could not let them close the gap.

nKudududk

nThe attack bore deep into his shoulder as it started to bleed.

nBut he backed off quickly even in such a situation and strongly pulled on the chain scythe.

n‘And… I’m not really losing out either.’

n“Kuuuhh…”

nHansoo held the chain scythe, which had cut through the guy’s artery, and swung the chain scythe all around him again as he started to repeat the tedious work.

nOf course there were a few things he didn’t forget to do.

nFirst, absorbing all the runes that were dropped as well as using the dropped artifacts for defense and offense.

nSecond, slashing the Justice of Dekrados from time to time at Wongyung while mid-battle.

nHis core was being a Lord.

nAnd if Wongyung had any form of survival instinct, he will pull some forces towards him in order to defend against the daggers that flew to him.

nAnd of course when the clansmen who should be attacking fall back to defend him, he gets a bit of a breather.

n‘…I guess I cannot let the clansmen live.’

nThe guys who were under orders charged in like zealots.

nWongyung was ordering his clansmen even more ruthlessly as his life was starting to get threatened.

nSo that they would bite if their arms were cut off and act as a meat shield if their necks were cut off.

nHe was also losing health as well.

nThere was no space for him to go easy.

n‘Dark Mad Lord… Let’s stop here this time.’

nHansoo made a cold expression as he tore through the Dark Mad Lord’s clansmen at an intensified rate.

n…………………………………………………

n“Goddamnit… goddamnit.”

nWongyung made a soulless expression at his massacred clansmen and then shouted at Hansoo while grinding his teeth.

n“You bastard! What do you have against me to the point where you would go this far!”

nHe didn’t know back then.

nBut he knew now.

nThat this guy was going after him ever since Central Island.

nHe didn’t know how Hansoo had known of his existence but he was definitely moving around while targeting him.

nAnd he could not understand this.

n“You bitch! Why are you doing this to me when I haven’t done anything wrong to you! Huh? We aren’t like sworn enemies or something, why are you chasing me this far, what sin have I committed! Is it because I killed people? Huh? Is that it? Or because I didn’t follow the rules that you spread around?”

nHe could’ve saved his daughter if he had a little more time.

nAnd he could’ve found his missing son with this strength.

nBut all of this had been blocked off.

nBecause of this one guy.

nAnd he could only think of one thing.

nThe uncanny rules that he heard from Guktae.

n‘This damnable guy… what is he for him to set such rules at us?’

nHansoo shook his head at those words.

n“I’m not killing you because you broke the rules.”

nHe wasn’t killing them because they broke the rules.

nIt didn’t make sense to apply these rules to those who didn’t want to be with him from the start.

nThis was the same thing as getting hold of an American and imposing Korean rules to them.

nIn these kind of cases, you could solve it by splitting up like Taesoon did in the past.

nHe also didn’t have the leisure to chase them all down and kill them off because they broke the rules.

nSetting up the rules is after uniting everyone.

nIt was a future plan and he had to find a different method to solve that.

nHow would he govern over all those people?

n“Then why are you…”

nWongyung became absent-minded at the unexpected answer.

nHansoo muttered quietly.

n‘You guys are just stepping stones.’

nThere were a few things that he needed to do in his plans.

nIf his plans were only uniting all of humanity, why would he have come?

nEres or Keldian would’ve come instead.

nThere were a few things he needed to accomplish in order to solve the and this stood far above anything else.

nEven if he had to kill off everyone in the tutorial area in order to accomplish his set plans then he would’ve done so.

nHe didn’t think that small sacrifices for bigger things were right but he didn’t hesitate if it was needed.

nBut because they didn’t want this, they had set up a plan which had the least amount of casualties.

nBut the thing was, even if they tried to reduce the amount of casualties there were occasions where casualties were needed to catch up to their difficult goals.

nAnd because of this, they reduced the targets who would be sacrificed.

nDeciding who had to die in order for them to get to the next stage.

nThe guys who would have no other choice than to die even if they left them alone.

nOr those who had the possibility of causing the most amount of damage to humanity or committed the most sins, those who would have their death called for by others when they found out later.

nThis occasion of was like that too.

n

nIt hadn’t been two months yet and the time that they had calculated at which he would go into the Final Dungeon still had a month left.

nNo, just like how Keldian said, it wouldn’t be possible for him to get to the level of clearing the dungeon even if he was to hunt for a month.

nAnd because of this he needed a stepping stone to get into the and these guys were just chosen to become those stepping stones.

nIn conclusion, he hadn’t come here to give them judgement because they had broken the rules, they weren’t dying because he was right and they were wrong.

n‘Ah. Maybe that’s a bit too far.’

nSince the number of people who have died in these guys’ hands won’t change.

n“Don’t think about it too much. Isn’t it easier to think that you tried to kill me and we clashed because of that? Truthfully speaking, I think that’s enough of a reason.”

n“…”

n“You were just running towards your own goal and I the same. We just clashed while doing so and the one who got crushed was you this time. You have crushed others so well up to this point, why are you making an expression like you’re suffering an injustice?”

nWongyung made a lethargic expression at those words.

n‘This guy is just like me.’

nHe had been fooled.

nHe had thought that when he tried to lead everyone in Central Island, that was his true character.

nHe thought that he was like a Hero who was advancing forward in the world which was collapsing.

nBut that wasn’t it.

nThat was just the image which he was holding up.

nThis was his true character.

nHe was just like himself.

nLike how he could kill countless number of people in order to achieve his goals, that guy could also do that with no hesitation.

nExcept he was much thorough than himself.

nHansoo suddenly thought of Kangtae’s words as he looked at Wongyung.

n

n<…You don’t become a hero by catching evil-doers.>

n

n<…You definitely cannot go.>

nWongyung made a focusless expression but then sighed as he realized that this was the end.

nSince his sanity had come back after his death got guaranteed.

n‘Well. This might’ve been set already when I started killing people.’

nHe had constantly killed people as he got stronger.

nWith the sole reason of finding his son.

nAnd at the same time he thought of this.

nBecause he was strong, he could treat others as sacrificial lambs.

nAnd this world did not have any rules or society to stop that but rather encouraged him.

nAnd this was the result of that.

n‘I could eventually be stepped on or eaten by somebody else like this too.’

nFrom a point of view this insecurity had pushed him farther than his desire to find his son.

n‘It came much faster than I had thought.’

nWongyung sighed deeply as he spoke while looking at Hansoo:

n“…You won’t save my daughter even if I asked you?”

nHe could only save his daughter if he were to put in a normal human being.

nIt didn’t seem like that guy would do something like that.

nAnd when Hansoo shook his head as he expected, he sighed as he spoke his last words:

n“If you find my son please look after him. Though it’s a little bit too much to ask when you are trying to kill me.”

nHansoo shook his head as he spoke at Wongyung who was explaining his son’s characteristics.

n“There’s no need for that.”

n“…”

n“But if my plans work out well his fate may be changed.”

n“Goddamnit. What are you talking about untill the end…”

nThen Hansoo’s dagger aggressively sliced past Wongyung’s neck.

nHansoo looked at the dead Dark Mad Lord with a complex look and then got up while shaking his head.

n‘Just do some clean-up and move out.’

nThere wasn’t much time.

nHansoo looked around at the hundred plus corpses around him and then looked towards the starting location where he had come from.

n……………………………………….

n“Hnng.. Damn. When can we go…”.

nGyungmi, who had been standing at the starting point with her clansmen, grinded her teeth.

nWhile they were chasing him, they were caught by him when he suddenly changed his path and rushed towards them.

nThe fact that they stuck too close because she was afraid of losing him was the mistake.

n‘Damnit… did he expect one or two people to follow him from the start?’

nAs soon as Chungjae saw them he spoke out.

n

n<…Why should we?>

n

nShe had followed out of curiosity but that curiosity did not win over her fear.

nSince it felt like an ‘Accident’ may happen if she didn’t listen.

nIt had been over half a day of waiting here.

n‘Damnit. Should I just go?’

nBut before Gyungmi finished her thoughts, a blood-covered Chungjae was walking over from afar.

n“What. What did you do?”

nHansoo, who had the appearance of Chungjae, looked over at Gyungmi with a cold expression and then nodded his head.

n‘She really didn’t follow.’

nIf she had followed him to where he had fought then those traces couldn’t be hidden.

nSince there would be traces of the soot that filled up the whole of the third floor.

n‘Then… it’s ok.’

nSince she wouldn’t be able to figure it out even if she went.

n“It’s better to not know. You’ve done well so go on your way now.”

nAs soon as he finished those words, Chungjae disappeared into the paths.

nAnd then Gyungmi narrowed her eyes.

n‘…That’s towards the outskirts of the tower?’

nGyungmi made a strange expression but then shook her head.

nShe had been stuck here for too long anyway.

nIt seemed like he wanted to hide something but then it might really become dangerous once she tried to pry into it.

n‘…It doesn’t seem like he’s the type that would let the person who figured the thing he tried so hard to hide go.’

nShe was curious but she couldn’t not distinguish between fire and water.

nIf he had stopped them from following him it meant that he didn’t want to show them anything but if he were to chase them down while they pried into it…

n‘I don’t even want to think about it. Stop thinking about it. Stop thinking about it.’

nThere were things that she needed to keep as a secret even if she knew about them.

nGyungmi took her clansmen as she proceeded forward at a very fast pace.

nAnd after a while a giant cross could be seen.

nHer sixth sense had told her instinctively.

nThat something happened here.

nBut her only clue was her sixth sense.

nHe had cleaned up things so well that nobody would’ve known that anything happened without the sixth sense.

n‘Well. It’s nothing I need to know about.’

nWhile Gyungmi was trying hard to suppress her curiosity, the fairy appeared in the sky again.

n“Oh my. People came again. Then shall I start the explanation? About this cross right? Oh no. It increased by three more.”

nGyungmi made a suspicious expression as she looked at the fairy.

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