Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Rise in War Capabilities (1)

The inside of the room was quiet for a moment.

Not all of them were killed by Kang-jun but the sovereigns waiting at the resurrection gem were afraid of him.

This was training. While the red moon was up, they couldn’t kill each other. But someday in the future, they were bound to encounter each other.

The sovereigns’ fate!

They feared being defeated by Sovereign Lucan and being dragged to hell.

Then Heksia clapped and said.

“Hohoho! Don’t be shaken by something like this. It is just the beginning. In the future there will be many unlucky sovereigns among you.”

She continued.

“Have you forgotten? You have the ability to become stronger as you fight monsters and win.”

The eyes of the sovereigns were revived.

That’s right.

They knew they could become stronger through levelling up.

In the meantime, they had avoided direct combat and only moved the troops. Therefore, the thought of fighting started to fascinate them.

In particular, the eyes of Zenith, Hardis and Avia who were killed by Kang-jun were filled with desire.

‘Lucan! If I don’t defeat him then I will be the one dying.’

‘Euh! It is really unbelievable. What type of skill did he get to become so strong?’

‘Bah! You were lucky, Lucan. Next time I will win.’

Kang-jun inwardly laughed as he watched the sovereigns’ reaction

It was difficult for the other sovereigns because they hadn’t been interested in fighting monsters to raise their level.

But thanks to Heksia’s words, the sovereigns were filled with fighting spirit.

The people who used money to raise troops were determined to fight the monsters directly.

Of course, it didn’t matter.

Kang-jun had no intention of coming second to any of them.

Then Heksia turned towards Kang-jun and smiled.

“Sovereign Lucan, you won. As promised, you will be rewarded.”

[You have earned 50 red moon achievement points.]

[Red Moon Achievement Points: 150]

As she said, Kang-jun’s official points had increased by 50 to 150 points.

At that moment, a new mission appeared in front of Kang-jun.

[Mission 11] Gain 300 red moon achievement points.

-Compensation: Experience, 4,000 nodes, 30 small moonstones.

The mission this time was to gain a certain amount of points.

300 points.

It was possible if he achieved 150 more points in the future.

Heksia gazed at Kang-jun and declared.

“Sovereign Lucan! Until the next battle, you will be the total sovereign of this army.”

“Total sovereign?”

“It means you will be the leader of the sovereigns. Of course, it is just a formality so you don’t have to worry about it. Unless I tell you otherwise, most of the battles can be considered individual ones.”

“I see.”

The expressions of the sovereigns at the resurrection jewel distorted. Despite it being a formality, they found it hard to accept Kang-jun as their leader.

However, they couldn’t complain since he won.

It was training but Kang-jun was the winner and they were defeated.

They couldn’t grumble outright.

“Now that you have finished the training, shall we go practice? Before that, I have to tell you one thing.”

Heksia took something out from her pocket.

It was a small stone that shone red like a ruby.

“Sometimes you will be able to get a moonstone that looks like this when hunting the troops of the Second Demon King. If you bring this to the army headquarters, a small moonstone will give one point. A large one will give three achievement points.”

The eyes of the sovereigns shone.

Moonstone!

They could get achievement points by exchanging the stones.

In the world of the red moon, achievement points were equivalent to their lives.

More achievement points would give bigger rewards, making it likely that they would become a foundation in the real world.

They should obtain lots of moonstones!

In order to do that, they had to kill many monsters!

The eyes of the sovereigns were burning.

Heksia nodded at the sovereigns.

“Excellent. If you maintain that attitude until the end then the red moon will be a great opportunity.”

Then she chanted a spell.

Chu chu chu.

At that moment, a magic circle appeared in the centre of the room. Heksia’s eyes lit up.

“Now we will go and fight directly with the Second Demon King’s men. Are you ready?”

Kang-jun simply nodded. The other sovereigns were tense but approached the magic circle that would move them to the battlefield.

The battle wouldn’t be a training exercise so their competitive spirit started burning.

Heksia smiled.

“Then we will now move to the battlefield. Everyone enter the circle.”

As soon as her words were over, the 40 sovereigns including Kang-jun entered the circle.

Hwaaak! Hwaaaack!

The magic circle glowed and they were moved somewhere else.

“Kikikiki!”

“Ggeug ggeug ggeug!”

What was this eerie laughter?

After being moved by the magic circle, he saw a red resurrection gem similar to the one at the army headquarters.

The gem was surrounded by a giant shield that stretched out dozens of metres around it, and the area was crawling with dozens of monsters with tentacles.

Their heights varied from three metres to 10 metres.

Kwang! Kwa kwang!

Dudududu. Kukukukwang!

The tentacles struck the shield and the space shook.

There were approximately 100 tentacle monsters.

The sovereigns sensed right away that the monsters were their enemies. Most of the people filled with fighting spirit stiffened.

On the other hand, Kang-jun was detached.

They looked similar to Kajel. He had already dealt with it once so he knew what to do.

‘They look weaker than Kajel.’

Of course, that was their individual attack power. It would be dangerous for Kang-jun to fight 100 tentacle monsters.

However, he wasn’t alone. There were 40 sovereigns.

Heksia turned to them and said.

“I will reduce the range of the rear shield for a while. After that, the battle will begin. Brace yourselves. If you get caught in their tentacles then it will be the end.”

Even without her words, the sovereigns were looking at the tentacle monsters with a wary look.

It was like fighting monsters with dozens of arms. Some of them would prefer fighting an ogre or minotaur.

“Take care of yourself in the battle! There is no need to listen to anyone’s commands. Each one of you will have to exert your own strength.”

Heksia continued.

“If you get injured then run quickly. If you hold your breath then your body will be restored. Of course, it isn’t for free. One point will be deducted. However, it is better than losing 10 points when you are killed.”

At the end of her speech, the shield started to shrink at a rapid pace. The monsters gained momentum and neared them. They started to flock from every direction.

“The battle has begun so what are you doing? Of course, those who are afraid of fighting can stay close to the gem. This is a safe zone.”

Heksia said with a laugh.

“However, there is a chance that you might face a disaster later on. I won’t force anybody to fight. Everything is your own choice. Then I will leave it to you.”

Heksia disappeared after that.

If they were afraid of fighting then they could stay there.

But none of the sovereigns stayed near the resurrection gem.

If they stayed in the safe zone, they wouldn’t die but they also wouldn’t get any achievements.

Kang-jun ran silently in the lead.

Zenith followed right behind him.

“Hahaha! How can I fear such things as a sovereign?”

Next was Hardis. He also wasn’t afraid.

“They will be the ones to raise my level.”

“Hohoho! If you are afraid of such things then you don’t deserve to be a sovereign.”

Avia rushed forward with her spear.

The other sovereigns grabbed their weapons and ran out.

They were prepared to use their monsters to raise their levels.

However, fighting the monsters wasn’t simply a matter of determination.

Without skills, it was just mere bravado.

Flash! Sukeok!

“Kyaaak!”

Kang-jun use Heavenly Cut against one of the 10 metre tall monsters.

[89 nodes have been gained.]

[One small moonstone has been acquired.]

Next was a three metre tall monster. This time he didn’t use the skill as he carefully avoided the tentacles and slashed the body.

Puok!

“Kkack!”

[54 nodes have been gained.]

His black magic energy wasn’t unlimited so he couldn’t abuse the skill.

The relatively small monsters didn’t require a skill so he only used Heavenly Cut against those that were five metres or taller.

But unlike Kang-jun who was hunting in a leisurely manner, most of the sovereigns were struggling with the tentacles.

“Kikikik! The prey has come to me!”

“Ack!”

“Ggeug ggeug ggeug! How ludicrous!”

“Kuaaaak!”

In the meantime, many entered the mouths of the creatures and died by being eaten.

Of course, they were instantly resurrected at the gem. Some of them rushed straight out again while others panicked and stayed in the safe zone.

Chwack! Chwack!

“Aack!”

Another person became a victim. The sovereign screamed as dozens of tentacles wrapped around him and he was dragged into the monster’s mouth.

“Wahh! Help me!”

“Ohh! T-this is terrible!”

A sovereign had their eyeballs plucked out, another who had their arms cut off rushed back to the gem and there was even a sovereign with their head torn off…

It was just like hell.

Even so, the sovereigns fought fiercely with the monsters.

In the meantime, those who managed to level up had noticeably faster movements.

The unusual thing was that most sovereigns started to move in a team instead of alone!

Three or four sovereigns gathered in a team to deal with the monsters.

Their pride wasn’t important right now.

As sovereigns, someday they would have to aim their swords at each other. But for now, they would join forces to try and survive.

However, Kang-jun worked completely alone.

He was the leader but Heksia said that today was an individual battle. It wasn’t necessary for him to command the sovereigns.

They chose to form a team but Kang-jun decided to fight alone.

He was sufficient alone and it would be cumbersome to form a team. He would need to waste time taking care of his team members.

Of course, many of the sovereigns fought near Kang-jun and used sly methods. If they couldn’t handle a monster then they would lure it to Kang-jun.

Those creatures would then be killed by Kang-jun’s sword.

Kang-jun didn’t do it to help the sovereigns, but to kill the monsters.

Leaving the sovereigns to die was also a  method. The achievement points of rival sovereigns could be shaved away.

However, Kang-jun would rather kill a monster to gain experience to raise his level.

The sovereigns took care of luring the mobs to him so he didn’t need to bother.

‘By the way, my level hasn’t risen.’

After reaching Lv19, his experience seemed to rise less quickly.

Although they weren’t as strong as Kajel, he had already killed 20 monsters yet his level hasn’t risen.

He obtained 11 moonstones during that time. They were all small. If he brought them to the army headquarters then it would be 11 achievement points.

Lv.19 (Exp 96.32%)

He didn’t have much experience left to gain on the gauge. Hunting one or two more would make him level up!

“Aaaah! H-help me!”

“Kikikiki!”

As soon as a sovereign encountered a huge monster, he ran to the place where Kang-jun was. Kang-jun rushed forward without hesitation and used Heavenly Cut.

Flash! Sukeok!

“Kyaaak!”

[81 nodes have been gained.]

[One small moonstone has been acquired.]

At that moment.

[Your level has risen.]

‘Haha! Finally level up!’

He broke through Lv19 and reached Lv20.

[Your war ability has increased to intermediate level.]

[From now on, all black magic energy will be restored when you level up.]

‘Intermediate war ability?’

After reaching Lv20, his war ability rose to the intermediate level. So far, it had been beginner level.

However, the next message to appear was astonishing.

‘Black magic energy recovery?’

In the meantime, his black magic energy had stayed the same even when he levelled up. It was only possible to restore it by absorbing people’s energy in reality or through potions.

Now it was also possible through levelling up.