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 .