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chapter 228




Morse ran in a straight line towards Min-Cheol.
Swinging a large club as he pleased, he was moving at great speeds.
Min-Cheol thought that he would be a magician class Protector.
After all, he had boasted on his own about the number of clones he could create.
But instead of using magic, Morse seemed more interested in committing to close quarter combat.
“I thought you were a magician, but I guess I was wrong?”
“Do you really consider me, a count, the same as the weaklings you had faced so far?”
“Hm?”
“If you get as strong as me, then classes no longer matter. It means that restrictions on obtaining skill scrolls no longer apply to me!”
“That’s pretty amazing, you know? And it’s even better for me. I was hoping for a warrior rather than a mage to fight against.”
Was it because I thought that I may lose in this fight?
There was no way I’d have such a ridiculous worry.
It was just that fighting a warrior instead of a mage allowed the fight to be a lot less conspicuous.
It was a dark night.
The fight was taking place at the estate’s lobby. It was completely cut off from the outside.
Not only that, but it was quite spacious, and nothing stood in the way of battle.
However, it was also a night so silent that even the smallest sounds would be loud.
If a spell of such destructive force was to be used at this hour, then the sound from the blast would alert all the nobles nearby.
It’d be favorable if only the counts came, but if the castellan or any marquises came over, then it’d be quite the headache for me.
Each of Morse’s clones were equipped differently.
They held a sword, spear, and a bow. While they looked like a bunch of goons, their combined attack could cause a lot of annoyance for the opponent.
Min-Cheol easily avoided the club, spear, and sword swung at close range, and also dodged the arrows flying at me from afar.
To Min-Cheol, Morse and his clones looked like they were moving in slow motion as they attacked.
Even if the attack reached Min-Cheol’s body, the damage absorption and reduction from the artifacts would make sure that it didn’t deal any significant damage.
Also the shield spells would probably stop it first before that happened.
While avoiding the attacks, Min-Cheol leapt to where his clones were and whispered.
“We’ll take them down as quietly as we can. We can’t let anyone interfere.”
“…”
“…”
After receiving my orders, the clones immediately prepared for battle.
Out of them, the firstborn was doing something that even he hadn’t thought of.
The firstborn clone had cast Silent on the lobby where the battle was taking place.
This meant that the sound of clashing between sword and club would be blocked by Silent and Fade.
Min-Cheol gave a thumbs up and smiled at the firstborn clone.
The clone gave an elated shrug of the shoulders before casting debuff that increased damage taken.
“Ugh.”
With that, there was a wound on Morse’s neck that glowed red.
The firstborn clone had ignored Morse’s other clones and had casted the debuff only on Morse.
This was because Morse’s clones were so weak that there was no need to cast debuffs on them.
It was to be expected due to Morse’s lack of proficiency with the cloning spell.
Following up the firstborn clone’s opening attack, the third and fourth clones in charge of casting buffs casted the spells that raised attack and defensive capabilities.
Min-Cheol could feel the difference before and after the buff with how light his body become.
Morse felt around his neck to realize that he had been cursed.
His face became twisted even further with fury.
As if becoming serious, Morse and his clones started imbuing magic onto their weapons.
“Huh, a lightning spell. The target is that one, the one right in front of us. We only target the count. Kill without hesitation.”
“…”
As soon as Min-Cheol had finished speaking, five of his clones charged at Morse.
Each of them enchanted the swords that Dump had created to hold in one hand, while creating a sword made of mana, magical energies, and the power of the gods to hold in the other hand.
Min-Cheol felt the hair on the back of his neck raise as he observed what was happening.
It was because the amount of power and killing intent Morse was probably feeling from the clones were something else.
Morse’s clones positioned themselves around him in an attempt to protect him.
Here, the firstborn’s capabilities shone again.
Charging in first, the clone dispatched one of Morse’s clones in a single strike.
While Min-Cheol had designated Morse as the only target, the clone had made a move to prevent the clones from interfering with the goal.
This was only possible because these clones weren’t just simple summoned creatures that could only follow orders.
Slicing off the head with a single blow and piercing the heart, Morse’s clone disappeared like smoke.
Because it had happened in an instant, Morse could not even react.
All he could do was watch as one of his clones was killed in front of him.
However, the blades aimed at the clone weren’t the only ones.
“EEK! AGH!”
“…”
“…”
Realizing what situation he was in, Morse tried to leave the battlefield and take a defensive stance.
However, at the moment when he tried to put strength into his legs, 10 blades had already pierced his body.
“U-Urk.”
“…”
“…”
“Go on ahead and wait for me. I’ll see you in 19 days from now. The real trial will begin there.”
“…”
There was no remorse or mercy to be found in their attack.
It was a singular strike that struck the opponent’s weak point with pin point accuracy.
And almost as if the clones were sharing their thoughts with one another, each of them had executed this joint attack that aimed at different weak points.
They didn’t get in the way of each other, and none of the attack locations overlapped.
The person told to be on the receiving end of this attack would probably piss themselves from how terrifying this was.
For the master and original of these clones, Min-Cheol was very satisfied at how the clones outperformed his expectations.
And he couldn’t hold back a smile due to the massive amount of power pouring into him.
“You’ve done well. It was a display of combat prowess far beyond what I had expected.”
“…”
“…”
With the situation resolved, the clones returned to Min-Cheol’s side.
The killing intent was nowhere to be found from their neutral expressions as they wiped the blood off their bodies.
The power obtained from defeating Morse. All of it had poured into Min-Cheol.
However, it wasn’t only Min-Cheol that grew stronger.
Since a 100% of the original body’s strength was copied to the clones, all the clones also had grown stronger from this incident at an amount equal to the power Morse had possessed.
When a person who didn’t use clones grew stronger onefold, Min-Cheol, who had mastered the cloning skill, grew stronger sixfold.
“To think that I would be obtaining sixfold the amount of power for the amount of effort worth one. It’s quite a sweet deal.”
Min-Cheol used Soul Messenger to contact Dan.
It didn’t even take a single second after the message was sent for Dan to accept the request.
It was because Dan had waited anxiously for and only for Min-Cheol’s message.
“Should I go over there? Please summon me. I’ll go there right away, master.”
“Sure.”
“As expected… You’re amazing, master.”
“This takes care of a single page in the accounting book. Who’s next?”
“The next one is known as Mars.”
“Lead the way.”
“Yes. But master, this one could be a bit more troublesome to deal with than what you’ve just dealt with.”
“Why?”
“Despite being just a count still, he is very infamous for how wicked he is. There’s a chance that he won’t be alone.”
“That’s good. It was getting bothersome to visit every estate one by one. Guess I’ll gather them up and defeat them all at once.”
“…”
“Since the night is short and there are many evil people, it can’t be helped. Now let’s go.”
“Yes!”
****
After leaving the castellan Mithrael’s castle, Millions was hell bent on finding Demon.
However, he did not act foolish by doing something like searching all of Larkenta without a plan.
Instead, he decided to wait at a count’s estate.
He believed that by waiting there, Demon would find him on his own.
After leaving the castle, he saw tens of counts following him out.
The counts then spoke with one another in front of the castle.
Millions walked towards where the counts were gathered.
“Oho. Good Marquis Millions.”
“I am unable to meet your gaze with pride. As I’ve stated before, I shall pay double in reparations for any damages received. I plead an apology to you all once more.”
“No worries. It’s just a few slaves and some knights. I don’t think that such a few worthless lives should cause an end to our friendship, no? Don’t you all think so as well?”
“Of course.”
“You’re absolutely correct.”
“There’s no need to worry so much.”
“That’s right. This has actually become a great opportunity for us.”
“Thank you for seeing it that way.”
While they were displeased with Millions to say the least, the counts still spoke of words they did not mean in the slightest.
With his sudden appearance, the counts only thought of hurrying back to their estates.
However, perhaps aware or unaware of what they were thinking, Millions spoke to them.
“But why did only all of you come out?”
“That’s… It’s because the counts that couldn’t face off against Demon have decided to stay inside the castle.”
“I see. Will you all be alright?”
“Yes…”
“We’re fine. How could counts be afraid of just a slave?”
“I’d like to request one thing from you all.”
“Huh? What request…”
“If Demon is present at any of your residences, please let me know using Soul Messenger.”
“…”
“…”
The counts could not reply with enthusiasm.
The bounty reward for the slave Demon was a promotion of status.
This was the only chance that a count could realistically become a marquis.
This was not an easy feat.
Depending on your background, the power you wielded was set in stone. The position you obtained was based on your strength. This stayed the same and absolute.
To put it simply, unless a position opened above, it was impossible to rise in status.
Roughly 20 marquises were about to move out soon.
For what reason would they participate in such a bothersome task of hunting down a slave.
The reason was the same for them.
However, Millions asking the counts to report where Demon was the equivalent of stating that he’d be taking all the glory to himself.
And so that was the reason why no one could answer with conviction.
Millions could tell how they felt in their hearts.
He knew that they could not easily resist the sweetness of the reward obtained by taking Demon’s life.
However, Millions’ real goal was not about rising up the ranks.
It was simply his rage boiling over from being betrayed by the slave Demon that he had once thought of as an ally.
To Millions, it felt like his rage would only quell by catching and tearing Demon apart bit by bit.
Some time had passed before the extremely quiet responses of the counts were heard.
“Yes…”
“Of course we need to do so.”
“I understand.”
“…”
After squeaking out some half-hearted responses, the counts scattered one by one.
However, the 5 counts that had been close to Millions even before the incident couldn’t leave and remained by his side.
“Good marquis.”
“I do not blame them. I know that they are worried about their own chance at climbing the ranks being stolen away.”
“…”
“I am most grateful that at least you all have remained.”
“We shall absolutely send you the message.”
“Thank you. The honor of defeating Demon shall not be mine, but be all of yours instead. I promise.”
“If you could, we’d be most grateful…”
“Please trust me and ask me to come. Then…”
Millions quietly left the small group.
Then he headed for an estate that one of the counts that hadn’t left the castle possessed.
While this method had a low chance, he had bet on his chances while waiting for a message to arrive.
“Demon… I shall teach you your place…”