Chapter 110

SMH 110

Chapter 37 – The Empire Moves (2)

TL: Boko

Editor: Frost

“How… vexing..!”

An A-rank monster emerged as the Boss within the B-rank dungeon; the Death Knight couldn’t bear Sung Joon’s Healing Spray and fell.

The knight’s soul, which had forcibly been stuck in its long since chilled body, departed, and its yell spread throughout the room, sounding as if something was being torn apart.

Sung Joon raised his left hand and absorbed the mana from the Death Knight’s body.

“What’s my synchronization rate?”

“It didn’t go up,” Rishubalt replied. The Death Knight left behind a magic stone, and Sung Joon narrowed his eyes, watching the gradually dissipating Death Knight’s corpse.

“At this stage, it’s difficult for me to increase my synchronization rate in a B-rank dungeon,” Sung Joon said to himself.

“The higher your synchronization rate, the more mana you require to raise it,” Rishubalt added.

“Open the door to the Awakening Dungeon. Let’s start the invasion.”

As soon as Sung Joon declared his invasion, Rishubalt smiled at the thought of revenge and raised both hands.

“Entering the Awakening Dungeon.”

Their surroundings melted away, and were replaced with a new background. Sung Joon closed, then opened his eyes, seeing a tower before him, and a castle wall behind him.

At the entrance, it had the slogan ‘For the Empire’s glorious victory!’ attached.

“This seems to be the Empire’s Tactical Magic Tower,” Rishubalt said, and Sung Joon nodded his head.

“It seems that way.”

The Empire possessed several Magic Towers, but the Tactical Magic Tower studied strategy and tactics, as well as developing magical weapons; it was a Magic Tower with a special purpose in mind.

Sung Joon had visited it once in the past, and he remembered that inside, there were not only several Mages, but also Magic Scholars as well.

And as an important Magic Tower out of the Empire’s many Magic Towers, its guard was fittingly strict.

“Over there! Who are you!?”

“Where did you come from?”

“Why is a Priest here?”

Sure enough, the three Magic Knights guarding the entrance discovered Sung Joon and approached.

‘Was it a mistake to not immediately use my stealth right as I entered?’

Sung Joon thought so briefly, but soon shook his head. Skilled Magic Knights would notice the flow of mana the instant he used stealth. Then, he would lose his opportunity to ambush them.

However, because he was currently wearing the ‘Empire’s Battle Priest Vestment’, they were suspicious of him, but they didn’t act drastically. As proof, the Magic Knights came closer without much thought.

“You guys, you’re Magic Knights, right?”

“Why are you saying something that’s obvious? But I haven’t heard of the Battle Priests visiting today…”

At that moment, an alarm went off. A certain Mage had confirmed that there was a dimensional barrier that cut them off from the outside, and had rung the alarm.

“A trespass… Ugh!”

“AH!”

“Urgh!”

Finally, they realized that Sung Joon was suspicious and drew their swords, but Sung Joon cut deeply into their necks and they fell, yelling in agony.

Because he had aimed for the chinks in their armor, he didn’t need to use aura.

“As expected of you, my lord. What a clean surprise attack.”

Rishubalt admired him while applauding. Sung Joon smiled and silently walked towards the Magic Tower’s front door.

“They have countermeasures for stealth. You’ll actually stick out more if you use stealth.”

“Probably.”

It’d be strange if there weren’t any countermeasures for stealth in a place with several Mages. So Sung Joon didn’t use stealth and calmly opened the door, but it was locked.

Sung Joon’s eyes chilled and took one step back from the door.

“Rishubalt, it seems like an ambush is out of the question now. We’re going with a frontal assault.”

He gripped his sword and activated his aura.

‘I see it.’

He could see the flow of mana. Sung Joon forcefully swung his sword at the front door.

Clank.

As soon as his Spell Breaking Sword broke the barrier, it emitted the sound of glass breaking, and mana particles spread everywhere. The door that had lost its barrier was helplessly cut through.

Sung Joon stepped on the pieces of the shattered door and went inside.

“Fireball!”

“Wind Cutter!”

“Ice Spear!”

As soon as he entered inside, the Mages rained down several offensive spells onto him. Sung Joon calmly raised his sword while grasping the trajectory of the incoming spells.

And he made it his top priority to cut them down, one by one with his Spell Breaking Sword.

“To think he can use the Spell-Breaking Sword!”

“That’s impossible!”

The Mages were shocked when they saw him so cleanly deal with the offensive magic with the Spell Breaking Sword. And the Magic Knights, wielding swords blazing in fire and aura, brandished their swords and dashed towards Sung Joon.

“Five Magic Knights.”

“If we’re using Earth standards, they consist of four B-ranks, and one A-rank,” Rishubalt explained amicably. Sung Joon’s sight didn’t leave the approaching Magic Knights as he readied his stance.

“Gale Sword!”

“Shield!”

He didn’t need to use the Tempest Sword; the Gale Sword was enough. In one strike, his lunge, which unleashed sword winds, caused four Magic Knights to spurt blood and fall.

The Magic Knight that Rishubalt had designated as A-rank had cast defensive magic and blocked the sword winds. However, Sung Joon’s lunge still remained.

“Ugh!”

His Shield couldn’t block Sung Joon’s aura. Because the Magic Knight was well aware of that fact, he abandoned his Shield and quickly threw his body to the side.

Seeing that, Sung Joon drew his dagger, but then…

“Protect Sir Lufel!”

The Mages who had finished their casting, rained down their offensive magic upon him. It seemed as though the Mages from the second floor had joined them, as the spells aimed at him had increased.

“Hahaha! Even if you’re a practitioner of the Spell Breaking Sword, it’ll be difficult to cut down all of this!” someone mocked with voice full of confidence. Seeing that, Sung Joon grinned and opened his mouth.

“Shield.”

As soon as he spoke the activation words, the S-rank item, ‘Dragon’s Protection’ used Sung Joon’s mana and manifested a magic barrier; all of the offensive spells aimed at him were blocked by the barrier.

The offensive spells blocked by the magic barrier gradually lost their power and either dissipated or exploded.

“Hahaha! How does it taste!?”

“The nineteen of us bombarded him with offensive spells, so he’s probably dead!”

The resulting dust that came about from the explosion caused them to be unable to see Sung Joon’s figure. Therefore, they thought that Sung Joon was swept up by the series of explosions and that he’d be fatally injured. However, the A-rank Magic Knight, who kept his silence, felt a single mana reaction, and opened his mouth with a pale expression.

“He’s still alive!”

“What did you say?”

“A powerful mana reaction! It’s aura!”

They didn’t even have the time to panic; one of them caught the mana reaction and immediately after, something gleamed within the dust.

“Shie… Ugh!”

One of the Mages sensed danger and tried to cast his Shield, but ‘something’ flew before he could and burrowed into his neck. That ‘something’ was Sung Joon’s dagger. It had flown so quickly that he didn’t even have to opportunity to utilize his Shield.

“He’s alive!”

“All of you. Don’t stop your casting!”

The Mages responded, and five Magic Knights who had been at their posts joined up, protecting them. However, by the time the dust cleared, Sung Joon wasn’t there.

“He’s not there?”

“I’m over here.”

The Mages heard his voice from the center of their formation. They all felt terrified, and when they turned their heads, Sung Joon was drawing up a huge amount of mana.

The moment all of that mana was focused into his sword, Sung Joon opened his mouth.

“Tempest Sword.”

He spoke the activation words, and the moment he swung his sword, sword winds raged in all directions like a storm. The Mages couldn’t respond at all and were brutally slashed apart by the sword winds, losing their lives.

The sword winds even reached the Magic Knights as well.

It was a bloodbath.

“Shield! AH!”

The minority of them managed to cast their Shield and felt relieved, but Sung Joon found them and killed them one by one, using his aura to cut through their Shields and decapitate them.

“Absorb.”

The battle was finished and Sung Joon absorbed their stamina and mana. Perhaps because they were individuals who handled magic, he felt that he had replenished a ton of mana.

“Is that it?”

He thought all the forces on the second floor or the basement would join up with them, but it seems as though they kept their positions and strengthened their defenses as he didn’t see them appear on the first floor.

“Where should I go first?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to go to the top floor, which stores confidential documents, rather than the basement, which stores raw materials?” Rishubalt asked, expressing his opinion. When he was finished organizing his thoughts, Sung Joon shook his head.

“Let’s go to the basement first and steal the magic materials.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to go to the highest floor first?”

“If the documents in the Tactical Magic Tower aren’t special, they won’t scrap them. But if they do decide to scrap them, they’ll destroy them when we’re at around the middle floor. In any case, it’s difficult to get there in time,” Sung Joon explained.

“As expected of my lord. You thought this out.” Rishubalt nodded his head and understood. And admired him.

“Then we’re going to the basement,” Sung Joon decided.

“It’s a trespasser!”

When he went down to the basement, guards immediately exposed themselves. Because the Tactical Magic Tower’s most important floor wasn’t the basement, which contained magical materials, but the top floor storing their documents, there weren’t that many guards in the basement.

There were only four Mages, five Magic Knights, and around thirty guards that were guarding the basement. Befitting a Magic Tower, there weren’t that many normal soldiers, and there were comparatively a lot of Mages and Magic Knights.

“None of the Magic Knights are highly ranked; likewise, the Mages aren’t as well,” Rishubalt reported. High ranked Magic Knights or high ranked Mages at least A-rank and were powerful enemies, but it seemed like none of them had shown themselves thus far.

“Gauging your enemy’s capabilities as well as taking into consideration your own, you can defeat them within five minutes, my lord.”

“Five minutes? Three minutes is plenty.”

Sung Joon moved. That movement was like a flash. He instantly decapitated the Magic Knights’ heads, as well as the soldiers’, and his sword, which passed deeply into enemy lines, felled the Mages as well.

“Stop him!”

“We have to stop him at all costs!”

It wasn’t as much as the document storage room on the top floor, but the magic materials storage room also had important facilities. The next room was a vast clearing, and several guards appeared.

“There are two highly ranked mages mixed into that force of one hundred. Shouldn’t you use your Dragon Fear?”

Rishubalt suggested that he used his large scale suppression ability, ‘Dragon Fear’. If he used Dragon Fear, he could stop several opponents in their tracks. The amount of time that Dragon Fear kept them still was longer than releasing his killing intent, and had a higher chance of suppressing his enemies.

And in the case of the Mages, they would stiffen, so they would have to halt their casting, and their mana would be twisted, so they temporarily wouldn’t be able to resume casting.

“It’s a good method.”

The mana consumption was considerable, but he could replenish his mana through ‘Mana Absorption’ so he wasn’t really worried.

“Howl, Roel!”

Roar.

Sung Joon’s sword, Roel, sleeping sword cried out.

“Ugh!”

“D-Dragon Fear?”

“AH!”

The soldiers fell and fainted; the others weren’t in good shape, either. The high ranked Mages also couldn’t bear the Dragon Fear and couldn’t help but halt their casting. And using that opportunity, Sung Joon used his high-speed movement and cut off their heads; following that, he killed the rest of them.

When the battle was over, he used his ‘Mana Absorption’ and entered into the magic material storage room.

“Let’s steal all of the magic materials.”

Because the magic pouch definitely had its limits, he had to choose the most expensive looking magic materials. He finished stealing the magic materials, and then, the moment he was about to walk out…

He discovered a hidden door in the corner of the room.

“I thought that the Tactical Magic Tower’s basement only had one floor…”

Sung Joon sifted through his memories, but he didn’t recollect any information regarding a second floor for the Tactical Magic Tower’s basement.

“It could be a secret lab.”

“Well, all of the Magic Towers have one of those.”

Sung Joon answered unimportantly, broke the lock, and went down to the second floor of the basement. And he saw Hell.

“Holy crap…”

The room was filled with young children hanging from the walls. And they weren’t in good condition, either.

“The Empire has… allowed such tests?”

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Sung Joon was shocked. His trust in the Emperor had already hit rock bottom, yet it felt like that trust had dropped all the way down to Hell.

“It’s not important, but the Tactical Magic Tower can run tests independently.”

“Yeah. The important thing is that no one here is coming out of this alive.”

An icy killing intent overflowed from Sung Joon’s eyes.