Chapter 166: Chapter 165: Lee Kangchan Part I
Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
“Gah!”
I dealt with the remaining Yung Gong soldiers in front of me and turned around. The enemy army was in pieces. It didn’t take long for us to tear their army into smaller units once we split its ranks in half. Just then, I heard Shin Changil’s angry shouting.
“Lee Jiwon! We’ve done nothing to you! We’re the ones that took the most losses back in Seorak dungeon, but we left you alone, so why are you doing this to us?”
I turned my head in his direction. The battle wasn’t over yet. There were still around seventy thousand enemy soldiers left, and our side was taking heavy losses. I needed to get back into the fray but before that, I had to keep our morale up and the enemy’s morale down. As long as we kept this up, it wouldn’t be long until the enemy would lose all will to fight and we would corner them like rats.
“I told you before. I don’t like what you guys do. You of all people know the sins and crimes the Yung Gong Guild has committed so far. Stealing is second-nature to you, isn’t it?” I replied to Shin Changil while looking straight at him. That wasn’t all I had to say. “What, did you think that this wouldn’t happen to you by someone stronger then you?”
“But…like you, I haven’t persecuted my own people!”
“Hah.” I scoffed in disbelief at what he just said. He shouldn’t be the one to say that. “Then do you mean to say that the ‘mercenaries’ from Cheng Long and Nayuta are Korean? Oh, now I understand. Cheng Long and Nayuta have always been YOUR people.”
Shin Changil didn’t say anything in return, while his face grew beet red.
I looked away and shifted my attention back to the enemy soldiers. I had no more to say either, and needed to show more of my strength.
“Gah!”
“f.u.c.k! Is he a boss monster or something? What kind of damage output is this?”
Tankers or dealers, they all fell before me with only a few attacks.
“Blink 1” I charged to an enemy soldier who seemed stronger than the rest.
“Gah! Where did you come from…?”
Shin Changil and Lee Kangchan would have to wait until I was done with everyone else. I wanted them to watch as I slaughtered their entire army before them.
“Everyone, stay strong!” I shouted and my allies shouted back.
“Yes sir!”
Just then, two unarmed devas came up to me.
“Mr. Lee, we would like to speak with you.”
“And who are you?”
“My name is Hong Tai, captain of the mercenaries from Cheng Long.”
“And I’m Takeru, captain of the mercenaries from Nayuta.”
“Is that right? Well, what do you want to say? Shin Changil is watching us nervously, you know.”
“Cheng Long would like to take this chance and retreat from this battle.”
“Nayuta would like the same as well.”
“Hah! Aren’t you mercenaries? Shouldn’t you be saying that to your client?” I said, pointing to Shin Changil.
“Yung Gong has lost this battle.”
“This battle was over once the devas of Yung Gong and the smaller guilds were shaken. We don’t want to take any more losses since we already know what the outcome is. If you give us your permission for us to leave this place, we’ll put in a good word to Nayuta’s guild master.”
“Cheng Long will do the same.”
I knew that this would happen. There was no such thing as loyalty among them in the first place. They weren’t even mercenaries under the employ of Madun Yatekin the Mercenary Lord. Put simply, Yung Gong had stupidly played itself into the hands of Cheng Long and Nayuta.
“Is that right? Judge’s Gavel.” I kept the conversation going and once Judge’s Gavel cooldown was up, I activated it once more.
“Yes. Besides, it’s not like we have any resentment towards each other, right? I’ll be sure to let my guild master know about you kindness if…Gah!”
I slammed my spear on Hong Tai before he could finish talking. The red hammer crushed his body, finishing him off with a single blow.” I turned to Takeru, who was staring in shock at what just happened before his eyes. “If you’re supposed to be mercenaries, then the least you could do is see it through to the end,” I said before stabbing him.
“Gah! s.h.i.t! Attack! It’s not over yet!”
Sure, it would be easier for me and my allies to defeat Yung Gong if Cheng Long and Nayuta retreated from here, but I didn’t want to send them away in one piece. I had already became their guilds’ enemy by b.u.t.ting in this battle. Would Cheng Long bend over backwards in grat.i.tude for sending his underlings back to him in one piece? Yeah, right. Not with his temper.
Besides, I had already discussed things over with Sunbin, to deal with all of Cheng Long and Nayuta’s mercenaries before Yung Gong’s devas. The two foreign guilds had sent over ten thousand devas each. That was a lot of death penalties for any large guild to deal with. Dealing with them now would be a huge blow to the foreign guilds, which would lessen the chance of having to battle them.
“Gah! s.h.i.t!”
“Kill them all! Don’t leave a single one of them alive!” Takeru ordered before he died, but there was no effect. Hong Tai and Takeru, the leaders of the foreign mercenaries, were both dead. With nowhere to turn, the remaining mercenaries began to fall quickly. The enemy might have outnumbered us, but our soldiers were the top elites of their respective guilds. Yung Gong’s ranks mainly consisted of rookie devas.
Now that we were pushing ahead, I finally shifted my attention to Lee Kangchan.
“f.u.c.k! This can’t be happening!” Lee Kangchan couldn’t believe what was going on before his eyes.
The Sojung Guild had been split on whether or not they should join Yung Gong in the upcoming battle. The Sojung Guild master had believed that there was no ent.i.ty in South Korea that could overthrow Sunbin, and that it would be best to remain under the radar. Lee Kangchan and many of his fellow guild members felt differently. They believed that they should join Yung Gong, receive some rewards once they won the battle, and even gain access to the dungeon in Jeju Island.
Everything had gone smoothly for Lee Kangchan at first. He was sure that he had made the right decision when many more guilds decided to join in.
“But at this rate…” Lee Kangchan wasn’t afraid of dying here today; he was afraid of the Sunbin Guild. If Sunbin decided to take retribution, it would all be over for him. He wouldn’t be allowed to set foot in Korea ever again.
He turned to Lee Jiwon, the man who was supposed to be commander of the enemy army. It all started with him.
“Huh?” He was glaring at Lee Jiwon, thinking their eyes wouldn’t meet, but when they did, Lee Kangchan quickly shifted his gaze elsewhere. There was no doubt Lee Jiwon was powerful. He controlled the flow of the battle.
However, Lee Kangchan could clearly feel that Lee Jiwon was still staring right at him. He even heard footsteps coming closer to him. Sounds of battle echoed through the battlefield, but the footsteps were like claps of thunder to Lee Kangchan.
-He’s not…actually coming towards me, is he? Is it because our eyes met?-
He doubted that was the reason, but the footsteps got closer. He couldn’t even think about running. He knew there was nowhere to run to. The only way out of here was death.
Lee Kangchan finally turned to face the man who had stopped in front of him. He had never seen Lee Jiwon before in his life and yet there he was, smiling.
“It’s good to see you. I’ll see you again.”
-Is he some sort of psychopath?-
That was all he could think as Lee Jiwon’s spear pierced his chest. Lee Kangchan couldn’t understand why Lee Jiwon would smile as he attacked. And what was that about seeing him again? Lee Kangchan wanted nothing to do with Lee Jiwon anymore.
-f.u.c.k! What’s with this damage? How could I die from one hit? What is he, a boss monster?-, Lee Kangchan thought to himself as he watched the remaining 70% of his HP fall to 0. He was so jealous that a fellow Korean could be that strong…
I watched as Lee Kangchan’s body slumped to the ground and burst into smoke.
I looked down at my shaking hand. I had just killed Lee Kangchan, the one man I feared, the man who had forced me to run like a dog. I closed my hand into a fist and soon, the trembling subsided.
-That’s right. I’m strong; so strong that I could kill him with a single blow.-
Killing Lee Kangchan left me feeling refreshed, as if the act had finally chased away the demons that had been haunting me since I came back to the past.
I smiled. I was always curious how revenge would feel. All those movies I had watched had the main characters feel a sense of loss when they had their revenge, but that wasn’t the case for me. I finally felt free.
What was more important was that this wasn’t over for me or Lee Kangchan. There were more chances for us to meet now.
I turned back to the battle and charged in.
Five hours later…
Thirty thousand haggard Yung Gong devas were surrounded by ten thousand devas of my allied factions.
“Shall we continue?” There were only ten thousand of Yung Gong soldiers and the remaining twenty thousand were from smaller guilds. Cheng Long and Nayuta were already taken care of.
Shin Changil finally looked up at me and replied, “…We surrender.”
“Wise choice. You saw the true faces of Cheng Long and Nayuta today haven’t you? They like using people for their own benefit and are quick to cast aside the same people once they have no use for them. That’s what happened to Yung Gong.”
“…” Shin Changil couldn’t say anything to the truth in my words, but I didn’t care.
“Now then, as the victor of this battle, I’ll lay down the terms for Yung Gong. First, Gyeongsang Province is now under Sunbin control, including the dungeons. I’m not saying that you have to leave Gyeongsang or that you have to dissolve Yung Gong. You’ll just be losing all of your privileges.”
Shin Changil glowered and spit at what I said, but I ignored him and continued. There was more for him to be angry at.
“Second, I’ll be taking your headquarters. It’s a nice, big building after all. I always wanted it before the world changed and I can finally fulfill that wish.” It would be under my control, but to be honest, I was too bothered to take care of it. I just wanted to whittle down Yung Gong’s influence.
Taking away their home, dungeons, and headquarters was enough to leave them with nothing at all. It would be annoying to deal with the remnants at first, but over time, they’d leave or be absorbed into mid-cla.s.s guilds.
“There is more I want to say, but I’ll only leave those two, for your sake. Will you accept?”
“…” Shin Changil didn’t say anything, but didn’t retaliate. He knew he had no choice. “I… accept.”
“Very good.” I said, nodding. There were many devas still on the battlefield and countless witnesses watching us. There was no way he could come back from this. He could try, but the whole world already saw him as trash now.
“Oh, that’s right. If you have any intentions of joining Cheng Long or Nayuta, I suggest you don’t. The second you join their ranks, you’ll be stripped of whatever you have left. It’s the one sincere piece of advice I can leave you.” I said my piece and turned to leave. Sunbin could deal with everything else.