Emperor of Solo Play

Chapter 181 – Hero Slaughterer (4)

13.

Hyrkan ran full tilt as he ran away towards the northern region of the Highwood Forest. At times, he saw Users passing by him at high speed.

‘By the look of their Setting, they went all out for speed. It seems they are dead set on catching me.’

These Users had put all their Stat Points into Strength. They had Item Settings geared towards speed, and they had received all kinds of Speed Buffs. They even had consumable Items that could boost their speed. Moreover, they were experienced in running quickly through difficult terrains.

‘How many….. If I combine the number of Strikers and the rear support team, will they number between 100 to 200? Will it be around 150 of them?’

They would be blocking Hyrkan’s path shortly.

When he saw what they were about to do, Hyrkan smiled.

‘This is the best outcome I could have hoped for.’

He was being put into a desperately dangerous situation.

They were on the Hahoe Mask’s tail, and eventually the body would be caught.

When they caught up to the body of the Hahoe Mask, it was obvious what the Big Smiles guild planned to do.

However, Hyrkan wasn’t flustered. Of course, this was going as planned, and he wanted this to play out like this.

All work was like this. If one wanted good result, one had to go through a step by step process.

This venture was no different.

Giant Killing.

It was as the word implied. He would be taking down one of the 30 great guilds, which was akin to taking down a giant. He couldn’t do it with only with viciousness and balls.

First, he had to fight within his weight class.

This was why he had carried out this ridiculous revenge plot.

It was suicide for a Flyweight boxer to fight a Heavyweight boxer on the Heavyweight boxer’s term.

The next problem was something he had learned in the past after fighting a war with the 30 great guilds.

The act of slaying the giant was much easier than dealing with the aftermath.

If he had killed all eleven Users, the Pitbull revenge play would have come to an end. He would have to drop his vendetta. Hyrkan wouldn’t have been able to use revenge as a cover in attacking the Big Smiles guild. If he attacked after completing his revenge, he would basically be openly announcing his hostility towards the Big Smiles guild. On the flip side, this implication also held true for the Big Smiles guild. Since the revenge play had come to an end, they would have to try to hide their conduct. They would have to catch the Hahoe Mask in secret.

‘I forgave them.’

He had forgiven them.

He had brought the issue to a clean end.

Hahoe Mask had appeared in front of the Users, who had hunted down Pitbull, and he made it clear that he had forgiven them. He also apologized to them, and he gave them a sincere blessing. He wished them luck in getting good drops.

So what would happen if the Big Smiles guild moved immediately to kill the Hahoe Mask?

Who will be blamed for starting the war?

From that moment on, it would no longer be a revenge play.

‘People always root for the underdog.’

The giant would be attacking a small private individual. They would attack him in an one-sided and indiscriminate manner.

‘From now on, no matter what I do to fuck them over they won’t be able to complain. They’ll just have to take it.’

If this small individual suffered in such a manner, it didn’t matter what he did. He could use whatever methods or tricks in his arsenal. His actions would be forgiven by the public. Moreover, people will actually cheer him on.

From now on, no one would point a finger in admonishment when they witness what he had planned. They’ll give him a standing ovation.

14.

“What?”

“That is….. The Hahoe Mask didn’t harm the bait team.”

The Hahoe Mask hunting plan had been approved in the meeting of the executive officers. The next topic was to decide, who would be in command of the operation, and Apollo was given the baton.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“That is….. The bait team is in a state of confusion right now, so I’ll have to listen to them a little bit more. However, from what I gather, it seems the Hahoe Mask had forgiven them. No, he didn’t forgive the bait team, but he forgave the Users, who hunted down Pitbull.”

No one had complained when Apollo was handed the command.

Apollo thought this was a great opportunity for him.

When he killed the Hahoe Mask, Apollo’s power within the Big Smiles would increase significantly. This will allow Apollo to fix his weakness.

Apollo had basically bought his way into power. He was also placed in the sub-guild master chair, because he was perceived to be easier to control by Brooks. Moreover, unlike Heh-bibin, he didn’t have the ability, awareness or the patience to build up his own power base. He would never be a threat to Brooks.

Of course, none of the Big Smiles guild members had unconditionally accepted his promotion. In such a situation, he had the chance to bring about the killing of the Hahoe Mask. All the guild members wanted the Hahoe Mask taken down, and he would have the support of the normal guild members if he succeeded. This task represented a symbolism he could use to gain power.

Of course, there was a catch. The catch was that he had to put his voice behind Heh-bibin. Furthermore, in return, Heh-bibin promised to support Apollo from now on.

If such a deal wasn’t in place, he wouldn’t have risked stabbing Brooks in the back. Brooks was the one, who had placed him within the Big Smiles guild.

“So what?”

The fact that the Hahoe Mask hadn’t bothered with the bait team didn’t change anything for Apollo.

“What are you trying to say? What’s going on with the Hahoe Mask hunt?”

He didn’t care about the status of the bait team. The only thing important was the fact that Apollo had the chance to kill the Hahoe Mask. He had the chance to break the Hahoe Mask’s wrists.

“We are in pursuit. We are also intermittently engaging him in battle.”

“What is the current situation?”

“We’ll be able to corner him. Our hunting team is faster than him.”

They had made a lot of preparations. The Highwood forest was a difficult stage, so the elites of the guild were all gathered there. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that any Big Smiles guild member with a modicum of skill was gathered there.

“Then catch him for me.”

“Yes.”

At Apollo’s words, there wasn’t much more to say. The one giving the report didn’t give any advices to Apollo.

It wasn’t as if Apollo was the only one, who wanted to kill the Hahoe Mask. There wasn’t a single guild member within the Big Smiles guild, who looked favorably at the Hahoe Mask. Moreover, the bait team was bait. When a fish bites the bait, one doesn’t worry if the bait was fine or damaged. No fisherman would worry about whether a bait was intact when one had to reel in the fish.

“Anyways, he is about to reach the border between the Red Desert and the Highwood Forest.”

“Red Desert?”

“Yes, we’ll be able to surround him there.”

“All right.”

Everyone’s favorite prey was heading north.

The Red Desert was acknowledged to be dangerous by the Big Smiles guild. It was a place where they forbid their guild members from hunting, yet they were heading there.

15.

The Hahoe Mask was surrounded.

‘There are quite a lot of them.’

If one stood atop the large trees filling up the Highwood forest, one could catch sight of the Red Desert. One could see about thirty Strikers surrounding the Hahoe Mask to the north.

‘They made pretty extensive preparations.’

The encircling net was tight.

At any point in time, the encircling net could let fly their swords towards Hyrkan. They were prepared to sacrifice their lives for the Hahoe Mask Hunt.

At the same time, they were waiting for something.

‘The Hahoe Mask’s Skeletons hasn’t made their appearance yet.’

‘We have to eliminate whatever the Hahoe Mask brings to bear before we can eliminate him.’

‘This might turn into a prolonged battle.’

There were two ways to hunt the Hahoe Mask.

The first method was to kill the Hahoe Mask before he could bring out all his cards. The other method was to force the Hahoe Mask to bring out all his cards then kill him.

The former method seemed easy, but the Hahoe Mask had a frightening amount of skill in battle even if he didn’t have his Skeletons and Golems. In the Argardo Raid, Immoral Prince Raid and the Anugas raid, he showed such proficiency that all Strikers praised the Hahoe Mask’s peerless skills.

This was why the second option was preferable.

It was to force the Hahoe Mask to bring out all his cards!

It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible. The Hahoe Mask could not summon an unlimited number of Skeletons and Golems.

They have over 50 Strikers, and twice the number of magicians and priests….

There were close to 150 Users gathered here, and these weren’t the normal Users of Big Smiles guild. These were the best of the best of the Big Smiles guild, so the task of eliminating the Hahoe Mask’s familiars shouldn’t be too difficult for them. These Users thought of Big Smiles as being the best, so they considered themselves to be the best.

This was why they were forcing this confrontation.

However, even in this harsh atmosphere, Hyrkan was able to speak up.

“Why are you guys attacking me?”

Hyrkan used this lull to ask a question. The voice asking the question was very loud.

Of course, all the Users were focused on Hyrkan’s every movement, so they were all able to hear his words.

They were taken aback by the question.

‘What?’

They would have preferred if the Hahoe Mask was overbearing. They would have had an easier time accepting swear words from the Hahoe Mask than what they were getting right now.

Instead, he had ask them a question.

Why were they attacking him?

No one could answer that question.

Hyrkan once again asked them a question.

“Didn’t I forgive the Users, who hunted down Pitbull?”

Hyrkan didn’t even bother to unsheathe his weapon as he spoke. He had his arms crossed as if he was lecturing them.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve expressed my intentions not too long ago. I will no longer pursue my revenge. I haven’t attacked the remaining eight Users. Moreover, I didn’t mess with the Big Smiles guild members hunting within the Highwood Forest.”

This was obvious, but the Hahoe Mask hunt team hadn’t known about this fact. They had just chased after Hyrkan.

After receiving a report from the bait team, there was no way Apollo would have informed the Hahoe Mask hunt team of these facts.

“So why is the Big Smiles guild keep trying to attack me? Are you guys trying to punish me as a guild?”

The continuous questions created a disordered atmosphere amongst the Big Smiles guild members.

‘What the hell is he talking about?’

‘He forgave them? That actually happened?’

In the end, someone had to step forward to rile up the troops. The User, who was leading the Hahoe Mask hunt team, had the level, experience and the ability to realize this fact. He quickly stepped forward.

“It is as you said, Hahoe Mask. This is a punishment. As you probably know, the relationship between the Big Smiles guild and you is bad enough where we don’t need to explain ourselves in eliminating each other.”

These were the words spoken previously by Hyrkan towards the Big Smiles guild.

This was why Hyrkan nodded his head.

“So it is a punishment. Therefore, I can use whatever methods and tricks to survive this assault?”

“You can try. We aren't weak. We’ll be able to catch a prey like you, who is right in front of our eyes.”

After speaking those words, the leader of the hunt team used the Voice Talk to give orders to the Strikers surrounding the Hahoe Mask.

- You guys attack the Hahoe Mask first, then he’ll start using the his cards.

- When I give the signal, the 1st team will move. The 2nd team will be ready to counteract any changes. The 3rd team will act as support.

- If you are in trouble, I want you guys to retreat to the backline, so you can receive healing from the Priests.

- The Magicians should look out for the signal to start the magical bombardment.

There was no reason why they should give Hyrkan more time. If he wouldn’t pull out his cards, they would have to force it out of him.

Now everyone was tense as they waited for a signal. The leader of the hunt team was mulling over when to give out the signal.

Hyrkan still didn’t show any signs of fighting. He continued to speak with his arms folded. It was as if he wanted to buy some time.

“Are any of you subscribed to my youtube page? Raise your hands.”

Of course, no one raised their hands. No one was flustered by his words.

‘My intuition say they’ll be attacking soon. Their timing is impeccable.’

As Hyrkan looked at them, he forcefully stopped himself from smiling. He maintained a neutral expression as he continued to speak.

“There’s a video over there explaining the special characteristics of the my Skills. The description of the Skill I’m about to use will be uploaded there soon.”

‘The countdown has started’

At the same time, Hyrkan started to count inside. He started to countdown from the initial number he chose.

“It’s a Skill that was reinforced by the Ancient Power I recently gained. It was a Legendary Rank Ancient power, and I used it to reinforce the Bone Explosive Skill. I don’t think you guys have a high level Necromancer within your guild, so you probably don’t know about the effects of reinforcing this Skill. Do you guys at least know about the Bone Explosive Skill?”

At that moment, Hyrkan unfurled his arms. Then he took out a small bomb from a pouch attached to his waist. The Bone Explosive looked like a skull, and there was a thumb-length wick attached to it.

“The Bone Explosive skill causes this to explode. Once I reinforced this Skill, it gained the time bomb option. At most, I can set the bomb to explode after 6 hours.”

At that moment, Hyrkan unfurled his hand. He straightened all five fingers.

“Five, four, three…...”

He folded his fingers as he spoke. He started with his thumb, and he kept moving onto the next finger. He finally arrived at the pinky finger.

When it folded, the number zero was spoken by Hyrkan.

Kwah-kwahng, kwahng, kwah-ahng!

It started from beneath the feet of the Strikers surrounding Hyrkan. It occurred from all direction, and it was several dozen…. No, over 200 area started to explode in succession.

“What the hell?”

“It’s an attack!”

The bombs went off like dominoes falling.

In other words, it was quite the sight. It was as if fireworks were being detonated.

The spectators could only look on and focus on the spectacular, powerful and unique attack. Most of those not involved in the explosion looked at the sight.

‘Ok.’

During all of this, Hyrkan ran towards the north.

- Maintain the perimeter!

When the Big Smiles guilds became distracted, Hyrkan immediately broke through the perimeter.

He faced the User that was blocking the path in front of him. The User had been busy looking at the explosions, and when he became aware of the Hahoe Mask, it was too late. The Hahoe Mask was within weapon range.

‘Attack!’

At that moment, the User reacted reflexively. However, this was insufficient to beat an opponent like the Hahoe Mask.

The User needed his comrades to help him, but they wouldn’t reach him in time. It took the Hahoe Mask less than three seconds to dispatch the User.

The User swung his sword like lightning. He brought it down from up high.

Shweek!

Hyrkan looked as if he was attempting a wrestling tackle, and the User’s sword was brought down on Hyrkan’s back.

Kah-ahng!

The sounds of steel hitting steel was heard.

However, that was the only effect it produced. Hyrkan was wearing the Black Spot set, and it was still considered to be the set with the most defense.

A scar formed on the armor, yet Hyrkan didn’t receive any damage.

Hweeek!

Hyrkan grabbed his opponent by the waist, and it was as if he was pulling a tree out of its roots. Hyrkan threw his opponent backwards.

In a flash, a path was formed, and Hyrkan charged through the newly opened path.

“Block him!”

Hyrkan hadn’t even bothered to engage the User in a fight. No one expected him to just throw his opponent.

What kind of User would think of such a method, and actually follow through with it?

Of course, there was no plan put in place to deal with such a scenario. One could order people to stop Hyrkan, but it was fruitless.

“I want you guys to run past him, and cordon him off!”

In the end, they could only attempt the same plan as before.

They ran past the Hahoe Mask to form a line, and the line turned into a encircling net again.

The Big Smiles guild’s efforts brought them into the Red Desert, but they were already committed to carrying this out.

The stage had changed, but the encircling net surrounded the Hahoe Mask once again.

“I’ll follow you to the depth of hell.”

Someone growled those words at the Hahoe Mask.

As if to answer those words, Hyrkan flicked his finger twice.

It was a signal.

It was like the Anugas raid. He had summoned the Skeletons beforehand, and he had put them in Defensive mode.

Now the Skeletons would come towards the Hahoe Mask. In the process, they would kill anything that was in their way.

- It’s the Skeletons!

- Shit. He summoned and stashed it beforehand!

- Support! Support! It’ll be too tough for the Magicians and Priests to block the Skeletons!

The Skeletons encountered the Magicians and Priests first, who were on standby in the rear.

Of course, this was also the proof they needed.

- Attack him!

- The Hahoe Mask is out of cards now!

It was proof that Hyrkan had already taken out most of his cards.

They could now attack with the knowledge that Hyrkan was pretty much defenseless.

Both sides signaled at the same time. The leader of the hunt party sent a signal ordering an attack on the Hahoe Mask.

“Kill!”

Everyone ran towards the Hahoe Mask. A portion of the group stopped to used their Crescent Moon Cut Skill. They sent their sword energy towards Hyrkan.

Several dozen sword energies split the air as it headed towards the Hahoe Mask.

Hahoe Mask didn’t try to avoid the sword energies.

‘I’ll block it.’

He used the time he would have used to dodge to summon his Golem. He summoning as fast as he was able to, so he summoned a Golem, while not using the Clay Play Skill. Then he started to summon all the Golems he was able to summon.

Poohk!

First, he quickly stabbed a sword in the sands. He used it to initiate his summoning of the Iron Golem. Only the tip of the sword sunk into the sands, and it started to pour out liquid steel.

[You’ve summoned the Golem.]

The next one to take shape was the Earth Golem.

The Earth Golem rose out of the red sand, and it took form.

[You’ve summoned the Fire Golem..]

Hwah-roo-roo!

The next one was the Fire Golem. Fire streamed out of Hyrkan’s right hand, and the Fire Golem took shape.

[You’ve summoned the Ice Golem..]

A shard of ice grew for Hyrkan’s left hand like a tree. In a flash, it grew larger, and it sprouted limbs. This was the first time the Ice Golem made its appearance in Warlord.

The Iron Golem was the first to be initiated, but it also the slowest to form.

“Bring in the Golem elimination team!”

“Ranged attacks!”

“Get close to them, and try the Armor Breaking!”

“I’m requesting a long ranged bombardment!”

The three Golems had already taken form. The fourth Golem continued to take sword energy strikes and various sword Skills from the Strikers. The Iron Golem formed after taking multiple deep wounds. The Iron Golem appeared in its tough form.

The four Golems were all assembled now.

While this was occurring, Hyrkan started to battle with the four Users, who were approaching him.

He faced the foremost User, who was bring his sword down.

Kah-ahng!

Hyrkan didn’t even unsheathe his sword. He raised his left arm to block the descending sword.

Shweek!

The two other Users came at Hyrkan from both sides as they used their swords like spears. They charged to close the distance.

Before they could reach him, Hyrkan grabbed the sword arm of his opponent. Then he used a judo throw.

Kwah-ahng!

“Uh?”

The User was suddenly thrown to the floor, and the User had a dumbfounded expression within his helmet. He had never experienced a judo throw within Warlord, and he also never experienced falling this easily.

Hyrkan squatted down in place to dodge the attack coming from both sides. The two swords passed above Hyrkan’s head as they intersected.

Koo-oohng!

Then the two Users crashed into each other.

“Ooh-ahk!”

“Below! Below!”

The two Users, who crashed into each other, quickly righted themselves. They tried to attack Hyrkan again, but Hyrkan already moved behind one of the Users. After he moved behind the User, Hyrkan grabbed his opponent’s waist.

Shoohk!

Hyrkan easily lifted the User, and Hyrkan threw him into the other User.

The User was flying towards his comrade, and the comrade raised both hands to catch him. The comrade fell on his butt as he caught him.

“Uhk!”

“W...what the hell?”

Three Users were defeated in a flash, and they had a dumbfounded expression on their faces. In terms of HP, they hadn’t suffered any damage, However, this experience gave them psychological damage instead of the damage to their bodies.

The remaining User decided not to attack the Hahoe Mask.

Instead, he started yelling out.

“Support! Support!”

He had seen the Hahoe Mask’s method of fighting, and the User knew he had no chance in defeating the Hahoe Mask by himself.

Unfortunately, the ones to react to the shout for support wasn’t his comrades or the support team..

Pooh-hwaht!

These were large snakes with hardened scales that reminded one of bugs.

“It’s the Sand Snakes!”

The snakes had reacted to the large amounts of landmines, and the ruckus going on above the surface of the Red Desert.

16.

Pandemonium.

This was the only apt description of this stage.

Koohng koohng!

There were four enormous Golems running amok above the Red Desert. The Golems were full of wounds, and a loud sound emanated every time a damanged part of the Golems fell to the floor. This added more confusion to this already ridiculous battlefield.

Pooh-hwaht!

Six Sand Snakes were moving below and above the sand for their hunt. They were akin to fireworks detonating above an already chaotic situation. They further pushed a chaotic situation into an absolute mess.

There were only six or seven Strikers from the Big Smiles guild, who were able to properly engage the Hahoe mask in battle. The number was very lacking if one wanted to kill the Hahoe Mask.

In such a shit show, the support team was supposed to stabilize the situation, but not a single member of the support team was in sight. They were in a battle against the group of Skeletons.

Of course, deaths started to blossom inside this pandemonium.

[The Skeleton Warrior has reverted to being a Fragment.]

[The Skeleton Knight has reverted to being a Fragment.]

The Skeletons were falling.

“Shit!”

“Recovery Item! Give me some Recovery Items!”

“I’m out!”

“What about the Priests?”

“They are battling the Skeletons.”

The Users died.

[Golem has returned to the earth.]

[Ice Golem is starting to melt.]

The Golems had taken too much damage, and they were starting to fall apart.

“We've killed a Sand Snake!”

“There are four Sand Snakes left. Be careful!”

The Sand Snake couldn’t avoid death either in this pandemonium.

Moreover, the Hahoe Mask hadn’t remained unscathed.

The continous battle ruined his Black Spot set. The parts that were least damaged were dented, and there were even parts where the armor itself had broken off. One could see flesh beneath the armor.

His left arm was especially in a bad state. His armor and glove had fallen off, so his bare arm could be seen. His wristwatch on his left wrist was exposed. It was undefended, since there were no armor over his arm.

The Users facing Hyrkan took this as a source of comfort.

“Look! We just have to cut off his wrist now.”

“Be strong! The Hahoe Mask has run out of quivers!”

They just had to cut off his wristwatch. They’ll gain everything when the Hahoe Mask was caught.

The User in front of their eyes was the most valuable prey in Warlord, and the prey was at death’s door.

This fact made everyone’s eyes gleam.

When their gaze was focused on him, Hyrkan smiled.

“You guys did well, so I'm sorry to have to tell you this. However, my Cool Time has ended.”

Accompanying his words, Hyrkan opened up his forearm.

‘Uh?’

‘What the hell?’

Hyrkan’s left forearm opened like a box, and Hyrkan took out Skeleton Fragments from within.

In truth, he could have summoned additional Skeletons at any point in time. His Cool Time had already ended.

However, he had held himself back.

He had been waiting for this moment.

He wanted his opponents to lose their cool from the surprise they felt, and he wanted to buy several seconds using this tactic.

Hyrkan scattered the Skeleton Fragments to summon a Skeleton Knight and four Skeleton Warriors.

“S...shit!”

Someone let out a sound of despair when he saw the Skeletons.

No one had expected him to hide the Skeleton Fragments inside his forearm, and the Skeleton Fragments were used to summon additional Skeletons.

“Endure! The support team has almost wrapped up their side. We still have over 80 members still alive!”

“We can’t lose the Hahoe mask.”

In the face of despair, some of the Users tried to act wisely.

“It is only a Skeleton Knight and Skeleton Warriors. We just have to kill them.”

“This is his last card.”

The despair they felt was shallow. Since it was shallow, the sense of despair started to dissipate.

As the Big Smiles guild members looked at the Skeleton Knight and Skeleton Warriors, their expression made it clear that they were anticipating their victory.

Maybe it was because of this fact?

They wanted to survive and taste the victory. This was why they didn’t escalate the situation. They waited for the support team, so they could bring about a surefire finale that resulted in their victory.

‘Thank you.’

Hyrkan expressed his thanks inside, then he summoned another of his Skeleton underling.

[You’ve summoned the Bone Wyvern.]

He summoned his Bone Wyvern.

Hyrkan looked at the Users in front of him. The Skeleton Knight and the Skeleton Warriors were creating a fence, and he immediately got on the Bone Wyvern’s body.

Then he spoke.

“Riding Mode.”

[The Riding Skill has been activated.]

“My destination is the Heard Fortress ruin town.”

[Your destination is the Heard Fortress ruin town. Your flight will commence.]

In a flash, the Bone Wyvern started flapping its wings. It was a useless gesture, but nonetheless it started to ascend into the air with the beat of its wings.

“Uh? Uh?”

Everyone looked at this sight with dumbfounded expression on their face. As if to taunt his master’s enemies, the Wyvern flew over the battlefield as it flew towards its destination.

“Ooh-ha-ha!”

Hyrkan raised both his hands atop the Wyvern.

‘This day…. I’ve been dreaming of this day.’

The winner was decided.