Chapter 209

[Majestic Challenge (Quest)

Without the involvement of Doom Kaos, the design of the System could have been perfect. Doom Kaos' malicious desires have infiltrated the System. Many parts of the System's existing design have been twisted, and confusion will occur soon.

Mission: Victory in the quest battle.

Reward: Box system (category selection) modification access and points

*This quest is for challengers only.]

From Seon-Hu's experience, the System had two different faces. It was obvious just by looking at how it had acted ever since he had gone back in time. It had given a quest to prevent the crisis of mankind, but it had also sent a vicious quest to destroy him as it had claimed that he was a threat to humanity. Due to its dual characteristics, mankind in the past had been split into two forces: the Eight Evils and the Eight Virtues. This division ended up causing the largest civil war ever.

Seon-Hu's eyes trembled in shock as he stared at the bolded letters in the quest window. Doom Kaos was the name of the root of all evil and was the highest-ranked being of the Seven Demon Kings.

This is crazy. There has only been just... one System. I can't believe that its seemingly two-faced nature was because of Doom Kaos.

Seon-Hu was terrified out of his wits. He felt like the blood that was circulating along his blood vessels had suddenly become cold and was now flowing backward. He recalled how the Spirit had played a frightening prank on the Awakened in the Stage of Advent, the conditions that forced the Awakened to their limits on the stage, the dungeon boxes threw out curses, and the random System that made them live their lives on the edge relying solely on their luck. All of this had led to the worst civil war of humanity. Those battles between the Awakened were truly not supposed to happen.

The truth was actually quite simple. Because of this, mankind had the opportunity to create a new civilization, even on disastrously ruined land. Humanity's enemy wasn't the System or the Awakened that had been separated into other groups. Instead, it was one force only: Doom Kaos, the root of all evil, and the six Demon Kings under his might.

While Seon-Hu was burdened by this enormous truth, a notification message appeared to awaken him from his thoughts.

[Would you like to move to the quest site?]

[Warning: Organize as many attack squads as possible.]

Not now.

If he could bring along an attack squad as the System had warned, he would have. It was a quest that he had to challenge after developing his abilities, and he lacked crucial information on the quest. Moreover, if he moved now, the village couldn't handle the wave that was about to begin in a few hours. Also, he realized that the method of obtaining rewards wasn't something he had to fix immediately. He needed to normalize the Spirits that were disturbing the Stage of Advent! If he succeeded in that, the Stage of Advent would be...

However, Seon-Hu's previous ominous presentiment came true. The Spirit had been silent this whole time, but its face suddenly started to twist playfully. When its color changed from blue to blood red, Seon-Hu clenched his teeth.

Shit.

[You will be moved to the quest site. Good luck! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ]

***

Seon-Hu was on the plain under golden twilight, and he was staring into the air anxiously.

[Conditions to win the battle: Destruction of the Doom Kaos altar or annihilation of all the enemies.]

[Conditions to lose the battle: You or your allies' death.]

Since the Spirit had forced him to start the quest, the word 'allies' meant nothing. Seon-Hu was alone. He looked around and picked up a skeleton from the ground. It was a canine's skull. However, he noticed that the rest of the skeleton contained the bones of a bipedal creature. In other words, this was a battle against the Declans. Also, the System's complete and specific explanation on victory and defeat indicated that he would have to fight against one or more corps.

If I let my guard down, I could die here.

Seon-Hu unpacked his backpack. When he had entered the village, he had put as many of his items as possible inside the bag so as to not provoke the greed of others. His rings didn't look very impressive, but even ignorant folks would be able to tell that items like Ra's Sun Cape were rare.

After arming himself, he hid behind a bush. In any case, he just had to meet the requirements to win the battle. He planned to penetrate into the enemy lines as close as possible and then destroy the altar.

Then, the protection of the System will be activated.

According to his past experiences, he would be moved back to his original location after bringing this type of quest to an end.

[Your intrusion has been reported. The enemy is adjusting formation.]

He climbed up the high hill and checked the enemy camp.

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath. Seon-Hu's wishes had crumbled away.

There was a unit in the corps that had the ability to identify anyone hiding The enemy was operating with two corps. One protected the altar while the other was preparing to carry out the battle.

If I attack the guards, I'll die right away.

Seon-Hu focused on the combat corps and carefully observed them. There were twenty units in the combat corps, and the units were divided based on their combat capabilities. Approximately a hundred and fifty mutts and Declan combat soldiers were in one unit. There were fifty Declan warriors in another one, and another twenty sorcerers were organized as another unit. Meanwhile, the corps had not budged at all since forming the combat formation.

Six general infantry units, four reinforced infantry units, five firing infantry units, two sorcerer units, two cavalry units, one giant monster unit, and one flight unit.

Also, the commander of the corps obviously possessed the characteristics of a boss monster, so it was strong enough by itself without anyone else in its unit.

If I had brought over at least one attack squad... Damn it.

In that case, Seon-Hu would have drawn the Declan's combat corps over to the attack squad. Although he would ultimately have to sacrifice them, he could have somehow penetrated the guard corps to destroy the altar. No matter how hard he thought about other strategies, he had no choice. However, it was impossible to continue hiding outside the enemy's shooting range.

But I don't have to step up first. I'm not the only one who will have to be frustrated in this game.

The enemy would send out their flight or mounted troops to confirm if Seon-Hu had brought other people on his side. Basically, he had no option but to defeat them first.

***

It was as Seon-Hu had expected. The flight troops flooded out from the enemy camp. They were no different from ordinary mutts, but they had wings. They were officially named Declan Flight Combat Soldier. Exactly a hundred of them were present, and it was easy for him to spot their movements as their sorcerers had buffed them with the 'hidden enemy identification magic.' They were wrapped with a unique, brilliant glow.

Seon-Hu knew exactly what would happen since he had fought against them countless times in the past. The flight combat soldiers would attack him as soon as they discovered him instead of going back to their corps and informing their leader. It was their inevitable nature. In addition, their habit of never-fleeing, no matter what, was like a double-edged sword.

Then, the mutts flying all over the place in groups finally found Seon-Hu.

[You have been discovered by the enemy. Your concealment will be removed.]

All one hundred flying soldiers rushed towards Seon-Hu at once.

Swoosh!

They fell from the sky at a high speed and that was all Seon-Hu could see. They were about to claw their toenails into him, but he didn't hesitate. He was planning to clear them quickly before their reinforcements followed up.

Slice-

Devi's Sword bounced off of Seon-Hu's body and drew a trajectory after thrusting into the neck of the mutt that was aiming at him. Since he had used Devi's Sword countless times before, a perfect trajectory had been drawn as a result of his thorough calculation. The blade swept the mutts' necks. The sliced heads and bodies fell to the ground as fast as hail.

[You have exterminated a Declan flight soldier.]

...

[You have exterminated a Declan flight soldier.]

A number of messages endlessly popped up in front of Seon-Hu. However, he only saw the Declans' movements outside the messages as he was extremely focused on killing them. A flicker of lightning sparked from his fingertips before splitting into multiple bolts, stretching out toward the mutts. The screams of their fellow mutts caused the Declans to thirst for more blood. More frenzied soldiers landed on the ground and sprinted towards Seon-Hu by jumping over the corpses as soon as they folded their wings down. However, he was much faster than them. He quickly followed their movements with his eyes, and his senses were keen,

[The trait 'Forerunner' has been activated.]

[The trait 'Gifted' has been activated.]

[The trait 'Sensitive' has been activated.]

Lightning bolts danced in the air, and Ra's Sun Cape turned into a sword. The flames from the weapon burned mutts immediately on the spot when they were cut in half. The fire spread to the nearby ones, scorching even the wings of the mutt that had finally succeeded in attacking Seon-Hu. He swung the sword down diagonally, then kicked the head that had just fallen to the ground.

Crush!

The skull crumpled when his foot made contact. There wasn't even a scream as it had cracked instantly.

There were about forty mutts left. The lightning power and flames Seon-Hu had created became even more active. The number of bodies gradually increased, and he was able to see more and more as an increasing number of mutts collapsed. The last one also died gloriously. A streak of lightning randomly flew over like a living creature and accurately pierced the mutt in the back of its neck.

When Seon-Hu no longer saw anything else standing, he swept a hand down his face for the first time. The blood and burnt flesh from the monsters had clumped up on the tip of his chin.

Dududududu.

The ground began to vibrate. The two mounted troops, the Declan soldiers riding monsters, were rushing toward the hill where Seon-Hu was standing. The entire combat corps was also beginning to move. Among them, the unit that created the biggest noise was where the four giant monsters were. The fact that they were all running toward him created an oppressive feeling.

Closer. Closer.

Seon-Hu estimated the distance between them. Even when the mounted troops rushed in at a speed that looked like it could sweep away obstacles, there was one thing that he was still waiting for: the archers who approached from the back while maintaining their formation. In order to avoid having arrows pouring down on him like rain, he needed to destroy them first.

When they came into the precise range that he had been waiting for, one of the rings he wore emitted a brilliant glow like a diamond.

[You have used the Ruler's Ring.]

[Target: Adult Graf]

The entire area around Seon-Hu wriggled, then he shouted at the land.

"Go and kill all the archers."

In the deep ground, where no one could see, gigantic creatures that resembled centipedes were squirming at his command.