Chapter 328 – Disaster Level Claudi (1)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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It was after the Cataclysm that Yong Seong-rak had distinguished himself in World Unification.

Whether it was because of Liu Oujunchun’s brainwashing or not, he knew that he had lived more fiercely than anyone else. Yong Seong-rak did not despair even when abandoned on the Arcana Continent.

“……What is this?”

However, despair settled in Yong Seong-rak’s pupils, which had once shone with conviction. That was right. Yong Seong-rak—the system message he had trusted as much as himself had handed down a sentence.

‘N-Nonsense.’

Lee Ho-yeol—he was an existence that could not be casually estimated.

[Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo appears.]

The long full name did not even enter his eyes.

What he saw was only Claudi.

That one word.

That word confirmed that the man in front of him was Lee Ho-yeol.

A question was thrown at Yong Seong-rak.

“Is that man the adventurer who claims to be a Claudi?”

At Retel’s question, Yong Seong-rak’s nerves stood on end.

‘Are you still not grasping the situation……?’

The days when Arcana was just a game.

Yong Seong-rak had experienced war quests like this several times. Of course, because of his relatively low level, he hadn’t performed an important role. Still, he could know one thing for sure.

You might hunt alone, but a war was not fought alone.

The same went for boss raids, not just ordinary hunting.

Even if one succeeded in a solo raid, in the end, monsters had specific patterns.

It meant that if you just broke the pattern, you could defeat the boss mob.

However, a war was different.

On a battlefield where players tangled and fought, there was no such thing as a set pattern. If there was a player who occasionally stood out, it was common for them to be immediately subdued by systematic tactics.

‘I am specialized in such a role myself.’

Class, Blockader.

Yong Seong-rak looked at the chains wrapped around both his forearms. Applying debuffs to enemies through the chains, and limiting the opponent’s movement by connecting the enemy and himself, was the Blockader’s combat style.

No matter how great Lee Ho-yeol was, he wouldn’t be able to care about his class on the battlefield.

If needed, while looking for an opportunity to acquire contribution points, maybe he could even wrap a chain around Lee Ho-yeol. It was Yong Seong-rak who repeated that half-serious joke in his head.

However, an appearance message.

He realized belatedly that it was a crazy thought.

A voice was heard again.

“Are you listening, adventurer?”

Asking for a name in this situation?

Do you really not feel a sense of crisis?

Yong Seong-rak ground his teeth and opened his mouth.

“That is correct. It is certain that it’s the adventurer, Lee Ho-yeol.”

But she wasn’t satisfied even with that.

“I wondered who the person claiming to be a Claudi, specifically Granfel among them, could be. It seems he imitated it quite elaborately in his own way. The shining silver hair and the radiating halo are even more than the Claudi in my imagination.”

She was daring to evaluate Lee Ho-yeol?

‘……This is no time for this.’

Yong Seong-rak reached a conclusion.

A power difference enough to output an appearance message on the battlefield.

His extensive player knowledge was telling him that, not to mention Akamond, the Four Families didn’t have a single chance of winning.

The brain that had kept Yong Seong-rak alive until now came up with an answer.

‘I have to split up even now.’

Whether to watch for an opportunity and run away, or, if impossible, to bow his head to Lee Ho-yeol and beg.

He had no choice but to make an extreme choice.

However, Yong Seong-rak was overlooking something.

“Everyone, prepare.”

●Swear loyalty to Akamond. (Success)

“?!”

Didn’t he say it himself?

System messages were absolute.

The fact that he had already kissed the back of Retel Akamond’s hand and sworn loyalty through that action.

Clank─

Yong Seong-rak hesitated and untied the knot of the chain.

‘Damn it!’

If he could, he wanted to display the appearance message right in front of Retel’s face.

But there was no way that was possible.

In the end, regardless of Yong Seong-rak’s will, the prelude to war began.

East, West, South, North.

The heads of the Four Families announced the start of the war.

“March forward.”

“Tear the ghost of the past apart.”

“Trample them. The Empire is ours.”

However, they were all overlooking something.

That in this place, they were not in a position to ‘give’ orders.

A blank space seeped into the voices of the Four Families’ heads.

“I, Ignite □□□……?!”

“In the name of □□□……!!”

“Warriors of □□……?”

“□□□□. □□□□? □□□□……!!”

Retel grabbed her neck and coughed.

No matter how much she tried, ‘Akamond’—the family’s name, her own surname—could not be brought out of her mouth.

“My Lord, are you alright?”

“I cannot feel a mana reaction.”

“What kind of trick is this?”

The retainers and soldiers murmured.

“……Do not be agitated.”

Even until then, Retel could not possibly imagine.

She thought he was pulling a strange trick befitting someone impersonating a Claudi.

She thought this was why she couldn’t trust the tribe called adventurers.

“Do not mind me and march.”

However, that too was a misjudgment.

To the servants who betrayed expectations, their owner had withdrawn his mercy a long time ago.

The center of the battlefield.

Toward Ho-yeol, standing upright on his two legs.

Soldiers from all directions charged.

Thud-thud-thud-thud─!

“!!!”

At the same time, the earth vibrated.

Was it because the momentum of the troops was enough to shake the earth?

No, it wasn’t at that level.

Rumble-crash-rumble─!

“……Th-The ground is moving!!”

The earth fluctuated to the extent that it wouldn’t be strange if it collapsed or soared up as it was.

“What trick are you……!”

The gazes of the marching soldiers naturally headed toward their only enemy.

However, there was not even a slight movement from the man.

Just as if he had predicted everything, he merely stood there in an exceedingly arrogant posture.

There was not even a slight change in his expression.

Such composure rather brought agitation to the marching soldiers.

‘……It is clearly his trick.’

‘Is it magic? Nonsense. The exploration and interference processes were not detected!’

‘In the first place, manifesting magic with folded arms is impossible!’

To the player, Yong Seong-rak, it brought astonishment.

‘C-Could it be?’

Just as a boss-level monster transforms a field, was Lee Ho-yeol also molding the battlefield?

Can a mere player do such a thing?

Am I destined to die a dog’s death like this?

‘No, that can’t be.’

Yong Seong-rak ground his teeth.

Then he shouted, not toward Lee Ho-yeol, but toward Retel—more accurately, toward the Four Families.

“Please take the lead and open the path, Heads of the Families! We cannot do anything without your help. We are nothing more than meat shields. Therefore, prove the reason for your confident attitude! If you truly want to be monarchs, don’t just stand back with your hands behind your backs while driving your allies to their deaths!”

Murmur, murmur.

A strange atmosphere flowed at Yong Seong-rak’s shout.

That was evidence that the soldiers were sympathizing with his cry.

‘Do you think I’m going to drop dead alone?’

Retel’s gaze from nearby, and from afar, the gazes of the remaining three family heads would be pouring down.

However, Yong Seong-rak had no intention of backing down.

If he was going to die anyway, shouldn’t he at least make his last struggle?

Did that desperation reach its mark?

Yong Seong-rak’s struggle received an answer.

A voice ringing in the silence.

It was a voice he had heard countless times in reality—Lee Ho-yeol’s voice.

“You brave one.”

“……?”

Their gazes met.

“I have remembered your face.”

“……!”

A short conversation.

Looking at the generous tone, it was clearly not a warning, but for some reason, goosebumps more severe than when he had witnessed the appearance message broke out on Yong Seong-rak’s skin……

*

The Four Families.

Under Claudi’s rule, now stripped of their names and blessings.

Even as they choked, unable to even spit out their names, there seemed to be no leak in their imposing power.

‘Wow.’

This unbending pride.

As the owner of the Four Families, I would take responsibility for the situation.

To realize the words I had spat out, I was standing alone in front of the Four Families.

‘Everyone is no joke, huh?’

This was a power difference where I couldn’t be confident of victory even if [Natural Enemy] was activated.

Above all, the saying that there’s no business against quantity didn’t come about for nothing.

‘But I have a trump card, too.’

I looked at the fluctuating ground.

Someone might have presumed I was milking that construction magic again this time. Honestly, I have nothing to say because I’ve gotten away with it so easily all this time……

‘But not this time, at least.’

That was right.

At this moment, the one shaking the earth was not me.

It was the symbols of the Four Families that guarded Claudi’s territory—the statues modeled after the first generation.

If you asked why those statues were buried underground……

-There are no words to say to you, My Lord.

It was because they could not bear to believe their families’ change of heart.
For they had politely requested if they could check the appearance of their ugly descendants directly through Diend. Considering how desperate they must have been to make such a request, I had accepted and immediately manifested a portal.

The target coordinates of that portal were right beneath my feet—the underground of the Antonium plain.

Because if I had just stood them up, the aggro would have been no joke.

And now, it happened.

Cra-cra-crack─!

The statues that must have confirmed everything.

Their emotions were being transmitted from beneath my feet.

Before long, a resolute voice was heard.

-Please grant us the opportunity to put a period to our families’ history with our own hands. Please give the insignificant families bestowed by Claudi the chance to protect their final pride.

[You have acquired command authority over Maxima’s incarnation.]

[You have acquired command authority over Yugrick’s incarnation.]

[You have acquired command authority over Cansel’s incarnation.]

[You have acquired command authority over Akamond’s incarnation.]

[Current Status: Awaiting orders]

Hmm.

I kept my mouth shut for now and whispered internally.

‘If you stay still, you’ll at least go halfway, Ho-yeol.’

The best thing was getting things done without lifting a finger, right?

Above all, it wasn’t the statues—the incarnations—who had done wrong. Wouldn’t it be a bit much to ignore the ancestors’ request with guilt by association just because their descendants did wrong?

‘No matter what, I need insurance—allies.’

It was the moment I even thought of the possibility of getting away with it easily.

Among the marching soldiers, a man with a somewhat familiar appearance shouted.

“Please take the lead and open the path, Heads of the Families!”

Well, he could say that much.

“Lee Ho-yeol…… No, Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeo. Just as he stepped forward alone to protect the Empire, please prove your unbending momentum as well!”

But what? What did he say?

Granfel Claudi Arpheus Romeoooo?!

Who is that guy again?

Not only my name, but he even knows my embarrassing full name!!

Fortunately, the question did not last long.

The reason the man didn’t feel unfamiliar was that I immediately recognized that he was a player.

If it’s a player I don’t know, he’s obviously someone from World Unification.
For they are the only ones possessing Connectors besides me.

Of course, that’s not what’s important.

‘World Unification or whatever……’

How does he know Granfel’s full name?!

In my heart, I wanted to gag that mouth right away and delete his memory with magic. But could Granfel’s pride tolerate such an action?

Besides.

‘Why are they acting like that again?’

Did they respond to the man’s scream?

The heads of the Four Families were stepping forward. More accurately, they were approaching me—fearlessly and proudly, without even knowing who was waiting under my feet.

‘……Anyway, it saved me some trouble.’

If the family heads hadn’t stepped forward, I would have wasted mana, time, or whatever in battle with the soldiers. This was a situation where I was thankful yet extremely uncomfortable.

However, I couldn’t show my inner thoughts, so I calmly opened my mouth.

“You brave one. I have remembered your face.”

The two of us need to have a long chat later, okay?

Starting from how you came to know my full name, to what kind of scheme you were plotting on the Arcana Continent.

But before that, it was time to dispose of the fundamental culprits of this situation.

I shifted my gaze toward the heads of the Four Families approaching me.

How could the settings of the Claudi family be ordinary?

Naturally, each and every one of them would be a considerably skilled person.

Even if it were a blessing that was nothing but crumbs overflowing from Claudi, for a long time, the Four Families must have grown their power without being threatened by anyone. It was not strange for the successors to have that level of ability.

But you know, too, don’t you?

I, Granfel, according to procedure, kindly wrote it on parchment and sent it to you.

Confiscation.

Everything the Four Families possessed—all of it returned to me, revoked in the name of Claudi.

So.

Rumble-rumble-rumble─

A loud noise.

The earth split, and as if waiting, the incarnations of the Four Families revealed themselves.

“!!!!”

I opened my mouth, matching the timing.

“If you have forgotten your place, I will remind you.”

More accurately, I declared as the head of Claudi:

“Welcome. I am your owner.”

“……!!!!”

Then, in the silence, one after another, a sound was heard.

Thud.

[Retel □□□□ experiences ‘Submission’.]

One thud.

[Clenze □□□ experiences ‘Submission’.]

Another thud.

[Smite □□ experiences ‘Submission’.]

Lastly.

[Ignite □□□ experiences ‘Submission’.]

Thud.

The Four Families.

All the family heads knelt before me.