Emperor of Solo Play - Chapter 135

Chapter 135 – Immoral Prince (3)

9.

– The Hahoe Mask is here!

There hadn't been a shout that rang out from the innermost recess of the mountain.  The Hahoe Mask had merely appeared in an online world, and his appearance was greeted by the sound of keyboards being typed.  However, it was as if that sentence was reverberated everywhere, and the information was instantly spread to everyone on the battlefield.

Of course, it also reached the Hydra guild.  They had entered into the battlefield, and they had just started their battle with the Relic Guardian.

Then they had their doubts…  No, they harbored suspicion.

“Why did the Hahoe Mask appear at this point?  Moreover, why is he helping the Stormhunters?”

There had been no discussion about the Hahoe Mask's intrusion when the Red Bulls guild and the Hydra guild made their plan.  If things proceeded as planned, the Stormhunters would have been critically wounded by the Immoral Prince.  This meant someone would have to once again face the Immoral Prince to stall it.  The Hahoe Mask was scheduled to enter at that moment.  However, he had intruded into the fight right now.

This was different from the plan.  From Hydra guild's perspective, they couldn't help, but be suspicious of the Red Bulls.

“Matador! Was this part of the plan?”

Even the members of the Red Bulls guild was puzzled over the situation.  None of the members of the Red Bulls guild had been given a heads up about this.

There was only one person that could give an answer about the this situation.  

Currently, Chev was fighting a Frost Knight wearing an armor of ice that was freezing its immediate surrounding.  Chev was the only one, who could answer the question.

‘Hahoe Mask. You….  ’

Even Chev couldn't immediately formulate his answer.

“Kims!”

In the end, Chev needed time to think and formulate an answer.  Therefore, he pushed his responsibilities onto a subordinate.

Kims had been on standby.  When Chev yelled out, Kims charged towards the Frost Knight, and his hammer was swung against the Frost Knight.

Kwah-jeek!

The hammer embedded itself in the ice armor.

Jjuh-juh-juhk!

The hammer was still stuck when ice started to freeze over the weapon.  The ice was spreading like a living organism.  It even covered Kims' hands, which was gripping the hammer. A cold creaking sound was emitted between Kims and the Relic Guardian.

“I got him!”

This was the method used by Kims to occupy his opponent.

Chev immediately exited the battlefield.  Chev distanced himself from the Frost Knight, and another striker rushed into the space vacated by Chev.  A Priest immediately approached Chev.

The Priest's two palms were letting out a green light, and he started touching Chev's back.  As the green light touched every part of Chev's body, the wounds on his body, and the skin that died from the extreme cold started to regenerate.

As he received the Healing Skill, Chev started thinking for a brief moment.

‘What is the Hahoe Mask's intent?’

Red Bulls had to give an answer to the Hydra guild regarding the Hahoe Mask's action. His answer would determine if the two guilds walked together or not.  The answer was incredibly important.  This was why he couldn't give a rash, vague or an evasive answer.

‘I don't understand what the Hahoe Mask was thinking.’

The only thing certain right now was the fact that Chev didn't have much time to think about it.  The Priest finished his Healing skill, and he immediately started on the Buff skills.  When that finished, the time to think had come to an end.

This was why Chev didn't think about Hahoe Mask's intentions.  At that moment, he thought about what the Red Bulls and the Hydra guild had to do.  He had to determine which course of action would bring him the most profit.  This was what he thought about.

Time passed as he thought about it some more.

“The Buff has been applied.”

When the Priest opened his mouth, Chev also opened his mouth.

“Focus on the battle.  While the Hahoe Mask and Stormhunters block the Immoral Prince, we'll take out all the Relic Guardians.”

After giving his answer, Chev changed the setting on his mic.  He immediately gave an order to his broadcast team.

“Just send anyone available towards the Hahoe Mask.  I want you to start the live broadcast, and put up a notice telling everyone of the Hahoe Mask's appearance.  Don't forget to put in the commercials.”

– Yes!

This wasn't the end of it.  Chev immediately spoke into the direct hotline to the Hydra guild.

“We'll focus on hunting down the Relic Guardians.”

– ……understood.

When Natal heard Chev's words, he didn't immediately give an answer.  There was a brief pause, and Natal spoke as if there was a bad taste in his mouth.

When the conversation ended, Chev gritted his teeth.

‘I’ve been had by the Hahoe Mask.’

10.

It was much harder than expected to fight someone who had higher Stats, higher level and better Items.  It was also difficult to gain experience against an opponent such as this.  There was no reason to fight such opponents for most people.  Instead of fighting, most people just avoided the fight all together.

However, there were times when these kinds of battles had been the norm for Hyrkan.  He had fought someone that was 50 levels higher than him, and there was the one who kept Unique Items in his Slots like paperhangings….  It had been the norm to fight those bastards.

At that moment, those experiences were worth its weight in gold when facing against the Immoral Prince.

Shweeeek!

He evaded the sword swung by the Immoral Prince.  When Hyrkan approached the Immoral Prince, he moved like a snake slithering across the floor.  Then he used a technique that looked like a tackle in wrestling.

Duhp-suhk!

Hyrkan's low movements were clever as he quickly grabbed the Immoral Prince's leg.  In that state, he lifted the Immoral Prince, and he threw it as far as he could.  The Immoral Prince was in the air, but it didn't fly too far.  It quickly adjusted in midair, and it landed on the ground.

When the Immoral Prince landed on the ground, one couldn't see any cracks in its defense. Instead, one could see the dark eyes from between the helmet, and one could see a dark blue light that had the sharpness of a blade.  However, the light from its eye didn’t mingle with Hyrkan’s gaze, which was behind the Hahoe Mask.

Toohk toohk…….

Two Bone Explosives had been thrown without the Immoral Prince's knowledge.  The Bone Explosives rolled up to its heel, and it promptly exploded.

Kwah-gwahng!

It was hard to believe such powerful explosion came from such small Bone Explosives, and the explosion caused dust to rise into the air.

The field of vision had become obstructed.

Ddahk!

At that moment, Hyrkan flicked his finger.  The four Skeleton Warriors on standby charged towards the Immoral Prince.  The Immoral Prince quickly dispatched the Skeleton Warriors approaching it.  Amongst the Skeleton Warriors, there was one that was able to dodge the sword swung by the Immoral Prince three times.  However, none were able to block the Immoral Prince’s attack.

The four Skeleton Warriors could only buy a short amount of time.  Hyrkan clenched his fist during that time.

“Spirit of Fire.”

He spoke out in a low mumble.  At the same time, fire started to leak out of his clenched fist.

The fire in Hyrkan's hand started to spread to the floor. The fire scattered across the floor erupted, and a shape of a giant formed from within the flame.

[The Fire Golem has been summoned.]

It was a level 180 Summon Skill, and this was the first appearance of the Fire Golem.  It was the first time a Fire Golem had appeared in the history of Warlord.

It was large, but it couldn’t be compared to the large Earth Golem he summoned before.  It was around 3 meters tall.  However, its body was burning up, and it was much more imposing than the Earth Golem.   The two Golems were very different from each other.

The Fire Golem approached the Immoral Prince.  The sound of the Fire Golem running was a very bleak sound.  The ground shook every time the Earth Golem stepped on the ground, and the effect was in stark contrast to the Fire Golem.   The effect of the Fire Golem’s footstep was much more focused.

Hwah-roo-roo!

Fire erupted at every step taken by the Fire Golem.

During all of this, the Immoral Prince had defeated all the Skeleton Warriors.  When the Immoral Prince caught sight of the Fire Golem, it immediately swung its sword horizontally in a wide arc.

Ssooohk!

Accompanying a light wind sound, the Red Moon Sword Qi was revealed once again.  In a flash, it soundlessly cut the Fire Golem in half.  The Fire Golem's body feebly fell forward, and it fell as if it was going to fall on top of Immoral Prince.

The process in which the Fire Golem was killed was neat and elegant.

However, the resulting death was intense.

Puh-uhng!

When the severed body of the Fire Golem hit the ground, it exploded.  The explosion was quite powerful.  An enormous firestorm was created as fireballs were scattered into the surrounding.  In a flash, the surrounding had turned into a sea of fire.

Hyrkan rushed into the sea of fire.  It was clever move.  The fire hid Hyrkan's presence.

However, this ruse didn’t last long.

Koo-koo-koo!

When the Immoral Prince opened its hand, a whirlwind appeared from its palm.  In a flash, the fire that was engulfing its body was sucked in.  It was gone in a flash.

When the fire disappeared, it was clear as day as to where Hyrkan was located at.  Instead of an ambush, he repeated the greeting he conducted when they first met.

Kah-ahng!

It was a rough greeting filled with the sound of steel clashing.

Choo-roong, choo-roong!

As if to answer the sound that was created, the Crying Sword started to weep.  The cry held worry for its master.  Hyrkan could resist against the Immoral Prince's strength, so Hyrkan's sword arm was flung away.  Hyrkan's stance was broken, and the sword gave out a cry of worry.

The Immoral Prince didn't miss the opportunity to attack Hyrkan when he was off balance.  When his sword was flung backwards, Hyrkan's chest became exposed.  The Immoral Prince stabbed towards his chest.  At that moment, Hyrkan didn't struggle against his loss of balance.  He fell backwards.

Kooohng!

He hadn't used any fall technique.  He fell like a log toppling backwards, and the Immoral Prince's sword passed over him.  When Hyrkan was on his back, he raised both his legs. He pushed his feet towards the nether region between its legs.

When Hyrkan executed this move, the Immoral Prince's feet was lifted into the air.  Hyrkan pushed at the Immoral Prince's body, and it shot away as if was a rocket being launched.

This was it.

When facing a User with overwhelmingly superior Spec, it was a certain loss if one fought by exchanging blows with each other.

One had to push or pull to cause a loss of balance.

It was also known as the Push and Pull method by the Users that were adept at PK and PVP.  This couldn’t be learned by Users, who had a bad habit of picking on weaker Users.  This was a skill that could be gained by those, who are used fighting opponents stronger than them.

This was one of the few rewards for fighting such a long bloody battle against the Stormhunters, and everyone else in Warlord.

The Immoral Prince didn’t take much damage from such a technique.  However, the Immoral Prince was having a hard time escaping the grasp of Hyrkan.

“It's been over 5 minutes.”

In the end, Hyrkan easily broke the 5 minute record set by the Storm Queen against the Immoral Prince.

At this sight, the Stormhunters guild members, who had come here to catch the Immoral Prince, looked on in a spellbound manner.

“Incredible.”

One of the people watching the Hahoe Mask was Hahui.  She was the one, who always gritted her teeth, when the Hahoe Mask was mentioned.  However, even she couldn’t hold back her admiration.  Everyone watching Hyrkan’s battle couldn’t help, but show admiration towards him.  Of course, this was also true for Shir.

However, Shir didn’t stand there like Hahui, who had her mouth open in an absentminded manner.  Shir didn’t reveal her emotions.

“How long do I have left until the Regeneration is finished?”

“Ah? What?”

They were using Regeneration Skill to reattach Shir's severed arm.  The Priest had been eyeing the Hahoe Mask's battle.  At Shir's words, he quickly answered her.

“Ah! It'll be done in 30 seconds.”

“How about my Buff status?”

“If we want to put another round of Full Buff….  Are you going to fight again?”

Before the Priest’s words could finish his words, the startled Priest asked Shir a question.  However, Shir didn't answer him.  There was no space in her head that would allow her to give him an answer.

‘I can't show my weakened state to the Hahoe Mask.’

She had been anticipating for the day she'll get to fight with the Hahoe Mask.

That opportunity was right in front of her, and she wouldn't show her weakened state to the Hahoe Mask.  Shir wanted to fight with the Hahoe Mask.  She didn't want to be helped by him.

Her ability to concentrate had already reached its limit, but she forcefully pulled herself together.

At that moment, a breaking news could be heard.

– We destroyed it!  We killed one Relic Guardian!

[The Relic was destroyed.  The power of the Immoral Prince's magic skill has been reduced significantly.]

The content of the breaking news indicated that Hatch had completed his mission.

11.

With Sohank at the center, the Hydra guild members was battling against the Relic Guardians.  Natal was the only one not paying attention to the battle.  He was having a conversation with someone else.

“What should we do?”

– Proceed.

Natal was talking to the First Head.

“Wouldn't we be diverging from the plan?  If things proceed as is, we'll fail in using the Stormhunters as bait….”

– Still, how can we mess everything up at this point in the plan?  Currently, there are over four million viewer watching through our three live channels.  We can't become the villains here.

At the end of his words, the First Head said something as if he was talking to himself.

– It is better to be the bridesmaid than the villain.

Anyone could hear the regret, scorn and sigh mixed in with his words.  Natal gritted his teeth when he heard those words.

‘There had been only two parameters we had agreed to.’

They agreed to use the Stormhunters as bait.  The resulting profit would be shared with the Red Bulls.  To be precise, the Red Bulls and Hydra would have become the heroes.  The Stormhunters was suppose to sacrifice themselves, and they would have become relegated to a supporting role.  If everything had proceeded as planned, it was a realizable plan.

However, another variable had appeared.  If the two parameters had been kept, they would have held the main roles.  However, the new variable had reduced the two guilds into supporting roles.

Shir and the Hahoe Mask had made a mess of the scenario crafted by the two guilds.  These two variables were going above and beyond in ruining their guild's preferred scenario.  They were working synergistically at an incredible level.  The two of them were showing themselves to be a frightening combination.

Natal glanced at the hologram monitor.  Natal grinded his teeth as he watched the battle conducted by Shir and the Hahoe Mask.

‘Hahoe Mask and the Stormhunters. It is imperative that we stop the two of them from teaming up. No, the Hahoe Mask must not fall into the hands of any guild.’

12.

There were several methods one could use when dealing with a User that was stronger than oneself in a PVP.  There was a method that was widely used, and it was the most effective strategy.

All things yield to number!

When facing a single person, there was nothing more effective than two people stepping forward to fight the User.  Moreover, what if these two were the two best Strikers in Warlord?

One didn't have to imagine it.  The result was being broadcasted live in front of their eyes.

Kah-ahng!

Hyrkan moved his sword horizontally to block the Immoral Prince's sword, which had fallen like thunder. Accompanying the sound of steel clashing, Hyrkan's feet were pounded into the ground as if they were nails.

Ggee-eek, ggee-eek!

The Immoral Prince continued to press down with its sword against Hyrkan.

Choo-roong, choo-roong.

The Crying Sword was weeping, and Hyrkan's body kept sinking in sync with the sword's cries.

During all of this, Shir had approached the Immoral Prince from behind, and she hugged the Prince's leg.  She lifted its leg.  However, it seemed the Immoral Prince was used to this kind of attacks now.  He put strength into his other leg to resist, but its body inevitably lost a little bit balance.  It was inevitable.  When the Prince lost its balance, the pressure that had been pushing down on Hyrkan disappeared.

Instead of extracting his body, Hyrkan sunk lower to the ground to trip the Immoral Prince.  The Immoral Prince once again lost his balance, and it fell forward.  Shir didn't miss the opportunity.  She lifted the Immoral Prince's leg, and she threw him into the distance.

The Immoral Prince rolled several times across the floor before it righted itself.

However, the Immoral Prince didn't have the luxury to focus its attention on the two.  Hyrkan flicked his finger, and the three Skeleton Warriors on standby charged towards the Immoral Prince.

At best, the Skeleton Warriors would last 10 seconds.

It was a brief amount of time, but 10 seconds was the amount of time it took for the world record holder to finish a 100 meter dash.  The two Strikers used the 10 seconds to digest all the available information, and they came up with a new plan.  Then they threw their body into motion to carry out this plan.  Ten seconds were plenty of time to do all of this.

This time Shir ran forward.  She was in a sorry state.  Her concentration had reached its limit, but she still didn't hesitate at all.  Her price of death was larger than anyone else considering her position and level.  However, this was one of Shir's strong point.  She didn't have any self-conceit in regards to what she possessed.  She never thought about what she would lose.

Hyrkan could read Shir's plan.  She was heading towards the rear of the Immoral Prince.  She was going to attempt an attack to bait a counter-attack from the Immoral Prince.  She was trying to create an opportunity for Hyrkan.

In this world and in the future, the one who was was able to understand Shir the most in battle was Hyrkan.  This was the result of an indescribable irony.

Anyways, Hyrkan was in sync with Shir's plan.  He was moving opposite of her, and he lowered his speed compared to her.  He allowed her to reach the Immoral Prince first, and he didn't interfere with her intended action.

Hyrkan had given her an unseen consideration, and Shir didn't hesitate to stab her sword in between the crumbling Skeleton Warriors.

The Immoral Prince was already cognizant of the attack.  It turned its body to defend.  Shir’s stab was met with the swinging sword of the Immoral Prince.

Kah-ahng!

While the sound of steel rang out, Hyrkan appeared behind the Immoral Prince.  When she sensed his presence, Shir put on a faint smile.

‘Perfect.’

This was the first time they were working together, but Shir and the Hahoe Mask was in perfect sync.

‘I'll do anything to get you in my hands.’

Shir was once again burning with possessiveness in regards to the Hahoe Mask.

This was how the two of them bought time as they occupied the Immoral Prince.

– Red Bulls.  Relic destruction complete!

– Hydra.  Relic destruction complete!

The remaining two guilds were judicious in how they used the time bought by the two of them.

[The Relic was destroyed.  The power of the Immoral Prince's magic skill has been reduced significantly.]

[The Relic was destroyed.  The power of the Immoral Prince's magic skill has been reduced significantly.]

The three Relics were destroyed, and the three powers that had been filling the Immoral Prince started to shrink.

“This will be the price of interfering with my long-cherished desire.  Your lives will not be enough.”

This was the first time the Immoral Prince had spoken.

This was the start to the last chapter of Immoral Prince episode in regards to the second Main Scenario Quest.