Chapter 73 - Kings Reign 2 (2/2)
“Now that everyone is spread out across the kingdom, it will be hard to meet up again.”
“At least for now. Everyone will be busy with their own tasks, so it isn’t a bad thing.”
The party would still be brought back together if a crisis that affected the entire kingdom occurred.
After being comforted by Woohyuk, Lee Jaesung nodded back.
“Although no one wants that to happen, It’ll no doubt be as you mentioned earlier and war will soon be on our doorsteps once more.”
Lee Jaesung had been following Woohyuk long enough to learn a bit about this Nebulus World.
One filled with endless trials. Unlike back on Earth, here the system didn’t allow for complacency, encouraging conflicts and death.
Woohyuk’s goal was to put an end to that vicious cycle.
Even a dog could learn to recite a poem after studying at the village school. Lee Jaesung, who had stayed by Woohyuk’s side this entire time, had a good understanding of his ultimate goal.
As the two were having a serious discussion, an elderly steward ran into the study.
“Co, Count!, urgent news!”
“What happened?”
“Monsters have invaded your lands and are causing a lot of problems.”
Despite the successful punitive expedition in the Corcas Mountains, monsters continued to invade the kingdom.
No doubt the Demon had a hand in all this.
“Lead the way.”
“Yes sir.”
Woohyuk had come here under a different identity, so he had others address him as Commander and not Majesty.
Count Ludwig’s former estate was in shambles due to the monster's invasion.
The barn had collapsed due to an Ogre wielding a club, while all the livestock inside had been slaughtered by the Orcs.
Their horde numbered around 3000.
Considering that the punitive expedition had been successful, it was quite a large number.
‘We might need to investigate the source of this.’
The Corcas Mountains weren’t the only mountains within the Rhine kingdom. There were also the Irene and Scylla mountains ranges as well. However Corcas was the one that the most attention was paid to because it was the only one that acted as a border with another nation.
The only other options were that they had somehow multiplied within the borders of the kingdom, or managed to cross the Corcas Mountains from another kingdom. Both were rather unlikely.
For now, they would have to investigate where it was they were coming from.
Woohyuk looked around as he cut down an Orc with Grandia.
His current appearance had been modified using his Jester’s Mask, so only Lee Jaesung knew his identity.
‘If I were to use some of my well known abilities however, that would be a different story.’
Ever since the Battle for Eden Hall, many stories had been spread about Woohyuk’s abilities.
How a Hero had grown dark wings and cut down a giant monster with a single sword. Although there had been some voices concerned with whether he might be a Demon, people mostly dismissed the thought, since he would have been fighting against his own kind.
It was one of the reasons that it was so easy for him to assume the throne.
Because he had the support of the people, the other nobles couldn’t probe too deeply into the source of his powers.
Of course, there weren’t many that were bold enough to stand up to Woohyuk and question him in the first place.
‘Unfortunately it is quite a pain to have to fight without using my full power.’
It wasn’t that he didn’t want others to know his identity, but maybe it would make it a bit more difficult to properly investigate the source of all this.
Why was it that the number of monster appearances had soared across the kingdom. It was pretty much impossible for these monsters to build their ships and arrive by sea, so that meant that they had to have originally been hidden within the actual territory of the Rhine kingdom.
Swoosh!
Woohyuk had launched himself amid a group of monsters without the slightest hesitation, as he cut the Ogre before him at the waist.
Ever since he had unsealed Verserios, he felt that he had become a bit stronger. He had become a bit more proficient in his use of Demonic Energy, which played the same role as Inner Force.
“Kkaaahak!”
“Save me!”
As Woohyuk was cutting his way through the monsters, he heard some screams from some peasants..
‘Is it coming from the northeast?’
Perhaps they had been caught by the horde on their way back from picking herbs in the mountains.
As he rushed over, he saw a young man and woman, trembling as they were surrounded by a large group of Orcs.
Just as they were about to run them through with their cleavers, a large Red Broadsword appeared, just in time to save them.
Hwarrrk!
A fountain of brownish blood spurt into the air. Seeing the face of their savior, their expressions brightened.
“Co, Count!”
“You came to save us!”
Lee Jaesung breathed heavily as he stood before them.
“This isn’t the time to let your guards down! Wait until they are all taken care of before feeling relieved!”
“Yes!”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
As the two of them picked up the fallen Orcs’ weapons, Lee Jaesung raised his Kite shield and used the Taunt skill to grab their aggro.
“Karrrr!”
“Kiyaaaak!”
The easily excitable Orcs all rushed to Lee Jaesung at once. Seeing this, Lee Jaesung used his Battlecry, buffing any nearby allies for a certain duration.
After having done everything he could to give the pair of them the best chance of survival, he entered into the battle in earnest.
Kalang! Kalang!
The iron Orc weapons clashed against his Kite shield, resulting in dull sounds. Because he was facing far too many opponents, Lee Jaesung was put on the defensive and couldn’t find a chance to attack.
At least with his current Knight class, he had a 15% boost to his Health, as well as a 20% boost to HP recovery.
This basically meant that he could hold on despite being outnumbered, for quite some time.
‘He’s not at all bad.’
As Woohyuk watched Lee Jaesung’s performance for some time, he couldn’t help but become happy.
With his current level he should do quite well as a lord. Still, it looked like he could really use his help right about now.