Chapter 326

It was said that Axelle had a transaction with Ivan before he tried to conquer the Beastmen Kingdom. Then, what was it? What exactly did he exchange to Ivan for him to revive the Bone Dragon Fafnir? Was it worthy for Ivan to exchange it for the Legendary Death Stone? 

That conclusion would be yes. 

………
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Ivan Smirnov was a Hunter who had the power to create undead. It was a tremendous Skill that had endless potential. However, people around him treated him as a monster. In fact no one respected every achievement he gained because he attained them by using dead bodies. 

People were afraid of him, or to be exact, they were afraid that they would turn into mindless living corpses once they died. That's why nobody wants to get close to Ivan. Since then, Ivan realized that no one would appreciate his works. Not living humans, because they were afraid of death. So instead of paying them attention, he focused on how to achieve his goal. 

The fact that he was a hero of Russia was actually utter bullshit. Most Russians were afraid of his power. Then, why did Ivan become a hero? The answer was simple, he never was. 

He killed the President and all of the higher-ups of the country, he turned them into undead. They retain their memories and they have intelligence but their loyalty towards their creator(Ivan) was firm. That's when the propaganda of Ivan being the Hero of Russia was born, by using the whole government as his stepping stone. Since then, everything became smooth. Well, not that smooth but he didn't have a hard time either. 

Did he regret it? Did he regret this war? Probably not. 

Because he didn't see himself as a human. He see himself as the king of the undead, and his kingdom would arise after this war, once a quarter of the world was dead, that was his goal. 

So, let's return to the first paragraph. What did Ivan receive after he gave the Legendary Death Stone that awakened Fafnir to Axelle?

It was a one-time use Item. [The Whisper to the Other Side.]

He used it to contact someone, or perhaps something, it was an entity or entities. The creature he heard since a long time ago, the King of the Underworld. The creature who tried to enter this world when Fafnir open the Gate of the Underworld. However, Kitsune and the Protector closed the Gate before he could even enter. 

But now… 

"Hehe, the Protector is weak right now because of the battle against the Queen of Methuselah. Of course, Queen Lilith will not lose unless Protector used everything. So the Protector can never interfere with my plan. Even Kitsune can't."

A soft chuckle resounded. This war had a deeper meaning. Perhaps only a few could discern but they didn't have the strength to stop it. Not when millions of people had already died, it was too late. 

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Jake Raynold finished all of the undead. Despite his clothes being torn apart, his skin didn't have a scratch or bruise. He looked normal aside from the smelly bodies around him. He didn't pant, nor did he sweat. To be fair, the undead he fought were quite weak. 

He was just excited so he faced the first wave of undead. So when he realized that the battle was boring, he decided to demolish the undead immediately. Well not that it matters, Jake gathered a tiny bit of xp from them, at least. 

"I'm surprised that undead that are controlled by a Hunter can actually give xp."

He talked to himself. Honestly, Ivan's undead didn't give any xp at first but something massive changed. Hostility, Ivan was deemed as a threat by the world so his life and the undead he created brought xp to the Hunters. It was a way of preservation.

Then, Jake Raynold walked ahead but he paused when he detected the tremor and surging of mana all around. Someone was fighting powerful monsters. Jake Raynold smiled, eager to hunt. 

"Strong monsters mean bigger xp."

This was the first thought that entered his mind. As expected from an xp driven person like Jake. He didn't care about the danger. 

When he entered the wide cemetery, the first thing he saw aside from white snow tainted by bodies all around was Lee Hal-Sung, his head was bleeding and he couldn't use his left eye. 

Lee Hal-Sung killed seven Draugrs and there were still four remaining. Furthermore, there were multiple other undead that attacked him. The Lich and Revenant were quite tricky to deal with. He was panting so hard as his shoulder bled and blood slowly dropped to the white snow. 

"Eh? So they're that stronger?" 

Jake stated as he stared at the Draugrs. Gravely injuring Lee Hal-Sung was not that easy, but these undead achieved that feat. 

"So you're here."

Lee Hal-Sung glanced at Jake who was looking carefree. 

"You need help?"

He offered his help, he was showing smug on his face. 

"To be honest, I can kill them but our priority is to kill Ivan, not these undead."

"Oh come on, you don't have to be a tsundere, you just have to be honest. We are the only ones here."

Jake said, grinning, and making fun of Lee Hal-Sung. 

"This is the reason why a lot of people hate you."

"So what do you think?"

"Yeah, please help me, Lord and Savior Jake Raynold. The strongest Hunter, the highest level."

"Okay fine, you don't have to be sarcastic."

Jake shrugged and threw a bottle of potion to Lee Hal-Sung. 

"Sigh, I miss Kalman."

Lee Hal-Sung said and sighed a long one.

"Hey! I'm far better than Kalman. In terms of defense, I'm indestructible. And I'm stronger than him in offense too."

Jake Raynold was infuriated. He was offended to be compared to Kalman. 

"No, Kalman has a Skill that can destroy these monsters in one shot. You are stronger but Kalman is far better in this situation."

"… Tch, fair enough."

Jake admitted that his Skill was not good for one-hit-delete. He didn't have that kind of Skill. 

"Well, it's bad to be picky."

Lee Hal-Sung added and hundreds of swords flew around.