He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 168

Became the Greatest Crazy Emperor – Episode 168

Became the Greatest Crazy Emperor 168

A snow-covered mountain, a place where blizzards rage and avalanches threaten at any moment, a place where simply climbing is a test of life.

Yet, it was also a place with a beauty hidden within such forbidding grounds.

“If I don’t freeze to death, it’s actually a pretty decent place.”

Of course, the minor issues include your urine freezing instantly and even your lungs freezing if you don’t breathe properly.

It’s not like I came to this place specifically to enjoy the scenery. I came to find the dwarves, but the scenery itself was truly beautiful.

Of course, I’d rather just fly, but there was a reason I was walking instead of flying.

“Flying in a place like this is a surefire way to get frostbite and die.”

That’s right. For a very simple reason, my lungs would really freeze to death if I just flew.

No matter how strong I become, I’m not invincible to frostbite, just like how I can die if stabbed with a sword or spear.

I could really die from frostbite if I flew without thinking.

Of course, I could periodically surround myself with fire magic and fly, but that wouldn’t be much different from just walking.

Kkuwooooong!

“But isn’t this how we get to experience events like this? Isn’t that right, Mr. Polar Bear?”

Kkuwoong!

Around the mountainside, a giant bear, easily 5 meters tall, appeared.

It was a bear with white fur overall and strangely glowing runes engraved on it.

Next to the giant bear was a cub, smaller but still at least the size of a person.

“So, you want to eat me? Then come at me with all your might.”

Kkuwooooong!

It was a mother bear who clearly wanted to provide a meal for her cub with ardent maternal love.

Under the common knowledge that bears tear people apart, she probably thought a weak and easy prey was loitering around the mountain after a long time.

Chwaak! Poouk! Chwajaak!

Kuwoooong!

But I took out Silver Rose, skillfully dodged the bear’s paw attacks, and counterattacked.

The mother bear seemed even angrier, but her attacks didn’t land easily.

“Kid, unfortunately, the world doesn’t always go your way. Isn’t that what makes it fun?”

Sometimes, instead of a bear tearing a person apart, a person tears a bear apart.

Kuuuooooreeeeeong!

Kwareureureung!

But the mother bear didn’t agree with such a rebellious truth, and suddenly began to surround herself with lightning.

The runes engraved on her body glowed, emitting a million volts in all directions like a Pika-X [Likely a reference to Pikachu, known for electric attacks].

“So, you’re some kind of spiritual creature? But I still don’t intend to be defeated!”

Seokeok!

Kuwoong?

I cut off the electricity flying towards me with my sword.

Having succeeded in a magic cut, even the mother bear looked surprised, as if this was the first time such a thing had happened.

Chwaaaak!

Kuuuooooreeeeeong!

This strike was quite large.

The strike that cut her chest deeply wasn’t fatal, but it succeeded in breaking the mother bear’s will to fight.

Kuoong, Kuwoong…….

“Okay, retreat. There’s no reason to fight risking your life.”

Of course, the mother bear tried to eat me as a meal, but I am clearly the stronger one.

Conversely, I don’t have to kill the bear. This bear, belonging to a spiritual creature, had the intelligence to understand that, and was soon about to retreat quietly.

I threw her some jerky as a sign of reconciliation, and the mother bear smelled it and gave it to her cub. Then she left and disappeared.

“I’m having all sorts of experiences in life.”

I was reminded of when I tamed Silver.

Of course, I killed Silver’s mother, but I was stronger than before, so I could show mercy this time.

“By the way, do I still have to go a little further?”

The map given by the innkeeper.

It was quite well written about the mountain terrain, but in fact, it only showed the location of the outposts made by the dwarves.

Most of them were near the summit, and there was still a long way to go to reach the summit.

I wondered how the dwarves could come down from the mountain like this, but then I realized they didn’t need to come down.

Well, unlike humans, it’s normal for dwarves to live in the mountains, and it’s abnormal for anyone to want to go down.

It’s like the relationship between humans and the sea. Ordinary humans are usually afraid of the sea and rarely board ships, but there are some who are not afraid to board ships and go out to sea.

The former remains a farmer, but the latter becomes an adventurer. It’s just that adventurers are treated as weirdos because they belong to such abnormalities.

“Shall we keep going?”

I had camping gear in my mountaineering equipment, so I could have rested for a while, but I decided to push on.

If I were alone, there would be no reason to rush, but when I thought about Sarah being sick, it didn’t seem like I had time to relax.

Moreover, it was absurd to take a night’s rest when I was deliberately pushing myself not to fly.

“It seems like the bear went towards the summit. I can follow the bear’s footprints.”

I indirectly received help from the bear I had a scuffle with a little while ago. Is this what they call a grateful bear or something?

Paah-ahng!

Waaaaaaa.

Kkuwooooong!

But as I climbed further, I heard ominous sounds from afar.

The sound of weapons clashing, the sound of the bear howling, and…….

“Gunfire.”

The sound of gunpowder exploding, a magic-triggered gunshot.

“What on earth is going on?”

My curiosity piqued, I immediately deployed high-speed movement and ran towards the source of the sound.

What I saw was an unexpected sight.

“Squeak- Squeak! Finally killed it! Tonight’s dinner is bear meat!”

“There’s still a cub!”

“Let’s capture the cub alive and roast it whole!”

When I arrived, rat-men were hunting a bear.

Unfortunately… the mother bear was dead. Of course, dozens of rat-men were dead around her, but it seemed she was killed because she couldn’t overcome the numerical inferiority.

Perhaps the serious injuries from my fight were a major factor.

Seureung-

Shupaaaht!

I silently drew my sword and headed towards the rat-men who were even trying to take the cub.

Seokeok!

“Keeek! It’s an attack!”

“I’m sorry, but I have to avenge the bear.”

Originally, there was no reason to intervene in a fight for food, but if the opponent was a race belonging to ‘evil’ like the rat-men, and if the reason the bear died was because of me, then I had a legitimate reason to avenge her.

Shusushuk- Shushuk!

Pook! Pupook! Chwaak!

The rat-men still had a large number. So I mixed in a moderate amount of Shadow Blade Barrage and ravaged them.

The rat-men tried to resist me by gathering together, but unfortunately, I was not at a level where I could be dealt with by such a dense formation.

Uuuuuwoong- Kwaang!

I even blew up such clustered areas with explosive sword energy, blowing them up all at once.

“Shoot the handguns!”

“Fire!”

Kwaaang! Kwaaang!

The rat-men, who seemed to be hunters or scouts, could not use magical responses, but they had magic-triggered weapons.

I had expected it from hearing the gunshots. But instead of a musket-type weapon from 3,000 years later, it was a somewhat crude hand cannon-type weapon.

But that couldn’t be ignored either.

Although it had an extremely simple structure, the bullets it used were buckshot, so its killing power was even greater against ordinary infantry.

Of course, the accuracy was terrible and the rate of fire was not easy, so the overall performance was worse than a magic-triggered gun.

Tiiing! Titing!

“Keeek? He deflected it?!”

Even that was deflected by me swinging my sword, causing the rat-men to be greatly shaken.

Shusushuk! Pupupook!

“Kuaaah!”

“Run away! We can’t handle him!”

“Too bad, bear meat…….”

As a one-sided massacre began again, the rat-men gave up the fight early and began to flee.

I didn’t bother chasing them. It was an intuition, but I thought they might be related to the dwarves, and if so, the footprints they left behind would lead me to the dwarves.

Kkuooooreong-

At that time, the cub who had survived the rat-men approached me and made a crying sound.

“It seems like your mother died because of me, but don’t resent me. In the first place, your mother was aiming for me as food. It was just bad luck.”

Kkuuuoong…….

The cub looked dejected, as if it understood my words.

It was unfortunate, but it was also unavoidable, so I decided to leave.

Kkuung, Kkuung.

But for some reason, the cub started following me.

It could be for various reasons. Whether it really understood my words and agreed with them, or whether it simply recognized me, who had thrown it jerky, as a new protector.

“I don’t have the luxury of taking you with me… well, I’ll take you to the dwarf village at least.”

Kkuwong

The cub nodded as if it understood this time as well. I stroked the cub’s head and threw it a few more preserved foods.

Then I walked again along the snowy mountain path.

As expected, following the rat-men’s footprints, I saw the dwarves’ outpost.

The rat-men’s corpses were frozen and scattered within the surveillance tower’s range of the outpost.

It seems they shoot indiscriminately when they are within range…….

But I couldn’t not go in, so I confidently walked towards them.

Pushuk- Pushushuk!

Then crossbow bolts flew. Surprisingly, they were all fired in rapid succession, and they were not small bolts of repeating crossbows, but all bolts that were at least medium-sized by human standards.

“The welcoming greeting is amazing.”

Seureung- Chwajak! Chwaak, Seokeok! Chaejaeng! Tiiing!

I instantly knocked away all the bolts flying in without a break with my sword.

Those who fired the bolts seemed quite surprised when I deflected all the bolts that had been pouring down.

“What on earth is going on?”

“Wait, that’s not a rat-man? It’s a human!”

“What? Is such movement possible for a human? No, how did a human even get here in the first place?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t seem like a herbalist either.”

The dwarves’ bewildered voices were heard.

Thinking they would have stopped attacking by now, I shouted at them.

“I didn’t come to fight. I just came to find you!”

“Hey, human! I don’t know what’s going on, but go back! This is not a place where humans can come carelessly!”

“I came with important business! I even brought a letter of recommendation from Isborg!”

“What? From Isborg? Then he certainly wasn’t an ordinary person…….”

The dwarf sentries seemed to be contemplating for a moment, but soon a disappointing answer came back.

“Still, it’s no use. There are no exceptions to the lockdown!”

The dwarves seemed determined not to let anyone from the outside in. I don’t know why.

Kkuwoong- Kkuwong!

“Huh? Look over there!”

But then, the cub who had been following me stepped forward and made a crying sound.

The runes engraved on his body shone brightly, as if saying something to the dwarves.

“It’s a Rune Bear?”

“The Rune Bear is telling us to let him through? That there’s no need to be wary…….”

“But the lockdown is…….”

“This is the oracle of the runes. We can’t ignore that, can we?”

It seemed that the dwarves’ opinion had changed thanks to the cub.

Soon the dwarves walked out of the outpost.

“How did you earn the favor of the Rune Bear?”

“I killed some rat-men who killed the mother bear.”

“Rat-men? Oh no…… Have the rat-men already started wandering outside? This is a big problem.”

“What’s going on? You used to have exchanges, so why don’t you even allow footsteps now?”

I took the opportunity to ask them. The dwarves stroked their beards, shook their heads, and said.

“We didn’t cut off exchanges because we wanted to. It was to protect the humans.”

“What?”

The dwarves sighed briefly and said.

“Because we are currently at war with the subterranean forces.”

I had a feeling I had encountered something unexpected.