Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 313 – Clash! (2)

The hyenas have repeatedly faced ambushes from the Bastro Warriors, resulting in substantial losses of corrupted soldiers. However, it was relatively uncommon for them to lose sorcerers.

The Bastro Warriors of the Light Faction were adept only at straightforward combat, making it rare for them to target Hyena Sorcerers directly. Instead, they would engage in 'honorable' battles, cutting their way through the swarm of corrupted soldiers.

This pattern did not apply to Han-Yeol.

‘I'm not stupid. Why would I waste my time fighting against zombies and skeletons when I'm up against Necromancers?’

The undead would vanish upon the death of the controlling Necromancer, presenting the fastest and most effective strategy to defeat them.

But…

“Gwuuu Oooh!”

‘Ah, damn it… Do all hyenas use these kinds of spells?’ Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly, recognizing the spell employed by the Hyena Sorcerer.

It was the same type of spell used by the Hyena Sorcerer he had encountered in Egypt.

Back then, the sorcerer had transformed into a colossal monster by absorbing all the corrupted soldiers under its control. However, the current sorcerer differed, growing without the need to absorb corrupted soldiers.

This realization made Han-Yeol uneasy, entertaining the thought that all hyenas might possess such potent spells.

[Oh! As expected of Hachio-nim! He has mastered self-corruption to transform into a giant!]

[Kekeke! It’s over for you, Light Faction bastards!]

The low-ranking sorcerers cheered witnessing Haschio towering over the battlefield.

‘Nope, I don’t think that’s the case, morons,’ Han-Yeol thought.

The Light Faction's morale would have plummeted if the low-ranking sorcerers pretended they could replicate the exact spell the intermediate-ranking sorcerer had just used. Still, the fact that they cheered loudly reassured the Bastro Warriors that only the intermediate-ranking sorcerer was capable of it, preventing their morale from dropping as much as it could have.

‘But we will ultimately lose if we don’t eliminate that bastard.’

“Gwuu Oooh!”

Whoosh!

Haschio roared, releasing an overwhelming wave of energy into his surroundings.

‘Ugh… That stinks,’ Han-Yeol grumbled in response to the monster's roar.

However, he quickly gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.

Crack…!

‘This…! This damn mana is…!’ he recognized the tainted mana emanating from the giant monster.

It was the same mana that had ensnared his father previously.

‘I will never forgive you!’

“Kandir.”

[Yes, Harkan-nim?]

It was only Kandir and Han-Yeol present, so he did not have to be cautious and could address him as Han-Yeol.

“Shall we fight together, just like old times?”

[I have always… waited for this moment, Harkan-nim.]

Kandir’s voice slightly trembled as he was overwhelmed by emotions.

‘I thought I would never get to fight alongside you after you passed away…’ Kandir thought.

If somebody were to ask him to choose the happiest moment in his life, he would undoubtedly first select the day he had lost against Harkan, sworn loyalty to him, and then choose the moments he fought alongside him.

The thought that he could relive his second happiest moment completely overwhelmed him emotionally.

“Let’s go, Kandir.”

[Yes, Harkan-nim!]

Roar!

Tak!

Han-Yeol used Kandir’s back as a stepping stone and leaped into the air.

“Die! Mana Explosion!”

Whiiiing…! Boom! Boom! Boom!

His shoulder cannons rotated before firing three consecutive mana shells.

“Gwuuu Oooh!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

‘Huh?!’

His attack failed to have any effect. Haschio completely disregarded the mana shells hitting his chest and face as if they didn't even exist. The mana shells triggered powerful explosions, but Haschio casually waved them off, as if an annoying mosquito were buzzing around him.

‘W-What the hell? That’s crazy!’ Han-Yeol was flabbergasted, witnessing his most powerful long-range attack being treated as a mere nuisance.

This was his first time experiencing something so unbelievable.

[Harkan-nim, that thing’s skin is covered by a layer of a shield, and you will be able to easily kill it if you manage to strip the shield from its skin!]

“B-But won’t that be too difficult?”

[Unfortunately, you are correct… That thing will consume the corrupted soldiers to regenerate its shield once broken, and we have lost many of our comrades to that thing because of it…]

“Well, I guess it’s much better than not knowing how to kill it. Let’s give it a shot.”

[Hahaha! You are as reckless and brave as ever, Harkan-nim!]

Kandir burst into laughter, revealing his sharp fangs.

“Gwuu Oooh!”

‘Hmm… I guess I have no choice,’ Han-Yeol thought.

He had initially intended to quietly hunt in the Bastro Dimension and return to Earth without causing a scene, but he knew that was no longer an option now.

Woooong!

He channeled his mana while focusing, ‘Heed my call, Void Executor!’

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

A powerful burst of lightning energy twisted the space beside Han-Yeol, and the lightning energy seemed potent enough to instantly fry anything that came in contact with it.

A few seconds later, the lightning energy gathered together before forming a small orb.

[The power of the void!]

The most powerful demon contracted to Han-Yeol, who was undoubtedly not going to lose against the monster the Hyena Sorcerer transformed into.

[Oh? Who might that be, Harkan-nim?]

“That is an intermediate-ranking demon that assists me. He’s called the Void Executor.”

[Ah, a demon?]

“Yeah.”

[…]

‘A demon? Harkan-nim is using those ominous creatures?’ Kandir thought in disbelief, but he gave a thumbs-up and smiled.

[That is awesome, Harkan-nim!]

“Haha! I think so too!” Han-Yeol replied with a smirk.

Then, he said, “Alright, shall we start round two?”

[Yes, Harkan-nim!]

“Gwuuu Oooh!”

[Everything will return to the void!]

The God of Destruction, the Void Executor, was pumped up after spotting the powerful enemy in front of it.

Bzzt!

The Void Executor did not bother exchanging greetings with the monster as it shot its Void Ray at it. No, it was more like the Void Ray was its way of greeting the monster.

“Gwuu Oooh!”

Krrwaaaang!

‘D-Damn it…!’ Haschio, currently hidden within the monster, grimaced in disbelief after blocking the Void Ray.

The reason was that the Void Executor’s Void Ray dealt continuous damage, unlike Han-Yeol’s attack, which dealt massive damage in a single instance.

Kwachiiiik!

Attacks that dealt continuous damage were the main weakness of the monster’s shield. Haschio had not faced this problem before because most Bastro Warriors were muscle-brains that relied only on their physical strength. Only the now-deceased Harkan could threaten them whenever they transformed, as the musclebrains had no clue how to fight against them.

In fact, the Bastro Warriors stubbornly persisted in close combat against the Hyena Sorcerers that transformed, even though they knew it was futile.

Haschio thought this was going to be just another easy battle after he transformed, but he never imagined, even in his wildest dreams, that some strange creature who fully knew his weakness would suddenly appear.

‘Grr…! Damn it! I’m going to make all of you pay!’

Ziiiing!

Haschio cranked up his mana output to the maximum.

‘You’re all dead!’

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Haschio angrily stomped his feet and ordered the corrupted soldiers to march forward.

“Gwuu Oooh!”

[Die! Filthy monsters!]

Krwaaang!

The Void Executor unleashed another Void Ray that flew in a straight line, unleashing a thunderous sound that swept away one hundred corrupted soldiers at once.

‘…!’

Kandir was speechless while watching that sight.

‘What were we Bastrolings doing until now…?’

Kandir was not intimidated by what he was witnessing. The Void Executor looked undoubtedly strong, but he was confident he was not going to lose if they fought one-on-one. However, fighting one-on-one and winning was not what was important right now.

‘He was able to kill one hundred corrupted soldiers in a single blow? We had to suffer tremendous losses just fighting against them…’

It was quite common for the Bastro Warriors to get corrupted while stubbornly insisting on honorably fighting on the frontlines. Ironically, the Void Executor was massacring the corrupted soldiers with ease with ranged attacks, as if making fun of the ‘honorable’ Bastro Warriors.

[…]

Kandir felt extremely embarrassed and sad that he could neither speak nor move. Why did his comrades have to die a futile death? What were they trying to prove by refusing to change their ways and ending up dying a meaningless death?

Thud…

Kandir fell to his knees and cried as the faces of his comrades flashed across his mind. This was the first time he had cried in his life. He repeatedly told himself that his comrades had died an honorable death despite losing to the hyenas. It was unfortunate that they died, but they were definitely in a better place, having died while fighting honorably.

However, he realized that his comrades would not have died if what he was witnessing right now had existed since the beginning of the war.

Kwachik…!

He clenched his fists while kneeling on the ground, and tears welled up from his eyes. Then, he looked up and saw Han-Yeol bravely fighting against the giant monster the hyena had transformed into.

‘Haha… He hasn’t changed at all…’ Kandir thought, smiling through his tears.

The greatest Dimension Lord of all time, Harkan.

Harkan might have become a weaker creature now, but he was fighting far more efficiently against the hyenas despite his weakness. His methods were so effective that whatever the Bastro Warriors had done until now couldn't compare to what he was doing.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Gwuu Oooh!” Haschio let out a roar as he charged at the creature summoned by the strange creature.

The Void Executor was so busy dealing with the corrupted soldiers that he let his guard down for a second, and this was more than enough of an opening for the giant monster to exploit.

“GWUUOOH!”

Bam!

Haschio slammed his body against the Void Executor, pinning him against the ravine. His current form had two main arms and eight sub-arms underneath the main arms. The two main arms pinned the Void Executor against the ravine, while the eight sub-arms mercilessly attacked the Void Executor.

Kwachik!

However, the Void Executor was not going to go down without a fight. He grabbed the giant monster’s two main arms and ripped them off its body.

“Gwuuu Oooh!” Haschio roared in agony.

[You insolent monster!] the Void Executor exclaimed and was about to finish off the giant monster, but…

“Gwyaaak!”

Haschio’s eyes turned bright red after having his main arms ripped off, and he went on a rampage, unleashing a barrage of attacks at the Void Executor with his eight remaining sub-arms.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

[Keuk…!]

The Void Executor groaned in agony for the first time ever since Han-Yeol summoned him. His current predicament was completely unbefitting of a so-called God of Destruction, but there was nothing he could do about it as he was summoned to a first dimension by Han-Yeol, making his powers much more limited than they actually were.

However, Haschio was completely berserk now, focusing only on the Void Executor.

Heh.

Han-Yeol sneaked his way behind the giant monster and threw his chain.

‘Restrain!’

Shwiiiik!

His chain, infused with Cold Chain, wrapped itself around the giant monster’s neck.

“Gwuook!”

The giant monster tried to free itself from the annoying chain.

‘Void Executor-nim!’

[Leave it to me.]

Woooong…!

Bam! Bzzt!

The Void Executor exploited the moment the giant monster was distracted by Han-Yeol’s chain and threw a powerful punch at the monster’s face. No skills were used with the punch; it only carried the Void Executor’s mana.

It went without saying that the punch carried a powerful lightning attribute, as the Void Executor itself was a being born from lightning.

“Gwuoook!”

The chain was certainly annoying and getting on Haschio’s nerves, but he decided that the incoming punch was far more dangerous than the pesky chain thrown by the strange creature. Thus, he chose to ignore the chain and focus on blocking the powerful creature’s punch instead.

“Gwuu Oooh!”

Chwak!

Two arms resembling scythes popped up from the joints where the two main arms were ripped off, and the giant monster tried to stab the Void Executor to death with those scythes.