Stealth Is Really Fucking Useless
Six hours before the end of the expedition’s second day. While Haram wandered the forest to create more Void Ponds, uninvited guests arrived at Void Pond #7.
“This is the place, Elder.”
“By the World Tree…”
A dozen elves with long ears and eyes dyed pitch black stepped out of the forest and stared across the plains. The land that had been thick woodland only days ago was now a desolate wasteland without a single blade of grass.
At the border where forest met plain, four-legged insects swarmed endlessly over the trees, gnawing them to nothing. Once their bellies were full of wood and greenery, the insects turned and marched toward the distant violet lake.
“Ciel.”
“Yes.”
Arrow Fired
The female elf standing beside the elder, Ciel, loosed an arrow at one of the void insects. The shaft flew true but bounced harmlessly off its chitin armor.
At the sound, every void insect in sight turned and fled toward the violet lake. The sight of dozens of dog-sized beetles all sprinting in perfect unison made Ciel’s skin crawl.
Their speed wasn’t overwhelming, but the sheer spectacle of so many insects racing in the same direction was enough to trigger deep revulsion.
“Harder than I expected. I’ll have to use magic.”
“Strange. Their shape is monstrous, yet they carry no monster scent.”
“What should we do? Call for reinforcements?”
The elder fell into thought at Ciel’s question. After scanning the surroundings, he gathered mana in the air. The space rippled, and a sparrow with entirely black plumage appeared.
“Chirp?”
“Hide our presence.”
“Chirp!”
Black energy flowed from the sparrow and wrapped around the elves.
“Let us observe a little longer.”
“Yes.”
With the sparrow perched on his shoulder, the elder led the way toward the violet pond in the distance. Dozens of tall trees rose around the water, shielding it from view. From within the pond, monsters poured out continuously and scattered in every direction.
Ciel pointed at a void hound that had just emerged. “We’ve never seen this species before.”
“Whatever it is, we cannot allow it to devour the forest. Cleaning it out with just ourselves would be difficult, so let us call for support.”
“Elder, something is coming.”
While the elves quietly observed the pond, a flying eyeball drifted toward them. They hid behind the trees and studied its form. A grotesque creature: a round eyeball covered in a thin layer of flesh, with a three-centimeter stub of a tail propelling it through the air.
Its appearance was far stranger than the insect or canine monsters they had seen earlier.
“What in the world is that…”
“Piiiiiiii!!!”
The sparrow on the elder’s shoulder thrashed wildly.
“Mir, what’s wrong—”
A long, hard object hurtled toward them. The elder drew a dagger from his pouch and sliced the incoming tentacle clean in two. He cut down a dozen more thrashing tentacles before shouting.
“We’ve been discovered! Run— Ciel?”
His attention had been focused on the tentacles. Only when he finally turned did he realize the other elves had vanished. The moment he looked back—
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The headless bodies of the elves collapsed to the ground.
“Chirp!”
“Y-yes! Understood! Blessing of the Wind!”
Void hounds that had been lying in ambush charged the elder from every side.
“Where did these monsters come from!”
The hounds rushed to eliminate the intruder, but the elder reinforced his body with mana and swung his dagger. A powerful gale erupted, sending the hounds flying.
The elder fled toward the corrupted elves’ village, then returned later with an army and razed Void Pond #7 to the ground.
‘Your Majesty, the void hounds have located the corrupted elves’ village.’
“Well done. Focus on gathering points again.”
‘As you command.’
I contacted the manager of Void Pond #8—the closest one to #7—and ordered a reconnaissance of the area around the destroyed pond. Just now, we confirmed the corrupted elves’ main base lay roughly fifty kilometers from Void Pond #7.
I slid down from Poppy’s back and began creating new Void Ponds.
Creating Void Pond #7 (Production Optimization)
Creating Void Pond #11 (Production Optimization)
· · ·
“The fact that a pond guarded by both detectors and Void Flowers was destroyed means the enemy has a monster with over a thousand points in Sense.”
“Woof!”
Let me be clear: I had not skimped on the Void Ponds’ defenses. The Void Flowers, which could even camouflage themselves, were capable of instantly killing most enemies the moment they drew near.
Any ordinary corrupted elf should have been devoured and converted into resources for the legion.
“It must have been one of their elders. Only an elder could detect the hidden Void Flowers and shake off the void hounds’ pursuit.”
Of course, a corrupted high elf or high elf queen could have done the same, but if those beings were present, the settlement would not have been a mere village—it would have been a colossal city spanning dozens of kilometers.
High elves were enemies that only appeared in S-rank gates. Over the past two days I had traveled thousands of kilometers and gauged the strength of the local monsters, deliberately avoiding areas with powerful creatures. At most, the enemy would consist of several hundred regular elves and one or two elders.
“They dared to touch my legion… They’ll pay dearly for it, won’t they?”
“Woof!”
I poured resources into the newly created Void Ponds and began spawning troops. Once a pond’s diameter exceeded ten meters, a column of water erupted from its center and an aquatic being emerged. The upper body was that of a woman; the lower half was a fish covered in violet scales. The pond’s manager bowed before me.
“Your Majesty, I await your command.”
“Follow the schedule I reserved earlier. Once I leave, assign ten percent of the void hounds to reconnaissance and ninety percent to monster hunting.”
“It shall be done.”
The manager returned to the water. I left one more pond I could create and set off for the corrupted elves’ village. Newly spawned Void Flowers, void hounds, and void crocodiles followed behind me, while detectors—floating eyeballs—hovered overhead.
“I could pull a massive legion and charge in, but… that would be too crude, wouldn’t it?”
“Woof!”
A war of attrition was the legion’s specialty, yet suffering heavy losses against corrupted elves would slow our point income.
“Let’s see whether they’ll come out even if I drop a new pond right in their front yard.”
I already had a rough idea how they had destroyed Void Pond #7. All I had to do was prepare a counter that perfectly exploited their strategy. I created a new Void Pond five kilometers from the elves’ village. This place would become their graveyard.
Inside the elder’s house at the center of the corrupted elves’ village, a white crystal orb on the table glowed. The elder seated before it bowed his head toward the orb.
“Noble One, the newly discovered monsters have been eliminated.”
A woman’s voice flowed from the orb.
“Normally I would send my royal guard to restore the forest, but invaders from another world are attacking and I have no men to spare.”
“That is quite all right. We will handle it ourselves.”
“See that you do.”
The orb soon dimmed and darkness returned. The elder stored the crystal and fell into thought. Just what were those new creatures they had discovered today? He had heard that the chief god was dragging warriors from other dimensions to punish the corrupted, but those warriors were all said to be human.
Some humans could summon beasts, yet those were spirits and sacred creatures. He had never heard of summons so grotesquely formed.
“If we had not fallen… No. I must not doubt Her Majesty’s choice.”
On a planet where beastkin and dwarves had gone extinct and humanity teetered on the brink, the elves had survived only by surrendering to the master of the gates and monsters.
The being who had opened gates across their peaceful world, dragged monsters through them, and driven the planet to ruin.
Although a Tower had appeared at the same time to raise awakened defenders, the numerical disadvantage had been insurmountable. The elves had simply followed the rule: if you cannot win, join them.
“In the end the otherworldly warriors will leave. Once they do, we need only exterminate the remaining humans…”
“Elder! A new monster pond has been discovered!”
The door burst open and a young elf rushed inside.
“Where? It’s late, so the subjugation can wait until tomorrow…”
“It’s right outside the village! The pond is slowly moving toward us!”
“What?”
The elder shoved the young elf aside and dashed outside. When he reached the wooden palisade, he saw a violet pond in the distance. Violet insects writhed around it, devouring trees and grass, while violet hounds dug at the earth, expanding the pond’s size.
“Wake everyone! Quickly!”
“Yes!”
The elder summoned his black sparrow from the spirit realm.
“Find the enemy.”
Black mana spread outward, revealing the Void Flowers that had been camouflaged and merged with the surroundings. At the same time, void hounds hidden throughout the forest scattered in every direction.
“Elder! What’s happening!”
“Kill those disgusting flowers!”
The elves who had climbed the palisade fired arrows in unison. But unlike the previous wasteland, this area was thick with trees and underbrush. The Void Flowers hiding behind trunks were impossible to target.
“Infuse them with mana.”
“Yes!”
Black mana coiled around the elves’ arrows.
Explosive Arrow
The arrows streaked through the sky and detonated against the trees. When they had destroyed Void Pond #7 there had been few trees, so the explosions had shattered everything.
Here, however, the forest was dense. A few trees snapped and splintered, but most of the explosive arrows were stopped by the thick foliage.
“Elder, the next volley—”
“Tsk. I’ll kill them myself. The rest of you wait here.”
“Elder! It’s too dangerous!”
“It’s fine. These things are no match for me.”
Deciding that further attacks would only waste mana, the elder leaped down from the palisade. The instant he entered the forest—
Whoosh—slash!
A Void Flower fired tentacles faster than the speed of sound. But the elder, whose Sense exceeded one thousand and whose Strength surpassed five hundred, sliced them apart with ease.
A Void Flower’s tentacle attack was certainly threatening, yet it was useless against a warrior who had reached a certain realm. Its greatest power lay in the moment before its presence was known. Once discovered, its combat effectiveness plummeted.
The elder’s arrow pierced the spot where the Void Flower was rooted.
The mana-infused shaft shredded the flower to pieces. Only the elder could counter the Void Flowers’ ambushes. He moved through the forest, diligently hunting them, gradually drawing farther from the village. The moment he judged he was far enough away—
Clang!
I swung my sword at the elder who had been waiting in ambush.
“Who are you!”
“Stealth is really fucking useless. Why doesn’t a single ambush ever work?”
“GRRRAAAAAANG!!”
Poppy, having used Gigantification, blocked the elder’s retreat.
“Elder!”
“Help the elder!”
The corrupted elves on the palisade jumped down and rushed to aid him, but the void hounds I had positioned in advance blocked their path. Meanwhile, Poppy, an elite void crocodile, and a dozen elite void hounds surrounded the elder who had walked straight into the heart of our formation.
“You fell for it this easily? I even prepared a Plan C for nothing.”
“So you’re the master of these monsters!”
“How arrogant do you have to be to come here alone?”
The elder scanned the forest with detection magic, but my stealth rank was SS. His magic was not high enough to pierce it.
“You dare look down on my legion?”
“You’ve got guts, girl! I’ll kill you all!”
The elder charged at me.
“Elder! Hold on just a little longer!”
Separate from the elder’s isolation, the void hounds were losing to the corrupted elves. The elves that appeared in B-rank gates could easily hunt creatures on the level of void hounds. If I failed to kill the elder quickly and the elves arrived as reinforcements, we would lose.
Mana Conversion (B)
Conversion Efficiency 90%
Mana 222 → Strength 200
Skill Sharing (B)
Strong Leap selected
Of course I was confident I could take the elder. The fiercely resisting elder managed to kill several elite void crocodiles and elite void hounds, but in the process he lost his right arm to me.
Without any regeneration ability, he could not endure and eventually offered his neck. Even after losing one arm, the elder held out for a full twenty minutes. Yet the void hounds blocking the corrupted elves continued to pour forth without end.
“Hmm… I suspected as much, and sure enough.”
While searching the dead elder’s clothes I found a white crystal orb.
◈ A set of 100 paired orbs. Infusing mana connects it to its pair.
◈ Greater mana allows longer-range communication.
With the duration of my Mana Conversion skill ended, I poured every last drop of mana into the orb. It displayed the locations of nearby paired orbs and the most recent conversations.
There were three corrupted elf villages confirmed within a hundred-kilometer radius. The nearest was sixty kilometers away.
“Looks like there are high elves too… They must be fighting the top rankers.”
S-rank gates where high elves appeared were difficult even for Earth’s highest guilds to clear, but this expedition had gathered every top awakened on the planet.
If the Empress, the Captain, and the countless other top guilds joined forces, even high elves would be unable to hold out.
Extracting useful DNA
Insufficient DNA
While I examined the orb, the elves were all melted down into a Void Pond. Yet a few hundred corrupted elves were apparently not enough; no new skills or legion members appeared.
“I’ve found delicious prey… but it’s a bit troublesome to eat.”
“Woof!”
I could continue hunting corrupted elves using the village locations shown on the orb, but this single raid had consumed thousands of void hounds and void crocodiles.
I had even lost most of the elite troops produced over three days. Continuing this way would slow our point income.
“No more delaying. Time for us to ride the bus too.”
“Woof!”
“You think you fight better than me, Poppy? The Kraken Lord squashed you like a bug just the other day…”
“Woof woof woof woof woof!!!!”
I took the Kraken Lord’s soul out of my inventory. The egg that had once been the size of an ostrich egg had grown larger as it devoured offerings.
It was now nearly a meter across. Only monster corpses could be used as offerings to awaken the Kraken Lord, but on a planet already devoured by monsters, offerings lay everywhere.