The Wall at Level 100 (1)
“Ugh... grrr...”
A being split clean in half.
He was the 8th Division Commander under Legion Commander Legionix, the Cockroach King—Opscura.
“Grah... what the... hell...”
Incredibly,
Opscura hadn't died despite being cleaved in two.
Far from it.
He was in remarkably good shape, assessing the situation and even moving his body. He turned his head to identify his attacker.
Pssshhh!!
Where Opscura's gaze landed stood a small golem clad in sleek ink-black armor.
Seojun's guardian.
Archeron.
“What the—some golem...”
Initiating incineration protocol.
Creak. Clank.
A cannon barrel extended from its right arm, aiming straight at Opscura's head.
“W-wait a sec!”
Vrrrrmmm!
“You little shi—!”
Opscura hurriedly tried to deploy his oil slick to deflect the attack, but
Boom—!!!!
KABOOOOOM!!!
Archeron's cannon fired first.
Swept away by the beam of destruction, Opscura vanished completely.
No matter their innate vitality and regeneration as cockroach kin, no one could survive having their entire body obliterated.
Hostile entity incinerated.
***
“How many of these do we have now?”
The Giant Hornet Queen, Vestiger.
Two ★ gems floated up from her corpse.
It was the first time two ★ gems had dropped.
On top of that, three ▲ shards as well.
She'd seemed stronger than expected.
And there was good reason for it.
Plus, ten more ▲ from her vice-commander and 1st Division Commander.
In total, thirteen ▲ acquired this time.
That brought my ★ count to three,
and ▲ to nineteen.
'Time to synthesize these right away.'
Final tally: five ★ in my possession.
'Whoa.'
Bigger haul than expected.
At this rate, I could go through this ordeal a few more times.
But...
'My level's a bit disappointing.'
This level-up brought me to 99.
I'd gained enough growth to reach level 100, but I still hadn't broken through.
Stuck at the level 100 wall.
'Back to the lair to find a way through.'
I was disappointed, but Azkai and Lulumiel had made huge gains.
Azkai went from 404 to 409.
A full five levels up.
Having swept Vestiger, her legion commanders, division commanders, and thousands of giant hornets, it was a fitting result.
Lulumiel jumped from 357 to 363.
Six levels.
She hadn't fought directly, but starting from a lower base than Azkai, her gains were bigger.
Just looking at them filled me with pride.
“Hm?”
Uh.
Then Azkai and Lulumiel turned their heads.
“What's up?”
“I sense Archeron's mana.”
Yes. It's Archeron's mana.
“Archeron?”
The moment I echoed the name,
Vwoooom!
A pitch-black beam shot straight toward us from the nearby ridge.
Thud!!
Master. Reporting in.
Creak. Clank.
Archeron bowed its head in greeting.
“Whoa, Archeron. You've gotten strong.”
I was stunned the moment I checked Archeron's level.
Level 331.
From 284 before—a nearly 50-level jump in one go.
All thanks to replacing its core with a Supreme-grade magic stone one.
Master, I have received undeserved grace. Thank you.
“What I do for you is only natural. Bellerin put in the real work.”
I have conveyed my sincere thanks to Bellerin as well.
“Good job.”
I crouched down in front of Archeron and patted its head.
May I retrieve the gauntlet Bellerin sent along?
Oh, right. She mentioned sending the gauntlet.
“Go ahead.”
Retrieving now.
Archeron tapped twice on its chest where the core was with its right arm.
Vrrrrm!
Mana flowed from the core, forming a tiny dimensional passage.
A sub-space.
“Oh, you can use sub-space now too?”
Affirmative. Thanks to Bellerin.
She'd engraved sub-space magic into the new core too.
Bellerin really went all out this time.
She asked me to deliver this.
Archeron pulled out a gauntlet with a silver base and elegantly engraved red flames.
350 Lv Restriction
“Whoa.”
An S-grade weapon with a 350 level restriction.
And she made it herself?
Bellerin was more impressive the more I learned.
“Wow! I love it!”
Azkai slipped on the Heart of the Volcano gauntlets and grinned ear to ear.
Fwooooosh!
He test-fired flames into the air, curling his lips in satisfaction.
“Handling lava feels way smoother now. If I'd had these in that last fight, I could've taken them down even easier.”
Good. You're stronger now, Azkai!
Hearing it from Azkai himself made it feel especially reassuring.
He was our lair's greatest treasure, after all.
Master. En route, I detected and eliminated a hostile entity. These are spoils recovered from it.
Then Archeron pulled more from its sub-space.
▲ gems.
Three of them.
Jackpot.
Now I could synthesize another ★.
“Whoa, what? Did you snag some hidden hornet division commander?”
Showing footage.
Fwoosh!
A beam of light projected from Archeron's right arm like a projector.
“Uh.”
Long antennae.
A grotesque, dark brown exoskeleton gleaming ominously.
A being casually speaking despite its upper and lower body being severed.
'A cockroach?'
Holy crap.
I felt hives breaking out all over my skin.
Cockroaches were the bug I hated most in the world.
'And a giant one at that.'
This one was humanoid enough to be tolerable,
but if it'd been a massive actual cockroach...
Ugh. Goosebumps just thinking about it.
“Nope. Let's head back to the lair first.”
Yeah.
Time to regroup at the lair.
Not because the cockroach shocked me or anything.
Well, okay, maybe that played a tiny part.
What I'd realized fighting Vestiger was that the insect army was stronger than I'd thought.
So, distribute the new ★ gems, summon more guardians, bolster our forces.
'And my level-up.'
The level 100 wall.
Crack it at the lair.
***
Legion commanders' meeting.
A heavy atmosphere hung in the air.
“You've all heard—Vestiger's been killed.”
Sighs erupted from all around.
“Never thought Vestiger would actually bite it.”
“Bitch was a total asshole, but she wasn't the type to drop dead anywhere.”
“Pure combat power? Top tier here, no question.”
A few eyebrows twitched, but no one argued.
Her strength was universally acknowledged.
“Something capable of killing Vestiger...”
“No way that thing's awake already, right?”
Everyone grimaced at the suggestion.
The monster slumbering at the center.
If it awoke, it'd be a catastrophe for them.
“Don't jinx it. If that thing was up, the other outer gods would be too.”
“Yeah. We'd know.”
“Maybe one of the things under it woke up?”
“That... could be possible.”
“Ha! Come on. Even those lower ones are on another level. If even one woke, we'd stand zero chance.”
They shoved aside the worst-case scenario.
Then, the silent 7th Legion Commander, the Giant Stag Beetle King, Titanos spoke up.
“I faintly sensed lava aura from that area. Perhaps the killer was a Lava Great Tiger.”
“Lava Great Tiger?”
“Lava Great Tiger? What's that?”
Some recognized the name, others didn't.
Only those who'd been commanders before the Age of Extinction knew it.
“You sure it's that guy?”
“Probably.”
“Guess a Dragon's Lair really exists somewhere around there.”
“But didn't it lose its origin in the Final War?”
“Right. Far as I know, the Lava Great Tiger's origin is still sealed in some forbidden zone down south.”
“Killed Vestiger without its origin's power?”
Silence fell briefly.
Newer commanders, ignorant of Lava Great Tigers, stayed quiet as the veterans spoke.
The veterans, who'd faced them directly or indirectly, were too awed by their might to speak.
“For now, establish a base camp here.”
After long deliberation,
a decision was made.
“We must proceed with caution if it's a Lava Great Tiger. If the other guardians it fought alongside have awakened too...”
He trailed off, but everyone got the gist.
“Lord Vermith will join us soon. We'll monitor from here and wait for Vestiger until then.”
Azkai.
With the power of his once-glorious legend,
he'd halted the advance of tens of thousands marching on the lair.
***
Good work, everyone!
“You all worked hard!”
“Popo!”
“Chuu!”
Back at the lair, Dania and the guardians welcomed us warmly.
They'd been tracking via the scout drones I had.
“Azkai! You're amazing! I was so worried when thousands of those giant hornets surrounded you!”
Our tiger's strong! Gonna love on him more from now on.
Bellerin cheered, and Dania fluttered over to perch on Azkai's head, papping away.
Pat pat!
She ruffled his hair, praising his good work.
“Heh, thanks.”
As a tiger, Azkai definitely had feline traits.
Dania's head-ruffles made him purr happily.
Our Lulu did great too!
Dania hopped over to Lulumiel next.
Lulu... Th-thank you!
Rub rub.
Dania hugged Lulumiel tight and nuzzled her face, leaving Lulumiel smiling awkwardly.
Looks like she'd be tumbling in Dania's arms for at least 2-3 hours.
My condolences, Lulu.
After a brief reunion with everyone, I stood before the Seondo tree.
The lustrously glowing Seondo.
My instincts screamed.
To break the level 100 wall,
I needed the spirit medicine's power.
Especially this one, steeped in the lair's most potent aura—it might just do it.
Pluck.
I took the ripest, juiciest Seondo fruit.
I told Dania and the guardians I was consuming it to break through, then sat cross-legged in the lair's center.
'Here we go.'
I took a big bite of the Seondo.
Crunch!
Its unique fragrance filled my mouth,
and my heart reacted instantly.
Vwoooom!
The Dragon Heart has begun resonating with the Seondo's energy.
Thump, thump—
A blazing heat spread through me like wildfire,
followed by a refreshing rush clearing my blocked channels.
'Ah!'
A gasp escaped naturally.
My body shuddered violently.