Explosive Level Up (2)
『Forward 304 meters. Five entities detected.』
Archeron had once again succeeded in locating the giant cockroaches.
The creatures were hiding in various places, moving stealthily, but none of that mattered against Archeron.
'Hiding is pointless against infrared thermal detection.'
Archeron was the pinnacle of magical engineering.
Before the combined power of magic and science, the cockroaches' agility was rendered useless.
"I will intercept them."
Wispent raised her Spirit Bow once more.
Every time she lifted the bow, I felt reassured.
She had already proven her perfect accuracy time and again.
Whoosh—!
The spirit arrow flew.
Crack!
A giant cockroach was paralyzed.
"Let's go."
Crackle!
I approached and cast a spell.
"I will finish it."
Crunch!
Archeron delivered the final blow.
A flood of growth energy surged in afterward.
A few more of these and I would level up again.
This was the ultimate free leveling method.
Normally, reaching the 80s meant years of grinding for a single level.
I had completely broken away from that standard flow.
'Years? Try hours.'
Not years. Not even months or days.
'One level every few hours.'
If the other superhumans on Earth saw my leveling speed...
'They'd foam at the mouth.'
An absurd, abnormal rate!
'And if I absorb more stars here, the speed will increase even further.'
The thought alone was thrilling.
I still hadn't found a way back to Earth, but once I did, my era of dominance would begin.
I couldn't help but wonder how high my level could ultimately climb.
Maybe even 1,000?
Could I reach that legendary milestone?
'Save the daydreaming for later.'
Right now, I needed to focus on reality.
Considering the average monster level here was around 200, my priority was breaking past 200 and establishing myself as a proper damage dealer.
"Mmm."
At that moment, a soft sound came from Wispent beside me.
Pale souls were being drawn out of the cockroach corpses and sucked into her Spirit Bow.
She had activated Soul Collection.
Her arrows required the collected souls as an energy source.
Her collection rate had dropped to the 11% range last time, but it had now risen to 13.5%.
Faster than expected.
'No need to worry about the collection rate.'
We repeated the process and continued hunting.
Then, suddenly—
"The main insect force seems to be moving."
Azkai spoke up.
We looked toward the gathering point.
Thud——!
The assembled main force had begun moving again.
'They don't seem to have noticed us attacking the cockroaches yet.'
After the wasp unit was wiped out last time, they had stayed in one place.
Now they had decided to march again.
"Wispent, what's the range of the Spirit Bow?"
"If targeting a single entity, up to 1 km is possible."
One kilometer.
An enormous distance.
But also quite dangerous.
Why?
'If level 400+ beings run at full speed, they could close 1 km in an instant.'
Azkai was a prime example.
One kilometer? He could cover it in under ten seconds.
We didn't know how many corps commanders were there, but if more gathered than expected, we risked being surrounded.
'And...'
My magic range still hadn't reached 1 km.
Intercepting the main force from long range would be extremely difficult.
At that moment, the usually silent Crimson spoke.
"Hehe, finally~ It's my turn."
He smiled, his tone dripping with buttery confidence.
"Can you do it?"
"Yes, it's entirely possible."
Crimson nodded confidently at my question.
We had planned to bombard the insects from long range beforehand.
The issue was range.
Even ranged attacks needed a safe distance, and we had been struggling to find a way to guarantee both safety and effectiveness.
'Opening dimensional gates to attack...'
Crimson had proposed an unexpected combination.
He would open a gate near the insects, and Wispent would rain spirit arrows through it.
"Let's try it right away."
This was also a chance to use Eye of Exploration, a 7th-circle spell, through the gate to check the corps commanders' movements.
We needed to know how many there were and what levels they held.
"Beginning immediately."
Crimson stepped forward.
He raised both arms gracefully into the air, moving as if conducting a symphony.
Flash!
Light spilled from the Dimensional Seal engraved on his right arm.
"Room Darkanadamas."
A deep, resonant voice flowed from Crimson's lips.
Crack, crack-crack-crack!!!
The air tore open.
It was a different power from Archeron's Dimension Sever.
While Dimension Sever cut through space, this connected two distant points.
Whoosh—!!!!!
A dimensional gate framed with ancient runes materialized.
It stood about two meters tall.
Beyond it, the insect army came into clear view.
"Kiririririt!"
"Kiriririk!"
"Karararararat!"
The giant insects that spotted the gate let out piercing cries.
I clicked my tongue at the sight.
'Every kind of insect is mixed together.'
Ants, moths, stag beetles, rhinoceros beetles, tiger beetles, bomb beetles, cockroaches, scorpions, dragonflies, mosquitoes, flies...
Just looking at them was dizzying.
But there was no time to stare.
'Can't waste this perfect opportunity.'
I snapped my fingers.
『Starlight's Blessing!』
Lulumiel immediately cast a buff.
A starlit magic circle spread beneath us.
Feeling my power surge, I immediately used Dragon Words.
『Rage, thunder! Thunder Tempest.』
9th-circle magic. Tempest of Thunder.
The spell manifested beyond the gate, above the insect horde.
Rumble-rumble-rumble———!!
The surroundings flashed purple in an instant.
Purple lightning swept through the giant insects.
"Kiriririririt!"
"Karararara-!!"
"Krrrk!"
But it didn't do much damage.
Only minor harm.
As expected, an 110-level weakling had no place here.
Still, it was fine.
I was just the appetizer.
The main course of this meal was Wispent.
Twang.
The Spirit Bow's string was drawn.
She gazed through the gate with calm eyes.
"Rain of Souls."
Her cherry-red lips parted softly.
At the same time, the string was released.
Kyaaaaaaaak!!
A tremendous wail echoed.
Even as an ally, I felt chills run down my arms.
What followed was astonishing.
The soul arrows she released began multiplying rapidly.
One, two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, one hundred twenty-eight, two hundred fifty-six, five hundred twelve, one thousand twenty-four.
A total of 1,024 souls.
Whoosh!
Each soul arrow flew straight toward a giant insect's head.
It looked as if death's reapers were targeting each one individually.
The souls that pierced the insects' heads halted their movements and dominated the battlefield.
"Kack!"
"Krrk-"
"Kiririk!"
The giant insects screamed in agony and collapsed one after another.
The souls rampaged inside their heads, devouring their life force.
Unable to resist, they all perished.
The sight was overwhelming—and chillingly cold.
Whoosh!
Pale souls burst from the insects' bodies.
They streamed through the air and were sucked into Wispent's Spirit Bow as if following a predetermined path.
"Ahh."
Wispent let out a soft moan as she absorbed the souls.
"Kuh..."
I felt the same.
A tremendous wave of growth energy flooded in at once.
Five levels rose in an instant.
Being still in the 110s made the speed feel incredible.
Lulumiel and Wispent leveled up as well.
"Good. One more time...!"
It wasn't over yet.
The gate had opened in the middle ranks, avoiding the clustered corps commanders.
We could strike once more before they reacted.
Just as I thought that—
Rumble-rumble-rumble———!
An enormous surge of magic power erupted.
White lightning shot out from inside the gate.
"Lava Flame Slash———!"
『Prismatic Barrier!!』
Azkai immediately swung his claws at the white lightning while Lulumiel deployed a barrier.
Crackle-crackle-crackle!!!
Blinding white lightning filled my vision.
An overwhelming thunder force passed through the barrier and reached my skin.
'Insane...'
I swallowed a groan.
If my purple lightning was a well, this white lightning was an ocean.
It was incomparably stronger.
And that lightning—
Crackle!
—originated from the long steel horn staff Azkai had blocked.
'That's him.'
The one who threw the staff.
A massive figure visible beyond the gate.
The corps commander of the Hercules beetles.
Titanos.
'A being nearing level 500...'
I swallowed hard.
It wasn't just his level—his number of stars was probably high as well.
Proof of that was Azkai struggling to block the attack.
It was the first time I'd seen Azkai in such difficulty.
That made it even more shocking.
'And...'
More insect commanders appeared one after another near Titanos.
'Eye of Exploration.'
Flash!
When I activated the spell, their information appeared despite the distance.
These were the commanders leading the army.
'Why are there so many?'
I panicked at the sight of them charging toward the gate and shouted at Crimson.
"Crimson! Close the gate, close it!"
"Ugh! The current from that staff is preventing the gate from closing!"
Crimson shouted, brows furrowed.
The white lightning flowing from the steel horn staff was keeping the gate open.
Azkai had to handle this.
"Azkai!!"
"Grrrrrr!!"
At my shout, Azkai roared and shoved the staff back through the gate with both hands.
Crash!
The staff flew back through the gate.
At the same time—
Whoosh!
We succeeded in closing the gate.
'That was close.'
Just before the gate shut, several commanders had reached its threshold.
The tiger beetle and dragonfly.
Their speed was terrifying.
They had almost broken through the gate.
'If they had caught us, the rest would have completely surrounded us.'
The thought alone made me dizzy.
We had clearly underestimated them.
"Let's get out of here for now."
Those two were still charging toward us even after the gate closed.
They would reach this location in a few minutes.
We moved quickly.
"That was dangerous."
"Indeed. Their combat power is far higher than I expected."
Azkai was right.
Their strength exceeded imagination.
"A direct confrontation with them would be extremely difficult."
Yes. Given their numbers, charging head-on would be like throwing eggs at a rock.
"Hah... If only I could recover the Lava Emperor Stone..."
Azkai muttered regretfully.
I glanced at his status window.
If he recovered the Lava Emperor Stone, could he face them all at once?
If so, retrieving it would be the key to this battle.
Otherwise, we needed another way to deal with them individually.
"Hmm. I have a plan."
At that moment, Wispent, who had been silent, spoke up.
A plan?
All eyes turned to her.
Her cherry-red lips slowly parted.