Repulsion (3)
The greatest achievement we could gain by attacking the insect army?
“Eliminating the corps commanders.”
Yes. Taking down the corps commanders would secure ★s and remove potential threats to our growth.
Then, among them, who would bring the greatest reward?
“Obviously, defeating the strongest one—Titanos.”
So we secretly hoped for it.
If we could take down Titanos, that would be ideal.
Yet.
The opportunity seemed to materialize right before us.
Titanos revealed himself.
He had just finished a major battle.
‘Stag beetle and longhorn beetle.’
Two corps commanders lay defeated before him.
「Manticore」
「Vermith’s 9th Corps Commander」
「Broad-horned Stag Beetle King」
「Lv482」
「Crest」
「Vermith’s 20th Corps Commander」
「Giant Longhorn Beetle Archduke」
「Lv480」
Both were high-ranking corps commanders at Level 480.
Even fighting together, they couldn’t overcome Titanos alone.
“Krrrk···.”
“Ugh.”
They were still breathing.
But their wounds were so severe that they were essentially dead already.
‘The earwig must have fled after facing him too.’
Even though they were enemies, admiration slipped out.
How many corps commanders had he taken on by himself?
“Looks like we have guests.”
At that moment, the figure who had been commanding giant cockroaches from afar and battling the opposing insects rushed over to Titanos.
His speed was incredible.
「Legionix」
「Vermith’s 11th Corps Commander」
「Forest Cockroach King」
「Lv403」
‘The Cockroach King···!’
The moment I saw him up close, my brows furrowed instinctively.
It was that primal disgust one feels toward cockroaches.
“Lava Great Tiger. Weren’t you tucking your tail and running last time? Looks like you think you can handle it now?”
Titanos spoke, his eyes sinking deeply as he stared at Azkai.
The thick exoskeleton covering his body was shattered in several places.
He had taken considerable damage while fighting the stag beetle and longhorn beetle commanders.
“Krrrk. What nonsense. Me, running away because I was scared of the likes of you?”
Azkai frowned at Titanos’s provocation and stepped forward.
In an instant, the surrounding space filled with taut tension.
“Come at me, Lava Great Tiger.”
Kugugugugugu!!
An unprecedented surge of power erupted from Titanos’s body.
Mana rippled and overflowed from the steel horn staff in his hand.
“Krrrrr-!”
Azkai didn’t back down from the provocation.
He immediately launched himself forward and collided with Titanos.
Bang———!!!!
A massive shockwave spread in all directions.
The first exchange was evenly matched.
No—actually, Azkai seemed slightly pushed back.
To display such monstrous strength even while injured.
‘That Hercules beetle bastard got stronger again?’
「Titanos」
「Vermith’s 7th Corps Commander」
「Hercules Beetle King」
「Lv499」
When we first saw him, his level was clearly 491.
Yet every time we encountered him, his level crept upward, and now he stood right before Level 500.
He must have gained a lot of levels during this civil war.
“Everyone, attack together!”
“Yes! Understood.”
“We were already preparing.”
Keron. Combat Stance Lv6. Activated.
At my command, the other guardians immediately launched themselves forward.
Archeron streaked forward like a flash of light.
Wispent’s spirit arrows locked onto Titanos’s forehead, while Crimson’s manifested blood chains bound his limbs.
On top of that, Lulu’s buff activated.
It was a true carpet bombing.
No matter how imposing Titanos appeared, he couldn’t withstand the combined assault of Azkai and the other guardians.
Bang, Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga!!!
“Krrgh!”
In the end, Titanos staggered backward with a deep wound across his upper body.
Thanks to the other guardians’ offensive, Azkai successfully landed a decisive blow.
“Push forward-!”
Just as we tried to press the advantage at my order—
“Pathogen Spores-!!”
Poof——! Kwaaaahhhhhh!!
Suddenly, a massive cloud of purple poison rushed toward us.
‘Legionix.’
It was the cockroach bastard’s doing.
『Sweep forth, O raging gale-!』
Dragon Words burst from my mouth instantly.
Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga!!
A storm formed, blocking the incoming poison cloud.
In that moment, Titanos bought himself breathing room thanks to Legionix.
“Everyone, gather here!”
Legionix’s shout followed.
Pabababababat! Poohat!
「Molbaruk」
「Vermith’s 18th Corps Commander」
「Southern Mole Cricket Lord」
「Lv438」
The Mole Cricket Lord emerged from underground.
Buuuuung!!
「Lucifex」
「Vermith’s 13th Corps Commander」
「Dragonfly Queen」
「Lv475」
「Phelmos」
「Vermith’s 15th Corps Commander」
「Tsetse Fly King」
「Lv401」
With a loud buzzing, the Dragonfly Queen and Tsetse Fly King appeared from the sky.
Now there were five of them.
Excluding me, it was a five-on-five standoff.
“We missed the grasshopper and the stink bug.”
“Right now, stopping these guys takes priority.”
“Krit, I’ll have to console myself by stripping the flesh from their bones.”
Led by Titanos, the five corps commanders unleashed sticky killing intent toward us.
‘This won’t be easy.’
It wasn’t just them we had to fight.
Their subordinate giant insects also had to be dealt with.
‘It’s a shame we’re short on dimensional energy.’
If we could use Dimension Shackles one more time, we could create a major variable even in this situation.
Then we might have turned the battle in our favor.
But the current situation was unfavorable for us.
Retreat, or push forward and hunt them anyway.
The choice was given.
If we were going to retreat, we had to decide now.
‘It’s a shame.’
If we retreated now, we could target the grasshopper and stink bug who had left the battlefield.
But if we hunted these guys instead···.
We might be able to gather the ★ Azkai needed to advance to 9 stars.
While I was weighing the pros and cons in my mind—
Legionix spoke.
“Hey, you’re the leader, right?”
His antennae pointed at me.
“Yeah.”
“How about we negotiate?”
It was an unexpected offer.
“What kind of negotiation?”
“If you let us go, we’ll offer appropriate compensation.”
They knew it too.
If we clashed here, no matter which side won, it wouldn’t be an easy fight.
Many would likely suffer severe injuries or lose their lives.
“What kind of compensation are we talking about?”
“We’ll tell you the whereabouts of the Lava Great Tiger’s lost source of power.”
“······!”
It was a completely unexpected statement.
The source of power clearly referred to the Lava Emperor Stone.
But how did these guys know the location of the Lava Emperor Stone?
“How do you know about that?”
Azkai narrowed his eyes and asked in a voice full of suspicion.
“We’ve seen it before. It’s definitely the source of power you lost.”
“How am I supposed to believe you?”
“Your leader is a mage, isn’t he? Use the 10th Circle spell Oath of Truth. We’ll gladly comply.”
Oath of Truth.
A spell that would annihilate one’s soul if they spoke a lie.
I already knew what it was because I had looked up 10th Circle magic in the Arcane Chamber beforehand.
But I was still only 9th Circle.
It was a spell I couldn’t use.
“Kuk, you seemed pretty strong, but you haven’t even reached 10th Circle yet?”
“······.”
Legionix was extremely quick-witted.
He realized I hadn’t reached 10th Circle and sneered.
Being mocked by a cockroach was incredibly irritating.
Just then!
Lulumiel spoke up instead.
『Master, I can use Oath of Truth.』
“Really?”
Then we had to think this through.
Whether to finish them off here.
Or obtain information about the location of Azkai’s lost source.
‘Decided.’
After a brief moment of consideration, I made my choice.
“Lulumiel, I’ll leave it to you.”
Rather than forcing a reckless battle against them, I chose to find Azkai’s source.
If Azkai regained his original power, we would have far more options going forward.
“Khat, a wise choice. It seems all the clever moves you’ve shown came from your head.”
Legionix bared his yellow teeth and praised my decision.
But it didn’t feel good at all.
Maybe because he was a cockroach, or maybe because every single thing he said and did rubbed me the wrong way.
『Oath of Truth!』
Meanwhile, the Oath of Truth was being cast.
Starlight energy gathered and wrapped around Legionix’s body.
Soon, Legionix opened his mouth.
“The source of power the Lava Great Tiger lost is··· in the south. It exists in the Forbidden Zone there.”
Paaahhhhhht!!!
Along with those words—
Legionix’s body was bathed in pure white light.
It was proof that he hadn’t lied.
‘The southern Forbidden Zone.’
We now knew the location where the Lava Emperor Stone lay dormant.
“Then we’ll be taking our leave···.”
“Wait.”
I called out to them.
“What? Don’t tell me you’re going back on your word?”
Legionix growled fiercely.
I shook my head and extended my hand.
“Hand those two over to us.”
“······!”
I pointed at the still-breathing stag beetle and longhorn beetle commanders.
“We want to finish them off with our own hands.”
The growth and ★s we could gain by killing them ourselves would be significant.
If we could claim them, we had to.
If they refused, I was prepared to force the issue.
“······Fine. You deal with them.”
Legionix glanced once at the giant insect army and agreed surprisingly easily.
I didn’t know what he was plotting, but it wasn’t a bad situation for us.
“Next time, we’ll settle this for sure.”
Before leaving, Titanos shouted as if declaring war to Azkai.
“That’s exactly what I want.”
Azkai responded with a serious gaze.
Bang!
They immediately departed with their giant insect subordinates.
Once they were gone, we quickly secured the stag beetle and longhorn beetle commanders.
“It’s a relief we at least secured these two.”
The words carried regret over missing the stink bug and grasshopper.
However.
“We can still catch them.”
Wispent gave an unexpected reply.
They should be far away by now—how could we catch them?
“Yes. They’re still within my sight.”
Wispent’s eyes had turned ashen.
It was her Clairvoyance.
“They’re together, so we should be able to deal with both at once.”
Kkirit.
She raised her spirit bow.
Go-o-o-o.
As she drew the string, a spirit orb appeared.
This was the new special skill obtained yesterday.
Spirit Temporary Descent.
The spirit she summoned was···.
Kaaahhhhh——!
An existence baring its jaws and letting out a ferocious roar.
The Emperor Great Tracker King.
Zephyros’s spirit.
Twang-!
Kwaaaahhhhhhhhh-!
The launched orb flew like light, then opened.
From within emerged a translucent spirit modeled after Zephyros in life, charging forward at tremendous speed.
A speed that could truly be called a flash.
“Whoa.”
We all stared with our mouths agape at the sight.
Soon, we would see the result.
***
At that same moment.
Earth was ablaze with discussions about the 83rd floor of the Tower of Trials.