Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: crow
Chapter 130: Truce
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As I emerged onto the surface, I could sense the monster giant hornets, having lost their queen, milling about in chaos.
The ones that had been clinging to the wild boars without giving them a moment's rest were now scattered here and there.
That was when it happened.
From two white nest towers on a distant ridgeline, black clouds billowed upward.
It was a swarm of monster giant hornets.
The black cloud was heading this way.
'Did they sense that one of their own was killed?'
The queen's death cry from when she died.
The psychic wave-like scream that had spread outward came to mind.
At the time, I thought it was just some kind of mental attack.
'Did that send out a signal?'
The Brush Boar Mountain said.
"You retreat first. I still have business to attend to."
An opportunity to earn 20 skill points wasn't something that came around often.
The boars seemed to think this was enough, but...
The bugs needed to be dealt with while the momentum was on my side.
"Yeah."
There wouldn't be any problem without their help.
With my Body Strengthening skill leveled up, taking down the queen hornet would actually be easier than before.
Getting dirty is hardest the first time; once you're already filthy, you just stop caring.
That's exactly the state I was in now.
I dashed toward the nearest nest tower on the ridgeline.
The hornet swarm cloud changed direction to pursue me.
Monster giant hornets tried to block my path, but they couldn't stop me.
I smashed through the ones in my way with my greatsword without hesitation and charged toward the nearest nest tower.
In an instant, I scaled the mountain and closed in on the nest tower.
The greatsword I held was enveloped in mana and stretched endlessly.
Then, with that enormous greatsword, I slashed at the base of the nest tower.
-Crunch!
The single strike from the massive blade shattered the base, toppling the nest tower.
-Rumble!!
The ones chasing me urgently swarmed in.
Dodging the monster giant hornet swarm, I poured strength into my legs and shot up into the sky.
Killing those guys was pointless.
I just needed to get the queen.
They desperately pursued me.
But with the explosive acceleration from the rapidly generated halo's propulsion, I shook them off.
Rapidly climbing altitude.
The mana core in my heart was sucking in the surrounding mana.
The core was quickly replenishing the consumed mana.
It was about the size of a golf ball, but its performance was solid.
'Nice.'
The pursuing monster giant hornets were falling behind.
I flipped my ascending posture.
I planned to dive into the nest just like before and grab the queen.
Falling.
I sharpened the tip like a spike and plummeted toward the nest with the explosive propulsion from the halo.
But this time, things were different.
"What?"
Perhaps sensing the danger, they clustered thickly along my descent path, forming a dense barrier.
'Do they know how the queen in the other nest got taken out?'
They had their own communication network; the news spread fast.
They seemed intent on blocking my attack with their bodies if necessary.
That didn't mean I was going to stop.
On the contrary, I accelerated even more.
The human rocket collided with the hornet mass trying to block it.
-Crunch!!
The disgusting sensation of bugs being crushed echoed around.
Their thick, desperate defense was futile; I broke through and reached the nest wall.
-Boom!
The impact carved out a massive crater around me.
But...
In the end, I failed to breach the nest wall and came to a halt.
The destructive power fell short.
Their strategy of weakening my attack with their bodies had worked reasonably well.
The monster giant hornet swarm pounced on me after my failed breakthrough.
Of course, I couldn't give up like this.
I stored the greatsword in my inventory.
I expelled mana outward from my body.
The mana flowing out rapidly expanded, growing my size.
10 meters... 20 meters.
A colossal black giant appeared.
The monster giant hornets swarmed onto the giant.
They stabbed their stingers into the giant's body and injected venom relentlessly.
There was no damage, but the sensation was so vivid it gave me chills.
But their resistance was meaningless.
The giant raised its fist.
And slammed it down toward the nest.
-Bang!
The shockwave from the fist blew apart the hornets clinging to it and those nearby.
'Throw the incendiary grenades.'
At my command, Suni showered incendiary grenades on the ones clinging to the black giant without respite.
-Boom boom boom!
Incendiary grenades exploded around the giant, setting their bodies ablaze.
But the hornets were tenacious.
Or rather, desperate.
Even on fire, they clung on fiercely to stop me.
As a result, a hideous mass of burning monster giant hornets formed on the giant.
'I wonder if the incendiaries are effective or not...'
Some were dying... but there were so many that it barely made a dent.
Ignoring their resistance, I pounded the nest on the ground with my fists repeatedly.
-Bang! Bang!
The giant, engulfed in flames, hammered at the hornets' nest.
Was it crushing the hornets or pounding the ground...? It was hard to tell.
-Climbing over the corpses of hornets~ Forward, forward~
Without realizing it, I hummed an old song I could never forget, even after all these years, pounding the nest wall in a trance.
-Bang! Bang!
-Crunch! Crunch!
I could vividly feel the monster giant hornets being crushed under the giant's fists.
Already filthy beyond redemption, I had nothing left to lose.
-Crack!
Finally, cracks formed in the nest wall from the giant's punches.
A message echoed in my head from someone.
It was the queen hornet.
The message carried emotions of terror.
Of course, I had no intention of stopping just because she told me to.
-Bang! Bang!
I pounded the nest even harder.
-Drip drop.
Cracks began spreading across the nest wall.
I could feel the queen hornet reaching her limit.
A little more, and it would completely shatter.
Once it did, the queen would become my daily skill points.
Panicking, she was calling for her mom.
For a monster... it was surprisingly human-like.
Then, a voice that truly sounded like a mother rang out.
'What, now she's putting on an act?'
For a moment, I thought that.
But before I knew it, a massive giant hornet was approaching, escorted by countless guards.
And its size was grotesquely enormous.
About the size of those giant wild boars.
I was in giant form too, so size-wise we were even.
'Still... she's not top-tier...?'
The nuance was that she was the queen's mother, so I expected her to be higher-ranked, but I instinctively sensed it.
I couldn't say it was for points...
-Didn't you invade my territory first?
It was the boars' territory, but...
I threw together some justification.
-What if I say no?
Could I win...?
If we fought, they obviously wouldn't fight me one-on-one.
I couldn't guarantee victory even if we did.
And considering their formidable forces, I had no idea how long the battle would drag on.
If it turned into a prolonged war and the Sejong City survivors figured out my connection to them...
'Damn, 10 points were right there...'
Did I get too cocky?
I should have finished it quickly before that super-giant queen appeared.
How was I supposed to predict something like that?
In the end, after calling a truce with the monster queen hornet, the Mountain spoke to me as I trudged back to Daejeon.
Perhaps because they were animals originally, they seemed instinctively sensitive to predators.
The 10 points I gave up right in front of me were regrettable, but there was no helping it.
I wasn't alone anymore in waging war against them.
By the way, if the boars were top-tier Corrupted Beings, that's 20 points... and their offspring...
I unconsciously licked my lips.
Whether it read my mind or saw it on my face, the Mountain said.
"......"
I couldn't blindly believe their talk of being purifiers... but it might be true.
If the boars were telling the truth, killing them wouldn't yield points anyway.
The next strengthening required 32 points.
'That's a long way off...'
For now, I'd let them live.
I couldn't deny that the boars had played a big role this time.
If they hadn't told me the hornet queen was underground.
I wouldn't have taken her down so easily.
If the boars hadn't been there and the monster giant hornets had invaded my home without me knowing...
Not only the survivor camp but Cheonbmun might have suffered a massacre at their hands.
I had to admit they made decent sentinels against the hornet scouts.
For now, I'd think of them as emergency rations.
Something I could eat if things got really dire.
I'd achieved my purpose here faster than expected.
I considered heading straight back to my original world.
But waiting for me there was a meeting with S-rank Awakeners that didn't seem relaxing.
After hunting hornets all day, my mental fatigue was considerable.
I decided to rest here in this world for a few days before going back.