As time went by, the Destruction Demon Army camp which had been abandoned by the higher ups and Teraka, was defeated by Yu IlHan and his army. Yu IlHan left the opportunity for gaining experience to all of his allies without taking a single kill after he had reached level 294. As a result, when the numbers of the remaining Destruction Demon Army went down by half, each group had killed a higher existence at least once.
Not only did that lead to their leveling up, it also gave them the confidence to defeat higher existences.
"We really became stronger!"
"Captain made us stronger!"
[Kuhaaaaaaang!]
[Follow our one and only lord. He shall lead us to becoming strong!]
No one on the battlefield right now was not going wild. The Dragon"s Army, the wolfkin, and the elves as well! Paté especially, after becoming able to wield the undead of higher existences, received meticulous protection from his allies and killed one higher existence after another to increase the size of his undead army!
[Khaaak! To think I"d be in such a miserable state against mere lower existences!]
[These flames…… I resent these flames that bind me. I curse you. Yu IlHan! You shall definitely meet your end at the hands of the Destruction Demon Army!]
The only reason why the army could fight against the Destruction Demon Army was because of Yu IlHan"s Falling Down skill. At first, the Destruction Demon Army that gave up killing Yu IlHan and fought against the lower existences thinking that they might really be put in a serious state at this rate, decided to kill Yu IlHan by combining their powers, but unfortunately, Yu IlHan was the strongest one here.
"Uooooooooh!"
The chain of souls around Yu IlHan"s body danced around everywhere. Hundreds of chains were being swung around at supersonic speeds thanks to the effect of G.o.d Force. They bound, freed, slashed and pulled the bones out of higher existences while sweeping around the battlefield.
Did Yu IlHan become weaker due to giving up his DeathG.o.d skill? No way. Falling Down was the evolved version of DeathG.o.d. In his domain, every time his enemies lost their lives, the power behind his flames and souls would amplify! Even if it was someone else that killed the enemy and not Yu IlHan himself!
"Haaaaaaaap!"
Souls and flames spread around everywhere while enveloping him. Yu IlHan moved around busily within it. He bound the enemies that tried to flee the battlefield, blocked their attacks, and gave crucial opportunities to allies.
The area of Falling Down, which he could only fight against 10 enemies at once at the beginning, expanded and gained more power and now he could fight against 20, 30, and even 50.
"Mir, one there!"
[Got it! Kroaaaaaar!]
[BEEAM here! BEEEAM there!]
The ones he could not stop were stopped by Liera and Yumir, and the ones even they could not stop were stopped by the Flying fortress and the Guardian fortress"s bombardments! The rays that Hundred Eyes shot out were fatal to the weakened Destruction Demon Army members.
[Aaah.]
[Aaaaaaah, at this rate……]
From one moment, the atmosphere of the battlefield changed once more. It was beyond any rage or resentment, and was at the realm of despair. Perhaps if there was h.e.l.l where they had to cry out loud even while knowing that they could not escape, it was this place.
If there was any salvation for them, it was that unlike h.e.l.l, death was allowed them.
[We cannot reach him with our power.]
[We need to tell them this fact. Perhaps in this place, the fifth……. G.o.d may rise.]
"No you don"t."
How dare these guys to try and procure a survival route by saying something that sounds cool! Yu IlHan"s chains were crueler to the ones like that. If they did not explain from the beginning, there was no need for a foreshadow! What Yu IlHan and his army needed right now was the power to endure, in other words, experience and their remains for materials!
[Kroaaaaar!]
[The blood……. of the living, the one I lost……!]
At this point in time, the one with the most achievements other than Yu IlHan and Liera was of course, Paté!
The higher existence undeads he ruled had increased to five now, and after his blackish purple mana enveloped the revived higher existences, the properties of their mana changed to harbor a deadly curse. A curse created from a higher existence"s mana, naturally, was very effective against higher existences as well.
"Go, eat their flesh and become stronger!"
"No, their flesh must become weapon materials."
"Yes, I"m sorry!"
[Kraaaaaaaak!]
Inside the domain of Falling Down, all of Yu IlHan"s enemies will weaken by a league, and they were instead being pushed back by Paté"s undead in all ways. His arrows decided on an enemy, and his undead rushed in to bite and slash them. A new nightmare descended upon the battlefield.
"We can"t lose to Paté. We won"t lose to him in our love for His Majesty!"
"You should say loyalty and not love!"
[Show them the power of us wolfkin! Master has grabbed the necks of our enemies himself, if we do not bite them, then it is the embarra.s.sment of us wolves! Will you give the elves all the merits?!]
Even though this was a battlefield where their lives were on the line, the elves and the wolfkin did not back down and charged at the enemies. Who was more suitable for Yu IlHan"s special treatment? This was a good opportunity to settle on that. Although this was a very violent and militaristic thought process, it was also a very good one in this battlefield right now.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaak!"
"I won"t die! I"ll kill! them"
"Hero is fighting in front of us! The hero is!"
"My gaawwwwd, YuNa"s head is breaking! Lady Leytnaaaaa!"
Everyone fought desperately. Each time a higher existence died, people throughout the battlefield became stronger, and one after another acquired 4th cla.s.ses like Paté. Just fighting against higher existences was an enormous achievement in and of itself after all!
"But why didn"t that work for me……."
"Because IlHan is special!"
"Away with you!"
[Khaaaaaak!]
Although Yu IlHan did not directly kill any enemies, just with enveloping the region with Falling Down and swinging his soulflame chains raised his contribution more than anyone.
Perhaps due to that, just as he saw that he was running out of mana to sustain Falling Down…
[You have become level 295.]
His level rose once again just with the experience he had acquired while protecting everyone and restraining the enemies. There were only 5 steps left until level 300, the realm of higher existences!
Of course, it would become even harder from now on, but he felt quite surprised that the realm of higher existences, that felt so distant, was now at where he could almost see it.
"…….Good, I"ll think about it after I clean this place up."
He put away the hammer and took out his Eight-tailed dragon spear again and synchronized with Orochi to enlarge the length of the spear blade, before wrapping it in soulflame chains, making the flames hotter and more translucent. A gigantic spear over 30 meters glowed in a sacred light with the power of the G.o.ddess of fire.
"Orochi, please."
[Heh, we"re finally rampaging at the last moment.]
Yu IlHan smashed the higher existences that numbered less than twenty now, and prevented them from making a final counterattack. Since he had recovered his mana through a level up, he didn"t even need to save up.
[Kahk!]
[H, him……!]
The higher existences that were wounded and weakened inside the Falling Down domain could not defend against Yu IlHan"s spear and had to roll on the ground. Then they were put into a miserable state by the elves and wolfkin who had been aiming for an opportunity all this time.
[Frustrating, and resentful…….!]
[Even though I"ve reached until here…….!]
[Kuooooooooh!]
Yumir"s roars filled the air. After a hundred rays of light from the Flying fortress swept the battlefield once, Yumir flowed his wind into the trajectory where the beams went past and dealt additional damage!
[Is that dragon really a lower existence?]
[Ku…….gh.]
[Will we, really be…….. khaaaak!]
Although Yu IlHan"s victory was already set in stone, thanks to the actions of a few members including Paté, the situation cleared up more quickly and surely. Eventually, no enemies were standing in this battlefield!
"It"s over."
"The remaining enemies…….. none."
"…Won. We won!"
[Kuoooooooh!]
"We have taken victory! We"ve won against higher existences!"
While Yu IlHan"s subordinates cheered, he made the two fortresses float in the air again, and took in the remains of higher existences and allies to clean up the battlefield. He subconsciously sighed.
"Fuu."
"IlHan, are you not hurt anywhere?"
"That"s what I need to ask. Come here."
"Okay."
Liera asked while approaching Yu IlHan in a completely intact state without a drop of blood on her body, even though she had fought at the frontmost lines. He kissed Liera"s forehead and took a step back before making a bitter smile.
"There"s no way I"m getting hurt against 5th cla.s.ses. Although it was slightly dangerous mid way……"
As he had activated the option on the gauntlet immediately after seeing that experience points didn"t come in, he could safely bypa.s.s the danger. The option on the gauntlet made of the remaining half of Chaos Will, that is.
"I thought it was a technique that only ninjas would use, but it"s good that it was of help."
"Yes…….The problem is not me but the others."
In this battle, Dragon"s Army, elves, wolfkin combined had a total of a little over 200 loss of lives.
Considering that the majority of them were below 4th cla.s.s, it was a miracle. Moreover, the surviving ones had levelled up by at least five stages or even more, so it could be called their complete victory.
However, even though it was a complete victory, the dead allies will not come back to their side. They cannot be returned.
"Everyone listen."
Yu IlHan lined up the army that was drunk in the sweet sensation of victory and declared with a firm voice.
"73 from Mir"s Dragon"s Army, 59 elves, 75 wolfkin. That"s the number of people that died in this fight. As I said before, we will postpone the mourning until later. However, this cannot happen again in the upcoming fights. Remember that your allies will be grieved of your deaths after the battle. Do not die. Understand?"
"Understood!"
"…….Everyone fought hard so rest a little. Paté. You manage your undead from now."
"Yes!"
The elves and wolfkin returned to the Guardian fortress, while the Dragon"s Army returned to the Flying fortress, resolving themselves for the fights to come in their own ways. Mystic, having received orders from Yu IlHan, drove the two fortresses.
The group, having completely wiped out the frontier camp of the Destruction Demon Army, left the place as if nothing had happened at all in that place. And no one returned there again, until the very end of this war.
Author"s notes
N/ATranslator"s notes