Leveling Up Alone

Zing! Zing! Drip.

Tears with a hint of blood flowed from Han-Yeol’s eyes.

The excessive concentration of mana had caused the spider veins around his eyeballs to burst, but it was worth it.

‘I found it!’

[Congratulations.]

‘Tsk, they hid it so well. No wonder I couldn't find it easily. Damn it. I’ll smash it into pieces.’

[Hmm, you’re not going to bother hiding your mana when you destroy the magic circle, right?]

‘No.’

[Sorry?]

‘Contaminants of that size are impossible to break through easily. I’ll have to start off strong from the beginning.’

[Good idea.]

‘Haha.’

Han-Yeol laughed and then called everyone together.

“Unseal your skills from now on.”

[Okay.]

[Alright.]

[As you wish, Great One!]

“Sounds good.”

“Khu!”

Each member agreed to Han-Yeol’s command in their respective ways.

“I’ll give you a breakdown of what’s going to happen, Mariam.”

“Alright.”

Han-Yeol smiled at Mariam.

‘It’s so convenient having Mariam around!’

Even without a map or high-tech tools like beam projectors, Mariam could connect everyone’s brains so that they could understand precisely what Han-Yeol wanted. He didn’t have to make things complicated. All he had to do was think about what he wanted.

“Everyone gets it, right?”

“Yes!”

“Khu!”

“Let’s blow off some steam!”

[I hope you die in the process!]

Lord Kasha accidentally let his inner thoughts slip out of his mouth and got a good fist to the head from Han-Yeol.

Bam!

[Aghh! Ughh.]

Lord Kasha’s head was on fire and he had to rub it with his hands.

With that minor(?) incident out of the way, the group began to move toward the shortest route.

[Everyone heard me, right?]

[Yes, Great One!]

[The roughest path is the fastest, so be careful, everyone.]

[I’m not that weak, you know.]

[I’m just saying it out of concern.]

Lord Kasha replied in defiance.

[Hmph!]

[Do you want to get punched again?]

[N-No!]

[No?]

[N-No, Han-Yeol-nim!]

[Behave, okay?]

[Alright…]

Lord Kasha immediately backed down after hearing an earful from Han-Yeol.

The rough path they traveled was not without its share of modified contaminants.

“Khaaa!”

On the contrary, as if they were expecting Han-Yeol’s group to enter that way, the shortcut had an even denser concentration of the modified contaminants.

Whoosh!

‘It jumped?’

[As expected of a modified contaminant.]

‘Tsk, it’s not a big deal.’

Shaa.

Han-Yeol took out his two chains once again.

‘There’s nothing better than these two chains for slaughtering contaminants, and…’

Swoosh!

They had canceled the seal on their skills.

Red symbols bloomed all over Han-Yeol’s body, and ten red tentacles sprouted from his back.

“Hahaha, I’ll slaughter you all!”

In exchange for using Blood Strengthening, Han-Yeol’s personality became even wilder.

Swoosh! Boom!

***

The hyena sorcerers guarding and operating the magic circle were in chaos due to the commotion outside.

[Just who the hell is invading this place?!]

[Damn it, that’s a lot of mana! Why now!]

[We took out all of our key defense sorcerers just a few days ago!]

The hyenas had installed the magic circle way before they started attacking the Light Faction. It was because it took less mana to activate it in the beginning, and the magic circle was a type of spell that started out weak but got stronger over time.

In the early days of activation, it was too inconspicuous to be detected. Later, when the Bastrolings of the Light Faction had dramatically decreased in number and they were no longer deemed a threat, the sorcerers guarding the magic circle were moved to where the rebel forces were, leaving behind only the modified contaminants. They had recently assigned a lot of sorcerers to the god they worshiped, so they were short-handed in the magic circle. But when they least expected it, an enemy broke into the location of the magic circle.

[W-Where are our reinforcements?]

[W-We’re in trouble. They’re sending two thousand hunters and no sorcerers.]

[What!? Are they crazy? The mana I’m sensing from the invaders is greater than that of an ordinary rank one warrior!]

[I-I know, b-but no matter how many times I tell them, headquarters keeps repeating the same thing.]

[Ugh!]

They were low-ranked sorcerers.

The modified contaminants didn’t take up any mana to begin with, and mana stones had largely reinforced the magic circle itself. They couldn't afford to use their mid-ranked sorcerers—there weren’t that many of them to take care of the magic circle.

[W-What should we do?]

[I’m guessing headquarters thinks that this is just an attack by some guerrillas.]

A low-ranked sorcerer leader clenched his teeth.

Flash!

[W-What was that feeling just now?]

[L-Light!]

[W-What? Light?!]

The lower-ranked sorcerers were so stunned they momentarily froze on the spot, not knowing what to do.

‘Light?!’

The hyena sorcerers guarding the magic circle in the Mountain Range of Beginnings couldn’t believe it despite the vivid sensation they felt.

Although they were the lowest of the lower-ranked sorcerers, they were well aware of the terrible attribute of light mana they felt and what it meant.

Even among the lowest of the lower ranked, the position of a sorcerer was not a lowly position in terms of looking at the entire Dark Faction as a whole. All but the most of the top secret news was reported to the general Dark Faction members.

‘I was told those damn humans from Earth use light mana!’

[It’s the guy who fought and won against three mid-ranked sorcerers!]

[Huh? But how?]

[That guy is supposed to be on Earth, unlike the rest of the Light Faction!]

Their expressions became even more serious than when they had only sensed rank one warriors. Although rank one warriors were strong, they were no match for the entire hyena race because they also had distinct weaknesses. However, a being from a different dimension using the light attribute was practically a natural enemy for the hyenas, as they even held countermeasure meetings against Han-Yeol.

[W-What do we do?]

[W-We can’t stop them with our level of strength!]

[Where are the reinforcements?]

[R-Right, our reinforcements!]

The sorcerers panicked. How could the lower-ranked sorcerers possibly go against someone who won against three mid-rank sorcerers?

They could only rely on the reinforcements sent by their headquarters.

[Tell headquarters that the being from a different dimension who manipulates the light attribute has shown up!]

The hyena trainer, who was not a sorcerer, reported in a shallow voice at the sorcerer’s yelling.

[I-I did, and they did seem shocked, but even if they wanted to send more reinforcements, it would take time… So they want us to try and buy as much time as possible.]

[Damn it! That’s easier said than done!]

Boom!

At the same time, an explosion sounded much closer than before.

The hyena sorcerers were stunned, and cold sweat trickled down their faces, wetting the nape of their necks.

***

‘Shining Chain Rust!’

Chrrr! Kwang!

Each time Han-Yeol swung his chains with both hands, they exploded with light, turning countless modified wild contaminants into dust before they disappeared.

“Woah! Master, you’re quite violent.”

Tia let out a short laugh in admiration at Han-Yeol’s previously unseen intense fighting style. Some could’ve perceived her tone as sarcastic, but Han-Yeol had spent so much time with her that there was no way he couldn’t tell that she wasn’t being sarcastic.

“What do you mean this is violent? Aren’t you being too dramatic? Maybe you’ve changed after hanging out with humans for too long.”

“Well, isn’t that a bit provoking?”

“Hmm, is it?”

“Haha, maybe I’ve been behaving too much recently. After all, the human world is a pretty peaceful place, unlike the demon world. You’re right. I’ve been too careful.”

While Han-Yeol was constantly in the middle of fights, Tia would sometimes join him, sometimes not. Earth was a much more peaceful environment than the time she’d spent in the demon world as an ordinary arachnid.

Tia realized a lot from Han-Yeol’s comment.

“Haha, then let me have some fun for real now.”

“Don’t have fun. Just get rid of them, Tia.”

“Haha, that’s what I meant, Master.”

Tia’s eyes curved into crescents and she whipped out her next attack.

“Ghaaa!”

‘As expected of Tia. She really is the best when it comes to speed.’

Tia weaved through the hordes of the modified wild contaminants with a speed that Han-Yeol could only marvel at. She eliminated their weaknesses by smashing their heads into pieces. That was only enough to temporarily incapacitate them, but Tia didn’t care about any of that.

Slice! Gush!

“Khaaa!”

She didn’t care because the Shurarmors and Lava Golems following Tia, Tayarana, and Mariam neatly finished off the incapacitated contaminants.

Han-Yeol didn't have time to purify them with light and he was busy hunting on his own, so he left them to the summoned creatures. Surprisingly, the two golems completed their task without a problem. Just like that, the modified wild contaminants were quickly but steadily disappearing.

Tia walked up to Han-Yeol, who was sweeping away the modified wild contaminants.

“Hey, Master.”

“Yeah?”

“How far do we have left?”

“Only about five and a half kilometers more,” Han-Yeol answered.

“That’s not too far.”

“Yeah.”

“Great. Slurp. I’m going to rip the hyenas’ heads off.”

“Ahahaha.”

No matter how much Tia behaved, she couldn't hide the cruel nature of a monster. She licked her lips and released an incredible, murderous aura.

“Let’s get going, everyone!”

Han-Yeol’s movements quickened. Speed was the essence of this operation.

***

Boom!

[W-What is that!?]

The hyena sorcerers were startled when one of their cave walls collapsed.

“Hey, stinkers, what are you guys doing hiding in here?”

Han-Yeol broke through the cave wall and entered the place with the magic circle.

Oong!

In his hand was a floating ball of light.

Weak contaminants would flee in terror at the mere sight of light, which was perfect for Han-Yeol. He didn’t have to fight them one by one.

[U-Ugh!]

[That was so fast…!]

[Those useless wild contaminants!]

The hyena sorcerers cursed the wild contaminants. If the contaminants who had fought with all their might heard this, they would’ve wanted to kill the sorcerers right away, but this was a sacred place and no contaminants dared to enter, so not a single one was present.

“Aw, they still fought hard against us in their own way, so they’ll be sad to hear that,” Han-Yeol teased.

[Shut up, you lowly being!]

“...”

[Hmph!]

Noras, Tayarana, and Mariam gasped.

[O-Oh no…]

[He’s going to die.]

[I know.]

They knew what Han-Yeol hated the most and what phrase he was the most sensitive to in arguments. So when the hyena sorcerer uttered those words thoughtlessly, Han-Yeol’s group members were horrified, knowing how much backlash it would cause.

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