Leveling Up Alone

The hyena race was different.

[Haha, this contamination ability is really handy.]

[I agree. I can’t believe they can move all those materials with only three carts. I really want that mammoth contaminant.]

[Tsk. Oh well, they won’t lend us the mammoth contaminant except for special occasions like this.]

[Tsk, what a bunch of stingy hyena sorcerers. They’re not going to use them anyway, so why hoard them?]

A jackal Bastroling, a member of the Dark Faction, was startled by his subordinate’s comment and covered his mouth with his index finger.

[Shh! Watch your mouth.]

[What’s wrong? We’re the only ones here anyway. Boss, you're being needlessly careful.]

[Even so, you should always be careful when running your mouth. The hyenas are dirty little bastards, so although it’s a very low possibility, the hyenas might have planted someone here.]

The jackals were clearly members of the Dark Faction and were loyal to the hyenas, but that was purely because of their powerlessness and they were kind of forced to surrender. In addition to the clear hierarchy, the hyenas weren’t kind to anyone other than their own race as they often bullied and disrespected other races. So even if they tried to get along, they couldn’t.

[Tsk, damn it.]

[But at least we crammed in a lot of stuff we needed along with the materials, so it’s a win-win for us.]

[That’s a good thing, because for whatever reason, there are no hyenas on this mission.]

[That is kind of weird because from what I heard, you don’t even see the hyenas at other merchants.]

[Really? Not even at the other small or medium merchants?]

[Yeah.]

[That is really weird. Even though we’re a part of the same faction, they’ve never trusted us, so I can’t believe they left all of this to us.]

[Well, it’s none of our business anyway. We just need to do what we’re told.]

[Haha, that’s true.]

The Bastro Dimension was ruined, but many Bastrolings of the Dark Faction still lived in it. They maintained the villages, organized the merchants, and interacted with the Dark Faction. Except for those who made up a part of their force, the hyenas seized or requisitioned everything from the other races that made up such villages.

Clank, clank.

[Huh?]

The mammoth suddenly stopped in its tracks and sniffed its surroundings.

Sniff, sniff.

Puuuu!

[W-What’s going on?]

[Why is it doing that all of a sudden?]

Immediately after sniffing, the mammoth contaminant let out a cry and raised its front legs. It was frightened. However, since they could only see the mammoth contaminant a few times only when the hyenas allowed it, they had no idea why it was behaving this way. However, if a hyena sorcerer or trainer had seen this behavior, they would’ve recognized it immediately.

[Ugh, I wish I knew why it's behaving that way.]

Just then, one jackal’s head exploded and collapsed without even screaming.

Pop!

Two seconds later, something exploded.

Boom!

[W-What the hell?!]

[What just happened?]

[O-Oh no!]

The jackal Bastrolings didn’t know what to do, and the sudden situation left them bewildered. However, that was only the beginning.

[Everyone, attack!]

Bang, bang, bang!

Countless blue sparks shot out from the surrounding forest, which was supposed to be empty. With each blue spark, the jackal workers and even the warriors in charge of guarding them collapsed to the ground.

[I-It’s a raid!]

[It’s the remnants of the Light Faction!]

[Stop them!]

The jackal warriors later realthat they were under attack and shouted as loud as they could.

Clank, clank, clank!

Everyone drew their weapons and prepared for the attack, but the Light Faction’s remnants were nowhere to be seen, and there were only flashes of light.

Whoosh!

[Agh!]

What was even more terrifying was that with each flash of light, the jackals fell one by one.

[W-What’s going on?!] the jackal lord shouted.

[We’re under attack, but I-I can’t see our enemies!] his subordinate replied.

However, that was not the answer the lord wanted.

[I know that, but I’m asking what the hell is going on!]

[T-That’s…]

Their jobs were to take care of tedious chores under the hyena's direction. The jackals had never fought against the Light Faction, so they were unaware of the new weapons the Light Faction had created. If the hyenas had told the jackals about them, they would’ve been more prepared, but the hyenas weren’t nice enough to teach the jackals, basically their slaves, such things.

[L-Lord, you must evacuate!]

[What do you mean? We’re all dead if we lose this cargo!]

[W-we can’t see our enemies, but our warriors are dying. Lord, if we stay here, we’ll die for sure!]

The jackals were one of the physically weakest races in the Bastro Dimension. Their strongest warriors were only rank two, and there were only three of them at most. Considering the fact that the Bastro Warriors of the Light Faction usually had many rank-one warriors and even more rank-two warriors, the jackals were incredibly weak.

One of the three rank-two warriors urged the lord to retreat.

Bang, bang, bang!

“Puuuu!”

The situation was getting worse.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Kwang!

[T-That’s…!]

The indiscriminate light attacks hit not only the jackal workers and warriors, but also the mammoth contaminants carrying the important materials.

The mammoth contaminant was originally a giant monster with a considerably good defense mechanism. Therefore, the leader of the jackals wasn’t too worried. But to his surprise, when the light repeatedly struck the mammoth contaminant, it cried in agony, and raised its front legs, causing the cargo to sway from side to side and spill.

“Puuu!”

In the end, the mammoth contaminant fell forward, bleeding black blood.

Thud!

[Oh no!]

[W-We’re in trouble. The materials!]

‘W-We’re done for.’

The jackal lord thought to himself that they were done for good. Even if the raid ended, moving the massive amount of materials with the remaining jackals would be impossible.

[Retreat.]

[Yes, sir. Everyone, retreat!]

[Retreat!]

[T-That was close!]

Clank!

As soon as they heard the order to retreat, the jackal workers and warriors began to flee. They abandoned their armor and weapons, which weighed too much and hindered their escape.

Normally, an organized escape would be less risky, but with no enemies in sight and their comrades dying every second, they had no time for that.

*

[Commander, our enemies are fleeing in disorder, just as we expected.]

[Great.]

Riru led the raid, and her amber eyes sparkled with a murderous aura.

[Lycan, launch the manhunt.]

[Yes, commander!]

As soon as Riru gave the command, the Lycan Slope warrior who specialized in tracking down people started to move rapidly.

‘I won’t spare a single Dark Faction member.’

She was only getting started with her revenge.

The Lareterus independent army, led by Riru, started to target the merchants gathering ingredients for the hyenas’ magic circle. It was a risky move to divide their already scarce forces, but Riru confidently led her independent army. Riru learned from Han-Yeol on Earth that information was power, so she had already seen through everything.

‘The task of gathering materials for this magic circle was carried out solely by Haverus’ high-ranking sorcerers, and the other high-ranking sorcerers have gone back to their lands. Also, Haverus sent all his available forces to attack Harkan. That leaves the other slaves to procure materials for themselves. Without the sorcerers, we’ll win no matter what!’

This was all thanks to the fact that the rat Bastrolings, originally a part of the Dark Faction, had been recruited and knew the hyenas' every move.

‘Harkan, just how many more miracles will you give us?’

Harkan had tried to change so many things ever since he was the Dimension Lord.

‘We were too foolish back then to recognize your willingness to change.’

If the Bastro Dimension had developed the way Harkan wanted it to, there would’ve been no reason for the hyenas to become this powerful in the first place.

[Haa.]

A female Bastro Warrior closely guarding Riru asked, [Commander, what’s bothering you? This battle is our victory anyway.]

[No, it’s nothing. How did our tracking go?]

[We’ve killed every single one of them.]

[Good work.]

[No worries.]

At best, the jackals ranked third in terms of power. They were no match for the best and strongest in the Light Faction: the Lareterus.

No one survived the raid.

[Burn all but the food and weapons from that carriage.]

[Yes, commander!]

They still had enough food and weapons from Earth, but the more they had, the better.

The independent army led by Riru was victorious in this battle and ruined the hyena race’s ambitions to reestablish the magic circle.

*

“Khaa.”

“Khuaaa!”

Thump, thump, thump!

A huge number of contaminants were moving in one direction. Considerthese were creatures withouth no reason, they were pretty well in sync.

[Damn it, damn it, damn it!]

Haverus led the horde of contaminants. He had been instructed to get everything done in three days.

He was cursing endlessly.

Grrr.

‘Just why me!’

He was quite dissatisfied with this mission.

‘How could I, second in command, be treated like this just because I failed to monitor that human?!’

Of course, no one had ever given him the title of second in command, but the power and prestige he had enjoyed up to this point was more than enough to call him that. However, that power and prestige were about to be taken away from him. Nonetheless, there was something else he was more worried about on this mission.

‘Please, don’t let them get away. Please!’

With three days to finish everything, Haverus was wary of the possibility that his target, the human, might run away and waste his three days. He didn’t believe that the human would ever stand up to him.

‘There’s no way a weak, lower-dimensional being would dare to face me directly. I have to find him and kill him as quickly as possible. This is a race against time!’

Haverus didn’t think that he would lose. He was only worried that he wouldn't be able to complete his mission on time.

[Haverus-nim, shouldn’t we run a scouting party from here?]

[What?]

Haverus was dumbfounded by the mid-rank sorcerer’s suggestion.

[According to our rules, in this kind of canyon, we must run a scouting…]

The mid-rank sorcerer couldn't finish his sentence.

Whoosh! Punch!

[Argh!]

A black hand shot out from thin air and struck him in the chest, throwing the mid-rank sorcerer back five meters.

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