Leveling Up Alone

Kurrrr!

[Huh!]

[N-No way??]

The sudden ambush bewildered the two high-ranking sorcerers.

[A human is attacking us first?]

[How dare it!]

Their current target, an inhabitant of another dimension, was clearly nothing more than prey that should’ve been running away. While they admitted that he had gotten lucky and defeated Haverus, he had only risen to power because he was appointed by Char, thanks to his ability to specialize in reconnaissance and surveillance. In other words, in terms of pure brute force, they were stronger by a very small margin.

‘There’s not just one, but two of us. Yet he still dares to attack first?’

Even with the geographical advantage, it was not a good idea. The situation was so absurd that the two high-ranking sorcerers were more stunned than angry. For a moment, they were bewildered, but a glance at each other brought about mutual understanding.

‘Yeah, our goal was to find and kill him anyway.’

‘I’m a little annoyed that they attacked us first, but I’m also grateful that the human showed up on his own when we couldn’t find him anywhere.’

‘Okay, this is good. Let’s pretend like we’re losing, catch him off guard, and take him down in one try so he can’t get away.’

‘Sounds good.’

The two high-ranking sorcerers made a plan.

“Kuaaa!”

“Kaaaa!”

Kwang!

They retreated, deliberately taking small steps backward as if they were straining to keep up. They wanted to lure the human, the other-dimensional inhabitant, who was on the cliff and firing ranged attacks at them. They backed off slowly, using some contaminants as bait to avoid being too obvious. Using those contaminants was a bit of a waste, but this kind of sacrifice was nothing as long as they could lure him properly.

Tap, tap.

Little by little, they backed away in order to lure and hunt down the cowardly opponent who was only using ranged attacks.

‘Hmm, wow they’re using their brains for once.’

Although the hyena sorcerers had changed quite a bit since Harkan’s time, Han-Yeol understood the hyena race very well. Their strategy and tactics were clear to him since Harkan and the hyena race had fought lots in the past and were on bad terms with each other.

Shaa!

‘I knew it!’

As the hyenas had predicted, Han-Yeol’s firepower became less effective as they moved away from the cliff.

‘Hehe, now come this way. I’ll give you a good fight!’

They had taken quite a bit of damage from the surprise attack, but they were still very strong.

“Now, shall we get going?”

“I will back you up,” Stewart replied.

“Oh, how trustworthy.”

“It’s because I can’t trust you, Han-Yeol-nim.”

A natural reaction followed Stewart’s petty provocation.

“What?”

Thud!

Han-Yeol came down from the cliff.

[Kahaha. You’re a genius, Haruni.]

[Of course. Tell me something I don't know. Hahaha.]

The hyenas grinned leisurely, revealing their fangs as Han-Yeol appeared as they expected. Now, if they killed him, they could quell Char’s anger and all this chaos.

They were confident.

A single high-ranking sorcerer had the power to cause a disaster in the entire Bastro Dimension. So, with not one but two high-ranking sorcerers working together, they felt that no one could defeat them, even if it was someone who had fought and defeated a high-ranking sorcerer one on one. And most importantly, they intended to give it their all from the start.

‘If I let my guard down and lose a lot of contaminants, I’ll lose a lot of my own power even if I do well overall.’

For the high-ranking sorcerers, who looked far into the future and competed with their peers to become the next Char, losing individual power would be fatal to their ambitions.

[We’re going to attack with all we’ve got. Wrath of the Contaminants!]

[Kahahaha. Curse of the Contaminants!]

Whoosh!

He started off strong from the start.

Boom!

A thick, black fog began to form around them, and two gigantic contaminants, more than a hundred meters tall, appeared from behind the high-ranking sorcerer.

The two-man team they are now assembling wasn’t just a random grouping. This composition maximized the synergy between high-ranking sorcerers with similar contamination skills.

The hyena race may be arrogant, but they were not a weak race.

“Wow, I’ve never seen a contaminant that big before.”

“There are quite a few stupid demons in the demon world that are obsessed with their size, and they invest all their mana in growing bigger.”

“Wow, they’re bigger than them?”

“There are much bigger ones. Some of them are over a kilometer tall.”

“Huh!”

The thought horrified Han-Yeol. Even if being big was important, that was a bit too much.

“It’s stupid. Because of it, one of the demon kings sealed him off, saying that it was too big and unpleasant to look at. So now it's doomed and unable to move forever.”

“Ah, I see.”

Han-Yeol and Stewart didn’t seem nervous, even with two giant contaminants right before them.

[What’s wrong with them?]

[How dare they just stand there and talk while our biggies are right there?]

[Damn them! Tear them apart!]

Enraged, the high-ranking sorcerers released all of their contamination attributes from their hearts. With all their might, they planned to kill all of Han-Yeol’s group members and turn them into contaminants.

[Charge!]

[Kill them all!]

Thump!

The contaminants, over a hundred meters tall, began to move. The ground shook with each step they took.

Shhhh!

The giant contaminants looked roughly like monsters from movies, but with bent backs and slightly bent arms and legs. Another unique feature of theirs was an arm-like thing attached to their butts.

“Kwangggg!”

The two contaminants let out a tremendous roar at Han-Yeol and Stewart.

“Now, then.”

Shaaa!

The new Chain of Annihilation that Han-Yeol had recently gained appeared from his hand.

[Kahaha, do you think you can defeat us with such a useless weapon?!]

The high-ranking sorcerers finally swung their arms and started actively controlling the contaminants.

Thud!

“Kwahhh!”

The two giant contaminants simultaneously extended their arms and attacked Han-Yeol and Stewart.

Whoosh! Shaaa!

Han-Yeol’s chain stretched out, and he snatched up one of the contaminants and slammed it into the ground.

Bang!

“Khaaa!”

[W-What the hell?!]

[How can they beat our contaminants down so easily?]

Giant contaminants lacked many abilities due to their size, but their destructive power was one of the best, even among high-ranking sorcerers. Yet, one of them collapsed with a single swing of Han-Yeol’s chain.

‘They’re too easy to restrain since they’re so big.’

Restrain was one of the first skills Han-Yeol had gained, and this skill became increasingly effective over time. Restrain stunned any opponent for three seconds, and no matter how strong one was, avoiding the skill was the only way to not be affected by it. As a result, the giant contaminants were easily attacked by Restrain.

[Damn it!]

Whoosh!

The high-ranking sorcerer in charge of the giant contaminant that was still standing hastily controlled it to help his comrade. He ordered an all-out attack on the smaller contaminants to buy some time.

[Go, contaminants. Sacrifice your insignificant bodies for the sake of my precious one!]

Even their spells were arrogant.

“Khaaa!”

Thud, thud.

Tens of thousands of zombie-like contaminants, created by sixty hyena sorcerers, rushed toward Han-Yeol and Stewart.

Han-Yeol smirked at this sight.

“I’m getting tired of them thinking they can beat me with their trashy contaminants.”

“I agree. The contaminants were threatening the first few times, but now, they’re so boring.”

“Exactly.”

Whoosh!

The shoulder cannons mounted on Han-Yeol’s shoulders and back started to move.

“Hehe, this skill is so ridiculous.”

“Why don’t you stop laughing and use your skill already?”

“Tsk, okay.”

Han-Yeol immediately used his newfound combination skill.

‘Special flare!’

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three meteor-like lights shot out from his shoulder cannons, heading directly above the area where the contaminants were coming from.

[Huh?]

[What is that?]

Even though light was their least favorite attribute, the seemingly non-threatening shots fired into the sky puzzled the sorcerers.

Pop, pop, pop!

The bolts of light exploded dramatically in the air.

“Kheeee!”

“Eeeeeh!”

[No way!]

The three unthreatening-looking bolts of light took a 180-degree turn as soon as they exploded in the air. Like a flare, the skill exploded in midair, spreading a massive amount of light and purifying aura in all directions.

The flare was not from an ordinary Hunter, but a Transcendent Master-Ranked Hunter. Not only the weak contaminants, but even the mighty and powerful giant contaminants felt as if their entire bodies were on fire.

Shaaa!

The numerous contaminants instantly melted away, leaving no trace behind.

‘Hmm, all of those contaminants were made from corpses.’

If a living creature had been used, the contaminant attribute would’ve disappeared, and a normal body would have appeared. Unfortunately, the two hyena sorcerers fighting against Han-Yeol were the type who preferred to contaminate corpses rather than living creatures.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

Han-Yeol would’ve liked to save them, but he didn't necessarily feel sorry for them because of his cold nature during his time as Harkan.

Grrr!

‘Damn it!’

‘I can’t believe he can use the light attribute like that!’

‘This was completely unexpected.’

The high-ranking sorcerers didn’t know what to do. The light attribute was much more powerful than they had expected.

[Ugh! Army, get up and kill all that you see before you. Corrupted Contaminants!]

[Get destroyed, and die! Contaminated Flames!]

Phuwaaaaa!

The high-ranking sorcerer unleashed as many powerful skills as they could at Han-Yeol in an attempt to turn the situation around. The best way to make a comeback while at a disadvantage was to hit one’s opponent with an overwhelming force that they couldn’t ignore. However, there was something they weren’t aware of.

“What are you guys doing?”

‘Lightforce Sword!’

Whoosh!

Countless light swords appeared in the air and instantly headed toward the high-ranking sorcerers.

[Huh!]

[N-No way!]

The high-ranking sorcerers were dumbfounded by Han-Yeol’s light swords, and they quickly tried to block the attack. Although their defensive skills weren’t good, they were quite good at using the contaminants as a shield. However, Han-Yeol had calculated that in advance.