Chapter 557
A hot breath mixed with the humid jungle air as I exhaled. I stared silently at the enemies closing in from all directions.
‘Keep your center low. Ground your lower body. When attacking… strike fierce and without hesitation.’
The moment my eyes opened halfway, I kicked off the ground.
Boom—!
Compressed air exploded from my toes, and a massive gust engulfed my entire body.
But this body, having long since surpassed human limits, pushed back against the pressure. My angled form cut through the wind like a cannonball.
Screeeech!
My hair whipped wildly. The scenery rushed by in a blur with the fierce wind.
Skeleton King’s shouting—“Wait for meee!”—was swallowed by the roar of the air.
Before I knew it, the hundreds of monsters trampling over thick wetlands and dense vegetation were right in front of me.
—Gwooooooooh!
Hundreds of trees—maybe even creatures.
Whatever word best described those monsters known as Ents, one thing was clear.
‘I win.’
Not a guess. A certainty. Even the Cyclops watching from behind them like a king could not be an exception.
The scorching [Scorching Yang Energy] coursing through my entire body proved it, as did the battles I had fought to stand here, and the pale blue-white energy coiling around the tip of the [White Flame Spear]—it was the judge.
And that judgment was swift and destructive.
‘Now.’
Fwoosh—
The blue flames evaporated the surrounding moisture. In an instant too short to call a blink, the transparent spear tip had already grazed the ones leading the charge.
Ssshhhk!
No deafening explosion. No screams.
Only a passing breeze, and the intense energy left behind a faint line through the air.
That line resembled something out of a legend.
‘Flame Dragon Divine Spear. First form.’
Flame Dragon’s Tail.
Before I could even mentally recite the next four syllables that should follow, the line wavered.
The dormant blue-white flame awakened from its slumber.
Fwoosh—
A tiny spark burst into a blaze.
Using the Ents’ trunks, branches, and leaves as kindling, the flame became a [Calamity Fire], devouring everything in its path.
KAAAAAAA—!
Blue-white light erupted, dyeing everything in sight.
In the aftermath, only scorched and melted earth remained, along with the stiffened corpses of hundreds of Ents. And a pure chime ringing from somewhere.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Critical hit!
You have slain [Lv.95 Corrupted Ent]!
You have slain [Lv.90 Corrupted Ent]!
You have slain [Lv.89 Corrupted Ent Warrior] and [Corrupted Ent Vanguard]!
Because the level difference with your targets exceeds 20, experience gain is reduced.
However, you have slain over 20 [Corrupted Ents] in a single strike, granting bonus experience!
You have gained a large amount of experience and fame!
But the system alerts didn’t stop there.
Ding—
You are surrounded by a multitude of enemies. But do not fear. It is not you who should retreat—it is your enemies.
Title [One Against a Thousand] has activated!
Number of detected enemies: 281.
Due to being outnumbered, all your stats temporarily increase!
While battling many enemies, stamina consumption greatly decreases, and you will barely feel fatigue!
[One Against a Thousand].
The title I earned two months ago after wiping out the undead legion under the Arch Lich’s command alone—now, it finally shines.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
With each chime, all my stats—[Strength], [Endurance], and more—rose slightly.
But that wasn’t the highlight. The greatest effect of [One Against a Thousand] was the extreme amplification of one particular stat.
[Dominance] has greatly increased!
Your overwhelming presence and pressure are suppressing the enemy!
Your [Dominance] has significantly demoralized the enemy!
Your [Dominance] has significantly raised your allies’ morale!
‘Dominance.’
The power to suppress enemies and inspire allies.
A force that could alter the tide of battle beyond an individual’s strength. And the system wasn’t wrong.
The encroaching circle of enemies slowed, and the thick, wild branches stopped moving.
Guwooo…?
The Ents—malicious spirits within giant trees—let out subdued whimpers.
Hundreds of black eyes behind tough bark trembled slightly.
‘Fear.’
A familiar emotion. Once mine, but now it belonged to my enemies.
As a thrill welled up deep within my chest, I stepped forward.
Step.
Gwooooh…
Grugh… Guuuu…
Rumble…
As I advanced, the Ents retreated. No—more accurately, the jungle itself moved back.
The mana they clustered together couldn’t withstand the force and dominance radiating from my entire being.
‘Power. Momentum.’
The two deciding factors of battle. They had neither. Therefore, there was no reason not to fight—and no reason I would lose.
Of course, there was still one variable.
RAAAAAAAH!
Cyclops.
A mythical giant with a single eye larger than any boulder let out a roar that shook the entire jungle.
The Ents, which had been backing away by their roots, trembled at the sound.
Ding—
[Roar of the Giant] has activated!
The effects of [Dominance] are partially negated!
Some enemies are no longer affected by your [Dominance]!
A skill truly worthy of a Gate boss.
Even so, not even the Cyclops could fully shake off my pressure—and I had no intention of giving it time to try.
Correction—not I, but we.
“Haaaaap!”
Craaaack!
Pop pop pop!
With a mighty roar, a bone spear launched through the air and pierced the Ents.
Skeleton King, who had somehow caught up behind me, shrieked as he rampaged wildly.
“Come at me! All of you pathetic monsters!”
This bastard had completely lost his sense of identity.
And judging by how much the [One Against a Thousand] title was boosting him, the overly excited Skeleton King began charging forward recklessly.
“How dare you challenge this noble being! Die! Die! All of you, DIEEEEE!”
Papapapat!
Skeleton King might have been a bit unhinged, but he was still a named monster who had undergone a full evolution.
No one could deny his power, and the bones that surged from the ground and air shattered branches and pierced through the Ents’ trunks without pause.
Pop!
“How dare you wave those puny leaves in front of me!”
Crunch!
“Doesn’t matter how many of you come, it’s like throwing eggs at a rock!”
—Guoooh!
Mournful screams rang through the jungle as it was torn apart.
Following the path left behind by Skeleton King’s rampage, I shot forward like an arrow.
Swish! Slash!
Gliding through like the wind, I swept my spear across the air, and with a blaze trailing behind, the Ents vanished without so much as a scream.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
I twisted my body at the sound of the ringing chimes. A tree vine shot past my side and pierced the ground.
Boom!
Mud exploded upward. I used the next swinging vine as a foothold and launched myself again.
Tap. Slide.
Ever since Moon Kyung’s teachings, my movements had become even smoother and more precise.
Light as a feather, I arrived before an unusually massive tree.
[Lv.102 Corrupted Ent Elder]
—Hu. Man. Must. Die.
Apparently, its high level wasn’t just for show. It had considerable intelligence, even capable of speech. But I didn’t hesitate as I angled my spear.
“Welcome to the jungle, Chikorita.” (T/N: Another Pokemon easter egg.)
Swish. Slash!
Hundreds of branches it frantically gathered to defend itself. The thorns it launched at me—none of it mattered.
Following the path traced by my spear, the tree with a circumference of several meters split cleanly in two.
Boom! Fwoosh!
With a thunderous crash, the massive tree collapsed, engulfed in flames.
Stepping on the densely ringed stump, I soared upward—finally meeting the massive figure looming above.
[Lv.130 ‘Red-Eyed’ Cyclops]
There it was. The master of this jungle. The savage, one-eyed giant who ruled over hundreds of Ents.
The monster’s identity, now confirmed, bore a higher level than any monster under the Arch Lich during the Cataclysm—and it even had a title, a named monster.
‘A named monster in a low-grade Gate…’
A sudden weight settled on my chest—but I set the thought aside. There was no time.
Because from the endless sky above, a massive shadow was plummeting down.
Whooom!
A boulder ten meters wide—or rather, something more like a meteor—hurtled through the air.
And my choice?
Not to dodge—but to pierce through.
‘Fast and decisive.’
I shot upward. The rock came crashing down.
At that inevitable point of collision, I poured every bit of my [Scorching Yang Energy] into the tip of my spear and struck dead center.
And then—
Slash.
Like a hot knife through cheese, the spear pierced the boulder with eerie ease.
Crack.
Having pierced a single focal point, the condensed force inside burst through, etching deep fractures along the rock’s surface—
BOOOOOM!
With a deafening roar, the rock shattered into hundreds, thousands of pieces, scattering in every direction.
The Cyclops, its lone red eye wide open, staggered under the force it couldn’t withstand.
Rumble. Crack!
—Gwoooooh!
The ground quaked beneath the giant’s movements. Small Ents were crushed underfoot, crying out in pain.
But neither the Cyclops nor I paid any attention to the chaos below.
Only one thing mattered—to bring down the enemy before us.
“HUUUUUMAAAAN—!!”
The Cyclops’s roar felt like it was playing at 0.1x speed.
In that slowed-down world, I didn’t hesitate—I stepped off the air and soared once more.
BOOM!
[Sky Stride]. The compressed air at my toes exploded, launching me farther and higher.
Whooosh!
The Cyclops, sensing danger, swung its fist far too late. It was so slow I could yawn.
Boom!
A terrifying shockwave followed, but by then, I had already leapt over it and risen above the monster’s head.
Voom…
Blue flames traced along the spear infused with [Scorching Yang Energy].
Sharp, destructive force.
The heritage of a no-holds-barred sect. The 300-year macho spirit of the Flame Dragon Sect, concentrated in the second and final form of the [Flame Dragon Divine Spear].
‘Heavenly Strike (Cheongyeok)’
Blue fire descended upon the giant’s head.
Fwoooosh! Slash!
