Chapter 691: Just Even More Massacre ( Bonus )

Despite all that fighting, their flow had not completely stopped, there were really so many of them.

The farther Lian and the others went, the more he realized just how many dangerous creatures this prison had held in the past.

In any case, he was still keeping the killing zone active.

Bloodborne Calamity Domain was still active and continued killing the weaker Withered.

From time to time, he also used Eclipse Energy and End Energy to kill the stronger ones.

Unfortunately, he could not use these two cores on a larger scale, as they would run out of energy very quickly, if they had slightly larger reserves, perhaps he could kill all the Withered.

At that moment, a new message appeared.

[ Level Up! ]

[ Level: 36 → 37 ]

Young Vorhelm gave a small smile.

’Good, Level 37.’

He had gained two levels since morning.

He had obtained three new skills, and considering the large number of enemies, there was a good opportunity to test them.

He opened his skill window.

Devouring Spiral.

Rupture Brand.

Rending Resonance.

Three skills with different uses, but when he looked at Devouring Spiral, another thought came to his mind.

’Wait.’

He also had the Gravebreaker Pulse skill.

One created a destructive wave, while the other applied continuous rotating pressure to the point of impact.

If he could combine these two, perhaps he could obtain a skill suitable for breaking the defenses of powerful enemies.

Lian thought about this possibility for a moment and then opened the skill fusion window.

He selected the two skills, and a few seconds later, the information about the possible fusion appeared.

[ Skill Fusion Available ]

[ Devouring Spiral + Gravebreaker Pulse ]

[ Fragment Cost: 180 ]

[ Confirm Fusion? ]

He looked at the cost for a moment.

One hundred and eighty Fragments was not a small amount, especially since Fragments could also be used for more important purposes.

But he was now on a path that led to the prison of one of the Five Ancient Calamities, and he still did not know what enemies were waiting for him in the center.

On the other hand, the Main Quest would reward him with five thousand Fragments upon completion.

But spending one hundred and eighty Fragments on a skill that could be useful in future battles did not seem like an unreasonable decision.

So he confirmed the fusion.

[ Skill Fusion Successful ]

[ Gravebreaker Spiral Acquired ]

A moment later, the new skill appeared in his list of abilities.

[ Gravebreaker Spiral ]

Lian examined its information.

This skill could combine the rotating pressure of Devouring Spiral with the destructive waves of Gravebreaker Pulse.

Instead of releasing one heavy blow, several compressed waves would focus on one point in succession.

He looked at his right fist for a moment.

He had not yet had the chance to test the skill.

But from its description, it was clear that it would be very suitable for fighting heavily armored and large enemies.

He closed the window and then looked at his companions.

Rindo was examining the next paths, Noah was sitting beside one of the pillars, and Alicia had placed her sword on her knees.

The girl looked at the passage below for a moment.

"Lian, can I ask you something?"

Young Vorhelm turned his head.

"Go ahead."

Alicia paused for several seconds.

"Do we really need to kill all the Withered moving toward the center?"

Lian did not answer immediately.

He looked at the creatures farther away, moving between the pillars with irregular movements.

He knew that many of them had been criminals in the past.

But he also knew that some still had part of their own awareness and were even moving toward the center against their will.

The Bone Minstrel was a clear example of this.

If there was another way...

Of course, Lian was not naive enough to think that he could stop all those creatures with just a few words.

"If I find a way to stop them without killing them, I’ll consider it."

She looked at him.

Lian continued.

"But right now, I can’t seal hundreds of prisoners separately, and whatever is calling them probably has a plan that depends on these creatures reaching the center."

He pointed toward the path below.

"I still don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but if we just watch them and later find out that their arrival at the center caused a bigger disaster, it’ll be too late for regrets."

Rindo nodded.

"I also think we should take this possibility seriously for now."

Alicia remained silent for several seconds and then let out a short sigh.

"I understand."

The girl looked back at the Withered.

"I just hope there really isn’t another way."

Lian looked at her for a moment.

She was still the same person who, a few hours earlier, had reached out to touch a floating prisoner simply because she was worried about him.

But this time, despite her concerns, she was trying to consider the larger situation as well.

’At least she’s willing to think before disagreeing with me.’

Young Vorhelm gave a small smile.

"If you find a better way, tell me." However, all of this reminded him of that girl, Seris.

He was realizing more and more what an amazing companion that girl was, there was no need to explain anything to her, and she would not only notice the problem on her own, but also find a way to solve it with her sword.

She would not refuse any method to achieve her goal and would move forward without mercy.

He was not trying to compare these two girls, doing that would be foolish, each of them was a person with different goals and personalities.

But the more time he spent with other companions, the more he understood, Seris was just... different... in a very good way.

"Of course." Alicia looked at him and then nodded.

After the rest ended, the group started moving again.

This time, their path passed through several large passages that eventually connected to each other.

Before continuing the hunt, Lian found a suitable opportunity to take the Devourer Egg from its previous location and move it to a point closer to the next battlefield.

The egg remained hidden from his companions.

When he placed it among the broken stones, he noticed that the remains being consumed in the previous battlefield had decreased considerably.

Then he returned to the main path.

The afternoon battles began.

In the first passage, nearly eighty Withered were moving.

This time, he attacked from the top of a stone wall.

[ Corrupt Sun ]

Dozens of thin rays were released from around his hand, some struck their targets directly, while others left marks of corrupted light on the bodies of the Withered.

When the creatures reached the narrower part of the path, Lian activated the remaining effects.

Several Withered stopped moving almost at the same time, the more resistant creatures tried to pass through the corpses.

But Rindo and Alicia moved in from the other side of the path and prevented the group from spreading out.

In the second passage, the situation was different.

Most of the Withered were moving along high paths, and attacking directly from below was difficult.

Young Vorhelm expanded Bloodborne Calamity Domain into the space between the pillars.

The red mist slowly rose and covered the higher areas, creatures that entered the mist gradually became weaker.

At the same time, Two moved between the platforms with long jumps and killed the enemies that tried to escape the Domain’s range.

One was also stationed at the bottom of the passage to prevent any creature that fell or found another way from reaching the central path.

Lian watched their performance from a suitable distance.

Good.

He no longer needed to personally control the entire battlefield, each member of the Colony could take responsibility for part of the work.

As a result, he had more opportunities to target the stronger enemies himself.

But in the third passage, he encountered a different creature.

A huge Withered with thick natural armor was moving on four legs.

Its body was almost completely covered with black plates, and even the normal rays of Corrupt Sun had failed to cause significant damage to it.

Lian looked at the creature for a moment.

He jumped down from the top of the pillar and landed in front of the monster.

The Withered immediately lowered its head and charged toward him.

He took one step to the side and then extended his right hand.

[ Gravebreaker Spiral ]

A compressed flow of mana formed in a spiral around his fist, and at the moment of impact, the first wave of pressure was transferred into the creature’s natural armor.

The sound of hard stone cracking was heard.

The second wave passed through the same point, and the cracks spread.

And the third wave passed through the damaged layer.

The Withered was thrown backward with a harsh sound, and a large part of the armor on its chest had broken, its body could no longer stand.

Lian looked at his fist for a moment.

Excellent.

But the mana consumption was also noticeable.

This skill was suitable for breaking the defenses of resistant enemies, not for killing every weak creature that stood in his path.

He ended the fight with a short blow and then looked toward the path ahead.

There were still many Withered moving.

"Well, let’s continue."

Time passed.

The group moved from one passage to another, in some areas, the fighting lasted only a few minutes.

But in areas where stronger Withered were present, they were forced to stay longer.

During this time, Lian also used his new skills.

[ Rupture Brand ] allowed him to break the defenses of armored creatures more quickly.

[ Rending Resonance ] also disturbed the balance of groups of enemies standing close to each other in several battles and created opportunities for his next attacks.

However, he still relied more on his older powers, especially since he needed abilities suitable for large-scale killing.