Novel Full Chapter 296 Receiving a Quest [3]
Chapter 296 Receiving a Quest [3]
Moon waited patiently for the gap between their coordinated attacks, using the temporary gap in attacks to his advantage. His fireball continued compressing and gathering power with every second that passed, shrinking in size while its destructive potential multiplied exponentially.
By the time his [Ignite] had charged to the level of power he desired—a fireball roughly half a meter in diameter—Moon looked for the perfect moment to strike.
The moment arrived a few seconds later, during a brief pause in their attacks, as the archers took aim, and mages charged their spell. Unexpectedly, Moon opened a large opening in his protective dome and hurled the charged attack directly at the largest group of enemies positioned to the west.
“SCATTER!” one of the attackers shouted desperately, presumably their field captain who recognized the incoming attack’s devastating power.
The attackers didn’t need to be told twice, immediately abandoning their positions and fleeing in every direction. Unfortunately for them, their mobility wasn’t sufficient to escape an epic rank skill traveling at such a high speed.
The compressed fireball stormed through the air like a dwarf comet before striking the forest floor where the attackers had been clustered.
BOOM!
The explosion was nothing short of catastrophic. The fireball expanded instantly upon impact, unleashing pure carnage as intense, crimson and blue flames devoured everything within a ten-meter radius. Trees became towering torches, and the forest floor transformed into a hell scape of destruction.
[You have gained 490 Lives]
[You have gained 480 Lives]
The zone’s standard death penalty was 100 lives, but Moon’s [Grim Reaper] talent multiplied his gains by five times the normal amount. In one quick instant, awakeners who’d assumed they could simply respawn after death discovered their fatal miscalculation.
Moon had taken their entire lives supply, leaving them with nothing.
They died a true death—some becoming unrecognizable charred corpses, others vaporized entirely into ash from the direct impact of the fireball. “This…”
Their surviving companions stared at the corpses in fear and growing horror as their fallen teammates never returned back to life, their corpses still burning.
Before the remaining attackers could process what had just occurred, a brilliant blue flash crossed their vision.
Lightning struck with might and speed, and they lost control of their bodies as it coursed through their entire system, killing them almost instantaneously.
THUD.
One by one, the bodies collapsed to the forest floor like a chain of falling dominoes, lifeless. [You have gained 420 Lives]
‘This one had fewer total lives than the others,’ Moon observed, already returning his attention to the surviving enemies who were clearly shaken by witnessing permanent deaths by companions they thought had enough lives to survive multiple deaths in this zone.
“How are they dying from single attacks?! Who is this guy—the Grim Reaper?!” one of the remaining attackers screamed in panic, launching a desperate wind blades toward Moon.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
“Die! Die! Die!” The mage screamed frantically, beads of sweat visible on his forehead from the temperature of the burning fire nearby.
Moon casually flung his hand, casting a superior wind attack that shredded the incoming wind blades and continued toward its caster.
Thud!
The mage’s head severed from his body, as Moon took his entire life reserves—just like his companions.
[You have gained 400 Lives]
Several attackers attempted to flee when they realized the hopelessness of their situation, but escape proved impossible.
Lightning crackled around Moon’s legs. Then, he launched himself skyward using [Air Step], the combination of abilities allowing him to close nearly a hundred meters of distance in less than two seconds.
ZAP!
Jagged lines of lightning struck the fleeing awakeners before they could escape to safety, their bodies convulsing as their eyes lost their glint, becoming dull.
[You have gained 250 Lives]
[You have gained 300 Lives]
Within minutes, the forest had returned to relative silence except for the crackling of burning trees and bodies. Moon stood among the scattered corpses, completely unharmed and significantly enriched by the encounter.
The ambush that had been intended to stop or delay his mission had provided him a total of 5,400 life gains and plenty of storage rings with items ranging from C to A-Rank to sell when he was done.
Moon dismissed his earth spell, allowing the protective dome of earth to crumble harmlessly to the forest floor. He then cast [Calmness] on the Direhorse to ease any lingering stress from its injuries, and used his water element to extinguish the worst of the fires he’d started during the battle.
Examining a communication device clutched in one of the fallen assailants’ hands, Moon became increasingly certain these attackers were part of the same outcast group that had successfully captured the Bastion Base.
His theory was reinforced by the relatively low number of lives each enemy had possessed. They’d clearly died multiple times during their earlier assault on the facility, depleting their lives reserves significantly. These survivors had then been tasked with intercepting any relief forces sent to retake the base—a mission they’d failed catastrophically when Moon had put it to the test.
“They definitely know about my arrival now,” Moon observed with amusement, studying the communication equipment. “Well, it seems we can’t approach without drawing attention. This is going to be quite a ruckus, to say the least.”
His smile widened with anticipation rather than concern. Stealth had never been his way to approach anyway. He didn’t have an assassin, stealth base class unfortunately.
Moon vaulted back onto the Direhorse, which had fully recovered from its earlier injury and seemed calm despite the recent violence.
“Let’s continue,” he told his mount. “We still have more lives to gain and loot to collect.”
The ambush had provided useful intelligence about the enemies capabilities and confirmed that resistance awaited his arrival at the base. But rather than viewing this as a complication, Moon saw it as an opportunity—more S-rank opponents meant faster progress toward his evolution requirements, plus the promise of copying powerful skills from elite awakeners.
Moon urged the Direhorse forward through the last five kilometers, leaving the smoldering battlefield behind as they continued toward what promised to be an even more profitable encounter.