Leveling Up Alone

It was exactly as the sorcerers said. A powerful force was sucking the sand into the ground, creating pockets of sand vortexes.

Chwak!

Then, something suddenly popped out from within the sand.

‘Huh? I thought it would be monsters similar to the ones in Ant Hell?’ Han-Yeol thought.

Contrary to his expectations, dozens of tentacles popped up from the sand.

Han-Yeol smirked. ‘They were prepared to welcome us!’

[All of you! Get down!]

‘H-Hiiik!’ Han-Yeol shrieked internally and ducked the moment Tayarana gave a warning.

The others instinctively ducked as well after sensing the massive amount of mana Tayarana channeled.

‘Hmm? This feels strange… This doesn't seem to be ordinary sand?’ Han-Yeol noticed something off about the sand after touching it, and he could not help but be distracted by the strange sensation he felt from the sand.

While Han-Yeol was distracted by the sand, Tayarana finished channeling her mana.

[Flames of Ra!]

Fwaaaah!

Tayarana spewed out flames from the arms of her Horus Suit. Then, she spun like a spinning top, spreading the flames all over the place and burning the tentacles that popped up from the sand.

Every single tentacle around her disintegrated the moment they came into contact with the Flames of Ra.

“Phew! Tara, that was awesome!” Han-Yeol exclaimed.

[It’s nothing.]

“Haha! Alright, allow me to clean things up.”

[The ones underground will be troublesome to deal with though…]

Attacking the monster lurking underground would be difficult to attack, as it was protected by an environment full of mana. Tayarana might be a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter, but dealing with the monster would be troublesome even for her.

[Hmm?]

However, Han-Yeol did not have to trouble himself just to get the monster, as he had the perfect skill for these kinds of situations.

‘Seismic Wave!’

Krwaaaang!

[Oh?]

Han-Yeol regularly trained his skills, so he increased his Seismic Wave to D Rank. Others might say that he only managed to raise it to D Rank, but he could do nothing about it. Not only had he been very busy these days with so many things happening, but he spent most of his free time playing video games. So, he did not invest that much time in training his skills.

He did train his skills, but not as much as he should have.

[Hmm… I don’t think anything happened?]

‘Haha! That’s a given! This skill requires a great amount of concentration to send the waves deep underground. That’s why it might seem like nothing is happening on the surface since everything is happening down there!’

Han-Yeol’s skill, Seismic Wave, might seem ineffective due to the calm surface, but the monster underground was exposed to a massive amount of mana unleashed by the skill.

Splash!

[Oh? It’s blood.]

[Y-Yes, that is indeed blood.]

Tayarana and Mariam watched in awe as a geyser of blood spurted out from the sand.

“Yup, it’s dead,” Han-Yeol said nonchalantly after scanning the ground with Demon Eyes.

Seismic Wave completely crushed the monster. The only thing it left behind was the geyser of blood and traces of its mana.

[Wow… You can easily kill monsters hiding underground now?]

[T-That is truly amazing and frightening…]

“Come on, why are you so surprised? Shouldn’t you be used to how amazing I am by now? Keke!”

[...]

Tayarana and Mariam looked abhorred by Han-Yeol’s brazenness.

“I-It was just a joke! Don’t look at me like that!”

“Hmph!”

“T-Tara!” Han-Yeol exclaimed after Tayarana scoffed and looked away.

“I am disappointed in you, Han-Yeol-nim,” Mariam said. She sounded very polite, but her voice had a hint of disgust.

‘Ugh!’ Han-Yeol groaned after the duo mentally attacked him. Then, he turned to the sorcerers and thought, ‘It’s alright! I still have these guys who worship me no matter what I do!’

[Ahem…]

[H-How are your parents and kids doing?]

[I-I’m quite worried about them.]

[Me too…]

‘N-No way…!’

Thud!

Han-Yeol fell to his knees when the sorcerers he trusted started ignoring him.

[Whoa! This human looks so pathetic!]

[No, he looks more like a loser!]

[Then he’s a pathetic loser!]

[Hahaha!]

‘Damn you!’

Han-Yeol even had to deal with the annoying spirits circling around his head, which only he could see.

[Stop them!]

[Drive those intruders out!]

Kyaaaak!

The troops stationed at the main laboratory squeezed every ounce of their strength to stop Han-Yeol’s party, but they failed to stop them.

‘Dark Avenger!’

Chwaaaak!

The shadow warriors Han-Yeol summoned held chakrams in both hands. Most weapon experts believed that the chakram was one of the most difficult and inefficient weapons to use in combat.

However, the Dark Avengers wielded them with ease and started massacring all of Han-Yeol’s enemies.

[W-What the hell are those?!]

[Stop them at all costs!]

[It’s just a bunch of shadows!]

[But they’re too strong!]

[How can a bunch of summoned shadows be so strong?!]

Sukeok!

“Kieeeek!”

The Dark Avengers slaughtered the Hunters stationed to defend the main laboratory, as well as the monsters fused with all sorts of weapons.

Shwak!

‘I haven’t even summoned my Lava Golems yet!’

Enraged, Han-Yeol took his anger out on his enemies.

Han-Yeol was so worked up that Karvis felt the need to intervene and calm him down.

[Haha… Why not calm down for a second, Han-Yeol-nim?]

Interestingly, his anger was channeled into the Dark Avengers, empowering them even more. Their stats were greatly amplified by his anger, and the Hunters and monsters were no match against them.

‘Shut up!’

[Okay.]

Karvis immediately shut up after Han-Yeol screamed at her.

‘I’m so embarrassed! I want to dig a hole and hide in it!’

Han-Yeol’s face flushed while he channeled even more anger and mana into his Dark Avengers.

Chwaaaak!

One of the Dark Avengers struck down a Hunter specializing in long-range combat.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A monster fused with what seemed to be a giant revolver stood atop a watchtower, showering upon the Dark Avengers and disintegrating some of them in the process.

“Kiek?!”

Bam!

Kwachik!

“Kieeeek!”

Suddenly, a chain flew from out of nowhere, wrapped around the monster's neck, and constricted until its neck snapped, severing its head from its body.

Han-Yeol clicked his tongue while retrieving his chain. ‘Tsk, so annoying.’

The laboratory had heavy defenses, and not a single section of it was easy to break through. Monsters and high-ranking Hunters were stationed all over the place, making it very difficult to get past them.

However, Han-Yeol used brute force to destroy their formed outer defensive line.

[R-Retreat!]

[Form a defensive line inside!]

[We will defend in the interior!]

The Freemason Hunters decided to use the monsters to stall for time while they set up another line of defense inside the laboratory.

“Where do you think you’re going? Tara!”

[Leave it to me.]

Chwak!

Han-Yeol was not the only one who had transformed. Tayarana had transformed into an image of Ra, and her sword was set ablaze by a brightly burning flame. She mercilessly slaughtered the monsters that dared to stand in her way, but she spread her wings open and flew at great speeds to overtake the fleeing Hunters the moment Han-Yeol called out to her.

[W-What?!]

[Please spare us!]

The South American Hunters were powerless against such destructive force that easily slaughtered their strongest monsters. They knew their only option against Tayarana was to beg for their pathetic lives and hope that she would grant them mercy.

‘Mariam.’

[Yes, I understand.]

Thud!

The Freemason Hunters suddenly collapsed to the ground. They looked fine on the outside, but their brains exploded inside their skulls.

One of Mariam’s most lethal skills increased the blood pressure inside the target’s brain, causing it to blow up. She could only use this skill against targets in a weakened mental state and had lost all will to fight.

[A-Aaaah! She’s a demon!]

The remaining Hunters shrieked in horror and started fleeing in all directions.

“You must pay for the atrocities you have committed on all of those people with your life,” Han-Yeol said icily.

Chwak!

He did not spare a single one of them and made sure to kill even those attempting to hide from him.

The main laboratory gates had been shut tight even though their allies were still outside. Han-Yeol’s sheer display of power struck fear in the hearts of the defenders—they did not care whether their allies were still out there and rushed to lock the gates.

[You bastards!]

[Curse you!]

[I hope you rot in hell!]

The stranded Freemason Hunters hurled curses at their allies who had shut them out.

However, Han-Yeol took no pity on them and killed every single Hunter.

‘They are just guard dogs of those committing atrocities under the guise of science. Sparing these bastards is a bigger sin than killing them,’ Han-Yeol thought.

He was truly a Korean through and through.

Why was his ethnicity suddenly being brought up? Anti-Japanese sentiments were etched into his DNA, and one of the most hideous atrocities they committed during the colonial occupation was the experiments they carried out on humans, also known as Maruta.

Any Korean would instinctively be outraged whenever reminded of Maruta. For Han-Yeol, a passionate patriot, witnessing live human experiments only intensified his rage.

One of the reasons he stood at the forefront of exterminating the hyenas from the Bastro Dimension back when he was Harkan was that the hyenas abducted the Bastrolings to carry out live experiments on them. Otherwise, he would not have bothered doing something so troublesome like becoming the Dimension Lord and personally tracking down the hyenas.

Just like in the Bastro Dimension, Han-Yeol directed his anger at the Freemason for committing such atrocities.

‘I won’t forgive you!’

Han-Yeol easily destroyed the large, sturdy steel gate of the main laboratory.

Bam!

[H-How is that possible?!]

[That gate is made out of special steel carbon with mana coating applied on it! B-But how?!]

[Run! Run for your lives!]

[Bring out all our monsters! Let them buy time for us to escape!]

The Hunters and researchers had already lost all will to fight.

Thud!

However, Han-Yeol’s party did not spare them, no matter how desperately they tried to live.

Mariam used her ability again, but this time, she combined it with Mass Telepathy to increase the enemies’ blood pressure in the brains, making them pop one by one.

Han-Yeol would have taken them in as prisoners after they surrendered if this was an ordinary war, but he was not in a merciful mood to take anyone as a prisoner.

‘I’ll erase all of you from the face of this world. The Freemason is an evil that must be eradicated.’

Han-Yeol moved even faster now that he had another goal besides finding the Purple Stone. He busily dashed around killing every single Hunter and researcher hiding in the main laboratory, but then—

Bam! Thud!

A loud sound reverberated from deep inside the main laboratory, and the sound of heavy footsteps rang.

The footsteps sounded like they were heading toward Han-Yeol and the others.