Leveling Up Alone

Char had a habit of looking at the Contaminated Harkan whenever he felt anxious or worried about something. The creature under his command had a strange effect of calming him down and making all of his problems seem trivial, no matter how big they were.

[Our god has granted you new powers, and you’re much more powerful than when you were alive. I can guarantee you will win even if Harkan somehow returns to life! Hahaha!]

Just as he always did, Char found comfort from the Contaminated Harkan when he started feeling anxious about failing to resurrect the evil god. It took a long time for the throbbing wound to subside and stop aching finally.

“Harkan…” Char muttered, looking troubled. He always felt fear and respect toward the brave warrior, his archnemesis. Looking at him standing in front of him, perfectly under his control, felt strange no matter how many times he experienced it.

Meanwhile, the high-ranking sorcerers paired up and tracked down Han-Yeol after Char gave the command. They searched around the vicinity where Haverus fell in battle, but could not find any traces of him.

[How is this possible? Did he fly to the sky or hide underground?! Where is he?!]

[This is strange. He shouldn’t have made it far.]

[The entire place is our territory, so how could we miss them?!]

[Is there any place in this dimension that can avoid our eyes?]

The high-ranking sorcerers were perplexed at such a large army suddenly disappearing into thin air. They believed that the entire Bastro Dimension was under their watch, so it was impossible for them to vanish all of a sudden.

However, they were mistaken about one thing, and that was the fact that things were different now.

The entire Bastro Dimension was under their watch, but that was only until recently. The hyenas' surveillance system was through their magic circles, which alerted the administrators whenever a foreign mana wavelength entered the dimension.

However, Han-Yeol destroyed those magic circles. So they were as good as blind and losing control over their territories. In other words, the hyenas no longer had the same surveillance they once did over the Bastro Dimension. Despite this, the high-ranking sorcerers refused to accept that they had lost control, and they were somewhat right too. The most powerful race in the dimension was not any of the races that belonged to the Light Faction, or even a combination of the various Bastro Warriors—the most powerful race in the dimension was none other than the hyenas.

“Grrrr!”

Bam!

“Argh!”

The high-ranking sorcerers were so frustrated by not finding any traces of Han-Yeol that they started venting their anger on the other races subservient to them. They physically and verbally abused them just to let out their frustration.

[Hurry up and find that human! Or else I will have your heads instead!]

[Y-Yes, sir!]

There was no way they could find Han-Yeol when not even the high-ranking sorcerers could find him, but they knew they would be instantly executed if they dared to defy the sorcerers, so they had no other choice but to do their best.

‘Sigh, I really wish I could just go back to my hometown and farm…’

The Dark Faction Bastrolings, who were subservient to the hyenas, used to be chastised by the Bastrolings belonging to the Light Faction, but they did not suffer as badly as the hyenas did back then. These Dark Faction Bastrolings mostly lived a quiet farming life in rural places. They were usually found deep in the mountains, forests, wastelands, or other unforgiving terrains.

Life was tough for them, but they swallowed their pride and continued to work hard just to survive.

However, an opportunity came when the hyenas, the most troublesome race in the dimension, suddenly put their plans of dominating the entire dimension in motion. The Dark Faction Bastrolings took up arms and sided with the hyenas in the war against the Light Faction, which eventually ended in the hyenas’ victory.

Unfortunately, what the Dark Faction Bastrolings received in return was the same contempt and harassment they previously faced. Still, it was much worse this time around, as the hyenas forcefully captured and enslaved them. Almost all of the Dark Faction Bastrolings regretted their decision to help the hyenas, and they wished to go back to how things were before.

[L-Let’s go search.]

[I will go east. You guys check the other directions.]

[Sigh… Let’s do our best…]

The Jackal Warriors specialized in scouting, and they were tasked with finding traces of Han-Yeol and his army.

***

The group chasing after Han-Yeol searched every nook and cranny where Haverus and Han-Yeol had fought, but they failed to find any traces of Han-Yeol.

Ironically, Han-Yeol was already far from the battlefield and was currently in a volcanic field two thousand kilometers away. Han-Yeol was very familiar with the volcanic field.

‘The Polm Volcano Field… I really didn’t want to come here if possible…’ Han-Yeol thought.

A long time had passed since the hyenas ruled over the Bastro Dimension, but they still failed to assert their control over numerous areas. And the most famous area of these was none other than the Polm Volcano Field.

[Phew… I did not expect to come here. I guess all sorts of things do happen if you live long enough.]

“Well, I guess…”

Noras seemed to have picked up a saying from Earth, and Han-Yeol simply shook his head in response.

Not only the hyenas, but even the Bastro Warriors wished to avoid the Polm Volcano Field if possible.

“Eruptions frequently happen here, and ash is spewed all around, making it extremely difficult to breathe. The ground is quite fertile, but it’s impossible to farm here. Lava flowed out whenever they dug the ground, so farming is not an option.”

[Yes, but the biggest problem is…]

Ruuumble! Ruuumble!

Noras could not finish his words as the ground started shaking all of a sudden.

[Argh, it’s here before I could even say it…]

“Tsk. Things will be troublesome…” Han-Yeol grumbled, seemingly aware of what Noras was trying to say.

Krwaaaang!

The craters spat out ashes before unleashing a thunderous sound similar to a battlefield.

Krwaaaang!

The thunderous sound reverberated across the volcano field once again, and the thing Noras feared the most made its appearance.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The crater spat out objects that looked like lava bullets, and these volcanic bullets headed straight for Han-Yeol and his party.

Han-Yeol recalled one important thing he had been forgetting. ‘Yeah, this place was called the Living Volcanic Zone for a reason.’

The Polm Volcano Field was infamous for spotting intruders and shooting volcanic bullets at them with pinpoint accuracy as if they were alive.

“Step aside. I’ll block it,” Han-Yeol said, taking a step forward.

[Yes, Great One!]

‘Force Shield!’ Han-Yeol spread out his arms and used a defensive skill.

A shield the size of what Han-Yeol imagined appeared and protected the entire party.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The volcanic bullets came crashing down on Han-Yeol’s party with enough force to destroy everything in their surroundings, but it was nowhere near enough to deal a single scratch on Han-Yeol’s Force Shield.

However, Han-Yeol seemed troubled by something.

‘Ah, this is only the beginning. I really don’t want to go up against those things…’ he grumbled inwardly.

Krwaaaang!

An earthquake occurred right after Han-Yeol blocked the volcanic bullets with his shield.

“It’s coming! Prepare for combat!]

[The Great One has spoken!]

“Kyu?”

“Hmm? Prepare for battle? Right now?”

Mavros and Tia were confused by Han-Yeol’s sudden command to prepare for battle, yet they still did what they were told as it was his command after all.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions triggered all over the place simultaneously, and ground made up of black volcanic rocks split open.

Krwaaaang!

Monsters made up of lava crawled out from the crevices.

“Gwuuu ooooh!”

The monsters instantly came rushing toward Han-Yeol’s party.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

They swung their fists made up of lava wildly at Han-Yeol and the others.

[Damn it! These are Corrupted Fire Spirits!]

Bam!

Han-Yeol’s party maintained formation at all times after entering the volcano field, but they fell into disarray in a matter of a few seconds.

However, it did not take long for them to recover, which was expected of a party with three Transcendent Master-Rank Hunters.

Also, Han-Yeol and Noras had already anticipated this, so they were able to prepare for it.

“Aim for their neck, thighs, and armpits! That’s their weakness!” Han-Yeol shouted.

Wooong… Boom! Boom!

Han-Yeol shot out mana shells infused with Mana Explosion from his shoulder cannons.

“Gwuuu ooooh!”

Three Corrupted Fire Spirits roared in agony and retreated a few steps after Han-Yeol’s mana shells hit them.

“Don’t let their flames scare you! Compose yourselves and fight as you always do!” Han-Yeol rallied his comrades.

The Corrupted Fire Spirits were the reason the hyenas did not dare to step foot on the volcano. These spirits were extremely aggressive and would attack any other creature that dared to trespass their territory, regardless of their race.

Fwaaaaah!

The Corrupted Fire Spirits sprayed lava all around their surroundings and summoned flames that possessed a hint of the purification attribute. Their flames possessed this attribute, so they did not turn into contaminated creatures even after getting corrupted.

The hyenas initially tried to subjugate these fire spirits, but they failed multiple times, greatly damaging their pride. Then, they sent three high-ranking sorcerers along with a massive army to subjugate these fire spirits, but they were eventually forced to retreat after losing three intermediate-ranking sorcerers, one hundred low-ranking sorcerers, and one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand contaminated creatures.

However, it was different for Han-Yeol’s party.

‘Crowd Restrain!’

Chwaaaak!

Han-Yeol threw his chain and tied the Corrupted Fire Spirits down.

“Haaap!”

Wooong!

Then, he focused his mana on the tip of his Jabberwock Sword. The sword started to vibrate wildly as if the mana resonance was making it scream. A normal sword would have exploded by now after receiving too much of Han-Yeol’s mana, but this sword withstood the outrageous amount of mana he poured into it.

Bam!

Han-Yeol filled the sword to the brim with his mana and stabbed it into the ground.

‘Frozen Field!’

C-Craaaack!

The ground around Han-Yeol froze and turned white, and then it started spreading rapidly.

“Guh?!”

The Corrupted Fire Spirits were flustered after the ground they were standing on froze. Since they were made of lava, ice was the perfect counter-attribute.

“Kill them!” Han-Yeol shouted.

[Okay, Han-Yeol!]

Bam! Bam! Bam!

After the sudden freezing of their surroundings weakened the Corrupted Fire Spirits, Tayarana went berserk and massacred them.

“Ra’s Destruction!”

“Gwuu oooh!”

“Gwuok! Gwook!”

Tayarana spread her wings open and gracefully flew in the air before unleashing a devastating offensive skill at the Corrupted Fire Spirits. The image of her wreaking havoc while looking so graceful made everyone think of an angel sent from the heavens.

‘Ironically, she’s more inclined toward Egyptian mythology than celestial angels,’ Han-Yeol thought with a smirk.

Han-Yeol’s party made short work of the Corrupted Fire Spirits. Their combined destructiveness was more than enough to deal with the spirits, but that was not the end of the battle.

More Corrupted Fire Spirits emerged from the crevices, and their numbers instantly ballooned enough to put Han-Yeol’s party at a numerical disadvantage.

The hyenas would turn their fallen enemies into contaminated creatures and bolster their forces, eventually ending up with their enemies getting outnumbered. The hyenas’ legions would increase while the number of enemies would decrease.

On the other hand, the Corrupted Fire Spirits were different. Their bodies' faint purification attribute prevented them from becoming contaminated creatures, making their deaths easier.

However, the Corrupted Fire Spirits would almost endlessly spawn, reaching numbers so large that even the hyenas and their contaminated creatures would end up outnumbered by them. This numerical mismatch was the main reason the hyenas had no choice but to give up on conquering the Polm Volcano Field.

Harkan also had a difficult time understanding how the Polm Volcano Field worked, but it was different this time. Han-Yeol, armed with his skills, had figured out the secret behind the volcano field.

‘The Corrupted Fire Spirits aren’t the main monsters of this place. These are nothing more than just protectors of the field, and the real monster is none other than the volcano itself. In other words, these Corrupted Fire Spirits will continue to spawn until we defeat the volcano.’

Han-Yeol knew they would be at a disadvantage the longer this battle dragged on. Getting rid of the source itself was the only way to stop their enemies from spawning.

The volcano would probably tire at some point, but continuing to fight until the volcano became exhausted was a very inefficient strategy.

However, Han-Yeol had a different reason for not directly going after the volcano.