Chapter 48: The Supersonic Reaper

A Fighter Giant landed on the ground and began to evolve.

The Chitin Gauntlet thickened and its density increased.

The torso and legs, which no longer needed to fight, became smaller.

The grabbing muscles grew stronger, so even in death, it would never let go of Lutal.

Its brain shrank, now only needed to process Lutal’s commands, and became a second brain for Lutal.

The wings grew larger and stronger, and a new bio-engine for rapid maneuvering appeared.

[Flight Booster is now specialized in the Gale attribute.]

[Flight Booster has acquired Hyper Charge.]

Hyper Charge was both a movement skill and an offensive technique.

It could cross long distances in an instant, crushing or piercing through anything in its path.

If there was a Dimension Ship in the way, it would break right through it.

“Let’s call you Booster.”

Booster answered with a booming bio-engine sound and flew over to Lutal.

Once back in the safe zone, Booster attached itself to Lutal’s back.

Six legs gripped Lutal’s torso, and a wireless neural network linked the two brains to function as one.

“Krk.”

With these new abilities, Lutal’s mind quickly came up with ways to minimize nutrient consumption.

Now, it could break through the massed IANT Soldier Ants and kill the IANT Queen.

It could also take out the Drake and Hydra first.

Lutal chose to handle the Drake and Hydra.

Even if the IANT Queen died and the IANTs fell into chaos, the Drake and Hydra wouldn’t die immediately.

Meanwhile, many Scouts and Warriors could fall.

So Lutal decided to swiftly remove the Drake and Hydra to reduce nutrient loss.

Puh-oong!

Lutal crossed the sky above the region occupied by the Soldier Ants.

The target was the Drake, approaching while trampling over the Soldier Ants.

Just as its nickname, the “wingless dragon,” suggested, it was massive.

Its body, over 100 meters long, had the sheer size befitting an S-class monster.

Kuung! Kuung! Kuung!

The Drake running on the dirt was like a human running on a sponge.

Its feet sank deep, and it wouldn’t be strange for the ground itself to collapse.

Yet, it ran as if on solid ground, thanks, of course, to Mana.

It was also because of Mana that such a gigantic creature could exist on land.

With Booster, Lutal was faster than a bio-torpedo.

In a flash, it shot several kilometers and landed on the Drake’s forehead.

The Drake, feeling something small land on its brow, shook its head.

It acted as if it was nothing to worry about.

Something so small piercing its tough scales was unthinkable.

By the time it sensed the ominous energy gathering there, it was already too late.

Skeerk! Skeerk! Skeerk! Skeerk! Skeerk! Skeerk!

Lutal, anchored by its claws, drew Death Blade and sliced through the Drake’s scales with ease.

The hide, not as hard as the scales but so tough that an ordinary person would spend a lifetime just to pierce a centimeter, tore like paper.

Death Mana spread, but because the Drake was so large, its resistance was strong and it didn’t die quickly.

Phuaaah!

A massive blood vessel was cut, and blood sprayed out.

With blood pressure hundreds of times higher than a human’s, the IANTs struck by the blood were pulverized.

Now, only bone stood between Lutal and the Drake’s brain.

Writhing in pain, the Drake swung its huge front paws.

Even though Lutal was tough, a hit from a 20-meter paw would injure it, so it activated Booster and escaped from the forehead.

As the gigantic paw passed by, the fractured bone was exposed.

Lutal used Hyper Charge.

Accelerating instantly to a speed of 1 km per second, Lutal shot toward the Drake’s forehead.

Not knowing the full power of Hyper Charge, Lutal had removed the scales and hide first before using it.

If it failed to pierce in one blow, it might only alert the Drake further.

Jjeo-eok!

The skull split open, and Lutal dug into the brain.

Skeerk! Skeerk! Skeerk! Skeerk! Skeerk! Skeerk!

The brain was mashed to pulp by Death Blade.

In less than a second after Lutal entered, it turned from an organ to a mush of protein.

Lutal withdrew from the Drake’s head.

Kuuuuuung!

The Drake toppled over onto its side.

The Dark Elves who had been riding on its back barely escaped being crushed.

“What kind of monster is that?”

“How can something like that even fly?”

The Dark Elves stared up at Lutal in shock.

The monster, drenched in blood, flew toward the Hydra.

Fear naturally rose within them, driving them to flee to the other side of the battlefield.

Skeerk!

One of the Hydra’s three heads was severed by Lutal’s Death Blade.

Although the Hydra had tremendous regenerative power, the Death Mana seeping through its wounds blocked the healing.

Skeerk! Skeerk!

Lutal circled back with uncanny maneuverability.

Before the Hydra’s two remaining heads could even react, they were cut off.

Kuung!

Even S-class monsters hesitated to hunt the Hydra due to its three heads and regeneration, but now it fell far too easily.

Lutal immediately flew toward the next Hydra.

The Dark Elves fired arrows, but none could catch up to Lutal, who was faster than arrows.

“A perfect choice.”

Choi Kangjoong was very satisfied with his decision.

The originally powerful Brutal Lord now had even greater versatility.

It was a combination he had never tried before in the Dimension War.

“The battle lines are well-formed, too.”

The frontline formed by Walkers, Scouts, Warriors, and Giants could not be broken by anything less than A-class monsters like Hydra or Drake.

Unless, perhaps, there was a particularly powerful magician.

And even then, that magician would soon meet their end at the hands of Lutal or a Fighter Giant.

Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!

The Cannon Giants’ Mana Cannons roared without pause.

Thanks to the IANTs having turned the surface of the dimension into wasteland, the Soldier Ants were fully exposed to the bombardment.

With each shell—each with a kill radius of 50 meters—dozens of Soldier Ants were wiped out.

And that wasn’t all.

From the dimensional sea, six Titans and twelve Light Titans fired Mana Cannons nonstop.

With the Artillery Ants wiped out, the IANTs had no way to stop the Titan Class Apocalids.

Originally, there were ants that played the role of Dimension Ships, but since the Swarm was under the control of the Dark Elves, they couldn’t create them.

“They’re still coming out.”

The IANT Swarm, which occupied about half of the large dimension, numbered around one to two million.

Now, with a hundred thousand dead, there was still a long way to go before the IANTs were cleared out.

Choi Kangjoong exercised and sparred with Warriors while watching the battle.

He also posted comments on DimensionNet.

The whole forum was ablaze with talk about Dielka, making for amusing reading.

-Dark Elves are just Dark Elves.

-ㅇㄱㄹㅇ. If you don’t want a knife in your back, you have to exile them first.

-This is just Dark Elf hate…

-They deserve it. Ever been captured by pirates?

-As long as they’re pretty, that’s all that matters ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-10,000 shut-in Dimboongs vs Dielka.

-Dielka.

-Sister.

-Queen.

-D…ielka.

“Ugh. This looks-based bias.”

Choi Kangjoong left a comment.

-I saw Dielka in person and she’s kind of plain.

-Your eyes must be plain.

-What happens if there’s no proof?

-Saw in person = barely glimpsed her face with a telescope.

Bombarded by replies, he just turned off DimensionNet.

“This isn’t right. Maybe my keyboard warrior skills have weakened from not using the keyboard lately.”

Before he knew it, Kuongi had arrived at the Factory Dimension.

At the boundary of the Factory Dimension, factories spewing smoke stood densely packed.

The Dark Elves had spotted Kuongi early on.

There was no way they could miss such a huge creature approaching.

Mana Ballistae, set up to defend the dimension, were fired.

Some Dark Elves shot arrows as well.

But all of it ran out of steam well before reaching Kuongi, leaving the projectiles drifting in the dimensional sea.

There were also Dark Elves coming out aboard Dimension Ships.

Most fled in the opposite direction from Kuongi, though some came closer.

With only ten ships, Kuongi paid them no mind.

For them to inflict meaningful damage on Kuongi would take a tremendous amount of time.

“Kuong.”

Vast Mana gathered inside Kuongi’s body.

Even the bean-sized Source Energy moved to aid the Breath attack.

When the concentrated Mana reached its limit, Kuongi opened its mouth.

The compressed Mana instantly converted into destructive force and was fired forward.

The recoil was so strong that Kuongi was pushed backward.

A white ray shot forth like lightning.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

The Breath blasted the dimension.

The ground was overturned and flung out, scattered even into the dimensional sea.

The effect of Lightning Breath was not just overwhelming destructive power.

True to its name, the lightning ran along pipes and wires connecting the factories, destroying every Mana-related device.

It was like a Mana Storm’s lightning spreading.

Even the Mana Engines meant for Dimension Ships were destroyed, so no new ships could be made until replacement engines arrived.

“That ended in one shot.”

“Kuong.”

“Come back.”

Kuongi turned away from the ruined factories and moved to the Monster Dimension.

“What’s that?”

A Skyeye Giant, observing the Dark Elf Dimension, spotted a Dimension Ship painted pitch black.

It didn’t look like a pirate ship.

Pirate ships always looked roughly built, but this one’s exterior was as seamless as a single line.

“An Elf Dimension Ship, maybe.”

The unidentified Dimension Ship quietly docked at the edge of the dimension and unloaded Dark Elves.

One Dark Elf waved at the Skyeye Giant.

Zooming in, it was Dielka.

“Now that I think of it, Dielka said she would free the slave Dark Elves of the Separate Sea. I’m curious how she’ll do it.”

Choi Kangjoong moved the Skyeye Giant closer to the dimension.

Now he could see clearly what the Dark Elves were up to.

Some Dark Elves spotted the Skyeye Giant, but didn’t think much of it.

A few monsters were unlikely to be a threat.

“We’ll just wait and see.”

[You have acquired Evolution Points.]

[You have acquired Evolution Points.]

[You have acquired Evolution Points.]

[You have acquired Evolution Points.]

[You have acquired Evolution Points.]

[Current Evolution Points: 5,821,123]

Through Distorted Flight synthesis, Evolution Points that had once been close to zero had now reached nearly six million.

He’d gained a good haul from the Drake and Hydra.

Drake was worth 900,000 to 1,000,000 points, and Hydra 700,000 to 800,000.

“Evolution Points from A-class monsters, nutrients from IANTs. Perfect. I hope there are lots and lots of IANTs still in those tunnels.”

IANTs were still pouring out of the tunnels.

Having defeated all the A-class monsters, Lutal flew toward the IANT Queen found by an Air Scout.

The IANT Queen was inside a wooden building made by the Dark Elves.

Skeerk skeerk.

Lutal sliced the wall in an X shape and entered.

Sealed inside by a cruel magic, the IANT Queen for a moment thought Lutal was a kin.

-Kiiiiiiiiiii!

Catching Lutal’s gaze and peering into its Outer Mind, the IANT Queen thrashed about.

Anyone, regardless of race, might have pitied her, but Lutal, as a predatory bio-organism, coldly snatched up the IANT Queen without emotion.

With Booster, there was no need to call a Flying Apocalid.

The IANT Queen, upon arriving at the Soil Pit, was terrified.

Even with her high intelligence, there was so much she couldn’t understand.

What was this monster, and where did it come from?

In a world of questions, only one thing was certain.

If you don’t eat, you’ll be eaten.

The IANT Queen frantically summoned IANTs.

At her emergency signal, even Worker Ants burst out from the tunnels.

The real feast was about to begin.

Worker and Soldier Ants surged like a tidal wave.

A pure charge for their queen.

It might have looked noble, but to the Apocalid, it was just a mechanical process of tearing, breaking, and devouring.

With all those nutrients, Choi Kangjoong produced 500 Air Scouts, 100 Fighter Warriors, 12 Fighter Giants, and 1 Central Command Warrior.

With a battle against a Dimension Ship fleet coming, he focused on flying Apocalids.

If he made only Titans, he’d be vulnerable to enemy raids, so he balanced with smaller Apocalids.

The single Central Command Warrior was to match the number of Titans.

When placed inside a Titan, it could effectively counter enemy raids.

[Apocalid Mass Production Complete in: 2:00:00]

Fewer IANTs were coming out of the tunnels now.

“Almost done. Gotta gobble up the rest, too.”

He sent Walkers into the tunnels to bring out larvae and eggs.

As he leisurely absorbed the nutrients of the dimension, the Skyeye Giant discovered something.

A pirate fleet was heading toward the Dark Elf Dimension.

Not fifty or a hundred, but five hundred ships.

Choi Kangjoong sent Kuongi ahead, then boarded a Titan with the Apocalids for transit.