To the demons who couldn’t move, the Walker was a silent terror.
They approached quietly, pierced chests with their Abyssal Claws, and dragged them to the Soil Pits.
The Apocalid World could digest them too, but since the bodies of the demons were sturdy, the Soil Pits were much faster.
“Don’t just watch, help!” a Demon Earl trapped in the Apocalid World shouted.
The Demons of Chaos applied buffs to the front-line demons. As their mental resistance and physical abilities were enhanced, they became able to endure the Apocalid World.
“I’ll slaughter you all!”
A Demon of Ruin stepped forward confidently. Having overcome the enemy’s wide-area debuff, it felt like he could tear apart the monsters he was treading on at any moment.
*Thump, thump, thump.*
A Giant emerged from the side of a Light Titan. Facing the heavy and powerful body, the Demon of Ruin grew tense despite himself.
Demons usually looked down on monsters they saw for the first time, but the pressure exuded by Enhanced Psionic Level 7 was not ordinary.
Nevertheless, the Demon of Ruin laughed with delight. The bigger and harder something was, the greater the pleasure of breaking it.
A black energy wavered on the Demon of Ruin’s sword. It was Dark Aura, which was weaker than a Dark Blade but powerful enough against monsters. He swung his sword, intending to lop off the Giant’s Abyssal Claw.
*Clang!*
“What…?”
The Demon of Ruin’s expression froze. He had only managed to cut halfway through the Abyssal Claw.
The Giant twisted its Abyssal Claw to snatch the sword and crushed the Demon of Ruin with its entire body. Making it impossible for the demon to move with its weight, the Giant stabbed down repeatedly with its Abyssal Claws.
Although it had an effective weapon called Acid Fluid, it didn’t use it often because they were on the back of a Light Titan. It mangled the demon’s torso and severed its limbs as if butchering meat.
What happened next was obvious. A Walker scuttled over.
“As expected of those with nothing but battle in their heads,” Marquis Shank sneered.
From a position far from the Light Titans, he prepared his specialized magic. He formed a Chaos Magic by skillfully combining Mana and the difficult-to-handle Demonic Energy of chaos.
“Miniature Cloud!”
A cloud originating from his Staff spread out. The demons touched by it were unaffected.
It was different for the magic beasts. When covered by the Miniature Cloud, their body size shrank to one-tenth. The billowing Miniature Cloud reached the Light Titans. Since the magic spread across several kilometers, multiple Light Titans were caught in it.
*Whoosh.*
The Light Titans were reduced in size. Like the magic beasts, they became one-tenth their size, making them smaller than a Central Command Giant. The same phenomenon occurred to the Giants on their backs.
It wasn’t just their size that shrank. Their strength and weight were also significantly weakened. On the other hand, the demons remained the same. The demons who were being slaughtered by the Giants just moments ago began to win.
Even the Giants couldn’t hold out, so how would the Warriors fare? The number of Apocalid corpses increased. The Walkers took even those to the Soil Pits, turning them back into nutrients.
The Central Command Giants had to hurriedly leave their positions. The Light Titans couldn’t dodge and their backs were attacked. Because their size had decreased, every single hit was more fatal.
“My Light Titans!”
Choi Kangjoong, who had received information from a Central Command Giant, quickly flew over. He activated his Death Blade and cleared away the demons on their backs. Thanks to his quick response, fortunately, the Light Titans did not die.
“Go to the back.”
The Light Titans moved to the rear, shedding blood and pieces of Chitin Gauntlet. While staying between the Apocalid main force and the Divine Arrows, they would recover through Rapid Regeneration.
‘This is interesting.’
Choi Kangjoong examined the Miniature Cloud. Naturally, it had no effect on him. It was a magic that only shrank things like monsters or magic beasts.
‘How did he do it?’
Choi Kangjoong replicated the mana wavelength of the Miniature Cloud into his Source Energy and imbued it with the will to shrink. He tried it on a magic beast floating nearby.
*Screech!*
The size of the magic beast decreased. However, it didn’t change as drastically as the Miniature Cloud.
‘Is it because of the Demonic Energy? Should I try Root Magic?’
Root Magic could twist or change the source of an existence. This included not only physical phenomena but also concepts fixed from birth.
‘If I twist the source of “being large” itself…’
As Choi Kangjoong focused his will, Source Energy was rapidly drained. The Root Magic was cast, and a magic beast’s size drastically decreased, turning a 5-meter creature into 50 centimeters. An Air Walker bit it and carried it away in one mouthful.
‘So that’s how it works. But wait, does being smaller mean fewer nutrients and Evolution Points?’
Choi Kangjoong examined the nutrients and Evolution Points obtained after digesting that magic beast.
‘I really get less. It’s because the source itself was twisted. I shouldn’t use this on magic beasts.’
It would never do to get fewer nutrients and Evolution Points after consuming Source Energy.
‘I can use it to make the Apocalids smaller, though.’
Choi Kangjoong summoned a Central Command Giant and used the shrinking magic. The 80-meter Apocalid shrank rapidly, becoming nearly 1 meter.
‘Because it’s mine, it takes much less Source Energy and the effect is much greater.’
Choi Kangjoong quickly returned the Central Command Giant to its original size and sent it back to its original position.
“I need to get rid of this magic first.”
Since the magic was already deployed, the effect would not disappear just by killing the caster.
‘I just need to change the source.’
Choi Kangjoong performed Root Magic and slightly twisted the source of the Chaos Magic. Since the Miniature Cloud was a delicately woven magic, that alone caused the magic structure to collapse and become neutralized.
“What? What’s going on?”
Marquis Shank, who had been spamming magic, was flustered. Since Miniature Cloud was a debuff that increased its power by restricting conditions, there were various ways to deal with it. Its power could be reduced with other buffs, or it could be burned away by concentrating Mana. However, it was the first time it had vanished like an eraser.
He cast Miniature Cloud again. After extending about 5 meters, it vanished with a *fssst*. Marquis Shank’s face was full of questions.
*Stab.*
A Chitin Blade protruded from the middle of Marquis Shank’s chest. While he was bewildered, Choi Kangjoong had already moved behind him using Stealth Blade.
“Heugh!”
The demons guarding Marquis Shank only then noticed Choi Kangjoong’s presence.
“Marquis!”
“I-it’s the Outer Mind!”
“How is he here?”
The dimension ship where Marquis Shank was located was covered in all sorts of Shields and interference magic. Furthermore, there were so many demons that it was nearly impossible to approach Marquis Shank’s rear. That was why the demons had been careless while maintaining minimal vigilance, only for the enemy to suddenly appear and pierce Marquis Shank’s chest.
“Stop him, quickly!”
“You’ll get a special promotion if you catch that guy!”
The demons hurriedly swung their swords and used magic. They were all below the rank of Demon Earl, so Choi Kangjoong didn’t even need to move his body to block them. After deploying the Apocalid World and melting them with Flame Emitter, they were well-digested and turned into nutrients and Evolution Points. Marquis Shank died without even leaving a corpse.
“Sigh…”
Duke Royal sighed as he saw that. He had treated Shank well and provided escort troops because he was Archduke Ventresca’s direct subordinate. Despite that, he had fallen before killing many enemies, which drove Duke Royal to distraction.
Duke Royal, confirming once again the adage that one should not trust those from Gratis or the demons based there, gave an order.
“Activate the Mana Engines. Move with inertia and swarm them from all directions.”
If they continued to fight little by little like this, they would only be defeated individually. All dimension ships, except for Duke Royal’s Flagship and the escort dimension ships, increased their speed and then turned off their Mana Engines. A swarm of giant dimension ships swarming like bees would have been a magnificent sight if they weren’t the enemy.
“Now is when it really starts. Let’s go.”
*Ku-eong.*
Kuongi led the Titan Class and moved to the left of the enemy formation. This was to avoid being surrounded. The Elf dimension ships provided support by firing long-range Mana Ballistas.
Even though the Apocalid attacked from within the Mana Storm, the demons’ dimension ships approached without slowing down. Because there were so many, more broke through than were destroyed by the Mana Cannons and Mana Ballistas.
Demons and magic beasts burst out of the battered dimension ships. They climbed onto the backs of the Titans, and some even entered their sides. As the enemies piled up, intact demon dimension ships even rammed into the sides of the Titans.
“A lot of them have climbed on.”
The backs of the Titan Class were teeming with demons and magic beasts. Since the numbers far exceeded the digestive capacity of the Apocalid World, it wasn’t working properly. The Titans and Light Titans were pushed back and back until they gathered around Kuongi.
“It feels like we’ve gone back to the old days, doesn’t it?”
*Grrrr.*
*Screech.*
*Ku-eong.*
Choi Kangjoong was reminded of the time he had swallowed swarming Orcs or IANTs. Today looked similar to that day. The difference was that he now had a wide-area digestive tool.
Choi Kangjoong went to Kuongi’s back and climbed onto the head of the Battle Titan. Demons rushed at him upon seeing him, but the Battle Titan blocked them all. Choi Kangjoong deployed the Apocalid World at maximum output. Since the range was a radius of 10 kilometers, all the Titans, Light Titans, and the demons and magic beasts there were caught inside.
“Aaaaaagh!”
“Kuaaaaakh!”
“Kieeeeeek!”
Encountering the hunger of the massive Hive Mind, every demon and magic beast screamed in the pain of their souls being crushed. Their bodies quickly became mushy due to a digestive power far superior to that of a Central Command Giant.
**[Evolution Point earned]**
**[Evolution Point earned]**
**[Evolution Point earned]**
**[Evolution Point earned]**
**[Evolution Point earned]**
Starting from the weak magic beasts, they turned into nutrients and Evolution Points.
“This is why I said let’s fight in the Dimensional Sea.”
If they fought in a Dimension, the enemies could quickly increase their density to counter the Apocalid Field. There was also the method of Duke Royal flying in to stop it. However, if they fought in the Dimensional Sea, the battlefield was wide and means of transportation were limited, making a quick response difficult. Duke Royal had tried to compensate for that weakness with an overwhelming number of dimension ships.
Even now, Chaos Magic and Hell Cannons fired from outside the Mana Storm came flying in. However, most were simply digested by the Apocalid World. Before long, 200 dimension ships had melted away. Duke Royal was appalled at losing 20% of his forces in an instant. Having thought he had already won, he felt a very slight fear for the first time.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t stop. If he retreated after coming this far, his reputation would plummet and he would lose his Duchy.
“Keep attacking! He can’t keep such magic deployed forever!” Duke Royal commanded.
His guess was correct. The Apocalid World soon disappeared. However, the demons’ momentum was not what it was before. It was because of the screams that made even the demons’ skin crawl.
“This is tough.”
Choi Kangjoong, who had consumed almost all of his Source Energy, sat down and took a rest. There were protrusions on the Battle Titan’s head, making it easy to lie down.
“It’s better to just fight after recharging some Source Energy.”
Lutal, who used Source Energy sparingly, was still fighting well. He had already destroyed over fifty ships by himself. It was a record no less impressive than that of Kuongi, who was Supertitan Class.
However, the situation wasn’t entirely good. The Titans’ wounds increased due to the continuous attacks. Since there were many enemies and the Hell Cannons and Chaos Magic were strong, their recovery could not keep up. This was the case even though Iselin was providing healing with Life Essence. He was even startled when the life of a 500-meter Titan became precarious.
“Shall we go?”
Choi Kangjoong, who had recovered his Source Energy, stood up.