Chapter 280

Chapter 280. Palao’s Arrangement (6)

The small ones lined up first, followed by larger ones, and above the monsters’ heads, a myriad of black stars were densely packed.

Not a single mere mob was in sight; the entire legion was composed of Evolved Species.

It was inevitable that I felt momentarily overwhelmed by their majesty.

“I want to express my gratitude.”

Of course, there was no time to keep dwelling on that.

When I looked to where the voice had come from, an oddly shaped creature was standing there.

“For saving me the trouble of bringing divinity.”

I found myself tilting my head involuntarily when I saw the creature.

‘Ventri race?’

Having pursued Irel and examined their corpses several times, it was impossible not to recognize them.

They were overall shaped like trees, but they had arms and legs, walking upright, and their facial features like eyes, nose, and mouth were distinct.

The difference?

‘It’s small.’

The corpses I had seen were usually 5 meters tall, with larger ones exceeding 10 meters.

Yet this creature seemed to be only about 1.2 meters tall.

Moreover, its eyes were red like those of the monsters.

It even had black stars above its head, just like the other Evolved Species.

‘Five in the upper row, five in the lower row, a total of 10.’

By all appearances, it was of legion commander rank, yet at the same time, a Ventri.

‘Though Biharin do not get treated as monsters even if they betray.’

From the color of the dots on the map, one could clearly distinguish between blue and black.

Why does this creature appear as a black dot while having the appearance of a Biharin?

The question was clear, but I wasn’t foolish enough to get caught up in it right before the battle.

I didn’t reject the suitable level of tension that started rising in me before the fight.

‘When I first met a nemesis-rank, I was on the brink of death.’

I was somewhat looking forward to what the first encounter with a legion commander would feel like.

While I was preparing for battle, the legion commander pulled up the corners of his lips, as if trying to smile.

“Aren’t you going to give me a reply?”

I decided to smile back and offer a response.

“Well, thank you too.”

“Why?”

“For kindly coming here yourself to offer your status.”

Though I could currently rely on the system’s help, there was no guarantee it would be available for me until everything was settled.

Getting accustomed to and relying on external help wasn’t good.

If the entity you’re leaning on doesn’t reach out during a crisis, you could crumble.

‘Moreover, I’m resorting to all kinds of expedients.’

With war looming over Earth, I had to stand on my own as swiftly as possible by whatever means necessary.

‘When I can freely traverse the limit set by causality with my own abilities without the system’s help…’

I could be able to use mana mixed with divinity as I please.

To achieve that, I needed to steal even more status, and it was fortunate that a creature with status had walked right up to me.

It was indeed a thankful situation in many ways.

‘I wonder how much my status will increase if I capture the legion commander.’

During the exchange of a few greetings, I spun the spear I held in my pre-warmed body.

“Do you have more to say?”

Swing, swoosh.

The creature shrugged its shoulders as it watched the movement of the spear slicing through the air.

“Isn’t it a bit hasty? I thought we could at least exchange names.”

“Names?”

“Yes, I am Hoel…”

“A mixed breed has a name?”

Of course, I didn’t let it finish.

It was clear enough that it was something mixed between the Ventri race and the monsters.

The outer appearance might just be a façade, or it could have been an experiment made by Irel, or perhaps it was a hybrid from birth.

It was impossible to accurately deduce its identity with the information I had, but it didn’t matter.

‘Ultimately, it needs to be killed regardless.’

If there was a need to uncover the creature’s identity, I could bring its corpse and have the priests of Finelpenia read its record.

As I hurled out taunts laced with scorn and disdain, the face of the legion commander Hoel twisted.

Not that it was noticeable since its skin was like tree bark.

Before it could react to anything I said, I taunted it once more.

“You’ve probably already learned about me, and I’m not at all curious about your name. What good is knowing the name of someone who’s going to die?”

Across enemy lines, notably among the monsters and mages who could think, I must have been quite a famous figure.

Considering that they sought to annihilate the mages at the tower and had read their records.

Killing a solid Divine Container was not allowed, so they must have grudgingly acknowledged me.

“A rogue without honor and etiquette.”

The laugh that flowed from my lips was genuine.

“Aren’t you embarrassed to talk about honor when you’ve come rushing with a crowd?”

“Ah, were you upset because of my subordinates?”

Then it said it would make it so the underlings couldn’t interfere.

With a casual flick of what appeared to be its wooden fingers, the Evolved Species retreated.

“Huh.”

A truly arrogant decision to willingly forfeit the advantageous conditions.

Of course, as for me, who had to kill it, I had no reason to correct its arrogance.

If it wanted to indulge in its self-importance like some kind of aristocrat, so be it.

“That’s quite gracious of you.”

With none of the sincerity contained in the thanks I conveyed, I raised my hand.

Then, reshaping my fingers into a beckoning gesture, I continued to provoke, and the corners of Hoel’s mouth rose sharply as if ready to split.

“I’ll let you have the first move.”

So confident, it was clear it was hiding some kind of trump card.

‘Must be authority.’

Legion commanders typically lead large armies and are said to possess special abilities that make them troublesome to deal with unless faced by an apostle.

Cratoll once muttered about it.

Even without knowing what its authority was, blindly initiating the attack wasn’t the best option.

‘I’ll take the risk.’

I had a trump card as well.

Confirming the presence of the Damned System quietly watching my back, I curled my lips upward.

“Then, I won’t hold back.”

As soon as I responded with a bright smile, I began arranging my mana.

‘There’s no mana scent.’

It was evidently concealing it thoroughly.

However, whatever mana it might have, the fact that its body was based on wood remained unchanged.

I thought that setting up a field in my favor, which would disadvantage it, was a good first move.

Thanks to stockpiling Elemental Stones continuously until the auction feature was gone, my attribute mana had already exceeded 400,000.

Crack!

As such, I signaled the start of the battle with a Flame Strike, which had become my trademark.

“It burns well.”

Hoel, having conceded the first move to me, ended up with white flowers spreading on its left arm.

Of course, I had no chance to revel in the enemy’s injury.

The creature promptly cut off its arm where the fire had attached itself.

Wriggle.

Immediately after, I saw something vine-like wriggling from Hoel’s shoulder.

‘… Does it grow?’

The vine lengthened and thickened quickly, taking on a form similar to a whip. Its speed was substantial.

‘It means it can regenerate.’

Despite the white flowers blooming, it appeared unflustered, likely because of the regenerative capability.

While I carefully observed the creature’s characteristics, I drank a potion to accelerate the recovery speed of the consumed mana.

Once the replenishment was completed on both sides at almost the same time, Hoel swung its elongated arm.

‘It’s fast!’

I immediately used acceleration, redirecting the long whip-like arm with my spear while deflecting it at an angle.

Boom!

Hoel’s arm, having failed to reach me, was driven into the ground.

The ground shook as if an earthquake was occurring, and the newly made arm had the white flowers spreading over it again.

“Want me to count how long you can keep creating them?”

Before my mockery had ended, long vine shoots burst from the creature’s arms again.

The moment I released attribute mana around me, the white flowers fed on the mana and spread in flames.

Using attribute mana as a wick, essentially.

Naturally, the vine tendrils aiming at me burned.

“Argh…”

For a moment, I grimaced and held my breath.

A foul stench mixed with the smoke that was thick around me.

But I was already in a situation where I had inhaled the smoke.

「You have been infected by #@&|**. The pathogen has begun multiplying.」

「Quickly purify the pathogen.」

「Warning」

If #@&|** is not purified, a forced termination will be executed.

Time limit: 00:15:00

Unsurprisingly, an infection message appeared.

‘He turned the field I set against me.’

Although annoying, it wasn’t a significant threat.

I had gotten quite used to purifying pathogens even amidst battles.

Continuously dodging or parrying Hoel’s ongoing attack, I purified the pathogens in real time.

Meanwhile, the creature added vines to its right arm as well, increasing the quantity of things I needed to dodge.

Swish, boom, kaboom!

The vines from the left arm swung horizontally, while the new shoots from the right arm splintered into multiple strands, falling like rain in the air.

I scattered attribute mana like a wick again.

Compared to the relatively thin falling spikes, the flames consumed them quickly.

However, the vine flying from the side aiming to cut me in half had a thickness matching my waist.

I focused my mana into the spear.

Then, I severed the vine whip shrouded in white flowers coming through the air towards me.

Crash!

The lengthy vine flew off making loud noises.

Meanwhile, the small vines, all burnt away, regenerated and came rushing at me.

‘Endless.’

No matter how many times I repeated cutting and burning, there was no end.

Objectively, it was not an easy opponent.

‘The growth speed of those vines is faster than expected.’

Without the acceleration ability, I would probably have been hit several times.

However, with ample combat experience, I managed to handle it.

‘Kerak is within predictable limits, and its pure physical combat power isn’t vastly different from a nemesis-rank.’

Just as 7 or 8-star general-rank creatures predominantly differ based on their use of Kerak, could the relation between nemesis-rank and legion commander-rank be similar?

‘This level of pure physical combat capability could feasibly be handled by a raid consisting of three platinum-rank without attributes who have reached domination stage.’

In terms of physical strength, that’s about where it stood.

Yet, real-world battle scenarios always pose uncertainties, and in this situation, its authority was the greatest variable.

‘Despite staying in one spot, it has yet to use any magic. Could it be related to authority?’

Skillfully dodging the whip-like vines, I tried to derive information about its authority.

But it seemed to show zero interest in revealing its hand first.

‘Dragging out the time like this is meaningless.’

I had no choice but to provoke its card into the open first.

Swiftly stepping lightly on the ground, I unleashed the Lightning Prison.

The lightning that tore through and rapidly advanced across the ground instantly enveloped the creature.

“Argh!”

Zap!

The light that erupted from the countless sparks was so intense that it stung the eyes.

‘Being wood-based, I don’t know how effective the electrocution effect might be, though.’

Judging from its charred body, it must have felt an impact.

I pushed off the ground and leaped into the air.

To chop the charcoal-burnt creature into firewood, I thrust my spear downwards from above with great force.

At the same time, the shadow from Hoel’s feet undulated, giving me an unshakable sense of foreboding.

In a brief moment of confusion, the identity of this feeling was unexpectedly clear.

‘Agnotia…?’

Amidst my surprise at the sudden realization, the shadow began to swell as if it were alive.

Then, it swallowed my shadow completely.

Damn System