The Villain has Perished

Sol's goal was to access the Port under the Griffin's nest. However, let alone surviving in the different world connected through the Port, even reaching the Port was nigh impossible. His biggest hurdle was the middle section which was filled with an unknown number of ascended rank monsters.

To ease his journey Sol was trying to take over the Lake of Purity. It was to advance in rank by using the lake, before he had to enter the middle section. In this case, where every monster was way stronger than himself, Sol's goals where he had a close deadline were… stupid.

He was weaker than average knights, he didn't have a backup if something were to go wrong, unlike Jae-sung he didn't have a system that makes him stronger by killing monsters. It didn't make sense that he was thinking of accomplishing what the Imperial army couldn't accomplish.

But Sol had two things that supported his confidence in achieving his goals….

An ability that made him no different from a one-man army and the presence of mind to make the most out of that ability.

Most would think of Sol's aim of achieving what nobody could do as foolish. But Sol never cared what others thought.

Because actions speak louder than words.

—

'I know I was the one to taunt them, but can't they come in fewer numbers!'

My feet didn't stop running towards the two hills. The two hills were at a distance from the lake and out of the views of the monsters. A group of 7 monsters was rushing behind me!

It didn't take long to enter the passage between the hills. There was a reason why I came here. The steep sides of the passage, which are the hills, blocked anyone from using a path other than the two entrances to set their foot into this passage. There were only two entrances and this prevented me from an ambush as long as I was careful.

I prepared traps too, but only a few. I didn't have much time to make many traps nor did I have many coins to buy truly useful ingredients from the shop. I had to make do with whatever I had.

The ground beneath my foot trembled. Clouds of dust were kicked into the air. The group of enraged monsters was about to enter the passage. I could feel my heart pounding heavily against my chest. My breathing was heavy with tension and anticipation.

'Let's do this.'

With a strange cry, the monster at the forefront of the horde leaped into the air. The four-legged monster with antlers on its head was faster than the other six monsters behind it. While the others were yet to enter the passage, it had already covered half the distance between us.

'I can't block the passage until every monster is inside. Otherwise, my summons will be sandwiched between them.'

Facing the monster wasn't a good choice until things were in place. I began retreating. The monster, however, was faster than me. It covered the distance swiftly. At the last step, it leaped with its antlers facing forward to impale me.

Its foot landed on the ground and I was only a few meters away. Suddenly, the sound of twigs snapping echoed and the ground beneath the monster sank. Without delay, it fell into the pit I had dug beforehand.

"Haah! Haah!"

I was prepared for the possibility of a fast monster joining the pack that would get baited with my taunts. If that happened I would need to summon my monsters earlier than planned and I would miss the perfect timing. To avoid that, I dug a few small pits.

The pits were small enough that the monster could jump out of them without problems and it had no extra traps to injure them. But it did its job. To slow the monster until the other monsters entered the passage.

Finally, the other 6 monsters were inside the path between the two hills.

'Release'

Two Great boars appeared behind me. At the same time, two more boars came out of the cards at the entrance on the lake's side. The monsters were now trapped inside with the boars blocking the path.

Reacting instinctively, the monsters recognized the boars as the similar ones who destroyed the peace and tranquility of the lake. Without further ado, the boars also attacked. I couldn't control the boars, but similar to baby tarantulas, they followed their description.

I didn't enter the fray recklessly and waited. The battle was 7 v/s 4. We were at a disadvantage but I didn't summon more boars.

If I wanted I could crush these 7 monsters in an instant by summoning all of my 30 Great Boars. But that would be foolish. I was aiming to whittle enemy monsters' numbers by taunting them repeatedly until only a small group was left.

To win, I didn't need to be careful of the number of monsters nor their strength, but my magic power consumption. Magic power was the fuel I needed to summon the great boars and one great boar needed 100 MP to be summoned. It was almost half of my total MP.

If I ran out of MP, I would need to wait 2 hours to replenish my MP without external means. This made it clear…

'I'll summon only enough boars to make sure I don't sustain losses in terms of MP exchange. I can regenerate my MP with monsters' mana stone after all.'

The air shook as the boars clashed with monsters. Fur, scales, and blood spilled into the air, filling the air with a rustic taste. The monster that had fallen into the pit jumped out, but the boars behind me had long reached it by then. With a forceful thrust, the monster was flung back to its group.

Ding!

<<You have slain Zeppie Flonader, 1st Mortal Awakening>>

<< 100 Coins awarded!>>

<< +1 Kill Point >>

|| +50 Life Points ||

It didn't take long for the first death to occur. The monsters were more in number but the boars had higher efficiency!

The Great Boars were madly charging, biting, and attacking the enemy without any hesitation! Although all monsters were trying to kill boars, they were attacking without the slightest bit of coordination and oftentimes attacking each other due to their high numbers.

'Tch, that damn snake. <Cancel>'

A white snake roughly the length of 3 Great Boars combined was crushing one of the boars by coiling around it. The snake was by far the strongest monster in the present horde. Before the boar was killed I canceled my summon and refilled my 10 MP.

The other 3 boars were in not much better condition. Though 2 of 7 monsters were dead, in a few minutes, all the remaining boars would die from the piling injuries.

I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. The cold hilt of the sword in my hand felt especially chilly at the moment. Mayhem was ensuing in front of me. Monsters larger than cars and jeeps were clawing, snarling, biting and pouncing at each other, and I… joined in the chaos!

Thick mana wrapped around my body, enforcing my physical capabilities. I kicked the ground and darted ahead!

The boar nearest to me was fighting against two four-footed monsters. The first monster had six eyes and black-white stripes running across its body. The second monster was more dangerous. It had many 5-meter-long spikes protruding out of its back and was capable of pulling them out with its tail and throwing them.

I jumped on top of the boar with a single leap.

As my foot landed on its brown fur, using the momentum gained from the jump, I bent my legs and tensed my calves. Like a bullet shot from a gun, I released the tension stored in my legs in a single burst and jumped toward the first monster!

While in the air, I threw my spare sword at the second monster. Clang. It struck its hard scales and didn't do any damage. But the attack distracted it.

I landed on the first monster's head. Before the it could notice me, a small intruder on the battlefield, my sword pierced through its eye.

Ding!

<<You have slain….>>

<< 100 Coins…>>

<< +1 Kill…>>

|| +50…||

A flurry of notifications erupted in the corner of my vision. I jumped down and retreated, not waiting to be crushed below the monster's falling corpse.

The 2nd monster shrieked and threw a spike in my direction. I increased the density of mana on my legs. The slightly higher reinforcement allowed me to dodge the attack.

But the monster was about to attack again. Its monstrously large body was rushing to flatten me. Just as it was about to continue, the boar that it had neglected pierced its brain with its tusks.

Ding!

<<You have slain….>>

<< 200 Coins…>>

<< +1 Kill…>>

|| +100…||

A short spark coursed through my head. I swiftly looked at the battlefield and smiled grimly.

'Another boar was killed while my attention was preoccupied.'

It was now two boars and me v/s 4 monsters. The white snake slithered around the battlefield. Contrary to my assumptions, it was coming towards me!

The monster instinctively understood that it had to kill me to win. But, I didn't hesitate and rushed at it too! If I killed the white snake our side would win!

'I can only summon one more boar. Anything more and I'll suffer losses from this fight.'

My feet didn't stop. The gears of my mind churned to find a way. A way to kill the white snake with a single reinforcement.

Using any more than 1 extra boar was out of question. This was the first fight and many more were to come today itself. The battles will grow tougher as time passes. If I had to incur losses on my first fight that meant the same would happen in the next fights. It would be meaningless if I won the fight but lost the war!

The distance between the white snake and me rapidly closed. The remaining two boars were rushing to the last three monsters. A card appeared in my hand.

I flicked my wrist and threw the card in the air. The flying card was small enough that the white snake didn't notice it. And the moment it was directly above the snake's head…

'Release!'

A great boar dropped on top of the snake and crushed it!

Ding!

<<You have slain Great White Viper, 2nd Mortal Awakening.>>

<< 200 Coins…>>

<< +1 Kill…>>

|| +100…||

Every Great Boar was the size of a mini truck. And they weighed over a few tons! Its weight was more than enough to kill the unaware Great White Viper by crushing it!

With the Great White Viper dead, the tide of battle changed in our favor. It was now 3 Great Boars and me v/s 3 monsters!

I turned to the boar that killed the Great White Viper. Though I couldn't control the boars, they would never harm me. It was an instinctive understanding on my part as their summoner. And up till now, they had not once tried to attack me.

The boar didn't rush into the battle immediately, however. It was staring at me with a wronged gaze. Almost as if it was complaining about the unethical treatment it received from me.

"I won't do that again." I coughed awkwardly. 'I won't do that with you again.'

It took a few minutes to end the battle. With equal numbers on both sides, the fight was easier than it was in the beginning.

Ding!

<<You have slain….>>

<<You have slain….>>

<<You have slain….>>

<< 400 Coins awarded! >>

<< +3 Kill Points >>

|| +200 Life Points! ||

Breathing heavily, I dropped to the ground. Only a single boar remained on the battlefield with me. I stored it inside a summoner card and felt my MP drain.

Corpses of monsters lay strewn and smashed around me. Yet, my heart wasn't disgusted.

'I won!'

An inexplicable burst of happiness and excitement surged through me. I felt alive at this moment!

'That was fun! Let's do it again!'

Basking in the warm feelings, I didn't move for some time.

I then used my sword as support and stood up. My gaze swept through the corpses of monsters. In about 15 minutes, I extracted their magic stones.

'4 Magic Stones from 1st Mortal Awakening monsters and 3 from 2nd Mortal Awakening monsters.'

'I can refill 150 MP from 1st Mortal Awakening monsters' magic stones on average and roughly 400 MP from 2nd Mortal Awakening monsters' magic stones.'

The loot was satisfactory for the first battle. I used 1600 MP for the battle. It was a profit of 200 MP! That meant 2 more boars!

The MP gained might seem little, but that was because the monsters that came after me were mostly 1st Mortal awakening. As I keep bringing more monsters, over time, the monsters chasing after me would consist mostly of the 2nd Mortal Awakening. After all, only a few 1st Mortal Awakening monsters were present near the lake, most were of 2nd Mortal Awakening.

Muhahaha!

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!

The magic stones from monsters are also easier to absorb. It takes one minute to absorb them at best! I can use these stones during battles!

'This is the best!'

—

'This is the worst!'

I was running like a bitch chased by her suitors with my tails between my legs!

'Shit! Why did I have to be greedy!?'

The sun was shining brightly in the sky while the sky itself was colored in orangish… Fuck, I don't have time to give commentary! It was almost evening!

A thin line of sweat gathered on my forehead. A 30-strong monster horde was chasing after me! And 90% of those monsters were peak 2nd Mortal Awakening!

Invisible tears slid down my cheek.

'Throughout the day, I was hunting the monsters by having a small group chase after me. This was going to be the last group I would hunt before clashing against the 3rd Mortal Awakening monsters that are responsible for guarding the lake.'

I recalled my foolish thoughts. Drunk on my victories, I decided to go big before the final battle of the day. In short, I tried to have a slightly big group of monsters chase after me to get more spoils.

'Thirty hulking monsters are trying to hunt me! How is this a slightly big group!'

Why was I in this predicament? To understand, I would need to reiterate the events from when I eradicated the 4th group of monsters.