Chapter 191: Slaughter

The construction of the Arcane Tower was nearly instantaneous.

In the blink of an eye, a towering structure had been formed, and a barrage of spells was fired out.

Aurelius gave the monsters no opportunity to process what had just happened.

However, all his opponents were Rank 2 monsters with ample combat experience. Some of them had long since reached the peak of Rank 2 and were only a sliver away from advancing to Rank 3.

Although they were weaker than Rank 3 Awakeners, the difference was not as great as one might expect.

Therefore, before the wave of attacks landed, many of the monsters were able to react.

Facing the many Fireballs, the giant serpent opened its mouth. A powerful devouring force descended, swallowing the scorching flames in a single gulp.

In another place, the black bear raised its paws, meeting the Radiant Lance and holding it in place.

The tails behind the fox moved ethereally, as if performing a dance, taking care of the soul attacks.

The frog’s body erupted with terrifying poison that devoured the vitality of everything around it, including the trees that had just been born through Plant Control.

Although these four monsters were in the leading position, the other monsters only slightly lagged behind.

Without any hesitation, they all activated their respective trump cards, using the abilities that best countered the incoming attacks.

Moments later, several booming noises echoed.

The land beneath the battlefield cracked while clouds of dust soared toward the sky, as though a massive explosion had occurred.

The shockwaves spread through the surrounding forest.

When the dust finally settled a few moments later, the monsters had the chance to take a look at their surroundings.

Upon seeing that their companions were still alive, though somewhat injured, they breathed a sigh of relief.

They had managed to block that terrifying wave of attacks!

They were safe!

…Or so they thought.

Before they could truly relax, however, the eyes of the monsters widened.

Under their stunned gazes, the Arcane Tower trembled again.

The azure gem embedded at its top lit up and another wave of attacks fired out, not any weaker than the previous wave.

All the monsters were astonished.

They had previously believed that the first wave of attacks was Aurelius’ strongest trump card.

As long as they withstood it, they should have been safe.

But now, Aurelius had activated all these abilities again?

How was this possible?

On the other side, Aurelius did not know the monsters’ thoughts.

Had he known, he would have sneered.

These monsters were overthinking things.

The Arcane Tower was one of the three skills mastered by Forbidden Arcanists.

In terms of destructive power, it was many times stronger than Spirit Storm.

Although its potential was somewhat lower than Arcane Projection, its “base strength” was also higher.

Even though this was the first time he had used it in combat, Aurelius had already experimented with it before

After the construction of the Arcane Tower, his Spirit could sustain its existence for several hours.

Even if the tower remained in an active state, casting skill after skill, it could still exist for half an hour.

That meant that the monsters’ plan to consume his Spirit was destined to fail from the very beginning.

Aurelius stared at the battlefield as though he were a bystander.

He saw barrage after barrage of skill fire out, engulfing the entire core area of the Dryad Forest.

The dust had long since spread, covering the surroundings. However, the screams coming from within the cloud showed the state of the monsters inside.

There was no need for Aurelius to personally step into the battlefield.

Only a few minutes after the “battle” began, a soul-stirring growl echoed from inside.

[Killed Level 36 Black-Stripped Leopard. EXP +1500]

A monster was dead.

And with its death, it didn’t take long for more of its kind to follow after it.

[Killed Level 38 Stone Monkey. EXP +1600]

[Killed Level 34 Blood Tiger. EXP +1300]

[Killed Level 37…]

Notifications flooded Aurelius’ vision as the struggle within the cloud of dust grew increasingly quieter.

The roars became less frequent.

Before long, only a few whimpers echoed before they too came to an end.

In the face of the deaths of so many monsters, Aurelius felt somewhat emotional.

He already knew how powerful he was following his advancement. He was even confident enough to escape from Rank 4 Awakeners if he needed to.

Yet knowing one thing and seeing it confirmed with one’s own eyes were two completely different concepts.

With so many Rank 2 monsters gathered here, ordinary Rank 3 Awakeners would have long since run away.

But when it came to him, he not only suppressed them, but he did so with incomparable ease, only casting a single skill.

Sensing the Spirit inside his body and feeling that less than twenty percent had been consumed throughout the process, he let out a sigh.

‘A Mythical Class is truly terrifying.’

‘Although when I was weak, I held some advantages over my opponents; the gap back then was not that great. However, the higher my Level and the stronger I become, the more that gap widens…’

‘I can now easily suppress Rank 3 Awakeners without even exerting my full strength. If I were to reach Rank 5, Rank 6, or even Rank 7, then how terrifying would I become?’

It took several seconds before Aurelius stopped thinking about it.

He organized his thoughts and raised his head, looking at the swirling mist around him.

Judging from the lack of vitality within the mist, it seemed that all the monsters had perished.

However, Aurelius did not rush inside to take stock of his spoils.

Instead, his eyes narrowed, and Spirit flowed out from his body.

It gathered beside him, coalescing into a beautiful figure with long silver hair.

It was Selene. Or rather, one of Selene’s versions.

[Selene Novaltis—Level 41 Moon Favored]

This form, which had once appeared temporarily when battling against the Goblin Warlock, had now reappeared in this world under the influence of Arcane Projection.

Moreover, unlike the projection of Mia that Aurelius had summoned in the past, Selene’s projection was not only far stronger, but also contained a hint of spirituality.

Though it was still not a living creature, it very much resembled one.

“Go…” Aurelius spoke, and Selene’s body instantly melted into silver moonlight.

When she reappeared, she was in the depths of the core area, at the epicenter of the battlefield.

Selene walked through the monster corpses, lightly stepping over their bodies.

Click. Click. Click.

Her feet stepped along the cracked ground without meeting any obstruction.

Everything seemed to be proceeding smoothly.

Yet just as it seemed that everything was truly over and that there was no danger, one of the lifeless corpses suddenly moved.

Hiss!

A shrill cry rang out.

The supposedly dead serpent suddenly stood up.

With a single swing of its massive tail, it lashed at Selene and sent her flying.

Meanwhile, its mouth opened wide, and it descended from the sky, devouring the monster corpses around it.

The bodies were broken down into the purest energy and digested at an astonishing rate.

The serpent’s aura began to rise.

Before long, the signs of advancement became unmistakable.

Boom!

Its aura soared into the sky, sending all the accumulated dust flying and clearing the surroundings.

Without the dust obstructing their respective vision, one monster and one human finally came face to face with each other.

An interface flashed in Aurelius’ eyes.

[Level 52 Earth-Devouring Serpent]

Surprisingly, the serpent had advanced. Moreover, it had not simply reached Rank 3, but had gone a long way along that Rank.

“It’s no wonder no notification appeared about your death. It seems that you’ve been pretending all this while, wanting to take the opportunity to devour all the monsters and advance.” Aurelius whispered.

“However, just these monsters should not be enough for you to advance this rapidly. You should have been able to reach Rank 3 long ago. You’ve only been suppressing your advancement process.”

As for why it had done so? Aurelius did not need an explanation.

He could understand the serpent’s thoughts.

Most likely, its goal was the underground cave and the treasure hidden inside.

Under normal circumstances, the birth of a Rank 3 monster would have been enough to make it a local overlord. Any Rank 2 monsters in the area would surrender.

However, the Dryad Forest was different.

With so many Rank 2 monsters and the mysterious underground cave, advancing to Rank 3 was anything but a good thing.

In a sense, it was a death sentence.

Any monster that advanced would immediately face the siege of all the other monsters. After all, they did not know whether such strength was enough to claim the treasure.

‘It’s likely that there have been other monsters who advanced to Rank 3 in the past. It’s just that they all faced the siege of everyone and died unwillingly.’

Thinking of this, Aurelius couldn’t help but take one more look at the Earth-Devouring Serpent.

He hadn’t expected that this monster would be so smart, knowing how to conceal its strength.

Had he not known any better, Aurelius would have thought it was a human.

“You must have been planning for this day for a long time.”

“If you managed to accumulate enough strength and reached the peak of Rank 3 upon your advancement, your plan would have likely succeeded.”

“Unfortunately, you happened to meet me…”

With the end of his speech, a soft sigh echoed through the surroundings.

Then, under the serpent’s split eyes, Aurelius’ figure vanished.

At the same time, a fist rushed toward its head, accompanied by the phantoms of four Seals.