Chapter 310. Nursery (3)

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-Rumble-

‘… It seems he raised quite a lot.’

Hansoo mumbled, sensing the number of the Kang-Kions.

The number of Kang-Kions approaching were rising at a steady pace.

Towards the War Fortress where the so-called ‘Dark King’ would be at.

As the number of Kang-Kions rose, the number passing through that area had also risen.

Of course, the Kang-Kions wouldn’t just eat the humans in the War Fortress off in the distance.

Kyaaaa!

Kuooo!

“Ah…!”

“What’s going on?!”

The Kang-Kions pondered for a moment, then decided to head towards the walls of the fortress where the refugees were currently hiding behind.

The people had been preparing to go up through the elevator, but seeing the Kang-Kions approach the walls, they immediately panicked and quickly started to retaliate against the Kang-Kions.

And soon.

-Rumble!-

“Dammit! Kill them!”

“Group up! Be wary of the ground and the walls, and spread out the Lantanol powder!”

The Kang-Kions were not simple.

How great would it be if they could simply defend against them just by being prepared?

The Kang-Kions had already drilled through the walls and the ground; their bodies were so tough that not even well-sharpened swords could cut through them.

Soon the inner parts of the fortress were filled with screams and the sound of the clashes between the Kang-Kions and the refugees.

Uaaaaak!

“Kuhuk! Block them!”

“Ugh… Damn!”

“What the hell is happening?!”

Every member next to Hansoo, including Lauren, were shocked at the scene and all started pulling out their weapons.

Since the Kang-Kions wouldn’t leave the four unscathed.

Kyaaaak!

The Kang-Kions quickly transformed into leopards, leaping out from the ground beneath and rushing towards them.

‘… Damn!’

Taesang grit his teeth, quickly surrounding himself with skills.

Then-

Hansoo lifted his foot, and then slammed it down.

-Boooooooom!-

A huge, explosive sound rang out as the ground beneath them cracked open, fissures spreading outwards, web-like, in all directions.

Dust flew up alongside the huge noise and created an enormous dust cloud.

The Demonic Dragon Reinforcement that had spread out from Hansoo’s foot hadn’t stopped shaking the surface, and continued to burrow deeper into the ground, continuously producing shockwaves.

It didn’t only affect the beasts above the ground, the Kang-Kions’ true bodies underground were hit as well.

Kyaaak!

Roar!

The Kang-Kions, which had been created from the dirt but possessed bodies stronger than steel, broke back into dirt.

The true bodies of the Kang-Kions had also started to disintegrate.

Every Kang-Kion within a hundred-meter sphere around Hansoo had died from a single kick.

Not only on the surface, but also underground.

-Clank-

-Clank, Clank-

Countless Kang-Kions in mid-air turned into violet crystals, falling down to the ground.

Kiiiik.

Karrrk.

The other Kang-Kions started to tremble in fear at this sight.

It was that being again.

A mutant born from those animals they treated as food.

That thing looked just like the other things beside it, but it was on a completely different level of its own.

Maybe the other beings of the Abyss—those that they sometimes met in the west and the south—might be able to deal with it.

Their race couldn’t even dare to go up against such a thing.

But there was one good thing about them.

Some of those mutants didn’t even bother protecting their own kind, and even crossed the line by treating their own race worse than how the Kang-Kions treated them.

Kirrrrk!

The Kang-Kions ran away in fear, and instead headed towards the fortress full of refugees.

“… They’re running away.”

“…”

Taesang stared at Hansoo in a daze after hearing what Lauren had said after checking the surroundings.

He knew that Hansoo was strong.

But not to this extent.

For him to be able to make them run away with a single step.

In that moment, something started to burn inside his mind.

A desire.

No.

A fervour.

‘If only I could become like that too…’

Taesang continued to stare at Hansoo in a daze.

‘… I guess I’ll need to deal with this quickly.’

Hansoo mumbled, as he looked at the Kang-Kions causing chaos.

Dealing with this chaos wasn’t the main issue.

This was nothing more than a small step in the Dark King’s quest to become stronger.

‘If he knows the method of becoming stronger through the Abyssal Crystals, then…’

A transcendent, who already had the possibility of going over the limit, would only become stronger with each crystal they collected.

Though it was one of the more efficient and weaker ways of becoming a transcendent, it was one of the fastest ways to raise one’s strength.

Like how an adult could still beat a kid to death even if they themselves were bad at fighting.

The level of strength increasing in itself meant a lot.

‘If one devoured all the Kang-Kions here…’

If that person became a 2-star transcendent then it would be more than just annoying.

No, he wouldn’t be able to beat them in the first place.

Since the difference between a 2-star and a 1-star transcendent was like the difference between a transcendent and a normal being.

If that was actually the case then thankfully, there weren’t enough Kang-Kions nearby to actually reach that level.

But of course it wasn’t anything to scoff at either.

It wasn’t enough to go from a 1-star to a 2-star transcendent, but one could still become terrifyingly stronger.

If the person was given enough time to continue with his <nursery>, then sooner or later that person would become a 2-star transcendent.

He needed to deal with this person before he ate up all the Kang-Kions in the area.

‘I guess… I’ll need to prepare something else.’

Hansoo came to a decision and then looked at Taesang.

“You guys said that you collected crystals to climb up, right?”

Taesang, who was still staring at Hansoo in a daze, nodded absently at the question.

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

Hansoo sensed the number of people inside the fortress and nodded.

Close to 8,000 people.

If there were enough crystals for all these people to go up, then they must’ve worked long and hard to collect them, going through countless dangers to acquire them.

Precious, precious crystals.

But they wouldn’t be using it to climb up.

‘… 8,000 is a bit low, but these should be useful.’

At the same time, he commanded.

“Follow me.”

“Huh?”

Even before Taesang could figure out what was going on.

“Huh…? Ahhhhh!”

The four of them, including Taesang, started to float upwards.

Then-

-Swooooosh!-

Hansoo, who was holding onto their clothes, jumped onto the fortress.

***

-Boom!-

-Booooom!-

‘Fucking hell… The amount of casualties are too high!’

Akran, one of the four leaders of the refugees, grit his teeth as he looked around at the fortress swarmed by Kang-Kions.

Quite a large number of Kang-Kions, all heading towards the Dark King’s War Fortress, had started to swarm into this place after realizing that there was a large amount of food.

‘Fuck… It’s the Dark King!’

Even these beasts cared for their own kind.

Calling each other to share any food available.

But that bastard Dark King, he drove his own kind to the very corners of the world.

Though a transcendent being had no reason to defend the other humans, they had no reason to attack them either, right?

Akran, after cursing the Dark King for quite a while, stood up.

Danger brought with it opportunities.

Though they had collected quite a large amount of crystals so far, they hadn’t the courage to go near the elevator because the Dark King had settled next to it.

But if this chaos was caused by the Dark King, then there was a high chance that he wouldn’t be able to keep his attention on the elevator.

Since there were many more Kang-Kions than usual for some reason.

‘Yeah… To hell with it.’

Akran clenched his teeth.

Normally they would’ve needed more time to collect enough crystals for everyone, but since this was the case, it didn’t matter anymore.

Since a lot of people had already died.

Akran shouted out loud.

“Everyone retreat! Maintain formation and head towards the elevator!”

‘Charge through to the elevator like this!’

The survivors would use the crystals to go up.

As Akran shouted.

The other three leaders swung their spears and slowly started to create a battle formation to valiantly retreat valiantly to the front.

‘Good.’

Looking at the formation that was barely holding on, Akran clenched his teeth and ran.

Since he had another job to do.

‘Crystals… I must get the crystals.’

Without the crystals, there would be no exit for them even if they reached the elevator.

He needed to quickly retrieve the crystals and distribute them to everyone.

As long as they could reach the elevator, and even if they were seperated, the crystals would help them go up.

Akran dashed madly towards the storage area holding the crystals.

Then-

-Boom!-

-Boom! Boom!-

Explosive sounds could be heard behind them, causing Akran to turn around in shock.

‘It’s him!’

The moment something rose high above the walls of the fortress, Akran’s expression brightened up.

‘If he could help us…’

Then they would be able to lessen the number of casualties even further.

And as he expected.

-Boom!-

Kyaaaak!

Kurrrrr!

With every step, the Kang-Kions died screaming.

Though he moved over dozens of meters with every step, every Kang-Kion in a radius of a hundred meters were killed off every time his foot made contact with the ground.

And thanks to this, the people who had been fighting in the nearby area were able to help their comrades in other places.

A simple walk had changed the battlefield.

‘If only we could have a person like that…’

Akran made a depressed expression but soon shook his head.

An uncontrollable bomb was better than nothing.

If that man suddenly changed his mind, what would happen to them?

He could not possibly understand the thoughts of a transcendent since he didn’t have the strength to treat all other human beings as ants like they did.

‘But… this is still good enough.’

But then-

Akran’s expression suddenly turned for the worse.

He had realized where the man was heading to.

‘No… NO!’

Akran roared in despair as he looked at where Hansoo was heading.

“NO! NO! YOU BASTARD! NO!”

-Boom!-

Akran continued to roar as he madly dashed off in the same direction.

Towards the storage area the man was currently approaching.

But sadly, Hansoo’s speed was much greater than that of Akran’s.

Extremely so.

-Whooosh!-

Hansoo arrived at the storage area first.

And by the time Akran caught up to him, the doors were already being ripped apart.

“You f***ing bastard… stop!”

‘Wait… could it be? No way!’

He’d had a strange suspicion once.

That maybe the Abyssal Crystals were the secrets of the transcendents.

But he didn’t know how to use them in the first place, plus these things were too precious to use without solid proof.

But sadly it looked like his previous guess was correct.

Hansoo merely shook his head at Akran.

“I’m not trying to use it for myself.”

He wouldn’t use the crystals to strengthen himself.

Well, he could, but it would be very inefficient in the long run.

“What?”

Akran replied dazedly, but Hansoo merely walked into the storage area. There was no time to explain everything to this person one-by-one.

-Whooosh-

Hansoo collected the violet crystals into a single area and looked towards the War Fortress in the distance.

***

-Crunch-

-Crack-

‘Good… Very good.’

The limitations inside his body were breaking apart.

The very rules that bound everyone in this world shattered apart as it changed for him and him alone.

A change that allowed him to become the center of the world.

‘Damn… Is this how you felt as well?’

The Dark King felt the energy from the violet light being sucked into his body. He smiled as he thought of the transcendent in the past.

The man who had turned him, a normal human, into a transcendent.