Leveling Up Alone

The hyena sorcerer would share senses with their corrupted creature once linked, which meant that the youngest hyena sorcerer would feel whatever pain the Behemoth felt.

‘I’m not going to let you die so easily,’ Han-Yeol had no plans to let the hyena sorcerer die a peaceful death. He originally did not have the sick hobby of slowly killing his prey, but he felt like toying with the hyena sorcerer for some odd reason, even though he was more than capable of killing him instantly.

[Watch out!]

[Damn it!]

The other hyena sorcerers belatedly realized their youngest brother was in danger, and they joined the battle to help.

[Death Blade!]

[Atomic Bomb!]

They focused on casting offensive spells rather than placing down corruption fields or controlling the corrupted creatures. The corruption field placed down by their youngest brother was already more than enough, and he was the best when it came to controlling the creatures.

Krwaaang!

The offensive spells cast by the hyena sorcerer brothers packed quite a lot of firepower, forcing Han-Yeol to use a bit of mana to block it with Force Shield. The elder brothers might not be as powerful as their youngest when it came to controlling the corrupted creatures, but their offensive spells were much more powerful than his.

‘Offensive spells are different from controlling corrupted creatures. While the latter might be a talent one is born with, the former is honed through one’s effort.’

This was the reason the elder brothers were stronger when it came to offensive spells compared to their talented youngest brother.

“Phew! So you guys finally decided to join. I thought I was going to die of boredom fighting against only one opponent,” Han-Yeol sneered.

He had been purposely torturing the youngest hyena sorcerer to lure the other two out, as he knew he would get bored if he fought them one by one.

[What?!]

The hyena sorcerers raged after hearing Han-Yeol’s provocation. They were enraged after seeing their youngest brother get pummeled, so they were easily provoked this time.

“Alright, shall we fight for real now?”

[Ha! You will pay for this, arrogant human! Death Cloud!]

[Corrupted’s Rage!]

The hyena sorcerers completely forgot about capturing Han-Yeol alive and proceeded to unleash their most powerful spells, but this was not due to their anger getting the better of them. They were indeed full of themselves and would rarely acknowledge their opponent, but that did not mean they were foolish enough to attempt to capture him alive when they saw what he was capable of with their own eyes.

‘That human isn’t someone we can capture alive.’

The eldest hyena sorcerer was serious. He knew they were not in a position to think of capturing their target alive. In fact, he was worried if they could even win against him.

‘Damn it!’ the second brother cursed in anger.

The spells they used were their ultimate spells. A dark corrupted rain cloud would be summoned on top of the target location, and it would rain down corruption onto everything in the target area.

It did not deal a lot of damage right away, but the spell covered a vast area and continued for a long time so the damage eventually added up. As a bonus, it would empower all corrupted creatures the rain touched.

[You will never win against us brothers!]

The two elder brothers were battle-hardened veterans who fought in numerous battles side by side, making their teamwork near-impeccable. Their spells not only dealt damage against their target but also empowered the corrupted creatures.

However, there was one unique thing about their spells. Most buff spells would not stack on the corrupted creatures, but that was not the case for these brothers. Their spells not only stacked on top of one another but even enhanced each other when cast on the corrupted creatures together.

The true power of these hyena brothers lay not in their individual strength but in their teamwork.

“KRWAAAAH!”

Bam! Bam!

The corrupted creatures controlled by the youngest hyena sorcerer were initially pushed back by the Darkness Avengers that Han-Yeol summoned, but the situation was soon reversed the moment the hyena brothers cast their ultimate skill to empower them.

“Hmm… These hyenas sure are stronger than the average ones,” Han-Yeol thought. He was slightly impressed.

Krwaaang! Bam! Bam!

Han-Yeol looked very calm even while watching his Darkness Avengers get struck down by the corrupted creatures and the black corrupted rain.

Tsshhh…!

Everything the rain touched started to decay.

“Gee… I’m sorry to say this but…” Han-Yeol said.

[Hmm?]

[...?!]

[Argh…?!]

All three hyena sorcerers looked at Han-Yeol.

“All of your ultimate spells will be nullified by this one skill I’m going to use now,” he said smugly.

Chwak!

Han-Yeol spread out his hands toward the sky.

‘Dark Moon.’

He used another one of the new skills he obtained. It was difficult to tell the effects of this spell just by its name alone.

[What did he do?]

[Did he even do something?]

[Argh…]

The youngest hyena sorcerer was still suffering from his wounds. The amount of pain he was subjected to was severe, as he took the full brunt of the damage the Behemoth took. Also, the fact that the hyena sorcerers were physically weak did not help at all.

It was then that the ground started to tremble.

[E-Earthquake?!]

[No, this is not an earthquake.]

Gulp!

The eldest hyena sorcerer anxiously watched as dark, insidious mana spread throughout their surroundings. He was always the level-headed one among them brothers, but even he could not help feeling nervous about what was happening right now.

[How can this be?!]

[...]

The hyena sorcerers were shocked by the scene unfolding in front of their eyes. The reason was that the ultimate spell that they were prideful of, Death Cloud, suddenly vanished without leaving behind a single trace.

Death Cloud was a powerful spell that consumed a hefty amount of mana, and it had a long cooldown period too. The fact that the only drawback the skill had was its long cooldown was proof of how amazing the spell was, as most of their enemies would be dead by the time the spell entered its cooldown period.

However, that powerful spell suddenly vanished without a trace.

[What did you do with my spell?! Answer me, you damn human!]

The hyena sorcerers lashed out in anger, but Han-Yeol simply replied with a shrug.

“I admit your spell was quite impressive. But I already told you that I can nullify it with my skill,” Han-Yeol said nonchalantly.

[Y-You!]

The second brother was about to retaliate in anger, but the eldest brother raised his hand and stopped him.

[You are wrong.]

“Hmm?” Han-Yeol raised a brow as if asking what the hyena sorcerer meant by that.

[My spell still exists, human.]

The eldest hyena sorcerer was right. The Death Cloud might have visually disappeared, but the corrupted creatures were still empowered. That meant that the spell still lingered somewhere.

[In other words, you’re lying through your teeth, human.]

“Oh? Do you really think so?”

[What do you mean by that?]

“Are your eyes decorative ornaments or what? Oh right, I forgot that you hyenas are as dumb as a brick… Wait, does that mean you three are dumber than those stupid hyenas?”

The eldest hyena sorcerer grimaced at the insult.

[Y-You…!]

The second brother was completely furious, and his temper flared hotter than that of the youngest hyena sorcerer.

“Watch closely, and you’ll understand what I mean.”

[What…?]

Chwak! Chwak! Chwak!

“Kieeeek!”

The hyena sorcerers were stunned by what was taking place right before their eyes. Their corrupted creatures empowered by the Death Cloud were one-sidedly pummeling the Darkness Avengers, but they suddenly staggered and stopped moving, allowing the Darkness Avengers to cut them down.

The one thousand corrupted creatures were quickly reduced to less than two hundred.

But that was not the end of the surprises.

[T-They aren’t regenerating?! Why?!]

The hyena sorcerers hurriedly used their regeneration spell to bring back their corrupted creatures.

Woooong!

“...”

However, the corrupted creatures remained lifelessly on the ground and did not react to their spell.

[Why?! What’s going on?!]

The amount of damage the corrupted creatures suffered was not to the extent they could not come back to life. They were supposed to regenerate unless their bodies were decimated. Despite the fact that they were similar to mindless zombies, this trait allowed them to overpower the Bastro Warriors, who worshiped power and trained their entire lives.

On top of this trait, they also had the ability to corrupt their fallen enemies and reincarnate them as one of their own. This made it impossible for the Light Faction to win prolonged battles, as they would grow weaker while their enemies increased in numbers.

However, all the advantages the corrupted creatures possessed could not be found anywhere right now.

“Anything the Dark Moon shines upon is dominated by it. No lifeform can come back to life without my permission as long as they are under the Dark Moon. In short, this entire place is now under the control of darkness, and I am its ruler,” Han-Yeol said.

Then, he paused for a second and shuddered, ‘What the hell? Why did I say something so cringe?’

He got so carried away by the mood that he ended up blurting out whatever came to mind. Unfortunately, the water had already been spilled, so there was no taking back the cringy things he said just now.

[I am now certain that you have to be killed, human.]

Han-Yeol was busy cringing hard for saying such chuuni things, but the hyena sorcerers did not care about it one bit. Instead, they seemed to have gotten even more provoked by the chuuni things he said.

Han-Yeol was in utter disbelief. ‘What? They bought the cringy things I said?’

He normally would have tried coming up with excuses or justifying his cringy behavior, but he decided not to dabble on it since the hyena sorcerers did not seem to care about it.

‘I should kill these guys and make sure not another soul hears about this…’

Still, he had to make sure that this embarrassing moment would not be uttered on anyone’s lips, and to do that, he had to make sure all of the witnesses were eliminated.

Chwak!

Han-Yeol raised his hand and aimed it at the hyena sorcerers.

“Alright, shall we put an end to this boring game?”

[Go ahead! Try it if you can, human! There’s no way you pathetic poor creatures can win against us!]

Kwachik!

A cross-shaped vein bulged on Han-Yeol’s forehead.

“I told you… not to say that!”

Baaaam!

Han-Yeol suddenly disappeared.

[What?!]

[Huh?]

Han-Yeol moved so fast that the hyena sorcerers barely noticed his movement. They managed to follow him due to their mana sensitivity, as they did not follow him but rather the trail of mana he left behind. But it took them a while to pick up even this trail after he had already passed.

[W-We couldn’t read his movement?!]

[How can a human move so fast that we could only sense the trail he left behind?!]

[W-What?!]

Among the Bastrolings, the hyenas were undisputedly the most sensitive to mana. This was something the Light Faction would deny no matter what…

Regardless of what the Light Faction thought, the sole reason the hyenas could receive help from the Dragon of Destruction and rule over the Bastro Dimension was all thanks to their mana sensitivity.

However, the mana sensitivity they were so proud of was absolutely useless right now.

[Eat this!]

The second brother unleashed spell after spell and triggered random explosions all over the place.

Krwaaaang!

Boom! Boom!

He intentionally shot at the potential route the pesky human could use to block his movements rather than trying to catch something he could not see. This was one of the strategies the hyena sorcerers often used against the Bastro Warriors, who were extremely agile.

Shwak!

[What?!]

Despite his best efforts, Han-Yeol suddenly appeared right in front of them, unscathed.

“Hello~”

[H-How?!]

Bam!

Kuheok!

Swoosh! Bam!

Han-Yeol kicked the youngest hyena sorcerer in the abdomen and sent him flying. The kick was so powerful that the hyena sorcerer only stopped after crashing into the side of a mountain.