Leveling Up Alone

Barshell was initially annoyed that he failed to snipe down the hyena sorcerer. He wondered if his aim was off and shot another hyena sorcerer, but there was nothing wrong with him.

‘Good. My aim is alright,’ he thought, pleased with himself after seeing the intermediate-ranking hyena sorcerer die.

Barshell bellowed a command to his subordinates.

[All forces! Attach your blades!]

Click! Clack!

[Blades attached!]

These elite snipers were not only for long-range sniping. They did undergo intense training similar to the ones elite rangers on Earth would undergo to become ruthless assassins from afar, but they were still Bastrolings at the end of the day. They were all Canine Warriors who served under Barshell for the longest time, and the new recruits were heavily filtered before they were allowed to join the elite squad.

The Bastro Warriors’ KAR98K rifles were designed to be rechargeable, which meant they could recharge ammo with their mana. However, this came at the expense of requiring around ninety seconds to fully recharge once they depleted the ammo.

This downside could be fatal for a human sniper, but that was not the case for the Bastro Warriors The ninety-second window would only be a short period of time for them to change from fighting ranged to melee.

Gwuu oooh!

A Bastro Warrior charged forward and stabbed a contaminated creature’s head in one clean, fluid motion, signalling the all-out assault from the Bastro Warriors. Barshell’s subordinates charged at the contaminated creatures and massacred them. None of them looked back and only continued charging forward.

They could not have done this before, as the contaminated creatures would come back to life and they would end up completely surrounded. Thus, the Bastro Warriors struggled so much against the hyenas and eventually lost the dimension to them.

However, it was different this time around. Han-Yeol continuously shot flashbangs in the sky, which spread purifying light all over the place, making it impossible for the contaminated creatures to come back to life.

It was ironic how a single person, Han-Yeol, could change the tide of the battle.

Thud!

[Ah, it feels good to fight in close combat after a very long time. I can’t stop myself from getting all worked up.]

Barshell had the same battle addiction that every Bastro Warrior suffered from. He loved fighting on the frontlines just like the other warriors, but his knack for using firearms relegated him to the rear, where he was forced to become an elite sniper. The fact that he could fight on the frontlines and smell the thick stench of blood once again was more than enough reason for him to get excited.

“Shwiiik!”

However, he finally realized he had gotten too close to the Hydra when he noticed all eighteen of its eyes. His excitement made him unaware of how close he had gotten to the boss monster of the swamp.

‘Should I retreat… Hmm?’

Barshell initially considered retreating to avoid clashing against the Hydra, but he noticed something weird about the boss monster. It did not seem to be emitting any bloodlust toward him–no, it gazed at him with gentle eyes as if it was showing favor to him for some odd reason.

[Mariam.]

[Yes, Barshell?]

[I feel like this Hydra is trying to tell me something. Can you read its mind for me?]

[Certainly.]

Ziiiing!

‘Argh!’

Barshell could feel Mariam using his mind as a proxy to tap into the Hydra’s mind. Although it was not his first experience, he could not help but get chills whenever she tapped into his mind.

Her telepathic ability worked against powerful opponents, but it was certainly very helpful in combat too. In fact, it was difficult to find a better support skill than Mariam’s.

[Ah…]

[Why? What’s wrong?]

[This Hydra… wants you.]

[Huh? What do you mean by that?]

[It seeks vengeance against the hyenas, but it realizes it will be difficult with its own strength. Also, it only wants revenge against the hyenas and does not wish to fight the other creatures. Therefore, it wants to fight alongside you.]

[What? Are you sure?]

[Yes, I am certain.]

[Hmm…]

Barshell was flustered by the unexpected turn of events. He had never heard of a monster allying with a Bastroling before in his life.

[What are you going to do?]

Mariam found the situation to be quite amusing.

[Tell it that I will accept its offer.]

[Alright.]

She relayed Barshell’s thoughts to the Hydra immediately.

“Shwiiiiik!”

All nine heads of the Hydra cried out before the only head with a single horn lowered itself toward Barshell.

‘Do you want to give me a ride?’

Gulp!

Barshell was slightly nervous, but he decided to step on top of the Hydra’s head. Of course, he was prepared to attack the Hydra at any given moment should the boss monster pull anything funny.

Fortunately, his worry was for naught, as the Hydra did not show any intention of attacking him. The boss monster of the swamp placed Barshell high above the ground before focusing on attacking only the contaminated creatures and the hyenas.

The Hydra quickly healed its wounds after devouring the other monsters and creatures that had the contamination mana cleansed from their bodies by Han-Yeol’s flashbangs.

[Keep going, Hydra. Go and kill all of those filthy creatures!]

“Shwiiik!”

Barshell could not stop smiling after somehow obtaining the Hydra as a pet. He was infamous for going berserk on the battlefield, but he had no reason to fight at the frontlines after obtaining his new pet.

Click! Bang!

The Hydra towered above the walls, giving Barshell a clear view over the wall’s parapets at the hyena sorcerers.

Ting! Ting!

[W-What is it this time?!]

[A Light Faction Bastro Warrior is controlling the Hydra!]

[What?!]

That was terrible news for the hyenas. The Light Faction Bastro Warriors were already a thorn in their side, but a boss monster siding with them was indeed bad news.

“Oh? What’s Barshell doing?” Han-Yeol muttered in awe.

His initial plan was to support the Hydra so it would continue to wreak havoc behind enemy lines, but he did not expect it to become an ally.

“That is truly amazing. A Hydra is a famous monster even in the demon world, and quite a lot of demons covet having one as a pet. However, Hydras have quite the temper, so they do not easily yield to others. But I did not expect to see a Hydra ally itself with someone…” Stewart said in awe of the rare sight.

The Hydra seemed to have quite a grudge against the hyenas for it to act out of the ordinary and ally with another creature.

“Well, thanks to that, we can easily sweep them away,” Han-Yeol replied with a shrug. Then he looked to his side and said, “Shall we go all out now, Riru?”

[Yes, Han-Yeol.]

The telepathic network Mariam set up allowed all of the important figures to connect and speak with each other regardless of their distance.

Krwaaaang!

The addition of the Hydra to their forces helped the Light Faction Bastro Warriors relentlessly attack the contaminated creatures. On top of that, the demon, Stewart, joined the fray too, making the numerical advantage of the hyenas obsolete.

Ziiing! Ziiing! Ziiing!

Stewart continued summoning his Shurarmors, who played a huge part in assisting the Light Faction Bastro Warriors.

“Good! Keep it up, and don’t give them any breathing space!” Han-Yeol commanded.

“Sure,” Stewart replied with a shrug.

***

The momentum might have shifted in the Light Faction’s favor, but that did not mean the Dark Faction was losing the battle.

The hyenas deployed all of their high-ranking hyena sorcerers. Yes, they did have various restrictions, but they still unleashed all of their spells and contaminated creatures to try and swing the momentum back in their favor.

The Light Faction Bastro Warriors might be armed with new weapons and a renewed spirit, but the hyenas had dominated the Bastro Dimension for so long that their high-ranking sorcerers were armed with the fruit of the numerous vicious experiments they had carried out.

[Our left flank is on the brink of collapse!]

[Stop making a fuss. Be reborn under the curse of contamination! Recycled Contamination!]

Krwaaaang!

A burst of contaminated mana shot toward the left flank, resurrecting the contaminated creatures that were just defeated. The Light Faction Bastro Warriors were about to break through the hyenas’ left flank when they were forced to a halt after the contaminated creatures came back to life.

The high-ranking hyena sorcerers might have put on quite the impressive display of their powers, but none of them were rejoicing inwardly.

‘Damn it… We’re in big trouble. The disappearance of the magic circle has greatly weakened our contaminated creatures far more than I expected. And that thing in the sky is weakening them even more.’

Only Haverus panicked when he received news about the destroyed magic circle. He was the one who had installed the magic circle, so the others were not that interested in it.

What was the big deal when they could just reinstall the magic circle? After all, they were the owners of the Bastro Dimension, so they could do whatever they wanted.

However, they realized the magic circle's importance after feeling the void it left behind in the battle. They needed every bit of strength to win this decisive battle, and the absence of the magic circle’s buff made their contaminated creatures weaker than usual.

‘Ughh. We will just barely defend at this point–no, we might not even hold out for long!’

They were summoning the contaminated creatures at a rate they had never done before, but they could only do that for the weaker contaminated creatures. The elite contaminated creatures needed a lot of time before they could be resurrected and deployed on the battlefield again.

Unfortunately, time was not a luxury they could afford right now.

“Dark Shield!”

Ting!

[Argh! Damn it!]

To make the situation worse, the hyena sorcerers were busy directing all their focus in controlling the contaminated creatures, as the tamers were all dead. But the lone Bastro Warrior standing atop one of the Hydra’s heads was sniping them down, making it difficult to control their contaminated creatures while protecting themselves from the mana bullets.

“Hmm… It’s slowly starting to get boring,” Han-Yeol grumbled.

“Then would you prefer to go fight too?” Stewart asked.

“Oh? Should I do that?”

Han-Yeol had been preserving his strength. The high-ranking hyena sorcerers were the core of the hyenas’ army, but Char and the Contaminated Harkan had still yet to make an appearance.

Also, the magic circle may have been destroyed, preventing the Dragon of Destruction from resurrecting, but there was still a possibility that it could come back. Therefore, he could not afford to waste his strength carelessly.

However, the battle against the high-ranking hyena sorcerers was starting to drag longer than he expected, and Han-Yeol knew that the Light Faction would start suffering more casualties if nothing changed.

Thus, he figured it was finally time to join the battle.

“Heave-ho!”

Han-Yeol jumped down from the large boulder he was on.

Thud!

“Hmm… Should I fight with White Dragon or Mavros?”

Chwak!

“Kieeeek!”

Han-Yeol pondered who to ride in this battle, but Mavros transformed and flew to his side before he could even make up his mind. However, White Dragon also flew to Han-Yeol’s side and stepped between him and Mavros.

“I’m sorry Mavros, but I’m a better partner for him when fighting against the hyenas. It might not be easy for you, but you should yield to me this time,” White Dragon said.

“Kyuuu…” Mavros let out a whimper with his ears drooped down.

He was upset that White Dragon was trying to take the opportunity to fight alongside Han-Yeol away from him, but he knew she was right. So, he had no other choice but to concede this time. He possessed the poison attribute while White Dragon possessed the light attribute, so it was much more efficient for Han-Yeol to fight alongside White Dragon than with him.

Han-Yeol patted Mavros’s head and consoled him before hopping aboard White Dragon.

“Let’s go, White Dragon,” he said.

[As you wish.]