NOVEL WEB Chapter 26: First target
Time went by in a flash, and soon, only a few hours were left before Zyrus had to go back to the sanctuary.
He learned a lot in this period of time. After spending days and nights on reading research papers, he finally managed to create a foundation for the void domain.
Now, only one challenge was remaining. He would have to substitute the object required to cast the domain with his source of origin. Zyrus was without a doubt a beginner in this field. He would need a long time if he wanted to use the metaphysical source of origin as the core of the void domain.
The ophidian warriors weren’t idle in these days either. They managed to kill over 20 Verdara beetles in these past few days.
Zyrus would join them twice a day as well. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to sacrifice the aliens that hadn’t been killed by him. Even so, with the help of the ophidian warriors, he had slain quite a few beetles.
“Move,” Zyrus commanded the Ophidian warriors that stood at his front. He had empowered the newly summoned warriors. After dividing them into two teams of five, he decided to take on a small swarm of insects.
In front of him was a hall that resembled a cafeteria. Apart from the metal chairs and tables, there was nothing left in the vicinity.
According to the scouting he had done earlier, there were about a dozen beetles in this place. Although their numbers were small compared to other areas, it was a significant threat to Zyrus’s current party.
‘Well, I don’t plan to win anyway,’ Zyrus flashed an evil grin as the ophidian warriors barged into the hall.
He didn't want to enter just yet.
*Chrick*
*Kiiek*
One after another, Incessant screams and buzzing sounds rang out in the hall. The beetles whizzed by the ophidian warriors like bullets.
*Puchk*
The retaliation against their bullet-like attacks was just as fierce.
*Fwip*
The ophidian warriors had amazing teamwork. As expected of the infantry units, they were able to employ a variety of battle formations to fight the barrage of attacks.
They struck the flying Verdara beetles with their tails to stagger them. At the same time, others would jump on the slowed beetle and slash it open with their knuckle blades.
‘They won’t last long at this rate’ Zyrus judged their battle as he hid near the door. The ophidian warriors were accumulating damage as the fight went on.
On the other hand, a couple of Verdara beetles were severely injured as well.
Zyrus's plan was as insidious as ever. Since the ophidian warriors had the immortal attribute, why not fight in a mutually destructive way?
He wouldn’t be able to use them in the sanctuary anyway, so there was no downside to this strategy.
Zyrus didn’t believe that his actions were cruel. Since they had an immortal attribute, he would make full use of that. As warriors themselves, his summons should be able to handle the pain of death.
If he had such an ability, he would do the same to himself well.
One had to pay the price for taking a life.
*Shatter*
Just as he had predicted, the first causality was an ophidian warrior who was attacked by three beetles. Once its chest was pierced by the beetle's claws, The warrior shattered into fragments like a broken mirror.
Zyrus also felt a fraction of the pain due to their mental connection.
The fight went on and two more warriors fell. On the other hand, half of the beetles had grievous wounds on them.
*ROOAR*
Zyrus joined the fray with a thunderous cry.
*Slash*Stab*
With lightning-fast moves, he killed two injured beetles in one fell swoop. The others were infuriated by his sneak attack, but there was nothing they could do.
The ophidian warriors started a bloody assault with Zyrus’s arrival.
“AWAKEN”
The space shattered on top of the corpses, and two more ophidian warriors walked out. Zyrus immediately ordered them to fight against the healthy beetles while he attacked the injured ones.
“CHreck”
The Verdara beetles were infuriated by the ophidian warriors that stuck to them like leeches. One by one, they fell to the combined assault of their claws.
“Hahaha…AWAKEN” Zyrus laughed in a maddened frenzy after killing two more injured beetles.
His heart wrenched in agony every time one of his summon was shattered. His yellow eyes became blood red with anger and pain as the fight went on.
In just a couple of minutes, he had killed all of the injured Verdara beetles. And as a coast, half of his HP was depleted along with the death of all the original ophidian warriors.
He had ignored the beetles' attack when he was sacrificing the corpses. The lack of HP was starting to take a toll on him.
“Focus fire,” Zyrus commanded in a cold tone and pointed at beetles. Now, both the beetles and the Ophidian warriors were even in numbers.
Although the recently summoned warriors weren’t empowered, they were strong enough to hold their ground against the Verdara beetles.
*Thrust*
And that was all he needed.
“AWAKEN”
One by one, the enemies fell. And from their corpses, new ophidian warriors were summoned. The surviving beetles were horrified by the sight, but it was too late.
Zyrus took their blows on non-lethal areas and killed them without batting an eye at his injuries. The beetles dealt a lot of damage, but his regeneration rate was nothing to scoff at either.
*Slash*
‘Huff..Huff..’
Zyrus panted for breath after killing the last of them. With his monstrous vitality, he still had a bit over a third of his HP left. But his stamina was another thing.
The remaining two ophidian warriors stood at his sides as he slumped on the wall. In front of him was a status screen flashing with a red glow.
[Remaining Time: 00:00:09]
It was time to return.
…
*Knock*Knock*
“Coming,” Zyrus yawned as he sat on his bed. After returning from Earth, he had slept for a day and night to get a well-deserved rest.
He opened the door to be greeted by Ria’s haggard face.
“Have you rested well? Your majesty,”
Well, in Ria’s eyes, his rest wasn’t well deserved at all. From her perspective, He nonchalantly ordered a bunch of monsters to slaughter the players and went to sleep for a whole, freaking, day.
“Did you have more salt in your breakfast?”
“How nice of you to assume that I had one!” Ria replied in a tone that suggested that she was about to explode from anger.
“Sorry about that, really. Let’s talk while eating.” Zyrus spoke in an apologetic tone and walked to the campsite.
His tent was a fair distance away from others. After a couple of fights, he had gathered over 400 subordinates under him.
“You sure have a silver tongue,”
“It’s not, you see.”
“Whatever,”
“By the way, aren’t you scared?” Zyrus asked without looking back.
“I was at first. After witnessing your ‘amazing’ HR skills though, I’m not.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“By the way, how do you know what HR is? Do you know more about us humans?”
“Nice try.”
“Tch..”
“Why’d you call me though?” Zyrus asked after reaching the central area. Thankfully, he was able to eat the human food just like before.
“We have to discuss a lot of things,” Ria took the seat he had offered and drank from a bowl of soup.
Zyrus waited for her to continue as he ate his bread. They didn't have to worry about food after the tutorial was over.
Those serving the crown holders were given enough food in their inventory. Even these limited-time ration packages had a hidden motive behind them. Without food and drinking water, who would run away from their leader?
A new society was taking its form under the system's influence.
“Thanks for waiting,” Ria replied after emptying the bowl of soup. Her eating manners were even worse than Zyrus's, It was clear just how hungry she was.
“I’ll start with the players' report. It is fortunate that the mages had all surrendered, so we have 21 of them in total. We’re lacking defense as a lot of the tank players have sustained various injuries.”
Zyrus calmly nodded at her as she continued her report. It wasn’t surprising since mages and tanks were rare before class selection. At this point, the so-called mages were the ones who had awakened their mana by miracle.
With the passage of time, more and more humans would awaken their mana stat. Right now, only those who had created a skill by practice could be considered a true mage. Once class selection became available, the number of mages would surge drastically.
“As for the others, few amongst the players have managed to create new skills on their own. I’ve made a list of exceptional players so you can take a look at it later.”
“That’s great. You’re doing a good job,”
“As long as you know it. Also, there’s one more thing.” Ria replied with a pleased expression.
“Go on,”
“I sent some players to scout nearby areas, Guess what I’ve found?”
“Another crown holder? But it shouldn’t be so simple.” Zyrus’s curiosity was piqued as he looked at her smug face.
“Of course it’s not simple. I’ve found a crown holder alright, and it’s right beside us.”
‘Beside us? Could it be..’ Zyrus pondered for a while when a thought suddenly occurred to him. There was only one race that would be able to do that.
Quite unexpectedly, he had found the first target for blood fusion.