[Kihak!]
"Hhp!"
A gigantic leopard's head was before Yu IlHan's eyes. He pulled the Eight-tailed dragon spear from his gauntlet and drove it into it, after which the bright white flames completely melted its brain and temporarily made it stop.
However, it would not die with just this. To kill the 5th-class beings that appeared on Earth, there was a need to erase the brain, pull out the heart, slash the neck, and dismember all the limbs.
To add icing on the cake, Yu IlHan wasn't facing a single 5th-class right now.
[Shaaaaah!]
[IlHan, a mantis behind you!] (Liera)
"That's damn annoying!"
[I'll do the rest.] (Mystic)
[Kuooooh! Stay still for a moment!] (Orochi)
Liera's warning, Mystic's claim, and Orochi's words rang out in his head simultaneously. However, Yu IlHan understood all three words at once and processed them quickly before moving around.
"Hhp!"
First, he pulled the spear from the leopard's head and slashed horizontally three times, severing the leopard's neck, as the leopard's mana temporarily stopped because its brain was molten.
However, what Yu IlHan had slashed was not only the leopard's neck. The mantis that tried to kill him while he was facing the leopard was caught up in it and was slashed apart as well! The peak-level body movement, combined with the Spear of Untraceable Trajectory, achieved this. Of course, the power of the whip and the sword from the Great Cosmos-severing Spear also played a role.
[Shaaaahk!]
[Double Kill!] (Mystic)
"Shut up!"
The moment Yu IlHan disarmed the two 5th-class monsters, the Flying Fortress, which had defeated all the aerial monsters, shot out a beam at the right moment, penetrating both the leopard's heart and the mantis' back. This was a fantastical combo that would have been impossible if it hadn't been in sync with Yu IlHan.
[You have earned experience.]
[You have earned experience.]
[Hhup.]
The only remaining problem was the humanoid monster that had been concealed all this time and suddenly appeared at the moment Yu IlHan showed an opening after killing the two 5th-class monsters!
[I aimed for this moment!]
[I also aimed for this moment!] (Orochi)
However, immediately after it assaulted Yu IlHan's back, a pile bunker appeared from behind Yu IlHan and struck its torso.
[Kergh!?]
[Fire!]
When the Eternal Flame pulled the trigger by burning at Orochi's signal, the magic gunpowder was jolted, amplifying the shock hundreds of times over; at the same time, the pile driver made of dragon bones shot out with a boom, piercing a huge hole in the torso. A combo play from Orochi and Eternal Flame.
[Kahak! You... even noticed me!?]
The pile bunker, which Yu IlHan poured his blood and sweat into and had been enhanced by the effects of the Infernal Dragon body, was the perfect weapon to leave to Orochi and Eternal Flame, as it could be used at maximum power with a quick strike. In fact, even right now, a 5th-class enemy was pierced and its movements temporarily sealed!
It was truly shocking that the bones and flesh were regenerating and pushing out the pile driver immediately after the strike, but, being a higher existence, it still took time to fully recover from the shock.
And that amount of time was like eternity to Yu IlHan.
"Boasting about your concealment in front of me, that's like discussing eating alone in front of a master tier loner."
[Aren't those two the same thing?]
"Shaddap."
Yu IlHan generated a shockwave with Ruin Calling and spun his body around with it. On the tip of the Eight-tailed dragon spear in his hands was a vicious flame that was surprisingly half-translucent.
[Kihik...!]
"Hah!"
The moment it tried to move, he bisected it with a shout and his spear. The beam from the Flying fortress and the ballista ammo that Orochi used with the Infernal dragon body also hit him.
Three-on-one would have been impossible, but there was no way it could endure all the bombardment alone! It was instantly obliterated, leaving no words behind. This was 17 minutes into the battle.
[You have earned experience.]
"Fuu."
Yu IlHan took away his spear and landed on the ground. Following him, the bisected 5th-class corpse also thudded on the ground. When he turned around while collecting the corpse, the surrounding chaotic mana calmed, and silence enveloped the battlefield.
[Kihih...]
[Kuh, kkgggk!]
[Fail, failed.]
[Can't run, can't run!]
There were still tens of 4th classes and thousands of 3rd classes on the battlefield, but they despaired without even thinking of running away, as Yu IlHan had instantly finished off three 5th-class beings. And those were their last moments.
"Mystic, finish up."
[Roger that.]
Mystic seemed to like the military-themed stuff nowadays, as she was very quick to reply. Immediately after that, the Flying Fortress, having recovered enough energy, seemed to lower its altitude before cleaning up all the monsters with relentless bombardment.
Yu IlHan leisurely strolled among them and collected their corpses and magic stones after killing the survivors.
[Situation terminated!]
Declared Mystic. She said that after emitting mana around the flying fortress, she confirmed there were no monsters near Yu IlHan. At least in the future, no 5th-class beings will spawn in this area.
"Uu, so tired."
Yu IlHan finally relaxed the tension in his shoulders after hearing her report. Although he seemed to overwhelm the enemies in the battle, it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous against three 5th-class monsters.
[IlHan, are you alright?]
"Yeah, I'm fine. No problem."
The worried Liera touched him all over, but Yu IlHan made her step back with just those words. A short but tenacious fight was truly the battle that made his body breathe in life and make it advance.
In fact, his physical body was in maximum activity right now. The Superhuman strength and Transcendent regeneration, at the level of mastery, were in effect simultaneously to bring out the best in each other. Like this, his spines would reattach if they were cut, and his brain would regenerate as soon as it got pierced. He couldn't be considered human anymore.
However, only then did his body feel some pressure. He breathed slowly to relax his tensed muscles. Liera hugged him from the back and made him more comfortable.
"Fuu...three at once is mentally exhausting, indeed."
[And the planet almost twisted up trying to generate a single one a few months ago.]
One was nothing, then two appeared, and now there were three. Hearing Yu IlHan and Mystic's grumbles, Liera sighed.
[That's because Earth's energy is increasing.] I'm sure the 4th Great Cataclysm isn't far away.]
And once the 4th Great Cataclysm occurs, the Earth will definitely be reborn into a higher world. And one that stamps out higher existences naturally, a horrifying world….
Yu IlHan felt a sense of distance as he rolled the word 'higher world' around in his mouth. Right now, he was having a hard time taking care of Earth alone, but if those nosy little losers from Heaven's Army, the Army of Brilliant Light, and the Destruction Demon Army were around, he saw only a bleak future.
"Oh yeah, what do those guys from the Garden of Sunset do? I didn't see them after the Dareu incident."
[I think that they are focusing more on Dareu than Earth. Perhaps they might help you fight against the Destruction Demon Army. They could be considered the only decent faction excluding Heaven's Army.]
"Erta seemed to hate them to the bones, though?"
[That's because they were the first faction that contacted her, and Erta was about to be deceived by them.]
"So there was such a connection."
[The leader there likes women. There was a time he even watched over Erta.]
Yu IlHan accepted. Erta was indeed beautiful. However, she felt as if she were billions of light-years away from love. She probably wanted to become stronger as a higher being and, naturally, hated the Garden of Sunset's offer.
It wasn't only the Garden of Sunset that liked women. The Destruction Demon Army, as well as the Army of Brilliant Light, moved numerous worlds to acquire Na YuNa. Perhaps they still haven't given up yet. With all the higher existence factions scheming against a single woman… there was no better trash than them.
"Perhaps the reason the Heaven's Army has a lot of women is also that..."
[We don't! It's just that there are a lot of females among the ones that met you!]
Liera immediately interjected into Yu IlHan's words just in case Yu IlHan became suspicious. In fact, she had an insignificant time with love compared to the long time she lived. Moreover, wasn't she all for Yu IlHan right now? She would cry her eyes out if Yu IlHan became suspicious of her.
"I wasn't saying anything about you, though."
[Idiot.]
"So unfair..."
It was only a moment that he joked around with Liera. After confirming that all his muscles were relaxed, Yu IlHan finally began cleaning up the battlefield.
There was no need for him to collect the 3rd-class monsters, and he destroyed them thoroughly, returning them to the earth. Earth would grow faster this way. It was a tragedy that Yu IlHan had to make Earth into a higher world despite fearing it.
The majority of the monsters were taken care of by Mystic anyway, unless a 5th class appeared, so what he had to do was to resupply the weapons and artifacts using the materials. 3 years passed like that, and an enormous amount of equipment piled up in Yu IlHan's inventory across the various parts of the Flying Fortress, eventually being absorbed by the Infernal Dragon's body.
"So it's 5th class now."
Magic stone, please magic stone. Yu IlHan prayed desperately and started dismantling the three 5th-class beings.
In the past few months, Yu IlHan had acquired a single magic stone from the ones that occasionally appeared. Of course, he left that for his 4th-class advancement. He was about to give up waiting for the blessing of the goddess of fire, but he still could not.
"Huh?"
He was met with blanks for two of the 5th classes, and when he was digging into the perforated head of the last one, the leopard, he discovered a colourless translucent lump of stone and subconsciously voiced out.
"A 5th class magic stone..."
[Really!?]
[Gimme! Enhance the fortress!]
[It should, of course, be the Infernal dragon body that has to be enhanced. Did you not just see that I killed a higher existence just now?]
[The flying fortress can also do that once I get enhanced!]
"Shut up. Anyone that moves is the culprit."
Yu IlHan silenced everyone with those words before cautiously surveying the surroundings and building a physical barrier by installing ballistas and traps, and only then did he raise his five senses to the limit, put his hand into the head, and take out the magic stone.
[Wow.]
Their timezone was currently in the morning. The magic stone that took in sunlight and created a rainbow inside. Looking at that, everyone exclaimed.
"Fuu."
[So beautiful...]
[Wow, it's so beautiful that it's a waste to use it.]
[Isn't the mana inside more important than the appearance?]
Yu IlHan took out the magic stone he had acquired earlier and compared it with the others. He definitely did feel that they were different. The previous one also glowed in a beautiful light blue, but it was incomparable to the one he had just acquired. Perhaps it was his mistake, but he felt that the amount of mana inside also differed.
"Good."
He put the translucent magic stone inside the inventory. He felt he should use that magic stone to advance to the 4th class.
"Let's use this."
[Use? Where?]
[My enhancement?]
[Probably the Infernal dragon body.]
"Nope, all wrong."
Yu IlHan snorted and closed his eyes.
"I'm going to evolve the Language skill."
[Watching the evolution criteria for the evolution of the skill, Language.]
[3rd class magic stones 3,924,498/1,000]
[4th class magic stones 653,056/100]
[5th class magic stone 2/1]
[Record of Worlds 109/100]
[The Language skill may evolve. Proceed?]
How much suffering did he endure to develop this skill? Just as when he thought he had acquired a 5th-class magic stone, he had to keep it for this 4th-class. In fact, he used that one to create armour to survive, and he acquired another one, but he had to leave it behind for the 4th-class advancement!
And finally, he acquired another, allowing him to further develop the skill!
[Let's wipe your tears first.]
"I, I'm not crying!"
Thinking back to his suffering, he felt his nose tinge. Calming down, Yu IlHan accepted the Akashic Record's question with a nod.
"Yes, I'll proceed."
With his acceptance, brilliant five-colored mana covered his body. An overwhelming mana and the skills he had developed until now, as well as the records he had piled up, were now in a process of becoming one! Yu IlHan lost consciousness due to the fantastical feelings the skill of sublimation gave him.
[Die!] (?????????)
"Kergh!?"
And that was the perfect opening that a certain someone had been waiting for all this time.