Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 521: After Victory (1)

“I-I won’t let you die peacefully!”

The word ‘lowly’ that Emperor Qin used was a kind of trigger that made Han-Yeol, who was already angry, even angrier.

[Khahaha! What do you think you can do, brat? All you can do at best is avoid me.]

“...”

A moment ago, Emperor Qin was the one getting angry. However, he was only momentarily annoyed that Han-Yeol was bothering him, and he still had the upper hand in the fight.

[What’s wrong? Why don’t you try and provoke me a little more?]

Han-Yeol shrugged.

“Well, I guess there's no reason for me not to.”

[Huh?]

Han-Yeol’s face, once filled with irritation and frustration, now displayed unrecognizable ease and confidence.

‘What the hell?’

Emperor Qin’s eyebrows, which were made of dirt, twitched at the sudden change.

There was no reason for Han-Yeol to be so relaxed, and so Emperor Qin came to one conclusion.

‘Has he finally gone mad? Tsk, tsk.’

Emperor Qin clicked his tongue, feeling sorry for him. He really believed that Han-Yeol had gone mad, and felt bad for him.

In the past, he had seen many humans on the battlefield go insane when they were unable to overcome a hopeless situation. Even though he understood Han-Yeol’s perspective, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed by the weakness of the man he had tried to make his subordinate.

‘He has good skills, but his mentality is far from it. I’m going to have to make him my subordinate and fix his mentality first.’

There was a saying that people didn’t change. Emperor Qin, the pinnacle of boomers, decided that Han-Yeol was no longer worth fighting.

Then Han-Yeol started to speak.

“I lost, I lost.”

[Khaha! Alright, you should’ve said that earlier. Why'd you have to drag it out so long? Now, come, kneel before me and pledge your allegiance. I will use you with great care.]

“What are you talking about? You idiot.”

[What did you just say?]

“Are you sure you’re an emperor?”

[W-What!?]

“How can you not tell I’m not talking to you?”

Grr!

[H-How dare you make a fool out of me!]

Emperor Qin trembled with rage. He was so enraged that the dirt that made up his body crumbled off him.

“You idiot, I wasn't talking to you when I said I lost.”

[There’s no one else but you and me here, but how dare you…!]

Bam, bam, bam!

Before Emperor Qin could finish his sentence, beings with powerful mana appeared from all around.

[Huh?]

“I was talking to these guys, you piece of dirt.”

[W-What?]

“Haha, you’re more innocent than you look, old man.”

“What an idiot.”

Kheee!

[I guess no matter how strong he is, he’s still a monster.]

[Tsk, why am I a part of this?]

Surrounding Emperor Qin from all five directions were Han-Yeol’s trusted allies: Tia, Stewart, Mavros, White Dragon, and Lord Kasha.

Whoosh!

As the five mighty beings with strong mana established a formation to target a single being, a gust of overwhelming mana blew around them.

“Master, we won the bet, right?”

“Tsk, keep one wish each.”

“Haha.”

“Thank you.”

“Kheee!”

Everyone smiled and looked at Han-Yeol.

[Then, I will!]

However, Lord Kasha’s opinion was dismissed without a thought.

“Rejected.”

[Huh, why?]

“I never made a bet with you.”

[Kahhh!]

Lord Kasha felt like he was going to go insane from frustration.

‘Just how long do I have to be held captive by that stupid human?!’

Even if he wanted to run away or refuse to answer Han-Yeol’s call, he had already made a blood allegiance to him, so the lives of his bloodline were basically in Han-Yeol’s hands.

If Han-Yeol destroyed his blood allegiance out of spite, Lord Kasha’s bloodline would turn to dust and disappear on the spot.

“What do you mean for how long? Forever, of course.”

[Ahhhh!]

‘We’ll see about that, human!’

Lord Kasha had already killed Han-Yeol millions of times in his imagination.

[Khahahaha!]

“Huh?”

Despite being surrounded in six directions by six powerful beings including Han-Yeol, Emperor Qin laughed heartily with his mouth wide open.

[The best you could think of was to use your subordinates because you can’t do it alone?]

Han-Yeol shrugged.

“I can’t help it. I can’t win against you alone.”

Han-Yeol still hadn’t used many skills yet, but he had already decided that even if he used combination skills, it would be difficult to defeat Emperor Qin. It didn’t mean that he didn’t have any other options, but instead of gambling his victory, fighting with his subordinates was an easier choice.

[By inviting such insignificant beings, the rest of my subordinates will ravage your ar…]

Boom! Crack!

Before Emperor Qin could finish his sentence, a powerful explosion erupted, freezing the entire plain.

Whoosh!

[Foolish beings, obey the great wizard.]

[Leave it to me!]

[Destroy everything!]

The three demons hadn’t appeared on the surface in a long time, and they rampaged about, spreading their mighty power.

Even the orcs, strengthened by their predatory skills, were no match for Emperor Qin’s army as they had been awakened by the Grey Stone. At first, they were literally monsters made of dirt, but after feeding on human corpses, they evolved into powerful beings over the course of countless battles. Especially with Emperor Qin’s Buff skill, there were no weak terracotta warriors.

Emperor Qin’s power also made his army invincible, since the beings that were destroyed or turned into a clump of dirt resurrected after a certain amount of time.

Up until now, Tia’s companions had done a good job balancing these forces. However, after Han-Yeol admitted defeat in the bet, he called upon one of their greatest forces, the demons of contracts, to the surface of the Earth, a power that had been dormant except for their use against Emperor Qin.

The demons Han-Yeol had called were of high rank. In the past, it would’ve been impossible for three of them to go against Emperor Qin’s army. However, the seal that had imprisoned them had been slightly loosened after Han-Yeol’s contract with Darkness, allowing them to become extremely powerful without increasing their rank.

They overpowered the army led by Emperor Qin, who had grown stronger than ever. It was only possible with the help of the Black Orcs.

“Looks like I’m better than you at summoning.”

Grr!

[How dare you!]

Shaa!

Emperor Qin’s anger soared endlessly into the sky, and his body burned red like clay heated by fire. It looked like he would turn into glass if he was heated a little more.

“Let’s go!”

“Hoohoo.”

“As ordered by Han-Yeol-nim.”

Kheee!

White Dragon, who was as beautiful as Tayarana, made a small smile.

“Battles are always fun.”

[...Tsk!]

They all answered Han-Yeol’s command in their own way, and the six of them charged at Emperor Qin at the same time.

[I won’t forgive you!]

Boom!

‘Huh?’

Hot lava-like substances sprayed out everywhere, revealing Emperor Qin’s new appearance. And because of his anger, he grew even stronger. Thus, he was able to stay calm until the end even though he was struggling against Han-Yeol in the middle.

‘Tsk, he’s one really annoying guy. It’s a good thing I gave up early.’

Han-Yeol secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If he had insisted on a one-on-one fight until the end and fought against that kind of strength unexpectedly, it would’ve been extremely dangerous, even for Han-Yeol who had multiple recovery skills.

Whirr! Clank!

“I’ll end it quickly!”

Goooo!

He used Blood Strengthening and prepared his most powerful combination skill.

Purifying Light (D), Lightforce Sword (A), Wings of Light (B). He combined three light-based skills into one.

Zing!

A giant Lightforce Sword sprayed purifying power, and large wings of light blossomed from both sides of the hilt.

‘Combination skill, Purifying Wing Sword!’

Whoosh! Kwang!

[It’s no use!]

Even as five of Han-Yeol's devoted subordinates attacked him, Emperor Qin, who was riding a dirt horse, tried to block his skill by looking Han-Yeol straight in the eye.

Han-Yeol’s single Purifying Wing Sword was more powerful than the attacks from the others.

‘He’s still a monster, and he uses the power of resurrecting corpses as his source of power, so he shouldn’t be safe from light attribute forces!’

Therefore, Han-Yeol used light attribute skills, the opposite of pollution and darkness, on Emperor Qin who was made of dirt.

[Emperor’s Protection!]

Chaaa!

A shield-wielding terracotta warrior appeared in the direction Han-Yeol was flying toward.

[If I can hold out this time, I’ll win!]

‘Not on my watch… Vibration Booster!’

Bang!

The already powerful stab sped up even faster when Han-Yeol used Vibration Booster.

[Ugh!]

Even in Emperor Qin’s opinion, it was better to dodge this attack than to block it. Despite his desire to do so, there was no way to get out. It was because the five scumbags crowding around him were preventing him from moving.

‘I’ll block this!’

Grrk!

Emperor Qin used as much mana as he could to strengthen the Emperor's Protection.

“Aaaah!”

Han-Yeol could cancel the skill once he used it, but he couldn’t change its direction, so he poured more mana into it to maximize its penetrating power.

[Come at me!]

Swoosh! Chaaa!

Emperor Qin's sturdy shield came into direct contact with the bright light that Han-Yeol was emitting.

The outcome was simple.

Chaaa. Crumble.

[Ha.]

Along with Emperor Qin’s sigh, dirt and sand fell from his body.

Previously, he recovered many times after each of Han-Yeol’s attacks, but now his body was nowhere to be seen.

[Khaha, you figured out my secret.]

“Yeah, I just finished analyzing you.”

[Khahaha! A normal human would’ve just tried to locate my core, but you figured out my secret so easily.]

Emperor Qin laughed, but there was nothing but emptiness in his laugh.

“Your weakness is...”