NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20: (1)
“Penetrating Stab” Kaiyan shouted.
Swoosh!
His sword struck through the monster’s tough skin and plunged inward without stopping.
The monster swung its arm, screaming in pain. However…
“To the right,” Kaiyan reacted.
The moment he felt the sense of danger, he had already moved to the right.
Kwoong!
The monster’s attack struck a place far away from him.
“Too easy,” he remarked.
After gaining the ability to use more lethal attacks than before, monster hunting felt too easy for Kaiyan. Moreover, with his sense of danger, he could evade most attacks unless they were from high-level monsters.
Of course, he couldn’t guarantee victory if he were to fight large monsters one-on-one on the battlefield, but there was no need for him to foolishly fight alone.
“Now! Overwhelm them!” he ordered.
“Yah! Push!” the soldiers echoed.
“Kraaaak!”
The soldiers pushed the injured monster with their shields and spears, causing the injured monster to fall eventually.
Seizing the opportunity, they wielded their weapons toward the fallen monster, following Kaiyan’s lead.
Swoosh! Thud!
“Kuwaak!” the monster howled in pain.
Although it tried to get up, flailing its arms in the air, the battlefield was not a merciful place that gave it time to do so.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Continuing the relentless attacks to its face, the monster gasped for breath before it died.
The reason why humans could defeat monsters was that even if monsters possessed powerful strength and tough skin, they would die just like humans when they received injuries to vital areas.
“Phew… Next, let’s take down that one,” Kaiyan declared.
“Good! Let’s go!” the soldiers responded.
Whoosh!
Kaiyan pointed his sword at the monsters roaming around, and the soldiers rushed fearlessly, screaming as if they had no fear of the monsters.
“Kuwaak?”
The monster named Evelyn, flailing its arms, seemed confused when surrounded by over a hundred humans.
“Let’s finish this quickly! There are still many monsters we have to kill!” Kaiyan shouted.
From the monsters’ perspective, they would want to suppress Kaiyan, the one delivering powerful attacks. However, with their skins already penetrated by his attacks, would they be able to withstand the soldiers’ attacks without any defense?
The monsters would eventually be drawn into such a situation and fall, just like before.
Ding! [You leveled up.]
A sound that always brings joy no matter when it comes.
When he defeated more than ten monsters, the notification of leveling up reached Kaiyan.
“Where should I distribute the points… Huh?”
As he tried to allocate his stats, Kaiyan felt a surge of aura in his body.
He was certain that the amount of aura he had previously possessed was merely a fraction of what he had now.
“I suppose I have about two-thirds of a baby’s fingernail now.”
It seemed that the amount of aura increased slightly with each monster he hunted, following the explanation of the Maeslin Aura Manual.
“For now… Two points in Strength. Normally, it wouldn’t have increased this much just by defeating a little over ten monsters, right?”
With the information about Maeslin Aura Manual in his mind, he had some expectations, but the actual increase in aura through hunting was surprisingly high.
At this level, the Maeslin Aura Manual that he chose must be the best among the lowest grade.
“Then… I have to hunt faster than I do now.”
As he realized that fact, he became impatient.
The monsters that other units were hunting seemed somehow wasteful, and
he wanted to rush to the central unit and hunt monsters immediately. However, there was a problem.
“…What should I do about the soldiers?”
Becoming stronger as he defeated monsters was only applicable to him.
Other soldiers would gradually grow weary from frequent battles, and eventually, one by one, they would start dying.
Should he sacrifice others for his growth? Then he would be no different from that noble guy, Tarien.
“…Let’s take it slowly.”
After contemplating, he calmly suppressed his excitement.
For now, the only way was to minimize the soldiers’ sacrifices, organize the frontlines carefully, and slowly advance toward the center.
“There’s no reason for me, who hunts those monsters for the sake of avenging his family, to become stronger by sacrificing my comrades.”
Of course, it would be a different story if the sacrifice was directed toward the nobles.
As he defeated the monsters and made some progress, he saw a monster resembling an ant, using its sharp jaws to devour human corpses.
“Kieeek!”
Crunch, crunch.
Just hearing the sound gave him a creepy feeling.
“Damn, it’s a Giant Ent!” a soldier exclaimed.
Although it was the first time he saw an actual Giant Ent, he had heard about it from Uncle Jeff.
Uncle Jeff said it was a monster that most people avoided unless they were aura users because of its tough outer shell that covered its entire body.
“Captain, what should we do? Should we avoid it?”
“We don’t have anyone who can break through its shell with sharp weapons… There are no soldiers using sharp weapons among us.”
The soldiers who had been advancing confidently, defeating monsters one by one, hesitated as they looked at Kaiyan.
From the soldiers’ expressions, he could tell they wanted to avoid it. However…
“We can’t do that. Phew… “
Thud!
With those words, without hesitation, Kaiyan lunged toward the Giant Ent.
If the creature hadn’t been devouring a human corpse, he might have just passed by as the soldiers suggested. But daring to commit such an act right in front of him…
‘That’s the challenge the monster sends me.’ Kaiyan thought angrily.
“Activate Aura!”
As he activated the Aura, the small amount of Aura within his body wriggled and stirred, and at the same time, an unprecedented power surged.
Ability increased by 20% through Aura usage. However, due to the limited amount of Aura he possessed, he can only use it for approximately one minute.
“I don’t need one minute! With this! Penetrating Stab!”
As his Aura and skill combined, the sword shot toward the monster at a much faster speed than Kaiyan anticipated.
Thunk!
The Giant Ent’s outer shell shattered and its head was pierced by the sword, unable to properly react to the attack due to feasting on the corpses.
“Keaak!”
“So this is the true Penetrating Stab…”