After that, these so-called Destroyers appeared in many other places. There was one where Ye-Eun was, and other teams also reported that they discovered the Destroyers. Although Hwaya and Ina’s team instantly obliterated the one they found, the other teams had difficulty defeating them and had to request help.

Naturally, we began to move together as we met up. By the time I killed the fourth Destroyer, everyone had gathered together.

“Are we done with the ones that came outside?” I asked.

“Whew, I can feel the heavy mana vibrating! Also, hasn’t it been getting hotter, guys?”

I scratched my head. “Hotter? Well, maybe with all the bullets you’ve been shooting out… Eh?”

Only after Leon’s comment did I realize that the temperature rose. Because of my elementals and Felixes’ Chaotic Cape, I had not noticed the change in temperature until now. Meanwhile, the others were already dripping with sweat. Other than me, the only ones unaffected were Ina, Hwaya, and Daisy.

“Ruyue, can you cool the air around us so that the guild members are comfortable?”

[Ok! But I can’t when we’re fighting. The heat energy here is too strong.]

I nodded. “That’s fine.”

[Got it!]

Ruyue immediately released her freezing energy, and the others could finally catch their breath.

“The heat hasn’t affected me much since I became an ability user, but this is impressive.”

Lotte interjected, [Hero, we need to hurry before it gets hotter. This is a sign that the king has started to move his forces. We have to take care of his subordinates before he gets serious.]

She was right. “Alright. Let’s hurry, everyone.”

Since we couldn’t take out our plane here, everyone got on Lotte’s back. She gritted her teeth and grumbled, but she accepted my request after I promised her a reward.

[Since we’re in a hurry…I’ll allow it!] she said reluctantly.

“Sorry, Lotte…” I apologized.

Ilayda and Plene also left as the two of them wouldn’t be able to withstand a single hit from the king. Plene became depressed, saying that she couldn’t be of help again, while Ilayda also argued, saying that she wanted to stay. Since Plene’s power had helped us immensely in recovering the Philippines, it was relatively easy to console her, but convincing Ilayda was harder.

She insisted, “You need my ability.”

I shook my head. “But Ilayda, it’s too dangerous. It’s possible that you might die from the aftershock of the king’s attack. You have to level up a bit more. Once you become Gold ranked, you can accompany us on jobs like this.”

“I won’t complain even if I die,” she continued stubbornly.

I gave her a look. “We’ll be in a pickle if you die. We’re going to need your ability in the future, so please, leave it to Ludia for today.”

“I’m more than enough,” Ludia piped up.

Illayda sighed. “In that case…I’ll acquiesce. I’ll get stronger so that I can be of help to everyone!”

When Ludia stepped up, Ilayda became convinced and went back to the mansion with Plene, who had become happier after I consoled her. Michel then said with a bitter smile, “She has a type of obsession with these things. I found that out after I got to know her better. She won’t hesitate to risk her life to save others, a bit too philanthropic, you could say. Because of her immense love for others, it almost looks like she has no love for herself…”

“Michel, you can take care of her. It should be the guild master’s job to take care of his guild members, but I’m banned from talking to Ilayda about personal things.”

With that, I pointed behind me. Ludia and Hwaya were glaring at Michel.

“Shin can’t take care of each and every guild member personally, Michel Ajusshi,” Hwaya said flatly.

Ludia remarked, “Are you trying to make me, Mitarus’ priestess, commit murder…?”

I simply laughed without saying anything. Michel placed his hand on my shoulder with a look of pity.

He whispered, “If it’s tough…you can talk to me. It’s a bit embarrassing to say this, but I’ve had my fair share of such experiences when I was younger…I know how you feel.”

“Michel…”

I felt like I was tearing up. I nodded ever so slightly so that the girls wouldn’t find out.

As we got closer to the volcano, the ground fissured and shot fire into the air. Lotte also became more and more anxious.

[Hero, I’m speeding up!] she warned.

“Got it.”

At that moment, Ruyue finally announced her surrender, [It’s too hard with my power alone.]

“Damn!” I swore.

Even Ruyue’s strengthened ability couldn’t block the temperature change!? When she returned to my weapon, the others immediately began to feel tormented.

“This is too much!”

“Ilina, can you do something?”

Ina fretted, “I’m bad at using my power delicately…I can freeze you though!”

“Nevermind.”

“It’s too hot. Should I take off my armor?”

“It’ll be hotter if you do. Just endure it.”

I didn’t think it was possible for any environment to affect Revival’s members so harshly. I shouted out as I grimaced, “Heat can greatly hinder your movements. When we encounter this king, I’ll handle him from the front. If the heat gets unbearable to the point you think you can’t continue, tell me.”

Father interrupted, “Son, my body isn’t so weak that a heat of this level can hinder my movements.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s just you, Father. Others aren’t like you.”

I had a hunch that only Lebuik and Ren, who were beastmen, and Michel, who was trained in the ways of the sword his entire life, could be like Father. Thankfully, Hwaya was a flame ability user as she was probably one of the most likely members to be affected by the environment, but the situation in this case was favorable to her.

Lotte screamed, [I see one!]

“Heroic Strike!”

The moment I saw a Destroyer, I threw my spear and intercepted it. Everyone else also peppered it with long-ranged attacks, killing it. However, up ahead, over ten Destroyers were marching towards us.

“Damn! Lotte, how many of them do you think are there?” I groused.

She sighed. [From what we’ve seen so far, over a thousand! There are also many that are stronger than the Destroyers.]

“Wow…

I almost lost hope. A thousand SSS+ rank monsters and more monsters above that level? There was also the king to worry about! A sigh naturally left my mouth.

Lotte continued, [Hero, we must lower their count now. The king’s army increases in size over time. Now that we’re here, we can’t go back.]

I nodded grimly. “Right. We can’t back off now.”

[It’s good that we killed so many monsters before…The Witch made a wise decision.]

At Lotte’s words, I got a hunch.

I asked, “Is that army made of monsters? Is that why they called all the monsters living in the Philippines to the volcano?”

[It’s why the Lava King is terrifying. The more he fights, the stronger his army becomes.]

“A role model for necromancers. I must take notes,” Daisy made an unnecessary comment as she clapped in admiration. I then smacked her head, while Hwaya grimaced.

“If I knew beforehand, I would have gathered an army and attacked much earlier!”

I consoled her, “Who knew this Lava King would be here? You did well Hwaya…There’s no need to blame yourself.”

I tightened my grip on my spear. Seeing the Destroyers beginning to make their appearance on the land booming with fire, I shouted, “Ruyue, materialize into your humanoid form! It’s time to show your power!”

[Got it!]

Ruyue transformed into a wolf girl. Ren exclaimed in awe, forgetting the current circumstance, “B-Beautiful.”

“Gak!” Lebuik wailed.

I rolled my eyes. “Ren, Lebuik! Stop blabbering and get ready to fight! We’re descending now!”

“G-Got it, Crown Prince!”

I glared at Ren and Lebuik, and shouted, “Every time you get hit today, I’ll lengthen your thrashing phase by one day. Lebuik, you will also get a taste of a thrashing phase if you’re not careful! Everyone else, get ready to fight! We’re going to destroy this army before the king comes!”

“Yes!”

“Got it!”

“I’ll protect Daddy!”

Lotte shot down like an arrow. Ruyue cooled the path for us as she charged forward first and swept the Destroyers. Her claws became enveloped in ice as they slashed at the Destroyers. A Destroyer had been destroyed without having a chance to counterattack… Eh?

Walker commented, “Her weapon might be different, but her movements are a lot like Kang Shin’s.”

My father’s eyes lit up “So that’s why her movements looked familiar! It’s our clan’s movements. The meticulousness and viciousness in charging forward without looking around while not being hit even once.”

“Don’t call it vicious!” I shouted.

[Elementals naturally take after their masters. We should go too, Master!]

I infused Peika into my spear instead of Ruyue. Unfortunately, I couldn’t use chaos flames today, and Peika was the second best option if I couldn’t use Ruyue. Now that it had come to this, I became a bit sad that I had already used Sky God’s Rage today. At that moment, as if she had read my mind, Peika commented, [Leave it to me, Master. I’ll show you a lightning that can even cut through fire.]

I smiled. “Thanks, Peika. I will.”

[Uh huh!]

At that instant, I felt the connection between Peika and me becoming stronger. With a smile, I ordered Lotte to land. Once everyone including the succubi battle units landed, I got back on Lotte’s back and shot up. Hwaya shouted, “Shin, be careful!”

I waved at her. “Don’t worry. Instead, stay alive, everyone. As long as no one dies, we’ll be fine.”

I looked at Ludia, who had over twenty Elixirs in her inventory. When a large number of Event Dungeons appeared on Earth, she had taken all the Elixirs.

Knowing what I meant, Ludia sighed before saying, “I wanted to use them for Shin only…but I guess there’s no choice.”

Hwaya chuckled. “Huhu, Ludia, if you want Shin to love you, you’ll have to show a generous side of you to others.”

“Don’t call me Ludia, Hwaya Mastiford,” Ludia snapped.

It looked like everything would be okay. I softly smiled and turned away. The volcano in the distance that seemed to be shooting out mana for a while finally erupted grandly. The heat even made me frown. Lotte screeched, [The auras of monsters in this area have disappeared! A unique soldier has been born!]

I groaned, “Damn, there are all these Destroyers too…Lotte, accelerate!”

[Got it!]

“Dear Husband, take this!” Licorice shouted.

When we were about to charge at a nearby Destroyer, a crystal ball flew toward us. I quickly grabbed it and saw that it was a dark-pink colored spherical object. Of course, it wasn’t for decoration. Such a tiny ball contained an immense amount of mana.

I tilted my head in confusion and saw Licorice smiling at me.

“It’s made from a portion of all the mana collected by the battle units. It contains our love, so use it when you need it, Dear Husband.”

I protested, “But Licorice, this is the succubi’s…”

She shook her head and her eyes were resolute. “If Dear Husband dies, it won’t matter no matter how strong we get. I hope that will be of help.”

I paused and then held it tightly. “…Thank you.”

“Huhu.”

I thought she’d boast more, but she smiled slightly before flying back. Dozens of magic circles appeared around her, shooting out magic that targeted the Destroyers. Each and every one of them was powerful enough to make me shake. Obtaining Licorice before the Philippines subjugation was truly a godlike move.

“I can’t lose to Ruyue or Licorice!”

I put the crystal ball away as I reaffirmed my resolve. Just from a quick estimate, the crystal ball contained three times my full mana pool. As I currently had over 120,000 mana, this small crystal ball had over 360,000 mana in it. If something like this exploded, it would be able to easily blow up a country. Without a doubt, it would help me greatly.

Lotte gave me a warning, [Hero, I’m going to strictly charge from now!]

I smiled. “You’re telling me to kill everything in one hit? Got it. I’ll show you what Wind King’s Rage is!”

My body flashed for a moment, and a massive wind and lightning energy fell into me. Both Sharana and Peika, who were infused into my body and my spear respectively, reacted.

Sharana crowed, [Master, great!]

Peika guffawed. [Huhu, Master is the best!]

“This is only the beginning! You guys need to control this energy!”

Lotte charged. Her destination was the new Destroyer that had just popped out of the fissured ground and overflowing lava!

“Die!”

[Guoooooo!]

I thrust my spear forward multiple times and each attack contained lethal power.

[Critical Hit!]

Wind and lightning stormed. Lotte continued shooting forward. From the giant hole I just pierced through, lava spurted out like blood. The Destroyer immediately collapsed and died.

I screamed arrogantly, “All of you…fight me! Mere soldiers like you, I can take care of all of you by myself!”

[You have used Provoke! All enemies in the area will hold infinite hostility for you. If you come out victorious against them, you will make another achievement!]

The Destroyers marched forward. Just like Lotte said, about a thousand Destroyers popped up from every corner of the ground. They all glared at me as they moved towards me. I gulped down my saliva along with a surging sense of tension and shouted, “Let’s go!”

Wind King’s Rage wouldn’t stop until all of them were dead. With Absolute Soul’s power, I would make that possible! Second, third, fourth…!

[Gruaaaaaaaaa!]

Lotte charged forward as she left behind giant holes and bursting lava. The whirlpool of wind and lightning enveloping my body cut through the air as it left traces of destruction as other members of Revival also charged alongside me. About two hundred succubi shot magical attacks without rest, while the roar of the fighting Destroyers shook the land.

The war between Revival and the Lava King’s Army had now begun.