John Stone breathed in as the slime-like creatures attacked. Though they looked easy, it was resistant to all kinds of attacks and was able to melt one's skin with just touch alone. It would digest the melted bodies of its opponents to recover its health and even enlarge in size.

'd.a.m.n… This slime is basically a level one dragon! What the h.e.l.l is this?!'

It was meaningless to freeze or burn it. Even if he used poison, it would simply devour it and replenish its health. When he first saw it, he had wondered what he could do to capture it. John Stone soon raised his right arm.

In that instant…

Baaaaaaaaang!

A tremendous tremor surged on John Stone's fingertips as he used those vibrations to attack the outer layer of its skin.

Chiiiiiiiiing.

He could clearly hear its skin melting. However, John Stone also heard another sound.

The sound of millions of cores that made up its body being thrown into chaos and confusion by the vibrations.

As soon as he heard that sound, he raised his ax with his left hand and swung it down.

With a large roar…

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

A red-colored ax cut through the slime. Normally, even when cut, it would stick its body back and attack, but this time, it was different.

As if its body was like shattered ice, the hardened slime broke into pieces and was shattered.

Seeing this, John Stone raised his voice and shouted, "Raise your vibrations and prioritize paralyzing the core before smas.h.i.+ng it! Let me know if you find a better way!"

"Okay… Kyahaha!"

Boooooom!

Soon…

Skills roared out from all directions as the warriors that had survived up to the 7th Zone gradually pushed out the Slimes in formation. There were no warriors who couldn't do what John Stone said. As long as they had the solution, there was no reason for them to be pushed back.

John Stone, who hadn't relaxed even with an advantage in the battlefield, let out a sigh of relief.

He was hoping that another new species wouldn't pop out apart from the Slimes.

'It's done. It's a bit better.'

Normally, another species should have popped out with a different appearance and specialty or even devil-like beasts.

The reason why they were pushed back so far until now was because of that.

It was difficult to fight these alien species that were entirely different in form and appearances with varied qualities. They were easy to deal with once one knew their weaknesses, but since they were new species, they couldn't possibly know how to start.

However, at some point, the new reinforcements of other species began to slow down. Though the numbers didn't decline, it was the same monsters that came rus.h.i.+ng in. This was why he couldn't help but relax.

Then, after a while…

Ruuuuuuumble!

After destroying the last monster, one of the Adventurers let out a large cry.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! It's over!"

They had finally finished killing the large monster with the horn and had cleaned up.

'Whew.'

John Stone, who was finally able to sigh with ease, closed his thoughts.

'We need to catch up.'

From what he heard, those that had already come up had already moved up north. Though this location was important, they had to make sure to gain control using whatever method.

'Alright… Though the rest may be tired, we can recover as we travel north.'

John Stone loudly shouted, "Wait! Don't rest! Let's work just a bit longer! We need to go up!"

John Stone's cry resonated throughout the place. Everyone who heard that voice had already heeded his advice when they were fighting the Slimes, so they had no need to doubt his words. Unfortunately, there were some that had different reactions from before.

'... Why are they like this?'

Seeing the silent ones, John Stone frowned.

-------

Booooooooooooooom!

"Ahhhhh! Really! Hey! Why are we the only ones working!"

Hosang shouted after crus.h.i.+ng the monsters that rushed at them. There were literally enemies everywhere. Since he had helped Hans...o...b..fore, he thought that he would receive some help if he looked like he was struggling, but he had to fix his mentality since he might be thrown into the front and possibly die.

He thought that Hansoo might have become a tad softer from their talk, but there were no exceptions when he was needed.

Booooooom!

Hansoo, who crushed one of the beasts in front of him, quietly muttered, "We don't need guys that can't be controlled."

There was no disappointment since he didn't have expectations, to begin with. If he had some expectations, he wouldn't have come up here alone, to begin with. He would have ascended up and ordered them around to his liking. However, Hansoo had no confidence that he could control them all. He wondered how he could control millions and hundreds of millions of people under his command. It was a number that was beyond the limit of his Pandemic Blade.

To compare, he was a warrior that fought in the vanguard, not a general or even a king. He felt it was easier to resolve a situation by swinging his hammer once then investing the time to command them.

Hosang asked with a flabbergasted face, "What? Us?"

Hansoo shrugged his shoulders.

There was no need to explain.

From Hansoo's att.i.tude, Hosang and the rest gnashed their teeth. The guy was right.

They had let them do as they would in the first place, but the difference in their positions was clear. He was the owner, and they were the slaves.

It was just that he put himself forward and didn't rest so that was a little better. No, he was always focused on crus.h.i.+ng the enemy by fighting the hardest in the very front.

'By the way…'

'Is he getting stronger? Or is he just recovering?'

Hosang fought with a blank look on his face.

It should be normal for one to be tired when fighting. However, he continued to use his skills with more force as the battle progressed.

Like the time before, a huge swarm of insects similar to the ones that roared previously with deafening buzzing sounds.

They were similar, but it was clearly different from the previous swarm of insects.

This time, they weren't his subordinates, but beasts that held enmity toward them. They even looked different. Each bee was as big as a human palm, and there were literally millions of them. Even if one were to use a skill, it was basically the same as cupping water out of a lake.

At that moment…

Booooooom!

He put his foot down, and yellow clouds shot out into all directions. The moment the black cloud and the yellow cloud mixed, an unexpected event occurred.

Kaaaaaaaaaaak!

Kyaaaaaaaaaak!

The insects that were flying toward them in a straight line began to look and bite each others' bodies, including their wings and legs.

This was the authority of Melca.s.saris.

'Before… He wasn't able to utilize it at such a wide range.'

While Hosang was drooling after seeing the yellow smoke cause the beasts to fight each other, Hansoo spoke briefly, "We're almost there."

"Huh? When…"

Wriiiiiiiiiiing!

Once the black clouds began to fade while fighting amongst one another, a scene appeared before them.

It was a clear pa.s.sage through a white surface.

However, they began to see something different.

Wooooooooooooooong!

'Is… that power restoring?'

Though his description was sloppy, Hosang spoke exactly how he felt.

Literally, a large hull was slowly lighting up and was radiating with a blue light. Seeing this, Hansoo mumbled, "Choose one or the other."

Destruction or manipulation.

What Clementine had chosen in his previous life was the large s.h.i.+p, Noah's destruction.

Though he didn't know how to control it, or if he had another reason, Clementine was actively rus.h.i.+ng in to try and destroy it while he and his comrades fought desperately to stop him from doing so.

However, he didn't know this time as well.

"What will you do?" Hansoo muttered as he saw the s.h.i.+p light up.