Darius, as one could imagine, was not the least bit bothered by this.
The more Master bugs there were, the more he could kill. Even though not all of them had been revived, it was enough for him to begin another round.
For the first time since he acquired it, Darius used the basic spell of the Time Element: Time Skip!
[Time Skip - Level 1 Spell
Cost: 1 MP
Description: Move through the river of time to cross within a local area to advance forward beyond the means of those who are time-locked. The maximum duration is 0.1 seconds.]
This was a very special spell that made the Time Element one of the most powerful below Order and Chaos.
Time Skip did not work exactly as it sounded. Most confused it for the Journeyman equivalent, which was Time Acceleration.
Time Acceleration increased the flow of time in a set area, making those within move/age faster than those in the normal time flow.
On the other hand, Time Skip was the act of jumping forward in time to make a predetermined conclusion occur.
For example, two enemies stood opposite each other. One thrust their spear out and the other swung their sword. The way the weapons moved, both parties would die if they connected.
As such, they would both maneuver their bodies to dodge at the same time, before going for another attack from their new position.
Now, should the spearman use Time Skip, it would send him forward in time instantly. Instead of being in the process of thrusting/dodging, he would have already completed his move, just as if time had flowed normally.
However, the outcome would be that while the swordsman would still be in the process of slashing/dodging, the spearman, because he would be temporally ahead of his foe, would be on his next move, piercing the other's heart.
Another example was coming to the kitchen and seeing a sink full of dirty plates. One would sigh with annoyance and begin washing them one by one. A Time Skipper could just sigh one moment and the next moment, all the plates would be washed and placed.
However, just as one would be tired after washing the plates slowly, the Time Skipper would have that same level of fatigue after using his spell.
This was because, although he might not have been conscious of it, he had still ended up doing the action of washing the plates, his conscious self had just 'skipped' to the end, 'saving' himself time, but not the energy and effort put into the act.
Time Skipping, or any spell under the Time Element, was dangerous because it would consume the time of those it affected.
If the action of cleaning one's plates would usually require 20 minutes, then those were 20 minutes that one would pay with one's life.
If one were to use it frequently, or use the spell to skip out on long periods of time, one might end up dead before even realizing how it had happened.
Darius had refrained from using it due to this reason. He had not been certain about how long his lifespan would be.
It was also why Anthony was refraining from overly relying on Time spells, though he often used the Space and Aether spells.
However, Darius was now a Dragon Ancestor, and his lifespan was incalculable. Just like Yuli'ann had been there since the beginning of Faust's creation, remaining youthful and not aging a day, so too was Darius destined to have a long life.
In fact, one of Darius' main plans to kill Beelzebub when he had rushed into the Faraday Cage had been to cast Time Acceleration on both of them, then see who would die of old age first.
Back to the battle at hand.
Darius Time Skipped 0.1 seconds, which was enough for him to cross one end of the cavern to the other at full speed. On his spear were the skewered bodies of almost ten bugs, each one squished on the make space for the next.
Darius held up the spear with a smile and watched it hungrily devour the flesh in seconds, clearing the shaft. Darius then turned to the still groggy bugs, using the time spell once more to fill up the line.
The spear glowed with a golden light after consuming 20 Master bugs this time, sending it to level 4.
[Dragon Ancestor's Lance of Destruction - Unique Weapon (Lv. 4)
Durability: 160,000/160,000
Quality: Perfect
Damage: 4,100-8,100
Description: A one of its kind spear that has never existed in the history of Faust. It is made from the broken shaft of the Dragonlance, Holy Gold, and a little bit of Mithril, God's Steel and Soul Essence. During its creating, it was mixed with Lunar Dew and the heart blood of the Ancestor Dragon, granting it Supreme might and a sentient spirit that can grow the weapon's power endlessly as long as it is wielded by someone worthy.]
Darius breathed out deeply. He had a feeling that his hunch was going to be right, and if it was, then he would have to put aside his magic for a good while as he brought this special trump card up to speed.
He then returned to killing the bugs, working hard on making his spear reach level 5. Gunner and Xela did not interrupt.
The Elven Princess sat down in her bubble and closed her eyes to begin assimilating the information Darius had collected from the Great Library, while Gunner also did the same.
Xela was safe behind her Ward of Isolation that prevented any bug from entering, but Gunner was standing outside it with his eyes closed and his arms folded. The nearby revived bugs pounced on him, but as one could expect, none could harm him.
Many even caused self-harm by breaking their teeth on his skin, making a sound of glass breaking while the bugs in question could only screech in agony.
In the meantime, Darius cleared out another 40 Master bugs before his Spear grew to level 5.
[Dragon Ancestor's Lance of Destruction - Unique Weapon (Lv. 5)
Durability: 200,000/200,000
Quality: Perfect
Damage: 4,500-8,500
Description: A one of its kind spear that has never existed… etc.]
Darius nodded. His revised theory was right, the spear grew exponentially.
Each new level added on a hundred times the levels crossed up until that point. So level 1 was the base, level 2 saw it increase the damage stats by 100 points, level 3 saw it increased by 200 points, level 4 by 300 points, and this current level 5 by 400 points.
The Durability had also grown similarly, but multiplied by ten thousand. So level 1 was the base, level 2 saw it increase by 10,000 points, level 3 saw it go up by 20,000, level 4 also went up by 30,000, and this current level 5 by 40,000 points.
Now that he had identified the nature of the spear's growth, Darius no longer bothered to check, he just chased after every Insect within range and skewered it, making sure it was absorbed before heading to the next one.
There were more than 300 Master bugs left in the cavern, and Darius killed them systematically and tirelessly. His spear glowed brightly less often with each kill, which meant that it needed more 'exp' to rise in levels, which was understandable.
By the time the cavern was cleared a few seconders later, it was shinning gold, a slight glow radiating off it.
[Dragon Ancestor's Lance of Destruction - Unique Weapon (Lv. 10)
Durability: 550,000/550,000
Quality: Perfect
Damage: 8,000-12,000
Description: A one of its kind spear that has never existed… etc.]
Its power was glorious and it seemed to have reached a milestone by hitting level 10, hence the permanent glow. Darius could naturally suppress it if he wanted, but he saw no need.
As he had cleared out the battle, even killing those useless moths and ladybugs, he blinked back to where his two Branded Servants sat.
Gunner seemed interested in making gauntlets similar to the lance, which Darius agreed was a good idea.
Xela preferred a staff to that end that could boost her Light and Life element abilities, which the Divine Light and Divine Life seemed to be supportive of.
"Let's move on then. We are done with the Master bugs, so all that's left are the stronger ones nearing Grandmaster, or in early Grandmaster down below." Darius informed them as he prepared to group teleport them away.
"Ah, that's right!" Xela remembered as she quickly asked Darius. "About the things, you told Beelzebub… is it true? Did the Goddess plan everything? Did she empower the Insects to invade the world? Are we going to have to fight True Lords and Gods next?"
There was a noticeable amount of worry in her tone, and for good reason. Gunner also looked over, wondering whether they would have to partake in such a battle. After all, it would mean that he would have to fight his own ancestors, which was a tough thing to ask from anybody.
Darius simply smiled in response, laughing lightly as his eyes narrowed into serpentine slits.
"Every single word from my mouth was a lie."
