Souta moved his body from side to side as he avoided the attacks of the nine A-rank experts that were after him.
Since he activated the [Serial Killing Steps], the effect of [Cat's Speed], [Shadow Steps], [Agility Boost], and [Dash] had been raised by 10%. It was good as if all these four movement skills had experienced an upgrade.
"What?! He's faster!!"
"Shit! Don't give him a chance to attack!"
The A-rank tried to get close to Souta but it was already too late. Souta used the field of [Hunter State] to target five of them. The five target's speeds will decrease by 20% and they will slowly lose their advantage in number.
[Crimson Moon]!
Souta slashed his sword and a red energy blade flew towards the A-rank experts.
Boom!
'Shit! I wanted to cast some spells but it will take some time.' He cursed inwardly.
'I thought that you're a genius.' Saya said.
'No one said that I'm a genius.' He complained to her.
Souta could build a basic magic circle of a tier 1 spell but his building speed was still low. To build the magic circle of the most basic tier 1 spell could still take him five seconds.
Thanks to Eilish, he could properly cast spells without relying on the system but it was still not enough for a proper battle. His enemies could kill him before he could cast those spells.
"I'm gonna do it like how I do it usually."
Souta muttered as he flew around faster. His target fight now was the five A-rank that had suffered from the decrease of twenty percent movement speed. For him, they were the easiest to kill.
[Solid Hunter State Boots](Dark): A pair of boots that were created by Frozen Blacksmith Yunhar Ten thirteen thousand years ago. Yunhar is an elf that wanted to surpass the creation of dwarves and before he died he created this pair of boots as his masterpiece.
Effect: +300 Agility, +250 Dexterity, +50 Strength, +50 Intelligence, +50 Vitality +100 Energy, +200 Health, +50 Stamina, +10% physical and energy defense
Skill: [Hunting State], [Serial Killing Steps], [Rapid Demolition Spring]
He charged towards them but the other four prevented him from approaching the other five A-rank experts.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions occurred as Souta exchanged high-speed blows with the A-rank. Even though he was in his normal form, he was slowly gaining an advantage in fighting several A-rank. He couldn't do this before and he would probably suffer a defeat if he fought several A-rank alone in his normal form.
"Tch!"
Eztein was annoyed as more than ten A-rank experts were trying to take him down.
"The council will come at us in full force next time. I'm afraid that we wouldn't be able to escape if that happens."
He shifted his body as a spear passed beside him. He realized how enormous the council was as an organization. It controlled hundreds of high worlds and some of those high worlds were stronger than his home planet.
Whoosh!
He grabbed one of the A-rank in the neck and several spikes burst out of his hand trying to pierce the defense of A-rank.
"You will not be able to escape!"
Eztein used his power as a peak S-rank to pin down the A-rank before he stabbed the A-rank with his halberd. Once he got ahold of his enemies, they wouldn't be able to escape him. The difference between an A-rank and a peak S-rank was huge.
The only problem was that the enemies were good at using their numbers to suppress him.
"Just die you bitch! You shouldn't have joined the council!"
He pulled out his halberd as the A-rank drew its last breath. Suddenly, he felt fluctuations of energy beside him. Turning his head, he saw a powerful ray of lightning coming in his direction.
"Holy mother of sweet chickens!"
He tried to dodge it but it was already too late. The lightning ray was too fast and it was already close enough to him.
Bang!
He could only cross his hands in front of him as the lightning ray smashed him.
Boom!
Hours have passed quickly since the battle started...
Souta and the rest were getting pushed back. Isabella who was inside the fortress was concocting potions nonstop to provide it for battle.
The battle was too intense as hundreds of people from the council had perished and on Souta's side, they suffered the same. People died and the bloodshed continued.
"Just hold on for a while. The transportational gate will be active soon."
Torkez's voice echoed as his mana passed through everyone. He had to do this as normal sound couldn't travel through the vacuum of space.
"Oh, fuck! Finally, I'm getting tired of fighting these bitches!" Eztein breathe a sigh of relief as he launched a series of stabs at his opponents.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Huff!
Souta wiped the sweat on his forehead as the wound on his cheeks slowly closed. Even with the help of three SS-rank experts, they could hardly defend the Guardian Fortresses. As expected, the Council of High-World was a powerful organization just like in the game.
Up until now, he hasn't used his [Monster Orb Release]. Using that form will drain his stamina and energy at high speed and he wouldn't last several hours in battle. Even if he killed dozens of A-rank, the council would just send more reinforcement. It was impossible for him to fight for hours in his [Monster Orb Release].
"I lost count of how many people I have slain... I'm already dead tired but I need to keep fighting."
Souta could only grit his teeth. This was for his own growth. He knew that the Council of High-World was still beyond his league but he still choose to offend them. Because he knows that the council didn't want to enter the land of Imperium.
It was the safest place for people that offended the council.
It was contradicting his goal right now to never confront a god-level powerhouse. There was a reason why he did this. He knew that the five gods of the council wouldn't move this time. In the game, the five gods were preparing for the event that will occur.
The boost of his two new equipment was huge. Even the added stats of his new universal artifact was too great that it placed his normal form above A-rank but below S-rank. This advantage will decrease if the enemy had high-grade equipment like him.
Unfortunately, the soldiers of the council only had a set of purple grade equipment. It was a grade below orange and a grade above blue.
The only soldiers that had orange grade equipment from the council were the team captains. In one hundred soldiers, there were ten team captains and those people were leading the attack.
Their equipment was low for Souta's perspective but the people on Souta's side, they were high.
The top forces of the council had higher grades of equipment.
Boom! Boom!
Souta waved both of his hands and the ten black balls around him rotated quickly.
Ohm!
In the next moment, dozens of gigantic asteroids flew towards the direction of the council's soldiers. The smallest asteroid had a diameter of one hundred kilometers.
"Huff... Damn! I'm too tired..."
Souta's chest was heaving up and down while looking at the council. While contemplating what he should do next, Torkez's voice echoed.
"It's finished! Everyone! Enter the range of the transportational gate!"
Everyone turned serious as Torkez's words as they enter the range of the gate. This means that the next battle was the last battle before they arrived in the Imperium. Since this was the last, the difficulty was flared up and at this moment most of them were dead tired.
"Just a little bit more and we will survive this. Do your best to survive, everyone."
Souta's voice echoed. He noticed that the soldiers of the council had stopped pursuing them. It means that the council had calculated all the movement patterns of the transportational gate. They were waiting on the other side.
"We're going to Imperium! Everyone prepare yourself! We couldn't directly enter the atmosphere of the Great World using the transportational gate as the mana in the atmosphere is too thick! So we're landing there in a normal way!"
Torkez explained to everyone as he pressed the button and a bright light covered the entire fortress.
Swoosh!!
In the next moment, Souta and the others found themselves close to a huge planet.
The Great World Imperium.
The Imperium was covered in white layers of mist and no one from outer space could see what was inside the Imperium. This layer of white mist was a huge concentration of mana that could block the perception of creatures outside Imperium and it could also prevent anyone from directly moving through space.
There was a sun and three moons revolving around it.
The moment that they saw it, they felt a strange sensation inside their heart. It feels like someone was telling them that this was the center of everything.
The origin of creation and destruction.
The source of all things.
The Divine World, Imperium.
