"... Are they not done yet?"
Kaelen stood with Veylith and Specimen 2555 at the base of the mountain, his question directed to the latter Homonculus.
"They should be done soon."
He replied.
It had been roughly an hour and a half since Kaelen rejoined them and divulged the extent of his plans —which were actually nothing too complicated.
He merely wanted them to climb up the mountain and kill everything in sight.
The tricky part was scaling the mountain itself, since not everyone was as skilled as that Goblin Scout, or had the sharp claws of a Kobold, so Kaelen couldn't blindly order them to climb at the risk of their lives.
Still, with that being said, he couldn't just leave them and go with only those he was sure would be able to climb.
[I want them all to level up and become stronger.]
Which is why he had to come up with a solution as to how he would get everyone up there...
"Captain, it's done."
A Specimen with a frame slightly bulkier than Kaelen's came carrying long, sharpened logs on either of his shoulders — these were tied together by vines.
Behind him were the others, dragging similar logs.
"Good."
As they set them down, Kaelen studied each log's structure to verify that they made them according to his specifications.
He ordered that each log have a length of about 1.2 meters and a girth with a minimum of 20 centimeters.
[... Everything looks good, even the sharpness.]
He was pleased and thanked them, there were about two hundred of these logs in total.
[This would have normally been impossible if I was just a regular person, but...]
He picked up three logs and walked over to the vertical surface of the rocky mountain.
[... I have Mana coursing through my Veins!]
"Hup!"
Crash!
He threw the log and it sank deep into the mountain's solid surface —about 0.5 meters deep.
Upon confirming that it was sturdy, he planted the second one diagonally to his right, at an angle of about 45 degrees at a length of 1 meter apart.
He took two more logs and planted the first one diagonally to his left — relative to the last one he placed, at the same angle and length.
"You get the idea right, Veylith? Please help me out."
He said, after sinking the fourth one into a crevice.
"Yes..."
Fwosh!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
She nodded, and hurled four logs high in the air before striking each of them with impeccable timing, repeating Kaelen's process above the already planted logs.
[!!]
[... Eh?! She did it so perfectly? Even the angle and length between the logs?!]
Kaelen's jaw was on the floor, he never imagined she would do it so easily.
"G-good job Veylith!"
He couldn't help but praise her.
"Thank you, Captain."
She smiled with her eyes, her heart filled with warmth.
And so, Kaelen and Veylith quickly constructed the make-shift stairway up the mountain for about 30 minutes, and they used up all 200 logs until they reached the summit of the rocky mountain.
Well... It was honestly just a hill — again, Kaelen's knowledge of nature was extremely limited.
"Whew... Talk about a warm up."
Kaelen stood proudly at the mountain's summit, the cold winds brought by the high altitude hardening the sweat on his brows.
What lay before him was a land riddled with large boulders and equally large trees that stubbornly grew between them.
The slope was terrible, in that some areas were flat, whereas others were made of never-ending ups and downs.
Kaelen stretched his limbs, the reflections in his eyes no longer filled by just tress and boulders, but by hundreds of Kobolds and Goblins.
"Thank goodness, that there are so many of you gathered here..."
■■ Creator's Eye: Insight. ■■
The dendritic pattern formed a spiral in his eye, and he could see the information of hundreds more, even those that did not gather before him and hid behind the rocks and the trees.
"None of you will escape me..."
He whispered, unfazed even as they boldly approached him.
"Growl! How dare you hunt us? You measly creature!"
"We are not toys for you all and that wicked bastard Charymos!"
A Kobold, confident in the number of his pack, boldly stepped forward and barked at Kaelen.
"..."
But his expression only grew colder with each passing second, his eyes devoid of even a silver of compassion.
He then... Pointed up.
"Grr?"
Curiosity led them to follow his finger, and up there they saw....
"...The moon?"
No, not even close...
Fwosh! Fwosh! Fwosh!
... It was Veylith, violently spinning her chain above her head like a propeller, and it was clad in dense amounts of her Mana, especially the spiked fundo tied at the end of it.
She rapidly descended, and the creatures below —sensing the immense Mana that fell along with her —scurried and whimpered with their tails tucked between their legs.
But it was utterly futile...
■■ Mana Burst. ■■
A cold whisper escaped her pinkish lips, and...
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A great explosion of Mana erupted, scattering rock and debris for long distances and swallowing tens of the creatures in one fell swoop.
Step... Step..
As the wind howled in the aftermath, Kaelen calmly approached, unbothered by the burning plasma surrounding him.
His eye counted... 500 prey in total.
"You're all finally here..."
As the prey desperately began regrouping after bearing the full brunt of Veylith's attack, Kaelen's Decadon gathered around him.
Except for two — Specimen 2902 and her friend who was still tending to her down at the forest.
So there now stood eight Homunculi on the rocky, uneven terrain, against hundreds of Kobolds and Goblins.
"Don't be afraid..."
He said, noticing that a few of his members were trembling at the overwhelming numbers that marched against them.
No — not just that, but the multiple stones which were flung in the air, casting a large shadow over them.
"... Because I'm here."
He spoke confidently and stretched out his hand, his palm facing the rugged ground.
■■ Monarch's Aegis! ■■
A tangible azure-blue dome sprung forth and encircled them, shielding them from the attack like a sturdy umbrella amidst a hail storm.
The prey staggered as a portion of the damage taken by the shield was reflected to them, but they immediately picked up more stones hurtled them.
But...
Their aim was terribly off, and only a few of the stones touched the shield's sturdy surface.
■■ Monarch's Aegis: Regal Empowerment.■■
Seeing as their prey had given up projectile attacks and began charging at them, Kaelen calmly cast the buff spell, empowering his members.
"This shield is about to be lifted."
"So make sure to keep up."
"If you become a straggler and stay outside of the dome's radius, then you'll die."
He looked at each of them in the eye, disregarding the scraping sounds that were a results of the Kobolds scratching, clawing and biting the shield like rabid dogs.
[They're scared...]
Understandably so, their lips quivered and their beings were drenched in sweat —this was good however, because fear is a good catalyst for survival instinct.
"Fuuu... Chaaaarge!!!!"
He roared and circulated Mana to his legs.
Ta! Ta! Ta!
Pow! Pow! Pow! Cunch! Crack!
Like a battering ram, the shield crushed and destroyed all who dared oppose it as Kaelen charged forward with Veylith on his right, Specimen 2555 on his left and the others running behind them.
> Warning: Shield will dissipate soon!
- 3...2...1.
Before the countdown concluded, Kaelen had already drawn his spear, its metal tip — a Sakura petal bathed in twilight — glowing maliciously as he slowly raised to begin the slaughter.
[!!]
As they entered the dome's radius, the prey felt a large portion of their strength seep from their beings, leaving them in disarray.
Slash! Slash! Squelch!
In the blink of an eye, he decapitated three Kobolds and stabbed the heart of a Goblin.
And in that same breath, Veylith cleaved through five prey with a single swing of her sickle, spilling their innards on the ground.
A split second later, Specimen 2555 cleanly stabbed three Kobolds in the heart with expert precision.
[This won't do... We'll be at a disadvantage if this turns into a battle of attrition. ]
Noticing that some of them were beginning to circle around them, and the fact that others were purposefully not charging at them, Kaelen began condensing more Manan into his spear.
[More, more!!]
It began vibrating until not only his spearhead was glowing brightly, but the entire shaft as well.
Had the color of his Mana not been pink, one would have sworn that he was holding a lightning bolt.
"Veylith!"
"Understood..."
No words were needed for her to understand his intentions, and she immediately killed all who threatened him to make way.
Stomp!
He left foot crushed a rock and he arched his spine backwards, both his chin and spear pointing to the sky as he coiled himself.
■■ Mana Burst: Bloodfang Blossom! ■■
Fwoooooosh!!!!
The plasma bolt blitzed through the air in a blur of pink, easily impaling about 50 prey in the blink of an eye...
... But it wasn't done yet, how could it be when so much Mana was condensed onto it?
It was naturally bound to destabilize —
BOOOOOOOOM!
A breathtaking explosion more vibrant than a cluster of cherry blossoms erupted, as though cupid had descended and failed to contain his burning passion.
Nearly a hundred were burnt to a crisp, and tens more wounded fatally.
Crack.
Kaelen readjusted his shoulder joint and the ruthless hunt continued until rivers of blood flowed through the crevices of the rocky terrain.