Chapter 116

116.

Cain’s expression twisted.

An appearance that instinctively repelled him. They were not only massive in size, but dozens of them were flying over, flapping their wings.

‘All sorts of bastards are popping out.’

The snowy field, once shining white, was being stained black. What would it feel like to be buried in that?

Without a word, Cain climbed onto the back of the White Beast.

The White Beast and the giant cockroach-like monsters were rushing towards each other at full speed.

The tree, which looked so close, seemed even farther away. Despite running for quite some time, the wave of monsters did not seem to get any closer, maintaining a noticeable distance.

A bit of breathing room, it seemed.

It wasn’t a long break, but it was enough.

Cain maintained his balance precariously on the White Beast’s back and closed his eyes.

The overwhelming presence of the monsters, perceived by his heightened senses, was not as great as that of the humanoid creatures he had cut down earlier—perhaps two levels weaker.

It was as if they had sacrificed power for numbers. This would make swinging the sword easier, but the problem lay in the sheer numbers.

Apart from the creatures darting over the snowy field, Cain’s heightened senses detected hundreds swarming near the tree.

These were merely the vanguard.

If the main force attacked, there was a real danger of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

While surviving amidst the monsters alone might be possible, Cain had companions. The monsters were currently focused on him, the one leading the charge, but if he held out too long, they might shift their attention to his group.

There was a limit to what he could do with the Sealed Spear.

Once he gripped the spear shaft, he could no longer use mana. This wasn’t a favorable attribute in a one-versus-many situation since he couldn’t use the explosive power unique to mana.

Here, he would need to utilize both mana and swordsmanship.

‘I need a technique.’

The sword techniques and various skills Cain had learned from his master were all designed for efficiently cutting down humans.

They were occasionally repurposed for hunting monsters or beasts.

But fundamentally, it was all about slashing, stabbing, cutting, and spilling.

During his long training, Cain had solely focused on efficiently dealing with opponents.

With the power to cut through anything that stood in his way, there was no need for intricate techniques. Landeck had described Cain’s brute force in precisely this way—a description Cain himself agreed with.

Indeed, those who blocked his path to becoming a duke were cut down sword and all.

Even large monsters were no match; after acquiring Calion, a single powerful swing had bisected them.

But…

This time, that wouldn’t be enough.

‘I’ll gather as much mana as possible.’

Mana flowed into Cain’s sword. However, the amount within his body alone was insufficient, so he began to draw in the stray mana from the environment.

Whoosh—

The sword trembled, emitting an odd vibration. The mysterious blue light, pervading all things, responded to the will of the superhuman and began to gather around Cain’s blade in tiny particles.

‘…Just gathering it won’t do. I need to compress the mana.’

The presence of the monsters grew closer by the second.

Cain hastened the compression process.

Could an ordinary, albeit exquisite sword endure such force without Calion? Doubts rose briefly, but he focused on compressing the mana.

‘If it breaks, I can summon Calion.’

With a newfound calm, Cain continued compressing the mana until the limit.

When the mana could no longer be compressed, a subtle change occurred in the sword, which was glowing brightly.

Crackle.

A faint blue light tinged the blade, and sparks of electricity danced along it.

Cain ceased the flow of mana and opened his eyes.

“…”

The mana-compressed sword was eerily calm.

Occasionally, it discharged sparks of electricity. There was no overwhelming or explosive presence.

However…

Cain let the corner of his lips curl into a smirk. The compression had been successful.

“White Beast.”

“Growl!”

The White Beast, which had been charging with its tongue lolling out, responded. Despite having run a considerable distance, its momentum had visibly slowed. It was even drooling from exhaustion, yet it continued to run, carrying out its master’s orders.

Cain nodded approvingly and gathered strength in his legs.

“Stay far away!”

“Growl!”

The White Beast charged forward, splitting apart snow patches, smashing rocks in its path, and flipping the exposed ground as it raced ahead.

The wave of creatures turned the snowy field into chaos like a swarm of locusts.

‘I don’t know how much power this will unleash…’

But it should be enough to erase the wave in front of me.

Cain spurred the White Beast and leapt toward the advancing wave of destruction.

A streak of light shot towards the sky. Like insects drawn to the light, the creatures also flew towards the descending Cain.

When the light and the wave of monsters met in mid-air:

Crack!

Cain cleaved through the wave as he descended.

When his sword embedded itself into the ground, he unleashed the mana compressed to its limit.

Whaaaoooom!

“Kyaaaah!”

“Their… ears!”

“Grrh! The ground is shaking! Hold onto the wolves tightly!”

The people racing across the snowy field to assist Cain clamped their hands tightly over their ears. The sound was deafening, erasing the world of audible sound, leaving only a sharp ringing in the ears.

Before they could adapt to the incomprehensible noise, a massive wave of snow enveloped them.

“Aaaaah!”

“Run! Run with all your might!”

“Being swept away means death! Get out at all costs!”

Even those riding the wolf pack found themselves overtaken by the massive wave. For users of mana, it might not pose a problem, but ordinary individuals like Erika were in danger. If swallowed by the wave, they would certainly be crushed to death.

Arthur and the knights were casting mana behind to protect them, while Nia deployed barriers to redirect the flow.

The people fled desperately, avoiding the wave, and narrowly escaped its reach.

“…We lived.”

“Panting! Huff!”

“I can’t… I can’t breathe.”

Although the wolves were the ones racing across the snowy field, no one had the time to dwell on such trivial matters.

The sensation of being pursued by death up to their very jawline.

In such extreme situations, their tension skyrocketed, and their breathing became chaotic.

The people who had steadied their breathing turned their gaze.

The explosion had been so intense that it had momentarily calmed the snowstorm. Thanks to this, the aftermath of the explosion was clearly visible.

“Huh…”

“A residue lingers. Is this the phenomenon caused by mana?”

Arthur and the knights understood the power Cain had unleashed. While the exact method was unclear, it appeared that he had gathered mana explosively to its limit and then detonated it all at once.

Arthur occasionally used explosions when confronting large beasts or monsters.

The usage of explosions had significant drawbacks.

After using it two or three times, one might feel completely drained. However, the power didn’t match the enormous amount of invested mana either.

At most, it could incinerate an entire building. Swinging the sword to demolish a building was undoubtedly a remarkable ability, but it wasn’t efficient.

Arthur looked at the marks Cain left behind with a disquieting expression.

A plume of dust soared skyward, as thick as a pillar. Along with it fell countless monsters, completely crushed.

‘All erased with one strike.’

Dozens of insect-like monsters poured from the tree and were incinerated in the explosion. The situation, which had been so tense with the monsters’ appearance, now ended with a rather anti-climactic conclusion.

“Seems like the monsters have been dealt with. Everyone…”

“Excuse me, Arthur. Look over there by the tree.”

“…?”

On the words of the fellow knight with a hardened expression, Arthur raised his mana perception.

When he focused on the large tree-shaped form, he detected a disturbing presence—not just one, but several.

Whish!

Like pine pollen wafting in the wind, a black cloud of dust began to spurt from the massive tree.

Arthur’s face paled at the sight.

This wasn’t a peaceful phenomenon like flower pollen.

The insect-like creatures Cain had dealt with earlier had just been the tip of the iceberg. The number of these new creatures, flying out of the tree en masse, was exponentially larger.

Fortunately, they appeared weaker than the humanoid variants they had faced earlier but the sheer number was overwhelming.

It would take Cain a considerable amount of time to handle them alone.

This was the moment when real assistance was needed.

‘However, interfering might only hinder him with such force.’

Joining the fray clumsily could easily restrict Cain’s movements.

Yet, standing by idly wasn’t an option either.

Arthur turned to the others to solicit opinions, but…

Everyone was staring off into space with stupefied expressions.

Following their gaze, Arthur turned his head and…

“W-WHAT…”

He gaped at Cain plunging headlong into the swarm of insect-like creatures.

Cain, riding on the wolf, slashed this way and that through the horde of creatures.

Boom! Kaaaboom!

Every time his blade made contact, a blue explosion would erupt, tearing apart several creatures at once.

Even though the swarm of monsters charged desperately to surround Cain, each explosion would cause them to explode mid-attack, preventing them from easily closing the distance.

‘What is this…’

Arthur wasn’t surprised because Cain had penetrated the monster horde, but because…

‘Had he somehow upgraded his technique?’

Perhaps Cain had thought the initial attack was too excessive, so this time the explosion’s power was noticeably reduced. Judging by his calm expression as he swung the sword, it appeared the mana consumption was also minimal.

Arthur was already amazed by Cain’s ability to so efficiently control the power.

‘…Fire? No, it’s not real fire. Is it mana taking the form of fire?’

The creatures touched by the periphery of the explosion were engulfed in green flames.

Gradually, these flames spread to others as if transferring, and the mana flames began to envelop the swarm of monsters, consuming them.

“…Ha.”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

He thought there was nothing left to be astonished by, but…

Arthur quietly patted the wolf’s head.

“Awooo!”

The wolf let out a brief howl and raced across the snowy field.

The target was the swarm of monsters.

The others were also ready to assist Cain and began moving their bodies.

…

***

It feels like it’s late afternoon.

Finally, I’ve destroyed all the cockroach-like creatures that spewed out from the tree.

Even with my senses expanded to the fullest, I can no longer detect any presence of them. This means the complete annihilation of all monsters in this area is complete.

Sighing softly, I returned my sword to its sheath.

‘Ended quicker than expected.’

When the cockroach tide spread out like a black fog after the initial assault on the advance team, I wondered if they would ever all be dealt with.

When my companions joined at a distance, the speed at which we handled the monsters accelerated.

Nia used magic to cluster the monsters into smaller groups, and each of us took on one group and eliminated them.

In some strange way, when the creatures came under Myna’s blessing, their bodies melted away, revealing their own peculiar weaknesses.

Once Arthur and the knights coated with the blessing began slaughtering them like weeds, the hunting speed dramatically increased.

With Nia’s mana barrier added for defense, we easily overwhelmed the swarm of cockroaches.

It seemed that a lot of stress had accumulated, as they were swinging their swords with red eyes and grinning.

‘Of course, it’s been stressful enough given the Northern environment and the suffering they’ve endured.’

‘The monster handling is done, now…’

All that remains is the rotten tree before my eyes.

Would destroying this solve the snowstorm?

While mindlessly stroking the back of my neck, which was now shining with a bright light, I approached the tree.