Chapter 140

Everyone stared at the scene unfolding before them, spellbound. It was the moment the world witnessed the birth of the unprecedented “gang party.”

“…It’s incredibly powerful.”

“How did he do it? Did the attack spread from that tree?”

Some tried to analyze what had just occurred, which was only natural under these circumstances.

The enemies they faced were monsters ranging between levels eight and ten, almost as strong as guild masters themselves. These creatures shrugged off conventional firearms and could easily withstand low- to mid-level magic spells. Hundreds of such tough beasts swarmed toward their position. Only special police forces or military units would stand a chance against this horde without sustaining significant casualties.

Whoooosh!

However, when the air vibrated violently…

Zzzt! Boom! Klang!

Flesh and bone were torn apart effortlessly as metal snapped like twigs. The amplified vibrations surged through the monster horde like waves, sweeping them away.

“Wow… That’s comparable to a level-seven destruction spell, right?”

The sheer power wasn’t surprising; Boram herself was already an eighth-class mage, after all. Despite her primary focus being barrier spells, she could cast several wide-area spells of similar potency.

The issue lay with efficiency.

Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!

Wooooom!

Explosions kept rocking the area until no monsters dared approach the tree protecting them. With their threat neutralized, the tree began absorbing energy from its surroundings to grow larger.

Craaaack! Crreeeeak!

With no enemies capable of damaging it, the tree began to extend its roots and absorb energy from the surroundings, growing larger by the minute.

Krrrk! Crackkkk!

It even assimilated the scattered remains of golems and fanatics as nutrients.

Gwooooom.

The tree expanded…and continued expanding. Having absorbed the corpses of Survival Island’s largest army, the tree grew into a massive giant over twenty meters tall.

And with this growth…

Bam! Boom! Kaboom!

“Huh? Its attack range seems to be increasing!”

“It’s now targeting everything within three hundred—no, four hundred fifty meters.”

The wave of monsters crashing toward jae-yeon was shattered like hitting a seawall. It was hard to believe what they were witnessing: a massacre unfolding before their eyes.

Boom! Kaboom! Bang!

“Wow, it’s relentless. How can he keep firing with such power without stopping?”

“He seems to be using the tree for defense and his shadow for offense. It’s literally one-sided!”

“What a badass…”

As fewer monsters approached the base camp, people began relaxing, chatting while maintaining their equipment or switching shifts. The performance of the newly arrived reinforcements was so impressive that everyone couldn’t help but watch them closely. Among these heroes stood out a Siamese cat.

“A sixth-class sorcerer wielding seventh-class spells. A fifth-class mage trained in the rare Amplification Discipline. A chakra master who opened the Gate of Darkness. And…a cleric who killed an eighth-class mage.”

With neatly groomed fur and wearing an adorable cap, he looked like someone’s pet or a well-dressed feline companion. However, despite appearances, this wasn’t an ordinary cat but rather an extraterrestrial being resembling one - a Prayana, a transcendent species.

In truth, despite their impressive power, Prayanans were rare beings seldom seen on Earth. Na Taesuk was unique among his kind for being highly active, earning him immense popularity as the top producer-director on the planet.

“Sigh…” During a brief lull, Na Taesuk sat next to Boram, who observed hundreds of screens capturing various locations across the island. He remarked, “That Han Hae-yeon is particularly strong. Or wait, did she just gauge my abilities?”

“There’s no need to guess her strength since she became the headmaster of Dreamwalker Academy. Initially, I thought it was just sheer luck…but this level of performance is unbelievable! Yet Sungjae seems unaware of what he unleashed?”

The massive tree emitting faint light attracted an enormous amount of attention, almost as if it possessed a provocation skill. Monsters summoned from several kilometers away charged towards it with single-minded focus! And once they reached…

KABOOM!

EXPLOSION!

They were obliterated by a barrage of Vibration Waves emerging from shadows like a waterfall. The staff members watching were awestruck.

“Wow! Does that have any cooldown?”

“Wait, can he continuously use such a skill? Shouldn’t his mana reserves run out?”

“It’s Vibration! Isn’t that part of the Seven Heavenly Colors?”

“That makes it even more problematic! To indiscriminately unleash vibrations like this, he would need to consume hundreds of cows!”

Questions popped up from various directions. Taesuk pondered:

It’s an intriguing fusion technique. In terms of output and efficiency, it surpasses most rank 8 mages.

Of course, this didn’t mean they were comparable to or could defeat a rank 8 mage. The power was excessively focused on one aspect.

He lacks mobility entirely. If three gigas fired at him from about a kilometer away, he wouldn’t stand a chance.

However, against the overwhelming horde of monsters mindlessly charging forward, the shadow-emerging vibrations formed an insurmountable wall of despair.

The area around the giant tree had transformed into a killing field.

“The range of vibrations is expanding. The water barrel tree created by Sungjae is much larger than what was depicted in the movie.”

Despite being a Transcendent, Na Taesuk’s combat abilities weren’t exceptional. This wasn’t surprising as he wouldn’t have chosen to work in peaceful District 34 if he were interested in fighting. He was a natural-born producer who found fulfillment in creating content that brought joy to viewers. Consequently, most of his powers were oriented towards non-combat purposes. Although he possessed high-level abilities for a Prayana who hadn’t yet reached adulthood, even then, within District 34, he struggled to match the strength of a single police officer!

Nevertheless,

‘Excellent. Excellent…!’

Having observed numerous ability users over time, Taesuk accurately assessed the situation.

“His potential is exploding.”

A crisis was giving birth to a hero.

“His potential is exploding.” I laughed incredulously. “Is he really growing stronger here?”

In the much larger tree, there was no one to answer my mutterings. There were only those urging me on.

“Cheese! Now!”

“Why don’t we wait a bit longer? Only forty have gathered…”

“Cheese!”

“Ah, yes.”

I sighed and raised my palm. Using Land Breaker, I fixed myself firmly to the ground before unleashing all my monstrous strength with enough force to rip apart even composite gloves.

Crack!

The sensation upon impact felt different this time, indicating that Olia had absorbed the shock more effectively than before.

“Ohhh…!” She moaned as her hand wrapped around mine, absorbing it deeper than earlier.

And then…

“Ahhh…”

“Haaah…!”

Lia and Hye-young trembled uncontrollably.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As vibrations traveled through the shadow, monsters approaching the tree exploded.

“Vibrations… Amplification factor of 13.2!”

“Expanding shadows… Shadow area… Shadow realm…”

The two women were fully immersed in their assigned roles. The remarkable phenomenon was that all three of them were rapidly enhancing their abilities.

“Woah, not only has the vibration intensity increased significantly, but it’s now amplified thirteenfold.”

And there was more:

“It can even detonate monsters beyond the hill.”

During the process of generating, amplifying, and transmitting vibrations, the trio surpassed their previous limits. Controlling such overwhelming power seemed to be stimulating their growth.

However, there was one person showing the most prominent growth:

Gudududeok!

The tree grew once again, causing a heavy sound to resonate. I turned and saw through the transparent tree that its branches were rooted into a corpse, absorbing something. Somehow, it could absorb nutrients from monster corpses even though they usually disappeared over time.

“Hey…can you really absorb dark attribute monsters like this? Aren’t you a wind attribute sorcerer?”

My words caused Sungjae, who had been meditating, to open his eyes.

“I have another attribute.”

“The light attribute?” My voice rose slightly.

“No!”

A faint light emanated from Sungjae’s body.

“The name of my ultimate spell is Dawn! It consumes darkness and brings forth the power of the morning…!”

The light burst out. The light created by burning darkness not only infused vitality into everyone inside the tree but also made his attribute tree grow bigger.

‘The compatibility between the light spell and tree spell is amazing. Perhaps he knew this beforehand.’

As I thought this, I waved my hand in front of his eyes.

“Ah, by the way…”

His pupils didn’t move at all. He responded to me, but it seemed like he wasn’t seeing me at all.

“Are you sane right now?”

”…”

There was no answer.

“Well, you wouldn’t say such lines if you were sane…”

“Cheese!”

“I know, I know!” Once again, he raised his arm at my call.

Suddenly, this absurd situation made me laugh.

‘These guys only grow stronger amongst themselves!’

Everyone else was possessed, leaving me as the sole sane person amidst this madness.

Right then…

Kwahhhkwa-boom!

The earth shook with an immense explosion. When I turned around, I saw the Red and Blue Dragons biting down on the fallen Phantom Dragon while striking it with their tails. The Phantom Dragon emitted an overwhelming deathly aura as it resisted, but one of its wings had disappeared, and its lower body was engulfed in flames that couldn’t be extinguished.

“I thought we’d have to assist them after finishing our battle here, but it seems they might end things before us?”

The monstrous wave was almost over. It seemed even the seemingly endless monster regeneration had its limits! However, if the Transcendents battling the Five Dragons fell, regardless of what happened earlier, the war would end immediately. Having hundreds of thousands or millions of Completed Being-level monsters wouldn’t matter against such Transcendent power.

“It’s actually strange that the battle has continued this long.”

Despite facing Transcendent monsters, there were five Transcendents on their side. Considering each member of the Five Dragons, also known as F.D., possessed rumored strength rivaling ancient dragons, it should’ve been an overwhelmingly one-sided fight by now.

Of course, they insist they’re merely youthful adult dragons at just over 1,000 years old.

At that moment, Ruby breathed out, completely burning away the head of the Phantom Dragon. At the same time, I realized why the battle was dragging on for so long.

Kuuooong!

Darkness gathered in the sky,

-Kraaaaaahhh!---

and with a roar causing all my hair to stand on end, a black body filled with deathly energy emerged.

“Ah, crazy… No, is this regeneration?”

It didn’t make sense psychically. Even the Apocalypse Project described in textbooks couldn’t do such a thing.

[Hahahaha!] A clear laughter burst forth, sounding like it came from a professional voice actor infused with malice. When I looked up, I saw a man in black robes floating in the sky.

[Aha! Finally, turn 10!]

The Red Dragon Ruby turned its head at this jovial voice.

“Quite cheerful for someone who keeps dying. You seem to rely heavily on your respawn ability, but we’ve already pinpointed its limits. I’d say you have only two or three respawns left, tops.”

It appeared as though the Five Dragons had been assessing their opponent’s capabilities during the battle rather than simply fighting him. However, the Dark Messiah wasn’t discouraged.

“Ha-ha-ha! As expected of dragons. But do such mighty beings not understand the concept of turns? Ten turns—just ten more turns! And yet, here I am, the Savior of Darkness, still alive and kicking!”

“What nonsense is this?”

“The Three Lists!”

The Dark Messiah shouted loudly and slashed his own neck with a dagger.

Slash!

It happened almost simultaneously. First, the head of the Dark Messiah fell to the ground as he took his own life by cutting his throat.

Then…

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The heads of Red Dragon Ruby, Blue Dragon Sapphire, and Black Dragon Obsidian…also hit the earth.

”…”

For a moment, I stared blankly at the scene, feeling disoriented before hearing screams from afar. With their excellent vision, magic, or cameras, everyone had been secretly observing the battle between the Transcendents and witnessed this spectacle.

Vwoom!

Darkness gathered in mid-air, and the Dark Messiah regenerated. He exclaimed jubilantly:

“Now it’s three against two?”

“Oh shit.” The curse slipped out involuntarily as cold sweat trickled down his spine.

Something was going horribly wrong.