BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 43 – The Entity Within Me.
The sun had not yet imposed its full authority.. but my eyes could already discern what had befallen my followers..
Monali looked like a mummified corpse, barely breathing...
Jo, my fierce warrior.. his injury was very severe.. at his head stood Lois..
She looks different.. the scene explains itself without words.. he helped her and was hit.. a sword is embedded in his body? I don’t know what happened.. but everyone..
Is still alive.. thank God.
My eyes turned toward the leader of the Rock Village.. "Leader.. take everyone and return to the city.. your role is over now.. the time has come." I smiled slightly.. then raised my voice..
"It is time to leave the matter to your Leader!"
At that moment... the two monsters began to move again.. Radian raised its head and opened its mouth.. then screamed.
A shockwave like a sonic bomb.. launched toward me from afar..
"Hahaha, do you think I am an easy prey?" I whispered internally, then.. I commanded the massive eagle..
A single flap of its wings cast two wind waves...
BAM.. BAM.. BAM
The shockwave was savagely destroyed under the impact of the two waves..
"It is an Ancient Monster, you fools..!" I laughed internally..
Even if it was a monster whose rank had been lowered, it remains an Ancient Monster at the rank of a High Disaster.
A few minutes ago.. I decided again to assume the persona of the Echo Shadow and think like an expert tactical fighter... I believe that with my current strength, I can imitate the Echo Shadow’s persona more effectively..
{ DING.. DING.. DING }
Here we go again..
{ Defeat Radian without intervention and receive a doubled reward }
Hahaha.. can I even do that?..
Fine.. if I can’t, I will call upon the eagle to help me..
But first..
"Listen to me, eagle!"
A step.. then another..
Toward the two monsters..
I feel my movement is lighter.. as if I were in a dream.. ten meters in an instant? I am...
Truly fast...
"Is this the Leader?" Suman muttered from afar.. as he carried Monali and retreated toward the village..
"It has 4 legs.. millions of tentacles.. its body is massive and looks solid.." I muttered internally, quoting analytical thoughts from one of my novel characters..
Suddenly..
One of Radian’s limbs launched toward me..
"Watch out..!" Lois muttered.. as she carried Jo on a cart for treatment.. the sword is still inside him..
Radian’s limb launching toward me was truly fast..
"Fighting a massive creature.. means.. first.. staying away from its strikes.."
I muttered internally.. then shifted my movements toward the left in a semi-circular motion, then jumped at a 90-degree angle..
Hahahaha it might look fast.. but.. I am faster.
The monster’s limb struck the air... while I approached another limb that was stabilizing its rear balance..
"Second.. deliver a strike that destabilizes its equilibrium," whispered the Echo Shadow, the persona adapted within me..
"When you face a creature stabilized by four limbs.. let it strike with one.. it will then be forced to stabilize in a triangular form... head for the tip of the triangle and—"
From my hands... I produced two blades..
Upon reaching the Second Rank.. producing blades became as natural as moving my fingers..
A step then another...
In that moment, the two blades became larger than my body.. then
In a flash of thought.. I commanded the blades to rotate between my hands...
The pressure is immense and their speed is great... but
I.. am not the old person..
"Let the blades move at maximum speed.. then," whispered the Echo Shadow within me.
In a cutting motion resembling a triangle..
BAAAAAAM...
"Strike the limb and sever it at its weakest point!"
I succeeded.... Hahaha!
Quickly.. I withdrew again to the side.. while
Radian fell, overturned and off balance...
It quickly balanced itself and stood on three limbs..
Near the walls.. everyone had reached the village.. but the leaders, except for Jo, stood there watching..
"What happened to the Leader?" Suman muttered..
"If your movement begins to harmonize, do not break its flow.. continue and gain more advantages," I whispered internally as if I were that adapted combat specialist..
Then.. I launched again..
Suddenly..
The Forest Root Deer monster launched toward me..
It was surrounded by millions of tentacles that couldn’t be seen if not for their massive number..
The ground roared beneath its feet.. despite its massive size, it was fast..
BAM..
It struck violently...
"It is nothing but a Middle Disaster monster at half its strength or less," whispered the voice within me, then.. I moved without concern to the side..
My feet were taking off from one spot and landing in another as if racing the wind..
"40 points of speed. Such a reckless attack won’t stand before it."
The monster continued directing its strikes..
And I continued evading them consecutively without any problems..
Most of the time, I lose control and my focus fades.. I feel anxious.. but my speed is much greater than what that monster possesses.. therefore, no problem..
I must return to adapting the Echo persona, otherwise I won’t be able to face the danger...
A step then another.. moving away from the strikes..
But the matter continued for more than several minutes.. I haven’t lost much accumulation.. but the deer still attacks as it did at first.. can it continue forever?
"Doubting yourself.. is a path to falling.. the monster may seem active without retreat.. but it is under Radian’s control.. this means—"
Yes.... I understand..
Radian must be losing its energy gradually by controlling the deer... evading its attacks more might mean greater damage to the deer..
"A good plan.. but.. as long as you can deliver strikes that speed up energy consumption, why retreat?"
True.. why haven’t I done that..
Dammit.. what is happening.. I’ve started talking to myself, answering myself, and having myself answer back.. what is this madness..
BAAAM..
AAAHH..
I was thrown several meters..
Blood..
The bastard hit me.. what a hit.. I feel as if a massive truck has struck me..
I raised my feet to stand..
Aaah.. what is this pain? Is it a bad break?
"You shouldn’t have fought yourself.. the enemy is one."
Damn you..
But.. let’s leave this for after the fight.. I will continue to adapt the Echo Shadow persona in combat..
"The Leader is injured?!" Lois screamed.
Monali’s eyes flashed.. she tried to move her body.. but pain struck her again..
"Do not move, my lady.. your body is exhausted," Suman said..
"Hahaha," the Rock Leader laughed, looked toward Monali and said: "Look at him. He is standing again.. he took that severe hit and stood up.. he is stronger than you think."
Fine.. it’s time to bring down this herbal monster..
"Come on, eagle.. launch toward it and bring it down," I whispered internally.. then the eagle moved..
Suddenly it let itself fall, then extended its wings backward.. and began moving them slightly..
It began building a falling, curved path... toward the deer..
Its speed.. began to increase consecutively..
"It is faster than me now," I whispered internally.. when
The deer stopped paying attention to me.. and turned toward the eagle.. and suddenly
Its fists transformed into something like a giant circular shield.. like a solid massive wall.. its depth exceeding two meters..
"Can something like that be pierced?" I whispered with concern...
In an instant...
BAAAAAAM...
The solid shield was scattered shards..
The Deer Monster..
Was cut in two.. they flew upward due to the massive impact of the eagle’s launch..
Oooooh... I screamed in surprise..
"What a strike.. it actually cut it..."
The shockwave was clearly visible on my face.. and no doubt everyone else is surprised too..
Several meters away... the crimson eyes of Radian flashed..
Its tentacles.. began to glow again.. then
"What on earth is going on?" I whispered with concern.. while the Deer Monster.. was rebuilding its body again..
I have to act??? What do I do...
Yes....
From my hands.. two small blades appeared.. then..
BAM.. BAM.
I launched them violently toward the tentacles.. then
I continued launching....
BAM.. BAM.. BAM
More...
BAM.. BAM
Mighty winds were generated from the striking.. but
BAM.. BAM
Do I retreat? No..
More... more!
"Has the Leader lost control as happened with the wolves?" Lois asked.. her face was worried.
"No.. look closely.. his strikes are precise," Suman answered..
"Thousands.. millions.. they won’t stand before me, I will cut them.." I muttered internally..
A thousand.. even more..
My blades were falling with a violence that could not be stopped...
At that moment..
The Deer Monster completed its reconnection.. it returned again as it was..
Then ...
It jumped toward me quickly...
A step.. then another..
I moved to the side.. my eyes were watching its state.. it didn’t surprise me when it reconnected.. and of course, it won’t when it attacks..
{ Physical Strength +1 }
Hahaha.. thank you.. I was waiting for that..
"Come on, monster, attack.. let me train with you!" I shouted..
Of course, the monster didn’t understand what I said.. but it attacked.. I evaded its strikes.. then I started delivering many blades toward it again..
"They don’t have much effect.. " I whispered internally..
It wasn’t surprising.. those small blades cannot cause damage to a Disaster monster.. the only solution is Concentrated Blades..
Those with which I brought down Radian’s limb.. but?
The Deer Monster is still fast.. the blades take time to form.. during that time I cannot move.. the deer might reach me before I actually finish..
Taking another hit like that.. would be bad news.. I already lost 20% of my combat accumulation in that one hit..
"So what is the solution..?" I whispered internally.. then another strike came from the monster...
I evaded it at a distance of four meters.. then five, then eight.. I allowed myself some time to think.. before the next attack..
.. The monster reached me.. it delivered its strike..
I smiled... then evaded it skillfully..
A step.. then another.. I used my maximum speed.. suddenly..
I moved more than 40 meters away... quickly my eyes narrowed and focused on the monster.
It was heading toward me..
I produced two blades from my hand.. I focused my accumulation..
The monster was 12 meters from me..
The blades were complete..
8 meters..
I was about to finish making them circular..
4 meters..
The monster raised its hand.. delivered a harsh strike..
"Finished," I whispered internally..
I jumped to the side.. the monster’s fist barely passed and embedded in the ground... the air was hitting my face from the sheer proximity..
Then ...
SWOOOSH..
I delivered my strike...
"Haaaa?!" I shouted in surprise, then retreated consecutively..
Why didn’t the strike affect it? Is its body more solid than those limbs? Dammit.. it barely suffered a crack in its body..
Just.. what was the power behind the eagle’s strike to shatter a monster with this much physical strength..
Do I leave it to the eagle? Should I?
"Should I use it more for training? My accumulation is still more than 60%. If it becomes less than 40%, I will seek help from the eagle."
I whispered internally.. or did my inner self whisper to me.. I don’t really know.. but I will do it. As long as I hold the reins.. I will exploit the situation and gain the rewards..
It is clear that Radian is weaker than its normal state.. and so is that deer..
In the hardest case.. I will leave the deer to the massive eagle.. as for Radian..
In its current state.. it won’t be a problem.. I have already succeeded in severing a limb from it..
Suddenly...
The deer completed the restoration of the cut I made... then attacked again..
"It took time to restore.. maybe.. " I whispered internally..
Then I moved several steps.. and stayed away from the deer’s strike..
Then.. a step and another.. and the distance between us became 50 meters...
I produced two other blades.. then began expanding them.. by the time the blades were complete, the monster arrived..
It delivered its strike..
I moved.. it was as if it were a boss from a game and I had already memorized its moves..
Then ...
SWOOOSH..
Again. Only a small cut..
A step then another.. then a hundred meters away..
"It’s time for that matter.. " I whispered..
Then.. I produced two other blades..
They became large in size again.. but.
Instead of making them rotate separately, I pressed my palms toward each other with incredible force, as if I were squeezing the air itself.
Suddenly.. the two blades merged with a resounding metallic cry, transforming into a single giant blade,
Its size tripled, and it was clad in a silvery-blue hue from the sheer density of the accumulation.
I whispered a single word in my mind: "Rotate."
At that moment, the silence exploded.
The giant blade began to rotate at a speed exceeding the limits of human vision,
Then.. it transformed into a cyclonic wind fan.
The mighty winds it generated were so powerful that they began to uproot grass and small rocks from the ground, creating a storm of dust that veiled me from sight.
I embedded my feet deep into the soil, feeling the muscles in my legs stiffen like steel;
The centrifugal weight generated by this "Meat Grinder" was immense, as if I were trying to hold a raging hurricane with my bare hands.
Despite my ascent to the Second Rank.. this move felt far more taxing on me..
From afar, the Deer Monster had fully recovered.
It let out a roar that shook the surroundings, and launched toward me with its massive wooden body like a cannonball that knows no stopping.
It raised its giant hand, which resembled an ancient tree trunk,
And delivered a crushing frontal strike with all its weight.
If it had struck from the back, it might have crushed me, but it chose a direct confrontation.
BAAAAAAM!
The moment of collision was terrifying. Its fierce fist collided with the edge of the rotating blade.
The rotation did not stop; instead, the screeching of metal grew more maddening.
SWOOOOOOOOSH!
In a fraction of a second,
The blade devoured the monster’s hand, then its arm, then pulled it entirely into the lethal center of rotation.
There was no roar of pain, only the continuous sound of "grinding" that drowned out everything else.
The scene before the leaders was breathtaking; they saw the Middle Disaster monster being sucked into a silver hurricane,
To emerge from the other side as a green mist and shredded remains, the smallest of which was no larger than the size of a palm.
The mighty beast was turned into a "shred" of fibers and severed roots in less than five seconds. The blade didn’t just cut it; it annihilated it.
The blade stopped suddenly under the braking effect of my hand, and the dust dissipated..
I stood in the center of a circle of green debris that covered the ground for ten meters, my body trembling slightly from the effort, while the remains of the "Root Deer" fell around me like salty rain.
{ Power Accumulation 45% }
I raised my head slowly, wiped a drop of green blood from my face, and my gaze went directly toward Radian..
"The servants’ time is over.. it is time for the Master now."
