Leveling Up Alone

Han-Yeol’s body began to tremble.

[H-Han-Yeol-nim?]

Karvis’ voice trembled like Han-Yeol’s deteriorating condition as she called out to him.

She instinctively felt scared as Han-Yeol’s body was entering the state that she feared the most.

Shhhh.

The power of anger—Han-Yeol’s anger began to materialize around his body.

A power more fundamental than even the lowly contamination attribute, pure darkness, the best medium to draw upon, was none other than negative emotions, anger, and sadness. All sorts of negative emotions enveloped his entire body.

‘Tia, I’ll no longer be able to see you?’

Gooooo!

[It's too late. No matter what you do, it’s all useless. I can’t bear to see the state you’re in. Just die quietly. I’ll let send you off painlessly.]

Tap.

Char signaled the Contaminated Harkan to finish Han-Yeol off.

Understanding its master’s order, Harkan nodded and approached Han-Yeol.

[Stop!]

Han-Yeol was still shocked and unable to move on from Tia’s death. Tayarana leaped out to stop Harkan with all her might.

“Khaaa!”

Boom!

[Ahhh!]

[Tayarana-nim!]

However, taking on the Contaminated Harkan alone was impossible, especially when even three people couldn't handle him. Harkan punched her, and she crashed into the wall.

Shocked by the sight, Mariam walked over to Tayarana.

[A-Argh…]

Tayarana squirmed. The impact of the blow doubled due to the speed with which she had flown. Her back was broken, leaving her immobile. She was half out of it and on the verge of passing out. Nonetheless, she tried to move.

[Han-Yeol, Han-Yeol, Han-Yeol…]

[T-Tayarana-nim.]

The sight of Tayarana trying to move even though she was already half-unconscious because she was worried about Han-Yeol brought tears to Mariam’s eyes.

‘I-I wasn’t able to do anything. I can’t be of any help.’

Mariam felt an endless feeling of helplessness that made her feel as if someone was ripping her heart out of her chest, causing her to tremble.

“Khaaaa!”

Bang!

[Hmph!]

Mariam was startled by a sudden chill. The source of this spine-chilling feeling came from Han-Yeol.

Han-Yeol finally opened his mouth and exploded angrily.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

Boom!

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His voice alone carried a tremendous amount of negative emotions that seemed to tear everything apart. A black aura surged around Han-Yeol.

[Hmm. Make it quick, Harkan.]

Harkan nodded.

At this point, even Char could sense that something was about to get out of hand, making him uneasy. Char was eager to have the Contaminated Harkan kill Han-Yeol as soon as possible and end it once and for all.

Whoosh! Swing!

Harkan quickly approached Han-Yeol and swung his nails at him, using the same technique that had ended Tia’s life.

Clank!

“...”

[Huh!?]

Harkan’s nails hit Han-Yeol’s black aura and bounced right back.

[It's just a simple aura, right?]

Char’s expression turned sour.

[Again!]

“Khaa!”

Whoosh! Clank!

Harkan swung his nails once more, but his nails were unable to penetrate Han-Yeol’s black aura.

[W-What the hell? There’s something that Harkan can’t pierce?!]

This unbelievable scene dumbfounded Char since Harkan had never failed to kill anything. He thought there was nothing in this world that Harkan couldn’t pierce. Harkan had even pierced through the defense skills that the senior hyena sorcerers had so meticulously crafted.

All of this did not make any sense to Char.

[Again! Again! Againnnn!]

Char’s frenzied orders continued.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

At Char’s command, the Contaminated Harkan pounded at the black aura repeatedly, but the black aura that enveloped Han-Yeol refused to budge. It looked like a pre-evolutionary cocoon similar to the ones in cartoon movies.

In the brief moment that Harkan stopped attacking, Char heard a strange sound.

“Krrr!”

It was similar to the sound of a contaminant, but knowing Harkan’s voice, he knew at once that it did not come from the Contaminated Harkan. Plus, there was only one contaminant, and that was Harkan.

[Hmm, what is this?]

Therefore, only one other being could make a sound similar to the Contaminated Harkan.

“Kaaaaaaaah!”

Boom!

“Krrr!”

A powerful explosion of energy occurred around Han-Yeol. He had also stopped screaming within his black aura.

The external energy struck Harkan, and it was sent flying backward for the first time.

[W-What the hell?]

Char was stunned.

‘Harkan was sent flying?’

His trust was being challenged today.

“Krrr.”

The explosion was followed by a threatening growl from a being that looked like Han-Yeol, but it was clearly a demon baring his fangs.

His hair had grown long and fell to his chest, and his eyes were violet instead of red. His cheeks were covered with reptilian-like scales, and his fangs had grown long and reached his lower lip. He was topless, and his chest was covered in black tattoos. The nails on his fingers were razor-sharp, like those of a monster. Then, there were his most distinguishing features, which were visible even from a distance.

Flap!

He had bat wings on his back.

Thrust!

The Contaminated Harkan let out an enraged roar and quickly charged at the demonlike Han-Yeol.

“Khaaa!”

[That’s it!] Char shouted in joy, clenching his fist.

‘Harkan only lost for a moment. There’s no way Harkan can lose if he fights like this!’

For Char, Harkan was the one thing he believed in the most.

Since he had grown up admiring power and vowing to own power itself, Harkan was an absolute being for him. Though the overall rise and fall of the hyena race was the Dragon of Destruction, Char personally favored Harkan. There was no way that this Harkan, whom Char strongly believed in, was going to lose this fight.

Whoosh!

Harkan's sharp nails rushed toward Han Yeol.

“Kehe.”

A laugh that definitely couldn’t have been Han-Yeol’s left the demon’s mouth.

“!”

[What!?]

Han-Yeol dodged Harkan's nails just by tilting his head as if avoiding something slow.

‘Impossible!’

Whoosh! Punch! Crack!

“Khaaa!”

After easily dodging Harkan's attack, Han-Yeol immediately swung his fist and delivered a powerful punch to Harkan's face. The sound of Harkan’s facial bones breaking under Han Yeol’s fist was clearly audible.

That wasn’t the end of it.

Thud.

He grabbed Harkan’s face and slammed it into the ground. The ground cracked with a loud bang, sending rocks flying in all directions.

Crush!

The ground collapsed once more due to the powerful after-effect of the mana attack, giving the Contaminated Harkan beneath it a second shock.

“Khehe.”

The demonlike Han-Yeol enjoyed seeing his opponent writhing in pain and agony.

“H-Han Yeol-nim.”

Mariam stared at Han-Yeol with a dazed expression. He had changed so drastically that it was a very unfamiliar sight. Han-Yeol was smiling, but his eyes were cold and emotionless, causing chills to run down her spine. It was as if he had changed into a different person.

[D-Damn it...]

Meanwhile, Char was speechless at the sudden turn of events.

‘How can Harkan lose?’

“Kehehe!”

[Huh!?]

Now was not the time for Char to have such a relaxed attitude.

The murderous violet eyes of Demon Han-Yeol, who had just beaten the hell out of the Contaminated Harkan, turned toward Char.

[D-Damn it!]

Char spit out the exact same expression as the one he had uttered a moment ago, but with a very different meaning.

“Ahhh!”

Zing!

Han-Yeol opened his mouth and let out a beastly sound, and a reddish-black colored mana sphere emerged from his mouth.

That wasn’t just a simple mana sphere. Char could sense a tremendous amount of compressed mana power in it.

[No way!]

Stunned by the purity of the mana, Char tried to move quickly, but Demon Han-Yeol’s movements were much faster.

Reacting to movements later instead of preparing an attack in advance was not much different from being a step behind in a battle where 0.001 seconds could determine life or death for superhumans.

A thick, reddish-black beam of energy shot out at Char.

[Damn it! Guardian of Contamination!]

Zing!

It was common sense that such a brute-force attack should be avoided rather than blocked. However, he was slow to react due to his complacency, and with no time to dodge, Char was forced to use the defense skill Guardian of Contamination. Fortunately, he at least still had time to use it.

Pangg!

[Khaaa!]

As soon as the reddish-black beam of energy touched the Guardian of Contamination, Char felt his entire body burning with pain. As the immense damaging attack hit Char’s protection skill, a powerful force pushed him backward.

Thud!

[Argh!]

This was the first time he had been truly attacked since the day Harkan had beaten him in the past.

The aftermath was quite severe.

“Kehehe!”

The Han-Yeol demon tried to finish Char off lightly.

Thwack!

“Keh?”

But just as Han-Yeol was about to jump up, something grabbed his ankle, stopping his movements.

“Krr.”

It was none other than the Contaminated Harkan he thought he had knocked out just moments ago.

“Khaaa!”

Whoosh!

The Contaminated Harkan recovered from the attack, grabbed Demon Han-Yeol by the ankle, and threw him aside.

“Kehehe!”

Due to the considerable amount of force Harkan had used to grab and throw Han-Yeol, most beings would experience difficulties maintaining balance in the air. However, after transforming into a demon, Han-Yeol easily regained his balance and landed smoothly on the ground.