Chapter 377: Base Camp (3)

Just 5 days.

In that short time, the map of the martial arts planet, which was said to be 99% devoured by the Outer God, was completely overturned.

Wherever Kim Minwoo passed, the red earth was dyed into the pitch-black Land of Death.

The orcs' fortresses were beaten to a pulp by the siege weapons of the Dragon Tooth Soldiers, and the orcs who lunged while shouting for desperate resistance could not even last a minute before being forcibly class-changed into undead soldiers.

[Your level has risen!]

[Your level has risen!]

[The average level of the skeleton unit rises drastically!]

Sweet level-up messages filling his vision.

Surviving for a week in the middle of enemy territory was the original penalty, but to the stagnant water Kim Minwoo, this place was merely a VIP-exclusive explosive leveling hunting ground with crazy monster spawn rates.

Kim Minwoo smiled with Hell Rhapsody resting on his shoulder.

In just 5 days, he had recovered more than half of the planet.

Now, the time remaining until the dimensional turbulence penalty lifted was only two days.

From the beginning, surviving was out of the question.

For the remaining two days, he intended to scour the entire planet and suck up every last drop of sweet EXP.

Meanwhile, the base camp, the fortress in the grand canyon.

The situation there was literally an ironclad defense.

On top of the fortress wall densely packed with defense towers, Heavenly Demon Yoo Honbi was guarding the fortress with her arms crossed.

Just from the momentum she spewed, riffraff monsters didn't even dare to approach.

However, Yoo Honbi's gaze was currently directed toward the massive empty lot inside the fortress, not outside.

Kung, kukung.

"Hi, hiiiiik……!"

"J-just how many is that……."

The survivors below the fortress wall trembled like aspen trees.

It was because of the spoils of war Kim Minwoo's hunting unit was endlessly carrying in.

The corpses of orcs boasting builds as large as mountain ranges were literally piling up like a great mountain in the middle of the fortress.

The mana stones they had gathered, monster bones, and useful ores and materials were pouring in without rest by the hands of the Dragon Tooth Soldier transport unit.

Looking at that terrible yet marvelous mountain of corpses and pile of spoils, a thick ray of hope was blooming instead of despair on the faces of the martial artists standing in the forward base.

Until just a few days ago, they had been skin and bones, stripped bare and starving, merely waiting for the day they would die. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

But it was different now.

The number of people Kim Minwoo had rescued while scouring all over the planet already reached around three thousand.

They no longer starved.

The abundant food and drinking water endlessly pouring out from Kim Minwoo's subspace ring filled their bellies, and the sturdy, high-quality equipment churned out without rest by the Dragon Tooth Soldier blacksmiths firmly protected their bodies.

Their situation, which had been like a living hell, transformed into a livable paradise overnight.

"Just…… what is it that our Death Lord benefactor cannot do?"

Whether it was combat, supply, or rescue.

The martial artists clicked their tongues at that overwhelming omnipotence.

"T-to slaughter those monsters like that in just a few days?"

"……Say, I don't know if I dare to say this but……."

An old martial artist whispered with a trembling voice while looking around.

"Honestly…… doesn't our Death Lord benefactor seem much stronger than the Heavenly Demon?"

"Shh! Are you crazy! Watch your mouth! Oh Heavenly Demon, please forgive us……!"

"H-however…… it's not entirely wrong. To sweep away half of the planet just by himself, the Death Lord truly…… seems to possess martial prowess akin to a god. A god who commands death!"

Those irreverent whispers of the martial artists reached the ears of Yoo Honbi standing on the fortress wall intact.

However…….

'……I can't deny it.'

Instead of getting angry, Yoo Honbi acknowledged it with a bitter smirk. The overwhelming one-on-one combat prowess she felt to her bones when they clashed risking their lives in District 5 in the past.

That monster-like man was sweeping away the massive orc legion—which would have taken her staying up all night for a week to barely slaughter even with her dark red supremacy—as if taking a stroll in his front yard.

Rather than her pride being hurt, she even felt a bone-deep sense of awe at that overwhelming difference in combat power.

'Just what is there that that guy can't do? Is it really right…… to fight a monster like that?'

The sharp hostility toward Kim Minwoo that had taken root in her heart had already faded long ago.

Rather, while slicing away the Outer God's creations together in her destroyed homeland, a strange sense of camaraderie was gradually sprouting.

Even her Heavenly Demon's Reigning Sword, the ultimate technique of martial arts she devoted her entire life to, would have forced her into a desperate struggle before the tens of thousands of elite orcs.

But that stranger was different.

Every time Kim Minwoo flicked his finger, thousands of skeletons surged, and the earth rotted, forcibly subordinating the enemies to his side. An army of infinite power that literally trampled common sense, its numbers multiplying exponentially the more they fought.

What if that Death Lord had broken the precarious truce made in District 1 and waged an all-out war?

'Even the Demonic Cult's hundred thousand martial artists would have been reduced to bone soldiers like those orc bastards and become his chess pieces.'

Just thinking about it sent a chilling goosebump down her spine.

'Wait. If that guy slaughters all the orcs on this planet and monopolizes the levels…… what is our Demonic Cult supposed to do?'

She also had to quickly grow stronger and take revenge on the Outer God who destroyed her homeland.

But if Kim Minwoo devoured the districts at that speed and grew like a monster, when they returned to the Heavenly City, it was obvious they would be completely overwhelmed by that Money Talks Guild, let alone the Demonic Cult expanding its power.

'I must keep his growth in check somehow…….'

Yoo Honbi frowned and looked down below the fortress wall with a complex mind.

The three thousand people who ate their fill with the meat Kim Minwoo bought with his own money, wore warm clothes, and moved vibrantly inside the safe fortress.

The sight of her compatriots regaining their vitality and smiling while diligently organizing the massive spoils Kim Minwoo sent over caught her eyes.

'……However, didn't that guy rescue almost all of my people that could be saved on this planet?'

A miracle that would have been absolutely impossible with her strength alone.

The benefactor who saved her people, and the man who would become the Demonic Cult's most terrible competitor in the future.

Yoo Honbi quietly moistened her dry lips amidst the complex and subtle emotions, unable to draw her sword or just blindly cheer.

"Hey, is everyone sorting the luggage well."

It was then. Cutting through the blood-red sky, an indifferent and familiar voice fell over the fortress.

It was Kim Minwoo returning after finishing his harvest of spoils.

Hell Rhapsody was casually rested on his shoulder with a tuk, and a brutal death mana that hadn't yet faded was rising like haze from his entire body.

"O-our benefactor has returned!"

"Long live the Death Lord!"

The martial artists all prostrated themselves on the ground and opened a path like the Red Sea without exception. It was like a procession of fanatics welcoming a descended god.

Watching Kim Minwoo leisurely walking through those blind cheers, Yoo Honbi swallowed her words inwardly once again.

'Monster-like bastard.'

The remaining two days.

Just how much more that stagnant water monster would entirely devour the bottom of this planet, a contradictory emotion of fear and strange anticipation filled her heart.

At the same time.

Another dimension far away from the martial arts planet.

The center of a massive planet swarming with the Outer God's creations. Above a throne woven from bones larger than a mountain range, a being resting its chin in boredom slowly opened its eyes.

The apostle of the Outer God and the ruler managing numerous planets. It was the Orc Hero, Mutakta.

―……Chwik.

Mutakta's blood-red eye glints flashed in the darkness.

Something was strange. The vanguard captain he had dispatched to manage the martial arts planet, one of his numerous territories.

'The energy of that bastard Tarkan…… disappeared?'

The soul connection itself was perfectly extinguished. Tarkan was a battle-crazed among the battle-crazed, even acknowledged by himself.

Feeling intrigued, Mutakta raised his body.

Kugugugugung―!

Just by him standing up, the entire planet vibrated violently as if an earthquake had struck.

Mutakta reached out his massive hand toward the empty air.

His visual prowess, the authority of an apostle, pierced through the dimensional wall and projected the state of the martial arts planet where Tarkan died.

And…….

―……Ho.

The corners of Mutakta's mouth tore bizarrely and rolled up to his ears.

The martial arts planet reflected in his vision was truly a complete mess.

The red earth was nowhere to be found, and more than half of the planet was overpainted with a terrible and pitch-black energy of death.

The tens of thousands of the orc legion he had bestowed had all become bones and were attacking their allies, and in the middle of it all, a certain human was making a mess.

―Human? A mere human bastard made a mess of my garden?

It would be normal to be dumbfounded.

It would be normal to smash the throne in anger at the bug that dared to trample on the Outer God's territory.

However…….

Udeudeudeuk―!

The muscles all over Mutakta's body made bizarre rupturing sounds and began to expand.

The emotion dwelling in his blood-red pupils was a clear 'joy' and competitive spirit.

―Chwiiiiik! Very, very excellent!

Decades had passed since he became an apostle of the Outer God and dominated numerous planets.

A hot spark flew into the heart of the battle-crazed who had been rotting in boredom because there were no longer any worthy opponents.

An overwhelming and ruinous death mana that was impossible to believe was being spewed from the body of a mere human.

Mutakta sluggishly drew his greatsword, Butcher, which was stuck next to the throne.

He flicked his tongue and pierced through the blood-red sky beyond the dimension.

The apostle of the Outer God dominating numerous planets, Mutakta.

He began to take intrigued steps toward the rule breaker of anomalies who was making a mess of his territory.