Leveling Up through Eating

Chapter 1166

The Exploration Team's players and NPCs were not evenly divided. There were only eight players, while there were twelve NPCs.

Among the players was Kentaro, the pride of Japan. To put it simply, Kentaro was a ninja who had previously built a relationship with Minhyuk. He wore a black mask and wielded a katana. Not only that, he was also good at throwing shuriken and was well-versed with the clone technique.

And Kentaro’s clone technique could be said to be cheat-like. He could make clones as few as one person and as many as fifty people. But the most exciting part was that he could create a clone that looked just like anybody else. So, he made clones of the entire Exploration Team using Kentaro's clone technique.

Immediately after that, Minhyuk cooked a dish and triggered Everyone’s Happiness. With Everyone’s Happiness, Minhyuk could feed ten people, including himself, with the same dish having the same effects.

After doing all that, they concealed themselves and waited for the appearance of the fire golem.

When the fire golem appeared, they all realized it was much stronger than ordinary fire golems. But the golems, or to be exact, the armored weapons, had a huge disadvantage. They were slow. Because of that, they chose to bombard them with explosions and tie them up in an almost infinite stunned state.

Minhyuk, who finished dealing with the fire golem, caught sight of the guardians running toward them while carrying shields in their hands. Even though they were wearing shabby robes and rabbit masks to hide their identities, it was obvious that their levels were very high.

Minhyuk’s eyes scanned the surroundings swiftly. He could see that the intact golems were still running wild. But there was someone who was moving faster than him. That someone was none other than Brod.

Ethan, who watched all of this unfold, was left flustered. ‘This is Minhyuk?’

In the past, the transcendental weapon was potent. Its damage and defensive powers far surpassed those of Minhyuk. However, since it was a machine, it could not grow.

It has been a year since the transcendental weapon first appeared. The Minhyuk and Brod of today vastly differed from what they were in the past. After all, they were beings who could grow further.

Brod, who had made his judgment and moved faster than Minhyuk, fell from the sky. He immediately cut down the tree where Ethan hid behind and kicked him away.

Boom–!

Minhyuk, who saw Ethan flying away, kicked the ground and immediately ran after him.

Slash–!

More than being sad, Ethan felt a burning enthusiasm. He could not help but tremble as he thought, ‘Did he already go that far?’

At the moment of his death, a chuckle escaped from underneath Ethan’s rabbit mask as he thought of how the Beyond the Heavens Empire and its emperor were growing stronger and stronger.

‘Please overcome all of the guardians.’

Ethan’s body turned into ashes that disappeared with the wind.

[The first mission has been given.]

This was the notification that rang in Minhyuk’s ears the moment he caught sight of the guardians.

[Please eliminate five guardians as quickly as possible.]

[The fastest member to eliminate five guardians will receive a reward.]

And the moment he eliminated one of the guardians, the notification rang accordingly.

[You have eliminated one guardian.]

Minhyuk immediately noticed something.

‘It seems like it won’t be easy for twenty people to find a breakthrough.’

The golem pilot, which he had cut down a few moments prior, summoned eleven enormous golems.

In his case, it was only possible for him to eliminate the golem with one swift move because of the effects of Everyone’s Delight.

‘But dealing with a thousand people all at once?’

In the first place, he could tell they would not be able to deal with them with their own power alone. Thankfully, the players of the Exploration Team were given the chance to use one consumable item. Because of that, they could take advantage of the effects of Everyone’s Happiness and boost their strength.

The guardians had arrived.

Bang, bang, bang–!

The moment they arrived, they were bombarded by attacks. Mage Alex immediately created a shield to protect the twenty strong men, but they broke quickly like fragile glass.

Bang, bang, bang–! Boom, boom, boom–!

‘I can tell what the guardians are thinking. They want to end this in just five minutes.’

When the golems disappeared, the guardians began to appear one after another, placing the Exploration Team in a precarious situation.

The gears in the heads of Cardin, Laghman, Brod, and Minhyuk spun quickly as they watched the guardians flock toward them non-stop. But no matter how hard they thought, they could not find a way to break through.

Boom–!

At that moment, an arrow shot straight through Alex’s chest while magical attacks bombarded the entire area around him and blocked them from approaching further.

“Keuhaack!”

“...?”

Confused, everyone turned to look in the direction where the arrow came from. This arrow came from a distance that was entirely out of their sight.

Not long after, dozens of arrows pierced through Alex’s body.

“These bastards!!!”

Alex was a mage. No other dealer could bombard enemies even from a long distance like him. However, the only downside was his low HP and defensive power.

In just an instant, Alex’s HP fell below 35%. He tried to create a barrier around him.

[A Defensive Magic Restriction Arrow has hit you.]

[You will not be able to use defensive magic for thirty seconds.]

“...?”

Alex’s expression grew ugly.

But the attacks did not stop. Another arrow flew and hit him in the chest.

“Ugh…! Damn…!”

Alex was quite an unlucky mage. Because of Ali, he has never been in the spotlight.

After the battle with Helenia, Ali had suffered a sharp decrease in his level. This again resulted in Alex getting number one in the mage’s rankings. But, like everyone said, the rankings were based on the numbers.

So, when he received the invitation to this expedition, he accepted. He wanted to show everyone who he was and what he was capable of. But it seemed like he would be the first person to die after reaching the new continent.

Alex looked around him. “Damn it! Someone, help…!”

But everyone was busy doing their own thing. The NPCs could not slow the enemies’ advance because they were trying to maintain a five-meter distance from Emperor Cardin in case he got attacked and seriously injured. As for the players? Naturally, they were busy trying to protect themselves.

Then, at that moment, another arrow flew in. This time, it was aiming straight for Alex’s forehead. He could tell that he would die if this arrow pierced through him.

Thud–

Minhyuk appeared in front of him while still keeping a five-meter distance from him, and he split the arrow coming his way.

“Minhyuk…!” Alex growled when he saw that Minhyuk came to protect him.

For him, it was a disgrace. After all, Minhyuk was one of the people that he despised the most. Especially after Ali, who was still number one in the unofficial mage rankings, appeared and took his place in the official rankings. It was a disastrous defeat that made him hate the two.

He hated Minhyuk and Ali because the people loved them more than him. Because of this, Alex had always been involved in numerous conflicts against the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

“Are you alright?”

“...?”

But at this moment, he realized that this man had achieved all because of his abilities and qualifications. Not only that, he also realized that the man in front of him did not necessarily hate him.

“I will stop the arrows.”

“You bastard. Are you pitying me…”

“Are you crazy? Do you think I’m crazy?”

Alex’s mouth dropped open. The truth was, he did not despise Minhyuk that much. He just pretended to hate him. This was because Minhyuk was standing at the peak.

Then, Minhyuk said, “Who in the world will take pity on you, the greatest Ice Mage, Alex?”

At this moment, Alex realized why so many strong individuals gathered around him and joined the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

This was the man that he feared the most when they were enemies. But as an ally? He was the most reliable one.

“Alex. You’re the only one who can help us make a breakthrough right now.”

Almost a thousand guardians were advancing toward them. Duke Laghman and Brod could cut down the guardians at the forefront and force a breakthrough, but that would mean that the two would suffer from heavy damage and injuries. Since there was a better way, they would be stupid not to use it.

“Help me out a bit here. After all, we’re allies right now.”

There was no sarcasm in Minhyuk’s voice. It was filled with sincerity.

Alex, who finally stood up again, hurriedly tried to recover from his injuries.

“Well, there’s no helping it. Unbelievable, the Beyond the Heavens Empire emperor is asking for my help. Fine. I’ll accept it,” Alex said, his voice filled with playfulness as he flashed an arrogant smile at the man before him.

“Can you freeze all of the enemies charging at the forefront?”

“I have a way to do that. But there’s only a 2% chance of success.”

“Why are the chances so small?”

“What’s the greatest disadvantage of being a mage?”

Minhyuk understood that what Alex wanted to do was to cast an AOE magic attack. This meant that he would become the best target. After all, it was only natural for the enemies to target a mage in the middle of casting. This was more so the case for people like the guardians.

“I haven’t been able to complete it yet.”

But Alex wanted to give it a try.

‘I was so afraid of him when he was my enemy. I did not expect he would be so reliable now that he’s my ally.’

He always felt a chill run down his spine whenever he stood on the other side of him. But now? His broad and robust back seemed to have given him the courage to do any magic.

“I will need someone else’s help. Once I gather my ice spheres, there will be a cracking sound. You must strike the spheres within 0.5 seconds of that sound ringing.”

The task required much control, which was on top of Minhyuk's responsibility to monitor and protect Alex.

“If we succeed and activate the skill in the middle of the enemies, we can create a breakthrough. But if we fail, then we will be in even more danger. Is it fine with you?”

Minhyuk nodded in response to Alex’s question.

“Alright. I trust you.”

Those words left a fire burning in Alex. He was now very determined to make it happen.

“Ice,” Alex chanted as a small ice sphere appeared at his finger's tip.

This was his most basic magic, which created spheres that froze the enemies upon contact.

“Ice. Ice.”

Dozens of ice spheres were created one after another. Alex continued to make these spheres until their numbers reached over a thousand, and they had covered almost the entire battlefield.

[You are attempting to combine your magic.]

The enemies had already narrowed the distance between them and their tankers. There were also several of the members of the Exploration Team who had been severely injured after being ambushed by them.

Minhyuk and Alex jumped out at the same time. Alex began to cast while running behind Minhyuk and maintaining the five-meter distance between them.

Shwaaaaa–

The air had started to turn chilly, creating a thick, cold fog in the surroundings.

Crack, crack, crack–!

[You are combining ice-attributed magic.]

Alex realized he might not move forward and grow further because he had been overly conscious of the Supreme's existence.

Now that he was thinking about it, he realized it was just as Minhyuk said. Regardless of the qualifications, he was the greatest mage, the Ice Mage. Even though he did not have a God class, his powers were said to be on par with god.

‘I don’t need to be afraid.’

The fear of failing to do what he wanted to do slowly disappeared. At the same time, the over a thousand ice spheres floating in the air slowly gathered to form a single gigantic sphere.

“Why the hell are you doing something so stupid…!” Emperor Cardin shouted, his words a scathing criticism toward Minhyuk.

In Cardin’s eyes, leading a mage in the middle of the battlefield was nothing but suicide. On top of that, Minhyuk was putting himself in danger. Nevertheless, Alex could focus all his attention on his magic while watching silently block all the attacks being fired at him.

‘Thank you.’

Right now, Alex’s mind was in its best condition. His head was filled with nothing but this one thing he was working on.

Like that, a vast ice sphere almost the size of a small moon appeared above them. Alex cast a Frozen Smog Magic and froze the air around him.

[You are attempting to combine a third magic!]

[Your chances of success have fallen to 20%!]

Usually, Alex’s success rate was only around 8% or so.

“Your Majesty, please be careful!”

Minhyuk easily defeated the dozens of tankers approaching them and continued leading Alex toward the battlefield's center.

No one expected Alex to play an active role in this battle. But he believed in him.

“Is he trying to combine three types of magic?” Great Mage Pendragon, an NPC, was beyond shocked when he realized that Alex was trying to combine another magic with the magic that he had combined earlier.

Finally, the notification rang in Alex’s ears.

[You have successfully combined three types of magic.]

But Alex was not yet done. Hiding behind Minhyuk, he grabbed his staff and slammed it on the ground.

Rumble–!

A massive storm came into existence. The storm gathered all of the cold wind blowing in the area.

[You have failed to combine four types…]

As always, the magic combination failed at this step.

Swoosh–

‘It does not mean that successfully combining the magic is the only way to succeed.’

Crack, crack, crack–

Hundreds of AOE and long-range attack magics were reflected in Minhyuk’s pupils.

But in that 0.5 seconds, after being sent flying after being hit by one of the tanker’s shields, Minhyuk kicked the ground and shot to the sky. Then, using all his strength, he pierced through the gigantic sphere about to be extinguished after the failed casting.

Bang–!

A crack appeared on the surface of the gigantic ice sphere. Then, it broke apart and fell piece by piece. And each piece of ice, which could freeze anything and everything, that fell was sucked in by the massive storm.

Vwooooong–!

[The magic combination has failed! However, you have successfully created a new magic!]

[You have acquired the 8th Class Magic: Frozen Storm.]

[You have accomplished something very unusual for a player.]

[You have successfully triggered an already failed magic casting.]

[This proves you are an outstanding mage who has already stepped into the next realm.]

Rumble–!

The colossal tornado released cold air that began to freeze everything around it.

The guardians in the vicinity turned to ice, and the hundreds of attacks coming their way froze and fell to the ground. Even the enemies targeting Alex had turned into ice sculptures.

The total number of guardians that have turned into ice reached 170.

“I believed in you.”

Alex smiled widely when he heard Minhyuk’s sincere voice and saw his smile.

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