Chapter 155: The Strong Are Rising
"No." Sonya replied with a firm expression as the compressed flame on her hand shot forward.
BOOM!
The wounded soldier’s head disappeared inside a burst of crimson-gold fire.
[Ding! You have killed a Level 43 1st Echelon Zombie Race Soldier.]
Fire Mana gathered again.
The next zombie attempted to block as it raised both hands.
Sonya did not wait for it to speak.
Another burst crossed the distance and struck its chest.
Cain watched her quietly from several meters away.
Sonya had hesitated much more when she first entered the Invasion Corridor.
Even after becoming strong enough to fight for herself, killing intelligent enemies was different from burning mindless zombies.
That hesitation had mostly disappeared by now.
Cain did not find anything wrong with it.
The Zombie Race soldiers had attempted to enter their world with the intention of conquering it.
Their outposts must have existed to maintain the invasion once the gate connected, while the Blood Crystals stored inside them had revealed what happened to the races that lost.
Sparing enemies simply because they knew how to beg would be idiotic.
The next zombie died.
Then one after another died as well.
Sonya continued until the ground around her had become scorched.
The number of wounded enemies steadily decreased.
Another condensed flame struck.
The fifteenth zombie stopped moving.
Sonya had already begun forming the next attack when several notifications appeared before her.
[Ding! You have killed a Level 46 1st Echelon Zombie Race Soldier.]
[Ding! You have reached Level 50.]
[You have reached the Level limit of the 1st Echelon.]
[Further Experience will not increase your Level until you successfully advance.]
[2nd Echelon Advancement Mission is now available.]
Sonya immediately stopped, dispersing the flame above her hand.
"Cain."
Cain looked over.
Sonya stared at the notification for another moment before smiling.
"I’ve reached level 50."
"Good." Cain nodded in satisfaction.
Before either of them could continue, golden light suddenly appeared across everyone’s vision.
The wounded Zombie Race soldiers disappeared from Cain’s attention for a moment as the familiar announcement formed.
[World Announcement.]
[The fourth player to successfully advance to the 2nd Echelon has appeared.]
[The name "Radiant Sword Saint" shall be recorded in the history of this World.]
[Radiant Sword Saint has received a Blue Scroll.]
Cain looked at the announcement.
"Fourth already."
Only a short amount of time had passed since Ron advanced, yet the ranking was beginning to move again.
Sonya then looked toward the remaining wounded soldiers as there were still several alive.
Cain turned toward Jack.
"Finish the rest."
Jack cracked his knuckles.
"Finally..."
He walked toward the closest soldier.
The zombie looked at the large man approaching it and immediately attempted to crawl away.
Jack caught the back of its armor with one hand.
"Where are you going?"
Bang!
Its head struck the ground.
Cain had already turned away before the second impact came.
He raised his voice.
"Clean the battlefield. We’re leaving as soon as Sonya and Alex are done absorbing these Cores and the Blood Crystals."
Nathan nodded and immediately started helping gather the Zombie Cores.
Professor Ian moved toward another section of the battlefield, while Cole began checking the bodies for System drops.
Cain then looked at the outpost direction as he intended to search for the Blood Crystals right away, since that was all Cain cared about from this outpost aside from the 2nd Echelon enemies they had needed for the Advancement Missions.
They had already gathered more equipment than they could immediately use. Weapons taken from the Zombie Race were useful, but they weren’t good enough for the current group.
However, Zombie Blood Crystals were different.
The previous stockpile had allowed them to push several Mana Cores to the Perfected Stage far faster than would normally have been possible.
If they intended to continue advancing the strongest members of the group, then every completed crystal mattered.
Cain then entered the outpost.
Compared to the larger position they had destroyed earlier, there was little worth examining.
The interior consisted of several low stone buildings surrounded by a defensive wall. Most of the rooms contained weapons, food prepared for the Zombie Race, or supplies Cain did not recognize.
He ignored them as he spread his Sense through the nearest building to search for concentrated energy.
When he found nothing, Cain entered the second building.
Several shelves occupied the interior.
He briefly checked them before leaving again as he still found nothing.
His expression gradually became worse.
"Don’t tell me this place doesn’t have any."
Cain moved toward the rear section of the outpost.
The final building stood partially beneath a raised section of black stone.
Unlike the others, its entrance had been reinforced.
Cain pushed the damaged door open.
A faint metallic smell greeted him.
His golden pupils narrowed when he saw several storage boxes had been arranged along one wall.
The moment Cain approached them, he could sense the dense Life energy contained inside.
His mood immediately improved.
"There you are."
He opened the first box.
Dull-red light reflected against his face as completed Blood Crystals had been packed inside in several neat rows.
Cain crouched and began counting.
The first and second box contained 20.
His smile gradually disappeared when he opened the final container as there were only 10 Blood Crystals.
Cain stared inside.
"...That’s it?" He murmured softly as he thought there would be much more than that considering the strength of zombies that were stationed here.
He checked the room again, but nothing else was hidden beneath the shelves.
50 Blood Crystals.
Compared to the enormous stockpile they had found at the previous outpost, this amount felt almost disappointing.
Still, Cain was not going to complain about resources obtained for free.
He waved his hand.
All fifty crystals disappeared into his Inventory.
At that exact moment, golden light filled his vision again.
[World Announcement.]
[The fifth player to successfully advance to the 2nd Echelon has appeared.]
[The name "Thunder Emperor" shall be recorded in the history of this World.]
[Thunder Emperor has received a Blue Scroll.]
Cain’s hand stopped as he actually paid attention to the name this time.
"Thunder Emperor?"
He remembered that one.
Back when Elara had advanced to the 1st Echelon, Thunder Emperor had followed only a few seconds afterward.
Cain also remembered something much more important.
That person had never entered the Invasion Corridor.
Cain had paid close attention when people began entering. He had not memorized every single participant perfectly, but most of the ranking names had remained in his mind.
The Thunder Emperor had not been among them.
Which meant he had just reached the 2nd Echelon somewhere in the outside world.
Cain’s expression became slightly more serious.
"Impressive."
The Invasion Corridor provided double Experience.
On top of that, the Zombie Race soldiers inside were much stronger on average than the ordinary enemies currently wandering through most cities.
Cain’s group had access to purified Cores as well as Blood Crystals.
Someone outside had none of those advantages.
At least, Cain doubted they possessed resources this convenient.
Yet Thunder Emperor had still reached Level 50, improved his Mana Core enough to qualify for an Advancement Mission, completed that mission, and entered the 2nd Echelon.