Chapter 308 First Battle
Meanwhile, Dante had realized that he had been tricked. In the end, after the six months or less of what he had predicted would take him to reach S Rank Quantum Entanglement, it turned out that he had only completed around 35% of it.
In truth, it should have been obvious from the start. The gap between the A rank and the S rank was a huge divide for all superpowers. Dante knew this, but for some reason, he assumed that it should be different for him based on having higher stats and the Cosmic Tree.
The reason why his prediction had been wrong was that he lightly tested it and felt that, using the same effort to sort cables that he did during the C-A rank, it should be six months for the S rank, which was true on paper.
However, the problem manifested itself in the fact that the remaining cords were actively resisting him now. It required way more effort on average to move them than before, and the longer time Dante spent on it, the stronger the resistance became.
This led to his current frustration as he opened his eyes, spreading his spirit sense out of the ship to realize that they had long slowed down, landing on a nearby landing pad.
Ricky came to his door and gently knocked, informing
Dante that they had arrived at their destination. Dante saw all this and sighed to release his irritation before slapping his face and walking out normally.
Ricky led Dante out of the ship through the steps and brought him into a small but functional base that surrounded a black spire that poked into the sky. A simple scan with his spirit sense told Dante that apart from the base AIs and various androids/robots that managed the area, there was no other sentient presence here.
"This is our Titan Wave base, named after the territory itself. Like most others, it's currently remotely manned through A1, and we've left it this way because it's surrounded by unclaimed territories on all sides, so we don't have to worry about incursions," Ricky explained to Dante dutifully.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHe manifested a holographic map on a command table and showed Dante where they were on it. "All around us to the north, northeast, south, southwest, southeast, and east are unclaimed territories. Which one would you like to start with, sir?"
Dante's eyes roved the specific territories, and he received information from the network about the territories, at least what the Eternal Universe had scouted so far using technology.
He perused the information and made a quick decision. "Let's head east. I want to try a few experiments and see how things will work."
"As for you, you should stay here and coordinate with me," Dante stated as he glanced at Ricky meaningfully.
Ricky was confused. "Are you sure, sir? I can provide some minimal help in battle as I have a supportive superpower for healing."
Dante was amused. "Trust me, lad."
He patted Ricky's shoulder a little forcefully and left using a portal he manifested, causing Ricky to still be baffled. However, the moment Dante left, one of the nearby androids turned to Ricky and seemed to shake its head.
"He told you to stay here because he doesn't want you to intrude on his privacy when he fights. Just do what he says and don't cause yourself trouble," the male android explained and turned back to its task.
Meanwhile, Ricky's face became red as he realized that even an android could understand social cues and hidden meanings better than him, an aide! No wonder Dante had looked at him funny. If it wasn't for the fact that Dante himself was chill, he would have been fired ten times over!
While Ricky was lamenting his lack of ability, Dante had already arrived at the border after using a 9th Rank space spell. He avoided passing through subspace as he knew that subspace in the First Gate was populated with eldritch-tier horrors that could cause anyone trouble.
Dante noted the gap between the two territories was literally marked with a translucent purple veil that came from the ground and rose up to the height of a small house.
It stretched horizontally for as far as Dante could see on either side, until the border of the territory meandered, at least. Dante kicked into the ground and brought up a block of earth, which he held and threw forward lightly.
To no surprise, it easily passed through the barrier without being slowed or stopped. Nothing occurred on the other side, which was an empty grassland that seemed to stretch on forever.
Dante walked through the barrier the next second, feeling nothing except for the slight breeze that accompanied his movement, and entered the new territory. However, unlike before, there was a great and noticeable change this time.
Mostly in the fact that hundreds of lifeforms manifested in this area, all being thick and robust warhorses that glowed with a green light. They manifested all over the plain and grazed naturally, like they had always been here, and Dante had failed to see them.
However, Dante had naturally long sent his spirit sense over and sensed nothing, also he was certain that they had literally been spawned from nowhere right at this moment. This made him interested in the kind of phenomenon that could cause this, but he soon did not have that luxury as all the beasts suddenly paused their grazing and raised their heads at once to glance at Dante.
This eerie act continued for a few seconds while Dante stood there silently, his calm smile becoming grimmer and grimmer as the tension built, until it finally erupted the next second as all the horse-like creatures neighed loudly.
Dante raised an eyebrow and realized that a fight was on hand. Immediately, he cast four 6th-rank spells at once, one of the Earth element, one of Fire, one of Wind, and one of Water.
6th-Rank Spell: Superior Earth Golem Summon!
6th-Rank Spell: Flowing Water Shield!
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm6th-Rank Spell: Extreme Barkskin Armor!
6th-Rank Spell: Flaming Fists!
Suddenly, there was an Earth Golem about the size of a suburban house that rose from the ground and formed up in front of Dante. A shield made of water formed around its body like a ring, ebbing and flowing with its own intent. Vines emerged on the golem's rough rocky skin and wove into a tapestry that made it almost transform into the visage ofa forest shambler. Finally, its rocky fists were coated with searing hot flames, almost melting the rock and making it viscous.
With just four 6th-rank spells, Dante had created an elite fighter that knew not fear, could not be harmed by mental or soul attacks, had elite magical and physical defenses, and a very potent attack ability.
Any 9th-rank mage could do this, but not nearly as powerfully as Dante. Each spell would need to be prepared beforehand and cast one by one, unlike Dante who just did it all on the fly simultaneously.
Dante stood back and watched with interest as the neighing horses became extremely violent and charged at him. Immediately, his golem's single red eye on its head flashed with a bright light as it came to life and charged forward, meeting the attack of the muscular horse-like creature head-on.
A fist collided with a head, causing a loud thumping sound to occur. The effect was that the golem was pushed back a few meters, but its target was sentflying with a cracked skull, the flames latching onto its skin and beginning to wreak havoc.
It thrashed about on the ground in its death throes, shrieking loudly. The other horses did not pause their charge, though, rather seeming to be stimulated by the suffering of their peer as they split up to charge at both the golem and at Dante.
"Oh?" Dante muttered as he casually dodged a high-speed charge from one of the horse creatures that would have trampled any normal being to meat paste.
He casually reached out faster than any being here could follow and patted the back of this speeding creature, causing it to light up in blackish-red flames that consumed its entire body.
It did not even have time to slow down or scream before its entire form was turned to ash, disappearing from this world forever. Dante casually stomped and created a ring of hellfire around his body that stretched on for about a kilometer in all directions.
This had two effects. The first was that the immediate area around him suddenly became devoid of monsters as they were all turned into ash on contact, only releasing one last cry of shock before exiting the game called life.
The second was that incoming beasts that aimed to dismember him hit the flame barrier and disintegrated on touch, causing the fire to flicker with glee for a split second as it feasted on lives and souls................................
[Poster notes: You can thank Z (site admin) for the chapters, if he hadn't been so nice to me in the past I wouldn't have started posting these chapters. The release time of chapters will mostly stay a bit inconsistent as I don't check when the chapters are uploaded, thanks - Gus]