Chapter 86 - Crow VS Thousand Phantoms (3)

I dropped the mini‑fireball into the incoming swordsman battalion. It didn’t explode, but phantoms simply vanished when they got too close.

The fireball’s mass grew slightly, then slipped from my control, drifting toward the larger crowd. More clueless phantoms were sucked in.

What have I done?

Is that... a black hole?

Kek. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

TOPKEK.

Excuse my orc language and the caps, but KEK.

While I cut down the leftover troops, the fireball wandered randomly. I still felt a faint connection to its core. Although I was tempted to test if it would devour me too, I didn’t dare get close.

KO Count: 950.

I looked up. Since when?

A chuckle escaped me. From a coward who ran from Zoli at first sight, to a reckless fool who provoked a crown prince to a death duel, to someone who now challenged a thousand men, I couldn’t believe how far I had come.

My motivation soared. My morale skyrocketed.

No. I shook my head. I couldn’t get conceited. If someone like Aki existed, there might be more. The threat of main characters and Louis Zen still loomed. This wasn’t enough.

I must stay hungry.

I hunted more troops and scanned the field. Ten thousand shield bearers lingered at the edges, watching. Meanwhile, Troturre’s men split into smaller units, encircling me.

Troturre finally moved. His cracked phantom form recovered halfway.

I tilted my head, smirking. Kicking off the ground, I fought toward the fireball‑black hole, which steadily consumed everything that moved.

KO Count: 1,000!

Troturre’s phantom finally spoke.

"You were lucky that day when you killed me. You won’t get a second chance here!"

I couldn’t refute as something in me changed. My water and fire cores pulsed, shredding their shells. My skin cracked as new layers of flesh and muscle reconstructed. My frame grew taller, heavier.

A shockwave erupted, blasting the crowd away. My musou energy was filled to the brim, overflowing with the power I had never felt before.

I remembered. One of my level-up conditions was to kill a thousand soldiers.

Level 3.

I had reached level 3!

I had caught up with the other aristocrat kids in the same class. My strength now rivaled Lenitia’s.

The next rank‑up condition would be tougher. As I recalled: defeat 2,000 troops, two level‑4 or higher enemies, unleash ten ultimate moves, and average over 300 points across all stats.

This would be a grind since my stats were somewhere under 200 at the moment. I hadn’t had a chance to farm permanent status tokens yet since I couldn’t travel the world or go on an adventure.

The shrinking cube pulsed again, pressing the battlefield tighter. Ten thousand shield bearers advanced. More soldiers erupted from the earth behind them, stretching toward the horizon.

How many now? A hundred thousand? A million?

At the center, Troturre’s phantom burned brighter. His cracked body stitched together, aura glowing green. He raised his halberd, and the entire army roared in unison. Their encirclement shrank as they charged. Troturre blended into the crowd, vanishing from sight.

Was he dumb?

I smirked, spreading my arms, dropping two new miniature fireballs to my flanks. Testing my Level‑3 strength, I swung wide, black flame spilling from my sword.

The arc stretched farther, faster. My blade cleaved through ten phantoms instead of five, speed increased by fifty percent. My hand felt so light I was confident I could swing fifty more times without pause.

KO Count: 1,242!

I wasn’t sure what happened to the three fireballs, but the number spiked. A rumbling noise loomed from my right.

Glancing over, I saw a five‑meter fireball rolling like a snowball down a mountain, heading straight toward Troturre’s position. As it rolled, more phantoms vanished, joining its mass.

A tornado manifested in the crowd, swallowing men and pulling them skyward. Troturre stood at its eye, facing the incoming fireball.

Two energies collided. The tornado scattered. Troturre turned red, swinging his halberd at the fireball.

The ball split in half and detonated. A dome of fire expanded, covering half the field. It reached me, igniting the two fireballs I’d cast earlier.

Everything inside was incinerated, except me and Troturre.

KO Count: 3,800!

Musou gauge full again!

Thank you, idiot. You just fulfilled one of my rank‑up conditions. Next: ult ten times, kill two of you, and raise my stats.

The explosion shattered every vase in the area, turning the center into a sea of flame. Five beams of light marked the locations of loot.

Glancing at Troturre, who was still burning, I snickered and sprinted toward two beacons in the west. A luxurious glass bottle of musou wine and a dragon seal awaited.

Snatching the wine, I drank everything. If memory served, it boosted musou points by ten. As for the dragon seal, this would be my second one. I still had the first tucked in my fireproof pocket.

Turning toward the blue halberd and the three remaining beacons, I saw Troturre approaching. He lifted my halberd, wielding it. He now became a twin‑halberd user.

Hey, that was rude. That halberd was mine.

Funnily enough, he tried touching the beacon items, but his hand phased through them. Idiot.

I sprinted toward him, brandishing my black flame sword. He turned, roaring, counter‑charging with two blue halberds in hand.

Leaping into the air, he repeated the Radahn move. This time, his attack glowed orange.

No more level gap disadvantage. I had the elemental edge. Our strength was finally equal.

My flame sword swatted away his X‑cross slash midair, erasing his momentum. Bullet time activated. I unleashed my musou ULT.

Black flame sword carved afterimages across the sky. I struck fifty times in succession. For the final blow, I leapt, spun, and aimed at his neck. The blade sliced through his neck guard armor like butter. His head flew.

As I landed, his twin halberds clattered to the ground. His phantom body dissolved into dust.

Around me, the shield bearers froze. Their crimson eyes locked on me. Slowly, they sank into the earth, retreating.

The voice returned.

"The causality has been cleansed."

A beam of light descended from the orange sky, piercing my forehead.

Something manifested in front of me.

A panel.

A square blue screen.

On the screen was square boxes. A panel with 10-square boxes.