BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 100 - 99 – Feast

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Is the gap between us really this big?

Damn it… I'm at the third rank.

And I can't even force him to fight seriously?

The fourth rank… is it really this powerful?

What's the solution…

I can't think of anything.

If I merge all the Flame Art I have… will I be able to land a strike on him?

How am I supposed to face this ordeal…

Think… I have to think… think…

That bastard… he made me believe the contract was in my favor.

The contract?

Why the hell did he even have a contract sphere?

Was it a coincidence?

Or…

"That bastard…" I snorted in anger.

"You lured me into signing the contract, didn't you?" I said out loud.

The master laughed. He didn't answer—just kept that mocking smile.

"Now… yes, now I understand," I said.

His possession of the contract sphere wasn't a coincidence—it was a combat strategy.

Set up a contract… then an unbreakable defense… then victory.

While I thought he was just standing there, unmoving, impossible to break through…

The truth was something else entirely.

He was using his strongest weapon as defense.

He wasn't standing proudly because he was dozens of times stronger than me…

But because that stance itself was part of his plan—to break my spirit.

He deceived me… at every step, he outplayed me.

Fine…

How do I deal with this?

Him deceiving me doesn't change the fact that his defense is absurdly strong.

What does that mean…

Think… I need to think faster.

Connect the pieces… use your head.

If his defense is extremely strong… what does that imply?

Have I faced something similar before?

If his defense is that strong… then it means…

It means…

…

…

His defense is strong? Strong…

Maybe…

His defense isn't unbreakable because it's simply strong…

But because his abilities make it impossible to break, no matter how powerful the attack is?

That means…

Defeating such a defense…

Doesn't require offensive power…

Then what does it require?

Damn it… another riddle.

No…

No need to panic.

I've unlocked the first lock… time to unlock the second.

I just need to figure out how to destroy a defense that doesn't rely on offensive power.

Fine…

Let's lay everything on the table.

I've already tested three of my strongest attacks against him.

Each one had a partial effect.

And every time…

His defense regenerated again.

If something keeps regenerating…

…

…

Then it must…

Yes.

Heh… alright.

How am I going to do that…

…

Fine.

Time for another creature from the Deception Beast's treasures.

{ System }

{ Storage }

{ Little Horned Bird }

From nothing, a small white bird appeared—like a canary, but with a tiny horn protruding from its head.

The bird flew toward the fourth-rank master.

His eyes followed it.

Suddenly, the bird began to sing.

Suddenly, space itself started to split—and something began forming in the sky around him.

A transparent sphere began to expand.

It surrounded the master…

Then—

The bird's song intensified.

The sphere grew larger… and larger…

Until it exceeded twenty meters in diameter.

Then—

The bird returned.

And vanished back into the System's storage void.

I stepped closer… until I entered the sphere.

I approached the master.

Then—

I summoned more than a hundred Silk Cockroaches.

The fourth-rank master laughed.

"So this is your plan…" he murmured. "I thought I'd seen this bird somewhere before. Clever, using it… but do you really think suppressing explosions within a confined space will affect me?"

As expected… he knew what the bird did.

In one of the fifty zones, when I was harvesting creatures and accumulation within the Deception Beast's domain…

There had been a place with a single creature—a small white bird with a horn.

It built a nest… then released a sphere.

That sphere enclosed the nest.

Anything outside the sphere had zero effect on the inside.

And if outside influence becomes zero…

Then everything inside remains trapped within.

That's exactly what the fourth-rank master confirmed.

Everything that happens inside the sphere… stays inside it.

Then—

I scattered the salt.

I sprinkled it over the Silk Cockroaches, letting them grow on their own and absorb accumulation from the surroundings.

Then—

I moved closer to the blond master.

I raised my hand—red threads, blazing with flame, began to form.

They extended outward…

Floating in the air around him.

I raised my hand again… scattering salt over them.

Then—

I closed my eyes.

I completely severed my connection to both the Flame Art and the cockroaches…

Then stepped out of the sphere.

Cutting the link…

Would allow both the Flame Art and the cockroaches to grow without limits.

Endless accumulation.

But the flaw was severe.

Once I sever control… I lose all command over them.

Both the flames and the insects would lose any directed attack capability.

If the master had any way to seize control…

I'd be in serious trouble.

But—

This isn't the time to hesitate.

If I don't take risks, I won't move forward.

"Let's see if this is your final attempt," the fourth-rank master mocked.

He wasn't wrong.

This might really be my last chance.

I have no more ideas.

And even if I did… I doubt they'd work.

After some time…

The flame threads grew larger… harsher… brighter.

The Silk Cockroaches multiplied as well.

Minutes passed.

Then the number of white cockroaches exceeded a thousand.

The black ones, however, were nonexistent.

The salt was doing its job perfectly—

Directing the flame threads to absorb accumulation from the surroundings and grow…

While the cockroaches reproduced in the same manner.

Far away—about two hundred meters—I stood…

Recovering some of my accumulation.

Time passed quickly.

A heavy silence took over everything.

The battlefield felt frozen…

Waiting.

Time dragged…

Then—

The first signs appeared.

Crackling red sparks.

They flickered along the flame threads…

Pulsing like lightning before a raging storm.

Nearby, the insects had reached over three hundred thousand.

The master's eyes shifted left and right.

Waiting for the moment of explosion.

His expression… still completely calm.

The afternoon began to set.

Maybe two hours passed… or more.

Then—

I smiled.

Perhaps it was impatience… but I smiled anyway.

The sphere…

Was full.

The sparks began striking its edges…

Hundreds of thousands of insects compressed into a tight space.

Then—

A buzzing sound rose.

The sparks struck violently.

They weren't attacking—just moving chaotically.

But the sheer number of insects made them easy targets.

Sounds intensified.

Dozens… then hundreds of insects died with each spark.

After a while…

The noise began to fade.

More than half the insects… were gone.

The sphere stabilized slightly.

But the sparks kept striking—

Even more violently.

Eventually…

The sphere was empty of insects.

Only the flame threads remained—

Roaring louder.

Their color had darkened.

At that moment…

I realized—

If I had kept feeding them my own accumulation…

I would've suffered mentally, just like before with half a million cockroaches.

At this stage…

The flame threads had surpassed anything I could refine them into.

At this stage…

We had reached what I feared—

And what I had been waiting for.

I could no longer control them.

And—

The threads began to ripple.

Because…

They could no longer find accumulation in the environment.

They had already absorbed everything inside the sphere.

If they wanted to grow stronger…

They either had to break out—

Which they couldn't…

Because of the sphere's nature…

Or—

Find another source.

Heh…

Now it's time.

For the other source.

The master's eyes narrowed.

A trace of uncertainty appeared.

He hadn't fully understood what was happening before…

But now—

He understood everything.

The flame threads…

Began bending toward him.

The sphere wasn't strong enough to contain them.

They were refined weapons—

While the sphere was merely a trait of a simple creature.

But—

The threads had no awareness.

They sensed accumulation… and devoured it.

The sphere blocked all external accumulation.

So—

They didn't try to break it.

Instead—

They turned toward the master.

At that moment…

His massive body…

Was like a feast the size of the sky.

"Hahaha… let's see how you deal with this attack," I said loudly.

His eyes were calm.

Only for a moment…

Before anger slowly surfaced.

In an instant—

The threads swelled violently.

Growing… doubling…

Then—

Crack. Crack. Crack.

For the first time—

A breaking sound echoed.

The massive crystal body…

Started to fracture.

Then shatter…

Piece by piece.

The flame threads—

Began draining accumulation from the crystal body.

And it crumbled.

Then—

It regenerated again.

Only to shatter once more.

"Hahaha!" I laughed. "Keep repairing it… the threads will devour you anyway!"

After more than an hour…

The threads had turned the color of blood bursting with lightning…

While the crystal body resembled an ancient relic worn down by time…

The Fourth Rank Master was furious—extremely so.

He reinforced his crystal body again and again…

It kept regenerating repeatedly, but—

Every time he fed his armor with more accumulation…

The threads' ravenous hunger only grew further.

Until—

At last, the Master stopped reinforcing it.

He let the armor be devoured…

Crack… break… and gradually vanish.