Last Ruler Of The Empty Throne-Chapter 133: Journey

The two orcs they encountered were well into their second realm, levels 54 and 53, and the fact they were orcs meant Jon’s physical abilities were almost irrelevant to them.

He had realized a while ago that any monster physically stronger than him could shrug off the effects of his Moon Bind.

Though he could have used his ’Principle of Domain’ to secure an easy kill, he didn’t want his reliance on the threshold to prevent him from testing new techniques.

Instead, he instructed Laura, Victor, and Robin to handle the swarming monsters while he dashed toward the two orcs.

"Time to test you out." Jon drew his newly crafted spear and launched himself forward, his strike clashing against the orc wielding a club.

BOOOMMM...

The shockwave from the impact tore through the surroundings, uprooting trees and sending nearby orcs flying.

’Urghh...’ Jon gritted his teeth. He was losing in raw strength, but his weapon was holding up.

There was a stark difference between weapons crafted by a blacksmith and those formed from orbs. Orb weapons had limits, affecting their durability and recoil impact on the user. In contrast, blacksmith-forged weapons either worked effectively or not at all.

Immediately he rolled away from a massive axe that cleaved through the ground like butter, Jon quickly morphed his black rod into a shield.

BANGGGG...

"Urghh..." He groaned as the club smashed him to the ground, his arms and teeth-rattling from the impact. Blood dripped from his fingers as the club landed on the shield again.

No one had to tell him, he was completely outmatched.

Sliding out of range, Jon retreated, panting heavily as he reassessed his approach.

’Should I use Dream to amplify their pain or Reflect the pains?’

However, before he could decide, the orcs charged again, their relentless attacks forcing him into a desperate dance of evasion.

His Shadow Steps barely kept up. Occasionally, his armor glowed, enveloping him in a green aura, and he retaliated with sharp shards. However, the orcs’ tough hides rendered them ineffective.

Faced with another dual assault, Jon tapped the ground and dashed up the outstretched arm of one orc.

Grrrrr...

With a snarl, the orc reached for him, but Jon struck with his spear. His attack seemed misaligned at first—

Pstsh!

Grr?

The orc froze, confused. A deep wound gaped across its arm, yet it hadn’t seen how the attack landed. He had activated the effect to elongate the blade of his spear.

"Nice, first—" Jon started, but he was interrupted by a violent tremor.

RUMBLEEE...

The ground shook.

"Hm?" Jon spread his senses to the limit and activated ’Moon Gaze,’ bracing himself. He immediately understood.

’The evolution process is accelerating?’ He recalled Amelia mentioning that the evolution process had only just begun. That meant another transformation had just taken place, it could be an increase in land mass, new monsters, or even changed weather.

There was no time to waste.

"Principle of Inscription."

Activating the skill, he suddenly appeared before the club-wielding orc. The creatures, momentarily distracted by the tremor, barely had time to react before,

PSHSTSH... PSHSTSH...

Jon elongated his spear by six inches, focusing his will into two precise, lethal thrusts. The orcs’ brains turned to mush.

SPLAT...

He wiped the blood and gore from his spear as he landed.

"Laura, Victor, Robin, we’re running on foot. There’s no time left." His tone was serious, leaving no room for argument.

The others had sensed the shift as well.

If the evolution process was resuming, the landscape was expanding again. They needed to reach their destination before the next transformation occurred.

Without wasting another second on the remaining orcs, they ran, collecting any useful cores and orbs along the way.

And their journey continued...

Jon kept his senses on high alert.

He ignored first-realm monsters unless they swarmed in large numbers like the zombies, focusing instead on second-realm threats.

Whooom...

Suddenly spending 100 points of mana, he conjured two small Divine Web Spears, gripping them tightly, and pulled his arms back in preparation.

Sensing the danger radiating from the spears, Laura, Robin, and Victor instinctively distanced themselves.

Jon swung the spears forward with full force. "Go."

Whoosh... Whoosh...

The spears vanished into the distance. The others couldn’t help but wonder, what kind of monster deserved to die without even seeing its killer?

Jon wasn’t interested in granting any creature a peaceful death. However, he also couldn’t use ’Principle of Inscription’ recklessly, so he relied on his enhanced senses to detect threats ahead of time.

At 100 meters... 200 meters... 500 meters, they reached a strange ditch, unnatural in its formation, roughly the size of a small pond. The area bore signs of destruction, but no monster remained. Instead, two glowing orbs lay in the center: one blue, the other slightly larger.

Jon grabbed them without hesitation and continued

Unknown to him, he had just slain his first ice-type monster.

At first, they thought that was the last major threat. But then, zombies began pouring in by the thousands.

The apocalypse had begun with slow, sluggish undead. Over time, they had progressed from walking to fast walking to jogging. Even the millions Jon had slain couldn’t run.

However, now, they sprinted.

Individually, they were weak. But their sheer numbers posed a new challenge. Not wanting to waste energy on large-scale attacks, Jon and his team fought them head-on.

After hours of combat, night fell.

Distrusting the creatures lurking in the dark, they took shelter in the trees. After roasting a scaled monster Jon had stored away, they rested.

By dawn, they woke to the unsettling sound of zombies clawing their way up the trees. After a light morning exercise of clearing them out, they resumed their journey.

The days blurred together of constant fighting, endless movement, consuming energy-rich monster meat to replenish their strength, and experimenting with new techniques.

By the third day, Laura had finally surpassed Jenny and Cynthia, reaching the peak of the first realm, well it wasn’t known their level. To diversify her abilities beyond lightning, she began experimenting with nature and earth elements, aided by Jon’s battle memories.

Robin and Victor, now level 47 and 45, continued refining their skills. Robin’s ’Shadow Control’ allowed her to vanish even under direct sunlight, though Jon’s ’Moon Gaze’ could still track her. Victor, adopting the movements of an ape, incorporated his second skill, ’Metal Coating,’ into his attacks, vastly increasing their destructive power.

Jon, meanwhile, focused on mastering Dream Scroll and Moon. Their depth was vast, especially now that he understood how willpower influenced Moon’s abilities and what he could do with the dream scroll.

’Should I try to read the memory of a monster.’

His moment of reflection was interrupted by an unexpected voice.

-Jon.

’Hmm?’ Amelia had spoken to him for the first time in days.

He expanded his senses and immediately came to a halt.

"..." Laura stopped as well, her senses picking up on the same thing.

There were no more monsters ahead.

They had finally reached their destination.