A Pyrrhic Victory and Allegiance

On the battlefield, the dust filling the sky gradually settled. Four figures lay on the ground; if their bodies had not still been rising and falling, everyone might have thought them dead. The enormous figure on the other side lay completely motionless.

Yes, Wien and the others had won the battle. Moments ago, the four of them had unleashed their attacks at almost the same time as Mirot's Cero, and the immense Spiritual Pressure had stirred up a tremendous blast.

If Mirot had fired his Cero first, Wien and the other three would have been reduced to nothing in an instant.

One second before Mirot's Cero was about to fire, Wien used Shadowless Strike and rushed straight in front of him. He raised his hand and struck Mirot's mask with a Shatter Slash infused with all his Spiritual Pressure, instantly shattering the Cero Mirot had just formed. Jekain and the other two then struck Mirot's head with their attacks.

In an instant, the Gillian-class Menos Grande's mask broke in two, his head was shattered, and Mirot lost his life.

"Whew... That wasn't easy." Wien lay on the ground, gasping for breath. His last-second Shadowless Strike and Shatter Slash had rapidly drained his Spiritual Power, but thankfully, they had won in the end and survived.

"Whew... Now nothing in this forest can threaten us." Jekain was also lying on the ground. He turned to Wien with a rueful smile.

"But our losses were severe." Wien forced himself to sit up through the pain and looked toward the battlefield nearby. "We lost so many people. This can only be called a pyrrhic victory."

"Even so, at least we survived, didn't we?" Jekain forced himself to sit up through the pain. Beside him, Jis and Parik also staggered to their feet.

"Well... true. Then let's hurry and divide the spoils. Otherwise, once the Hollows that survived in the forest realize what's happened, another fight will be unavoidable."

Facing the Gillian Level mask broken in two, Wien could not help licking his lips. He also had to adjust his position in case Jekain and the others he had just fought alongside turned on him.

"As you command, my king." Unexpectedly, Jekain kept the promise he had just made. He nodded gently, then knelt before Wien.

After this battle, Jekain had submitted completely. If Wien had not led them in the fight, they might have been reduced to Reishi by Mirot's Cero long ago.

Even now, he could have turned against Wien and seized the Gillian Level mask from him, but he did not. He firmly believed that, under Wien's leadership, it would not be long before they all advanced and became the true top existences in this forest!

"Good. In that case, bring the injured over first. We'll all share this Gillian."

Seeing Jekain's reverence, Wien did not refuse. Although he could survive in this forest alone, having subordinates like Jekain would certainly make his path to growth much easier.

"Yes." Jekain responded respectfully to Wien's order, then got up and, together with Jis and the others, carried the dying Inora, Fisilina, and the rest over. They began absorbing and devouring Mirot's corpse.

As for Wien, after adjusting his Spiritual Pressure, he went over to Mirot's corpse and tore off his mask, which was nearly as tall as Wien himself.

"I'll take these two large pieces. Take the remaining fragments and use them to recover from your injuries," Wien said to Jekain. He then walked toward the deep crater blasted out by the Cero. Understanding what Wien meant, Jekain picked up the scattered mask fragments and handed them out for everyone to swallow so they could recover as quickly as possible.

"My king." Just before Wien entered the crater, a weak voice called out. It was the badly injured Inora.

"A Gillian's Spiritual Pressure is too immense, so their masks don't dissipate very quickly. Please don't devour too much at once, or your body will burst."

"Ah, I understand. I'll compress and adjust it as I devour it."

Wien nodded, accepting Inora's well-meant warning, then jumped into the crater. He found a comfortable spot and bit hard into the enormous mask fragment in his hand. In an instant, a dense surge of Reishi entered his body, and he felt warm all over.

Resisting the urge to take another bite, Wien began using the Reishi from the first mouthful to heal his injuries.

In just a few breaths, his depleted Spiritual Power began flowing again. Following Inora's advice, Wien began compressing the Spiritual Power in his body to increase his Soul Density, all the while continuing to bite into the mask in his hands.

He did not know how much time had passed or how many bites he had taken before he finished devouring the two enormous pieces of mask.

The Reishi, so dense it was almost enough to make him burst, began flowing through his body. Closing his eyes, Wien began the long process of digestion. Once his eyes were shut, he seemed to forget the passage of time.

Compressing Spiritual Power was like forcing water vapor in a bottle together until it condensed into drops of water.

The bottle would then have room for more vapor. The process repeated until it was full of water droplets, completing the Spiritual Power Compression.

A Hollow's advancement was like replacing a bottle of water vapor with a larger water vat. In other words, the higher the concentration of Spiritual Power, the stronger the foundation upon advancement and the lower the risk. After advancing, one could even far surpass Hollows of the same level. That was the benefit of Spiritual Power Compression.

However, as someone who had transmigrated, Wien did not want to be like other Hollows and stop once he had compressed his Spiritual Power enough to advance or control it freely.

As a transmigrator familiar with cultivation games, Wien knew that foundation establishment was often the most crucial step. So he chose to use his own will to forcibly compress the dense Reishi, which had seemingly turned into water droplets, once more, pushing it to the absolute limit. Perhaps that would trigger another qualitative change, allowing his Spiritual Power to rise to a new level and making him superior to others!

Having made up his mind, Wien began the long process of Spiritual Power Compression. As he did so, his body gradually shrank from several meters tall until he returned to his former height of about 1.78 meters.

The Spiritual Power within his body, however, grew more and more abundant. The feeling of gaining power was simply wonderful.

Time flew by. The long process of compression and refinement brought Wien's control over Spiritual Power forward by leaps and bounds, but a Gillian's Spiritual Power was limited after all.

At last, Wien finished digesting the two pieces of the Gillian's mask. His eyes snapped open, and he felt the aura around his entire body change abruptly in an instant.

He leaped out of the crater, and when he landed, his steps sent cracks spreading across the ground.

Looking over his body, he saw that his former Horny Layer had evolved into a hard Bone Layer. Without a doubt, Wien's defensive ability had greatly increased.

The five blades on his right claw gleamed coldly as he swung them, as if a forceful slash could tear even the air apart.

His left fist went without saying. Its explosive power filled Wien with an incomparable sense of exhilaration. Feeling the surge in his body's strength, he could not help a faint, satisfied smile.

"My king."

The moment Wien jumped out of the crater, several voices came from figures kneeling around him. Before Wien, Inora, Refas, and the others all had their heads lowered respectfully. Judging by their appearance, their injuries from the battle with the Gillian Mirot seemed to have fully healed.

"You've all improved quite a bit," Wien said to the Hollow beasts kneeling before him after successfully emerging from seclusion.

He could clearly feel that each of their Spiritual Pressures had improved to a different degree. But one person's Spiritual Pressure was missing from the group.

"Hmm? Where's Jekain?" Looking at the seven Hollows bowing or kneeling before him, Wien noticed that Jekain was absent.

No one answered Wien's question, and his expression froze. Before he could speak again, a deep, heavy voice sounded from not far behind him.

"My king, I am here."

Wien turned toward the voice and saw an enormous black figure over twenty meters tall. The voice had come from the top of the giant figure. Looking up, Wien saw a huge mask resembling a suit of armor.

"A Gillian!?" Wien exclaimed in surprise. "Jekain? You advanced?"

"Yes, my king." Jekain's enormous figure bent slightly, seemingly bowing to Wien. "Two days ago, a hunt gave me enough power. After ensuring everyone's safety, I went to the southern part of the forest and completed my advancement. I was fortunate to find that I still had my consciousness, so I returned here."

"No wonder I couldn't sense your Spiritual Pressure. You've already surpassed me by so much," Wien marveled.

Wien was not afraid because of Jekain's advancement, however. Although Jekain's Spiritual Pressure was now several times his own, Wien could hear the respect in his tone at once, so he had no need to worry about Jekain rebelling.

"Then how long did I sleep?"

"My king, you have spent a month absorbing it," Inora said respectfully.

"That long?" As he spoke, Wien looked again at Jekain, who had advanced into a Gillian.

"So this is what a Gillian with consciousness looks like?"

"Yes, my king. Thanks to you, I survived that crisis and was fortunate enough to make it this far," Jekain said respectfully.

"But my king, please forgive me. I can no longer remain at your side."

"Oh?" Hearing Jekain's words, Wien thought of something. "Because of the Forest of Menos?"

"Yes," Jekain said in a deep voice.

"After advancing, I could hear the call of the Forest of Menos. Only because I have my consciousness have I been able to remain here for a few days. But as my Spiritual Power is consumed and time passes, that call grows stronger. If you had not emerged from seclusion now, my king, perhaps in another two days I would have reached my limit and been forced to leave."

"Is that so?" Wien learned quite a bit about Gillians from Jekain. "In that case, Jekain, go to the Forest of Menos."

"..." Wien's approval moved Jekain somewhat. After all, Wien had saved his life; otherwise, he would not be where he was today.

If they had relied only on their disorganized group, escaping Mirot would have been almost impossible. "My king, I am sorry I have yet to fight for you."

"No, perhaps we can remain together for a while longer," Wien said with a smile.

"Huh? My king, I don't understand what you mean." Slightly puzzled by Wien's words, Jekain asked him about it.

"I mean you won't be leaving alone. All of us will follow you out of here. We leave now!"

A stir ran through the crowd.

The Hollows present were all surprised by Wien's words, but they obeyed him and set off at once.

After absorbing and refining Mirot's mask and emerging from seclusion, Wien immediately gave the order. All nine Hollows, including himself, left.

As for the reason, Wien slowly explained it to everyone after they set out.

"In the last battle, Milleret used Soul Suck to devour most of the powerful Hollows in the forest's core region, and Jekain's advancement must have consumed quite a lot of food too. So, in this small area, two Gillians advanced in just one month. Tell me, how much food is left in this forest for us to hunt?"

As they walked, Wien explained his reasoning, and his words gave the Hollows much to think about.

"Rather than fight the other high-level Hollows in this forest over a dwindling food supply, we might as well abandon it altogether and find a new area to establish ourselves."

"But if we enter a new area we're unfamiliar with, how can we be sure of the strength of those there or of our own safety?" Refas asked as they walked.

"It's precisely because we can't be sure how many high-level Hollows there are in other areas that I said we should travel with Jekain," Wien explained.

"Jekain needs to go to the Forest of Menos, so we can't force him to stay and fight for us. He'll be heading there anyway. We don't know how far the journey is, but we can be sure he'll pass through many areas where Hollows gather along the way. When that happens, Jekain can clear away the threats for us with just a few Ceros, and we can easily occupy a new area."

"My king, what about me?" Jekain asked.

"All along the way, you'll be heading straight for the Forest of Menos, so its call won't affect your mind. Once we pass through a new area, you only need to fire a few Ceros into the forest, then continue on to the Forest of Menos.

"Afterward, we'll continue to survive in the new area until the next Gillian is born," Wien explained.

"The next one?" Inora seemed to understand what Wien meant. "My king, are you saying...?"

"That's right." Wien nodded. "Over the coming days, I want every one of you to successfully advance into a Gillian!"